| County |
Established |
Named
in honor of |
| Lake |
1870 |
Reelfoot Lake which was
formed by a series of earthquakes
in 1811 that dammed Reelfoot
River and caused some changes in
the course of the Mississippi
River. |
| Lauderdale |
1835 |
Colonel James Lauderdale
who was killed leading a charge
of his regiment of Tennessee
troops against the British at the
Battle of New Orleans, December 23, 1814. |
| Lawrence |
1817 |
Captain James Lawrence
who served under Stephen Decatur.
In the War of 1812, he commanded
the "Chesapeake" in her
fight with the frigate
"Shannon." Mortally
wounded, he gave the famous
command, "Don't give up the
Ship!" |
| Lewis |
1843 |
Merriwether
Lewis,
captain in the Army of the United
States and secretary to President
Jefferson. He was co-commander of
the Lewis & Clark Expedition
to the Pacific Northwest. Enroute
to Washington in 1809, he died
violently at the spot on the
Natchez Trace now marked by the
national monument bearing his
name. |
| Lincoln |
1809 |
Major General  Benjamin
Lincoln
of the Revolutionary Army. After
serving at Saratoga, he was put
in chief command of the Southern
Colonies. He was secretary of war
under the Articles of
Confederation, 1781-83. |
| Loudon |
1870 |
Fort
Loudoun,
which was erected by the British
in 1756 and named for the Earl of
Loudon, commander-in-chief of
British and American colonial
troops in the Southern Colonies
during the French and Indian War. |
| McMinn |
1819 |
Joseph McMinn, member of
the state Constitutional
Convention, 1796; speaker of the
state Senate, 1805-09; governor
of Tennessee, 1815-21. |
| McNairy |
1823 |
Judge John McNairy,
appointed judge of the Superior
Court of the Western District of
North Carolina by President
George Washington. He arrived in
Nashville in 1788 and in 1797 was
appointed judge of the District
Court of the United States for
Tennessee, an position he held
until shortly before his death in
1833. |
| Macon |
1842 |
Nathaniel Macon of North
Carolina, representative in
Congress, 1791-1815; speaker of
the House of Representatives,
1801-07; senator from North
Carolina, 1815-28; president pro
tempore of the North Carolina
Senate, 1826-28. |
| Madison |
1821 |
James
Madison,
fourth president of the United
States. A leader in the federal
Constitution Convention of 1787,
he did most of the actual
drafting of the U.S.
Constitution. He was a member of
Congress, 1789-97, and secretary
of state, 1801-09. |
| Marion |
1817 |
Brigadier General Francis
Marion,
Revolutionary War leader in South
Carolina whose brilliantly
successful guerilla tactics
earned him the title "The
Swamp Fox." |
| Marshall |
1836 |
John
Marshall
of Virginia who served in
Congress, 1799; as secretary of
state, 1800- 01, and as chief
justice of the United States,
1801-35. |
| Maury |
1807 |
Abram Maury, Williamson
County surveyor who was one of
the commissioners appointed to
layout counties in West
Tennessee. He was state senator
in 1805, and later a member of
the state House of
Representatives. |
| Meigs |
1836 |
Jonathan Meigs, first
state librarian and officer in
the Continental Army at the
Battle of Lexington. He was
captured at Quebec and exchanged.
He ended the war as colonel,
having distinguished himself at
the Battle of Sag Harbor and at
the capture of Stony Point. In
1801, he was appointed Indian
agent for the Cherokee where he
remained until his death in 1823. |
| Monroe |
1819 |
 James
Monroe,
officer in the Continental Army;
minister to France@ 1794-96 and
1803; governor of Virginia,
1799-1802, minister to England,
1803-04; secretary of state;
1811-17; and fifth president of
the United States. |
| Montgomery |
1796 |
Colonel John Montgomery,
who explored the Cumberland
country in 1777. He participated
in the punitive expedition
against Cherokee Chief Dragging
Canoe in 1779. He accompanied
John Donelson on his river voyage
to Nashborough. He was a signer
of the Cumberland Compact, first
sheriff of the district, and
founder of Clarksville. He
commanded territorial troops in
the Nickajack Expedition, 1794,
and was killed by Indians later
that year. |
| Moore |
1871 |
Major General William
Moore, who ventured from Kentucky
to settle in Tennessee in 1808.
He commanded a company in the
Creek War, finished the War of
1812 as a major general, and
served as a member of the state
House of Representatives,
1825-27. |
| Morgan |
1817 |
Brigadier General Daniel
Morgan,
veteran of the French and Indian
War. He was second in command to
Benedict Arnold on the Quebec
Expedition in the Revolution.
Later, as a commander in the
South, he decisively defeated
Banastre Tarleton at Cowpens. |
