USA > Tennessee > Old times in West Tennessee : reminiscences, semi-historic, of pioneer life and the early emigrant settlers in the Big Hatchie country > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
4 அவர்
L
REYNO GENEAL
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 02302 8506
Gc 976.8 W660 2265630
--- -
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016
https://archive.org/details/oldtimesinwestte00will_0
OLD TIMES
IN
WEST TENNESSEE.
MAR 2 1944
REMINISCENCES-SEMI-HISTORIC-OF PIONEER LIFE AND THE EARLY EMIGRANT SETTLERS IN THE BIG HATCHIE COUNTRY.
BY A DESCENDENT OF ONE OF THE FIRST SETTLERS.
. GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY OF UTAH
26353
MEMPHIS, TENN .: W. G. CHEENEY, PRINTER AND PUBLISHER. 1873.
976.8 42.0
Allen County Public Libran Ft. Wayne, Indiana
2265630
RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
TO THE
SURVIVING PIONEER SETTLERS,
WHOSE BRAVE HEARTS AND STRONG ARMS
Subdued the Wilderness of West Tennessee, and made it the fitting abode for refined, civilized enjoyment,
AND THEIR
IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1873, by JOSE 8. WILLIAMS, in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
PREFACE.
THIS book is prefaced by its title page, requiring but little to be said as to the design of the writer, or his mo- tives for writing it.
It is hardly necessary for the author to put in a dis- claimer that he assumes to be neither a historiographer nor a biographer, much less an annalist ; semi-historic, irregular and defective, if you will, is the only title he claims for it.
Whether it be accorded or not, it is none the less true that "every man has his own style, as he has his 'own nose;' and it is neither polite nor Christian to rally a man about his nose, however singular it may be "-a fact pregnant with homely sense, and commends itself to the exercise of charity on the part of the critical reader.
Conceived when gout most troubled, and born of neces- sity, it was written when afflicted with physical pain, amply recompensed, however, in the pleasurable inter- est it gave in reviving the scenes and recollections of his boyhood days. Should the reader derive a tithe of the interest in reading that was afforded in writing, the author will be doubly recompensed.
An apology is due the theme it purports to treat, and is bescechingly asked for the author, for having written
6
Preface.
it hurriedly and without sufficient data. He had writ- ten to many of the immediate successors of the first and early settlers in the Big Hatchie country for something of the carly lives and connecting incidents of their brave fathers and people, in subduing the wilds of West Tennessee ; but, for some cause or other, except in a few instances, he received no response ; possibly they feared to trust such a priceless heritage to the pen of unknown authorship.
It is to be regretted, as their names and heroism in hewing down the forest and opening up the way to thrift and refined civilized enjoyment would have con- tributed greatly to the interest of the history of OLD TIMES IN WEST TENNESSEE.
The author, not wishing to "play showman to his own machinery," submits the following pages to the reader for what they are worth, with a prayer that he be gentle and deal lightly, and, if merit there be, encour- age him to a wider field, yet lying fallow in its virgin freshness. THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS.
-
CHAPTER I.
EARLY Pioneer Settlers in the Big Hatchie Country-Movers' Caravan through the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations- History of the Leaden Bullet and White Flint Arrow-De- Soto and his Bronzed Companions put to Flight by the Chickasaws-Bienville's Expedition and his Defeat-D'Ar- taguettie and De Vincennes, and their Fate .. 7-37
CHAPTER II.
EARLY Settlers form a Neighborhood-Jce Seahorn and the Hog's Hide-Nancy and her Peril with the Panther-Pan- ther Hunt-The Road to Covington-First Ferry in Tipton on the Hat hie-Dickens and his Taxes-Old Jack .. 28 51
CHAPTER III.
NEIGHBORHOODS Forming-Thomas Durham Founder of Durhamville - Johnnie Bradford -Thomas Thompson, Esquire-D. C. Russell-The First Frame House-Jacob Niswanger and William Murphy, the Hatter, and his Black- snakes-Joseph Wardlaw-Stephen Childre:S - Thomas Childress-William Turner and Parson Collins; their First Night in the Big Hatchie Country-Arthur Davis the Pioneer Preacher; his First Sermon in the Big Hatchie Country-First Schoolhouse in Tipton North of Hatchie- Old Man Larkin Gaines the First Schoolmaster .52 66
CHAPTER IV.
JOHN C. BARNES, the Pioneer Blacksmith-What Became of General Tipton's Jackass-The Chickasaws and the Shoot- ing Match-The First Tubmill and Cotton Gin-Joehus Farrington, the Ginmaker-Temple, the Screwcutter and Model Bear Hunter-His two Dogs, Cæsar and Bess-Boli-
(2)
var Merchants-Pitser Miller-The Author's First Kill- ing .. .......... 67-88
CHAPTER V.
