USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee, from its earliest discoveries and settlements to the end of the year 1894 > Part 11
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11. The National Guard, State of Tennessee, was organized under an act of the Legislature, passed March 22, 188 ;. Gov- ernor Taylor was Commander-in-Chief, and his brother, Brigadier- General James P. Taylor, Adjutant-General. Governor Taylor at once selected a staff of citizens, who had manifested interest in military matters. At this time numerous military organiza- tions existed, which were mustered into the State's service, and upon this nucleus three regiments of infantry, a battalion of artillery, and a troop of cavalry were organized into a brigade. The State provided for this Guard, but made no appropriations for its maintainance, and soon it waned and nothing more devel- oped from it until the insurrection of the miners made it evident that the organization must be revived and maintained.
12. At the time of the outbreak, in July, 1891, there were twenty-two infantry companies in the State, poorly equipped and absolutely unfit to take the field. This cost the State many thousands of dollars, besides the humiliation it caused. Despite this neglect, Tennessee's soldiers have always displayed eager- ness to do their duty. In September, 1801, the Legislature met in extra session and appropriated twenty-five thousand dollars for the maintenance of the Guard for the rest of that year and for 1892.
13. The Legislature appropriated forty-five thousand dollars for the Guard for 1893-04, and the Secretary of War detailed Cap-
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tain H. C. Ward, Sixteenth Infantry, United States Army. to asi in increasing its efficiency, and now Tennessee has a well equity ped and drilled military organization. The National Guard e Tennessee, now consists of twenty-one infantry companies, Che battery of artillery at Nashville, with sections at Chattanooga Memphis and Knoxville, the infantry is organized into two regiments and two battalions. Buchanan did not get the strona support he thought he ought to have had, and he ran for re- election, but was overwhelmingly defeated by Judge Peter Tur- ney, whom the Democrats had nominated in 1992. The Repub- licans nominated George Winstead, but "Old Pete." as he is familiarly called, was elected.
14. Peter Turney was born in Jasper, Marion county, Ten- nessee, September 22, 1827.
He is of English descent. Gov- ernor Turney has continued to re- side in Winchester since February 1828. He was educated in the schools there, and in a private school at Nashville. He began to read law under his father. Hi- father being elected United States Senator, he continued his studies under Major Venable, of Winches- ter, and was licensed to practice in INS. He practiced the law at Winchester until 1861. He wis. in 1861, an alternate elector ou ths Breckenridge ticket. He was the GOV. PETER TURNEY. first man in the State to publicly advocate secession. and was elected. February 9. 1861, a delegate to a convention to pass ordinance of secession. He enrolled a company of men and was elected Captain: was then commissioned to raise a regiment, which he did, and was elected Colonel. It was known as "Turney's First Tennessee." He was severely
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wounded at the battle of Fredricksburg. December 15, 1862. but continued to serve until his surrender. May fy. 1865. He then returned to Winchester to practice law. In isto he was elected Supreme Judge, was re-elected in rap, and again in 1886. On the reorganization of the Supreme Court, in 1986, he was elected Chief Justice, and continued to serve until January 16. 1593. when he was elected Governor. He served as Judge twenty- three years, the longest period of the service of any Judge in the history of the State. He was pre-eminently. the Judge who enforced the rule for the more rapid disposition of business, which the former beach had been unable to enforce: and in this connection, the Green Bay says: "As a Judge, in the opinion of the writer, he ranks by the greatest of all the great line that began with White."
15. When the time came for Covernor Turney's inaug- uration, he was too feeble to visit the Capitol, and a Leg- islative committee was com- missioned to go to his home in Winchester and have him inaugurated, which occurred January 16, 1303. Turney made a good record. and his party, in 1894. nominated hint HON. H. CLAY EVANS. for re-election. . The Republicans nominated H. Clay Evans. of Chattanooga. On account of many irregularities in the election tor Governor. November 6. 1894, both Turney and Evans claimed the election. When the Legislature convened in January, 195. the contest was submitted to it, and after much canvassing was finally decidel. Governor Turney appointed Frank M. Smith,
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Superintendent of Public Instruction, and T. F. P. Allison Commissioner of Agriculture. Governor Turney manage ! everything very satisfactorily, and had 110 opposition in the nominating con- vention. He sought to bring order out of chaos. In 1893, there was a financial crisis that involved many business men. In Tennessee it was especially severe, almost every bank in Nashville suspended. Nothing equaled it in the annals of history: but soon many were able to resume business.
