USA > Tennessee > Hickman County > A history of Hickman County, Tennessee > Part 2
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
mitted to dispute it." The party which went west from Mount Pisgah ran the line, which is yet found to be plainly marked, through Hickman County. There were about sixty in this party, but the names of only the following have been preserved: Thomas Wright, John Hardin, - Frazier, Henry Rutherford, John Tate (chain carrier), William Polk, Ezekiel Polk, Ephraim McClain, Sr., - Bradley, and John Hib- bets. Ezekiel Polk was the grandfather of President James K. Polk. Mount Pisgah, where the party di- vided, was twelve miles east of where the line crossed Carter's Creek, in Maury County. By some of this party this creek was known as " Hardin's Creek," named for John Hardin, who was one of the old men of the party. The name by which it finally came to be known was in honor of Capt. Benjamin Carter, for whom William Polk made an entry here. This line was marked by mile trees, and its course through Hickman County is as follows: Running west from Maury County, the first marked tree in Hickman County is on the ridge south of Leatherwood Creek and near the head of this creek. Another marked tree is on the farm of Dallas Johnson, near Jones' Valley. . This tree is a beech. The line crosses Leatherwood Creek between the store at Jones' Valley and the Meadors place, crosses Duck River below the mouth of Leatherwood Creek, and runs into Anderson's Bend, where it was marked by a tree which stood in the yard where the pioneer, Robert Anderson, once lived. It leaves Anderson's Bend at the lower end.
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SOME PIONEER HISTORY.
Here a marked poplar tree on the Clifford Smith place, just above the month of Robertson's Creek, is still standing. After crossing the river at the lower end of Anderson's Bend it runs through the O. A. Jones farm and again crosses Duck River, running through the southern portion of Totty's Bend, near the phosphate mines. It crosses Swan Creek, near the river, and runs between Duck River and the Cen- terville and Columbia road, until it crosses this road south of Centerville. Crossing Indian Creek and Duck River, it runs through Shipp's Bend, near the place owned by the late John Thompson, and crosses Duck River above the Huddleston Bridge. It crosses Beaver Dam at the Jack Malugin place, and Sulphur Fork of Beaver Dam at the Jim Malugin place. Crossing the head of Cow Hollow, it continues west, crossing Buffalo River between Beardstown and Lo- belville. It strikes the Tennessee River near Den- son's Landing, in Perry County, the marked tree at this point being a sycamore. This line is well known from the point where it crosses Duck River, near the mouth of Leatherwood Creek, to its end on the bank of the Tennessee River in Perry County, this portion of the line being a portion of the Congressional Reser- vation Line of 1806. The purpose of the latter line is explained in following pages. In addition to the per- sons named above, Gen. Griffith Rutherford, Anthony Bledsoe, and Captain Looney were with the party which ran the line west from Mount Pisgah. Capt. John Rains was probably a member of this party, he
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
having been a hunter for one of the parties. After reaching the Tennessee River they spent several days in camp, and members of the party made numerous entries along the Tennessee River and Buffalo River. These entries were made for themselves and friends, and a list of those in whose names entries were made in this section would not necessarily be a list of the names of the surveying party. Entries were made on Duck River ; "Swan River, a branch of Duck River;" and " Cane Creek, a branch of Buffalo River," as the party went on its way to the Tennessee River, and by individual members on their return. The party divided into several small parties, who returned by different routes to Nashville. On April 29, 1784, an entry was made in the name of George Wilson between the twentieth and twenty-first mile trees-nine miles west of where the line crossed Carter's Creek. This entry was transferred to William Polk. On April 30 an entry in the name of "Thomas Polk, son of Ezekiel Polk," was made on Cane Creek, " beginning at the place where Ezekiel Polk, Captain Looney, and others camped on their return from the Tennessee River in 1784, after having run the west line." Entries near this were made on the same day in the names of Sam- uel Polk, William Polk, and John Polk. Samuel Polk was the father of President James K. Polk. On the same day an entry in the name of Thomas Sprot was made " where the line struck Duck River the second time "-that is, in Anderson's Bend. Other entries were: April 30-Robert McCree, on east side
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SOME PIONEER HISTORY.
