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Gc 976.801 M75L 1676767
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 01713 2587
HISTORY OF Sweetwater Halley
BY W. B. LENOIR
SWEETWATER, TENNESSEE
PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION, Publishers, Richmond, Va., 1916. 1.1
Copyright, 1916, by W. B. Lenoir.
Richmond Press, Inc., Printers.
1676767
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Sweetwater Valley. Geology p. 14-Chemistry p. 16 Why ideal Place to live p. 20-Earliest Inhabitants of p. 21.
The Cherckees p. 26-Fort Loudon p. 27-Treaty of 1777 p. 29- Town of Refuge p. 28-Indian Names of Mountains and Rivers, p. 29-"Soitee Woitee," n. 32.
Chapter on Races. p. 37-Treaties with Cherokees p. 37-Why necessary to remove Cherokees, p. 39-Encroachment of Whites, p. 43-Hiwassee Purchase, p. 44-Origin of Land Titles in Sweet- water Valley, p. 45.
Biographical-The Old Inhabitants and Descendants.
Order of Patronymics commencing with p. ,51.
Axley, Browder. Adkins, Berry, Caldwell, Bellamy, Biggs, Bogart, Bowman, Brown, Calloway, Cleveland, Cannon, Childress, Cooper, Cozart, Smith, Cook, Clark, Cunnyngham, (Cunnyngham-Pattons), (Cunnyngham-Pickels), Fine Fry, Glaze, Goddard, Gregory, Heis- kell, Janeway, Jones, Johnson, Lenoir, (Waightstill Avery), Hogg, Lillard, Lotspeich, Mayes, Owen, Orr, Patton, F. A., Rutherford, Rowan. Rowland, Reagan, Scruggs, Sheldon, Shell, Stillman, Snead, Pennington, Ramsey Jno., Waren, Ramsey, R. A., Young, Vaughn, Upton, Walker, Yearwood, Bradley, Carter, Montgomery, Coffin, Bachman.
CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, LODGES, RAILROADS, TOWNS.
H. M. Cooke Memorial Library, p. 123-Cumberland Pres. Church, 163-Sweetwater, Founding of Town, p. 199-Gift of Land to E. T. & Ga. R. R., p. 200-City Beautiful League, p. 204-Slaves in Sweetwater Valley, p. 215-Facts about E. T. & Ga. R. R .- First Train Schedule from Loudon to Dalton, 222-Railroad Elevations, p. 223-Plan of Sweetwater. p. 224-Baptist Church in Sweetwater, p. 355-First Baptist Church in Sweetwater, p. 369-M. E. Church, S., in Sweetwater, p. 372-Presbyterian Church in Sweetwater, p. 372-History of Union Institute and Its Teachers, p. 377-Story of Stolen Horse, p. 391-A Civil War Episode, p. 402-The Town of Philadelphia, p. 405-The Town of Loudon, p. 409 .- Sweetwater Lodge, No. 292. F. & A. M., p. 380 .- Newspapers of Town of Sweetwater, p. 386-Members of General Assembly from Sweet- water Valley, p. 389.
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CORRECTIONS and ADDENDA
Page 77, line 4, insert : He d. April, 1917.
Page 78, line 4 from bottom insert: O. K. Jr., was b. Mch. 20, 1917
Page 79, line 11 from bottom, insert: Susan Laird, d. May 8, 1917. Page 110, line 11 from bottom, insert: She d. Mch. 10, 1917.
Page 111, after paragraph about (7) A. B. Cannon, insert: (8) Wm. Harry, b. Feb. 13, 1877, Now (1817) U. S. Post Master at Gooding, Ida.
Page 112, line 16, add: D. C. Young, d. Sunday, July 1, 1917, at 11 n. m.
Page 116, after line 6, insert as heading: John Smith.
Page 140, line 12, add : She (E. P. T.) died Aug. 8, 1911.
Page 170, line 3 from bottom add D. H. d. Nov. 23, 1917.
Page 176, line 5, eliminate "he d. in 1871" and add: She d. 1908.
Page 176, line 8, add: He d. June 16, 1913.
Page 176, for Dyche, read Dyke.
Page 222, line 6 from bottom. for "4:59" read 4:39.
Page 308, line 14, read Joseph, for "James" Reagan.
Page 308, line 18 from bottom, read 1810, instead of 1910.
Page 311, line 15, for Hagwood, read Haygood.
Page 311, line 18, cut out "Five." Arthur Bruce fourth son of and read. Two. Frank M. first son of R. F. and E. R. Scruggs.
