History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 19

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013

USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 19

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The next road leading from Nashville out by Charlotte, now known as the Charlotte Pike, was second in importance to the Murfreesboro' road, as it led west, and was greatly traveled by emigrants. The first man of note on this road was Matthew Barrow, who lived on the opposite side of the road from what is known as Barrow's Hill, in a little frame house. He moved afterwards to Barrow's Hill, now the " Yellow Fever Hospital," where he died. The next man was Dr. Peyton Robertson, a son of Gen. James Robertson. This was the beginning of Robertson's Bend, owned and occupied by the descendants of Gen. James Robertson. Near this place lived John Bosley, who married the sister of Gen. Robertson, and was one of the first settlers of the county. Above the crossing of Richland Creek lived Rob- ert Hewitt, who owned a large tract of land. One of his daughters married Edwin H. Childress, who lived at the old homestead. Dr. Felix Robertson owned a large tract of land on the right of the road, on which he planted a large vineyard in 1818. The place was afterwards owned by Brent Spence.

Next, William E. Watkins, who also married a daughter of Mr. Hewitt ; he was a thrifty citizen of this county.

Then came William Blount Robertson, a lawyer and a son of Gen. James Robertson, who married a daughter of Capt. Joseph Erwin.

Next was B. J. Joslin, one of the most noted men of that day, who lived at a place called Hillsboro'. He held the mail contracts leading south to New Orleans, and was familiarly known as " Old B. J."

Next was Col. " Dick" Boyd, who commanded a regiment in the Creek war, a brave soldier, and afterwards a leading man in all the elections. He married the daughter of Jo- siah Horton, who was once sheriff of Davidson County, and the father of Joseph W. Horton, also sheriff of Davidson County.

Next was a family of Gowers, early settlers, for whom Gower's Island in the Cumberland was called.

Then we came to the ridge on the top of which lived Christopher Robertson, who kept a tavern, which was the general stopping-place. Not far from here was a road lead- ing to Sam's Creek Springs, a noted place of resort for the old families of the county.

The next place was Dog Creek, on whose waters lived Martin Ussory, an old settler. After crossing Big Har- peth, at the mouth of this creek lived Thomas Osborn, a clever man and early settler.

Below the crossing lived Thomas Scott, the leading mag- istrate of the county ; also Jeremiah Baxter, the father of Judge Nathaniel Baxter.

Next came old Mr. Rape, who lived in that neigh- borhood. It was here that Montgomery Bell, the " Iron King" of that day, constructed a tunnel, changing the course of the river, at the foot of which he erected large iron-works. On the waters of Sam's Creek, leading into the Cumberland, lived Jesse Cullom, who raised a large family of sons. At the mouth of this creek lived William Shelton. On the waters of Pond Creek, near this creek, lived a large family of Hoopers, among whom is John Hooper, ninety years old, and still living.

On the Cumberland, near the Shoals, lived Enoch Do- zier, a wealthy man, good citizen, and a large land-owner. He has two sons, Dennis and Willoughby Dozier, still liv- ing in the same neighborhood.

The magistrates of the county at that day were appointed by the Governor, and selected from the most intelligent and best men of the county. The office was held by them for the public good, as there was very little profit attached to the office. This is why I have mentioned them so often.

IMPORTANT ROADS LEADING FROM NASHVILLE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE RIVER.

There were at that day two ferries on the Cumberland, one at the mouth of Wilson Spring Branch, above the present wharf; the other was near the Sulphur Spring Branch, and was the main crossing going to Gallatin and to Springfield. There was a third, called Page's Ferry, near the race-track, where the river was fordable in low water. On the Gallatin road lived Col. Robert Weakley, a very prominent citizen of the county. He was afterwards a member of the Legislature and once a candidate for Gov- ernor ; was also a leading magistrate of the county, a very influential citizen, and one of the first settlers of the county. Near him lived David Vaughn, a very wealthy man and the father of Michael and Hiram Vaughn.

Then Mr. William Williams, a retired lawyer and a man

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of fine intelligence, Josiah Williams, and Thomas Martin, all sons-in-law of Mr. Joseph Phillips, a leading wealthy citizen.

Mrs. Martin is still living, in her eighty-seventh year, at her old home.

