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Lauderdale County History and Information

VEIW FULL SIZED D.O.T. COUNTY MAP

In November 1835 the Tennessee General Assembly established Lauderdale County from portions of Dyer, Tipton and Haywood Counties. The county was named in honor of James Lauderdale ( ?-1814), Indian War and War of 1812 officer who fell leading troops against the British in 1814, a few days before the Battle of New Orleans.

The earliest settlements of whites and African American slaves were located at Key Corner and Porter's Gap. Griffith Rutherford built the first grist mill in the county at Key Corner in 1826, and Joseph Jordan and William Champers added a cotton gin the following year. Fulton, on the Mississippi River, was settled in 1819, and Judge James Trimble laid out Lauderdale's first town there in 1827. Fulton prospered as a steamboat landing, but today much of the town has been consumed by the Mississippi River. Durhamville was established in 1829; that same year, a church--Turner's Chapel--was built there. Edith Kenley opened the first school in her home at Double Bridges. General William Conner promoted Ashport, a speculative town on the Mississippi. Other early towns included Golddust, Nankipoo, and Hales Point.

Ripley was established as the county seat in February 1836 on 62 acres purchased from Thomas Brown and named for General E. W. Ripley, a veteran of the War of 1812. J. N. Smith opened the first mercantile store in a log cabin, and the town quickly became a center for trade between Dyersburg and Covington. In 1936 the Public Works Administration (PWA) built Lauderdale County's fourth courthouse. Designed by the Nashville firm of Marr and Holman, the building displays the PWA Modern style so popular in the New Deal era.

Newspapers were published in Halls and Ripley. Scattered early issues are available from 1876, and a complete run begins in 1964. See Extended History for More information. There was a fire at the Lauderdale County courthouse in 1869. Some records were destroyed.

Lauderdale County is bordered by Dyer County (north), Crockett County (east), Haywood County (southeast), Tipton County (south) and Mississippi County, Arkansas (west). Cities and Towns include Gates, Halls, Henning, Ripley. The Official County Website is located at ?

Tennessee State Library and Archives has Inventories of Lauderdale County Records on Microfilm. Click Here to Order County Microfilm Inventories and Reels. Early Lauderdale County Records. Newspaper Microfilms are loaned to Tennessee libraries. Individual reels may also be purchased. An Inventory of Newspapers on Microfilm at TSLA is available on our web site.. Lauderdale County, Tennessee History Books at Amazon.com.

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Lauderdale County Court Records

Lauderdale County Vital Records

Tennessee State Library and Archives have the following records:

Birth Records & "Delayed" Birth Certificates: Tennessee began keeping birth records statewide in 1908. TSLA has statewide birth records for the years 1908-1912. To find a birth record, we need the following information: name of child, date of birth or approximate date of birth, county of birth (if known) and names of parents (if known). The larger cities in Tennessee did keep earlier birth records: Nashville (beginning in 1881); Knoxville (beginning in 1881); Chattanooga (beginning in 1879); and Memphis (beginning in 1874). Only the early Nashville birth records are indexed. For birth records after 1912 or for "delayed" birth certificates filed for persons born after 1903, contact the Office of Vital Records above.
TSLA also has "delayed" birth certificates for persons born 1869 - 1903. These delayed certificates were filed at the request of the individual or that person's representative for legal reasons. To locate a delayed birth certificate, we need the following information: name of child, date of birth or approximate date of birth, county of birth (if known) and names of parents (if known). E-mail TSLA and they can check thier index to the "delayed" birth records for a specified name. Please specify that you are requesting a "delayed" birth certificate.

There is a $20 fee to search for a birth record. If the record is found, they will mail a copy to you. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE].
Death Records: Tennessee began keeping death records statewide in 1908. TSLA has statewide death records for the years 1908-1912 and 1914-1955. To find a death record, we need the following information: name of individual, date of death (or three year range to search), county of death (if known) and name of spouse (if known). Please keep in mind that some deaths were not recorded, due to poor record-keeping by local officials. For death records from 1956 to the present, contact the Office of Vital Records above.
The larger cities in Tennessee did keep earlier death records: Nashville (beginning in 1874); Knoxville (beginning in 1881); Chattanooga (beginning in 1872); and Memphis (beginning in 1848). Only the early Nashville and Memphis death records are indexed. TSLA can search the unindexed records for one year only; you must provide us with the name of individual, date of death, the city, and the name of the spouse (if known).
There is a $20 fee to search for a death record. If the record is found, they will mail a copy to you. If the record is not found, you will be notified by mail. The $20 fee is not refundable. Payment in advance by check, money order or credit card is required. Send your request to Tennessee State Library and Archives, Research Department, 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville TN 37243-0312. [GO TO FORMS PAGE]

Below is a list of online resources for Lauderdale County Vital Records. Email us with websites containing Lauderdale County Vital Records by clicking the link below:

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Index to Tennessee Death Records 1908-1912
Tennessee Marriage and Bible Records
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Tennessee State Marriages, 1780-2002
Tennessee Marriages, 1851-1900
Lauderdale County, Tennessee Birth, Marriage & Death Books at Amazon.com
Birth, Marriage & Death - Vital records (births, deaths, marriages, and divorces) mark the milestones of our lives and are the foundation of family history research. Vital records, usually kept by a civic authority, can give you a more complete picture of your ancestor, help you distinguish between two people with the same name, and help you find links to a new generation.

Lauderdale County Census Records

Lauderdale County Maps & Atlases

Lauderdale County Military Records

Lauderdale County Tax Records

Lauderdale County Genealogical Addresses

Lauderdale County Church & Cemeteries

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Lauderdale County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information . Email us with websites containing Lauderdale County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Lauderdale County, Tennessee Family Books at Amazon.com
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Sites on USGenweb: [ Lauderdale County ] [ Tennessee ] [ Main Page ]
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Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
The Tennessee Family Group Sheet Project
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Reference Materials & Finding Aids - Reference materials, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other how-to books, can be tremendously helpful in finding and interpreting historical documents. Many of these books can help you learn where to look for more information and how to use what you've already found to uncover more clues.
The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture

Extended History

The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture © Tennessee Historical Society

The county covers 477 square miles and is bounded by the Forked Deer River, the Mississippi River (although some areas, such as Forked Deer Island are now on the west side of the river), and the Hatchie River. The eastern part of the county lies on the Gulf Coastal Plain while the western portion is in the Mississippi Bottom.

Native Americans used the rich resources of Lauderdale's river bottoms and hardwood forests for thousands of years before European explorers arrived. Woodland and Mississippian Period sites, many with mounds, dot the landscape. By the late seventeenth century the Chickasaws claimed West Tennessee. Robert Cavelier de La Salle and his party observed their villages, and the Europeans constructed Fort Prudhomme near the mouth of the Hatchie. Despite the Chickasaw claims, North Carolina sent Henry Rutherford to the area in 1785 to survey for land warrants. Rutherford and his party established "Key Corner" as a landmark for marking off claims by carving his initials and a large key into a huge sycamore on the first high ground east of the Mississippi and south of the Forked Deer. Following the Jackson Purchase in 1818, Rutherford, his brothers, Benjamin Porter, and a man named Crenshaw settled near Key Corner. Native Americans returned to Lauderdale County during the 1950s, when two Choctaw families migrated to the county to work in the cotton fields. Today two Choctaw communities are in Ripley and Henning.

