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WORLD WAR EDITION
xxxi
East side of Public Square, Jamestown, Tenn., 1899; Erwin Hotel on the right.
Insert-W. H. Erwin and James Price in door of old Erwin building.
North side Public Square, Jamestown. Old Courthouse on left, 1895.
xxxii
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE
His son, Carlos Bowden, 117th Infantry, Old Hickory Di- vision, served eleven months in France during the recent war.
A. W. MADDOX.
Born January 31, 1882, in Putnam County, Tennessee; educated in public schools and Cookeville High School. Has been depot and freight agent for the Tennessee Central Rail- road for the past five years. Taught in public schools for several years.
He was married to Mattie Bartlett of Putnam County in 1907. His grandfather, John R. Maddox of Overton County, served through the Civil War in the Confederate Army.
COUNTY OFFICIALS. 1919-1920.
Front row: J. K. Stockton, E. J. Wright, G. B. Hill, A. A. Peavyhouse, C. L. Hurst, W. P. Rains, W. S. Crabtree.
Second row: W. D. Hull, C. P. Garrett, B. D. Hyder. L. S. Bowden, J. D. Stephens, W. A. Garrett, G. W. Cooper, Tom Roysden.
Back row: W. S. Mullinix, - - Roysden, B. A. Greer, J. L. Garrett, D. L. Richards, Jesse Roysden, W. E. Taylor, M. F. Buck, A. J. Guffey, IV. J. Todd.
HISTORY
of
FENTRESS COUNTY TENNESSEE
-
THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS
Press of Williams Printing Co., Nashville, Tenn. 1916
Copyright 1916 BY A. R. HOGUE, Author
History of Fentress County
INTRODUCTION
F ENTRESS COUNTY is a great county in many respects. Few countries furnish grander scenery. Many countries of wide fame have less attraction and less merit than our own county. One will travel far to find more balmy, invigorat- ing breezes than bless this land. This, with the pure, cold, health-giving waters, make this county an ideal place for a home, or for a health resort.
The inhabitants of the county are nearly all pure Caucasian blood, and are descendants of noble ancestry. Some of them are descendants of some of the greatest characters of the nation's history. Fentress County has been represented in every great movement in the State or Nation by some of its citizenry, or by their ancestors.
The purpose of this history is to place before the people of the county and their children a history of the part their county has played in State and national affairs, and to inspire a higher order of citizenship, by acquainting all with what their people have already done, and the readiness they have always dis- played in performing their part in affairs which have become historic.
The author regrets that some sketches in this history are very brief, and regrets more that some families are not rep- resented at all on account of the failure of those concerned to furnish the necessary information to make up sketch. The thanks of the author is extended to all who may have in any way contributed to this arduous but pleasant undertaking.
ALBERT R. HOGUE.
4
HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
CHAPTER I
FENTRESS COUNTY.
F ENTRESS COUNTY is located in the northern part of Tennessee, east of the center of the State, and lies prin- cipally on the Cumberland Plateau. It originally bor- dered on Kentucky, but Pickett County was formed partly from its northern territory in 1881.
Fentress County has an area of 486 square miles, or 311,000 acres. It was created by an act of the legislature in session at Murfreesboro in 1823, from territory carved out of Overton County. It was named for James Fentress, a prominent Ten- nessee legislator for many years, and later an officer in the Con- federate army.
Its county seat, Jamestown, is situated near the center of the county on the Cumberland Plateau. The site was'no doubt selected on account of the fact that it was near the geograph- ical center of the county, and the fact that several fine springs of water bubble up from the sand here. The place was once called Sand Springs, later it became the Obedstown of the "Gilded Age", by Mark Twain. This place is on an Indian trace and was an Indian resting place on their trips from the east to the Cumberland River region. It also possibly furnished them a camping ground while hunting on the plateau. This region has always been a good range for deer, bear, turkeys, and other wild animals. There are still a few of these animals to be found on the plateau.
When the first courthouse was built, in 1828, there were only five families living in the town. Their names are given else- where in this book. The town was incorporated in 1837. The act of incorporation was not repealed until a few years ago. Its growth has been slow until within the past few years. The population of the town, according to the census of 1910, was 350. All are white. This is practically true of the entire county, there being only ninety-eight colored people in the county, and 7,348 white.
n
Kentucky Line
Chanute
Byrdtown
Pickett County
Travisville /
Fortes !
