USA > Tennessee > Old times in Tennessee, with historical, personal, and political scraps and sketches > Part 1
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
1 Ic
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02302 8266
OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE
WITH
HISTORICAL, PERSONAL, AND POLITICAL SCRAPS AND SKETCHES.
Some said, Jo., print it, Others said, Not so- Some said, It might do good, Others said, No. -John Bunyan.
BY JO. C. GUILD,
JUDGE OF THE LAW COURT OF NASHVILLE.
NASHVILLE: TAVEL, EASTMAN & HOWELL 1878.
PREFACE.
IN the intervals of leisure occurring during my official duties or while engaged in the practice of my profession, I have occa- sionally jotted down my recollections of historical and political events that have occurred in and about Nashville during the first half of the present century, and within the range of my own observation. It was a matter of mere pastime and for my own amusement, rather than for the edification of others. But some of my many old friends-contemporaries in politics, at the bar, and on the bench-have insisted that it is worth while to select some of these scraps and sketches and prevent their loss to history by printing them in a book. Of course I filed a de- murrer; and yet, as the young lady in the play when persist- ently addressed, modestly hides her blushes behind her fan and gracefully consents, so do I. 1687296
Much that I had prepared for this volume has been crowded out, in consequence of having already gone beyond the limit of my contract of publication. In the pages that follow, I have given to the reader the first impression, without the after touch that might have added to the finish and beauty of the work. It is said that Lord Bacon was engaged for thirty years in matur- ing his great work, " Novem Organum," which he rewrote twelve · times. I give to the reader these sketches hastily drawn, as they came from the furnace, without the polish of after-thought and labor, and hope they will afford at least some pleasure to those who take a glimpse through them at the olden time.
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PREFACE.
I desire to say in conclusion, that these chronicles and sketches of the early days in and around the State capital are most re- spectfully dedicated
TO THE OLD FOLKS OF TENNESSEE.
If they or their descendants enjoy the reading as much as I have the writing, then the book will not have been written and printed entirely in vain.
Jo. C. GUILD. Nashville, December, 1878.
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/oldtimesintennes00guil_0
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CONTENTS.
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I-Introduction. 9
II-Scenes of my Boyhood-Death of my Parents-A Lonely Night-Ride 15
III-Reminiscence of the Men and Women of Half a Century ago-Their Manners, Customs, and Patriotism 23
Speech at Erin. 34
TV-Reading Law and Some of its Incidents-Pictures from Memory of the Men and Women and the Manners and Customs of Fifty Years ago. 67
Felix Grundy 83
S4
The Race of the Old King
A John Gilpin Ride 88 Bailie Peyton Elected to Congress S9
V-Carrying the Mails Between Nashville and Natchez- Adventures with Robbers-Death of Little Harp-The Indians, etc 92
VI-Perils and Pleasures of the Southwest Sixty-five Years ago 107
VII-Some Reminiscences of the Bar-How an Overbearing Judge was Taught an Important Lesson. ... 113
VIII-The Florida War-Scene of the Dade Massacre-Ludi- crous Episode at Fort Drane-Incidents of the "Wild Hunt" for Indians 122
IX-Some Political Reminiscences-The First Political Par- ties in Tennessee. 140
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The Expunging Resolution
143
The Eagle and the Looking-glass 156 Rest of the Victors at Tyree Springs 157
The State Contest of 1841 158
The Presidential Election of 1840-The Great Political Delusion 159
The Presidential Election of 1344-How Clay and Van- Buren Committed Political Suicide 162
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CONTENTS.
X-General Andrew Jackson-Brief Sketch of his Military Career-Reminiscences of the Great Victory at New Orleans 172 Gen. Jackson's Duel with Samuel Dickinson .. 211
Dissolution of Gen. Jackson's Cabinet-The Eaton Scan- dal.
Gen. Jackson and Mr. Clay 234
Gen. Jackson's Writings 238
Gen. Jackson's Foresight 241
Old Hickory's Gallantry 243
Gen. Jackson's Pride in his Stock.
