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The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture © Tennessee Historical Society
Situated
next to the Tennessee River on the
western edge of Middle Tennessee,
Humphreys County has a history intimately
linked to its location and natural
resources. It contains fertile agricultural
land along its major waterways--the
Tennessee, Duck, and Buffalo Rivers--and
in the creek-lined lands of its innumerable
rolling hills. A strong agricultural
tradition and proximity to the Tennessee
River have been the county's mainstay
since its 1809 creation from parts
of Stewart County.
Prior to white settlement Native Americans lived and hunted on the land that
eventually became Humphreys County. Of these indigenous groups, Woodland and
Mississippian groups left the most visible remains. Many mound sites are located
in the western section of the county, with the most prominent being the Link
and Slayden sites situated near Hurricane Mills on the Duck River. Partially
excavated in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration, the Slayden site revealed
a small circular village with two community houses and a nearby cemetery. The
Link site contained six mounds and several cemeteries.
Humphreys County grew steadily and by 1860 claimed a population of 9,096 whites,
1,463 slaves, and 14 free blacks. Most residents were farmers. In addition to
livestock, farms situated along the rich river bottoms and fertile valleys yielded
wheat, rye, oats, tobacco, and cotton, with Indian corn the major cash crop.
Although Humphreys County lies in the once-rich iron ore area of the Western
Highland Rim, only two iron operations existed. The Fairchance Furnace produced
pig iron from circa 1832 to 1835, while the iron forge at Hurricane Mills operated
sporadically from circa 1814 into the early 1850s.
The 1860 census shows 1,118 people in Humphreys County employed in the construction
of the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad. Mostly Irish immigrants, the workers
later settled the town of McEwen. The Civil War and the Union capture of Forts
Henry and Donelson temporarily interrupted railroad construction. In January
1863 General William S. Rosecrans ordered the completion of the railroad from
White Bluff to Johnsonville and the stationing of Union troops along the railroad
line at the Hurricane Creek stockade and at both Fort Hills in Waverly and Johnsonville.
Humphreys County was the scene of occasional skirmishes and one Civil War battle.
On November 4, 1864, General Nathan Bedford Forrest commanded the bombardment
of Johnsonville, which served as a Federal supply center on the Tennessee River.
After forty minutes of cannon and gun fire, the Union troops set fire to the
remaining boats and retreated to Waverly and Nashville. The battle destroyed
three gunboats, eight steamboats, eighteen barges, and all the warehouses.
In the decades following the war, Humphreys County grew steadily; by 1890 it
had a population of 11,720 and nearly 1,400 farms. Most of the best farmland
had been claimed before the war, and new growth occurred in the hilly, marginally
fertile areas. Unsuitable for commercial crop farming, the land was good for
timber and livestock grazing. The timber industry flourished, meeting new demands
for board lumber, local stave mills, and railroad crossties. While corn continued
to be an important crop, the peanut industry had the greatest impact on the county's
economic development from the 1880s into the first decades of the twentieth century.
At the height of the crop's production in 1910, the county supplied one-third
of the state's peanuts, with approximately 6,126 acres devoted to the legume.
Peanut farming required a great deal of hand labor and supported the tenancy
system as well as the small hill farmer. Large peanut warehouses in Waverly and
Johnsonville stored the crop until it was shipped on Tennessee River barges.
The peanut industry and the general agriculture market experienced a sharp decline
around 1920, however, as a result of post-World War I deflation. The agricultural
stagnation that followed haunted Humphreys County throughout the 1920s, reducing
the county's population.
The New Deal brought progressive agricultural programs to demonstrate soil conservation,
crop diversification, crop rotation, mechanization, and promotion of livestock
raising and dairying. Federal involvement helped stabilize the eroding agricultural
environment and promote industrial growth. As early as 1934 the Public Works
Administration constructed a city water works in McEwen, which helped bring Kraft
Cheese Company to the area. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) built new
roads, bridges, streets, a gymnasium, and other recreation and conservation projects.