WOLF RIVER
Rodes
Scott County 36°30
ast A - ForKIT
MOODYLined
SMALL
1638
14 Obey R.
FENTRESS COUNTY
LAUREL CREEK
Helena
Jamestown 1698
yellow Cr
1000
Boatland
1000
Glenoby
1692
Read
1705
Allardt
14.95 A> mathunito
S. For
E
Rugby
Bills C+
CROOKED
Cook Place
Cr
3/1697
Cravens
Piney
Clear Fork 1500
1860
Davidson
1693 Keera
TC. RY
WILDER
GrimsLey
Tinch Road
ford
BANNER
Morgan County
MAP = OF =
1818
Fentress County
8 Ledsge Stand
Clark Tango
1712
36° 10'
Clear
1 2 3 4 5
Cumberland County
ARstique, Jamestown Tema 1915
'S
ROCK CASTLE CA.
MILL CREEK
o Mt Helen
Aberland R.
SKINNER Mtn. 1600
Buffalo
EAST FORK R.
CREEK
Clear Fork
o BUTYVI LLO
Laurent Crawford
Horse Pound
Road
Clear fork P.
Road
Crees
Roslin
Creek
Bis Hurricane
Creek
POPLA ROGOVe CR
Road
Riverton
White Oak Cr.
Indian Creek
Max's creek
Lost Cane c
Shirley
36° 20'
Dixie Highway
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LOGGING-MOUTH OF WILLOW CREEK
CEDAR RAFTS ON EAST FORK, GLENOBY
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THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
CHAPTER II
SURFACE AND AREA.
T I HE area of Fentress County, according to the census of 1910, is 311,040 acres. The surface presents a great variety of features. The greater part lies on the Cum- berland Plateau. This part is practically level. There is also considerable level land in the East Fork and the Wolf River valleys. These are the three principal natural divisions of the county.
The western part of the county is broken by many small streams. The East Fork, the most important stream, flows from south to north through this part. High cliffs and peaks and deep hollows are common. Wolf River flows across the northern part.
SOIL.
The soil of the county is usually fertile, and produces good crops without the use of fertilizers. This is especially true of the valleys.
The soil of the plateau is sandy, and is quite easily cultivated, and yields large returns when properly cultivated.
Among others, W. J. Gaudin has successfully and fully dem- onstrated the great possibilities of the plateau as a farming area. In 1913 he sold 7,200 pounds of watermelons at one cent a pound from a little over a half acre, after using a part of the crop for the family and neighbors and feeding a great many to his stock. He probably raised 10,000 pounds on the lot. The same year he gathered fifty bushels of first - class onions from one-eighth of an acre.
He raised forty bushels of corn to the acre on a tract of land that had been in corn the two years previous.
In 1912 he dug and cellared 202 bushels of fine Irish pota- toes from three-fourths of an acre. He used very little com- mercial fertilizers. His land is typical Cumberland Mountain land.
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HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
All the cereals and legumes have been produced successfully on the plateau.
The Germans at Allardt have demonstrated this land to be suited to horticulture as well as general farming.
One of the great natural advantages of the plateau is the fine wild grass which grows so abundantly during the spring and summer. Twenty-five thousand head of cattle could be fattened on this range every summer.
Good water for man and beast abounds everywhere.
Lumbering is an important industry of the plateau, as well as in other parts of the county. Fifteen carloads were recently shipped from here to Canada. Nashville, however, is the lead- ing market for logs and lumber from this section.
The forests contain nearly all the varieties of hardwood. Poplar, cedar, cherry and walnut are found principally in the valleys.
WOLF RIVER.
The Wolf River region is one of the finest farming regions in the State. It also contains some of the finest forests of tim- ber in the South.
This valley was once popularly called the heart of Fentress County. It was then the source of supply for agricultural products for many parts of the county. At that time the moun- tain people were engaged in shipping tar, turpentine and rosin, and paid little attention to farming.
FIRST SETTLERS.
Among the pioneers in this valley were Coonrod Pile, Pear- son Miller, Arthur Frogge, John Riley and Moses Poor.
Pearson Miller, one of these pioneers, baked his bread on a hoe and drank his milk from a terrapin shell in regular pioneer fashion.
The first county court ever held in this county met in the Horseshoe Bend of Wolf River.
EAST FORK OF OBEY'S RIVER.
Obey's River is said to have been named by the "Long Hunt- ers" in honor of one of their number-Obadiah Terrill. (One
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THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
of these hunters-Bob Crockett -- was killed by the Indians in Overton, an adjoining county.)