Nankipoo became the home of Roark Bradford, a popular writer of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Bell Irvin Wiley also was raised near Nankipoo and later achieved fame as the author of more than twenty history books on the Civil War including The Road to Appomattox, The Life of Billy Yank, and The Life of Johnny Reb; the latter two remain authoritative studies of the common soldiers of the war.

During the antebellum period cotton dominated the county's agriculture. Steamboats carried cotton bales from landings on the Forked Deer, Mississippi, and Hatchie Rivers. In 1850 there were 304 slaveholders in Lauderdale County, 96 of whom owned ten or more slaves. The two largest planters were Hiram Partee, who had eighty-six slaves, and Thomas Fitzpatrick, with eighty-four.

The Civil War devastated the county's farms and plantations. After Fort Pillow's fall to Union forces in June 1862, occupation of the county seesawed between Confederate and Union troops, both of whom bivouacked in Ripley at different times. Skirmishes occurred at Double Bridges and Woodville in October 1862, Knob Creek in January 1863, and Durhamville in September 1863. The most controversial engagement took place at Fort Pillow on April 12, 1864, when a Confederate force under General Nathan Bedford Forrest overran the Union outpost and killed almost half the garrison of 600 mostly African American troops.

The county recovered from the war slowly, returning to cotton as the primary crop, with some tobacco raised for the market at Memphis. Railroads reached the county in the 1870s. Henning became the first railroad town, established on the line that at various times was named the Newport News and Mississippi Valley line, then Paducah and Memphis (1872), Memphis and Louisville (1874), Memphis Paducah and Northern (1878), Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern (1881), and finally Illinois Central (1887). In 1873 Carrie White became the first African American teacher in Henning. In 1918-19 Will Palmer, an African American businessman, built his home in Henning. The town's most famous son, Alex Haley, spent his boyhood there with his Palmer grandparents. He later wrote the international bestseller Roots from the stories he heard from his grandmother and aunts. The railroad reached Ripley in 1874 and eventually reached the towns of Gates (1882), Halls (1883), and Curve (1884), which was touted as the strawberry capital of the world.

By the late 1890s Ripley had acquired an electric system, and telephone lines strung by the Cumberland Telephone and Telegraph Company reached Halls in 1900. The Bank of Halls organized in 1899, followed by the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Henning (1901), Ripley Savings Bank and Trust (1903), and Gates Banking and Trust Company (1904). Building on a school tradition that included Ripley Academy, Lauderdale Institute, and Ripley Female Institute in the 1800s, public high schools were built between 1900 and 1910 at Curve, Ripley, and Halls. Timber became an important industry in the county. Anderson-Tulley, a Memphis veneer company, purchased 17,000 acres of Lauderdale timberland, which now serves as the Anderson-Tully Wildlife Management Area.

During World War II the U.S. Army constructed an air base at Halls. Some 7,700 troops trained on the 2,450-acre site, many of them as B-17 bomber pilots. The base closed after the war, and the land was sold at auction in 1955. A portion of the land was developed as an industrial park, and Lauderdale County acquired its first plant when Tupperware opened one of three national plants in 1969, employing 750. Although Tupperware closed its manufacturing facility in 1991, Lauderdale has attracted a number of industrial employers. In 2001 four companies had more than 500 employees: SR of Tennessee, a motor vehicle parts company, had 750 workers; Marvin Windows had 720 employees; Tennessee Electroplating, another motor vehicle parts firm, had 640 workers; and A. O. Smith, a producer of motors and generators, had a labor force of 500. The two largest public sector employers were the Lauderdale County School System and the State of Tennessee's Cold Creek Correctional Facility, formerly Fort Pillow Prison Farm. In 2000 the population of Lauderdale County was 27,101.

The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1887

The eastern portion of Lauderdale is on the plateau of West Tennessee and the western in the Mississippi Bottoms. The highlands of the plateau run in a general northeast and southwest direction through the county, and are cut up by numerous streams, and in some parts are quite hilly. The surface of the bottoms is low and flat, and is of recent formation. Upward of 80,000 acres of land are embraced in the bottoms of the county, which, when entirely reclaimed from overflow, will furnish as rich agricultural land as can be found anywhere. The surface of the highlands is underlaid by bluff loam or loess. On the steep slopes of the bluffs the gravel and sand of the orange sand formation crops out from under the loess. Several beds of lignite are also met with. On Coal Creek are found outcroppings of coal of an inferior quality.

The soil of the bottoms is a dark, rich, alluvial loam, very productive, the depth being from then to twenty feet, while the soil of the uplands is of a mulatto color, with a clay foundation, and has an average depth of between nine and ten inches. The best corn, wheat, oats, tobacco and all the grasses and fruits grow well in the county, the cotton being of an excellent quality. Fine poplar, oak, hickory, maple, gum and chestnut timber grow in abundance in the forests.

The Mississippi River washes the entire western border of the county. Forked Deer River enters the county from Haywood at a point where the three counties of Lauderdale, Crockett and Dyer come together, and running first in a northwest direction, curves to the south and enters Obion County, and Hatchie River enters the county from Tipton,, and forms the southern boundary line. The creeks of the county are Cane, emptying into Hatchie River; Knob, emptying into the Mississippi; Cold Creek, emptying into the Mississippi; Mill and Tisdale emptying into Forked Deer; Lagoon, Williams and Fisher emptying into Hatchie, and Goodwin emptying into Cane Creek. Originally forked Deer River forked in the Seventh District, one fork emptying into the Mississippi above Island No. 26, the other emptying opposite Island No. 27. The earthquakes of 1811-12 are supposed to have changed the mouth of the river to its present location. By the same disturbances numerous small lakes were formed in the county by the earth sinking, the larger of which are Big Lake, Chism Lake and Sunk Lake, all in the Fifth District.

The channel of the Mississippi River is very changeable and treacherous, and at Plumb Point, in the county, the Mississippi River commission has for several years been at work improving the river. A force of between 400 and 500 laborers have been at work driving piles and weaving willow matrices on both sides of the river, confining the stream to a narrow channel in order to facilitate navigation. Work at present is suspended, but will be resumed in the spring, the necessary appropriation of money having been made by Congress.

In 1785 Henry Rutherford, accompanied by two chain-bearers, visited what is now Lauderdale County and located a number of large tracts of land for North Carolinians. Selecting a sycamore tree as a point from which to start his surveys, he cut on it his initials "H. R.," and called it Key Corner. In his report he describes this point as a "small sycamore standing on the south bank of Forked Deer River, at the first highland where a branch runs into said river." Key Corner is situated sixteen miles north from Ripley in the Eighth District, and retains the name given it by Rutherford.

