USA > Tennessee > Hickman County > A history of Hickman County, Tennessee > Part 20
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Above the mouth of Gracey's Branch is the store of James Greenberry Loftin, a son of Matthew Bishop Loftin. He was born in Davidson County on April 7, 1834, but came to this district when young. He has several times been the constable of this district, and was at one time a candidate for sheriff. His father was born in Virginia.
One-half mile farther up the creek William Has- sell built a mill in 1836. Near the present site of the church and schoolhouse Thomas Newcomb's mill stood. Near the present location of the store at Jones' Valley, Joe Davie's mill stood in 1830. Leatherwood Creek has had more mills on it since 1810 than any creek of the same length in the county. As many as four mills have been running on this creek at the same time. The names of some of those who have been millers on the creek are: Joe Davie, Thomas New- comb, William Hassell, Peter Hanes, Vernon F. Bibb, Robert Woody, Thomas Brooks, and Newell Johnson.
At the Newell Johnson mill three fine springs burst
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from a cove, and, uniting, form Leatherwood Creek. The waters from these springs, confined by a stone dam, make the power for Johnson's mill. The lands here were first entered in 1811 by - Branch, who conveyed them to Robert Woody. Woody was born in Orange County, N. C., in 1806. He married Mary Brooks, who was born in Kentucky in 1807. His son, Samuel Thomas Woody, was born on March 30, 1837. He was buried at the V. F. Bibb place.
Two brothers, Joseph and Richard Davie, were among the earliest settlers on Leatherwood Creek. Richard Davie lived where C. S. Johnson now lives. Joseph Davie built the house, later known as the " Washı. Fowlkes place," where Robert and Thomas Woody now live. This house, which is still standing, was in pioneer days used as a blockhouse. Tradition says that at the house of Richard Davie, John A. Mur- rell was once arrested for horse stealing. He had stopped here overnight, and in the morning he was arrested by the pursuing posse. The Davie brothers bought lands from Asa Shute, who cut his name on a tree in their line in 1811. This tree, which is still standing, is near the mouth of Gracey's Branch and near the Continental Line of 1784. Benjamin Adair, father of Col. Andrew Adair, was an early settler on this creek, as was also Houston Cooper. Robert Woody once owned the mill now owned by Puckett, and the V. F. Bibb lands were once owned by Brooks. Here located an early settler, John Griffith, uncle of James O. Griffith, once a prominent news-
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paper man of Nashville. A daughter of John Griffith married William H. Bratton ; another daughter, Han- nah, married Joseph Davie.
John Wesley Webb, who was born in North Caro- lina on January 14, 1812, came to this district in 1840 and settled where his son, Charles S. Webb, now lives. Charles S. Webb was born here on March 9, 1847.
Benjamin Charter and Thomas Jones were the first merchants at Jones' Valley, they selling goods here in 1866.
Col. Vernon F. Bibb, who was for years one of the most prominent citizens of the county, lived on Leatherwood Creek. He was born in Dickson County on August 24, 1816, and died in 1896. He was sev- eral times a member of the State Legislature, both as a Senator and a Representative. In 1861 he raised Company C' of the Ninth Battalion of Tennessee Cav- alry, C. S. A., and was the first captain of this com- pany. The Ninth Battalion was a splendid body of men, who, as fighters and good soldiers, had no supe- riors in either the Southern or Northern armies. The men from Leatherwood Creek and vicinity, under the leadership of Bibb and Mayberry, did, and did well, whatever they were called upon to do.