From 1935 to 1938 the WPA spent $432,360 in Humphreys County; in 1940 the WPA
employed 441 people in the county.
In 1937 the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began surveying the western, Tennessee
River side of the county to establish the zone that would be inundated by the
creation of Kentucky Lake and Dam. From 1938 to 1942 the TVA purchased 36,160
acres of the richest agricultural land in the county, displacing people, businesses,
industries, and whole towns. The TVA became the greatest vehicle for change in
the history of the county, diverting the economic character from agricultural
dependency to industrialization. The new potential for hydroelectric power gave
the county a great advantage in the post-World War II period. By the early 1950s
the recently created river town of New Johnsonville claimed the TVA's first steam
power plant, a large chemical plant, a manganese factory, and an aluminum reduction
plant. Today Humphreys County relies upon both its industrial and agricultural
heritage, while also enjoying the immensely popular recreational attractions
and wetland preserves created by the TVA's legacy. A major tourist site is the
Hurricane Mills estate of country music legend Loretta Lynn. A member of the
Country Music Hall of Fame, Lynn significantly influenced a generation of women
performers in her songs about women trying to make their way and keep their families
together in a modern world. Lynn is a native of Kentucky, a story she tells well
in her autobiography Coal Miner's Daughter (1976). But she has lived
most of her life in Tennessee and considers Hurricane Mills as her adopted home.
The Hurricane Mills Historic District was listed on the National Register of
Historic Places in 2000. In that same year, the county's population totaled 17,929.
The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1887
HUMPHREYS COUNTY belongs to that geological division of the State known as the Highland Rim, while a portion of it lies also in the Western Valley of the Tennessee. The prevailing rocks of the county are freestone and limestone. The former is easily quarried and worked, and is susceptible of high polish, and the latter, though undeveloped and utilized, will produce an excellent quality of lime. The county is on the edge of the great iron belt of Hickman County, and abounds in iron ore. In 1833 an attempt was made to develop the iron industry of the county, by Messrs. A. W. Vandier, D. Hillman and John Sullivan, all experienced iron men, and a furnace was erected in the spring of that year on Big Richland Creek, eight miles we st of Waverly. The furnace went in blast in the latter part of the above year and continued in operation until 1835, when it was found to be unprofitable, as the cost of handling the metal was too great, owing to the limited facilities for transporting i t to market. That was the first and only attempt to develop the iron interests of the county. Iron ore banks, from which more or less ore has been taken, are on the waters of Hurricane Creek in the Eighth District, on Tumbling Creek in the Ninth District, and Big and Little Richland and White Oak Creeks in the First District. Pipe, pot and honeycomb iron ore exist in almost any portion of the county, except in the lowlands and river bottoms. The surface of the county is uneven and broken. On the uplands the soil is mostly strong and good, reddish, and often gravelly, while in the river bottoms it is rich and alluvial. Most all of the cereals are grown with profit, corn and peanuts in particular. The average yield of corn in the bottom land is about fifty bushels per acre. Cotton can also be grown profitably. The county is drained and well watered by numerous. small streams, the prominent ones being Duck and Buffalo Rivers, Tumbling, Hurricane, Blue, Trace, Big and Little Richland, White Oak, Indian and Bear Creeks. Of these Hurricane, White Oak, Big Richland and Blue Creek, furnish excellent water-power for driving machinery. The hill lands are especially adapted to all kinds of fruits; and apples, peaches, pears, plums and cherries grow well and yield abundantly. Timber of all kinds abounds in the forest, red and white oak, chestnut, poplar, hickory, ash, walnut, beech, locust and sycamore being in almost inexhaustible quantities. Humphreys County is particularly noted for its enormous crop s of the finest peanuts. The value of this crop alone amounts annually to several hundred thousand dollars.