Just beyond Mr. Williams lived Samuel Love, near Hays- boro', which place was settled about the time Nashville was, and for some time there was great competition between the two places. This place was settled. by Col. Robert Hays, who married the sister of Mrs. Jackson, and was the father of Col. Storkley D. Hays and the father-in-law of Dr. William E. Butler and Robert I. Chester, both of whom are now living at Jackson, Tenn.

Near Haysboro' lived the Rev. Thomas B. Craighead, a learned Presbyterian preacher and a very patriotic citizen. He built a large church near his residence, and the ceme- tery near the church contains the remains of most of the prominent citizens of that day.

Mr. Maxey, the father of Powhatan and Dr. William Maxey, lived at this place.

Dr. William Gwin, the son of Parson Gwin, who was the life-long friend of Jackson, lived here. He was a senator from California, and is still living.

The next man was Blind-Man Walker. Dr. William Maxey, " Gee's Tavern," and Reuben Payne, an enterpris- ing merchant at the mouth of Dry Creek.

The next early settler was Col. William Donelson, a very wealthy man and brother of Mrs. Jackson. His grand- daughter married Senator McAdoo, of Waverly.

Then Mr. Paul Dismukes, living on Mansker's Creek, who raised a large family of sons and daughters, among whom was John T. Dismukes, a very intelligent and promi- nent man, who died early in life. There was a road pass- ing up Mansker's Creek, by Dr. Dunn's spring near Good- letsville, up said creek to E. P. Connell's and John Bowers', both prominent men in this county. E. P. Connell was once candidate for county clerk, and was an intelligent magistrate of the county.

Between the Gallatin and Springfield roads there were two country roads. On one of these roads lived a noted turfman,-Duke W. Sumner. IIe owned many fine race- horses. Near him lived Mr. George Wharton, a brother of Jesse Wharton, one of whose daughters married Gen. William White, who fought a duel with Gen. Samuel Hous- ton. Another daughter married Mr. Samuel Seay, long a prominent merchant of Nashville, at whose wedding I officiated as groomsman nearly sixty years ago. He was the father of George W. Seay.

Claiborne Hooper also lived in this neighborhood, a wealthy, prominent man, and the father of the Hooper who had the difficulty with Nance.

There also lived in this neighborhood Thomas Shannon, a leading magistrate of the county. Then came Michacl Gleaves, the father of John E. Gleaves, late clerk of the Chancery Court ; Col. Jesse J. Everett, a prominent citi- zen and the father of Mr. Everett, the county register. He was colonel of a regiment of militia, which embraced the entire county on the north side of the river.

The road to Springfield and Clarksville passed Page's and Hyde's Ferry.

Mr. Page lived on the first bluff below Nashville, which was afterwards owned by Judge William L. Brown, a dis- tinguished lawyer of Tennessee and one of the judges of the Supreme Court. He died at this place, and his re- mains were buried in an excavation in the bluff overlooking the Cumberland River.

Next, Charles Moorman, a magistrate of the county, and a good citizen and a wealthy man.

We now come to White's Creek, which was largely owned by the Stumps, wealthy and influential men of that day. Col. John Stump was one of the largest operators of that day and a prominent merchant of Nashville, under the firm of Stump & Cox, who traded in everything raised in the county. They possessed the most unlimited confi- dence of that section, the people depositing all moneys with them. The firm failed in 1818 and produced wide- spread ruin throughout the county. Col. Stumps was afterwards a large locator of lands in the mountains of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia.

On this creek lived two noted men, Isaac and Lewis Earthman ; Buchanan H. Lanier, the father of the com- mission merchant at Nashville ; and two brothers, Laban and Freeman Abernathy.

We next come to Paradise Hill, on the top of which Esquire Thomas Shannon erected a large brick house. Here the road forks, one going to Clarksville and the other to Springfield.

Maj. Thomas Hickman, an carly settler, lived at Hick- man's Ferry, on the Cumberland, about twelve miles below Nashville. He was an early settler, a justice of the peace, and once sheriff of Davidson County. His only daughter married George W. L. Marr, a member of Congress from the Clarksville district and a very wealthy man. Below Hickman's Ferry, on Sycamore Creek, now Cheatham County, but at that time Davidson, was a large settlement, among whom were Thomas Shearon, a wealthy gentleman ; Wilson Crockett, the magistrate of the county; William Hollis, Mr. Brinkley, Mr. Demombrune; also Mr. Eaton, an old settler and very intelligent man.