A good citizen and prominent man was Granville M. Johnson, who lived on the Dry Fork of Leather- wood Creek. The " captain's company " to which he belonged embraced the citizens of what is now the Thirteenth District as well as those of the Third and
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Fifteenth Districts. Each "captain's company" was entitled to two justices of the peace selected by the Legislature. In 1826, at the request of his neighbors and friends, the Legislature selected him as one of the magistrates of the county, and this position he filled long and well. He was the father of Jacob H. John- son, Granville M. Johnson, Jr. ; Dallas Johnson, one of the present magistrates of the Thirteenth District ; and C. S. Johnson, a prominent citizen, who has sev- eral times been constable of the district. Jacob H. Johnson enlisted as a private in Company H, Elev- enth Tennessee Infantry, the first company from Hickman County to join the Confederate Army. At the reorganization in May, 1862, he was elected sec- ond lieutenant. A few weeks after this Gen. George W. Gordon, then lieutenant colonel commanding the regiment, was captured. Lieut. "Jake " Johnson, with eighteen men, searching for his superior officer, came upon forty-two Federals and captured them. Some of these were exchanged a few days later for Gordon. When the gallant Capt. P. V. H. (Van) Weems was promoted to be major, Lieutenant John- son was promoted to the captaincy of Company H. In the battle east of Atlanta on July 22, 1864, Cap- tain Johnson was killed. This was on the same day that Maj. Van Weems was mortally wounded. Of them General Gordon says : " These were popular and daring officers, and in their fall the regiment sustained . a great loss." Concerning Granville M. Johnson, Jr., Gen. George W. Gordon writes : " Granville Johnson,
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killed in battle at Chickamauga, a mere boy, under eighteen years of age, and when shot, said : ' Tell them at home that I died like a soldier.' A grapeshot broke his thigh, one minie ball passed through his breast and another shattered his hand, and the noble boy did die like a soldier." A daughter of Granville M. Johnson, Sr., married Thomas Spencer, a promi- nent man and a good financier. He loaned money to buyers of live stock, and was the cause of much money being put into circulation. The father of Thomas Spencer was, it is said, killed in the mountains of East Tennessee. He was returning from North Carolina, where he had been to settle some unfinished business, and had with him a large amount of money, of which he was robbed.
On the hill just south of Jones' Valley lived the father of Joseph, James, and Thomas Meadors. He was an old settler of this vicinity. Up the East Fork (or Dry Fork) of Leatherwood Creek lived George W. Bratton, a prominent citizen. He died a few years ago. One of the pioneers of this locality was John R. Charter. Leatherwood Creek was in the pioneer days known as " No B'ar Creek," from the fact that, while found elsewhere in this section, no bears could be found on this creek. This was told to the first settlers by the Indians. This was found to be par- ticularly true concerning the East Fork.
Near where Cave Charter lives, Squire William Anderson, in 1895, fell dead from the mule which he was riding. In 1873 William Charter was drowned
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
in Duck River near where it is now spanned by the " Leatherwood Bridge." James Hooten was killed about 1880 near where C. S. Webb now lives. It was night, and Hooten was overtaken by a party of young men, with some of whom he had previously quarreled.
At the mouth of Leatherwood Creek lives Richard A. Smith, who is a son of John Y. Smith. John Y. Smith married Polly, a daughter of Richard (" Ket- tle Dick ") Anderson. She was born on October 17, 1806. After the death of Smith she married Rich- ard ("Big Dick") Anderson, her cousin, and was the inother of David H., Philander P., and John M. An- derson. Her daughter, Isabella Anderson, married J. B. Cathey. Philander P. Anderson is a citizen of the Thirteenth District. He was born on Decem- ber 22, 1845. The land on which Smith now lives belonged originally to Jeremiah Harlan, a brother of Benjamin and Jacob Harlan, of Maury County. Harlan was one of the early magistrates of the county. He sold these lands, about 1820, to Joseph Hassell. Haywood Partee married one of Hassell's daughters in 1833 ; and William Hassell, a son of Joseph Has- sell, married Clementine Partee, of Maury County. In 1855 Elias Dotson bought the upper portion of these lands from William Hassell. The remaining portion was owned by Kit Hudson, who married the widow-Mrs. Sanford-to whom it belonged. Hud- son was a man of wealth, owning many slaves.
Among the physicians who have practiced their pro- fession in this district are Dr. Richard Fowlkes, son
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of Wash. Fowlkes, a highly respected citizen ; and Dr. L. G. Hensley.
One of the early school-teachers of the district was Thomas Smith, of Georgia. In later years J. J. Keyes, of the Nashville city schools, and R. S. Bal- low, County Superintendent of Public Instruction, have taught here. One of the early preachers was that veteran of the cross, Britton Garner.
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CHAPTER XVII.
THE FOURTEENTH DISTRICT.
