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The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture © Tennessee Historical Society
Residents began forming churches and schools almost as soon as they arrived in the area. Red River Baptist Church in Adams was constituted on July 25, 1791, and in 1798 Mt. Zion Methodist Church was organized. Both are active churches today. Tradition has it that Robert Black started the first school in the area on Sulphur Fork in 1789, and Thomas Mosby also taught a school in the area before 1796.
Over the first half of the nineteenth century, Robertson County grew from a sparsely settled frontier community of 4,228 to a society of over 16,000 people. Most of the early white settlers in the area were of English or Scots-Irish origin, although there were also contingents of people whose backgrounds lay in the German states and other western European countries. A few of the settlers brought slaves with them and a small contingent of free blacks lived in the county in the 1790s. The earliest reference to African Americans in the area was in 1789. However, the majority of the region's inhabitants used no slave labor.
Tobacco had been raised for personal use and for sale almost as soon as people settled in Middle Tennessee. By 1820 tobacco, a crop dependent largely on slave labor, had became the most important commercial crop in the county and remains so to the present; by the 1920s Robertson County was known as the "Home of the World's Finest Dark Fired Tobacco." Another major economic force in the county was the manufacture of fine whiskey, an industry which reached its peak in the 1880s and died with prohibition in 1909. The Springfield Woolen Mills was founded in 1903 as the first major "factory" in the county.
Robertson County was occupied territory and no major battles were fought within its borders during the Civil War. However, both armies moved men and materials through, and Confederate cavalryman John Hunt Morgan and his raiders destroyed parts of the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad which ran through the county.
By 1910 the county's population was 25,466, including 6,492 black citizens. The lives of most residents still revolved around the rhythms of farm work. The lack of economic opportunity for many young citizens, black and white, and the burdens of segregation fueled an exodus of people from the county to the large industrial cities of the North from the 1940s until the early 1970s. From the 1950s through today several manufacturing companies have strengthened the industrial sector of the county's economy, and the area has experienced unparalleled growth. Such companies include the Frigidaire Home Products, Unarco Material Handling, Datrek Professional Bags, and CEI Auto Electronic Parts. In 2000 Frigidaire is the county's largest private employer, with 1,550 workers. Part of the growth came as Interstates 65 and 24 connected Robertson County to Nashville. Even with the rise of industry, agriculture and tobacco continue to be important elements in the economic, social, cultural, and political life of the county's population of 54,433, which has increased by 31 percent since 1990.
The Robertson County Courthouse and Springfield Public Square are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with thirteen other locations within the county.
The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1887
p.827] The surface of Robertson County is generally broken, except near the Kentucky line, where it becomes a level plain. A small strip of level plateau land also bounds the southern and eastern borders. The middle belt is more broken, but is quite fertile. Geologically the county belongs to the lower carboniferous and to the upper or Lithostrotion bed of that group. The St. Louis limestone abounds in the county and crops out all along the streams in high bluffs. Innumerable springs furnish pure water in abundance. The principal streams are Red River and Sulphur Fork. Buzzard Creek, Miller's Creek and Elk Fork are tributaries of Red River, the latter entering from the north. Red River also has two branches, known as Middle and North Forks. Carr's Creek empties into Sulphur Fork three miles west of Springfield, and the two form a V, Springfield being in the fork. Sycamore Creek forms the southern boundary of the county and empties into the Cumberland River in Cheatham County.
The soil is similar to that of Montgomery County. A strip of thin porous land, with siliceous soils, begins on the Kentucky line, near the northwest corner of Sumner County, and rims the county on its east, south and half of its western boundaries. This land has a whitish sub-soil. The best soils for tobacco lie on Sulphur Fork, Buzzard Creek and that part of the county east of Miller's Creek. Almost all kinds of timber known to this latitude are found in abundance. Corn, wheat, oats and tobacco are the staple productions. Tobacco, on the best soils, produces from 800 to 1,200 pounds per acre; the quality is excellent and is classed with the best Clarksville tobacco. The amount raised is steadily increasing and the crop for 1886 is estimated at from 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 pounds.