The East Fork is a very rapid stream and would furnish an immense amount of water power if harnessed. Thousands of logs are carried down the river every winter to the Cumber- land and to Nashville, where they are marketed.
For many years this has been the chief source to supply money to the people. Stock raising and other farm products are taking the place of the timber industry and proving more profitable to the people generally.
ROCK CASTLE.
Rock Castle Creek rises near Jamestown and drops over a high cliff about one and a half miles southwest of Jamestown with a roar that can be heard for a long distance.
Rock Castle is almost surrounded by precipitous walls of rock. In this natural enclosure cattle, sheep and hogs thrive and fatten on grasses, acorns and various nuts that abound.
The Castle also contains fine coal and timber.
The falls and Cudjo's Cave are two of the many natural curiosities in this valley.
In concluding this geographical description, in which only the principal natural divisions of the county have been men- tioned, it may be said that the county is rich in coal, and has some iron, oil and gas. Several paying oil wells have been struck by drillers. Other minerals have also been found. The author regrets that he must at this time omit further details of the resources of this great county. Later he hopes to publish in another volume a complete geology and geography of the county.
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HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
CHAPTER III
AN HISTORIC TOWN.
JAMESTOWN, COUNTY SEAT OF FENTRESS COUNTY, AND ITS PECULIARITIES .- AWAKENING FROM A RIP VAN WINKLE SLUMBER .- A CHURCH BEING BUILT, THE FIRST IN OVER SIXTY YEARS.
JAMESTOWN, TENN., March 17, 1893.
A HORSEBACK ride through the mountain county af- fords the best means for examining the undeveloped resources of this part of the State, and at the same time giving an insight into the real home life of the people not to be obtained in any other way. Such a ride will give a glimpse of many strange nooks and corners never discovered by the regular tourist. One may pass through a number of quaint old towns, which have seemingly remained unchanged since the days of Jackson, when the stage coaches, with their loads of dusty passengers, rumbled up to the doors of the same old tavern which is still the resting place of the tired traveler. Such a town is Jamestown, the county seat of Fentress County, familiarly called Jimtown. It is one of the oldest towns in the State, and until the last twelve months, was also generally re- garded by the outside world as the deadest.
It is said for the past sixty years the sound of the hammer or saw has not been heard there, and not a single nail has been driven into any new building. Only about a year ago a visitor would have seen nothing but historic old buildings. One of them, the former home of the parents of Mark Twain, whose book, the "Gilded Age", describes the town and the surround- ing country as it then appeared.
The old brick courthouse, with its large yard and tall pine trees, the ancient jail, which from its very age should command the respect of evil doers; the curious old store and hotel of Uncle Wade Ervin, renowned throughout all the mountain country, and most of the other old buildings are still there.
P
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THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
But a great change has already taken place in the town, and other changes are rapidly following, so that perhaps in another twelve months the old landmarks will have almost disappeared. Some of the old buildings have been improved and remodeled. Modern houses are going up, the business houses are being en- larged and improved, and the old town will soon lose many of the relics of antiquity to which it has clung so long
The most important building now going up is the Masonic Hall, which will be one of the finest buildings in this section. It is to be nearly forty feet by seventy, two stories, each four- teen feet in height. The lower floor will be used as a church, the upper floor being reserved for a lodge room. The walls will be panelled in ten-foot squares, each panel to be of differ- ent variety of native wood finished in the natural color.
The building is located on a beautiful knoll just at the edge of the old town and a fine view will be obtained of the town. The work on the building is well under way, and the committee in charge intend to have it completed by the last of June, when it is to be dedicated by the Masonic lodges of Fentress and neighboring counties with appropriate ceremonies.
The building is to cost about three thousand dollars when completed. The people of Jamestown deserve credit for their enterprise in erecting such a building.
The business men of the town seem a live, progressive lot of very clever men, and one is led to wonder why the town has been allowed to lie asleep so many years. This has been due to its situation remote from railroads or any but the most primitive means of transportation, which has discouraged everyone from any attempt at improvement.
The old Ervin House is always pointed out to the visitor as one of the curiosities of the town. It is in some one of the many buildings which comprise this ancient hostelry that Mark Twain passed some years of his boyhood, but which particular houses or room was the one occupied by the celebrated author seems to be one of the things past finding out.