After the treaty with the Chickasaw Indians, and the lands of West Tennessee had been opened for settlement, Henry Rutherford, his brother John, brother-in-law Oliver Crenshaw, George Davis and Willis Chambers, came to Lauderdale County from Middle Tennessee, making the trip in keel-boats, and arrived with their slaves and household goods at Key Corner September 1, 1819. Their families followed later in the fall. The Rutherfords and Crenshaw burned away the trees and cane, erected log cabins, and completed preparations for a permanent home, while Davis and Chambers settled only temporarily, and two years later moved to what afterward became Dyer County, and settled about four and one-half miles east of where the town of Dyersburg now stands. Benjamin Porter and family, natives of Virginia, moved from Middle Tennessee in the fall of the same year, coming by land, crossing the Tennessee River at Reynoldsburg, and reached Key Corner February 1, 1820. The following April Mr. Porter cleared a tract of land in the Key Corner neighborhood, one and a half miles west from the present village of Double Bridges, fifteen miles northeast from Ripley, and in this house, still standing, was born June 12, 1820, Benjamin Porter, Jr., the first white child born in Lauderdale County. Mr. Porter is still living at the old homestead. Probably the next settlement in the county was made in the neighborhood of Fulton by Samuel Givens and others in 1825-26, and the next one in the Durhamville neighborhood in 1826-27, by the Durhams, Turners, Neiswongers, Rices, Chambers and Taylors, and at about the same time Robert C. Campbell settled near Ashport on the Mississippi; Jacob Boyler, settled near Ripley; John Flippin, eleven miles north of Ripley; Hugh Dunlap, near Double Bridges; James Sherman, on Hatchie River, and Stephen Blackwell, near Hurricane Hill. Other early settlers were Joseph Wardlaw, Benjamin Jordan, James Blair, John Kenley, James Bethell, Patton Chambers, Samuel Strickland, James Saulsberry, L. H. Dunnaway, John and Zachariah Mitchell, John Flemming, James and John Russell, Leonard Dunnevant, Wm. Chambers, Zachariah Paine, John Brown, Beverly and Wm. Watson, Richard and Wm. Matthews, Samuel V. Gilliland, Wm. Braden, James Crook, Cary Alsobrook, Dickison Jennings, Jeremiah Cheek, Claibourn Ransville, James N. Buck, James P. and John N. Percell, Jordan C. Cowell, H. R. Chambers, Jesse Goodman, Jefferson Brown, John Byrn, Robert West, Joseph Taylor, John Rudder, W. H. Stone, Samuel C. Loveless, James Price, Claiborn Hutton, Thomas Fitzpatrick, R. Golden, J. P. Fuller, R. P. Reynolds, Wm. P. Gains, E. Stringer, Wm. McClelland and J. Robertson. Among those who received grants for land in the county were the following, together with the number of acres each received: Henry Rutherford, 500 acres; Griffith L. Rutherford, 3,000; Adam Boyd, 1,000; J. M. Alexander, 675; Jacob Byler, 100; Thomas Bond, 144; Green Baker, 200; John w. Campbell, 1,428; Charles Black, 100; Robert Campbell, 449; Wm. Conner, 449; James W. Reynolds, 140; Christopher Watson, 100; Robert Maxwell, 100; Wm. Strain, 107; W. W. Lea, 200; Samuel Lancaster, 210; James A. Lackey, 101; J. C. McLemore, 1,316; Isaac Moore, 153; Drury Massie, 113, and John C. Nevils, 154. The pioneers found the country entirely covered with high cane and thick timber, which were infested with all kinds of animals, and even at the present day the canebrakes and forests in the Mississippi Bottoms abound with wolves, wild-cats, deer, and other game, and an occasional panther and bear are killed.

The first mill was a tub water-mill, on Mill Creek, near Double Bridges, built in 1826, by Benj. Porter, and owned by Griffith L. Rutherford. Both wheat and corn were ground. The next mill was put up by Benj. Jordan on the creek by that name, eighteen miles northeast of Ripley, in 1828, and was similar to Rutherford's mill. The next was owned by Wm. Munn, and was built on Tidwell Creek, in 1831-31, and Robert Connor built the next one in 1835, on Currin Creek. Other similar early mills were those of J. L. Green, on Cane Creek; Joseph Wardlow, on Cole Creek; and George Chipman, on Cane Creek. The first steam-mill was built by Samuel Lusk, in 1840-41, and was located in the Sixth District, and the second one by A. G. Bragg, in 1851, at the mouth of Cole Creek, on the Mississippi River, near Fort Pillow. The first cotton-gin, horse-power, was erected in 1828 at Key Corner, by John Jordan and W. P. Chambers; the next in 1832-33, by Henry and James Crawford, near the above place, and the two next by Joseph Wardlaw and Thomas Durham, in 1833-34, in the Durhamville neighborhood. The mills and gins of any importance, all of which are steam power, are as follows: First District, B. S. Fisher's and D. M. R. Oldham's saw, grist and cotton-gins; Second District, J. C. Durham's saw mill, James Robertson's and Wm. Payne's saw-mills; J. T. Williams saw-mill, planing machine and gin, and Cobb Bros. saw-mill; A. Lea & Co.'s and W. S. Wright's gins; Fifth District, Green Curlin's gin and James Johnson's saw-mill and gin; Sixth District, Darnell & Son's and Morris Bros.' saw-mills; Seventh District, D. P. Shaffner's the Illinois Lumber Company's saw-mills; and Darnell & Son's saw and planing-mill; Eighth District, Pugh & Adams' saw, grist and planing mill, and B. G. Henning's saw and grist-mill and gin; Ninth District, O. J. Smith & Co.'s saw-mill and gin, and the St. Louis Lumber Company's saw-mill; Tenth district, Coleman & Barfield's grist-mill; Eleventh District, J. T. Williams' saw-mill, Williams & Stewart's saw-mill and gin, H. H. Lewis' saw and grist mill and gin, and Mrs. L. O. Jenkins' gin; Twelth District, Hill & Son's saw and grist-mill and gin, Baur Bros.', James M. Young's, Wesley Sawyer's and J. H. Farmer's saw mills.

The General Assembly passed an act, on November 24 1835, authorizing the erection of a new county between Hatchie and Forked Deer Rivers, and west of Haywood County, in West Tennessee, to be known as Lauderdale, in honor of Col. James Lauderdale, who fell at the battle of New Orleans, and in May, 1836, the county was established, the territory being taken from the counties of Haywood, Tipton and Dyer.

The act provided for the appointment of Blackmore Coleman, David hay, Nicholas Perkins, Samuel Owen and Howell Taylor, all of Haywood, as commissioners to select a location for a county seat, which was to be named Ripley, in honor of Gen. Ripley, of the war of 1812, and designated the house of Samuel Lusk, who lived three miles north of the present county seat, as the place of holding the initial sessions of courts, from which place they were to adjourn to any other place deemed suitable and expedient, and the county court, upon its organization, was directed to appoint five commissioners to lay off the county seat into town lots, sell the same, and erect the necessary public buildings. John R. Howard, of Henry County, was selected to survey the boundary lines of the county.

Another act was passed by the General Assembly, in 1870, taking from Haywood county a tract containing about fifteen square miles, and adding the same to Lauderdale and in 1878, by another act, Island No. 34, known as Miller's Island in the Mississippi, was added to the county. The boundary of the county is as follows: North, Forked Deer River; east, Haywood and Crockett Counties; south, Hatchie River; west, Mississippi River, and has an area of about 512 square miles.

Desiring to annex themselves to Dyer County, for convenience in reaching the county seat, the citizens of Lauderdale living in the extreme northern portion of the county, in what is known as the Mill Creek District, petitioned the Legislature, and secured the passage of an act to that effect, in 1877, the act providing the change did not reduce Lauderdale below its constitutional number of square miles. A survey of the county was made by order of the chancery court of Lauderdale, in which court a suit of injunction has been instituted, and the survey demonstrating to the court that the county would be reduced below 500 square miles, a decree of perpetual injunction was issued.