The road leading from Nashville to Hyde's Ferry passed between the lands of David McGavock and Beal Bosley, two of the first settlers and owners of large bodies of land, and very wealthy men. Mr. McGarock lived on and owned the place where the cotton-factory now stands. In the rear of this farm is where the duel between Jesse Benton and Gen. Carroll took place. Crossing the river at this point you came to the Hyde settlement, two of whom were Richard and Tazewell Hyde, both early settlers and clever, rich men.

This road also led to White's Creek, on whose waters also lived Gilbert Marshall and his father; and Joseph L. Ewing, who married a daughter of David McGavock.

WILLOUGHBY WILLIAMS.

Born in the year 1798; now in my eighty-second year; mind and memory unimpaired by age.

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THE WAR OF 1812-14.

CHAPTER XVIII. THE WAR OF 1812-14.

Declaration of War-Expedition to Natchez-The Creek War-Jack- son's Message to the Spanish Governor-Capt. Gordon's Perilous Mission-British Attack on Fort Bowyer-Invasion of the Lower Mississippi-Capture of Pensacola by Gen. Jackson-Movement upon New Orleans-Memorable March of Gen. Coffee-Battle of New Orleans-Conspicuous and Leading Part taken by Davidson County Men.

REPEATED acts of aggression on the part of Great Britain had ended in a declaration of war against that nation by the Congress of the United States on June 12, 1812. The news reached Nashville in an unusually short time for that period, and on the 25th Gen. Jackson, who was then senior major-general in the State, having received the appointment on the death of Gen. Conway, made a tender through Governor Willie Blount to the government of the services of twenty-five hundred volunteers. The Secretary of War, appreciating the tremendous responsibility of the administration in declaring war against the wishes of a powerful party, representing the shipping and fishing interests, received the offer with " peculiar satisfaction." The people of Tennessee had watched with deep interest the course of British aggression, and when the " Leopard" fired into the " Chesapeake" and forcibly took away a num- ber of American sailors whom she claimed as British sub- jects, the indignation broke forth in patriotic meetings and resolutions at Nashville. Gen. James Robertson, the now aged pioneer, immediately raised a company of old men, principally Revolutionary soldiers, styling themselves " Sil- ver Grays," and offered their services to Gen. Jackson. The population of this State at that time was composed almost wholly of Revolutionary soldiers or their immediate descendants, and its soil probably now holds as much of this sacred dust as any State in the Union. Even as late as the year 1840 there were more than one thousand of these pensioners within its limits. These men could not believe that the government would hesitate an instant to resent such a wanton outrage on its flag and to exact a swift vengeance. Diplomacy smoothed over the great wrong, but the insult still burned in the bosoms of the Western people.

So when the declaration of actual hostilities reached them it brought no sense of alarm, but was hailed merely as the hour of ripened vengeance. Although the tender of Gen. Jackson was accepted, no call was made for the services of Tennessee troops, and the summer wore away in suspense and inaction, notwithstanding the disasters to the American arms on the Northern lakes. At length the government became apprehensive that the success of the enemy would induce an invasion of the Southern coast, and on October 21st requested Governor Blount to dispatch fifteen hundred men to the aid of Gen. Wilkerson, for the defense of New Orleans. On the 1st of November the Governor issued orders to Gen. Jackson to prepare for the movement. On the 14th Gen. Jackson issued an address to his division, which he began by saying that he could now greet them with the feelings of a soldier. He called upon them to remember that they were sons of Revolu-

tionary sires ; that the theatre upon which they were to act possessed for them a peculiar interest. If the mouth of the Mississippi was blocked by a hostile force, the fruits of their industry would rot on their hands ; open, and our commerce goes to all the nations of the earth. To the keeping of the Western people was committed the defense of the lower Mississippi.

The requisition being made at a season when the farmers were busy gathering their crops and preparing for winter, the 10th of December was set as the time of rendezvous, and the place Nashville. However, this proved to be too early for the extent of preparation necessary : supplies of clothing and food for a long and arduous journey had to be procured, and then boats had to be built to transport the army down the river. Still, on the day appointed over two thousand volunteers presented themselves. Col. John Coffee came with a regiment of cavalry numbering six hundred and seventy. Col. William Hall, of Sumner County, the hero of Greenfields and other hard conflicts in the pioneer period, brought one of the two regiments of infantry, and Thomas H. Benton, of Williamson, the " Old Bullion" of history, brought the other, together numbering fourteen hundred men. Maj. W. B. Lewis was quarter- master, Capt. William Carroll, afterwards Governor of the State, inspector, and John Reid aide and secretary to Gen. Jackson. With all the hurry it was the 7th of January before the embarkation of the infantry was accomplished, and on the same day Col. Coffee set out overland to Natchez. Both detachments arrived at Natchez on the 15th of Feb- ruary, where they were halted by Gen. Wilkerson to await further orders, which came on March 4th, discharging them from service. This order Jackson refused to obey until proper provision for the pay and subsistence of the men during their return march should be made. Finding many obstacles thrown in the way of his purpose, he pro- vided the means on his own credit, and marched his troops through by land, bringing all of his sick to Nashville.

