USA > Tennessee > Monroe County > Sweetwater > History of Sweetwater Valley > Part 24
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Soon after the war he came to Sweetwater and com- menced business. He married Martha E. Ramsey on December 10, 1873.
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He was for two terms, sheriff of Monroe County, and in 1882 was elected trustee of the county. In 1902 he was elected to the Fifty-sixth General Assembly as the representative from Monroe County. When he was elected to the Legislature he was living in the old Ram- sey residence, where Colonel John Ramsey lived when he was elected to the Twenty-seventh General Assem- bly. Captain Waren was a very fine business man. He owned several large farms, besides the one on which he lived, and much property in the town of Sweetwater. He died suddenly of heart failure, near his home, on May 11, 1915, and was interred in Westview Cemetery, His wife, Martha E., is the beneficiary and executrix un- der his will.
REYNOLDS ALLEN RAMSEY
Was born in Knox County, Tenn., near the present site of Concord, November 13, 1799. He first lived at Ross' Landing. In 1840 moved to Catoosa County, Ga. He married (first) Anne Campbell Roane, who died in a short time, leaving one child, Mary Roane Ramsey. She married James A. Corry. She died leaving two sons, Allen Corry and Robert Corry.
James Corry married (second) about 1861 Carrie, daughter of John Y. and Leah Lenoir Smith. They had one child, Thomas Avery. He was born February 22, 1862. He was educated mostly at Sweetwater. By pro- fession he is a civil engineer. He married Laura Mont- gomery of Roane County, Tenn. They moved to the city of Mexico. He was chief engineer of railroad run- ning from the city of Mexico to Vera Cruz for a number of years. About 1911 he went to Arequipa, Peru, where he is chief engineer, constructing the railroad. They have two daughters, Margaret, born and Elizabeth born
Reynolds A. Ramsey married (second) Louisa Car- oline Lenoir. She was born in Wilkes County, N. C., in 1805, the second child of Wm. B. Lenoir. She died in Catoosa County, Ga., August 11, 1841. Their children were :
William Lenoir, b. April -, 1829; d. at Knoxville 1896.
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Samuel A., b. September -, 1830; d. June, 1839.
Waightstill Avery, b. January, 1832; d. at Lenoir's, Tenn., August, 1866.
Elizabeth Fleming, b. October, 1883. Married N. A. Patterson, then of Kingston, Tenn. Her daughter, Mrs. Cora A. Hardin, lives at Olustee, Okla.
Thomas Isaac, b. October, 1835. Living in San An- tonio, Texas. Married Amelia Boyd about 1870. They were the parents of seven children, five of whom are liv- ing. One son, Reynolds A., lives at Waycross, Ga. J. G. M. married June Burdett 1913. One daughter of T. I. Ramsey Lenoir, married a missionary and lives in Africa.
The seventh child of R. A. and Louisa Ramsey was Julia Ann Campbell, born December, 1839. She died at Austin, Texas, in 1915. Married Gideon B. Caldwell, in Monroe County, Tenn., January 19, 1863. They were the parents of six children, most of whom are married and are living in Texas. Their names are: Allen R., Catherine C., Louisa L., Mary Lizzie, James Harvey and Addie Ellen.
Colonel Ramsey married (third) Mrs. Ann B. McGhee, nee McLin, of Maryville, Tenn., in February, 1845. She was born February 3, 1814; d. February 15, 1882. He died at Dalton, Ga., June 23, 1884. Both are buried in the old Sweetwater cemetery. They came to Pond Creek Valley, near Sweetwater, in 1858. They belonged to the Presbyterian church at Sweetwater, in which church he was a ruling elder. Their only child, Emmett Alexander, was born December, 1849, died in 1898. He married Miss Lena Wilhoite, of Shelbyville, Tenn., in 1894. He was a Presbyterian minister of fine attain- ments and was a pastor of a church in Memphis, Tenn., at the time of his death in January, 1898.
WILLIAM RUTHERFORD
Was born in Grayson County, Va., on April 11, 1797, and came to Sweetwater Valley, first living near Reagan Station until 1864. During the remainder of the war he lived at the old Bowman (Benson) place. He died on June 25, 1870, and was buried at County Line Cem- etery. He married Celia Hale, who was born in Gray-
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son County, Va. She moved to Kaufman County, Texas, in 1877, and died there and was buried at College Mound, Texas. Their children were:
1. Rufus.
2. John F.
3. George, b. September 28, 1848. Died January 5,
1883. Married Mary Miles in Chattanooga. Died in
Texas.