[p.828] In nothing is Robertson County more distinguished that in the making of whisky. From an early period in the history of the State this brand has been sought after, and it now has a world-wide reputation. As will be seen from the appended figures, the amount of whisky manufactured and handled in the county is enormous. By far the largest distillery is operated by Charles Nelson, and is situated near Greenbrier. At this distillery there was manufactured, in 1885, 8,029 barrels, or 379,125 gallons of whisky, upon which the revenue tax amounted to $341,212.50. There were taken out of the warehouses during the same time 7,223 barrels, or 321,819 gallons of whisky. The second largest distillery in the county is owned by John Woodard. During the year 1885 he manufactured 40,097 gallons of whisky, and moved from his warehouse in the same time 47,941 gallons. J. S. Brown manufactured 27,674 gallons, and removed from his warehouse 23,559 gallons. The corresponding figures for Daniel Woodard's distillery are 9,211 and 7,787 gallons, respectively. For the distillery of J. H. Woodard the amounts were 6,756 and 15,427 gallons. The following is the number of gallons removed from warehouses by distillers who manufactured no whisky during 1885: J. R. Bridges, 6,374; Bridges & Johnson, 560; Pitt Bros., 7,549. The total amount of whisky manufactured in the county during 1885 was consequently, 462,863 gallons, and the amount removed from warehouses in the same time was 431,016 gallons, upon which the revenue tax paid amounted to $387,914.40. There is also some apple and peach brandy distilled in the fruit season, but the industry is somewhat on the decline.
The following statistics are from the census of 1880: There was produced in 1879, 793,702 bushels of corn, 134,426 bushels of wheat, 115,678 bushels of oats, 2,472 bushels of barley, 311 bushels of rye, 13,304 bushels of Irish potatoes, 25,350 bushels of sweet potatoes, 2,468 tons of hay, 4,342,588 pounds of tobacco, 32,706 pounds of wool, 193,272 pounds of butter, and 602 pounds of cheese. The value of orchard products was estimated at $4,704, and the value of all farm products sold and consumed, at $852,162. The number of farms was 2,148, valued at $3,462,671, and embracing 165,902 acres of improved land. The number of horses in the county was 3,597; mules, 2,984; milch cows, 2,975; other cattle, 3,849; sheep, 7,697; swine, 28,528. The total value of the live-stock is placed at $614,325.
The first settlement in Robertson County {The facts in regard to Kilgore's settlement were condensed from the articles written by Dr. J. S. Mulloy, for the Springfield Record.} was made by Thomas Kilgore on the waters of the Middle Fork of Red River, three-fourths of [p.829] a mile west of Cross Plains. The Legislature of North Carolina passed a pre-emption law securing to settlers of Tennessee 640 acres of land provided the settlement was made prior to 1780. In the spring of 1778 Kilgore left North Carolina with some ammunition, some salt, and a few grains of corn. Traveling on foot he passed through East Tennessee, and plunged into the wilderness beyond. Guided alone by the sun and the north star, he pushed on, seeing no white people until he reached Bledsoe's Lick, where he found a colony of six or eight familes. After resting a few days, he went on some twenty-five miles west where he located. As a safe hiding place from the Indians, he selected a cave a mile west of where Cross Plains now is. It had a bold stream of water running from it into the Middle Fork of Red River, and by wading the stream he could enter the cave without leaving a trail.
After finding a location to suit him he kicked up some of the rich alluvial soil of the cane brake, and planted a few hills of corn. It is said that in order to secure his land it was necessary for him to remain until the corn matured, that he might carry a few ears back to North Carolina. He spent the summer in watching his little crop, meeting with several narrow escapes from the hostile savages. During this period he had no other food than the game which he killed. In the fall he gathered two or three ears of corn, returned to North Carolina, and had the title to his land confirmed. In the spring of 1779, with a few families besides his own, he returned to the spot, where he had passed the previous summer. A stockaded fort, "Kilgore's Station" was at once erected to protect them from the Indians. This fort was situated on a commanding eminence about three-fourths of a mile from Cross Plains. Kilgore's Station, from that time for years, was a land-mark in the overland emigration to Tennessee.