16. The reports of the Superintend- ents of Public Instruction for the last few years, show most gratifying results in the progress and improvement of SUPT. FRANK M. SMITH. the public school system. Under the experienced and efficient management of our late Superintend- ents. amendatory legislation from session to session has brought the school law to a standard of excellence equal to that of many of the most favored States. The improvement in the qualifica- tions of the teachers, in the methods of normal training, in the payment of teachers' wages, in the selection of text-books and courses of study, and in the increase of taxation, are manifest evidences of a progressive and healthy growth.
I ;. Tennessee's future is bright. On June 19, 1894, a con- vention of representative men met at Nashville to organize an exposition to commemorate its one hundredth anniversary, which will occur June 1, 1896. Will the aged and the youth of Ten nessee be prepared to duly honor the great occasion ? Have they acquainted themselves with the dramatic episodes of Ten- nessee history? Have they grown familiar with the heroic lives and daring deeds of their ancestors? No subject can ever be
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THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
more inspiring and instructive to citizenship reared upon our soil. So fruitful is the State's history that it can easily gain our ulmiration and inspire love. The fame of her soldiers and datesmen, her scholais, her men of science, and her teachers.
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, MAIN BUILDING, NASHVILLE.
authors and artists, her editors and her publishers, her merchants and manufacturers, her inventors and mechanics, her farmers and financiers, her river, railroad and stock men, her law yers. judges, physicians and surgeons, her theologians and divines. has given her a name and established her reputation among the nations of the world.
18. Let these excite the emulation of our youth and impress them with the lesson of our history. If faithfully learned and applied, with her soil and her climate. her genius and her wealth. her learning and her patriotism, her social, civil and military reputation, her geographical, commercial and political position. with the prestige of her name and tame, we must not expect less of the youth of Tennessee than that she will. in the galaxy of
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the Union of States, assume the position of first among her peers.
QUESTIONS. - I. What of Governor Bate and the Democratic party ? 2. Give biographical sketch of Governor Bate. 3. Give the substance of this section. 4. What of the New Orleans Ex- position : Who were elected Supreme Judges? Name other appointees. 5. Whom did the parties nominate for Governor? 6. Give biographical sketch of Governor Taylor. 7. What occurred in IS91 ? Who was elected? Why? 8. Give full details of this section. 9. What of Oliver Springs and Inman? Io. What of Fort Anderson and Coal Creek? 11. What of the National Guard? Its officers? 12. What was the condition of the companies in July, 1891? 13. Give the substance of this section. 14. Sketch the life of Governor Turney? 15. Name the appointees. What occurred in 1893? 16. What of the condition of our schools? 17. What must we expect of our pupils? Is. Give the substance of this section.
Ol Veertien
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GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER XXVI.
GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE.
I. It is a well-established fact that no State in the American Union is more happily endowed by nature with reference to cli- mate, soils, productions, beauty of scenery, and sanitary conli- tions than Tennessee. It is a State of almost infinite variety as to rocks, minerals, soils, productions, climate, and its geologica! and physical features. It lies between 35° and 36' 30' north latitude and 81º 37' and 90° 28' west longitude from Greenwich. and contains forty-two thousand and fifty square miles, includ- ing three hundred square miles of water. From east to west it is four hundred and thirty-two miles, and from north to south one hundred and nine miles, taking the greatest length and width.
2. It has more miles of navigable streams to the square mile than any other State. The Tennessee River crosses the State twice. The Cumberland River, rising in Eastern Kentucky. sweeps in a semi-circle through the fairest portion of the State. giving to it three hundred and four miles of navigable water. The Mississippi washes its entire western limit. Many of the tributaries of these principal affluent> are navigable. There are eight natural divisions in the State, a correct knowledge of which is indispensable to a proper understanding of its unlimited nat- ural resources.