THE CREEK WAR.

In the month of September, 1813, the tidings burst upon the people of Tennessee of the terrible massacre at Fort Mimms on the 30th of August preceding. This was a stockade fort on the Tensas Bay, in the southern limits of the present State of Alabama, at that time known as the Mississippi Territory. The causes which led to this un- expected uprising of a nation in which the agent of the government was then quietly residing, and performing the functions of his office without any suspicion of an inter- ruption of peaceful relations, may be briefly stated :

The limits of the Muscogee or Creek Nation at that time embraced the region between the Chattahoochee on the cast, the Tombigbee on the west, the Tennessee on the north, and Florida on the south. The title of this tribe to this region of country was probably the clearest of any on the North American continent,-at any rate the clearest of that of any of the Southern tribes. Their claim went back to " the time whereof the memory of man runneth not to the contrary." All other tribes had a tradition of having come from the West or North, but to the Creeks they ascribed a spontaneous origin, speaking of them as " coming out of

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the ground." Being brave and numerous, they had never been dispossessed by conquest of the more central seats of their dominion. The Hickory or "Holy Ground" had never been desecrated by the foot of an enemy. But the time came when they listened to the voice of a tempter and, heedless of the lessons before their eyes, gave them- selves up to a delusive dream of conquest which was to end in driving the hated white race forever from the American continent, and in restoring the land which the Great Spirit had given as an inheritance to his red children. Tecumseh came, and ruin followed. This peerless warrior made his last visit to the Muscogees on the occasion of the holding of the grand council of the tribe in the autumn of 1812, at which the agent, Col. Hawkins, was assisting as adviser and director of their affairs.

Every day during its session Tecumseh strode into the arena with his party from Ohio, naked except as to their flaps and ornaments, which latter consisted of buffalo tails dependent from their arms and wrists. After a ceremonious parade around the circle, he shook each warrior by the hand, at the conclusion of which he would announce that the sun had gone too far for him to make his talk that day, but that he would finish it the next. However, he took care to make no disclosure of his mission until the agent, Col. Hawkins, departed to hold a council on the Chattahoochee (Flint).

That night the great round-house was crowded with chiefs and warriors eager to hear the purport of Tecumseh's " talk," already shadowed forth in a visit during the pre- vious year. In a long speech, full of eloquent fire, he un- folded his mission, which was to unite the northern and southern tribes, and at a given signal strike a simultaneous blow from every available quarter at their old enemies the Americans, and drive them into the sca. Their Great Father, the English king, had promised him that this should be done. Before the night had passed more than half of his audience were ready and burning to begin the war. Indeed, to such a height was the spirit of vengeance raised that it was with the utmost difficulty that many of the warriors could be restrained from entering at once on the work of destruction, without waiting for the signal, which the prophets declared would be announced by the appearance of Tecumseh's hand in the heavens. Tecumseh then went from town to town, and before he left the great bulk of the Creek nation had entered heart and soul into his grand scheme of conquest. The utmost secrecy was enjoined, but the proverbial indiscipline of the Indians un- masked their hostility to the settlers on the lower Alabama in time to put them on their guard, but not to a sufficient extent to awaken them to an adequate sense of the real danger. In July, 1813, a considerable body of Creek war- riors having repaired to Pensacola for promised supplies of ammunition from the Spanish and English, a body of set- tlers one hundred and eighty in number met them on their return at Burnt Corn and attacked them in their bivouac, but were defeated, the Indians acting with great bravery. The tiger was now thoroughly aroused, and thirsted for the blood of his enemy. A force of one thousand warriors quickly gathered under William Weatherford, Peter Mc- Queen, and the Prophet Francis, and stealthily approached

the stockade of Samuel Mimms, on the Tensa Lake, where the neighboring settlers had collected under the protection of one hundred and seventy volunteers from the Natchez country, and seventy militiamen, making in all five hundred and fifty-three souls within the enclosure.