While the neighboring counties of Stewart and Dickson were organized only a few years previous to Humphreys, yet the settlement of the two former was at least ten years in advance, of the latter. This was due to a great extent to the fact that up until 1805 the eastern boundary of the Indian Territory was marked by the Tennessee Ridge, and the country for twenty-five and thirty miles east of the ridge was infested with Indians, most of whom were hostile, and it was extremely hazardous for the white settlers to venture into that section. Yet a few hardy pioneers, induced by the abundance of cheap lands, wood, water and game, braved the hardships and perils, and settled along some of the numerous creeks as early as 1800, though it was not until 1805 th at this county became anything like settled. Probably the scene of the first white-settlement was on Trace Creek, a shallow Stream which flows west through Waverly to the river. This creek was used by the Indians as a trail, and took its name from Natchez Trace, named for the settlement in the "Mississippi Country."
All of Humphreys County was granted by the State of North Carolina at the time this was a portion of that State, to survivors of the Continental war, and was afterward farmed out in smaller tracts to the settlers as they arrived from the older States. Among the military land grants issued were the following: Thomas Hambleton, 640 acres; Peter Barcate, 3,840 acres; Willis Barrow, 640 acres; John Gray Blount, 640 acres; William Blount, 1,240 acres; Henry Johnson , 640 acres; Sylvester Adams, 100 acres; Bailey Hooper, 640 acres; David Childers, 640 acres; Thomas Dillin, 1,000 acres; James Tate, 1,500 acres: Maj. John Walker, 1,700 acres; and Thomas Mulhollen purchased 3,500 acres for 10 pounds per 100 acres. Among the very early settlers were Moses Box, who came from North Carolina in 1800, and Settled on Trace Creek, near the present site of Waverly; John McAdoo and Gen. Jarman came from North Carolina during the same year. Then came Benjamin Holland, from East Tennessee; William and Samuel King, David Bibb, Daniel Foresse, from Virginia; William May (father of Dempsy May, who still lives at the age of ninety-two years), William Lomax, Joseph Shouse, Drury Taylor, Charles Brown and John Johnson, from Georgia, all of whom settled on Hurricane Creek; and John Hales, Jonathan May, William and Henry Hunter, who settled on Tumbling Creek. In 1805 Abel Rushing, Stephen O'Guin, William Allen and James Moss came from North Carolina, and settled on White Oak Creek. Other settlers at that time and neighborhood were the Haglers , Laniers, Whitleys, Winns, Reeves, Outlaws, Calstons, Colliers, Curleys, Lankfords and Crosswells. Those settling on Big Richland Creek about the same time were William Fortner, George Turner, John Toller, Nathan Ragon and Maj. John Burton. Those of the settlers from 1800 to 1805, who settled in the western portion of the county were Samuel Parker, John and Jesse Holland, all of whom came from Georgia, and settled on Trace Creek; Jesse Rodgers, John Thompson, Kemps Crawley, Cass, Madlock and Louis Bairfield came from North Carolina, and settled in the vicinity of what afterward was the site of Reynoldsburg.
During the period between the years 1810 and 1820 land was granted to citizens of Humphreys County by the State of Tennessee as follows: Levi Kirkland, 285 acres; William Tubbs, 250 acres; Levi Powerly, 60 acres; Samuel Sproggin s, 640 acres; James MeElyer, 320 acres; William McKinsey, 285 acres; John Bennett, 60 acres; William Brather, 640 acres; Jacob Northington, 480 acres; Drury Morgan, 640 acres; Daniel Shouse, 5 acres; James Porterfield, 320 acres; John Wood, 67 acres; John H. Burton, 15 acres; Martin Hardin, 37 acres; Henry Green, 240 acres; Jacob Garrison, 640 acres; John Curtis, 200 acres; Joshua Williams, 3,840 a cres; Griffith Rutherford, 274 acres; Robert Thompson, 320 acres; Alexander McCall, 148 acres, and Gardner Robertson, 640 acres. The above, together with the following, were among the early settlers in general: Robert Lawson, John McSwine, Samuel McFall, Smith Metlock, Zachariah and Louis Baker, William Sooker, D. P. Hudson, Elisha Turner, Royal Hudson, Peter Black, Benjamin Hudso n, Henry Pugh, Stephen Harris, James Young, Hugh Dickson, David Burton, Thomas Black, James Wilson, Elijah Hendricks, Fred Grash, Alexander Brown (whose son, Dr. John Brown, is living yet, having reached the age of ninety-two years) and Rev. Nimrod Crosswell. David Northington, a colored man, was also one of the very earliest settlers of the county, and lived to an extreme old age. Another noted darkey and early settler, who is yet in the land of the living, is old Tom Wylie, generally known as Free Tom.