T HE Fourteenth District is bounded on the north by the Third and Fifteenth Districts; on the cast, by Lewis County ; on the south, by the Twelfth District ; and on the west, by the First District. This district was established in 1857, during Hon. J. J. Williams' first term in the Legislature. Prior to that time the voters of this district voted at Shady Grove and Centerville. After the adoption of the Constitu- tion of 1834 twelve districts were established, and the three additional districts-the Thirteenth, Four- teenth, and Fifteenth-were established later by the Legislature. The boundaries of the Fourteenth Dis- trict, as given in the Act creating it, are as follows : "Beginning one-quarter of a mile from Stanfill's Mills on the Williamsport road, running to nearest point of Swan Creek, leaving Mrs. Stanfill and John McGill in District No. 1; thence up said creek with its mean- ders and on to the dividing ridge between Short and Fall Branches; thence with said ridge to the old Natchez road, east with same to the Old Well; thence on a line to what is called the 'Robert Totty road ' where the same intersects the Williamsport and Cen- terville road ; thence with same to beginning." Later in the session the line was so changed as to include in this district the residence of William P. Kelley. The
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Act creating the district provided that the voting place should be at Wheat's Shop until removed by a vote of the people of the district. Blue Buck Creek, the prin- cipal stream of the district, is about seven miles in length, and rises near the Maury and Lewis County line, flowing west into Swan Creek, which it enters near Rawley's Chapel. Long before the early settler came, this creek was known as " Blue Buck Creek," from the fact that on this creek a hunter had killed a buck at that season of the year when its hair was of a bluish color. This creek was probably named by some member of the party running the Line of 1784. Swan Creek was called by this party " Swan River of Duck River." It derived its name, as stated else- where, from the killing of a swan in its waters. The derivation of the name " Ugly Creek " the principal tributary of Blue Buck Creek, is unknown Pickett's Branch, which flows into Blue Buck Creek on the north, was named for Tapley Pickett, an early set- tler.
William Wheat, who came from Maury County to Blue Buck Creek in 1830, lived for years near the voting place of the district. Charles Wheat, his son, lived on an adjoining farm, and was for several years a magistrate of this district. He was also at one time a constable.
Jared Cotton, who was born in North Carolina in 1800, came in 1835 to Blue Buck Creek, where he died in 1879.
Where Will. Whitesides now lives, Isaac Farris
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lived in 1839; but George W. McNutt was the origi- nal owner of these lands, he having settled here in 1817. In 1837 he removed to Northern Mississippi. His wife was Margaret, the daughter of James Peery, Sr .; and their sons were James P., Robert, Wiley B., Samuel, George H., and the twins-William and Tilford. James P. and George H. McNutt were Cumberland Presbyterian preachers.
The first settler at the place where Samuel Bond lives was - Searcy. It was later owned by John McGill, who gave it to his daughter, Mary, the wife of Thompson Fowlkes. After the death of Fowlkes she married Mark Mathis. Of this place the late Jo- seph Bond became the owner in 1869, and here he lived until his removal to the Third District. The old Chickasaw Trace crossed Blue Buck Creek near the Bond place. This trace was originally a path made by buffaloes on their way to the sulphur lick on the John T. Overbey place on Lick Creek. Later it was the trace, used by whites and Indians, connect- ing Nashville and the Chickasaw country.
An early settler was William Watts, who lived at the Wheat place at the juncture of Ugly Creek and Blue Buck Creek. Other members of the Watts family were early settlers here, and John Gibbs lived above the Wheat place as early as 1830. These fami- lies have disappeared from the county, leaving no pos- terity here.
Jack Devore lived at the upper Wheat place in 1840. He removed to the Eleventh District, where
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he died. He was at one time constable of the Elev- enth District.
Alton McCaleb lived for many years in this dis- trict, and died here. He was a son of James Mc- Caleb, whose father was James McCaleb, of North Carolina. Alton McCaleb, who was born in the Third District in 1823, was for years a magistrate of the Fourteenth District, and was a prominent and influen- tial citizen. He was a gallant soldier in the Civil War, being a lieutenant in the famous Ninth Bat- talion of Tennessee Cavalry, C. S. A. He was the father of the following sons : James P., W. M., J. A., Andrew, M. B., M. M., D. R., and Jasper McCaleb. His only daughter was Alena Belle McCaleb. His oldest son, James P. McCaleb, who was born on De- cember 8, 1847, is one of the magistrates of this dis- trict.
John Skipper, the father of Samuel Skipper, set- tled on Blue Buck Creek in 1830, and erected a grist- mill and distillery, two things which seemed to be in- separable and necessary to the comfort and happiness of the pioneers of Hickman County. At that time almost every man kept whisky at his home, stillhouses were in every district and in almost every neighbor- hood, and whisky was sold by every man who desired, as its sale was unrestricted by law. Occasionally at that time an old man would so far forget himself as to become a drunkard; but young men then seldom ever became intoxicated, as they do in these days of higher civilization. It was then considered disgrace-
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
ful for them to do so. John Skipper lived and died a respected citizen, and his posterity are good citizens of this district.