In June, 1836, the county court appointed Griffith Rutherford, Hiram Kellar, Henry Crawford, Robert Campbell and Rezin Byrn commissioners, to lay off the county seat, sell the town lots and erect a temporary court house and jail. The town was promptly laid off, and the lots sold at public sale in the following July. The commissioners at once contracted for the erection of a log court house, the plans and specification of which called for a "building of good, hewed, yellow poplar logs, 22x26 feet in length, 17 feet high, with two doors and windows." The house was completed the following October and stood in the extreme northwest corner of the town, on the Ashport and Ripley road. In 1844 a second court house was erected on the public square. It was of frame, one and a half stories high, and cost about $4,000. This house stood until its destruction by fire in 1869, the fire being caused by a defective flue. In 1870 the present brick court house was completed at a cost of about $20,000. The building is of brick, two-story, with three entrances. The first floor is divided into three halls, opening into which are six offices, while on the second floor is the court room. The building stands in the center of an extensive square or yard.

A log jail was also erected by the commissioners in 1837, which stood on the west side of Main Street, at its northern terminus. It served until its destruction by fire, in 1842. The following year, a one-story brick jail was erected, and in 1873 the present substantial brick jail was erected costing about $12,000.

The poor commissioners obtained a grant for 77 acres of land in the Sixth District, in 1847, and upon it erected a log asylum for the poor of the county. In 1849 the land was sold and 105 acres purchased in the Second District, and the asylum removed; and at present the asylum consists of several houses, and is situated on a tract of 100 acres, six and one-half miles west of Ripley, in the Eleventh District.

The Ashport Turnpike Company, of Lauderdale County, was incorporated by the General Assembly in 1835. Wm. Armour, John W. Campbell, Wm. Connor, James Hubbard, Harrod J. Anderson, Ebenezer Young and Robert C. Campbell, were appointed commissioners to open books and receive subscriptions for stock. The capital stock was fixed at $20,000 in shares of $100 each, and upon half of that amount being subscribed, the company was authorized to begin work. Considerable work in the nature of causeways and levees was accomplished by the company, about $4,000 of State money and as much of the stockholders' being expended, when the organization and work was abandoned. The company was rechartered again in 1856, but not organized.

The only railroad which passes through the county, is the Chesapeake & Ohio, or Newport News & Mississippi Valley, which was completed in July, 1881. In 1870 the county voted $150,000 aid to this road, then only proposed. For payment of this sum, a tax of $1.25 on the $100 worth of property was assessed in 1874; in 1882, $1.25; in 1883, $1.25; in 1884, $1.50; in 1885, $1, and in 1886, 80 cents.

In 1873 the number of acres of land assessed for taxation in the county was 272,445, the value of which was $2,442,623, and the total valuation fo taxable property was $2,829,158; in 1885 the number of acres assessed was 262,400, walued at $1,406,464, and the total valuation of taxable property was $1,733,809.

In 1840 the population of the county was 3,435; in 1850, 5,160; in 1860, 7,559; in 1870, 10,835; in 1880, 14,918; and in 1886, 19,290. The voting population in 1871, was 2,587, and at the August election, 1886, it was 3,214, of which the Democratic party had a majority of 604.

In 1870 the cereal products of the county were wheat, 18,662 bushels; rye, 100 bushels; corn, 443,809 bushels; oats, 5,465 bushels; cotton, 6,337 bales. In 1885 they were wheat, 24,953 bushels; rye, 55 bushels; corn, 580,797 bushels; oats, 17, 398 bushels; cotton, about 15,000 bales. In 1870, the livestock of the county was as follows: Horses and mules, 3,115 head; cattle, 3,404 head; sheep, 3,118 head; hogs, 22,086 head. In 1885 the live stock amounted to 4,079 head of horses and mules; cattle, 12,324 head; sheep, 2,682 head, and hogs, 26,916 head.

County court. Robert C. Campbell and Benj. F. Jordan, acting justices for Tipton County, met at the house of Samuel Lusk on the first Monday in May, 1836, and organized the county court of Lauderdale. The following commissioned justices were present, and producing their commissions were administered the oath of office: Jeremiah Pinick, Milton G. Turner, John H. Maxwell, Able H. Pope, Wm. Strain, Elijah B. Foster, Henry Critchfield, Christopher G. Litsworth, Henry R. Crawford and Henry R. Chambers. The court was organized by the election of Robert Campbell as chairman. The county officers elected on the first Saturday of the preceeding March then came forward, were sworn into office, gave bond, and entered upon the discharge of their duties. The court then divided the county into eight districts, and appointed revenue commissioners for each. There are now thirteen districts, one of which, the thirteenth is an island in the Mississippi. The commissioners for the town of Ripley were then appointed and qualified, after which the court adjourned until the following June.

The June term of the court was held at Samuel Lusk's, and the July and September terms at the house of Col. Jacob Byler, who lived three miles northeast of Ripley, while the October term was held in the log court house at Ripley.

The following is a complete list of the county officers, with dates of service:

County clerks: Wm. Carrigan, May to June, 1836; Griffith L. Rutherford, 1836-40; Isaac M. Steel, 1840-44; L. M. Campbell, 1844-48; Isaac M. Steele, 1848-52; Jo. C. Marley, 1852-60; George Johnston, 1860-70; J. H. Wardlaw, 1870-78; H. T. Hanks, 1878-82; W. H. Jackson, 1882-86, and present incumbent.

Circuit Clerks: David Gilliland, 1836-44; Isaac M. Steele, 1844-48; Wm. C. Fain, 1848-60; J. N. Wardlaw, 1865-66; J. A. Wardlaw, 1866-67; J. N. Wardlaw, 1867-70; A. B. Hearring, 1870-78; B. C. Durham, 1878; and present incumbent.

Sheriffs: Guy Smith, 1836-38; John C. Barnes, 1838-40; Griffith L. Rutherford, 1840-46; Ivey Chandler, 1846-52; Wm. G. McClelland, 1852-56; Ivey Chandler, 1856-60; Ira G. Barfield, 1860-62; J. H. Wardlaw, 1865-70; C. C. Griggs, 1870-73, when he was removed from office, and was succeeded by S. D. Alsobook, the coroner. Mr. Alsobrook served about one month and was killed by a tramp while making an arrest, when the court appointed Fredrick Barfield, who filled out the unexpired term and was elected to the office in 1874, but died before his term expired, and W. J. Woodard was appointed to fill the vacancy and served until 1876. T. D. Cobb, 1876-80; Andrew Crockett, 1880-86; W. R. Miller, present incumbent.

Registers: Thomas D. Fisher, 1836-38; James Price, 1838-45; James A. Lackey, 1845-57; John Sutherland, 1857-58; Benjamin F. Lackey, 1858-62; Daniel McLeod, 1862-65; J. D. Baxter, 1865-86, and present incumbent.

Trustees: Wm. T. Moorehead, 1836-39; John H. Maxwell, 1839-40; J. M. C. Robertson, 1840-42; Gilford Jones, 1842-46; A. Phillips, 1846-52; Wm. Lunsford, 1852-54; J. N. Wardlaw, 1854-60; D. P. Steele, 1860-62; John E. Gray, 1862-66; James A. Lackey, 1866-70; Frederick Barfield, 1870-72; A. H. Young, 1872-74; Wm. Boydsdon, 1874-78; J. M. Jenkins, 1878-86; Andrew Crockett, present incumbent.

