Just a suggestion from my own research. My ancestor said he was born in NC but NC was Va (it covered a lot of territory), then NC, State of Franklin, Watagua Association (some records maintained in NC), and then Tennessee. This is 1744 era. I am finding that he really didn't move around much, it just looks like it. If you have been researching a long time, you probably know this but even the Ohio Territory can get involved prior to Tennessee. Takes a lot of digging in a lot of counties/states to get the historical movement of the lines and governments to find the ancestor.
If you have an early Tn person, check out (online) Beverly's Land around Stanton in Augusta County, Va. The online maps in one location show the names of all the original land deeds. Some of these people go to Sullivan/Washington County, Tn area and on.
If someone has any more information on this area, I would like to hear from them.