USA > Tennessee > Hickman County > A history of Hickman County, Tennessee > Part 6
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
Zebulon Hassell the Third, now lives. They bought from Joseph Anderson, Hassell paying $3,000, and Darden paying $3,500. Artin Hassell, who was killed at Shady Grove by Griff. Nichols, was the oldest son of Zebulon Hassell the Second. Other sons were Joseph and James. The latter removed to Texas, where he died: A daughter, Nancy, married Will- iam Suggs, deceased. Zebulon Hassell the Third married a daughter of Col. Lewis P. Totty, and she takes pleasure in telling the many stories of pioneer life told her, when a child, by her parents.
Joseph Anderson, from whom Darden and Hassell bought lands as above stated, married a daughter of Benjamin Greer, from whom he inherited these lands. Greer, together with James McCaleb, owned the larger portion, if not all, of the land from Little Lot to Baird's Ferry.
In 1835, George Martin, father of Washington Martin, owned the brick house, at Little Lot, now the property of John A. Jones. This house was built by Hugh MeCabe, who came here in 1810 from Mary- land. McCabe entered the land on which Little Lot stands, or bought it from Asa Shute, who was here also at that date. McCabe was a wealthy man, pos- sessed of slaves and money. He owned a half section of land. MeCabe, in 1815, at the solicitation of neighbors, who had concluded that they needed a church and schoolhouse, gave them a site upon which to build. Out of his hundreds of acres he made the princely donation of one-fourth of an acre. When
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the neighbors assembled to haul the logs and build the house, one of them suggested that all other churches had names, and that one should be provided for this. Parker Tyler, the Lick Creek wag, replied: "It is such a d-n little lot, we can't give it a big name." The people concluded that Tyler was right, and from its size it took its name, Little Lot. This is how Lit- tle Lot was named almost a hundred years ago.
Parker Tyler was a brother of Wat Tyler. He was much given to frivolities and was somewhat dissi- pated, while his brother was a sober citizen and a leading church member. Their father lived a few miles from Little Lot on Lick Creek, and was the owner of a number of slaves and of much other prop- erty. One of the negroes was a carpenter, and Parker had him make a coffin, in which he kept his tobacco, giving as his reason that the negroes would not dare to approach the coffin in the night to steal his tobacco. ITe added: " Then I may need it later for another purpose." This is a characteristic anecdote told of the thoughtless, but generally esteemed, Parker Tyler.
In 1829 Robert Bratton, Sr., came from North Carolina and located at the Rochell place, on Swan Creek. In 1835 he removed to the Second District, settling near Little Lot, where he bought two hundred and fifty-five acres of land for $1,600. His sons were Claiborne, William, Robert, Jr., George, James, J. J., and Samuel H. William Bratton married a daugh- ter of John Griffith, uncle of J. O. Griffith, at one time a prominent newspaper man of Nashville. Bratton
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was a member of the firm of Bratton, Fowlkes, & Stod- dard, who at one time operated Oakland Furnace, in the Seventh District. Claiborne Bratton was the firm's bookkeeper, and was retained in this position by Carothers & Easley, who afterwards owned and operated this furnace. The wife of Robert Bratton, Sr., was Matilda Hull, of Williamson County.
In 1845 William Spence lived where William Stan- fill now lives. He was born in North Carolina in 1792, and came to Harpeth, near the Newsom place, in 1810. He was a poor boy without education, and worked here as a hireling for ten years. At the age of twenty-eight he married Phobe Forehand. John Davis, who lived in that neighborhood, induced him to visit Hickman County, where Davis owned land. The result was he purchased from Davis four hun- dred and fifty acres south of, and adjoining, Little Lot. He settled on this land in 1845. His sons were Miles, Mark, and John; his daughters, Nar- cissa, who married Robert Bratton, Jr. ; Rebecca, who married Gill Anderson; Nancy, who married Robert Dean; and Tennessee, who married James Harring- ton. Gill Anderson's father was John Anderson, of the Fifteenth District. Gill Anderson was born on . June 11, 1827, in the Kettle Bend of Duck River, in Maury County. His father was born on February 25, 1805, in North Carolina.