Gen. Jackson a Veteran of the Turf -- Interesting Events
at Gallatin, Nashville, Clover Bottom and Washington .. 2444 The Eulogies of Jackson. 256
XI-Incidents in the Early Life of Sam. Houston-How the Independence of Texas was Won .. 262
Houston's Separation from his First Wife 269 Col. Willoughby Williams' Recollections of Gen. Houston.274 Refutation of a Wanton Slander. 279
The Houston-White Duel 285
The Washington of Texas 258
The Humor of Houston 259
Humor and Gallantry 290
Anecdote that Houston Toll of Himself .. 290 Another Anecdote that Houston Told of Himself 291
XII-Felix Grundy-A Reminiscence of the Great Tennessee Lawyer. 993
298
Clay and Grundy.
XIII-Exploits of Major John Buchanan, the Founder of Buc- hanan's Station. 300
XIV-Timothy DeMonbreun-First White Man to Visit Nash- ville .. 310
XV-"Old Chattanooga"-Development of the Idea of a Rail- road from Nashville to Chattanooga 314
XVI-Some Odds and Ends of Early History and Customs- The First Wedding "Pound Cake" in Nashville. 817
Hard to Kill. 318
How Apostolic Blows and Knocks were Struck in Sum- ner County Half a Century ago. 319
Fixing Tavern Rates 320
Name of our State. 321
The General Muster.
The Flat-Boatmen
The Log Cabin of the Pioneers 325 The Social Characteristics of the Early Settlers 326 Barring Out the School-master. 3.4
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CONTENTS.
XVII-About a Portrait-The Presentation Ceremonies and the Speeches on the Occasion 337
XVIII-The Golden Wedding of Judge and Mrs. Guild-Remi- niscences of Half a Century 346
XIX-An Incident of Fort Mackinaw-A "Rebel" Prisoner Saving an Indian's Life 361
XX-Carrying Concealed Weapons-Extract from a Charge to a Grand Jury 366
XXI-Speech at Springfield, Tenn., on the Issues of the Presi- dential Campaign of 186S. 369
XXII-The Fashions and other Kindred Subjects-Lecture of Jo. C. Guild at Gallatin, Tenn. .385
XXIII-Address by Jo. C. Guild at Waverly, Tenn., July 4, 1877, on the Occasion of the Laying of the Corner-stone of the New Court-house 409
XXIV-LaFayette, the Great Apostle of Liberty-The French Revolution-LaFayette's Second Visit to this Country .. 430
XXV-East Tennessee's Great Preachers -- A Noted Family and a Dog Law Charge by One of Them 450
XXVI-Construing the Statutes of Limitation of 1715 and 1796- How Judge John Catron got on the Supreme Bench of Tennessee 459
XXVII-Brief Annals of Nashville from its Foundation to 1575 ... 462 NOTES-Louisville and Nashville Railroad. 502 Conclusion 502
OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.
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INTRODUCTORY.
IT is natural for one who has performed a long journey, start- ing out in life without an outfit, and without any of the advant- ages and opportunities that have been enjoyed by so large a por- tion of those who have impressed their names indelibly upon the times in which they lived, to pause near the end of this life- journey and live over the halcyon days of youth and the sunny and pleasant periods of manhood, to review the few advantages he may have enjoyed, and the many difficulties that beset his path, and to revive in his memory many of the scenes and inci- dents which have reflected sunshine and shadow ou that long journey. An unpretending but somewhat eventful life has de- veloped much which, if not beneficial to those who may come after the writer, may at least interest such as follow him through these pages, while the recounting the same will prove a source of enjoyment to one whose " way of life is fallen into the sear, the yellow leaf." There is much to interest, much to instruct and amuse, in the times through which I have passed, and I shall endeavor to cull a shrub here and a flower there for the genera- tion that has come upon the stage since I was a boy among the pioneers who laid, here in the wilds of an almost unbroken wil- derness, the foundations of a great and populous State. After a great battle has been fought, it is natural, when the smoke has lifted itself above the ensanguined field, that the soldier should go over the ground to see who of his companions have been slain and who survive. When I look around for my school-mates and for the friends and acquaintances of my youth, I find that nearly all of them have paid the inexorable debt of nature. A few still exist on "this bank and shoal of time," but they are scattered over this broad continent. Every landmark of the time when I was a boy has passed away ; no corner-stones now
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OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.
stand, and only the names, borne by a noble and gallant offspring, remain to mark the existence of generations that have faded from the earth. Truly, " thus fades the glory of the world."
