[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 13621-13622]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     HONORING THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF WHITE PLAINS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BART GORDON

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 2, 2009

  Mr. GORDON of Tennessee. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
200th anniversary of the founding of White Plains, Tennessee. In 
recognizing the anniversary of White Plains, we are also recognizing 
the creation of Putnam County.
  On Christmas Day 1809, Lt. William Pennington Quarles, a 
Revolutionary War hero, and his family, which included his wife, Ann 
Hawes Quarles, 10 children, four sons-in-law; and 30 slaves, reached 
their new home in White Plains. Having traveled down Walton Road from 
Bedford County, Virginia, Lt. Quarles and his family built a log cabin 
on land in White Plains, some of which was purchased from Daniel 
Alexander.
  The Quarles family expanded an inn built by Mr. Alexander and added a 
general store, blacksmith shop, post office and farm. Andrew Jackson 
and other dignitaries of the time stayed at the inn on their way to 
Washington, D.C. and during trips to other cities east and west.
  Lt. Quarles began to practice law in what was then White County and 
was appointed judge. His court convened in the blacksmith shop. Lt. 
Quarles was also a Mason, in addition to serving in the White County 
Militia. He was the postmaster of the White Plains Post Office until 
his untimely death in 1813 when he was shot a few miles from his home 
while returning from a meeting in Sparta.
  Between 1813 and 1842, the population of the area surrounding White 
Plains increased

[[Page 13622]]

substantially. Residents successfully petitioned the Tennessee state 
government to create a new county--Putnam County--from areas of White, 
Overton and Jackson counties.
  White Plains became the trade center of Putnam County, where 
elections and public speeches were held. Andrew Jackson and James K. 
Polk spoke there during their respective presidential campaigns.
  The log cabin that Lt. Quarles built after arriving in White Plains 
in 1809 stayed in his family's name until the mid-1950s when Harvey 
Draper and his daughter, Mildred Summers, purchased it and began 
restoration. Plans are now underway to place the home and slave 
graveyard on the National Historic Register.
  June 6, 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the founding of White 
Plains, and what would later become Putnam County.

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