The lands upon which James P. McCaleb lives were entered in 1818 by Holston. George Peery at the same time entered lands adjoining, and a portion of these he sold to Ann Watts.
In 1817 James Peery, Jr., a son of the pioneer and old Revolutionary soldier, James Peery, Sr., entered lands on Ugly Creek. On these lands he lived, and after him lived his son, Andrew Peery, the hermit of Ugly Creek. The following stories are not intended to reflect upon the character or memory of this quiet, honest, and inoffensive man, who lived and died a hermit-respected, however, by all who knew him. After the death of his father, James Peery, Jr., An- drew Peery became the owner of his father's lands, and soon after commenced the erection of his won- derful rock house. This house was about sixteen by eighteen feet in size, and the stone of which it was built was quarried, dressed, raised, and placed in posi- tion by Peery, unaided. This work occupied his time for several years, and, as his neighbors never saw him at work, the secret of how he succeeded in doing this work without assistance died with him. After the completion of his house he built a stone milldam about one hundred and fifty yards in length, and then he erected a mill, at which he ground his corn into meal. Occasionally, if convenient, he would grind corn for his neighbors. The stone for the milldam
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was drawn by him to the place in a cart which he had made. The timbers were prepared in the forest and drawn in the same manner to the place where the house was framed. After having framed it satisfac- torily, he tore the house down and removed it, piece at a time, to its permanent location near the dam. The mill, which was of the old water-wheel kind, had no " rattle staff " to shake the corn from the " shoe " beneath the hopper; so Peery was forced to drop the corn into the " eye " of the stone-that is, he would feed the mill by hand-a tedious process. Upon one occasion, William, a son of James P. McCaleb, went to the mill and was requested by Peery to feed it. McCaleb commenced to feed it rapidly, and, choking, it soon came to a standstill. Peery, returning, found his mill in this condition, and gave young McCaleb a rebuke which, coming from Peery, was terrible: " William, you are a bad boy; you have choked my mill." This was language as bitter as was ever used by this kind-hearted and sympathetic man, and noth- ing but the great provocation of having his mill choked by too many grains of corn would have brought from his lips such bitter words of denunciation. Upon one occasion he found a mouse in his clothes chest. Catch- ing it, he carried it to the mouth of Fall Branch, three miles away, and there released it, unharmed, warning it, however, against again being found in his clothes chest. An opossum which he found molesting his chickens was carried beyond Swan Creek and re- leased, and requested not to molest his chickens in the
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
future. Peery, before his mill was completed, would not borrow his neighbor's horses to carry his corn to mill, but would walk and carry it. To cross the creeks, he would carry with him two light benches. He would place one of these benches in the creek, and, walking out on it, he would place the other bench in front of it, repeating this operation until he had reached the opposite bank. It was a slow method, but he successfully carried his corn across in this manner. In the yard surrounding his rock house he built a log house, which he used as a workshop. Here he commenced a wagon. However, when he had fin- ished one wheel he found that it was so large that it would not pass through the door, and he abandoned the enterprise, the wheel remaining in the house until his death. Preparing his supply of pork, he shot all of his hogs, and then remembered that he had heated no water. Leaving his hogs lying on the ground, he then proceeded to heat the water. He at one time conceived the idea of swimming the Tennessee River, and started on foot on the journey of forty miles to the river. Reaching the river, parties to whom he told his intentions would not allow him to attempt it unless one of them accompanied him with a skiff. To this he objected, and returned without having carried into execution his designs. He was, however, an ex- pert swimmer, and often went to Duck River, five miles distant, for the purpose of bathing and swim- ming. Upon one of these trips he swam to the oppo- site side, and before he returned some cattle destroyed
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his clothing, which he had left on the sand bar, where he entered the river. They left unmolested a sack which he had brought for use as a towel. Open- ing both ends of this sack, he utilized it as clothing, and in this garb he reached home, going through the woods and along unfrequented paths. Peery was an unceasing worker. He "pieced" two quilts, and then concluded to have a quilting, to which he invited his neighbors. Some of those present were: Mesdames James McCaleb, Alton McCaleb, Joseph Wheat, Will- iam Short, - - Rochell, Alex. George, Jones Totty, and Charles Wheat, the daughters of Campbell Peery, and Mr. and Mrs. Winfred Cotton. The best fami- lies were present at this quilting, as all respected the peculiar old man. It was a noted quilting, well remembered by many who were children when they were present, but are now heads of families. Some of the older ones present are yet living, and refer to the occasion as one around which pleasant memories cling. Upon this occasion some of the young ladies found his cider in a trough in his smokehouse. They discovered that it was drawn by removing a peg from the bottom of the trough. Drawing some of it, they failed to replace the peg and the remainder was wasted. One of the quilts finished upon this occa- sion was a silk quilt, made from scraps which he had been collecting for years. This quilt was afterwards entered in the contest at the Centerville Fair for the prize offered for fancy patchwork. It was awarded the prize, but Peery refused to receive it, giving it,