From the first days of the settlement up to the year 1812 the Indians were a source of great annoyance and trouble to the whites, and raids were made by hostile savages upon the settlements frequently, when the houses of the settlers were burned and their stock run off. In not a few instances the lives of the settlers were sacrificed in defending their families and property. The Indians had several large villages and encampments in the county, the leading ones being on Tennessee River, about two mile s below Duck, at Hurricane Rock Hill, and on the hills around Paint Rock, both of the latter being on Duck River. Some time between 1810 and 1815 the Indians were moved across Tennessee River, that stream being made the eastern boundary of their nation, and during their removal many depredations were committed. The settlers had a blockhouse, or fort, at Reynoldsburg, but the same could not be taken advantage of by all, as many lived some distance there from. Of this number was a farmer, named Johnson, who lived on the banks of the Tennessee River. One morning along in 1814 his house was attacked by a roving band of Indians, and Johnson was killed and his house set fire to. One of Johnson's children was also killed, and a Mrs. Manley, who was at the house at the time, was seriously wounded in the knee, and died afterward from the effects of the wound and fright she received. Mrs. Crauley, the wife of a neighboring farmer, was also at Johnson's house at the time, and was taken captive by the Indians and carried away. She afterward made her escape, and after several days spent in wandering and hiding in the forests. succeeded in reaching the settlement, and was returned to her home again. 0ne day she was so closely pursued by the savages that she crawled into a hollow log and lay there, shaking with fear, while her pursuers passed and repassed over the log. The Indians also killed Bill Martin about that time. Martin was a hunter and trapper, and spent as much as a week and sometimes two away from his family. He had gone down the river on one of his expeditions and was ambushed and killed. The Indians who murdered the trapper were about six in number, and after robbing the body of the dead trapper of gun, ammunition, etc., the party proceeded in their canoe up Big Richland Creek, where they were surprised and killed by a posse of settlers, headed by the brother of the murdered man. The Indians had been betrayed by having in their possession the rifle of their victim.
The Paint Rock mentioned above is somewhat of a curiosity. It is a bluff which rises perpendicularly out of Duck River, standing some eighty feet out of the water. About fifty feet above the Water are found the figures of the half moon and seven star s cut in the face of the rock. At a later day these figures were painted red, hence the name. Who engraved the figures is unknown, as they were there when the first settlers came. There are many traditions and stories handed down in regard to the rock and its figuring, one of which is that it was the work of DeSoto's troops. Long after the removal of the Indians across Tennessee River they continued their depredations, and it was necessary that the eastern shore of the river be constantly guarded by r angers. The settlers would take turns in standing guard.
In November, 1811, occurred the earthquakes, which were distinctly felt in Humphreys County. They are known now as the "great shakes." Dr. John Brown, one of the oldest citizens of the county, who resides on White Oak Creek, and to whom the writer is under obligations for valuable information, tells an incident of the "great shakes," the first of which occurred in the night time, while the family were asleep.: The shock was so violent they were all awakened, and the house trembled and shook as though persons were on the roof The first thought of the Doctor's father was that they were attacked by the Indians. Hastily dressing, the father aroused the family, and the balance of the night was spent in waiting for the dreaded attack. None came, however, and the next day the cause of their scare was explained by another violent earthquake, which shook and rattled the house, and made the trees quiver and shake as though in an ague. Dr. Brown stated that sometimes the bed would shake so violently he could with difficulty hold himself on it.