My father, Maj. Walter Guild, an educated Scotchman, im- migrated to America, with his brother, about the year 1796. The latter settled in Baltimore, while my father chose Virginia for his home, where he married Elizabeth Conn, a daughter of a . soldier of the revolution, who fought under Col. Washington. My father was a successful merchant for several years, increasing his establishment with the growth of business, the management of which he entrusted to an agent. The unfaithfulness of that agent brought ruin upon my father, and forced him to give up his establishment. He then removed to Stewart county, Tennes- see, and settled upon a tract of land lying a few miles from the present town of Erin, the county seat of Houston county. It was mainly a Scotch settlement, the McMillians being the first. Those early settlers were the pioneers of the section lying be- tween the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers. My earliest recol- lections are associated with the county of Stewart, for it was in that county I was born, and where I spent several years of my early boyhood. Haysboro was then the rival of Nashville, but while the latter has grown to a large city, the former is numbered with the renowned places of past ages. In those early days all new-comers were received with open arms, and welcomed to their homes as members of the same great family. The welcome they received made them feel that they had not cast their lot among strangers, but that they had taken up their residence among old friends, if not relatives. A rude log house was put up by the joint labors of those who had settled in a neighborhood, with a puncheon floor and a clap-board roof, the boards being secured and held in place by weight-poles and cross-pieces. It was then chinked and afterward daubed with common clay made into morter. Windows were a luxury not enjoyed by the tenants of these cabins. The fire-place was large, occupying nearly the whole of one end of the cabin, and insured warmth in the coldest of weather. It was in such a house, hastily constructed, that the new-comer would be installed and made to feel that he was not a stranger. There were very few schools in those early days, while here and there was a meeting-house or a camp-ground, for
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OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.
a strong religious sentiment pervaded the communities who sub- dued the wilderness and made it to blossom as the rose. These pioneers were the advance guard of civilization, and they were characterized by an open-handed hospitality, a noble and unself- ish friendship, a broad and generous charity, unknown at the present day. Their wants were few and easily supplied. The country abounded in game of all kinds, and families were bounti- fully supplied with wild meats of the most savory and delicious kinds. Small patches were cleared and cultivated, which pro- duced corn, wheat, potatoes, and cotton in sufficient amount to meet the wants of the inhabitants. They also raised some hogs, sheep, and milch cows. The men and boys cleared the grounds, made fences, and cultivated the crops; while the women did the house-work-cooked, milked, spun the cotton on the old-fash- ioned spinning wheel, wove the cloth on a hand-loom, and made all the clothing for the family. All lived contented, happy, and comfortable, and enjoyed a remarkable degree of health. There were very few lawyers then, for people settled their disputes among themselves, and had no occasion to go to law ; and doctors were among the curiosities, for the people were healthy, and had no use for them. Every family was well supplied with medicinal herbs and roots, especially what was called the snake-root, to be used in case any one should be bitten by a copperhead or rattle- snake, which, next to the Indian, were the most dangerous ene- mies we had to encounter. Vice, dissipation, and vagrancy were unknown in that locality. The people had their social gather- ings, their house-raisings, log-rollings, corn-huskings, and reap- ings. The reap-hook was alone used, the scythe and cradle being unknown to those early settlers. The wheat was threshed with a flail or trodden out by horses. Threshers and reapers are in- ventions of the present day. The ladies had their cotton pick- ings and quiltings, at the conclusion of which all present joined in the dance.
" We danced all night by the bright moonlight, And went home with the girls in the morning."
These were enjoyable occasions, for they drew together whole neighborhoods, old and young, and each vied with the other to contribute to the pleasure of those present. The gossip, the bane of every community, was unknown in that region. Those sturdy
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OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.
old pioneers were not only social in their habits, but they were eminently a hospitable people, and all who came within their in- fluence experienced the genial warmth of these generous and no- ble impulses.
The trusty rifle was the companion of every man at that day, and the result was that Tennessee produced some of the best marksmen of that or any other age. The well-known crack of the rifle told that the noble stag of the forest had fallen, or that a prowling Indian had paid the penalty of his temerity. The military spirit, aroused by the revolution, and called forth by the skirmishes with the savages in which the pioneers had to engage in the work of protecting and extending the settlements, was cherished and cultivated by the descendants of those brave men, and this spirit was signally displayed by Tennesseeans in the war of 1812, in all the Indian wars, and in that with Mexico, and justly won for us the honorable distinction of the Volunteer State. The citizen soldier prided himself upon attending the periodical musters, each man bearing his arms, and the highest honor sought by the citizen was a command in the militia.