Ferdinand B. Russell was the first to establish a general store at Little Lot, which he did in 1853. William Gary was one of his clerks. The first physi-
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cian to establish himself here was either Francis Eas- ley or Clagett Sothern, in 1850. Physicians here at a later date were Dawson, Hall, James T. Ward, A. N. Doyel, Bryant, and Dennis W. Flowers, a grand- son of William Flowers, one of the pioneers of the Ninth District. He is a son of the late Rev. Gideon Flowers.
Two miles south of Little Lot, below the mouth of Lick Creek, O. A. Jones now lives on a tract of land once owned by Lawson Harrison Nunnelly. Jones came to this place from the Fourth District, above John Groves' mill on Jones' Branch of Lick Creek. O. A. Jones' father was also named Alston Jones. He has one son, John A. Jones, a prominent business man of this section.
Lawson H. Nunnelly, who once lived here, was born in North Carolina in 1801. He came to this county in 1810. He afterwards removed to David- son County, but returned to this county in 1830. While he lived here there occurred an incident of which he spoke in after years with much merriment. This was his fight with Fowler.
In 1830 Jeff., a valuable slave of Robert Totty, was drowned at the ford above Baird's Ferry. In the following year his funeral was preached by Champion Anderson, a negro preacher, at Baird's Ferry. Zebu- lon Hassell the Second lost two slaves by drowning near the Jones place. They had been allowed the customary Saturday night and Sunday liberty to visit their wives, who lived in Anderson's Bend. They
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were returning on Monday morning before daybreak in order to be at their quarters ready for work. The river had risen since they crossed, but they were not aware of it. They drifted from the mule they were riding, it swimming to the shore. Their bodies were recovered near where the bridge now is.
In 1864, at the house of J. C. Bradley on the hill near Little Lot and near the mouth of Lick Creek, was committed the most cowardly and brutal murder in the history of the county. This was the killing of the young men, Pointer and Buford, by a company of Federals under the immediate command of the noto- rious Creasy, who bore, and disgraced upon numerous occasions, a captain's commission. The young men, who were from Williamson County, stopped here for breakfast, which they were just preparing to eat when the presence of fifty Federals at the gate was an- nounced by members of the family. There were only two doors to the room in which the young men were. To pass through one was to come face to face with the approaching Federals ; to pass through the other was to enter a small bedroom from which there was no other means of exit. They retreated through the lat- ter and awaited the advancing Federals and their own approaching doom. Creasy came to the door of the room and demanded their surrender. Young Pointer gave the Masonic sign of distress, and replied, “ We surrender; " whereupon Creasy commenced firing, and did not cease until his victims lay dead at his feet, murdered after having surrendered to odds of twenty-
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five to one. These young men, who were members of prominent families, were guilty of no offense, save that of their sympathy for the rebellion. They had left home to avoid being arrested and carried to North- ern prisons, and were probably preparing to enter the Confederate Army. Creasy was the brute who, while acting in the capacity of captain of a negro company, upon more than one occasion insulted good women and brave, though powerless, men throughout the county.
Below the bridge, north of the river and opposite Totty's Bend, is Gerry's Branch, named from the fact that a man named Gerry entered and owned a large tract of land, including the branch and adjacent hills. Ile lived on this land as early as 1830. In these hills are some of the finest surface indications of iron ore to be found in Hickman County. Gerry's Branch lies between Little Lot and Morgan's Creek. On this branch, in 1863 and 1864, was Tarkington's still- house. In 1864, near this place, after a chase of nearly three miles, David Miller shot and killed a Federal soldier, who was fleeing from the scene of the engagement near Baird's Ferry, described elsewhere.
Panther Branch comes into Duck River a short dis- tance above Gerry's Branch. On this branch is Pan- ther Cave, which has never been explored sufficiently to justify a statement as to its dimensions. In early days panthers were supposed to rear their young here, as they and numerous wolves came from these hills and committed depredations upon flocks of geese,
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
calves, and sheep belonging to early settlers on Lick Creek and in the valley of Duck River near Little Lot.