In 1814 occurred what it now known as the "McSwine flood," which was very destructive, of property along on Duck River. The flood takes its name from a family of that name who had quite a narrow escape from drowning during the unprecedented rise of the water. The early industries of the settlement were few and slow to develop. Corn-mills, cotton gins aiidstill-houses were its leading branches, and their facilities were limited. The old fashioned corn-mill constructed of two stones and a hollow log was used at first, but soon gave way to the water-power mill. The first one of the latter was probably erected by John Massing on Cane Creek, in about 1810 or 1812. The water was conveyed from the creek to the mill through a race, and the o ld fashioned water-wheel was used. The building was a small, square, low log house, with a pole roof and no floor. From ten to twelve bushels of grist was an average day's grinding, and a toll of one-eighth was charged. Other mills of that day were James Lattimer's, on White Oak Creek, John Brown's on Lewis' Branch, Robert Thompson's on Big Richland Creek, and John McFall's on Harman's Branch. The number of mills increased as did the demand, and ' at the present time there are no less than thirty excellent steam and watermills in the county as follows: Orson Denslow's steam corn and saw-mill in the First District; John Thomas' steam corn-mill on Dry Creek; Junius M. Palmer's steam saw-mill at Johnsonville; Frank Long's corn-mill on Bear Creek; H. H. Box's water corn-mill near Box Station in the Second District; J. B. Brigg's saw and grist mill in the Big Bottoms, and Henry Warren's steam grist and saw-mill -hear Plant post office in the Third District; A. G. Brown's water saw and grist-mill at the head of Richland Creek, and A. D. Simpson's saw-mill in the Fifth District; Thomas & Brown's steam flour, corn, saw and planing-mill, at Waverly, and H. H.Hopkins & Sons' grist-mill and store and heading factory in the Sixth District; Thomas Clark's water-power grist-mill, on Blue Creek in the Seventh District; G. W. Hillman's ,Hurricane Mills," including a flour, corn, woolen factory, etc., on Hurricane Creek, and S. C. Owen's steam saw-mill, in the Eighth District; Riley Beazley's water-power grist-mill, on Indian Creek in the Ninth District; McAdoo & Simpson's steam stave factory and grist-mill, and J. B. Briggs' steam stave factory in the Tenth District; James Hendricks' waterpower grist and saw-mill in the Eleventh District; J. H. Mullinnick's steam saw and grist-'Mill in the Twelfth District; Dr. J. E. Shipp's steam saw and grist-mill in the Thirteenth District, and A. J. Turner's water grist-mill o n Richland Creek in the Fifteenth District.
John Brigham had a still-house on Long Branch, James Brigant had one on White Oak Creek, as did also John Summers, John Stoddard and Charles Summers. These were among the first established. In later years the smoke of the still could be, seen in almost any direction rising up from the creek valleys. In the language of Dr. John Brown, "they were too numerous to mention at this late day."
'The cotton-gin came in use in this county along in the "teens." At that time cotton growing was carried on extensively, as there were plenty of slaves to do the work, and an abundance of suitable land. The early cotton-gins were owned as follows: one on Hall's Creek by James Forrest, one on White Oak Greek by John L. McCrackin, all of which were waterpower, and a horse-power gin on a branch of White Oak Creek, owned by David Wells. The cotton-gin did not remain long in use in the count y, as the cotton crop grew smaller and smaller each year. The tan-bark industry was at one time an important one in the county, and quite a number of tan-yards were in operation. They were long since abandoned, as they ceased to be remunerative. These tan-yards were as follows: Johnson & Gould operated a large yard near Johnsonville, N. F. Lucas had one in the Sixth District, Hugh Lucas and George Sullivan each had one in the First District, the latter being situated on Little Turkey Creek, and -- Thompson had one in the Fourth District. Considerable bark continues to be shipped each year from the county, but the supply is failing fast.