3. (I. ) On the southeastern border of the State is the mounts a- ous division. Here, rising in great ridge like masses and the less domes, is the medial axis of the great Appalachian Cham the highest peaks of which obtain an elevation of six thousand
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
six hundred feet above the sea. Upon the brows and bald su !! mits of these lofty heights the flora of Canada and the climate New England may be found. Many beautiful and fertile valles and coves nestle in the bosom of this grand range, which ar highly productive of the grasses and the hardier bread grain- Upon the balds, also, natural grasses grow with a prodigal luxu riance. It is the least valuable of all the natural divisions !! the State in an agricultural point of view, owing not so much : the sterility of the soil as to the severity of the climate. I . average elevation above the sea is five thousand feet, and its at . proximate area is two thousand square miles.
4. (II.) The next division is the beautiful fluted Valley of East Tennessee, lying between the mountainous division on th . southeast and the Cumberland Tableland on the northwest. This valley, so called because it is bounded by great elevations ou two sides and forms a deep trough between these elevations, is succession of ridges and minor valleys, running in almost un broken lines from northeast to southwest. In other words it ha- a fluted bottom. The subordinate valleys in this great valle; constitute, probably, the most fertile lands in the State, and these lands command the highest prices. Agriculturally, this division is one of the most important in the State. Its average elevation: above the sea is one thousand feet, and its area, nine thousand two hundred square miles.
5. . (III. ) The third natural division is the Cumberland Table land, an elevated plateau rising two thousand feet above the sea and one thousand feet above the Valley of East Tennessee. This constitutes the coal region of Tennessee. Its area is fvc thousand one hundred square miles. Except for highland pa- turage, it is of small value agriculturally. The soil is saudy and sterile for the most part, though there are some elevated val- leys where a fairly productive soil may be found. The sand stone soil is well adapted to the growth of vegetables, but not to the growth of the cereals. It is a healthy region, and furnishe-
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GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE.
a cool, bracing climate in summer, and for this reason is the seat of many popular summer resorts. It is asserted by competent medical authority that no case of tubercular consumption has ever originated on this mountain.
6. (IV. ) The Rimlands, Highlands, or Terrace-lands, form the fourth natural division. This division lies to the west of the Cumberland Table-land, and extends, like the rim of a plate. to the Tennessee Valley on the west, inclosing the great lime- stone Central Basin, in which Nashville is situated. This basin forms another division of the State, next to be described. If this Central Basin should at a former geological epoch have been covered with water. the Rimlands would have been an atoll. or a greet circular reef. inclosing and confining the lake. This Highland Rim is greatly diversified with rolling hills and wide valleys. For the most part it appears originally to have been a fat plain, which has, through long ages, been profoundly eroded by the many streams which flow through it. These streams have cut the surface into innumerable deep, and for the most part narrow, valleys, leaving here and there the level top of the ancient plateau.
7. Duck River passes through it in a serpentine course, hav- ing a general westerly direction. The Cumberland River, with its valleys, cuts it almost completely in two. Buffalo River and Valley lie wholly within its boundary. The Caney Fork of the Cumberland River, and the Elk of the Tennessee River, take their rise in the eastern Highlands. This division has some of the most fertile soils in the State, distinguished for their choco- late color, and their adaptability to the growth of peanuts, to- bacco, wheat, corn, and oats. It is a region of great agricultu- ral importance and wealth, and is the center of the great charcoal iron industry of the State. It is magnificently supplied with water-power where the streamis pour down from the Highlands to lower lands. It has an area of nine thousand three hundred
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
square miles, and an average elevation of nearly one thousand feet above the sea.
8. (V.) The Central Basin inclosed by the Highlands is ellip tical in shape, and constitutes the fairest domain in the State Topographically, it is a plain with numerous elevations rising two hundred to three hundred feet above the general level. The underlying rocks are limestones of the silurian age, the disin tegration of which has given rise to a soil rich in all the ele- ments of plant nutrition, and one that by reason of its formation is exceedingly durable and has great strength of constitution. Every crop known to the latitude flourishes in this basin, includ- ing blue grass. It is to Tennessee what the blue-grass region is to Kentucky, and is the center of the great live-stock industry of the State.