In 1780 or 1781 Maulding's Station was built. It was located one mile west of the present Louisville and Nashville pike, and four miles east of Kilgore's. That was the next settlement in Robertson County, but the Indians were so hostile that they abandoned it for a time and united with the people at Kilgore's. Among the occupants of the latter station at this time were the Kilgores, Mauldings, Masons, Hoskinses, Jesse Simmons, Isaac Johnson, Samuel Martin, Yates, and several others. The first Indian massacres in the county occurred in 1781. A small colony had located in Montgomery County, near where Port Royal now is.
In 1782 the Indians became very hostile. Samuel Martin and Isaac Johnson were attacked, surrounded and captured; Johnson afterward escaped and returned to the station. In the same year the young Masons, while watching for deer at Clay Lick, saw a party of eight or ten Indians [p.830] approaching. The young men fired and killed two of the number, and then fled to the fort. That night John and Ephraim Peyton, on their way to Kentucky on a surveying expedition, came to the station, having left Bledsoe's Lick in the morning. During the night the Indians stole all the horses at the fort. Pursuit was immediately made, the trail led across Sulphur Fork, and up one of its tributaries toward the ridge. About noon the pursuers overtook the thieves on the bank of the stream, fired on them, stampeded and recovered their horses. While returning to the fort the pioneers stopped at Colgin's Spring for water. Here they were attacked by the Indians, who anticipating this, had managed to get in front of them and were lying there in ambush. One of the Masons was killed and Joseph Hoskins, fatally wounded. The condition of the occupants of Kilgore's Station having by this time become so perilous, they abandoned it, and joined those at the Bluff, where they remained during 1783. The next year the colony, augmented by new accessions, returned. There they remained until Indian hostilities ceased, when they separated, and began forming independent settlements. Thomas Kilgore, after living half a century on the land which he had acquired by his heroic daring, died at the advanced age of one hundred and eight years.
The years 1793 and 1794 closed the Indian massacres in Robertson County. During these years Adam Fleener, William Bartlett and a Miss Roberts were killed, and Capt. Abram Young and John Mayfield were wounded. The forts were generally the nuclei around which the earliest settlements clustered. They extended west from Kilgore's and east from Sevier's, now Clarksville. About 1781 Caleb Winters settled on the farm now owned by Hon. G. A. Washington. It is said that he, like Kilgore, subsisted entirely upon meat during the first season. It is also stated that Ezekiel Polk, grandfather of President Polk, located on Sulphur Fork, about three miles south of Adams Station, during the same year, but the Indians were so hostile that he remained only about a year. A fort known as Miles' Station was built on the place now occupied by Joseph Washington, and among those who settled in that vicinity were William and Charles Miles, Azariah Dunn, John Roberts and Nicholas Conrad. Jonathan Carr and Holland Darden, Archibald Mahan, James and Henry Gardner, Joseph Washington, William and Giles Connell located in Sulphur Fork.
In 1788 Samuel Crockett built a block-house or fort on the place where his son, Capt. M. D. Crockett, now lives. This served as a defense in times of danger for all those who had settled in that neighborhood. The Indians finally became so troublesome that the women and children were sent away to the stronger forts, while the men remained to [p.831] look after the crops. With all the precautions taken by the community, a young lady, a daughter of Thomas Norris, was killed by the Indians, and Patrick Martin was wounded. Besides those mentioned the following persons settled in this vicinity and to the southwest of it: Benjamin Nail, Joseph Martin, Thomas Martin, Henry Frey, George Williams, George Murphy, Thomas Jamison, Julius Justice, James and Hardy Bryant and Thomas Holmes. In the same year that Crockett located, the Forts formed a settlement on the north side of Red River, not far from where Adams Station now is. Others who found homes in this part of the county within the next few years were John and James Johnson, Thomas and James Gunn, Corbin Hall, Jesse Gardner, Isaac Menees, Jeremiah and Benjamin Batts and John Bell. Thomas and Henry Johnson, John and Benjamin McIntosh, Anderson, Archer, Edward and John B. Cheatham, William and Jonathan Huddleston, Richard Crunk, Martin Duncan, John Edwards, Joseph Hardaway and Jacob McCarty all settled in what is now the Ninth Civil District previous to 1795.