Chairmen and Judges of County Court. -- Chairmen: R. C. Campbell, 1836-37; Able H. Pope, 1837-38; Samuel V. Gilliland, 1838-39; Stith Richardson, 1839-40; J. H. Maxwell, 1840-41; J. L. Green, 1841-42; J. H. Maxwell, 1842-43; J. L. Green, 1843-45; I. M. Steele, 1845; John J. Nelson, 1845-51; James A. Lackey, 1851-54; P. T. Glass, 1854-56; Robert H. Oldham, 1856. The office was changed to that of county judge in 1856, and in July of that year, James L. Green was elected as such, and served until 1858; Frederick Barfield, 1858-60; W. A. Partee, 1860-61, S. A. Thompson, 1861-68. In 1868 the office was changed back to that of chairman, and Thompson was elected and served until 1874; I. S. Kellar, 1874-75; J. L. Hearring, 1875-76; P. T. Glass, 1876-77; T. Bun Carson, 1877-82; Blair Pierson, 1882-86, and present incumbent.

Circuit court. The first session of the Lauderdale Circuit Court convened at the house of Jacob Byler, three miles northeast from Ripley, on the third Monday in June, 1836, Judge Austin Miller, of Hardeman County, presiding in interchange with John Read, the regular judge. The second, or October term, was held in the new log court house, at Ripley.

Below is given a list of the officers of the court from 1836 to 1886:

Judges: John Read, 1836-58; Samuel Williams, 1858-61; Isaac Sampson, 1865-67; Wm. P. Bond, 1867-70; Thomas J. Flippin, 1870-86, and present incumbent.

Attorney-generals: Alexander Bradford, 1836-38; Wm. B. Miller, 1838-40; Joseph H. Talbott, 1840-46; T. P. Scurlock, 1846-58; Robt. P. Caldwell, 1858-61; Hardin J. Turner, 1865-67, W. T. Talley, 1867-70; John J. Dupuy, 1870-86; S. L. Cockroft, present incumbent.

Chancery court. On January 8, 1856, the first session of the Lauderdale Chancery Court convened at the court house in Ripley. The officers of this court have been as follows: Chancellors: Issac D. Williams, 1856-59; John Somers, 1859-60; Wm. M. Smith, 1860-61; J. W. Harris, 1865-70; James Fentriss, 1870-72; Henry J. Livingston, 1872-86; John Somers, present.

Clerk and masters: Henry H. Richardson, 1856-59; Stephen H. Steele, 1859-65; T. B. Carson, 1865-70; J. N. Wardlaw, 1870-86 and present.

Bar: The local bar of Lauderdale includes the names of Lysander Campbell, the first practicing attorney; Joseph Perkins, the second; Isaac M. Steele, the first attorney licensed by the court; H. H. Richardson, John Sutherland, Jo. C. Marley, Wm. Wilkerson, F. M. Wilkinson, John F. Pierson, Joseph S. Williams, P. N. Connor, C. H. Connor, T. B. Carson and Wm. D. Steele. The present bar is as follows: Isaac M. Steele, Jo. C. Marley, Thomas Steele, W. E. Lynn, James Oldham, G. C. Porter and R. W. Haywood.

Under the militia laws Lauderdale maintained a regiment of militia belonging to the brigade, composed of the militia of the counties of Haywood, Lauderdale and Tipton, of which Wm. H. Lobing, of Haywood, and Wm. Connor and L. M. Campbell, of Lauderdale, succeeded each other as brigadier-generals. The Lauderdale regiment was divided into battalions, and two musters were held annually at the muster ground near Ripley, the regimental muster occurring in the fall, and the battalion in the spring. Upon the second call for volunteers to serve in the war of the United States with Mexico, a company was organized jointly by the counties of Lauderdale and Tipton, each furnishing about thirty-five men. They were mustered into service as Company G, at Memphis, in July, 1847, and placed in the Fourth Regiment of Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Col. Waterhouse, of Middle Tennessee. The officers of Company G were Henry Travis, of Tipton, Captain; Hugh Read, of Lauderdale, first lieutenant; Thomas Epperson of Tipton, second lieutenant; James Lake, of Lauderdale, third Lieutenant. At the close of the year for which they volunteered, the survivors, about half the original number, returned to Memphis and were mustered out. Among the member of the Lauderdale half of the company were J. O. Weathers, James and George Lake, John Bragg, Matthew Porter, James Buchanan, Bolan Fields, Wm. Hinson, Needham Barfield, Robert Woods, David Friend, Rice Kenley, Marion Walker, A. H. Dunnevant, John Conner, Jacob Byler, A. W. Thompson, John Whitson and J. H. Wardlaw; the last six are still living. Three companies, two of foot and one of mounted infantry, were organized in Lauderdale County during the civil war. Company G, of the Fourth Regiment of Tennessee Infantry, was organized at Ripley April 15, 1861, of which John Southerland was elected captain; H. C. Pillow, first lieutenant; W. W. Wheeler, second lieutenant, and M. L. Hearn, third lieutenant. The company went into drill camp at Germantown, Tenn., where they were mustered into service and joined the regiment. After the battle of Shiloh the company was reorganized, W. W. Wheeler being elected captain; John Richardson, first lieutenant; A. J. Meadows, second lieutenant, and Charles McCormick, third lieutenant. The company participated in all the campaigns in which the regiment was engaged, and after the final surrender, in 1865, the survivors, between fifteen and twenty in number, returned home. Company K, Ninth Regiment of Tennessee Infantry, was organized at Ripley June 5, 1861, by the election of Jo. C. Marley as captain; H. H. Richardson, first lieutenant; Peter Fitzpatrick, second lieutenant, and went into drill camp at the Jackson fair grounds, where they were mustered into service. The regiment was joined at Union City. At Corinth the company was reorganized, when P. J. Fitzpatrick was elected captain; J. B. Carson, first lieutenant; Frank Dunham, second lieutenant, and P. N. Connor, third lieutenant. Out of the original 120 men, only two -- Arch Young and J. D. Jordan -- were at the final surrender at Greensboro, N.C., April 26, 1865. At about the time of the organization of Company K, a portion of a company of mounted infantry was organized at Ripley, by the election of C. H. Connor as captain; Wm. Boydstun, first lieutenant; James Young, second lieutenant, and T. B. Carson, third lieutenant. Going into camp at Camp Beauregard, in Graves County, KY, the company was mustered into service, and joined Maj. Henry C. King's battalion of mounted infantry, of which Dr. B. F. Lackey, of Ripley, was appointed surgeon. In March, 1862, Maj. King was superseded in command of the battalion by Col. Thomas Claibourn. The battalion at that time numbered eleven companies, and was given the name of the First Confederate Regiment of Tennessee Mounted Infantry.

The celebrated Confederate Fort Pillow, on the Mississippi River, is in Lauderdale County. Fort Pillow was built in 1861 by the State of Tennessee, and so fortified that Federal gunboats were unable to pass it. The fort was abandoned the last of May, 1862, and was soon afterward occupied by the Federals. The line of works, as constructed by the Confederates, was on an extensive scale. The parapets of the inner works were about eight feet high, with a ditch six feet deep and twelve feet wide. When occupied by the Federals the armament consisted of two ten-inch rifled Parrott guns, two twelve-pound howitzers, and two six-pound rifled field pieces, and the garrison of 295 white and 262 colored troops, under command of Maj. Booth. Before dawn, on April 12, 1864, Gen. Forrest, with about 3,500 men, assaulted the fort and captured it during the day. Maj. Booth was killed, seven officers and 219 men were captured, thirty-four white and twenty-seven colored Federals were received at the hospitals at Mound City, and the balance of the 557 soldiers, with the exception of the few who escaped, were killed in the battle, smothered in the mud of Cole Creek, or drowned in the back water.