4. James. Post-office, Cartersville, Ga. Married
Miss Oliver.
5. Cynthia, b. October 11, 1822. Married Phillip Cole. Lives in Texas.
6. Elizabeth. Dead.
7. Parmelia Jane, b. February 11, 1827; d. June 19, 1855. Married Jake Williams. Dead.
8. Samuel, b. May 1, 1825. Died in Missouri. Mar- ried Mick Ann Richardson.
9. Julia, b. April 29, 1828. Married Jake Patton, and lives at Miami, Texas.
10. Felan Louis, b. February 1, 1830. Married in Mis- rouri. Dead.
11. Rosamond Caroline, b. December 2, 1834. Dead. Married Wm. McCaslin.
12. Margaret, b. April 9, 1839. Married John Bil- lingsly.
RUFUS RUTHERFORD
Was born in McMinn County, Tenn., March 8, 1832. Married Elizabeth Fender, May 18, 1855. She was born June 15, 1831, in Roane County, Tenn. Died January 27, 1905, and was interred at Bell Springs, Texas.
Rufus Rutherford lived for five years, in the old I. T. Lenoir residence, until he moved to Texas, in 1877. He was a farmer and was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Served in the Confederate army, until the close of the war, as a member of Captain W. L. Clark's company, 2nd Tennessee Calvary. He is now a farmer and banker at Hillsboro, Texas. His children are :
Mrs. Maggie Kyle, Hillsboro, Texas.
William H., Rockwood, Texas.
Mrs. Cynthia Parks, Hillsboro, Texas.
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HISTORY OF SWEETWATER VALLEY
Mrs. Mary Parks, Hillsboro, Texas.
Mrs. Julia McClure, Hillsboro, Texas. Mrs. Celia Whitlock, Lockney, Texas. Rufus W., Claude, Texas. Mrs. Bettie McCarty, Hillsboro, Texas.
JOHN F. RUTHERFORD
Was the son of Wm. Rutherford, and was born in Sweetwater Valley, October 30, 1837. Married Malinda J. Williams, daughter of John Williams, September 16, 1873, by the Rev. G. W. Butler. She was born March 7, 1856. John F. Rutherford was a farmer. He served in the Confederate army as a private in Co. B, 5th Reg. Vol., Tenn. Cav., from 1862 to 1865. He moved from Sweetwater Valley to Jalapa, Tenn. They had eight children, six of whom are living:
1. Inez, b. 1875. Lives in Texas.
2. Clifton, b. 1878. Was a ranchman in Idaho. Now lives at Tellico, Tenn.
3. King. Dead.
4. Daisy. Dead. Married John Tate.
5. Key, b. 1883. Lives in Idaho.
6. Rankin, b. 1888. Lives in Idaho.
7. Creed, b. 1895. Lives in Idaho.
8. Fred., b. 1898. Lives in Idaho.
S. J. ROWAN
Was a brother of Jno. A. Rowan who lived on Fork Creek, and who was a colonel in the C. S. A., during the Civil War. He married Jane Carter, a sister of Robert Carter and F. B. Carter. They lived in Sweetwater some time during the Civil War. He (Rowan) owned a large farm at County Line, on the Athens road. In June, 1857, for the consideration of $13,000, he conveyed his holdings there to J. M. Brett, formerly of Georgia. He moved to Sweetwater and engaged in the mercantile business. He was postmaster during Buchanan's ad- ministration. Some time in 1868 he moved to Waco, Texas. At a session of the Presbyterian church at Sweetwater, March 22, 1869, Samuel J. and Jane Rowan,
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his wife, were granted a letter to join the Presbyterian church at Waco. Their children were: Miranda, Car- ter and Crockett Rowan. Miranda married Dr. Parshall. They were the parents of several children, names and number not known. Some of them live in Hillsboro, Texas. One of them married Burt Barnett, who lives on Lamar Street, Fort Worth, Texas. He is a wealthy cotton broker. Mr. Rufus Rutherford, of Hillsboro, Texas, says that now, 1916, Carter and Crock- ett are both dead; that Crockett married and reared a family, but that he did not know their address or history.
MR. AND MRS. J. T. ROWLAND.