Drury Harrington was born in Chatham County, N. C., in 1788, came to Tennessee in 1809, and set- tled near the large spring about one mile north of Little Lot. His wife was Mary Mattocks, of Chat- ham County, N. C., who was born in 1790. He died on August 10, 1844. The children of Drury Har- rington were Jane, who married William Malugin ; James, who was born in 1811; Miles, Calvin ; Sallie, who married Meredith Gossett, of Mill Creek; Fan- nie, who married William Worley; and Philip, who married Martha, the daughter of Benjamin Wilson, of Leatherwood Creek. The late Philip Harrington was born on March 27, 1814. At the age of eighty- four he was still strong and healthy, and lived at the place where his father settled ninety years ago. He remembered when all around Little Lot was a swampy wilderness through which wolves and pan- thers roamed. He recalled the fact that the first clock he ever heard strike was the property of Hugh McCabe. The clock was one of the old-fashioned kind that stood on the floor and reached to the ceiling overhead. Drury Harrington's brothers, who came here about 1809, were Dempsey, Robert, and William. They were great hunters and trappers. They built wolf pens on the head of Mill Creek, and one on Mor- gan's Creek. In the latter they caught a large wolf one Sunday morning in 1835. Several inen of the neighborhood gathered for the purpose of visiting the
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pens, carrying with them their guns and dogs. The Mill Creek pens were found to be empty, but when they reached the Morgan's Creek pen they found a large, fierce wolf safely entrapped, despite its des- perate efforts to escape. It was killed in the pen and its body carried back to the settlement.
Thus the pioneer days were frequently enlivened by the chase, the hunt, and other pastimes and pleas- ures of a kind unknown to the present generation. One of the popular sports engaged in by our fore- fathers was the shooting match-legalized betting upon their skill as marksmen. This form of gambling was legalized for the purpose of training the early set- tlers in the use of firearms. To the training obtained at these early shooting matches was largely due the deadly skill with which the Tennesseans handled their rifles at New Orleans, where they gave an exhibition of marksmanship which not only astonished the Brit- ish, but the entire world. At these shooting matches the procedure was about as follows: Each partici- pant contributed a dollar to what was called " the pony purse," taking in exchange five chances, or shots. He then took a board and burned it until one side was blackened. Upon this blackened surface he placed a cross, indicating its position by placing upon the cross a small bit of white paper. Placing this board sixty, and sometimes a hundred, yards away, he lay down, and, resting his gun upon a "chunk," fired at the " spot." When all had done this, the judges; pre- viously appointed, compared the boards and gave the
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
pony purse " to the contestant who had placed three bullets within a smaller radius than had any other. If there was a tie, it was decided by allowing the con- testants three shots, the nearest two winning. Some- times a " beef," worth five or ten dollars, took the place of the " pony purse." In this case the " hide and tallow " was called the " first choice," and went to the marksman who made the highest average. The heaviest "hind quarter " was called the " second choice ; " the other " hind quarter," "third choice;" the heaviest " fore quarter," "fourth choice; " the other " fore quarter," " fifth choice." By this ar- rangement there were always five partially success- ful contestants, the " choices " going to the best five marksmen. However, the contests did not always end here, the " choices " sometimes being " staked " one against the other. This often resulted in the " beef " being driven home alive by some successful marksman. While these meetings were for amuse- ment, they did not always pass off pleasantly, but occasionally ended in a general fight, in which case all guns were laid aside and a thought of bringing them into the fight was never entertained. George Martin, father of Armistead Martin, was one of the carly marksmen of this district. At a distance of sixty or one hundred yards, it was no unusual occurrence for the cross or " center " to be "knocked out " or " drove " by expert riflemen. The shooting match was a characteristic incident of " the good old days."
Up to the time of the Civil War guns with " percus-
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sion locks," now almost entirely obsolete, were con- sidered as luxuries obtainable only by the wealthier class. The guns used by a large majority of the peo- ple were the old flintlock rifles. After the close of the Mexican War a number of flintlock muskets were to be found throughout the county. These were called " British muskets." At the breaking out of the Civil War these muskets were collected by the Confederate authorities and provided with percussion locks, gen- erally known as " cap locks." This was the gun with which Confederate soldiers were principally provided during the first year of the war. Flintlock rifles were
made by local gunsmiths. A steel octagon, about four feet in length, was bored out and rifled, this consti- tuting the barrel, which was incased in a wooden stock, which ran the entire length of the barrel. Near the " breech pin " and in the side of the barrel was the " touchhole," which opened into the " pan," which was attached to the lock just beneath. When powder was placed in the barrel, a portion would drop into the pan, constituting the " priming." The pan was covered by a lid, to which was attached a piece of smooth-faced steel, against which the flint would strike. The flint was fastened by a clamp in the hammer. There were two triggers; the rear one " sprung the trigger," the front one caused the hanı- iner to fall. The flint striking the face of the steel piece over the pan caused a spark to drop into it, the lid falling forward. The powder ignited in the pan communicated instantaneously with that in the bar-
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HISTORY OF HICKMAN COUNTY, TENN.