The hotel consists of fifteen or twenty small houses-some log and some frame -- all of them very old, which have been built at different times, and are joined together by a number
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HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
of covered passageways and dark corriders in which one almost needs a guide.
Mr. Ervin (Uncle Wade, as he is known far and wide), keeps a general store in one end of this building, which in itself would be worth a long ride to see.
Many stories are told of the proprietor's eccentricities, but for all that, he is a genial old gentleman, who sticks to his old- fashioned ways, and has many interesting stories to tell of the good old times.
There are several other stores, and a steam saw mill lately located here seems to be doing a thriving business. A weekly newspaper, started nearly a year ago, has already become one of the fixtures, and will no doubt strive to create a boom for the town. Among the improvements talked of for the coming summer are a new stone jail, some repairs for the moss-grown courthouse, and many private dwellings.
The survey of the N. & K. railroad is watched with the great- est interest by the citizens who hope to see it built to within fifteen miles of the town. At present the nearest railroad point is Sedgmoor on the Cincinnati Southern.
Already one hears considerable talk of the present and pros- pective values of real estate, and some of the most sanguine holders of town lots are prepared to advise speedy purchases, assuring the prospective customers, like Col. Mulberry Sellers, that "There is millions in it."
The above article, which appeared in the Chattanooga Times March 29, 1893, was furnished the author by Mrs. Maggie Burns, a niece of Wade Ervin. It serves to show how visitors have been impressed with the town, and furnishes some his- tory. The writer was mistaken in regard to Mark Twain hav- ing spent part of his boyhood here. His parents left here a few months before Mark was born.
The church building was completed on time. The Masons and the Odd Fellows use the upper floor, the lower floor is used by the church. The Baptist's are building a nice church in the corner of the lot just north of the present church.
Within the past few years many nice residences have been built. Among them are the following: Judge W. R. Case,
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THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
Supt. W. E. Mullinix, Mrs. Ada Sussner, M. F. Hurst, Capt. E. M. Shelley, Register B. L. Brier, W. J. Gaudin and Travis Smith. The county has also erected a nice building on the Poor Farm north of town. B. A. Greer, Mark Greer, B. F. Voils and Sylvanus Crowley have also erected nice buildings, and there are perhaps others.
A high school building, costing over three thousand dollars, has been built and equipped with modern equipment.
A courthouse and jail of native stone have been built within the past few years. Both are modern up-to-date buildings in appearance as well as service and durability.
A first-class hotel has been provided for the traveling public by the proprietor, W. M. Johnson. It is called the Mark Twain House, this being the second to go by that name.
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HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
CHAPTER IV
JOHN M. CLEMONS' PLAN FOR A COURTHOUSE AND JAIL-1827.
R EV. J. L. GARRETT has in his possession the original draft of plans and specifications for the first courthouse and jail ever built in Fentress County. It was written by John M. Clemons, one of the commissioners. He was the father of Mark Twain. The following is a copy of plan pre- sented to the county court :
The Commissioners of the Town of Jamestown prepare the following as descriptions of the public buildings to be let to the lowest bidder on Tuesday the 20th day of March 1827 to wit, for a jail, a house of loggs hewed a foot square, twelve feet in the clear, two stories high, and this surrounded by an- other wall precisely of the same description, with a space be- tween the two walls of about eight or ten inches, and that space filled completely with scinned hickory poles, the ground floor to be formed of sills hewed about a foot square and laid closely, the second floor to be formed of two sets of logs of the same description and laid transversely, and the third or upper floor to be the same as the first, the logs composing each of the floors to extend through the inner wall of the building, and those composing the upper floor to extend across both walls and set on the outside ones as girders, a good substantial shingle roof, two small windows strongly grated to the lower room, to the upper room one outer door, with three shutters fixed with locks bars &c. in the most substantial manner, with two win- dows each at least two feet square to the upper room, also strongly grated, and a trap door to go down from the upper into the lower room, with a strong shutter and a lock, all the locks to be of the strongest and best description in common use for jails, and to be completed by the first day of May 1828, the inner wall of the jail may be of pine, but the other must be of chestnut or more durable wood. Mill stairs to the doors on the outside.