9. Here are situated the great breeding establishments, where the fleet-footed racers, the swift trotters and pacers, the lordly short-horns, and the deer-shaped Jerseys find their most congenial homes. Here too are to be found the finest flocks of sheep in the South, and the best-bred hogs. Here are the best- stocked farms. and the best farm-houses. and the thriftiest and wealthiest farmers. The area of this division is five thousand four hundred and fifty square miles, and its average elevation above the sea is about five hundred and fifty feet. Nashville is situated in this basin. Its soil, its climate, and its high state of cultivation justly entitled it to be called the Garden of Tennes- see. The whole basin, with the surrounding Highlands, is slightly tilted toward the northwest, and it has a less elevation on that side than any other.
10. (VI. ) The Western Valley, or the Valley of the Tennes- see River, forms the next natural division. This is a narrow val- ley, with spurs from the Highlands pointing in toward it, and sometimes running down to the margin of the river. The sur face is greatly broken and irregular, but the soil is generally fer tile. Marshy spots covered with cypress swamps occur in places
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GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE.
along the river. The main valley sends out subordinate ones extending as far as twenty or twenty-five miles before they are lost on the Highlands. The Western Valley does not include all the territory drained by the tributaries of the Tennessee, but its general limits are the lines along which the Highlands on both sides for the most part break away. The average width of this valley is ten or twelve miles, its length the breadth of the State, and its area about one thousand two hundred square miles. Its elevation above the sea is about three hundred and sixty feet.
DI. (VII. ) The Plateau, or Slope, of West Tennessee is the seventh natural division. This differs essentially from the other divisions heretofore named, in the fact that it has but few rocks. It is of more recent geological formation. Topographically, it is a great plain that slopes gradually toward the Mississippi River, usually with a surface gently undulating. but in some places greatly roughened by abrupt hills and sharply defined narrow valleys. The character of the soil varies greatly from that of the preceding divisions, being light, porous, siliceous, and for the most part ash-colored, but charged with the elements of an abounding fertility. This soil, owing to its highly pulver- ulent condition and the absense of rocks, is easily washed into gullies, and greater care is demanded for its preservation. It grows all the crops of the latitude with a wonderful fecundity, but cotton and corn are the staple crops, except in its central part. where vegetables and fruits have been substituted in large part for cotton.
12. A few of the northern counties in this division grow wheat and tobacco. as well as cotton and corn, and the large yield of corn shows that the soils are excellently well adapted to the growth of the cereals. The heaviest and best forests of hard- wood in the State are also to be found in the northern and cen- tral parts of this division. The streams are sluggish, and their banks unstable. This division is furrowed with river valleys. the elevations between which rarely rise above one hundred feet.
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
It extends from the Tennessee River westward for an average distance of about eighty-four miles, and terminates abruptly falling off into a long and steep bluff, or escarpment, that over- looks the great alluvial bottoms of the Mississippi River. I: covers a superficial extent of eight thousand eight hundred and fifty miles, and has an average elevation of five hundred feet.
13. (VIII. ) The bottoms of the Mississippi River form the eighth and last natural division into which the State is divided. This division teems with a rank luxuriance of vegetable life that is almost tropical. The timber is heavy, and the undergrowth of cane, vines, and shrubs makes the virgin forests well nigh impassable. The cane furnishes a rich pasturage for cattle, not only in summer, but throughout the year. Cattle are reared upon the wild herbage of these bottoms and marketed without ever having been fed with corn, oats, or hay. This division also abounds in lakes, where many excellent varieties of fish ar- found, as well as water-fowl, in the greatest abundance. It is the sportsman's paradise during the fall and winter months. The soil is of exuberant fertility, and will produce year after year. with no apparent diminution in quantity, enormous crops of corn, cotton and hay. The agricultural resources of this divis- ion are enormous, and, when reclaimed from the dank. dark for- ests, will subsist a larger population per square mile than any other portion of the State. The surface embraces nine hundred and fifty square miles, and it has an average elevation of two hundred and ninety-five feet above the sea.