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
instead, to an unsuccessful contestant. At the quilt- ing Peery assisted in preparing the dinner, much of which, however, he had prepared on the previous day. Despite his peculiarities, he was a devout Christian, and as such was recognized. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and this doc- trine he preached at irregular appointments. His congregations were always large, and, despite the fact that the Presbytery would not recognize him and fur- nish him with the necessary authority, he continued to preach whenever and wherever he desired. He would always walk to the places where he had an- nounced that he would preach. On these journeys he would always wear moccasins, made frequently from boot legs. With him he carried his shoes, and before reaching the church he would remove the moccasins and wear his shoes instead. He studied the Scrip- tures and knew their contents. He preached stirring discourses, and often during his services shouted the praises of his Maker. He lived to the age of sixty- five, and died on Ugly Creek. Buried at " the old camp ground " on Swan Creek, near the graves of his ancestors, his body has returned to dust and his spirit to his God. Now noise and activity are where once slowly moved the hermit preacher of Ugly Creek. Even the rock house, which so long defied the ele- ments, has fallen into the hands of the phosphate dealer and is, too, numbered among the things that. were.
At the William Simmons place Samuel Golden set-
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FOURTEENTH DISTRICT.
tled in 1825, and lived here for several years. In 1838 Jesse Briggs bought this place. In 1830 Will- iam Briggs built a mill at the place now owned by the A. W. Anderson heirs. William Briggs was the father of Jesse, James (" Pap "), William, and John Briggs. The late James Briggs was for years prior to his death a grocer at Centerville. John Briggs, who died recently in the Second District, and his brother, William Briggs, were for years prosperous citizens of the Seventh District. Briggs' Chapel was named either for them or their father, who was a Methodist preacher. In 1840 William Briggs, Sr., sold his lands to Joseph Campbell, who bought them for Alex. (" Biscuit ") Baker and Thomas Stuart. Stuart & Baker improved the Briggs sawmill and gristmill and added a carding factory, thus giving to the people of this section a convenience which they had not hitherto possessed. This was for years the most extensive business of the kind in the county. Meal and flour from these mills were carried in wagons to Nashville, Franklin, Columbia, and other Middle Tennessee towns. The location of these mills is now marked by a large barren sand bar. Baker was a Pennsylvanian and was not accustomed to the use of corn bread. His partiality to biscuits gained for him the name " Biscuit " Baker.
The post office, Swan Bluff, named for the bluff north of this place, was established here in 1871. The first postmaster was the late John N. Smith. The post office was moved in 1892 to its present
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
location at the mouth of Haw Branch, which is in the First District. At the latter location B. M. (" Dock ") Hutchison sold goods from 1885 to 1896, when his store was purchased by Arthur I. Nixon.
In 1818 there lived on Blue Buck Creek, Spencer Tinsley, who had no fixed place of residence. He was a man of ability, and was here when the land south and west of the Congressional Reservation Line (which from the mouth of Leatherwood Creek was the same as the Continental Line of 1784) was vacant and could have been easily obtained from the United States. This he made no attempt to do, but contented himself with an attempt to discover the secret of per- petual motion. He was an ingenious workman, and this was the only attempt of his ever accompanied by failure. He lived in several districts of the county, and finally died in poverty.
John Williams, who settled at the forks of Blue Buck Creek in 1817, was one of the first settlers of the district. Where he first settled he died at an advanced age. John Davis, his son-in-law, was a pioneer Primitive Baptist preacher, who preached in this section before churches were built. As was the custom in this and other portions of the county, he preached at the residences of the citizens. The pioneer preacher was always a welcome guest, and the house of the pioneer was gladly surrendered to the preacher and his congregation. Upon these occasions young and old would come for miles around. They traveled on foot, as the roads were not well suited for
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