BIG Bear Hunt-Temple, the Model Bear Hunter, and his Dogs Cæsar and Bess-The Big Hurricane-Numerous Bear Killings-Encounter with a Panther-Roosting Wild Turkeys-Camp Life in the Woods-The Locked Buck Horns-The Deer Lick Slash-The Big Bear-The Kill- ing-Camp Stories and Anecdotes-The Last Day's Hunt and the Last Killing 89-122
CHAPTER VI.
LAWYERS Riding the Circuit-Joshua Haskell, the First Judge-Alexander B. Bradford-Major Richmond-Gene- ral Loving-John W. Strother-The Methodist Preacher and the Scalding Cup of Coffee-The First Nations Mus- ter at Hurricane Hill-Bloody Noses and Black Eyes- John Barnes, the Blacksmith, and Ab Gaines, the Bully- Picposed Prize Fight-Ab and the Squatter's Wife-John Smith and Daniel Parker. 123-139
CHAPTER VII.
THE Character of Men who Settled West Tennessee-Tipton County ; its Original Territory and Topographical Fea- tures-Organization and Officers of the First Courts-The First Venire of Grand and Petit Juries -Jacob Tipton-R. W. Sanford-Covington-The First Merchants-The First Ph. sicians-The Calmes Tavern-Tarern-Keeper-The Boys about Town-The New Sign and the Bell-Ringing- The Calves in the Courthouse-Holtshouser's Court-OH Johnnie Gidding-Tackett Kills Mitchell-Gray's Cas .; bis Life Staked upon a Game of Cards-Grandville D. Searcy-The Fourth of July Celebration-David Crockett Canvassing for Congress; his Opponents, Captain Joel Estes. Adam R. Alexander and Jim Clarke-Dr. Charles G. Fisher-Nathan Adams-William Coward and the Wolf Story -- Major Armstead Morehead-James Swee- ney-Major Richmond and George Shankle. 140-176
(3)
CHAPTER VIII.
THE Mountain Academy-James Holmes, D. D ; his Pupils- My Room-Mate-Style of Dress-Camp-Meeting-Youth and Love. 177-193
CHAPTER IX.
RANDOLPH in Old Times-Its Best Days -- Loses the Chance of Becoming a City-Spirit of Internal Improvement of that Day-Early Settlers-Josse Benton-The Alstons- Colonel Tom Rober:on-Frank Latham-First Newspaper in the Country-Murrell Excitement -- Expedition to Shawnee Village .. 194-205
CHAPTER X.
LAUDERDALE Formed out of Big Hatchie Territory-Key Corner Established by Henry Rutherford in 1789-Ruther- ford and David Porter the First Permanent Settlers -- David T. Porter, the First Born-Cole Creek Bluffs-Interesting Topographical Features-Discovery of the Three Graves ; their History Worked out in Romance. 206-234
CHAPTER XI.
HAYWOOD County -- Colonel Richard Nixon, the First Pioneer Settler -- N. T. Perkins-Hiram Bradford-Organization of the First Courts-The First Venire of Grand and Petit Juries-The Taylor Family -- Dr. Allen J. Barbee-David McLeod, the Pioneer Tailor -- Daniel Cherry -- The First Execution Issued -- Reuben Alfin and the Bull-Major William R. Hess ; his Appearance Before the County Court-The Moody Case. 235-255
CHAPTER X!I.
THE First Steamboat, Red Rover; the Denizens of Haywood Gather on the Banks of the Big Hatchie to see it -- Val- entine Sevier, the Wit and Humorest of Brownsville-Cox, the Postmaster -- Old Herring Bones-The Young Horse- Trader -- Hornage. 256 270
CHAPTER XIII.
FAYETTE; its Geographical and Topographical Features --
(4)
County Sites Established for Seven Counties-Lewis P. Williamson-Hardeman-Bolivar-Ezekiel Polk-Jackson -First Newspaper-Colonel D. C. McLean 271-284 CHAPTER XIV.
BRIGHT and Lasting Memories of Youth Linking the Past with the Present-The Old Log Schoolhouse-The School- Path and Play-Ground-Schoolboys Demanding a Day's Holiday-Our Mother. 285-295
284
295
OLD TIMES IN WEST TENNESSEE.
Koo CHIAPTER I.
Reminiscences-Semi- Historic-of Pioneer Life and the Early Emigrant Settlers of the Big Hatchie Country.