Page 314. line 17, from bottom, for "Margaret" read Annie.
Page 325, line 22, read Frances M. b. May 21, 1883, at Sweet- water, and d. at Knoxville, Sunday, Jan. 13, at 8:30 a. m.
Page 388, line 13, add J. Forsyth Swords, d. Dallas, July 9, 1917.
Page 347, line 14, for 1835, read 1853.
Page 414, line 20 from bottom, for "who" read whom.
Page 414, line 9 from bottom, for laides read ladies.
Page 282, line 13 from bottom, add She d. Feb. 8, Arequipa, Peru.
Page 282, line 9 frombottom, read Margaret Caroline, b. Feb. 26, 1896, in Mexico.
Page 282, line 8 from bottom, read Mary Elizabeth, b. Jan. 6, 1898 in Mexico.
(1) Addie V. b Mch. 6, 1868; m. Mark L. Hardin, Aug. 16, 1892, d. January 10, 1895.
(2) Charles d. infant. (3) Ora, (4) Julia.
(5) Edgar, b. June 3, 1876; m. Julia Ballard, dau. W. L. B., Nov. 16. 1911. Two children, Wm. B. b. Dec. 26, 1913 and Marg. Frances b. Nov. 21, 1915. E. C. is farmer in Sweetwater Valley.
(6) William, b. Aug. 25, 1879; m. Myrtle Laycock, Oct. 5, 1904. 1. Oct. 10, 1909.
(7) Henry, b. Mch. 8, 1882; m. Jennie Burke f Sherman, Tex. Dec. 30, 1907. Farmer in Sweetwater, Tenn.
(8) Ellis, b. Nov. 5, 1886. Moved to Olustee, Okla. m. Mch. 1918.
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Dedication
To the natives of this valley and their descendants, wherever found; to the ad- mirers of strength and loveliness of char- acter, to the lovers of the beautiful in na- ture, to those who delight in fertility of soil and seek healthfulness of clime, this book is respectfully dedicated.
Preface
In this book can be found sermons and songs, humor and pathos, history and philosophy, geology and ge- nealogy, and a great fund of information. If you do not find these, do not blame me. It is your deficiency, not mine.
Yours egotistically, W. B. LENOIR.
EXPLANATORY NOTES ·
In setting forth the genealogical tables in this work to attain clearness and prevent puzzling the mind of the readers, I have used the following method:
One, Two, Three, etc., placed in front of names are children of at least one common parent.
1, 2, 3, etc., are children of One, Two, Three, etc.
(1), (2), (3), etc., are children of 1, 2, 3, etc.
a, b, c are children of (1), (2), (3), etc.
(a), (b), (c), etc., are children of a, of a, b, c, etc.
Abbreviations used are:
b for born. m for married. d for died.
FOREWORD
My purpose as given in the Sweetwater Telephone, a weekly paper published at Sweetwater, Tenn., was set forth in what follows:
I contemplate writing a history of the early settle- ment of Sweetwater Valley, at least that part of it which includes the location of the town of Sweetwater and as much adjacent territory up and down the valley as far as I am able. My intention, also, is to take in as much of the country east of Sweetwater Ridge and west of Black Oak Ridge as was embraced formerly in the first civil district of Monroe County. This history, if it can be dignified by that name, will contain sketches of the people of this section of the long ago, whether they per- manently remained here or removed to other parts of the country; and give genealogical table of the princi- pal families; of the condition of the valley at the first settlement ; then when the railroad was built, graded and finished. We will try to trace the gradual growth of the town, and tell of the people wherever coming from who helped to make it what it is. We, who live in this day, are much indebted to George Washington and the founders of this republic for many of the blessings we enjoy; but we who live here or have lived here, owe a far greater debt to those who dug and built, toiled and legislated for us in this our own valley. Those of the present generation who find improvements and re- sources ready made to hand often fail to think what is due to those who occupied and acted before us. This is to us an unearned and unpaid for increment. The peo- ple of this valley before the war did not incur bonded indebtedness for their descendants to pay. It is well that they did not then, for after the losses during the Civil War, their condition would have been indeed de- plorable. Considering what they had to do aforetime they could have well been excused for bonding the coun- ty, but such was not the policy pursued.