The Indians lay in a ravine four hundred yards from the eastern gate until noon of the 30th of August, when, as the drum in the fort beat the call to dinner, they dashed forward and entered the open gate, which could not be closed in time on account of an accumulation of sand in the way. The garrison made a brave defense, and were on the point of beating off their assailants after a conflict of two hours, when Weatherford succeeded in firing the houses, which resulted in the total destruction of the fort. An in- discriminate and barbarous slaughter of the white women and children then took place, not one of whom was left alive. A few of the friendly Indians and some of the negroes were spared, amounting to less than fifty in all. It is to the credit of Weatherford to state that when he saw that his victory was assured he exerted himself to stay the carnage of the women and children, but his voice and influence were unheeded in the raging thirst for blood. The cruel victory had a dear atonement, as we shall see.

The tidings of this terrible outburst of Creek hostility reached Governor Blount at Nashville in a dispatch from Mr. George S. Gaines. A meeting of citizens was held at Nashville on the 18th of September, and was eloquently addressed by the Rev. T. B. Craighead, in favor of march- ing an army at once into the Indian country for the pro- tection of the border settlements and avenging the inhuman massacre of defenseless women and children. Fortunately the Legislature was on the point of assembling at Nash- ville, and when it met an act was passed, on the 25th of September, at the recommendation of the Governor, calling into the field thirty-five hundred volunteers, in addition to the fifteen hundred already in the service, and voting three hundred thousand dollars for the immediate wants of the troops. Gen. Jackson, though confined to his couch from a dreadful wound received a short time before in an affray with the Bentons, began the work of organization with characteristic energy. The troops were ordered to rendez- vous at Fayetteville, Tenn., near the Alabama line, on the 4th of October, which was only ten days from the passage of the act. It was construed by the authorities that the volunteers in the Natchez expedition still owed their ser- vices to fill out the unexpired term of their twelve months' enlistment, which would end on the 10th of December. Although they had received a certificate of discharge, they collected at the rendezvous, with few exceptions, at the ap- pointed time, under the expectation that, as their services were called into requisition to meet an extraordinary emer- gency, the period of absence would not be long. Few of them had time to make arrangements for the gathering of their crops, or make provision even for a limited absence from home. Many went without a proper supply of winter clothing, and all left on the briefest notice, having time only to prepare for the most pressing needs of the occasion. Jackson, yet unable to mount his horse without assistance, started to the rendezvous, but his sufferings were so great that he could only reach it on the 7th, but he sent forward

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his aide, Maj. Reid, to read an order, which began by say- ing, "We will commence the campaign by an inviolable attention to subordination and discipline." In the mean- time Col. Coffee had been dispatched with his regiment of mounted gunmen to Huntsville, Ala., and beyond for the protection of the citizens along the Tennessee River. On the 11th a dispatch came from that officer to the effect that friendly refugee Creeks had come in, and stated that one thousand warriors were approaching the river to cross and make an attack on Huntsville. Jackson instantly issued orders for the march, and at three o'clock P.M. his division was on the road, and at eight o'clock P.M. had reached Huntsville, at the distance of thirty miles. His force consisted of two brigades, one of volunteers, com- manded by Gen. William Hall, and the other of militia, commanded by Gen. Isaac Roberts, both of whom were killed in Indian warfare, having been in numerous conflicts and expeditions in the pioneer period.

On arrival at Huntsville the reports of a hostile advance were found to be untrue, and the army proceeded more leisurely to Ditto's Landing, on the Tennessee River. Here Jackson expected supplies by boats from East Tennessee, but the low stage of water above had prevented their ar- rival, and on the 19th he broke camp and marched up the river over a mountainous country, cutting a road as he went. He halted at Thompson's Creek, where he erected shelter for the reception of the stores when they should arrive from above, and named his camp Fort Deposit. His supplies were about exhausted before he started for this point, and the non-arrival of the expected boats had now reduced his army to the greatest straits. Col. Coffee soon after came in from a scout with three or four hundred bushels of captured corn. At length, having accumulated two days' rations of bread and six of beef, he set out for the Two Islands of the Coosa on the 25th, whither he had been entreated by daily runners to go for the relief of the friendly Indians in that vicinity. He arrived in a week within a few miles of the place, having to halt frequently and scour the country for food.

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History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 19

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1013

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013