USA > Tennessee > Hickman County > A history of Hickman County, Tennessee > Part 4
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
Fowlkes, a son-in-law of the latter. They, together with Dr. T. W. Cash, agreed for $300 to deliver the inaterial at the point selected for the bridge. This they did, bringing it by flatboats down Duck River. The material for the Beaverdam Bridge, weighing, ex- elusive of the cement, forty tons, was carried by wagons a distance of thirteen miles from Nunnelly Station for $360, Newton McClanahan and John T. Fowlkes being the contractors. The material for the Totty's Bend Bridge, hauled fourteen miles by wagon, was delivered for $330 by the same contractors.
Northwest from Centerville and across the river is Mill Hollow, once known as Moore's Hollow, as a man of that name lived there in 1825. Hle built a mill and sold it in 1830 to William Mccutcheon, who built a carding factory at that place. Mccutcheon in 1836 raised troops for the Seminole War. A man once lived in this hollow whose name was Wigman, called " Diggy " Wigman. The road leading up the hollow toward Vernon was called the "Diggy " Wigman road. A young man, William Poore, came to the inill one Sunday morning for meal. His horse ran away, threw him, and killed him one-fourth of a mile south of the mill on the ridge. James Lawson was . miller here in 1840.
North of Centerville, on the opposite side of Duck River, is Defeated Creek, which takes its name from the fact that near its mouth Edwin Hickman was slain by Indians, as narrated in a previous chapter. It is there told how a party came from Nashville and
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FIRST DISTRICT.
buried in an imperfect manner the remains of Hick- man. Later a party of explorers found his bones and interred them. When Allan Walker laid his land warrant here in 1815, he found the grave of Hick- man, and marked it by leaving a hackberry tree at one end of the grave, and a poplar at the other. So to-day one may visit and look upon the spot where rest the remains of the man whose name the county bears.
William Satterfield lived on Defeated Creek in 1832, and erected a mill near where Reeves Pace now lives. He sold to Robert Griner, Jr. Satterfield re- inoved to Missouri with his son-in-law, Elisha Dotson, in 1840.
Allan Walker, who entered the land east of and ad- joining Defeated Creek, added to the original amount of lands until he owned about 900 acres of valuable lands on both sides of the river. He established Walker's Ferry, one mile above Centerville. He reared a large family, which became prominent in the levelopment of the county. His sons were: Joel, William, Allan, James, Pleasant, and Elijah. Dr. Joel Walker went to Williamson County, where he became prominent in business and political circles. Pleasant Walker represented Hickman County several terms in the Legislature, and was sheriff of the county four years. Elijah Walker became one of the best judges that ever presided in a Tennessee courthouse. He was a good judge of law-not an eloquent speaker, but a profound thinker. He was honest in his deci-
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
sions, and, as a lawyer, would refuse a fee when his would-be client was in the wrong.
William Arnold, Jesse Ratliff, Timothy Suggs, Shadrach Lawson, and Vanderford were early settlers on Haley's Creek. Lawson was the father of John, Thomas, and S. S. (Dock) Lawson, and was, in the full meaning of the term, an honest man.
Persimmon Branch comes next above Haley's Creek, and is included in Gray's Bend. The early set- tlers of this branch were: John Wilson, Aaron Wil- son, and Elijah Cantrell, Sr. (the father of Elijah, Jr., Brown, and Pinkney). Pinkney Cantrell emigrated to Texas in 1868. Elijah, Jr., recently died on this branch at the age of seventy-six. Elijah Cantrell, Sr., came here about 1810.
Peanut, a little village on this branch, was for years one of the polling places for the First District. It was here that Skelt Rodgers killed Jackson King in a fist fight. He caught King by the hair, jerked him for- ward, and dealt him a heavy blow with his fist on the neck, which was broken. King fell dead, and Rodgers escaped. He afterwards wrote back that he was dead, and the people thought he ought to know as to this. Thus the matter ended.
Alexander Gray, for whom the bend was named, lived in the bend as early as 1810. He was the father of James, John, Sherrod, Alexander, Jr., and G. W. Gray. His neighbors were Thoinas Easley and Stu- art Warren. Thomas Easley was the father of James D., Warham, Thomas, Jr., Robin, Stephen, Edward,
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and William Easley. His daughter was Sally Easley. James D. Easley was County Court Clerk for twenty- four years. Gray came from North Carolina, and Easley from South Carolina.