rel. The rifle was loaded with powder measured accurately in a charger made of a piece of cane or the tip of a deer's antler. This charger was attached to the strap by which the shot pouch was suspended from the shoulder. In this shot pouch were carried bullet molds, lead, bullets, and " patching." The " patch- ing" was cloth, which was placed over the muzzle of the gun, into which the bullet was forced to a level with the muzzle. The patching was then clipped with the hunting knife, which was carried in a scab- bard attached to the shoulder strap of the shot pouch. Then bullet and patching were " rammed home " with a " ramrod " made of hickory and carried in the stock of the gun beneath the barrel. A flint after much use would become so dull and smooth that it would not emit a spark, and this would necessitate its being " picked." Sometimes the powder in the pan would fail to ignite that in the barrel, and this was called " a flash in the pan." This imperfect descrip- tion of the pioneer's most trusted friend will perhaps be of no particular interest to many now living; but in these days of long-range Krag-Jorgensen and Mau- ser rifles and smokeless powder, the old flintlock rifle and musket will soon be forgotten, along with the sickle, the bar-share plow, the metal mortars in which grain was pounded into meal, the hand loom, and the spinning wheel; yet these were the guns that were used at King's Mountain and New Orleans.
On Lick Creek at the mouth of Hassell's Creek, in 1810, lived David Killough, who came from Pennsyl-
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vania and bought a half section of land from Asa Shute. This land lay at the mouth of Hassell's Creek and on both sides of Lick Creek, including the mouth of Fort Cooper hollow. His place was near the road leading to Leatherwood, Williamsport, and Columbia; also, near the roads leading to Char- lotte, Reynoldsburg, Vernon, Franklin, and Nash- ville. This caused the Killough place to be one of note, at which were held elections, musters, and other public meetings.
A near-by neighbor was Dr. Smoot, who was the father of twins, Betsy and Polly. Betsy married Frank, a son of David Killough.
Farther down the creek, from 1812 to 1815, at what was afterwards known as the "Jack Tarkington place," lived Elizabeth Berry, the widow of Hum- phrey Bybon Berry, who died in Maryland. She came here with her father, William Tyler, father of Wat and Parker Tyler. Her sons were William Tyler Berry and Ferdinand Berry. The former went to Nashville, where he became a prominent citizen ; the latter, to Memphis, where he attained equal promi- nence. Mrs. Berry married John I. Webb, of Will- iamsport, at which place they both died. They were buried in the graveyard on the "Jack Tarkington place." The name of the wife of William Tyler was Stoddard. She was a relative of William Henry Harrison. At the death of her husband she became the sole owner of his extensive property, which she in turn gave to her son, George Parker Tyler, who
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named Little Lot. Mrs. Berry had in her possession silver spoons upon which were engraved the name of Humphrey Bybon Berry. These spoons were among the first of the kind brought to the county.
In 1816 Horatio Clagett, father of William and Horatio Clagett, so long prominent business men of Centerville, lived at the place where J. W. Shouse now lives.
In this neighborhood were a number of families who came from Maryland, among whom were the Tylers, Berrys, Primms, Smoots, Clagetts, Gannts, and Smiths. They were refined, wealthy, and well educated, and brought with them physicians, lawyers, and school-teachers.
In this neighborhood, at a later date, lived Col. "Jack" Tarkington, who bought the Tyler lands. Ho was a prominent trader and stock raiser, carrying large droves of hogs and mules to Alabama and Missis- sippi markets. His stallions and jacks were the best in the county, and, as a trader, he removed the surplus stock of the county, and, in exchange, put into circu- lation large sums of money. He was the father of George and J. H. C. Tarkington.
Henry Tucker lived near Baird's Ferry in 1815. . William Mattocks, in 1809, lived near his brother-in- law, Drury Harrington. He emigrated to Arkansas, where he committed suicide by hanging.