In 1792 Thomas Woodard located on Beaver Dam Creek in what is now the Eighteenth District. William and James Stark, Meredith and Martin Walton, and John Couts also settled in that vicinity at about the same time. The country around Barren Plains was settled largely by the Taylors, Redferrens and Masons. Still further north were the Pitts, Moores and Hueys, William Scoggins, Bardwell Babb, Edmund Edwards and James Gambell. In the neighborhood of the Tenth Civil District were Richard and Moses Stanley, James Sawyers, Simeon Walton, James Seals, James England, and John and Sampson Mathews. The last named afterward formed a settlement at the head of Spring Creek. At the beginning of the present century, a colony of Germans from North Carolina, among whom were the Fishers, Binkleys, Stoltzes, Fykes, Gigers, Kigers, Clinards and some of the Freys, came to the county and settled on Carr's Creek and vicinity. After the removal of the Indians from this part of the State, the settlement went on very rapidly, and in 1812 there were 852 able-bodied men in the county divided into fifteen militia companies.
The many streams of the county afforded ample water-power and invited the erection of mills, which was begun at an early date. The first was probably built by Thomas Kilgore on the middle fork of Red River, three-fourths of a mile northwest from Cross Plains, some time between 1785 and 1790. At a little later date one was erected by Thomas Woodard on Beaver Dam Creek. It is also stated that Maj. Charles Miles erected a water-mill on Sulphur Fork as early as 1793. >From this time forth mills were erected in different parts of the county as the increasing population [p.832] demanded. They were especially numerous along Red River, and some of them had a wide reputation for the excellence of the flour produced.
During the first fifty years after the settlement of the county, cotton was a crop of some importance. Nearly every farmer raised enough to clothe his own household, and after the invention of the gin, considerable quantities were shipped. Among the gins and presses in use in 1804 were those of Archer Cheatham, in Springfield, and John McMillan near Cross Plains. About 1830 the cultivation of cotton began to decline, and it was not long until its production practically ceased.
The manufacture of whisky and brandy has always been an important industry in Robertson County. In the earlier days small distilleries were found in almost every hollow, and it is asserted that on some streams there was a still-house at every 100 yards. These establishments had a capacity of not more than thirty or forty gallons per day, and the whisky was manufactured by what is known as the sour-mash process. The honesty and care used in making it gave it a high reputation which it has since maintained. One of the first distilleries in the county was erected by Daniel Holman, near Cross Plains, about 1798. Another was built by Mr. Grider, near Turnersville, in the same year. The Woodards were also among the first distillers of the county.
In 1799 Elisha Cheek, with whom is connected one of the most thrilling incidents in the history of the county, settled on Red River, near the Sumner County line. Cheek, though an octoroon, had a white wife, and brought several slaves with him from Virginia. He purchased about 400 acres of land, upon which he built a mill and distillery, and living upon the road leading from Louisville to Nashville, he kept a hotel known as "Cheek's Stand." Many traders, laden with the proceeds of their sales in the shape of Spanish milled-dollars, returned from New Orleans by the overland route. The trip was a perilous one, as the country was infested with highwaymen. On Cheek's land was a cavern, said to be unfathomable, descending perpendicularly from the surface into the bluff. On a certain night the dogs of the neighborhood set up a terrific barking and howling, and in the morning they were found around the cavern. Attempts to drive them away only increased their excitement. They would occasionally go home for food, but would immediately return. Among them was a strange dog that never left the spot. On the twelfth day the commotion ceased, and the dogs returned to their homes. Upon examination the strange dog was found to be dead. It was believed by many that a trader had been murdered by Cheek, and that his body had been thrown into the cave to conceal the crime, as a man riding a horse with a dog following had been seen near Cheek's place on the night when the disturbance [p.833] began. A superstitious dread of the cave existed from that time forth, and it was asserted that the ghost of the murdered man had been repeatedly seen in that vicinity, and that Cheek, for several years before his death, never ventured from his house after dark.