During the occupancy of Fort Pillow by the Federals, Lauderdale County was overrun by raiding parties, and, occasionally, during the war, bodies of Confederates would visit the county.

Ripley the county seat, was formed in June, 1836, upon fifty acres of land donated to the county by John Brown. The town is centrally located on the Newport News & Mississippi Railway, fifty-two miles north of Memphis, 185 miles west from Nashville, and sixteen miles east from the Mississippi River, on the highest point between Memphis and Paducah, KY., on the railroad, and has a population of about 900. The town has been incorporated since 1849. J. M. Smith & Co. were the first merchants in 1836. Little business was transacted between that year and 1837, and from then until 1840 the merchants were J. M. C. Robertson, W. K. Dobins & Co., Mark Watkins and Devenport & Whitson. Joseph Wardlaw had a tannery during that period; William Cooper, a tailor shop; Henry Murphey, a hattery, and William P. Gains a blacksmith shop. Isaac Pinson erected the first hotel, which was subsequently run by Thomas Hart and Joseph Goodman, and then closed. In the latter part of the above period, Joseph Wardlawopened a hotel at his residence n Sugar Hill. The merchants between 1840 and 1850 were John J. Nelson, Yancy & Langley, Thomas Hart, George B. Carson, Glass Bros., Joseph Clay, James McClelland, Robert Hall and W. H. Davis. Between 1850 and 1860, J. B. Clay, Glass Bros., B. A. Sinclair, G. D. Carson, Farmer & Wardlaw, Smith & Vanderbilt, Robert Hall, Joseph McClelland, O'Stein & Lunsford and William Vale. Between 1860 and 1870, Glass & Son, Macklin & Co., John W. Wylie, Sinclair and Son, Wardlaw & Scott, John Felsenthal, Wardlaw & Son, Carson Bros., McKinney & Co., Glass & Co., Barbee & Tucker, Barbee & Anderson, and Gray & Porter. Thomas Furguson, hotel; Jo. C. Marley, livery stable. Between 1870 and 1880, Barbee & Co., Glass & Co., John Felsenthal, Porter & Co., Tucker, Adair & Co., Thomas Bird, James Johnson, Neighbors & McLeod, John E. Gray, Sinclair & Son, Carson Bros., Glass & Son, Maclin & Falts, Hall & Braden, Hearring Bros., Williams & Co., C. L. Strickland, Wheeler & Co., Branch & Woodard, Johnston & Rogers, Plant & Co., R. S. Porter, and Ward & Adair. Hotel and livery proprietors same as between 1860 and 1870. The business men of the present are J. J. Barbee & Co., dry goods and groceries; B. A. Sinclair & Son, Chapman & Campbell, Tillman Bros., I. Lang, dry goods; R. C. Klutts, Wm. Tucker, Wm. Robertson, T. L. Johnson, groceries; C. S. McKinney & Co., Porter & Henry, Byrn & Meadows, drugs; W. J. Campbell, hardware; Johnston & Co., furniture and undertakers; John Felsenthal, general store; L. H. Joragin, jewelry; D. R. Larrymore, tinware; Gus Hobbs, confectionery; R. C. Klutts, Berg & Shafer, meat markets; J. D. Trimble, harness-maker; J. M. Campbell, J. Haebt, boot and shoe-makers; Pierson & Furguson, J. W. Kirkpatrick, livery stables; J. D. Henry and G. C. Porter, hotels; Henry & Brown, R. M. Hughes, blacksmiths and wood-workers.

In 1871 James L. Green erected a steam saw and grist-mill, which was destroyed by fire in 1875. The mill was at once erected a second time, and is at present in operation, being owned by J. T. Williams, who added a cotton-gin thereto. The other mill of Ripley is a large brick steam flour and grist-mill, valued at about $20,000, which was erected in 1880 by Johnson, Neal & McKinney.

Ripley Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M., was instituted in 1842, and removed to Durhamville in 1849. Fuller Lodge, No. 269, F. & A. M., was instituted October 6, 1858. Ripley Chapter, No. 66, R. A. M., was instituted December 8, 1866. Ripley Lodge, No. 66, I. O. O. F., was instituted in 1856, and soon abandoned, but reorganized in 1868, and abandoned a second time after a few years' work. Ripley Lodge, No. 1011, K. of H., was instituted in March, 1878; Diamond Lodge, No. 137, K. & L. of H., in February, 1879, and Lauderdale Lodge, No. 16, N. O. G. C., in May, 1880. Ripley has two weekly newspapers - the News and Enterprise. The News was established August 9, 1871, by J. L. Sparks, Jr., and P. T. Glass. At the death of J. L. Sparks, Jr., in 1883, J. L. Sparks, Sr., succeeded to the proprietorship of the paper, and T. M. Sparks became manager and local editor, and continues as such at present. The News is a six-column quarto, Democratic in politics, and has a weekly circulation of 700 copies. The Enterprise is a seven-column folio, and was established by L. A. Palmer August 28, 1885. Though but a few months over a year old, the Enterprise has built up a splendid business, and has now a weekly circulation of 1,000 copies. It is Democratic in politics. Drs. James Lackey and John McCall were the first practicing physicians of Ripley, they beginning in 1836, the former continuing until his death in 1885, and the latter until about 1850. Dr. R. H. McGaughey began to practice in 1844, and continued to 1847; Dr. W. C. Fain, from 1846 to 1866; Dr. John J. Nelson, from 1850 to 1857, and Dr. Stephen H. Steele from 1858 to 1862. The present practitioners are Drs. B. F. Lackey, D. B. Steele, A. H. Young and G. A. Lusk. Dr. A. W. Smith, dentist.

Fulton, the oldest town in the county, is situated on the Mississippi River, three miles above the mouth of Hatchie, twenty-five miles southeast from Ripley, in the Fourth Civil District, and has a population of about 150. Fulton was founded in 1827, upon a tract of 760 acres of land entered in the name of James Trimble. Its founders had hopes of make the town the great city of the West, and advertised extensively its advantages and offered great inducements to people to settle there. In an almost incredibly short time the town had upward of 600 inhabitants, all living in shanties and keel boats. Between 1829 and 1831, however, the citizens were stricken with a deadly fever, and about 200 died. The balance moved away, and by 1832 there was not a single inhabitant. The town was resurveyed and founded in 1835.

In about 1837-38 Dr. W. W. Lea opened a general store in Fulton, and sold out to E. K. Dodge in 1834. Dodge sold out to J. M. Alexander in 1846, who continued in business until the war. Albert and Joel Lea engaged in business at the close of the war, and since then the business men have been P. A. Crow & Co., Samuel A. Givins, Slaughter & Coleman and A. Lea & Co., the present business firm. From 1830 to 1840 the Fulton Bank was in operation, of which A. Lea was president and W. J. Donelson, cashier. A. Lea & Co. erected a large saw-mill in 1869, which burned in 1876. Dr. Henry W. Sanford is the one practicing physician of Fulton and vicinity.

Durhamville is the second oldest town in the county, having been founded in 1829-30 by Col. Thomas Durham, who had a store on the town site in 1826. Durhamville is situated in the First District, six and one-half miles southeast from Ripley, and has about 150 inhabitants.