When the Hiwassee, the district in which we live, was surveyed and sold in quarter sections, there were no Indians to fight and the country was not a lawless one,
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but roads were to be made, schoolhouses and churches to be built and at the same time the settlers had to pre- pare for themselves homes and get the land in a state fit for cultivation. Then the inhabitants of this valley not only raised what they ate and drank, except coffee, water and salt, but also made their own wearing ap- parel and produced the material for the garments and made their own wagons and farm implements. A black- smith or a shoemaker was as valuable an asset in the community as a school teacher or a doctor. Thus neigh- bors were in a great measure dependent one upon the other; they swapped work and materials when money was not plentiful. This begot a feeling of common brotherhood and helpfulness, that nowadays is almost impossible to exist in our state of society.
When the East Tennessee and Georgia Railway depot. (now the Southern) was located on the lot of land where the present depot now stands, within the radius of a half mile there lived Daniel Heiskell, John Ram- sey, the Axleys, John Fine, Charles Owen, Henry Mayes and the Biggs, and within a mile or about that distance Josiah K. Johnson, Robert Snead, John Fryar, John Bowman, I. T. Lenoir, Sterling Neil, John and Charles Lotspeich. These were all farmers and got their mail at "Facility," postoffice at Reagan's, and Philadel- phia. Some of those mentioned above had considerable families; all of them, however they might differ about religion and politics, were high-toned, honorable, public- spirited men-acted in concert and formed an almost ideal nucleus for a town. Some of those living farther away in the valley and across the ridges in the opposite valleys had almost, if not quite, as much to do with the upbuilding of the town as those mentioned.
The plan of these citizens in town-making was not to lay off a number of lots, exploit and advertise the place, get up an excursion, knock off to the highest bidder, for speculative purposes, but to get such people to come and live here as would become honorable and useful citizens and whom they could associate with on terms of perfect equality.
In getting up data for this work, I have spent much time at Madisonville examining the public records. The
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only office in which I found them at all satisfactory was that of register of deeds. Many of the records in the clerk and master's, the circuit court and the county court clerk's offices are missing or destroyed. The old court-house was burned in 1864, therefore the loss of the records is not due to inefficiency in past or present officers holding those places, but partly to the destruc- tion of the court-house and partly to the fact that no vault or proper places had been prepared for their safe- keeping. The vaults we now have in the new court- house at Madisonville are much too small and will soon be filled up.
Even the marriage records in the county court clerk's office are far from complete.
It is not until quite recently that it has been made obligatory by the State laws to keep a record of births, which has been the practice for a thousand years in England. Thus, the children of many prominent people could not prove by the public records their title to much valuable property were it to be disputed, unless by parole evidence. For these reasons the gathering of data for what I wish to do through sources open to the public, is a matter of much difficulty. I shall have to rely in a great measure on the assistance of those who personally know or have private sources of information about the subject and people of whom I wish to be in- formed.
It is not my purpose now, but may be later on, to bring records nearer to the present than 1867. From that time on to the present is much plainer sailing and can be done by any painstaking individual. Any facts not re- corded in public offices or newspapers can easily be ob- tained from private individuals.
There were also very few even weekly newspapers published in this section in olden times and those did not deal much in personalities, or rather personals. Their columns were devoted mostly to news to be found on the first page of the newspapers published to-day and to the discussion of public men and measures. Now we can take the daily Knoxville and Chattanooga papers, with the assistance of the weekly papers pub- lished in places between, and compile the history of the community for any period desired.
History of Sweetwater Valley
ABOUT HISTORY-WHO SHOULD ATTEMPT TO WRITE IT.
One makes a statement. It is either true or false; or it may contain elements of both truth and error. Owing to the fallibility of human memory, the tempta- tion to distort for interest or effect, the want of proper information, the lack of time for investigation, mis- statements of one kind or another are nearly always found in a lengthy article.
If real persons are written about and what is pub- lished purports to be facts, we call it history or biography. If the people or narratives are imaginary we call it fiction. If animals other than men are told about, it is usually termed natural history. If inanimate things treated of, it is physics.
To be a satisfactory historian, one should have a dis- criminating, impartial mind, be a patient investigator, able to sift the false from the true, having good powers of observation, should not be swayed by malice or led to too much adulation by friendship or admiration.
In addition to this he should have such a command of language as to make his meaning clear, using con- cise sentences composed of simple words, able to be un- derstood by people of average intelligence. No sentence should be ambiguous or susceptible of two meanings; but each should be written so that the sense cannot be changed by punctuation. If pains are taken by a good writer, this can be done.
Unfortunately the English language abounds in words of the same sound which when spelled differently have different meanings. This is why the phonetic system cannot be adopted for many years (if at all) in a his- tory or scientific treatise. Also when a word is used in a restricted sense, explanation is sometimes neces- sary.