WINTER SCENE IN ROCK CASTLE
-
1
F
BANK
JAIL
COURT HOUSE
WILDER SCHOOL
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THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
For the courthouse they will offer both of the following de- scriptions to be bid for, reserving to themselves the right of choosing which they will take after the bids are made, to wit, for the one they propose a one story brick house 40 feet long and 27 feet wide in the clear with a brick partition across so as to make a court room thirty feet square, and another brick partition running from the middle of the other to the end of the house so as to form two jury rooms thirteen and one half by ten feet each, one chimney with a fireplace in each of the jury rooms in the corner. Doors, One door to each jury room opening into the court room, two outer doors one on each side about the center of the building-the court bench to be sit- uated at the opposite ends from the jury rooms, and to be put up as well as the bar, Sheriff and clerk's boxes, jury benches &c. all in good stile, and finished in a workmanlike manner, two windows in the end over the court bench, one on each side, over the sheriff boxes, and one to each jury room, all of the usual size filled with glass 10 by 12, and shutters. A good shingle roof to be painted and all the wood work to be painted of suitable colours and the inside plaistered, a brick floor to all the rooms, the house from the floor to the ceiling to be four- teen feet high.
The other a hewed log building of the same dimensions and with partition walls, fireplaces, doors and windows as de- scribed for the brick building-a shingle roof-the floor to be formed of large timber say eight inches thick, the walls pinted with lime, all the joiner work to be in about the same order as described in the other building, except that it is not to be painted, whichever building the commissioners may prefer is to be completed by the first day of May 1828.
P. S. A foundation to the brick house to be laid of rock on a solid foundation under the surface and raised so high as to be of the height of eighteen inches above the surface of the ground at the highest part-the walls to be 18 inches thick, the partition structure of the bar, clerks and sheriffs boxes &c to be under the particular direction of the Commissioners hereafter, or if no directions to be on the plan of those at Gainesborough.
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HISTORY OF FENTRESS COUNTY, TENNESSEE,
CHAPTER V
MARK TWAIN'S DESCRIPTION OF JAMESTOWN AND THE SURROUNDINGS.
S QUIRE HAWKINS sat upon the pyramid of large blocks called the stile, in front of his house, contemplating the morning. The locality was Obedstown, East Tennessee. You would not know that Obedstown stood on the top of a mountain for there was nothing about the landscape to indi- cate it-but it did. A mountain that stretched abroad over whole counties and rose very gradually. The district was called the Knobs of East Tennessee and had a reputation like Nazareth, as far as turning out any good thing was concerned.
The Squire's house was a double log cabin in a state of de- cay; two or three gaunt hounds lay asleep about the threshold, and lifted their heads sadly whenever Mrs. Hawkins, or the children, stepped in or out over their bodies.
Rubbish was scattered about the grassless yard, a bench stood near the door with a tin wash basin on it, and a pail of water and a gourd; a cat had begun to drink from the pail, but the exertion was overtaxing her energies, and she had stopped to rest. There was an ash hopper by the fence and an iron pot for soft soap boiling near it.
This dwelling constituted one-fifteenth of Obedstown. The other fourteen houses were scattered among the tall pine trees, and among the cornfields in such a way that a man might stand in the midst of the city and not know but that he was in the country, if he only depended on his eyes for information.
Squire Hawkins got his title from being postmaster of Obedstown-not that the title belongs to the office, but because in those regions the chief citizens always must have titles of some sort, and so the usual courtesy had been extended to Hawkins.
The mail was monthly and sometimes amounted to as much as three or four letters at a single delivery. Even a rush like this did not fill up a postmaster's whole month, though, and
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THE OLD HOME OF MARK TWAIN'S ANCESTORS.
therefore he kept store in the intervals. * * (The next few pages of "Gilded Age" describes a scene at the post- office, where all the citizens of the town are represented as waiting for the mail. Hawkins receives a letter from a friend asking him to come at once to Missouri, which is described as "the grandest country, the loveliest land," etc. Later he tells his wife of his intention to buy a wagon and team, put her and the children in it and move to Missouri, but tells his wife he has a fortune awaiting his children in land that he had taken up in the country.)
"Do you see these papers? Well, they are evidence that I have taken up seventy-five thousand acres of land in this county-think what an enormous fortune it will be some day! Why, Nancy, enormous don't express it-the word's too tame! I tell you Nancy-" "For goodness sake, Si-" "Wait, Nancy, wait-let me finish-I've been secretly boiling and fuming with this grand inspiration for weeks, and I must talk or I'll burst! I have not whispered to a soul-not a word-have had my countenance under lock and key, for fear it might drop something that would tell even these animals here how to dis- cern the gold mine that's even glaring under their noses.
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