Mr. J. T. Rowland came from Georgia. He married Miss Louisa Keith, a sister of Judge Charles Keith, who resigned his position after being judge for thirty- four years. Mr. and Mrs. Rowland purchased land in Sweetwater Valley from William Wallis on the 10th of September, 1855. This was a part of the northwest quarter of section 15, township 3, range 1, east. Con- sideration, $3,000. This land lay between the Browder and Yearwood places. They lived at this place until some time during the Civil War, when they moved away. Rowland died, and in 1865 Mrs. Rowland with her two sons moved back to the farm. She soon sold out, how- ever, and moved away. She was a brilliant and gifted woman and not only was a contributor to the magazines but was also a musical composer. She gave my mother one of her compositions in reply to, "I have just been learning a lesson of life," which was thought to have been better than the other. Her two children were: John T., an accomplished musician, who died when a young man, and Charles K., now a broker and real es- tate dealer of Atlanta, Ga.
GENERAL JAMES H. REAGAN.
Some sixty-five years ago Reagan's station consisted of a very large pond, having an area of 5 or 6 acres, a flourishing apple orchard or two, the Reagan boys, the big house, the negro cabins, various brier patches, the store, the United States Post-office, the E. T. & Ga.
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Railroad Depot and water tank and the cribs and barn. These resources are intended to be mentioned in the or- der of their relative importance in the boyish mind. The pond, placed there by a beneficent Providence, who seem- ingly watches over the safety of good and bad boys alike, could be and was used for the threefold purpose of swimming in, fishing in and rowing and sailing boats over. The apple orchard's were both food and drink. Their products were a source of ever recurring enjoy- ment from their first bloom in April through the red June, the mellow fall, the rough winter and until the return of spring again. What would a home be without a swimming hole, red June apples and sweet cider? And echo answers: "Nothin' doin'." And what would be the use of such things without boys to revel in them and satiate their appetites ? The "big house" was to eat in and sleep in; otherwise of no special impor- tance. The negro cabin was a mecca when at night some noted negro fiddler or banjo picker was playing for a dance. Life in those boyhood days would not have been wholly satisfactory without brier patches. The black- berries were watched with interest through all their stages of developments, green, red and black. When the berries had come and gone the brier thickets became the favorite warren and home of the rabbit; then "ho" for the chase of the nimble cotton tail. The store was the source of supply of candy, tops, balls and marbles. These were very much a part of boyish equipment, far more important then than anything that came through the post-office which frequently occupied a portion of country store. Few articles at that time came by par- cels post. The railroad depot was a very flimsy affair and the water tank, capable of containing only about 2,- 500 gallons, was filled by a chain pump from a spring. The barns were useful as places to play in on rainy days.
On Sunday our privileges were somewhat abridged. After reading a chapter in the Bible and hearing it ex- plained we were allowed quietly to go out to play with a few parting injunctions ; not to go in swimming, not to hunt rabbits and not to get into a fuss or fight with the neighbor boys. No, we wont go in swimming in the pond, we'll just wade round the shallow places near the
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bank unless some one pushes us into deep water and then we'll have to swim; no, we won't hunt rabbits or indulge in any unseemly merriment on Sunday; but sometimes we can't slip off from the dogs and they will follow us and we hate to rock them back home; we mustn't be cruel to animals, for once there was a boy in the second reader and he was bad; he used to stick pins in flies instead of swattin' 'em and throw stones at dogs and when he grew up to be a man he got to be a monopolist and had to appear before the Congressional Committee or something just as dreadful happened to him; no, we won't impose on the neighbor boys; but they mustn't muddy our swimming hole, they mustn't climb our apple trees, they mustn't run our rabbits or "sic" their dogs on our dogs and they mustn't call us names or irritate us any way ; we are peaceable but we can't bear to be irritated-and-we are not bound to tell everything that takes place.
Old folks have such queer ideas about what they want boys to learn and spend their time on. Who was Pub- lius Virgilius Naso, and why didn't he write in plain English? Nix on that stuff about the Trojan horse as big as a mountain (instar montis). What difference does it make if Queen Dido did stand on the beach in the moonlight and wave with her willow wand for her recreant lover to come again to Carthage? He never came, did he? And what if Tityrus, at ease under the shade of a beech tree, did elect during the summer day to pipe his pæans to the charms of the beautiful Amaryl- lis; did that make his corn grow any better? That was his business. What Johnnie wants to know is: "Why spend five days out of seven in acquiring this informa- tion, when the fish are fairly itching to bite and the call of the wild is sounding in his ears and especially when his high school nine is straining every nerve to win the pennant in the B. U. M. Baseball League?" Up, com- rades, and at them! Progress is here; get out of the way or you will get run over by the automobile! Lin- coln struck the shackles from the slaves but Ty Cobb still holds the batting record !