THE poetic vision of the Greek, in looking back through dim antiquity, when Ilion resisted the thunder-bolts of Agamemnon's hosts; when the Argos, freighted with human life, weighed anchor and sailed away to the far-off Colchis; the more modern romances of Fernando DeSoto, Juan Ponce de Leon, Pocahontas and her Captain Smith, Daniel Boone and Tecumseh, is not more thrilling in inter- est to the descendents of the pioneer settlers of this country than the land of the Chickasaws and Davy Crockett-the Obion, Forked Deer and the Big Hatchie country-when in the cradle of the wilder- ness.
On the banks of a beautiful creek, north of the Big Hatchie River, in the early days of March, little less than three score years ago, my father pitched his tent, and called it home. There the abode of civilization was first planted in that trackless wilder-
8
Reminiscences of Old Times
ness. Then but a lad of less than twelve summers, the haunts of the countless wild beasts which filled the land are as freshly mapped out as if it were but yesterday. The frightful howl of the wolf, and the sharp, startling scream of the panther, became as familiar as household words.
'Twas there in childhood I played ; In the untrodden wilderness I strayed ; Land of my youth, whose memories last, Linking the present with the past.
Thither my father moved from the sands of the old settled part of Mississippi, south of latitude 32º, a distance of more than three hundred miles, through a wild, trackless, savage territory. The fatigue and peril of moving a large family of white and black, through a savage wilderness, with all the parapher- nalia of comfortable living, in those days of rude travel, was an undertaking requiring almost super- human endurance and inflexible will, but my father proved himself equal to it.
In January, 18-, through the lonely vistas of the pine woods, was seen a long train of movers. In front rode my father, on his faithful and sure-footed dapple-gray mare, with heavy holsters swinging across the pommel of his saddle, with their black bear- skin covering. Stern, thoughtful and reticent, with indomitable will, he had resolved to convoy his pre- cious charge safely through whatever of peril or difficulty that should menace him. Following close behind was a large black carryall, containing mother, grandmother and the young children. The carryall (ambulance it would be called now-a-days) my father had made in North Carolina, with an
9
in West Tennessee.
eye single to its usefulness as a sleeping apartment, as well as traveling vehicle; long and broad, deep sides and high back, with heavy . leather curtains, lined with thick, green baize, when closely buttoned down, and bed made up in it, was comfortable enough for an emperor's wife. It was the traveling and sleeping apartment of my mother, grandmother and three young sisters.
Provident in arrangement, my father had gone to Mobile and purchased a year's supply of everything requisite to a comfortable living in the wilds of the Big Hatchie-coffee, tea, rice, sugar, flour, spices and inedieines, cards, cotton and spinning-wheels, every variety and kind of seeds, implements of husbandry, carpenter and blacksmith tools, and assorted nails, not forgetting an ample stock of powder, lead and shot, selecting twenty head of choice milch cows with their calves and yearlings, and about the same number of stock hogs. My mother contributed her share in the necessary pre- paration for the journey ; every one, both black and white, were properly and comfortably clad in home- spun clothes-stout overcoats for the men and long jackets for the women. The seats and knees of her boys' pants she padded with dressed buckskin (this economic measure is appreciated by all who have made long journeys, camping out every night). The train, when in motion, presented an imposing appearance. The weather being favorable, the country open pinewoods, now and then a few miles of neighborhood road, which happened to lay in our course, we reached the Choctaw territory at
10
Reminiscences of Old Times
nightfall on the fifth day. There we remained over until Monday. My father considered it necessary to communicate with the chief, and obtain safe con- duct through his territory. These little diplomatic arrangements completed, and the services of a guide, or pilot, secured, word was given to gear up! The second week opened upon us heading slowly through the Choctaw nation, rumbling over roots and such undergrowth as did not impede travel. We made some days as much as ten miles, oftener, however, not more than six or eight. We were not unfrequently delayed for several days when difficult crossings of streams were to be made. Often it was found impracticable to construct bridges, when floats (pontoons) were made, and the wagons unloaded and taken apart, and everything packed across by hand. All these difficulties were met and overcome with a hearty good will, and songs of good cheer. Marvelous had been the stories told the negroes of the good things in store for them in the Big Hatchie . country. That it was literally a land flowing with milk and honey; so rich in soil that you only had to make a hole in the ground with your heel, drop the corn into it, and it would grow without work; the forest hanging with the most delicious fruits, and the ground covered with strawberries; even to fat pigs, ready roasted, and running about with knife and fork in their backs, much of which they wrought into song.