The merchants of the town have been as follows: Thomas Durham, T. D. Fisher & Co., A. Phillips, David Merriweather, John W. Durant, D. M. Henning, Henry C. Cage, Thomas L. Clark & Co., Wardlaw and Greaves, Wardlaw & Cage, Borum Bros., E. Fitzpatrick & Co. The present merchants are J. L. Holmes & Co., and E. R. Anthony. A. M. Durham & Co. operate a steam grist-mill and cotton-gin.

Ripley Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M., was instituted at Ripley in 1842, and removed to Durhamville in 1849.

Drs. D. P. Phillips, D. M. Henning and T. A. Anthony were early physicians of Durhamville, and Drs. J. W. and N. W. Walker are the present.

Ashport, on the Mississippi River, sixteen miles west from Ripley, in the Fifth District, was founded in 1836 by John W. Campbell, Joseph Jones, William Connor and Matthew Pickett, they owning, jointly, 5,000 acres of land, 200 of which were laid off into lots, of which about 50 were sold in 1838.

The first merchants were Campbell and Harrolson, in 1838. Then followed Patton & Taylor, a Jackson firm, and John Duncan. Capt. William Tichnor is the present merchant.

From 1839 to 1847 Ashport gradually washed into the Mississippi. In the latter year a sand bank appeared before the town, which checked the washing until its disappearance in 1850, when it began again. All of the original 200 acres of lots have washed into the river. The population at present is about 100.

Henning, situated on the railroad, six miles southwest from Ripley, in the Third District, has a population of about 400, and is an important shipping point. The town was founded in 1873 by Dr. D. M. Henning, and was incorporated in 1883, remaining so for one year, when the charter was surrendered in order to prohibit the sale of whisky by the establishment of a chartered school. The town was totally destroyed by fire May 7, 1886, but has since been almost rebuilt.

C. L. Strickland was the first merchant in 1874. During the same year Wilson & Bowers opened a store, and from 1876 until 1886 the following parties were in business at various times: Alexander, Barfield & Co., L. R. Coleman & Co., S. M. Roy & Co., R. W. Smith, J. R. Matthews & Co., Lipscomb & Bro. and S. W. Sanford. The present business men are Wilson & Bowers, dry goods; S. M. Roy & Co., groceries; J. T. Martin & Bro., R. B. Lipscomb & Co., G. C. Jennings & Bro., T. W. Rice, general stores; S. G. Nevils, drugs; Lipscomb & Co., livery stable. T. F. Scott erected the Henning steam saw and grist-mill and cotton-gin in 1873.

Fulton Lodge, No. 448, F. & A. M., instituted at Fulton in about 1840, was removed to Henning some time during the seventies, and was in active working order until 1881, when it was abandoned. Henning Lodge, No. 1059, K. of H. was instituted in 1878.

The practicing physicians of Henning are Drs. Samuel Sanford, R. W. Martin and N. M. Johnson.

Gates is situated eleven miles north of Ripley, on the railroad, in the Twelfth District, and has a population of about 350. The town was founded in 1882 upon the lands of Drs. J. N. Wardlaw and D. M. Henning, and was incorporated in 1884.

R. S. Porter, druggist, was the first merchant, in 1882, and from that year until the present time the merchants have been as follows: W. B. Campbell & Co., Campbell & Bro., Campbell & Carter, C. H. Witt and S. B. Carson; the present merchants being Wilson & Rawles, C. H. Witt, Wells & Bro., groceries and dry goods; Campbell & Carter, general store, and Campbell & Co., drugs. Dr. E. K. Williams is the physician.

In 1885 Milner & Gardner erected a large store and heading factory, which has a capacity of 20,000 staves and 10,000 heads per day.

Hall's Station, on the railroad, twelve miles northeast of Ripley, was founded in 1882 by Hansford R. Hall, J. S. Stephens and S. A. Jordan, and has about 400 inhabitants. E. Stanfield, general merchant, was first to engage in business at Hall's in 1882, and the next merchant was J. Wiggins, in 1883. Then followed Wm. Stephens, T. E. Salsburry, H. R. Hall and John Davis. The present merchants are Glass & Stanley, general store; W. F. Waggoman, groceries; Mrs. J. J. Brooks, drugs; W. A. Blair, drugs, groceries and hardware; S. E. Williams & Co., dry goods and groceries. The manufacturers are Young & Sawyer, steam cotton-gin; D. P. Shoffner, steam saw-mill and wagon material; J. H. Farmer, saw, grist and planning-mill and cotton-gin. Shannon & Farmer's mill was established in 1886. The sawing department has a daily capacity of 15,000 feet of lumber per day, the planing machine of 20,000 feet, and the cotton-gin of ten bales. Shaffner's mill was established in 1882, and saws on an average of 30,000 feet of lumber per month, and Shannon & Russell's mill was established in 1883, and has a capacity of 15,000 staves per day.

Other villages are Flippin, in the Second and Third Districts, and Curve, in the Seventh District, on the railroad, Plumb Point and Golddust in the Fifth and Hale's Point in the Ninth, all on the Mississippi River; Glympville in the Tenth, Double Bridges in the Tenth, Dry Hill in the Seventh, Edith in the Seventh, Mack in the Fourth, Orysa in the First, Hurricane Hill in the Third.

In the matter of educational facilities, Lauderdale is below the general average of West Tennessee counties. the common or public schools are of an inferior grade, are in session not to exceed three months during the year, and depend almost entirely upon State aid, as the county levies only a poll tax of $1 in their support. The high or chartered schools are of recent establishment, few in numbers, and are supported by subscription and public money, each pupil in attendance being allowed a pro rata share of the State and county funds.

The first school of the county was taught by Mrs. Edith Kenely, a daughter of Hugh Dunlap, one of the pioneers, at the home of her husband, two and a half miles north of the present town of Double Bridges, in 1825. In 1826 John Rutherford taught a school in a log cabin near the Alonzo Dunnevant place in the Seventh District, three miles south of the above village, and in 1827 a log schoolhouse was erected, where Ellan Church now stands, near Double Bridges, and a school taught there the same year by James w. Hearndon. The next early schools of consequence, of which there remains any record, were those taught in 1837-38 in the Durhamville District by Charles Baird and James Byers. At a very early date a school was taught at Mount Pleasant Church, in the Eleventh District. But it was not until the establishment of the male academy at Ripley, in 1850, under a charter, that a classical school was taught in the county. As early as 1841 Joseph Wardlaw, father of Dr. J. N. Wardlaw, present clerk and master of the chancery court, donated a lot for the purpose of founding the male academy. The building, a frame, was not erected until 1850, and cost upward of $1,500. School was taught there until 1863-64 when the house was destroyed by fire by Confederate soldiers. In 1868 the trustees exchanged the lot upon which stood the old academy, for more extensive grounds in the southern suburbs, and, erecting another frame building, continued the male school until 1875, when female pupils were admitted. In 1882 the building gave place to the present two-story brick building, which cost about $5,000. The building is divided into three large study and recitation rooms on the first floor, and a laboratory, which is supplied with necessary modern apparatus. The second floor is one large hall, used for commencement exercises and public occasions. A splendid library and extensive museum are among the features of this excellent school, which has been approximately named the Lauderdale Institute. The school is conducted under the auspices of the Methodist Church, and is supported by the State fund and tuition. The faculty, Profs. E. H. Randle and J. C. Cheek and Miss Mattie Folts, are experienced instructors, and are building up one of the best schools in West Tennessee.