The first settlers of the State encountered privations that might well have appalled the stoutest hearts. Unprotected by the Gen- eral Government, they fought their way West, extending the circle of civilization amid hunger, privations, and fierce rencounters with the Indians. The two great leaders of the pioneers of this section, Col. Anthony Bledsoe and Col. Isaac Bledsoe, also Capt. Hall, Maj. Winchester, and many others, fell in engagements with the Indians, and enriched the virgin soil with their blood in securing for themselves and for succeeding generations the no- ble heritage we this day enjoy. Their names have been em- balmed in the hearts of their grateful countrymen, and their mem- ory will be cherished with gratitude while time lasts.
As I have said, the , wants of families, when the "settle- ments" were struggling for existence, were few, and easily sup- plied by an industry essential to health, and such as promotes virtue. There were no drones in the hive to eat up the honey of the working bees; no corrupt rings formed, as they now are throughout the United States, to subsedise Congress, to create monopolies, to contract the currency in behalf of the bondhold- ers, to secure the enactment of class legislation, to tinker with
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OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.
the currency in the interest of the money power and those ruling the government; to change the debt of the country from the original contract, to be redeemed in the like currency received in its creation, to a gold-bearing debt, principal and interest; to de- monetize half the currency of the country, the silver dollar; to create a currency for the people and another of higher value for the bondholder and the payment of government dues. We then had no tariff for the mere protection of New England manufac- turers, making the consumers pay from forty to fifty per cent upon the article purchased. We did not then, if we purchased a blanket for three dollars, have to pay one dollar of that amount on account of the demands of the tariff, and in like proportion on other articles. The laws were then made and administered upon the Jeffersonian Democratic principle of giving like pro- tection to all, and exclusive privileges to none. We then had no shoddy aristocracy bearing sway and absorbing the earnings of the toiling millions. All the property we had that was taxable were our lands, and the State and county taxes did not amount to more than one dollar on the hunded acres, and we could pay that in bear, buffalo, or deer meat, delivered at any of the mili- tary stations kept up for the protection of the people on the fron- tier. We had no credit and wanted none. The credit system is a curse to any State or government. It encourages extravagance, stimulates vice, and destroys, when badly or improperly used, as it is apt to be, the virtue and prosperity of any State or govern- ment. Look at the embarrassed and prostrate condition of the Southern States. It was not a sufficient misfortune that they should have lost all their property by the late civil war, but the virtue and intelligence of this section were disfranchised under the accursed system of reconstruction, and a parcel of irresponsi- ble adventurers were elevated to high positions in these States. They became law-givers, and issued bonds of the Southern States and cities to the extent of nearly five hundred millions. The money for which these bonds were sold was squandered or stolen, and this enormous debt resulted in no practical good to the peo- ple. Since the war Tennessee has been cursed by an issue of twenty-four millions of bonds, and this, added to the other in- debtedness of the State, hung like a mill-stone around the necks of our people. The South is languishing under the corrupt in-
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OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.
terference of the General Government, which has impoverished large numbers of families in every State, thrown the industrious. out of employment, paralyzed every industry, and bankrupted the people. All their surplus produce was taken to feed the army of invasion; their farms were stripped of stock; their homes, in many cases, were taken or burned, and their families left to meet the wintry blasts as best they could; their fences. were burned and their timber taken or destroyed; in short, up- ward of four billions of their property was either destroyed or taken by the army, or appropriated by camp-followers and others. And when the Southern people ask for compensation for their property thus taken or destroyed-a debt on the Government as. valid as any bond that has ever been issued-their claims are re- pudiated, and they are coolly told that they never shall be paid. It is in consequence of this immense loss that the Southern peo- ple are unable to pay the whole of their bonded debt, State and municipal, and the interest thereon ; yet they are willing to make an equitable settlement and pay what they can. God has given them the right to live, and to enjoy life as best they can; and they are willing to deny themselves many of the luxuries in the effort to pay their debts, public as well as private, but are un- willing to disobey the great mandate to provide for their own household. They intend to do just what they honestly can do, and no more, and if that be dishonor, make the most of it. The bonds are generally held by the moneyed power, who have aided more or less in bringing this desolation upon the South. The claptrap of the bondholders about State credit, immigration, and honor, is all bosh. They should cast the beam out of their own eyes before attempting to remove the mote out of their brothers'. The chattering of the bondholder about State honor and State credit has a like effect to that of the fool in Lear or the nurse in Romeo and Juliet. It is as the judgment of the inexorable but interested tribune delivering over the victim to the stake, with the request that his execution shall be tenderly and kindly per- formed.