The word "water" in common language may mean any one of several things, fresh, salt, pure, impure, et
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HISTORY OF SWEETWATER VALLEY
cetera. To the chemist or druggist, water means a liquid formed from hydrogen and oxygen gases com- bined in certain proportions and expressed in chemical language, H2O. It can exist in three forms, solid, liquid and gaseous. In the open air at sea level at a tempera- ture of 32 degrees (Fahrenheit) and below, it is a solid (ice or snow), above 32 degrees and up to 212, it is a liquid (water), above 212 and up to an exceeding high temperature, it is a gas (steam). Pure water, when taken into the stomach, quenches thirst and is health- ful, when taken into the lungs in sufficient quantities, destroys life. These facts are known to humanity in general, the knowledge of which is necessary to the preservation and comfort of the human race, therefore this is the most useful and highest form of knowledge. It has also the advantage of being able to be verified by the individual observer. The study of physics is more exact than that of history. Each individual drop of water under like circumstances acted, acts and will act the same manner yesterday, to-day and forever. Not so the individual people of even a limited section of country, although they may be of the same race and living under the same government and subject to the same human laws. When taken as a mass, however, we can formulate a general rule of conduct.
We assert as a fact that the East Tennessee moun- taineer resists oppression and is quick to resent an in- sult; still this is not true of every individual, but only of the large majority. Any doubter can experiment and see what happens.
So much about how a history should be written. I have been asked more than once what good is there in delving into the past of this section and attempting to place the result before the public. The question is pertinent. Everyone should have a good reason for his actions. If what is written becomes a part of the record of the country in which he lives and is untrue, it helps to perpetuate error, which is undesirable. The Barbara Frietchie incident has been embalmed in story and song to such an extent that, though proved a hundred times to have no foundation in fact, is usually believed and accepted as history.
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HISTORY OF SWEETWATER VALLEY
Even mere annals or the relation of dry facts have their uses. For instance, two persons, William Brow- der and Thornton C. Goddard, residing within a mile of each other, reached almost the century mark in age. Several things could and ought to be inferred there- from; that the section they lived in was healthful; that there was much of clean living and thinking in the in- dividuals themselves, to say nothing of clean eating and drinking; that their parents before them gifted them with good constitutions, sound minds in sound bodies. What does it profit a man if he gains a million dollars and fails to transmit to his children the mental and physical capacity to use and enjoy in a proper manner the wealth he leaves them?
We, as people, are anxious to get the pedigree of the donkey, and trace his ancestry back to the Anda- lusian mountains, to know that our horses have their origin in the desert of Arabia, our cows came from Jer- sey, that our breed of chickens came from the Isle of Minorca or from Cochin, China, our ducks from Pekin, our hogs from Berkshire, and our hound dogs from Virginia or Pennsylvania. This is all right and proper and no objection is registered. But there are some who seem to think their own people and the acts of long ago are of no importance. Such an one usually miscalls himself a self-made man. He acknowledges no indebted- ness to the past. He is of himself, by himself and for himself. Such an one is not likely to make sacrifices for the community in which he lives; he will not rush into the breach to save his country ; if he sheds his blood it will be by proxy.
I know there are those, because of inherited wealth and family prestige, who consider themselves better than others and think that they are exempt from toil and trouble and ought to be granted special privileges. This spirit is to be deplored wherever found. I am glad to say there has been and is little of this in our valley. The very opposite should be the case. If one's ancestors took a prominent place in school, society, church or State, it is his duty to maintain its traditions and not have it said the family died with his mother or father.
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Sentiment plays and ought to play an important part in our lives. It is well that such pieces as mentioned below belong to the mental make-up of the average school-boy :
"Breathes there a man with soul so dead."-Scott.
"Oh, say, can you see in the dawn's early light?"- Key.
"This lovely land, this glorious liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase of our fathers."-Web- ster.
"An exile from home pleasure dazzles in vain."- Payne.
They have been said and sung to admiring audiences by every school-boy. He cons them over day by day. These, in connection with the deeds of the good and great taught in history, help to make him a patriot and self-respecting citizen. If sentiment is lacking in a man's composition, he may think himself rich with ac- quired wealth, but he is really poor. He misses the best things in life.
PREFATORY REFLECTIONS.