Ned Nunnellee, who came from Virginia about 1806 to the Fifth District, came to Gray's Bend about 1810, and died here. He was the father of Washing- ton, Mark, and Timothy Nunnellee. His daughter, Jane, was the first wife of Jesse R. Eason. Nunnel- lee was buried on the John V. Gray place. Anderson Nunnelly lived in Gray's Bend in 1818. These names are the same· in pronunciation, but are spelled differently.
There was a "big camp meeting" held in this bend by the Methodists in 1831. Rev. James Erwin, a fluent speaker, preached at this meeting. Britton Garner was a Primitive Baptist, who preached in the bend in 1831.
In 1830 a cotton gin was operated in the bend by Alexander Gray. Above Gray's Bend is Dry Creek, and higher up is Morgan's Creek, named for Morgan, who located here in 1815. Near the mouth of this Creek Aaron Wilson built an overshot mill in 1825. His wife was a Creole. George Foster laid his land warrant on Morgan's Creek in 1815. Later he be- came owner of the Wilson mill and of a fine body of land between Morgan Creek and Dry Creek, now known as the Foster lands. William Foster, his son, settled upon it, and, with the assistance of his slaves, opened a fine farm. William Foster married Sally,
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
the daughter of Anderson Nunnelly. Though a some- what eccentric man, " Billie " Foster, as he was exten- sively and favorably known, amassed a fortune of con- siderable proportions-this by industry and economy.
In 1818 Jackson Stanfill located on Swan Creek about one mile south of the river. Here he opened a fine farnı, and, by farming and stock raising, became a prominent and wealthy citizen of the county. He married Lamira Canady, of Maury County. His sons were: Irving, Jackson, Jr., George, and Van; his daughters were: Martha and Betsy. The latter mar- ried Sherrod Gray. Stanfill built a mill here about 1845.
In 1835 Thompson Fowlkes came to Swan Creek from Bedford County and located near Stanfill. He was the father of Johenry and Wilkins Whitfield Whitman Fowlkes.
Above Stanfill on the creek was John McGill. Ephraim Alexander lived near by in 1830. James Spradling lived half a mile up a hollow on the " trail " to Gordon's Ferry, now the road to Shady Grove. Edmund Jones bought the lands of Spradling, wlio emigrated to Illinois in 1832. Edmund Jones was the son of Alston Jones, Sr. Edmund Jones married Mary, the daughter of Gabriel Fowlkes. Gabriel Fowlkes was born on April 21, 1777, in Virginia. He married Jincy Hyde, who was born on July 11, 1792, in North Carolina. She was the daughter of Hart- well Hyde. Thompson Fowlkes, father of Gabriel, was a Revolutionary soldier. Gabriel Fowlkes came
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FIRST DISTRICT.
to the Fifth District of Hickman County in 1806 and to the First District in 1831. He located below the mouth of Swan Creek near Joseph Jones Eason. He was the father of Henry, Blount, Thompson, Wash- ington, John, Richard, Mark, and James Fowlkes. His daughters were: Mary, Nancy, Elizabeth, Lucy, Sallie, and Martha. He was Hickman County's sec- ond sheriff, and served eight years, resigning to accept a seat in the State Legislature. From his family sprang some of the county's most successful financiers. While Fowlkes was sheriff, he publicly whipped two white men upon their bare backs, giving to each thirty-nine lashes. This was done in 1830 by order of the court, the men having been convicted-the one, on the charge of stealing money; the other, on the charge of forgery.
Joseph Jones Eason, who was of English parentage, came from North Carolina to this district in 1819, and settled on lands adjoining Gabriel Fowlkes, where he spent the remainder of his life, and was buried in the front yard of the place where Jesse Ross Eason now lives. Joseph Eason believed that the land lying be- tween the lands of Fowlkes and Allan Walker was yet vacant. He asked John Davis, the pioneer sur- veyor, whose name appears in a previous chapter in connection with the death of Edwin Hickman, as to whether his theory was correct. Davis, although he desired the land himself, was a friend of Eason, and withal an honest man; and he immediately told Eason that the land was vacant, whereupon Eason proceeded
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
to enter it. It proved to be a good selection, and pro- vided a valuable home for himself and children. After the death of Joseph Eason's first wife, he mar- ried the widow of a man named Elliott, her maiden name having been Kinney. She was a native of Geor- gia. She was the mother of Mills Eason, Jesse R. Eason, and of a daughter, Mary Jane, who married Hulett Griner. The children of Eason's first mar- riage were: James, Joseph, Carter, Calvin, and Mills. The latter died before his father's second marriage. There was also a daughter, Susan.