A section of Humphreys County worthy of especial mention is the Third Civil District, known as the "Big Bottoms," because it borders on the Tennessee and Duck Rivers, and includes a very rich alluvial bottom of some 18,000 acres, 6,000 of which is of a low and comparatively level upland. Not until after the organization of the county was the Big Bottoms settled. About 1812 some five or six families settled there as hunters and herdsmen. The land at that time was considered worthless, and indeed for many years afterward would bring no price at all in the market. Along in the "forties" that section began to be settled, and at the present time it is the most densely populated portion of the county. As late as the fifties land situated in the Bottoms could be purchased for $2 per acre which cannot to-day be bought for $100 per acre. It is the best farming section in the county, and is excelled by no land in the State. The average yield of corn is 75 bushels per acre. Stock is raised extensively by the farmers, while the grasses and some wheat are grown.
Humphreys County is bounded on the north by Houston County, on the east by Dickson and Hickman County, on the south by Perry County and on the west by Benton County, and has an area of 375 square miles. The St. Louis branch of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad passes through the county east and west, and the Tennessee River forms its western boundary. The county was created out of what was then Stewart County, by an act of the General Assembly passed October 9, 1809, and was organized during the following year. A portion of the act authorizing the creation of the county is as follows:
AN ACT TO FORM A NEW COUNTY SOUTH OF STEWART AND WEST OF DICKSON AND HICKMAN COUNTIES.
Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee That a new county be, and is hereby established on the south of Stewart, and adjoining the counties of Dickson and Hickman on the west, to be known by the name of Humphreys, and bounded as follows, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of White' Oak Creek on the bank of the Tennessee River; running thence east to the dividing ridge between the waters of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers; thence with the said dividing ridge to the Dickson Countv line, thence with the said line to the line of Hickman County; thence with the said line of Hickman County to Duck River; thence south and west for complement.
Sec. 2 That the first court, and all subsequent courts of said county of Humphreys, shall be held at the house of Samuel Parker, Jr., until otherwise ordered or provided for by law. And all courts held in and for said county of Humphreys shall be held by justices, commissions being issued to said justices in the same manner and under the same rules and restrictions, and shall have and exercise the same powers of jurisdiction as are or shall be prescribed for the courts of the several counties of this State.
Section 3 provided that the first court of pleas and quarter sessions should commence and be held on the first Monday of February, May, August, and November and might be continued six days if necessary. Section 8 provided that nothing contained in the act should.be construed so as to prevent the sheriff of Stewart County from collecting the taxes that had already been laid in said county, and the sheriff was authorized to collect said taxes and all arrearages of same in the manner as though Humphr eys County had not been established. A subsequent act passed November 22, 1809, provided that so much of Dickson County as lies west of the Tennessee Ridge should form part of Humphreys Countv. as follows: "Beginning on the said ridge where the dividi ng line between Stewart and Humphreys Counties strikes the Dickson County line; thence south along the top of said ridge so far as to include the waters of White Oak Creek in Humphreys County; thence west to said Dickson County line." It was also provided by the act that nothing contained therein should be construed so as to prevent the sheriff of Dickson County from collecting the taxes and arrearages due thereon.
The new county was duly organized according to the provisions of the above act, and was named in honor of Parry W. Humphreys, one of the judges of the superior court. The first sessions of the courts were held at the residence of Samuel Park er, Jr., who lived on Trace Creek, but as to the proceedings thereof, or the names of the justices nothing can now be learned, the records having long since been destroyed. In 1812 Reynoldsburg, then a forest, was selected as a county seat. The land was owned by Alexander Brerard, one of the first settlers, and was selected because of it being high ground, was on the Tennessee River and also on the Nashville & Memphis Stage Road. Mr. Brerard donated fifty acres to the county on which to build the public buildings and locate the town, and had the survey of the same made at his own expense. The town was platted in 1816 and was named in honor of Hon. J. B. Reynolds, a Tennessee member of Congress. A large, two-story brick court ho use and substantial log jail were erected at the county seat, but as to the date of their completion and cost of construction, nothing can now be ascertained. The old court house stands at the present time, having served for many years as a private residence.