When a magazine writer perpetrates a particularly unreasonable story, clear beyond the realms of possi- bility, he remarks nonchalantly (to use a popular expres- sion in vogue in onr periodicals) : "This illustrates how stranger is truth than fiction ;" that is to say, more wonderful, marvelous and startling. Wonder is the child of ignorance and superstition. Also the things we see happen daily and hourly we take little notice of; they occasion no surprise. We stare at the aviator who rises in his spiral flight; we accept as common- place the soaring of the bird, though the latter is far more wonderful. We are pleased to see the order of things reversed, the man to ascend triumphantly into the empyrean and the whirring bird to tumble at the shot of the expert. The commonplace does not attract us. We care not to see a man walk on his feet however gracefully he may carry himself, but we applaud when he stands on his head on the trapeze bar and kicks his heels in the air. We have heard so much of the serpent charming the ancient Eve in the garden of Para-
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dise, "the cause of our woe and the loss of Eden," that we cheerfully spend a dime in the side show to see the modern Eve charm the serpent. We feel that evens things up. Then we part with fifty cents in the big show to observe how the fierce monarch of the forest cowers under the lash of the animal trainer. He may be as gentle as a kitten but he roars as if he could eat up a whole menagerie. He knows his business : no roar, no meat. If the public but knew the facts in the case, minus would be the blood-curdling thrills so dear to the feminine heart, and the "barker" at the entrance would be hunting another job.
The man was not far wrong who said:
"This world is but a fleeting show (traveling circus) For man's illusion given."
And while the clown in the ring is convulsing our country cousins his child may be dying in the dressing- room. The cop on the corner says, "Move on"; we can't stop.
But if I thought that it would be necessary to resort to the bizarre, to palm off fiction for truth, to give an undue value to small things or to belittle the great to · make an interesting and instructive history of our valley and its people, I would be far from attempting to write it. Mistakes will necessarily be made, but they will not be intentional and every pains and means within my power will be taken to avoid them. Statements merely probable will be given as such.
What truth is, what life is, have never been satis- factorily answered by philosophers and chemists.
There are hundreds of definitions but they are all mostly juggling with words. It is folly for us to attempt it. For our own purposes, which we premise is purely arbitrary, we shall divide the kinds of truth as follows:
1. Axiomatic .- Such as "A straight line is the shortest distance between two points." Not susceptible of proof but acknowledged.
2. Mathematical .- "Certain properties of the right angle triangle." These you can prove by experiment.
3. Moral .- Philanthropy or love as a ruling power for the world is preferable to hatred. One is construc- tive, the other is destructive.
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4. Historical .- Dependent upon the accuracy of the written and spoken testimony of observers and the works of man extant.
5. Financial (mathematical also)-If a section raises, gets and keeps within its borders more of wealth than it exports, then it will eventually become rich. The problem of political economy is to exchange the perish- able that you cannot use for the more or less imperish- able. Simple enough in stating but not easy in practice.
As to rules of evidence, about which hundreds of volumes have been written, time and space are the prin- cipal factors: that is to say, that no two bodies can occupy the same space at the same time, nor can any- body be in two separate places at the same time.
If John Smith committed an act, then the remainder of the world is absolved from that particular action.
If John Jones was in Sweetwater when a man was .. hit by a baseball bat in Philadelphia, then it naturally follows that John Jones was not the hitter.
Furthermore; for the doing of any act, whether termed good or bad, there must be present motive, opportunity and ability. This applies to other animals as well as men. These things are A-B-C's to the legal fraternity and to a great many others; however, a statement of the same stripped of legal verbiage may not be inapt.
These state some of the general plans of the history, the specifications will come later.
THE TESTIMONY OF THE ROCKS IN SWEET- WATER VALLEY.
In speaking of a valley, writers usually mean. the surface drained by some particular stream and its tribu- taries. Sweetwater Creek takes its rise partly from some large springs on the east side of Sweetwater Ridge, the waters from which run westward through a low gap in the ridge, joining with other streams in the valley, which have their sources near Reagan's. Below Philadelphia, two miles, the creek breaks through the Black Oak Ridge, and empties into the Tennessee River on the west side of the ridge.
Cur use of the term, "Sweetwater Valley," includes the territory between Sweetwater and Black Oak
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Ridges from the summit or divide of the waters run- ning southwest to Mouse Creek and those running north- east, forming Sweetwater Creek, to where those ridges strike Tennessee River near Loudon. The divide is about midway between Reagan's Station and Niota. The valley proper is about eighteen miles long and a scant two miles in width. The stations and towns in- cluded in the valley are Reagan's, Sweetwater, Phila- delphia and Loudon. The name "Summit" was given to the point on the old East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad as being the highest on that railway between Knoxville, Tenn., and Dalton, Ga.
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