The Hatchie Academy at Orysa was established by the farmers of the neighborhood in 1880 for the purpose of giving their children a good practical education. It is emphatically a school for farmer's children, and since the first has been under the able guidance of Isaac L. Case, M. D., principal. The citizens take great pride in it, and sustain it liberally. Hon. C. S. O. Rice is president of the Board of Trustees, and G. W. Young is secretary.

In 1850 A. D. Lunsford and Hiram Partee donated a lot to the Ripley Female Academy, and in 1853 a two-story frame building was erected by a stock company. This building stood about one-eighth a mile north from the court house, and was destroyed by fire in 1872 and never rebuilt.

In 1855 a church and schoolhouse combined was erected at Union Hill, in the Eleventh District, one mile west of Ripley, the lot having been donated the year before by J. H. Graham, and in 1867 a lot was donated by A. W. Posey and J. A. Jeffries, upon which a schoolhouse was erected in the Third District, and a good school was established under supervision of the Methodist Church, known as Hurricane Hill Academy, which school is in operation at the present.

In 1881 Mrs. E. R. Lewis founded a subscription school in Ripley, which also shares the public school fund, and continues the same successfully at the present.

The schools of the county are working under charters granted under the Four Mile Law, all of which are graded, and the date of their establishment is as follows: Orysa, in the First District, chartered in 1880; Fulton, in the Fourth District, chartered in 1881, Lauderdale Institute, chartered in 1882; Henning, in the Third District, chartered in 1885; Double Bridges, in the Eighth District, Chartered in 1885.

The scholastic population of the county June 30, 1885 (the last report) was white: Male 1,801, female 1,590; colored: male 1,233, female 1,247; total 5,871.

The semi-annual apportionment of public school money for the county in 1885 was for April $736.12, for October $736.12.

The number of teachers employed in the county in 1885 was, white: male 22, female 14; colored: male 21, female 5. The number of schools taught the same year was, white 36, colored 26, total 62.

The number of pupils enrolled during 1885 was, white: male 686, female 630; colored: make 592, female 562, total 2,470.

There are in the county thirty-one schoolhouses, of which one is brick, eighteen frame and twelve log.

Since 1873 the office of county superintendent has been filled as follows: H. T. Hanks, 1873-78; Jason Thompson, a few months during 1878; Henry Sanford, 1878-84; George Young, 1884-86 and present incumbent.

In the language of William Turner, who is probably the oldest living pioneer of Lauderdale County: "We were two years without law or gospel. Mr. Turner came to the county in 1826, and the two years referred to were from that year until 1828. In 1829 the first church was erected. It was a small, rough, hewn-log hut or cabin, and stood near Mr. Turner's present home, two and one-half miles from Durhamville. It was built by the Methodists, and called Turner's Chapel. Wm. Taylor, commonly called "Billy Taylor" was the first preacher, and was instrumental to the organization and erection of the church. Subsequently Turner's Chapel was removed to Durhamville and given the name of St. Paul's. Probably the second meeting-house built in the county was the Durhamville Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in 1830, which continued until 1840. Bethlehem Methodist Episcopal Church, four miles west of Durhamville, was erected in 1830. Between 1830 and 1835 Elam Missionary Baptist Church, three miles east of Durhamville, and Mount Zion Hard Shell Baptist, four miles northwest of Ripley, were erected. Bethesda Methodist Episcopal, three miles northwest from Gates, was erected in 1847; Ellan Church, used by all denominations, in 1850, near Double Bridges; Union Hill in the Eleventh District, in 1851, and Antioch Methodist Episcopal, one mile west of Henning, in 1869. At an early date the Christians, or Campbellites, erected a church near Flippin's Station. The Ripley churches were erected as follows: Methodist, erected in 1853 upon a lot donated by Joseph Wardlaw, was a frame, and stood until 1886, when it was removed to make room for the handsome brick edifice now in course of erection, which is to be completed December 1, 1886, and will cost $4,500. During the construction of the new church, the congregation held services in the Lauderdale Institute. Cumberland Presbyterian, erected in 1855 at a cost of about $1,000 is of frame, and in use at present. The lot was donated by Jacob Byler. Episcopal, erected in 1858, is of frame, and cost about $1,500. ________ is a frame, and standing at present upon the lot donated by Samuel Oldham. Missionary Baptist, erected in 1859, and still in use, is of frame, and cost $1,500; lot was donated by Hiram Partee. G. W. Stone donated a lot to a Presbyterian Church in 1853, but no church was organized or erected. Previous to the building of the above churches, the different denominations held services in the court house. When Ashport was laid out, the founders donated a lot to every denomination, only one of which took advantage of the donation. A log church was erected by the Methodists, but it afterward washed into the river, and was not rebuilt. The Durhamville Methodist Church was erected in 1847, and replaced with a new frame one in 1859, and the Missionary Baptist in 1860, both good frame buildings. The Henning Methodist Episcopal Church was erected in 1879, the Christian Church in 1881, and the Missionary Baptist in 1884. The Fulton Presbyterian Church was erected in 1880, and the Missionary Baptist in 1881. Hall's Station Missionary Baptist Church, known as Berea, was organized in 1883, and they have a frame building almost completed. There are no churches at Gates, but the Methodists have an organization, and a church will be erected next year.

The churches of the county and their denominations, by civil districts, are as follows: First District, Graves Chapel, Methodist Episcopal; Second, Hurricane Hill and Cross Roads, both Methodist Episcopal; Third, Antioch, Methodist Episcopal and Salem, Missionary Baptist; Fourth, Green's Chapel, Methodist Episcopal; Sixth, Grace and Walnut Grove, Missionary Baptist, and New Hope, Methodist Episcopal; Seventh, Concord, Methodist Episcopal and Cumberland Presbyterian; Eight, Melville, Missionary Baptist and Methodist Episcopal; Bethesda and Ellan, Methodist Episcopal; Ninth, Union, all denominations; Tenth, Western Valley and Pleasant Plains, both Missionary Baptists; Eleventh, Mount Pleasant and Asbery, Methodist Episcopal; Herman, Missionary Baptist, and Union, Cumberland Presbyterian and Methodist Episcopal; Twelfth, Beach Grove, Christian an Cates, Baptist.

Lauderdale County Published Records

Lauderdale Co., Tenn., Court Minutes, vol. A, 1836-44 (WPA, 1936)
Lauderdale Co., Tenn., Court Minutes, vol. B, 1844-52 (WPA, 1936)
Lauderdale Co., Tenn., Wills, Inventories, & Sales, 1837-44, 1844-49 (WPA, 1936)
Lauderdale County, Tenn., Marriage Register vol. A, 1838-57 & vol. B 1866 (WPA, 1936)
Lauderdale County, Tennessee, 1840 Census, 1850 Census, and 1850 Mortality Schedule (Davis, 1983)
Lauderdale County, Tennessee, Court Minutes, Book D, 1856-1861 (WPA, 1937)
Lauderdale County, Tennessee, Inventory, Sales Bills, & Wills, 1849-55 (WPA, 1937)
Lauderdale County, Tennessee Marriages, 1838-1867 (Davis, 1983)
Lauderdale County, Tennessee Marriages, 1867-1886 (Davis, 1983)
Lauderdale County, Tennessee, Minute Book C, 1852-56 (WPA, 1936)
Private Acts of Lauderdale County, Tennessee (McIntyre & McCroskey, 1993)

Lauderdale County History and Information

Lauderdale County Court Records

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Lauderdale County Vital Records

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Lauderdale County Census Records

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Lauderdale County Maps & Atlases

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Lauderdale County Military Records

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