It was the second Mills Eason who engaged with William Holt in the most terrible fistic encounter that ever occurred in the county. This took place at Ver- non. Eason, it is said, tried to avoid the fight, which was forced upon him by Holt, who was a pugilist of renown in the early days of the county. In the fight Eason pulled the eye of Holt from its socket, yet Holt refused to say, "Enough !" which was the signal for friends to interfere. This fight left Holt with but one eye, and cost Eason what property he had accumu- lated, in addition to trouble to himself and friends. Eason would not leave the country, although advised to do so by friends, until legal proceedings were at an end. He then removed to Texas in 1850. He died in Cherokee County, of that State, two years later.
Jesse Ross Eason, the youngest son of Joseph Eason, was born on February 5, 1822, at the place where he now lives, which is opposite the mouth of Haley's Creek. His first wife was a daughter of Ned Nun-
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FIRST DISTRICT.
nellee; his second wife, Elizabeth Ann, whom he mar- ried over fifty years ago, is a daughter of Gabriel Fowlkes. She was born on November 22, 1822. The children of Eason's second marriage were: John F., Anna, Henry, Martha, Sallie, and Richard M. Jesse Eason has for years been one of Hickman County's most prominent men. At one time he was State Sen- ator, and served his constituents in an acceptable man- ner.
In 1852 Jesse Eason loaded a flatboat with about four hundred barrels of corn in the ear and started from near the mouth of Swan Creek down Duck River for New Orleans. He went no farther than Mem- phis, where he sold his corn and boat. He returned to Nashville by steamboat. While on the boat he met a negro trader, from whom he bought a negro woman and child, he paying for them $650. He stayed over- night with John Davis, the surveyor, who lived five or six miles from Nashville, between the Charlotte and Hardin turnpikes. Davis, who was a genial gen- tleman, and who had partaken of Eason's hospitality, assisted him on his way homeward. This incident is here given not on account of its intrinsic historic value, but on account of its showing the lack of travel- ing and shipping facilities and the insight it gives into the customs of " the good old days."
In 1840 Thomas McClanahan bought the lands of Mills Eason, which were adjoining to those of Jesse Eason. McClanahan married a sister of Jack and Howell Huddleston. The children of this union
- 5-
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
were: L. B., Mortimer, Lycurgus, Dee, " Dock," William; Josie, who married Kinzer; Xantippe, who married Burton Anderson; and Nellie. The sons of Thomas McClanahan, under the firm name of Mc- Clanahan Brothers, operated a cotton gin, tanyard, stillhouse, and sawmill south of the Columbia and Centerville road, near the Stanfill old mill, about 1868. Thomas Harbison, who came from North Car- olina in 1832, lived near McClanahan.
A flatboat loaded with cotton bales struck a snag in Duck River near the mouth of Swan Creek in 1835. The boat sprung a leak, and the cotton, in a damaged condition, was taken to Centerville in wagons. It was there rebaled at the gin of Henry Nixon. Near this part of the river Pemberton, a slave of Washington Gray, was drowned by the upsetting of a canoe. A short distance above Centerville is a ford known as the " Negro Ford," from the fact that about 1825 a negro man was at this point accidentally knocked from a flatboat and drowned. Local tradition is to the effect that at an early date Asa Shute, a pioneer land locator, was shot from ambush while crossing at this ford.
In 1829, in Gray's Bend, Henry Nunnelly, a ne- gro, outraged and murdered a white girl, Tampay Car- lisle. He went to the home of the girl, who was alone, and attempted to force an entrance into the house. The girl closed the doors and escaped through a win- dow. She was pursued in her flight toward a neigh- bor's house, and was overtaken at a fence, dragged to the bushes near by, and murdered. He attempted to
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FIRST DISTRICT.
conceal her body by covering it with a heap of stones; but the crime was discovered, dogs procured, and a pursuit instituted, which resulted in the finding of Henry concealed under a barn. He was carried to Centerville, and there tried, convicted, and hanged. The hanging, which was public, was the first in the county's history, it taking place in 1830, while Ga- briel Fowlkes was sheriff. The negro was hanged in the level near where A. W. Warren now resides and within one hundred yards of where the Christian church now stands. The entire country was aroused, but lynch law was then almost unknown, and the ne- gro had the benefit of a trial by jury. He then paid the penalty which law and public sentiment said he unquestionably owed. In 1861 Carter Nunnelly, brother to Henry, murdered Jackson B. Nunnelly, a white man, this crime being also committed in Gray's Bend. The negro went to the house where his victim was living, and, with an ax, murdered him in a most brutal manner. For this and the murder of a white woman he was arrested, and, after trial and convic- tion, was hanged near the present site of the colored church, one mile east of the Public Square of Cen- terville. These brothers were the only persons ever legally hanged within the present limits of the county. The first man sent from Hickman County to the peni- tentiary was Treadway, who stole a horse from Will- iam Phillips, of Pine River. The first inmates of the county asylum for the poor, then located on Defeated Creek, were Mary and Mittie Williams.