We found the Choctaws friendly and well dis- posed. My father did not, however, relax his vigil in having a close watch kept upon the stock during
11
in West Tennessee.
the night. The cows and hogs were belled, so as to give the alarm when in the slightest disturbed. The camp was infested with Indians every night, bringing in every variety of game, with other eata- bles, asking to trade. My father had supplied him- Helf with a good stock of beads and red things. A lively trade was carried on most every night. Ven- ison and wild turkeys were in abundance, with beau- tiful bead baskets, and every variety of bead-work. A few loads of powder or a red cotton handkerchief would pay for a fat gobbler or a saddle of venison. We fared sumptuously.
Reaching the Chickasaw territory, the Choctaw guide was relieved, my father making him many presents for his faithful services, sending presents to his chief. A Chickasaw guide was engaged, and the course of travel decided upon. To avoid the broken country along the head-waters of the numer- ous streams flowing westwardly, a more easterly direction was advised.
Leaving the lazy and proverbially filthy Choctaw, we entered the Chickasaw nation-noble race of the red man, first to resist the iron heel of the white man, famed for their bravery and ferocious bearing in war, and among the first to make a generous and lasting peace, and cultivate the arts of civilization. The country through which we traveled was slightly rolling, wood principally oak and hickory, devoid of tangled undergrowth. Traveling for days without incident or difficulty worthy of mention, we reached the thickly settled portion of the nation, in the vicinity of which was situated the principal village,
y - C
12
Reminiscences of Old Times
at which the chief resided. It was on a Friday; man and beast needed rest, and the order was given that we would lay over till Monday. No travel was done on the Sabbath. My father, a strict old-side Presbyterian, was true to his faith in "observing the Sabbath, to keep it holy," and required of his family, both black and white, that they should do the same.
The tents were pitched. upon a lovely spot, on the margin of a gentle slope overlooking the beautiful prairie to the cast, a clear running brook close by. When the bright morning sun rose, chasing the gray mist over the broad expanse of the lovely prairie to the cast and northeast, numerous Indian settlements, or villages, were seen in the distance. The village at which the chief resided lay to the northwest of us some six miles. Orders were given to prepare for washing-to Jack and Jim to get out the big kettle and swing it, the washtubs, and stretch the clothes-line, the cattle and hogs to be driven over in the prairie, and a close watch kept upon them.
During the day the chief, accompanied by several of his braves and his interpreter, visited the camp. The interpreter was a negro slave, and belonged to the chief, who owned many slaves. The object of his visit was to invite my father to visit him, ex tending the hospitalities of the village to the whole camp. A reciprocal trade was carried on during the day. The squaws brought large baskets of corn and pumpkins, some with rice and hominy, others with hickory-nut kernels, carefully picked out, many of them without being broken. The trade was in
13
in West Tennessee.
terrupted by the boys coming into camp, delighted with their findings while roaming over the prairie. Everybody's curiosity was excited to see; from a dozen voices at once, " Let me see!" "Let me see!" "(), do let me sce !" The objects of so much curious interest were several white flint arrow-heads and a large corroded leaden ball. Such was the marvel at what had been picked up on the prairie that the chief and his braves, who had been standing seem- ingly unconcerned, were applied to for something of their history. They certainly had a history; relies of art, of the white and the red man, found side by side in the wilds of a savage country, excite the curious to know something of them. The chief, a huge mass of fat, with a jolly, good-natured face, and an intelligent, laughing eye, shook his big sides with a grunt, and spoke through his interpreter thus: "Long, long ago," pointing in the direction from which the boys came running, "on yonder hill a big battle was .fought between the red man and the white man. The red men killed all the white men, since which time the red man has been at peace with the white man." This was the only in- formation obtained to the numerous inquiries as to when, and who were the white men engaged in such deadly conflict with the red men. The rock from which the arrow-head was cut did not exist in this region. The size of the leaden ball differed from the ordinary rifle bullet then in use, and its corroded state excited interest as to itsantiquity. My father, thinking he could throw some light upon the subject, spoke, addressing himself to the chief, who
1
14
Reminiscences of Old Times
had settled himself upon the ground, with his fat legs crossed under him : " That more than two hun- dred and eighty years ago, Spain, a powerful nation across the big water, sent a great many big ships, with men, arms and ammunition, and fine horses, to take possession of all this country; that they landed somewhere on the coast of Florida, under the command of a great man called Fernando De- Soto; that DeSoto, landing his men, guns and horses, marched up through the territory of the Alabamas, then, turning west, crossed the Tombigbee some- where near the Chickasaw village, passing through their territory, crossing the Mississippi at the Chicka- saw bluffs; that the Chickasaws were offended with the strangers for entering their territory without asking their big chief to smoke the calumet, gave them battle, killing a great number; that more than one hundred and ninety years after the Spaniards passed through the territory of the Chickasaws, the French, who claimed all the country on both sides of the Mississippi, from its mouth to the great lakes in the north, became offended with the Chickasaws for taking sides with and helping the Natchez, with whom they were at war, sent Bienville, who was Governor of Louisiana, with a great army of white men and a large number of Choctaws, up the Tom- bigbee river to drive them from their territory. Bienville, with his soldiers and Choctaw friends, landed near the Chickasaw villages, marched out and had a big fight at Ackia village." (As the name of the village was mentioned, the chief, who, it will be remembered, had taken his seat upon the ground,
1
15
in West Tennessee.