of " Swan River," beginning at the thirty-second mile tree; George Wilson, at the mouth of Cane Creek ; Adlai Osborn, two and a half miles above the mouth of Cane Creek; Adlai Osborn, " on Duck River, one- half mile below where the west line of 1784 crossed the third time; " Adlai Osborn, " on Swan River, a fork of Duck River, four miles above where the west line crosses it; " David McRee, on " Swan River," two and a half miles above this line; Samuel McLea, on ".Swan River ; " George Oliver, on " Buck Creek," two miles above this line; and Samuel McLea, on Cane Creek. Several of these entries were trans- ferred to members of the Polk family. On May 7 this entry was made in the name of James Lindsey : " In Greene County, on the south side of Duck River, joining the line run in 1784 and including the place where the commissioners and guards camped on the south side of said river in 1784." On May 10 an entry in the name of John McFarland was made as follows: " On the south side of Duck River, above the red bank, including General Rutherford's encamp- ment and a large Indian encampment." On May 15 an entry in the name of Nicholas Long was made on both sides of Duck River where the line crosses the first time. On May 22 this entry was made: " Thomas Norris-On the north side of Duck River where the west line crosses the first time, including a small branch and a spring, a tree marked J. R." On the same date is this entry: " Griffith Rutherford, Sr .- On the north side of Duck River, opposite a
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
small creek that empties into the river on the south side, joining Rutherford's Ford and the camp where General Rutherford camped in March, 1784." On May 24 the following entries were made : " Abraham McLealen-On the north side of Duck River and south of the line run by Rutherford and Bledsoe, be- ginning at the twenty-first mile tree; " "Archibald Lytle -- On Swan River three or four miles above where west line crosses; " "G. Kerr-On the north side of Duck River opposite the red bank, where line crosses the fifth time." On May 25 an entry in the name of Samuel Clenny was made on Swan River three miles above the line ; and in the name of Thomas R. Sharpe, " on the south side of Duck River, begin- ning at the mouth of the first creek that runs into said river on the south side above the line of 1784."
In 1787 the Indians shot down and scalped a son of William Montgomery, on Drake's Creek, and killed a number of others throughout the Cumberland set- tlements. The act, however, which caused retribution to quickly follow was the killing of Mark Robertson. Clayton's " History of Davidson County " says: "In May, Mark Robertson, a brother of the Colonel, had been killed, after a desperate defense, near the lat- ter's residence." Ramsey says: "In May the Indians came to Richland Creek, and in daylight killed Mark Robertson near the place where Robertson's mill was since erected. He was a brother of Colonel Robert- son, and was returning from his house." James Rob- ertson, writing to Governor Caswell, of North Caro-
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SOME PIONEER HISTORY.
lina, a justification of the Coldwater expedition, says, under date of July 2, 1787: " My brother, Mark Rob- ertson, being killed near my house, I, by the advice of the officers, civil and military, raised about one hun- dred and thirty men, and followed their tracks." As James Robertson then lived near the present site of West Nashville, these accounts would fix the place of Mark Robertson's death within the present limits of Davidson County. However, local tradition is to the effect that John Gordon, the pioneer scout and Indian fighter, repeatedly stated that Mark Robertson was killed at a spring on Robertson's Creek, in the Fif- teenth District of Hickman County. The late Bolling Gordon, a man of prominence and veracity, is author- ity for the statement that his father, John Gordon, made this statement to him, pointed out the place where Robertson fell, and said that it was from this that the creek took its name. The historical accounts of the death of Mark Robertson were doubtless taken from the letter of James Robertson, and the historians quoted above easily construed the expression, " near my house," as meaning only a short distance away; when, in fact, forty miles, as compared with the dis- tance to the capital of North Carolina, was " near my house." Mark Robertson was, at the time of his death, in the Indian country, and in justification of the Cold- water expedition James Robertson suppressed some of the facts and made the vague statement of " near my house." Haywood and Ramsey, after the lapse of
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
years, accepted this statement as being literally true. If the Indians came to Nashville and killed Mark Robertson, James Robertson could have more easily defended his action in going on the expedition against them than he could if he admitted that, in fact, Mark Robertson was, at the time of his death, surveying in the Indian country and a trespasser on their territory. James Robertson, who followed the dictates of a broth- er's love, did right in going on this expedition; and when it was all over, he palliated Governor Caswell, who was far away from danger, and, therefore, prone to criticise, by the perhaps misleading statement of " near my house."