But now the pond, mentioned in the outset of this article, is about dried up, the apple trees have died of ! old age; the war rendered the negro cabins useless and
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they were torn down; few now living know that there ever was a store there and that S. Y. B. Williams clerked in it; there is not a stick or stone remaining to show where the barn stood; even the depot and water tank are gone and have never been rebuilt; "Facility," the post-office, has long since been abolished by the gov- ernment and absorbed by Sweetwater and Dan. Scruggs of Route No. 2 is now "it;" most of those living there in the fifties have passed to the great beyond. The old residence, though somewhat dilapidated, is yet standing; some magnificent old oak in a grove near the railway, still lend a majestic attraction to the scene.
I am happy to state that the girl, who used to play the piano for us and give us pies and cakes between times, is a much loved and respected grandmother in the town of Sweetwater.
One of the Reagan family is now living at the station. He was called "James" by his mother, "Avery" by his father, "Jeems" by the darkeys, "Jim" by the neigh- bors, "Legs" by his intimates, Reagan by his college- mates, is called Major by the road men, Judge by the lawyers and his former associates in the county court.
He married about a quarter of a century ago (1889). He is still married, but with this difference: For many years of their married life Mrs. Lizzie Reagan was known as the wife of Judge James Avery Reagan ; J. A. Reagan, Esq., is now known in several states of the union, as the husband of Mrs. Elizabeth Buchanan Rea- gan and I have not heard of his objecting to it. The writer of this often revisits these scenes of his boyhood days in imagination, and sometimes in person. He still remains to bear testimony to the fact that in the times before the war at Reagan's, when two or three or more of us were gathered together, there would be enough ideas in our midst to cause somethin' to be doin' in pretty short order.
James Haves Reagan was born February 12, 1800. I am unable to say now exactly where. In 1822 or 1823 he started to go west. However on his way he chanced to stop at the house of the Rev. Irby Holt, who then lived about one-half mile west of where Reagan's Sta- tion now is. This determined his future life. He went into the mercantile business with Mr. Holt. The near-
.
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est stores then were at Athens, Madisonville and Phila- delphia. Before many years a United States post-office was needed, as there were none nearer than the places mentioned; and it was petitioned for and obtained. In the rapid settling up of the new country there was need for everything in the way of household goods and sales were easily made at good profit.
He married Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Irby Holt, on April 22, 1824.
General Reagan was an all-round business man; he prospered as a merchant, a farmer and a banker and became one of the wealthiest men in East Tennessee in his day. He was also popular with the people and was considerable of a politician. He was a strong Jackson and Polk man. He was known as an uncompromising Democrat. In 1836 he was elected as senator from the counties of McMinn and Monroe to represent these coun- ties in the General Assembly of the state. In the His- tory of Tennessee by Garrett and Goodpasture on page 257, section 463, under the head of "First Railroad Con- struction" we find this: "Through the influence of Sen- ator James H. Reagan, afterward a distinguished cit- izen of Texas, the Legislature granted a charter of in- corporation to the Hiwassee Railroad Company, in 1836, for the purpose of constructing a railroad through the Hiwassee District to the southern boundary of the state. The road was surveyed and ground broken in 1837, being the first work ever done on a railroad in this state. In 1848 the charter was renewed and the name of the corporation changed to the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad Company. The road was not com- pleted (to Knoxville) until 1856."
This is all perfectly correct history, except that John H. Reagan, postmaster general, C. S. A., Governor of Texas and U. S. Senator from that state was not the Reagan spoken of and was never a member of the Ten- nessee Legislature but a cousin of his, James H. Reagan, who was a citizen of McMinn County for more than forty years and who again in 1853 represented Monroe and McMinn in the Legislature.
Major W. B. L. Reagan, son of J. H. Reagan, is re- sponsible for the following statement : "Father was
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a brigadier general of militia. When the Mexican War came up he was making every arrangement in his busi- ness to go to Mexico. General Caswell of Knox also wanted to go, and then governor of the state (Aaron V. Brown) had them to "cast lots" for it. Caswell "drew the long straw," much to father's disappointment."
G. and G.'s History of Tennessee says: "Upon the requisition of the War Department, on the 26th of May, 1847, Governor Brown called for three regiments of volunteers, numbering in all 2,800 men. In answer to this call, 30,000 volunteers promptly tendered their services. So eager were they all for services that it became necessary to adopt some mode of selection. Ac- cordingly the governor directed the four major gen- erals of the state to decide by ballot, according to rules laid down, the companies to be received from their re- spective divisions."