In 1825 Britton Garner, the Primitive Baptist preacher, preached at Little Lot and in Totty's Bend. Epps Bishop, of the same church, preached here about
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the same time. In 1897 the wife of the latter was still living at. Lyles Station, drawing a pension on account of her husband's service in the War of 1812. The names of a few of the preachers who have preached in this district, at a more recent date are : H. O. Moore and A. N. Doyle, of the Methodist Church ; and John and James Morton, of the Chris- tian Church. Of the preachers of this district, local and visiting, no one is entitled to more prominent men- tion than Elder Young James Harvill, of the Primi- tive Baptist Church, who was born in Cumberland County, N. C., on June 19, 1821, and came to Dunlap Creek, in the Third District, in 1826. His father was Moses Harvill ; his grandfather, James Harvill. His mother was Mary Simms, whose father was Am- bers Simms. All of these lived in North Carolina. He died in 1898, one of the most widely known and generally respected preachers who ever lived in Hick- man County.
George Gannt, who came from Maryland, taught school near the Killough place in 1820. Wiley Har- per taught school at Little Lot from 1820 to 1822. James D. Easley taught in Totty's Bend in 1835. Nathan Springer taught at Little Lot in 1840; - Gibson, in 1836; and Robert Cooper, in 1830.
In 1864 David Miller-who then lived, as he does now, in Anderson's Bend-was at the head of a. com- pany of independent Southern scouts which operated in the upper portion of Hickman County and in the adjacent portions of Maury and Williamson Counties.
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The Federals, who had possession of Columbia and of the Northwestern Railroad, were anxious to capture or kill Miller, and several unsuccessful expeditions had been made into the county for this purpose. In the lower portion of the county there was an organiza- tion similar to Miller's, commanded by Cross. One night in 1864 these two commanders met in Totty's Bend for the purpose of consulting as to the reception which should be given a Federal detachment then in the vicinity. A. J. (Jack) Sullivan, a well-known citizen of Mill Creek, was acting as guide for the Fed- erals. Sullivan bore a captain's commission. The Federals had passed through Totty's Bend boasting of the horrible fate that would befall any "bush- whackers " that they might encounter. They had arrived at Little Lot, and on the following day twenty- four returned in the direction of Baird's Ferry. The Rebels, numbering eleven, including Miller, Cross, and McLaughlin, had crossed the river at Baird's Ford and concealed themselves in a skirt of timber near the road between Zebulon Hassell's and the river. Cap- tain Cross went in the direction of Little Lot to recon- noiter, and, after passing Hassell's front gate, he dis- covered the Federals coming through a long lane. He wheeled his horse, and, taking his hat, waived de- fiance at his approaching foes. They started toward him at full speed, and he retreated rapidly in the direction of the river. A lively chase ensued, with Tack Sullivan leading the pursuers. No sooner had Cross passed the point where his comrades lay in
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ambush than he turned and fired into the Federals, who halted just as a volley came flashing from their right, fired by an unexpected and hidden foe. The pursuers now became the pursued, and back over the road they went, the clatter of horses' hoofs intermin- gled with the rapid reports of small arms. One- fourth of a mile east of his home, at the turn of the lane, Hassell and his neighbor, Colonel Darden, stood and watched this exciting chase. Near this point was a gate. When opposite this gate a horse turned to the right and entered it. Just inside the gate, near where now stands a large elm, its rider fell from its back, lifeless. The dead man was Jack Sullivan. Another horse came through the gate, and its rider fell dead near the chimney of a near-by house. A woman had crouched behind this chimney for protec- tion from the flying bullets. The chase continued to Little Lot, and even farther. It was during this chase that David Miller killed the Federal near Tark- ington's stillhouse in the vicinity of Gerry's Branch. In this affair were engaged twenty-four well-mounted, well-armed Federal cavalrymen and eleven Confed- erates whose courage sometimes became foolhardy. Of the Federals, eleven were slain; of the Confed- erates, not one was killed or wounded. The lucky thirteen that escaped reached their camp on the Northwestern Railroad that night, and, reinforced, returned on the following day under the leadership of the cur, Creasy, who came ready for that work in which he was most proficient-the burning of houses,
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the robbing of defenseless homes, and the insulting of unprotected women. He came with the intention of burning the residence of Hassell, but loyal citizens of the neighborhood prevented this by their influence. One of Creasy's soldiers, who had been in the fight of the day before, argued against the burning of the house, saying: " Nobody is to blame but ourselves. They surprised us and whipped us, all of which is fair in war."
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