A remarkable occurrence, which attracted wide-spread interest, was connected with the family of John Bell, who settled near what is now Adams Station about 1804. So great was the excitement that people came from hundreds of miles around to witness the manifestations of what was popularly known as the "Bell Witch." This witch was supposed to be some spiritual being having the voice and attributes of a woman. It was invisible to the eye, yet it would hold conversation and even shake hands with certain individuals. The freaks it performed were wonderful, and seemingly designed to annoy the family. It would take the sugar from the bowls, spill the milk, take the quilts from the beds, slap and pinch the children, and then laugh at the discomfiture of its victims. At first it was supposed to be a good spirit, but its subsequent acts, together with the curses with which it supplemented its remarks, proved the contrary. A volume might be written concerning the performances of this wonderful being, as they are now described by contemporaries and their descendants. That all this actually occurred will not be disputed, nor will a rational explanation be attempted. It is merely introduced as an example of superstition, strong in the minds of all but a few in those times, and not yet wholly extinct.
In the days when affairs of honor between gentlemen were settled according to the code, two noted duels were fought in the northeast part of Robertson County. At that time the line between Tennessee and Kentucky was in dispute, and these duels were fought in this county under the impression that the Kentucky line passed south of where it was finally located. The first was between two lawyers from Columbia, Maury Co., Tenn., Smith and Branch. The former was killed and lies buried on the field where he fell. On the same ground Gen. Houston and Gen. White fought. White fell at the first fire, receiving a wound from which he never recovered.
Previous to the organization of the State in 1796, Robertson County formed a part of what was known as Tennessee County. The first General Assembly convened at Knoxville March 28, 1796, and among the first acts passed was the following:
AN ACT TO DIVIDE TENNESSEE COUNTY INTO TWO COUNTIES:
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the county of Tennessee be divided by a line as follows, viz.: Beginning at the upper end of the first bluff above James McFarlin's on Red River, near Allin's cabins; running from thence a direct course to the Sulphur Fork one-quarter of a mile below Elias Fort's; thence up to [p.834] the creek as it meanders to the mouth of Brush Creek; thence up the same as it meanders to the head; thence a direct course to the Davidson County line at the mouth of Sycamore Creek; thence up said Sycamore Creek with the Davidson County line to the Sumner County line; thence with the extreme height of the dividing ridge eastwardly to the Kentucky road leading from Nashville; thence northwardly with said road to the Kentucky State line; thence west with said line to such place as a southeast course leaving Joseph French in the lower county will strike the beginning, and all that part contained in the said boundary henceforth be erected into a new and distinct county by the name of Robertson.
The county was so named in honor of Gen. James Robertson, the founder of the Cumberland settlements. William Johnson, Sr., James Norfleet, John Young, John Donelson and Samuel Crockett were appointed locating commissioners to fix the seat of justice. By an act passed April 20, 1796, these commissioners were authorized to purchase fifty acres of land centrally located, lay out lots and sell them, and apply the proceeds toward erecting "a court house, prison and stocks." The same act provides that the town "shall be called and known by the name of Springfield." Thirty acres of land upon which is now situated the western half of the town was donated to the county by Archer Cheatham, and on April 18, 1798, twenty acres lying to the east of it was purchased from Thomas Johnson for the sum of $100. Thomas Johnson, Archer Cheatham, Jr., Elias Fort, of Miller's Creek, and George Bell were appointed to assist the locating commissioners in erecting buildings and regulating the town.