This shows how the men were selected but not how the commanders were chosen. What sort of hocus po- cus was resorted to determine this I have not been able to find out. As General Reagan was totally ignorant of, and averse to, all forms of gambling perhaps he did not get a square deal. What would have been his future career had he gone to Mexico can be only a matter of conjecture. No doubt it would have made a great dif- ference in his after life. The battle of Beuna Vista, and not such a great battle after all, made two presidents, Zachary Taylor, President of U. S. A., and Jefferson Davis, his son-in-law, President of the C. S. A.
Aaron V. Brown, a very eloquent and powerful man on the stump, was governor. He was afterwards post- master general under President Buchanan. He was de- feated in his next race for governor by Neill S. Brown. His defeat is not unlikely due the fact that so many got mad at him because they wanted to fight and did not get to fight. We have now so much advanced in civilization that those whose voices are loudest for war with Mexico now, will be the "most afraid" of bullets when the war is really upon us.
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GENERAL J. H. REAGAN'S RAILROAD RECORD.
In these days of railway construction and immense fortunes it is a comparatively simple matter to build a railroad, when once a proper charter is obtained from the state. Not so in those days. A standard oil mag- nate can run his cars into the sounding deep, as Flagler did along the Florida keys, easier than the people of Georgia and Tennessee then could through the moun- tains. They can do now with money and scientific ap- pliances what was not even dreamed of in the "Arabian Nights." When General Reagan had gotten the charter from the Tennessee Legislature his work had not fairly begun. Money at that time could not be borrowed in New York for the purpose. If the railroad was built at all, it must be done by the people along the line in the Hiwassee and Ocoee Districts. Many of these had not as yet finished paying for the tracts of land which they had purchased from the state. In many instances work was done and material furnished and stock in the railroad was taken in payment therefor.
Thus the very men who used the railroad as a com- mon carrier were the ones who owned the stock in it.
W. B. L. Reagan (son of James H.) says: "The con- trolling officers of the road induced General Reagan to take charge of the work of building the road as super- intendent and to use his own discretion in all matters. He was very successful. When he got it finished to near Cleveland, he applied to the company to release him, as his own business matters were suffering serious- ly for want of attention. They endeavored to get him to continue as general superintendent, but he declined. They then offered him the position as president. He told them that it would be impossible for him to assume the responsibility as his own private business would need all his time. He' was made a life director and served as such faithfully with much profit to the com- pany.
"He loaned the company (The Hiwassee Railroad Co., and its successor the E. T. & Ga. R. R. Co.) $150- 000."
Previous to the breaking out of the Civil War from 1831 to 1854 the General Assembly of the state passed
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various acts, coming under the general head of Inter- nal Improvement Acts, to assist the construction of railroads. The one proving most effective was that of 1852. "Under this act (History of Tenn., G. & G.) when any railroad company with bona fide subscrip- tion to grade, bridge and prepare the whole extent of its main line for iron rails, had prepared a certain extent of its roadbed, it was entitled to receive $8,000 (per mile) of the 6 per cent. bonds of the state, to be used in ironing and equipping the road. These bonds were to have the force and effect of a first lien or mort- gage on the road, its franchises and equipments. Un- der this act and its subsequent amendments, about $14,- 000,000 of bonds were issued, prior to the Civil War, making the total issue to railroads up to this time about 15 millions."
One of the first deeds to right of way in Monroe County to E. T. & Ga. R. R. Co. was from Matthew Nel- son of Philadelphia, at one time treasurer of the State. For the consideration of 9 shares of the capital stock of the E. T. & Ga. R. R. Co. he conveys, to-wit: "The right of way through his lands in Monroe County, Tenn., where said road is now located, to include such width as is necessary for the working and proper construction of said road; said land being the southeast quarter of section 5, township 1, range 2, Hiwassee District, it being the land upon which he now resides and upon which the town of Philadelphia is located." (Still lo- cated on that tract in 1914.) The date of the deed is November 22. 1850. The witnesses to Nelson's signa- ture are D. H. Jones, I. T. Lenoir and John Stanfield.
I think at that time (1850) the road was graded through the greater part of Sweetwater Valley; for the reason that the right of way grade was used in some places as a public road between the neighborhood where Sweetwater now is and Philadelphia. Mr. J. A. Reagan is authority for the statement that construction reached the location of Mouse Creek (Niota) early in February, 1852. Not a great while thereafter cars were running to Sweetwater. Here a "Y" or a turn switch was made among the timber close to where the new Scruggs brick building is being erected. For some time this place be- came the terminus of the road. However in about six
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months the railroad was constructed to Loudon, where it hung up for nearly two years awaiting the completion of the bridge across the Tennessee River. Loudon was on a boom and predictions were frequent that it would be many, many years before trains would be running to Knoxville, if they ever were.
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