quick as an arrow from its bow, jumped up with features animated and both arms extended, gesticu- lating in the direction of a hillock to the northeast of our camp, sparsely wooded, and repeated the name of the village, " Ackia! Ackia!") Resuming, he told the chief that his people defeated the French, killed a great many, and pursued the remainder to their boats; that his people never had been con- quered; they were famed in history for their bravery and heroic bearing in war. Delighted with such a glorious account of his nation, he, with his compan- ions, took their leave, making my father promise to come out and eat with him at his village, which he promised to do Monday.
Our tents had been pitched within a few rods of the historic ground upon which the village of Ac- kia stood, where, more than two hundred and eighty years ago, its red defenders put to flight DeSoto and his bronzed companions, with their golden spurs, where Bienville fought his great battle with the brave Chickasaws, where the ashes of the hand- some Chevalier D'Artaguettie and the noble De Vincennes rest in peace, mingled with mother earth. Shall we search for the history of the leaden ball and the white flint arrow-head among those fallen braves, whose names and deeds have made glorious the history of this memorable spot? Let ns while away the Sabbath in so pleasing a search.
The Chickasaws gave the French more concern than all the nations of red men combined. They were the implacable enemies of France. Maintain- ing their independence, they greatly weakened and
16
Reminiscences of Old Times
divided the New Empire. Communication with the lakes in the north, and New Orleans, was in con- stant danger of interruption by the intrepid Chicka- saws. With their cedar barks they were ready to shoot out into the Mississippi. They permitted no settlement upon the eastern shore of the great river. From the Natchez to the Ohio they claimed dc- minion, and held it against the French, who had mapped out as belonging to France all the country west of the Alleghanies to the Rocky Mountains- that not a rill or brook that flowed from the moun- tains into the Father of Waters but ran through French territory. Independent and resolute, they had given aid and comfort to the Natchez, whose utter annihilation the French aimed at. In order, therefore, to secure and reduce the eastern valley of the Mississippi, it was necessary to rid them- selves of the Chickasaws. To this end Bienville, then Governor of Louisiana, was instructed by the French Government to fit out an expedition equal to the undertaking, and drive them from the terri- tory. After two years' preparation, fresh troops having been sent out from France, Bienville an- nounced himself ready to move with his expedition upon the Chickasaws. He had written to the brave young Chevalier D'Artaguettie, commanding the Illi- nois department, to gather all the troops, both white and red, under his command, and join him in the Chickasaw territory-to meet him at the Chickasaw village on the last day of March. Prompt to duty, D'Artaguettie, communicating with Vincennes, com- manding the Iroquois and tribes on the Wabash,
17
in West Tennessee.
and Montcheval, commanding the Miamis and Da- cotahs, he was soon ready and descending the Mis- sissippi with one hundred and thirty white troops and three hundred and sixty red allies. On the 4th of March Bienville left New Orleans with his imposing army, finely appointed and equipped, carrying many cannon. Untoward winds greatly retarded his move- ments, and he did not reach Mobile until the twenty- third day. Being delayed there on account of the condition of his boats, it was the 1st of April before the expedition commenced its move up the river. Two hundred miles from Mobile, on the Tombigbee, a depot of ammunition and supplies had been estab- tablished, where Bienville was to be joined by twelve hundred warriors of the Choctaw tribe. Reaching their depot of ammunition and supplies, after innu- merable delays, they found the Choctaws not yet arrived. While there, Bienville reviewing his grand army, his red allies came up to the number of six hundred, adding greatly to the grand military par- ade. On the 18th of April Bienville resumed his march up the Tombigbee, arriving opposite the Chickasaw village the 23d day of May, a month and twenty-three days behind his appointed time for 1)'Artaguettie to join him. His first order, however, was to send out scouts to learn something, if they could, of the expedition from the Illinois, and to reconnoiter the villages. Securing his boats, and constructing a rude fortification in front of them, he put his army in motion, with ten days' rations, leaving the commanders of the boats and a squad of soldiers in charge of the cannon, temporarily
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.