SHERIFF CHARLES GAMBLE

1819-1822

Charles Gamble was of Scotch-Irish lineage and in 1806, took up residence on a farm in Sale Creek, along with his brothers and sister. Like many of their neighbors, they came from Knox County. Such a short move to the frontier by a family cluster was typical in American pioneer history.

When the county of Hamilton was established on October 25, 1819, Gamble was one of three commissioners named by the state legislature to begin the new government. Gamble was elected as the first sheriff for the county.

The “Treaty of 1835,” or the “Treaty of New Echota,” or the “Treaty of Removal” (as it is variously called) was concluded Dec. 29, 1835, at New Echota, Ga. This treaty was between certain minor chiefs and many Cherokees who had no position whatsoever with the Nation, and the Commissioners of the United States, Gen. William Carroll and John F. Schermerhorn.

By provision of the treaty, the Cherokees ceded to the United States all their lands east of the Mississippi in consideration of five million dollars. The United States ceded to the Cherokees fifteen million acres of land in the Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi. By the terms of the treaty, the title of the Cherokees to Hiwassee District (including that part of Chattanooga which is south of the Tennessee River), their last possession in Tennessee, was extinguished.