At the time of organization Humphreys County comprised all the territory east and west of the Tennessee River now embraced in the counties of Humphreys and Benton. By an act of the General Assembly the county was divided in 1836, Tennessee River being made the dividing line. After the division it was decided to change the county seat, and a commission was appointed to select a more central point. A line was run east from Reynoldsburg, and the most central point was found on Blue Creek, about two miles south of the present town of Waverly, but the latter was chosen as the county seat on account of its natural advantages, one of which was the fact that it was on the main road of the Nashville & Memphis Stage Line, an all-important advantage at that Period. The land on which the new county seat was located was owned by David Childers, and was surveyed and laid out by Isaac Little in 1837. The county seat was then removed to Waverly, where it has since continued. A court house was a t once erected, also a jail. The court house was a large brick building, two stories in height, and cost upward of $6,000. The jail was also a brick, and cost about $3,000. in 1878 the court house and quite a number of the records were destroyed by fire . A few years previous to the destruction of the court house the jail was also burned.
From 1810 up to 1842 there are no records of the proceedings of the county court. At the January term, 1842, the tax was levied for county purposes as follows: On each $100 of taxable property, including real and personal, 7 1/2 cents; each poll 11 3/ 4 cents, and each merchant $2. At the following March term B. B. Spicer was qualified as sheriff of Humphreys County and assumed the duties of that office, while Thomas Lattimer, Robert H. Gouge, James Miller, James A. Simpson, John W. Ceamall, William Yeates, Benjamin F. Scott, William Rogers, Robert Smith, Robert Holland and Isaac Hendricks qualified as constables. Harry Nichols was granted license to practice la w at the same term. Nathan Shuffle, a pauper, was let out to the lowest bidder at the January term of court, in 1843, and at the July term James Buchanan was allowed premiums for the scalps of five wolves killed within the limits of the county, and John Buchanan was granted permission to erect and operate a grist-mill on Buffalo Creek. During the same year Susan B. Christopher,a free-born girl of color, was bound by the court to John Massey until she should become of age. At the March term, 1844, Wm. Draughn, county coroner, resigned his office, and William W. Webster was elected by the court to fill the vacancy. John A. Scott was granted a certificate stating that he was of legal age, and was also a man of good character. During the sessions of the court of 1845 William Miller was allowed premiums for five wolf scalps, and Nathan Schales premiums for ten scalps. In 1846 John N. Little was granted license to practice law, and James Moses was given permission to erect an office building, the same to be used as an apothecary shop. In 1847 Andrew Jackson was granted license to practice law, and H. L. Harmon was, fined $10 for contempt of court. A. L. Sanders was appointed, in 1851, to take a census of the voters of the county, but the report not being on file information as to the result of the census cannot be learned.
The old court house becoming unsafe the county court, in April, 1857, had the walls securely braced with iron ties. At the January term, 1868, the court passed an order for the erection of a new county jail, and appointed A. L. Atkins, John Wyley, D. R. Owen, Z. Drummond and G. L. Nelson a commission to award the contract and superintend the building of the same. At the September term the commission reported that they had awarded the contract to John M. McAdoo
for $4,000. The specifications called for a two-story brick building with stone foundation, 22x27 feet in dimensions, and the cells to be fitted up in the most improved manner. The jail was completed in 1869, and is in use at the present time.
At the January term, 1877, the court passed an order for the erection of a new court house, and levied a tax for that purpose. D. B. Thomas, M. L. Faulks, T. L. Lanier, J. W. Nolen and Joseph D. Foresse were appointed a commission to draw up plans and specifications and award the contract for the erection of the building, and also superintend the same. The commission awarded the contracts for the different departments of work to different parties. The building was completed in 1878 at a cost of about $16,000, though the plans and specifications called for but $14,000. The court house in use at the present is an ornament to the county. It is a large two-story brick, with stone foundation. The first floor i s divided into four offices and two large halls. There are four main entrances; the upper storv is taken up with the court room, lobby and gallery. The building is of modern architectural design, and its gabled roof is covered with tin. P. J. Pauley< /B>, of St. Louis, was the architect.
Previous to 1873 the county paupers were farmed out to individuals, but in 1872 the court appointed a commission composed of G. L. Nelson, J. M. McAdoo and G. M. Tubb |
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Tennessee 