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
We now come to a class upon whose virtues we love to dwell-the teachers of the old-time schools-good men and true, who were heroes no less than those that assisted " Old Hickory " in rebuking the haughty Briton at New Orleans. Robert Cooper taught in Gray's Bend in 1821. The following year he taught on Indian Creek. Dr. Kinkead taught on Swan Creek in 1835. He was a good teacher, who had been educated for the Presbyterian ministry. An uncon- trollable desire for intoxicants had hurled him from his high estate, and he became a country school- teacher-the first in the county, however, who com- manded a salary of $40 per month. On the same creek Samuel Aydelott and William Twilly taught in 1835 and 1836. Hayden Church, who also taught on this creek, was a typical old-time schoolmaster, who spoiled no child by sparing the rod. James D. Easley taught in Centerville, on Swan Creek, in Gray's Bend, and on Indian Creek.
Another class of heroes of the early days is that composed of pioncer preachers, who came into the wil- derness bearing aloft the cross, and who kept unfurled to the breeze the banner of Israel's King. Through the darkness of the pioneer period shone the light of the gospel, which served to guide and direct the foot- steps of our fathers as they penetrated the wilderness in search of homes and happiness. Soldiers of the cross, faithful and brave, while your earthly deeds are being recorded, you possess the crowns promised to those who are faithful to the end. The pioneer
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FIRST DISTRICT.
preachers of the kind here described were not con- fined to the First District; their names appear in the sketches of the several districts of the county. But the names of some just as Christlike, just as faithful, are not mentioned here; their names are written in the imperishable records of heaven. The pioneer preacher ---
"Remote from towns, he ran his godly race, Nor e'er had changed, nor wish'd to change, his pace. Unskillful he to fawn or seek for power By doctrines fashion'd to the varying hour; Far other aims his heart had learned to prize, More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.
To relieve the wretched was his pride, And e'en his failings leaned to virtue's side; But in his duty, prompt at every call, He watch'd and wept, he prayed and felt for all; And, as a bird each fond endearment tries To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies, He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.
Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools who came to scoff remained to pray. ·
To them his heart, his love, his griefs were giv'n; But all his serious thoughts had rest in heav'n. As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, Eternal sunshine settles on its head."
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
Prior to 1830 Benjamin Lancaster, a Primitive Baptist, preached in this district, as did also Samuel Whitson, who preached at Centerville. In 1834 Womack and Sorry preached at a camp meeting in Shipp's Bend. One of the songs sung by Sorry, the words of which are recalled by a hearer over sixty years later, contained these lines :
" Come, humble sinner, in whose breast A thousand thoughts revolve."
In 1820 the county seat, was still Vernon, on Piney River ; while the lands where Centerville now stands were the property of McLemore, who lived at Nash- ville and was an extensive landowner. He donated about twenty acres to the county for a site for the pro- posed new county seat. This land, after setting apart enough for a public square, was divided into lots and sold in 1821. Then the building of the town was be- gun. Eli B. Hornbeak, a citizen of Vernon, erected on the south side of the Public Square a double log house, afterwards occupied by him as dwelling and storehouse. Peter Morgan's house was the first house completed in Centerville. It was a round log cabin, and with him boarded the men engaged in building the houses of the town. Peter Headstream built the first hotel, which was of hewn logs. In 1822 Maj. Eli B. Hornbeak entered into the mercantile business here in copartnership with Robert Sheegog, who also came from Vernon. Sheegog soon returned to his former home, selling his interest in the business to
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FIRST DISTRICT.
James Weatherspoon. In 1823 the county records were removed from Vernon to Centerville. The courthouse at Vernon, which was of large hewn poplar logs, was torn down and hauled by wagons to the new county seat, eight miles away. The jail building was not removed from Vernon, the commissioners, after their experience with the moving of the courthouse, deeming it less expensive to build a new one. It, like the old one, was made of logs. Garrett Lane was one of those who superintended the removal of the court- house. Samuel Bean, a very large man, was the first jailer here.
One of the first settlers at Centerville was William Bird, mentioned in the sketch of the Seventh District. He came here from Bird's Creek in 1828. He was a typical pioneer. At the time of his marriage he could not read and write, these arts being taught him by his wife. John G. Easley succeeded Headstream as ho- tel keeper, and he was succeeded by Maj. John Bul- lock, the father of Lee Bullock. Major Bullock ran a hotel here from 1842 to 1845. He was also at one time a merchant here. John Phillips and E. W. Dale were merchants at Centerville in 1830.
