I am a member of a local Tri-City and Tri-State writer’s guild called the LOST STATE WRITERS GUILD. The Lost State refers to the original State of Franklin, TN. Our members reside between the Tri-City areas of Bristol, TN/Va, Johnson City, TN and Kingsport, TN but we also have members in North Carolina and VA since our state borders on these Appalachian regions too. We are starting an exciting year of fun activities, workshops, educational opportunities and support for all of our members and invite anyone with an desire to explore their writing creativity to join our guild. Our members dabble in all kinds of writing: poetry, non-fiction, Appalachian stories, fictional novels including romance, mystery, horror, fantasy and more, plus children’s stories and even song writing.
While the Covid-19 pandemic still threatens, our group meets once a month, on the first Thursday of the month, via Zoom. Eventually we hope to be able to resume our in person meetings held within the Avoca Library located in Bristol, TN. Come join us! Contact this author for more information and an email with a link to our meetings will be sent to you. Give us a try, sit in on a meeting.
Our guild has been in existence for over 25 years and has an interesting history of how the name came to be.
History tells the tale of courageous settlers who came to stake a claim in this new frontier on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. A group of a few hundred brave men crossed at Sycamore Shoals in 1780 on their way to fight and win the Battle of Kings Mountain against the British Army during the Revolutionary War.
In 1784 a group of settlers met in Jonesborough, Tennessee, to form a new state which they called the State of Franklin, named for Benjamin Franklin. The new United States government did not want Franklin to be a state. They thought this land should stay part of North Carolina. In 1790 the U. S. government dissolved the State of Franklin which became known as the “Lost State of Franklin”. Then, on June 1, 1796, the Lost State of Franklin was incorporated into the newly formed state of Tennessee rather than North Carolina.
So now you know!