The duty of making expeditions against the Indians had been assigned to Evans' battalion by an Act of the North Carolina Legislature, but the delay occasioned by the recruiting and equipping of this battalion was so great that Colonel Robertson determined to organ- ize an expedition upon his own responsibility. He ac- cordingly called for volunteers from the several settle- ments. One hundred and thirty men responded to this call and assembled at his house. Of these he took command. He was assisted by Lieut. Cols. Robert Hays and James Ford. "Among the number was Capt. John Rains' company of spies or scouts, a body which for efficiency in border warfare was never surpassed." Other members of the party whose names have been preserved were: Joshua Thomas, Edmond Jennings, Benjamin Castleman, William Loggins,
1
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SOME PIONEER HISTORY.
William Steele, Martin (or Morton) Duncan, John Buchanan, Jonathan Denton, Benjamin Drake, John Eskridge, and Moses Eskridge.
Lieutenant Colonel Hays was a brother-in-law of Andrew Jackson, he marrying a daughter of John Donelson. In 1792 he was a colonel of cavalry. He, Castleman, Loggins, Duncan, Buchanan, and Drake were in 1787 taxpayers in Davidson County, and were twenty-three years of age or over. Lieut. Col. James Ford " was over six feet high, rather fleshy, and of commanding appearance." He became colonel in the Davidson County militia, and participated in the Nickajack Expedition. From 1793 to 1796 he repre- sented Tennessee County, which embraced the larger part of Hickman County, in the Territorial Legisla- ture. In 1796 he represented this county in the Con- stitutional Convention. He was afterwards in the State Legislature. A more extended sketch of Cap- tain Rains will be found in the following pages. Joshua Thomas and Edmond Jennings were for years almost inseparable companions on the hunt and scout, sharing together the many hardships and few pleas- ures of frontier life. Thomas was killed during the Nickajack Expedition in 1794, he failing to heed Jen- nings' advice to " take a tree." Benjamin Castleman was one of the fighting Castlemans, one of the most fearless of the pioneer families of the Cumberland. In the tax list of 1787 the name " William Loggans " appears. In the list of participators in the Coldwater Expedition the name appears as " William Loggins."
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
John Buchanan, founder of Buchanan's Station and ancestor of the Governor of that name, was probably with this expedition. That his famous fowling piece was along is a certainty, as Edmond Jennings with it killed three Indians at one fire. Benjamin Drake was one of a family of early explorers. He was one of the signers of the Cumberland Compact; but as the tax list of 1787 shows two persons of this name, it is im- possible to say which one participated in this expedi- tion.
In the early part of June the men left Nashville, well armed and provided with dried meat and parched corn. They were accompanied by the Chief Toka and another Chickasaw, who, aware of the location of the camp of the recent marauders, had come to Nash- ville for the purpose of acting as guides. The route they pursued is given by Haywood as follows: "They crossed the mouth of South Harpeth; thence they went a direct course to the mouth of Turnbull's Creek; thence up the same to the head, and thence to Lick Creek of Duck River; thence down the creek seven or eight miles, leaving the creek to the right hand; thence to an old lick as large as a cornfield; thence to Duck River where the Old Chickasaw [Trace] crossed it; thence, leaving the trace to the right hand, they went to the head of Swan Creek, on the south side of Duck River; thence to a creek running into the Tennessee River, which the troops called Blue Water, and which ran into the Tennessee about a mile and a half above the lower end of the Muscle Shoals. They
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SOME PIONEER HISTORY.
left this creek on the left hand." A discussion of the route through Hickman County may be found in the following pages. Reaching the Tennessee, they re- mained in hiding, sending Captain Rains and a small party out to reconnoiter. When night came on, Thomas and Jennings swam the Tennessee, a mile wide at this place, and brought over a very leaky ca- noe. Forty persons attempted to cross by standing in the canoe and swimming by its side. In this they were unsuccessful. The canoe was again brought to the north side and patched up, after which a small party crossed and took position in the woods. It now being daylight, the remainder plunged their horses into the stream and swam over without accident. Ad- vancing about eight miles, they came upon the Indian village, which they charged. The savages were routed, and fled to their canoes, which were moored upon the banks of Coldwater Creek. Here they were met by a destructive fire from a party under the com- mand of Captain Rains. Twenty-six warriors, to- gether with three Frenchmen and a white woman, were slain. The houses of the village were burned and several French traders captured. Their goods were put into the canoes of the Indians and placed in charge of a detachment of whites, who proceeded down the river to what has since been known as Colbert's Ferry. Here the prisoners were released, their sugar and coffee was divided among the troops, and their dry goods carried by the boats to Eaton's Station, near Nashville, and sold. From this point the troops
- 3-
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
marched north until they struck the path leading to the Old Chickasaw Crossing, where they had crossed as they went out. From this point they returned as they had come, and reached Nashville after an absence of nineteen days. None of the party had been killed or wounded.