Archibald, Samuel, and Joshua Williams were merchants here during the decade from 1850 to 1860. The partnership between William George Clagett and Horatio Clagett, merchants, has extended over a pe- riod of more than fifty years, harmoniously and profitably. The late William G. Clagett was born in Maryland on December 7, 1813. Horatio Clagett is
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
a younger brother. Their father was Horatio Cla- gett, who came to Hickman County and located on Lick Creek, where J. W. Shouse now lives, in 1816. W. G. Clagett married Theodocia, the daughter of Wilkins Whitfield, a Virginian, on July 21, 1835. Clagett, after the death of his first wife, married Elizabeth, daughter of Eli B. Hornbeak, on Feb- ruary 10, 1842. He died in 1898, his wife dying during the same year. She was born at Vernon on
February 18, 1818. William G. Clagett, so long prominent in the business circles of Centerville, was a man who never deceived his fellow-man. His statements were plain and to the point. Eli B. Hornbeak, mentioned above, married Sallie Combs, of East Tennessee. His son, Pleasant, was the father of Eli, John, Samuel, Frank, and Pleasant Horn- beak.
Centerville's first lawyer was Henry Nixon, father of Orville A., John, Henry, and a daughter, who be- came the wife of Samuel Williams. He was twice married, each time to a sister of Stephen C. Pavatt, of Humphreys County, who was several times a mem- ber of Congress. Nixon, in addition to his legal busi- ness, engaged largely in land speculations, extending into adjoining counties. He operated a cotton gin here from 1830 to 1833. He did much toward the development of the town from 1821 to May, 1833, the date of his death.
Elijah Walker, one of the carly lawyers, was prom- inent as a lawyer on account of both his legal learning
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FIRST DISTRICT.
and extreme candor in expressing himself as to points of law and equity. Among the lawyers here at a later date were: John W. Hornbeak, James D. Easley, John H. Moore, and William Moore, natives of Hick- man County ; and Josiah Hubbard, Thomas P. Bate- man, J. J. Williams, Alexander H. Vaughan, Will. M. Edwards, James L. Sloan, Richard Lyle, and
Jobson, who were natives of other counties. Among the eminent lawyers from other portions of the State who practiced in the courts of Hickman were: A. O. P. Nicholson, L. D. Myers, David Campbell, George Gaunt, James H. Thomas, Jacob Leech, W. C. Whit- thorne, N. N. Cox, and Jo. C. Guild. The members of the bar at present are: J. Alonzo Bates, John H. Clagett, - Beasley, W. L. Pinkerton, W. P. Clark, W. V. Flowers, W. A. Knight, John H. Cunningham. and Henry Nixon, the latter a grandson of Center- ville's first lawyer. E. W. Easley, of the Seventh District, and R. L. Peery, of the Twelfth District, are also members of the Centerville bar. Among the early judges were: Parry W. Humphreys, West H. Humphreys, Edmund Dillahunty, and Stephen C. Pavatt.
The first physician to locate at .Centerville was Samuel Sebastian, who came here from Vernon. Other physicians of the early days of Centerville were: Samuel B. Moore, Bird Moore, Reveaux Raymond, Rodney Raymond, W. B. Douglass, John Sebastian, and John C. Ward. The last named, Dr. John Cofieald Ward, son of David Coficald Ward, is yet
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
living in Centerville. David Cofieald Ward, born on March 2, 1802, on White's Creek, Davidson County, married Mary Bowen Moore, a near relative of Gov. William Bowen Campbell. She was born in Smith County on May 2, 1800. Dr. Ward was born in Smith County on February 26, 1828, and came in 1843 to his uncle, Dr. Samuel Bowen Moore, at Cen- terville. In 1846, at the age of eighteen, he enlisted under John W. Whitfield, captain of Company A, First Tennessee Regiment. This was the famous " Bloody First " of the Mexican War, commanded by Col. William B. Campbell, who was afterwards Gov- ernor. Dr. Ward was one of the regiment's surgeons, was present at the capture of Monterey, and, after this, was detailed for duty in the hospitals at Tampico. From Tampico he returned to Centerville, where he has since almost constantly resided, and where he has practiced his profession for over fifty years. Dr. Ward married Sarah Casandra Charter, daughter of Robert Charter, one of the pioneer merchants of Cen- terville. After the death of his first wife, he married Kate McMurray, of Humphreys County. Dr. Ward is justly proud of his ancestral line, which goes back to the English house of Cofieald.
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