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OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.
II.
SCENES OF MY BOYHOOD-DEATH OF MY PARENTS-A LONELY NIGHT-RIDE.
I TRUST I will be pardoned for again recurring to the scenes of my boyhood while my father resided in Stewart county, for I de- light to dwell upon those early times, as the old soldier does to recount .the haps and mishaps of his campaigns, and to fight over his battles. What a change has taken place since then, some sixty-five years ago! Then we had little or no commerce, and few if any speculators. An occasional trader put in an appear- ance, who purchased our fur-skins and supplied us with the few dry goods our wants demanded. There was no store nearer than Dover or Palmyra, on the Cumberland river, some fifteen miles distant from our humble cottage ; and what a contrast these stores would present to those of the present day, not only as to the amount of " goods, wares, and merchandize " they contained, but in the character and quality of the same! Nearly the entire male population cultivated the soil, and depended upon their labor for the means of subsistence. Our mothers and sisters spun cotton and wool, which they wove into jeans for the men and boys, and cotton stripes and linsey for the women and girls. Silks, muslins, crepes, poplins, and other expensive dress goods, were then unknown to our people. If a calico dress was bought at our county town, or from a peddlar, it created great excite- ment, and was " norated " through the neighborhood. The store bills of a family did not amount to twenty dollars a year. There were neither millionaires nor what are called rich men. The little wealth possessed by the people was more equally distributed than in later years, and as a consequence they were more nearly upon an equality than at present. We had our sugar camps in what were called sugar orchards-groves of the sugar-maple- and in winter made our sugar and molasses, which were far su- perior to what we called New Orleans sugar and molasses. Ten pounds of coffee was a large annual supply for a family, which was used only on Sunday mornings, none but the adults being
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OLD TIMES IN TENNESSEE.
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allowed a cup. The people were frugal and economical, and generally good livers for the times, and each one lived within his means. The people were orderly and well-behaved, and rarely had occasion to employ a lawyer or appeal to the courts. Crime -such as murder or felonies of any kind-was almost unknown. Sociability and genuine hospitality were traits that characterized the people in the early days of the present century. No stranger was turned from the door of the humble cabin, but was taken in and cared for, and made to feel that he was among friends. But society has greatly changed since those primitive times. The love of money has encouraged pride, stifled the nobler impulses of the heart, stimulated vice, and destroyed that genial hospitality, that sociability and charity that adorned the early settlers of the country. What a change ! but it cannot be said that it has been for the better. In the good old days of our fathers and grand- fathers they came bubbling up on all occasions, and contributed largely towards making the people contented and happy.
My father removed to Sumner county in 1812, and settled on a tract of land near the headwaters of Bledsoe's creek, which embraced the mountain on either side of the creek, and the nar- row valley through which that stream meandered its way to the Cumberland. The valleys of this creek were very fertile, as were also, the adjacent uplands, while the whole face of the country was covered with dense forests. Here we found a poor but in- dustrious population, sparsely settled among the valleys and hills of this section, who gave us a most cordial welcome, and made us at once feel that we were among friends and neighbors. Our parents had but two children, Dr. James Guild, the eminent sur- geon of Alabama, and myself. My brother, who was the elder, lived with our uncle, Maj. Jo. H. Conn, at Cairo, in Sumner county, an older settled neighborhood, where the advantages for acquiring an education were superior to those of the section in which our father resided. It was here that I commenced going to school, walking three miles down the creek to a log cabin, in a shady nook near a cool spring, where a school was kept by an old man who taught the boys and girls of the neighborhood to read and write and cypher. In this school many of the men and women of a later generation received their only education. I think I got more whippings than any other boy in school, not
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