The county court began its first session July 18, 1796, at the house of Jacob McCarty. The magistrates who were present and took the oath of office were William Fort, William Miles, Benjamin Menees, Isaac Phillips, Bazel Boren, Martin Duncan, John Phillips, Zebulon Hart and James Crabtree. William Fort was chosen chairman, and Thomas Johnson clerk. The latter gave bond in the sum of $2,000, with Jacob McCarty and Bazel Boren as sureties. Stephen Boren, Isaac Menees, Daniel McKindley, William Boren and John Mercer were appointed constables. A tavern license was granted to Isaac Brown, who gave a bond in the sum of $330. The tavern rates fixed by the court were as follows: Each one-half pint of whisky, 16 & 2/3 cents; brandy, 21 cents; wine, 25 cents; each breakfast or supper, 25 cents; each dinner, 33 & 1/3 cents; lodging, 6 cents. The next term of the court was held in October at the house of Benjamin McIntosh, which continued to be the place of meeting until July, 1798, when it was removed to the store-house of George Bell, in Springfield. By a provision of an old law persons desiring to build mills were compelled to procure permits from the county court. During the first few years after the organization of the county such permits were issued to the following persons: Thomas Woodard, Francis [p.835] Graham, on Brush Creek; Adam Shepherd & Co., on Iron Fork of Barton's Creek; William Reyburn, on Miller's Creek; L. Ventress, on Sycamore Creek; Nathan Clark, on Sulphur Fork; John Stump, on Sycamore Creek; James Mitchell, on Elk Fork of Red River; Archer Cheatham, on Sulphur Fork, near Springfield; Josiah Fort and Jesse Hewing, on Red River; James H. Fuqua, on Spring Creek; Benjamin Porter, on War Trace Creek; James Byrnes, on Caleb's Creek; William B. Gorham, on Sulphur Fork, one and one-half miles northwest of Springfield.
In July, 1799, the court house was ready for occupancy, and that session of the county court was held there. It was a rude log building, and stood on the public square. This house was used until May, 1819, when it was ordered by the county court to be sold, and Thomas Johnson, Benjamin Tucker, Archer Cheatham, James Sawyers and John Hutchison were appointed commissioners to superintend the erection of a new brick court house upon the site of the old one, or a little to the east of it. A log jail was built at about the same time as the first court house. This building stood at the southeast corner on the lot now occupied by the hotel of A. L. Ragsdale. It soon proved to be insufficient for jail purposes, and it was necessary to employ guards whenever prisoners were confined in it. This proved to be too expensive, and in 1813 Thomas Johnson, Archer Cheatham, John Hutchison and James Tunstall were appointed commissioners to build a new jail. This was also built of logs. A third jail was erected in 1829. This building is now used by D. S. Pepper as a saloon. It contained a debtor's room with a dungeon underneath, the only opening into which was through a trap-door in the floor of the room above. In 1859 the jail and lot were sold, and a new lot, situated on Wilson Street, was purchased, upon which was erected the present jail. M. S. Draughon, Solomon Fiser, J. B. Clough and John W. Smith were appointed commissioners to superintend its construction, and county warrants to the amount of $7,000 were issued.
January 6, 1879, the old court house having been declared unsafe, it was decided to erect a new building, and John E. Garner, G. A. Washington, G. W. Walker, John Woodard and H. C. Crunk were appointed a committee to superintend its construction. William C. Smith, of Nashville, was employed as supervising architect. The contract was awarded for $17,250. The building was completed in 1881 at a total cost, including the furniture, fencing and grading, of about $24,000. It is one of the best court houses in the State, and is better than many buildings erected at twice the cost.
[p.836] Robertson County has always provided liberally for its poor. Previous to the purchase of a poor house confirmed paupers were farmed out to the lowest bidder, while those who were partially able to support themselves were rendered the necessary assistance. In 1839 Henry Frey, James Woodard and William Seal were appointed commissioners to select a poor farm, and about 200 acres of land, which is still used for that purpose, were accordingly purchased. Several log houses have |
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