An expedition by water, which had started at the same time with the view of cooperating with the land force, was not so fortunate. Going down the Cum- berland and up the Tennessee to the mouth of Duck River, they had met with no resistance. At this place a canoe was noticed tied a short distance up Duck River. Capt. Moses Shelby's boat went up to investi- gate, when it was fired upon by Indians concealed in the cane. Josiah Renfroe, one of the ill-fated family of Renfroes, a number of whom were killed by In- dians, was shot through the head, and died almost in- stantly. Hugh Rogan and John Topp were shot through the body; Edward Hogan, through the arm; and five others were slightly wounded. This brought to a close this expedition, which was commanded by David Hay. The wounded were conveyed overland to Nashville, about seventy-five miles away. Rogan, who was an Irishman, carried his gun the entire dis- .
tance, although he was shot through one lung. Cap- tain Shelby, referred to above, had settled in what is now Montgomery County in 1783, and afterwards be- came a colonel of militia.
The troops under the immediate command of Cap- tain Rains had several engagements with the Indians
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SOME PIONEER HISTORY.
in 1787 before they went out with the Coldwater Ex- - pedition. In April, Curtis Williams and Thomas Fletcher had been killed by the Indians near the mnouth of Harpeth. Colonel Robertson ordered Cap- tain Rains to raise sixty men and pursue. Referring to Colonel Robertson's selecting Captain Rains for the performance of this duty, Haywood says: " He was led to this choice by the entire confidence he had learned by experience to place in his diligence and prowess. Ile very often selected Captain Rains and gave him his orders, which were uniformly, punctually, and promptly executed, and with a degree of bravery which could not be exceeded." They failed to over- take the Indians, and were on their return to Nash- ville, when, near Latitude Hill, in what is now Giles County, they came upon the deserted camp of Indians on their way to attack the settlers on the Cumberland. They followed the savages, and came up with them and defeated them on Rutherford Creek, on the north side of Duck River, six miles from the mouth of Globe and Fountain Creeks, in what is now Maury County.
About a month later Captain Rains' troops went out the Chickasaw path, crossed Duck River and Swan Creek, and came upon a party of Indians composed of five men and a boy. Four of the men were killed and the boy captured. He was carried to Nashville by Captain Rains and named John Rains. He was soon afterwards exchanged and sent back to his tribe dressed in the garb of the whites. When he came to visit Cap-
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
tain Rains the following year, he bore no marks of the attempt to civilize him, but was a typical savage- dirty and scantily clad.
Immediately after the Coldwater Expedition the In- dians commenced to come across the Tennessee River in small parties for the purpose of striking the outly- ing settlements. One of these parties, led by Big Foot, was followed to the Tennessee by Captain Shan- non's company. The whites reached them as they werc preparing to cross. Abraham Castleman, called by the Indians, on account of his reckless bravery, " The Fool Warrior," killed one. Big Foot, being the stronger, had almost succeeded in taking Luke An- derson's gun from him, when William Pillow sprang to the rescue and tomahawked the burly chief. Pil- low was the uncle of Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, of the Mexican and Civil Wars.
In September, 1787, Captain Rains' company, rein- forced by Captain Shannon's company, again went against the Indians. They crossed Duck River near Greene's Lick. On Elk River, Captain Shannon, leading the advance, passed over an Indian trail, which was detected by the veteran Rains. They came upon the Indians, and, during the fight which followed, John Rains, Jr., captured an Indian boy. He was carried to Nashville, and later to Washington City, where a white girl fell desperately in love with him. He was finally released, and this attempt at the civili- zation of an Indian was no more successful than the one mentioned above. He joined the Creeks, and was
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SOME PIONEER HISTORY.
wounded in the battle of Talladega in 1813 while fight- ing against the whites.
In the following year-1788-the Indians in the daytime went. to the house of William Montgomery, on: Drake's Creek, and killed the boy whom they had scalped and left for dead the previous year. They also killed two of his brothers, this occurring at the spring, one hundred yards from the house. On De- cember 23, 1793, Montgomery himself was badly wounded by the Indians, he receiving a bullet in the thigh. Another broke his arm.