14. ( t.) Tennessee has three civil or political divisions. East Tennessee. This comprises all the territory from the North Carolina line to about the center of the Cumberland Table-land, including the first and second natural divisions and about one-half of the third. It contains thirteen thousand one hundred and twelve square miles, and embraces the following counties: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blunt. Bradley. Campbell, Carter. Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger. Greene, Hamblen, Hamilton, Han-
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GEOGRAPHY OF TENNESSEE.
cock. Hawkins, James, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Loudon. Marion, MeMin, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Polk, Rhea, Roane, Scott. Sequatchie, Sevier, Sullivan, Union, Unicoi, and Wash- ington-thirty-four counties.
15. (II. ) Middle Tennessee. This division extends from the dividing line on the Cumberland Table-land to the Tennessee River, and comprises the whole of the forth and fifth natural di- visions and about half of the third and sixth. Its area embraces eighteen thousand one hundred and twenty-six square miles. Counties embraced in this division: Bedford, Cannon. Cheat- ham, Clay, Coffee Cumberland. Davidson, De Kalb, Dickson, Fentress. Franklin, Giles, Grundy, Humphreys, Hickman, Houston. Jackson. Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Macon. Marshall. Maury. Montgomery. Moore, Overtou. Perry, Pickett, Putnam, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Stewart. Sumner. Trousdale. Van Buren. Warren. Wayne, White, Williamson, and Wilson- forty-one counties.
16. (III. ) West Tennessee. This division extends from the Tennessee River westward to the Mississippi, and includes the whole of the seventh and eighth natural divisions and one-half of the sixth. West Tennessee contains ten thousand five hun- dred and twelve square miles, exclusive of surface permanently covered with water. The following counties are embraced in this division: Benton, Carroll, Chester. Crocket, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette. Gibson, Hardeman, Hardin, Haywood, Henderson. Heury. Lake, Lauderdale, Madison, McNairy, Obion, Shelby, Tipton, and Weakley-twenty-one counties.
I ;. The climate of Tennessee combines humidity and sun- shine. cold and warmth, in just such proportions as to produce the highest degree of perfection in the largest number of crops. This statement may be easily verified by consulting the census returns. in which it will appear that every crop grown in the United States may be, and actually is, grown to some extent in the State of Tennessee. This can not be said of any other
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
State. The truth is. the productions of both the Northern and Southern States meet and overlap in Tennessee. There is ju -: cold enough during the winter months to invigorate the physical system, ameliorate the soil, and destroy the germs of disabling disease. The heat in summer is rarely long-continued. nor is the cold in winter. There are but few days during the year in which a laboring man is prevented, either by excessive heat or cold, from performing comfortably outdoor work. Statistics show it to be one of the healthiest States in the Union. Exciud- ing a few lowlands, there is scarcely a malarious district in the State.
CHAPTER XXVII.
GEOLOGY OF TENNESSEE.
Tennessee has almost every variety of geological formations. In East and Middle Tennessee they are made up, for the most part of hard rocky strata consisting of limestones, sandstones. shales, slate, gneiss and granite. In West Tennessee beds of sand and clay with but few hard rocks constitute the strata.
The soils are derived from the geological formations and their fertility or sterility may generally be inferred from the character of the formations from which they are derived, because all soils except those that are drifted are derived immediately from the weathering or crumbling down of a portion of the rocky strata that lie beneath them. Drifted soils, such as the alluvial and the tertiary soils of West Tennessee derive their material from many sources and have been deposited by water.
It often happens that the highest regions topographically are the lowest geologically. This is the case in Tennessee. The highest mountains in the Eastern part of the State constitute the very lowest geological formations. These mountains have been
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GEOLOGY OF TENNESSEE.
uplifted and some of the higher strata are oftentimes found lying conformably on the sides.
Taking the formations from the oldest and lowest geologically and proceeding to the more recent we may construct the follow- ing table after Safford:
A .-- LOWER SILURIAN.
I. Metamorphic rock.
2. Ocoee group. Potsdam Period.
3. Chilhowee sandstone.
t. Knox sandstone. --
5. Knox shale. Quebec Period.
6. Knox dolomite.
7. Trenton or Lebanon.
S. Nashville or Cincinnati.
Trenton Period.
B. - UPPER SILURIAN.
9. Clinch Mountain sandstone. .
IO. White Oak Mt. sandstone.
II, Dyestone or Clinton group.
Niagara Period.
1 2. Niagara limestone.
13. Lower Helderberg.
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