Davy Crockett

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Crockett, Davy (David) (1786–1836), born in Tennessee, spent a shiftless youth until his political career began (c. 1816) with his appointment as justice of the peace. He boasted that none of his decisions was ever reversed because of his dependence on “natural‐born sense instead of law learning.” After being twice elected to the state legislature, he accepted a humorous proposal that he run for Congress, and to his surprise was elected, serving from 1827 to 1831, and again from 1833 to 1835. Because of his opposition to Jackson, the Whigs adopted him as a convenient tool through whom to draw the backwoods democracy to its standard. Davy was soon turned by skillful politicians into a frontier hero, whose picturesque eccentricities, backwoods humor, tall tales, shrewd native intelligence, and lusty pioneer spirit were all aggrandized. Whig journalists were soon at work and in short order turned out such books, attributed to Davy, as Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett (1833), An Account of Col. Crockett's Tour to the North and Down East (1835), The Life of Martin Van Buren (1835), and Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas (1836). With the exception of the last, which is posthumous, he may have had a hand in all these works, and he gladly claimed the Tour and life of Van Buren. Swallowing the Whig bait, he enjoyed his sudden rise to fame and was glad to aid in propagating the myth, which, however, removed him from office, since his constituents would not tolerate his desertion of Democratic principles. Piqued, he left Tennessee to participate in the war for Texan independence, and a few months later died in the heroic defense of the Alamo, adding a final dramatic chapter to his career. A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, of the State of Tennessee (1834) passes as his autobiography, although the claim has often been disputed. In any case the book has the robust manner attributed to Crockett, and contains fine examples of the farce and exaggeration of the tall tale.

Davy Crockett (David Crockett) , 1786–1836, American frontiersman, b. Limestone, near Greeneville, Tenn. After serving (1813–14) under Andrew Jackson against the Creek in the War of 1812, he settled in Giles co., Tenn., and in 1821 was elected to the state legislature. In 1823, Crockett, having moved to the extreme western part of the state, was reelected from his new constituency. When it was jokingly suggested that he should run for Congress, he took the proposal seriously and served three terms in the House (1827–31, 1833–35).

Though he was unable to win passage of a single bill, his dress, language, racy backwoods humor, and naive yet shrewd comments on city life and national affairs made him a popular figure in Washington. Crockett became a political opponent of Jackson, and the Whigs took him up so assiduously that he became the showpiece of conservatism. Resenting his defeat for reelection in 1835 and having failed in business, farming, and family life, Crockett left Tennessee for Texas, where he lost his life in the defense of the Alamo . A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett (1834), An Account of Col. Crockett's Tour to the North and Down East (1834), and Col. Crockett's Exploits and Adventures in Texas (posthumous, 1836), supposedly written by Crockett himself in his own idiom, do not match, either in content or style, those letters definitely known to be his.

Bibliography: See his Narrative, facsimile edition edited by J. A. Shackford and S. J. Folmsbee (1973); biography by M. Wallis (2011); study by J. A. Shackford (1956); W. C. Davis, Three Roads to the Alamo (1998).

Crockett, Davy (1786–1836) frontiersman, U.S. congressman, and folk hero, born David Crockett in Greene County, Tennessee. Crockett was a volunteer in the Indian wars in the southeast (1813–15) and a militia officer. As a state legislator (1821–25), he took an active interest in public land policy regarding the West. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1827–31, 1833–35), campaigning as a “straight shooter.” Crockett was the hero of tall tales in Sketches and Eccentricities of Col. David Crockett of West Tennessee (1833) and Crockett Almanacs (1835–1856), and he published an autobiography, A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee (1834). Defeated in a reelection bid, remarked, “you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas.” In Texas, Crockett joined Col. William B. Travis in the defense of the Alamo, “animating the men to do their duty” (1836).

Crockett, Davy (David) (1786–1836) US politician and frontiersman. He served in the Tennessee legislature (1821–26) and the US Congress (1827–31, 1833–35). A Whig, he opposed the policies of Andrew Jackson and the Democrats. He died at the Alamo.