On the night of July 20, 1788, Col. Anthony Bled- soc, one of the commissioners who ran the line of 1783, was shot by the Indians at Bledsoe's Lick, now Cas- talian Springs, Sumner County. It was seen that he could not live till morning. He had eight daughters; and, according to the laws of North Carolina, if he died without a will, they would receive no part of his property. There was no light in the house ; but Hugh Rogan, who was wounded at the mouth of Duck River a year before this, went to the house of Katie Shavers, several hundred yards away, and returned with a torch. The Indians did not offer to molest him, they probably being dumfounded at such an exhibition of bravery. The will was completed before Colonel Bledsoe died. Phelan was referring to just such deeds as this when he said: " The marvelous tales of' Cooper sink into commonplace when compared with the won- derful feats and adventures of Spencer and Jennings and Castleman and Rains and Mansker."
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
In 1789 the Indians made a raid upon Robertson's Station and shot Colonel Robertson in the foot. Capt. Sampson Williams, who was with the commissioners who ran the line of 1783, went in pursuit, and de- feated the Indians on the south side of Duck River. Andrew Jackson accompanied this expedition as a private.
Ir. April, 1791, occurred that event which gave to Hickman County its name. James Robertson, Edwin Hickman, Robert Weakley, John Garner, J. Smith, and Richard Shaffer left the Cumberland settlements for the purpose of surveying some lands on Piney River. The party, which had been out about two weeks, had commenced at the head of Piney, and had surveyed to its mouth and up Duck River to near the present site of Centerville, where they encamped for the night. Robertson and Hickman were up before daylight, and had made a large fire, when just at dawn they heard a cracking noise in the cane. An investi- gation developing nothing, they concluded that the noise was made by their horses, which had been hob- bled and turned loose to graze. Robertson was sit- ting by the fire mending his moccasins, when Hick- man, repriming his gun, remarked to the others, who were still lying down: "Come, boys; let's be going. I think the yellow militia are about, for I had a very bad dream last night." He had not completed the narration of his dream, when the Indians fired upon them. Hickman fell dead, and Robertson was wounded in the hand. The others, seeing Hickman
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SOME PIONEER HISTORY.
fall and finding that they were outnumbered, ran in different directions. Weakley took the direct course for home, and, by traveling all of that day and the en- suing night, reached Jocelyn's Fort early on Saturday morning. The fort of Jocelyn was several miles out from Nashville, on the Charlotte Pike. When he reached the fort, he found the women milking, guarded by the men. He had considerable difficulty in reaching them without being shot, they mistaking him for an Indian spy. That night Robertson, Gar- ner, and Shaffer reached Robertson's Fort, near the present site of West Nashville. Smith, being a poor woodsman, did not arrive till several days afterwards. The death of Hickman cast a gloom over the entire settlement, where he had been universally popular. A party composed of about twenty persons, led by Cap- tain Gillespie, left Nashville on Sunday morning for the purpose of burying Hickman's body. They reached the place where Hickman fell on Monday at
sunset. His body was nude, with the exception of his belt, which had not been removed, and it was so near the fire that the lower extremities were completely baked. The proximity of the fire had, however, kept the wolves at a distance, and the body had not been molested by them. The party hastily did that which they had come to do by laying the body beside a large log and placing small logs, chunks, and brush upon it. This was the usual mode of disposing of the bodies of those who fell far from home. While carrying the body to the log, William Pillow, who supported the
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
hvad, observed that the Indians, contrary to their usual custom, had not scalped Hickman. The party did not tarry long in this dangerous locality, and im- mediately started on their return to Nashville, which place they reached on Wednesday. Their attempt to protect the body of Hickman from the wolves was fu- tile, as they reached the body and left the bones to bleach in the forest wilds for years. They were after- wards buried, as stated in the sketch of the First Dis- trict. It is said that during the return trip to Nash- ville a singular incident occurred. Upon leaving their camp on Tuesday morning, John Davis and William Ewing found that they had more bread than they would need. They half-jokingly proposed that they leave two pones in the fork of a low dogwood for Smith, who was supposed to be still lost in the woods. This they did, and the half-famished Smith, wander- ing aimlessly through the woods, came upon their trail a short distance from the camp, followed it, and found the bread. This gave him additional strength; and, following their trail, he finally reached Nashville. This party surveyed lands lying on " Pine River of Duck River " near the mouth of Spring Creek. These lands had been entered in the name of Eliza- beth Robertson, a daughter of Elijah Robertson. They probably surveyed the lands granted to John Dickens. These lands lie in the Seventh District and are known as the Jessee James lands, now owned by F. P. Tidwell. Smith and Garner were chain carriers for the party.
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