USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee, from its earliest discoveries and settlements to the end of the year 1894 > Part 12
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Lower Held'g Period.
C .- DEVONIAN.
If. Black shale.
Hamilton Period.
D .- CARBONIFEROUS.
15. Barren group. 16. Coral or St. Louis Imestone. 17. Mountain limestone. 18. Coal measures. 1 Mississippi or Sub- Carniferous Period. Coal Pericd.
E .- CRETACEOUS.
Coffee sand.
20. Rreen sind. 21. Ripley group. 7 1
Cretaceous Period.
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
F .- TERTIARY.
22. Flatwood sands and clays.
23. La Grange sands.
Tertiary Period.
G. -- QUARTERNARY AND MODERN.
27. Orange sand and drift. Quarternary Period.
25. Bluff loam or loees. Terrace Period.
26. Alluvium. Human Period.
(1.) The Metamorphic or Lowest Formation is made up of granite, gneiss, talcose. shale, mica, slate, epidote, hornblende. pyroxene. quartz, feldspar, serpentine and many other rocks. Associated with these rocks are oftentimes found magnetic and specular iron ores and copper ores. Tennessee has only a small area of these formations covering in the aggregate about three hundred and twenty-five square miles. This formation is con- fined to the Southeastern parts of Johnson, Carter, Unicoi. Cooke, Monroe and Polk Counties.
(2.) The Ocoee Group and the Chilhowee sandstones are very thick formations. They make up the rocks of the Unaka ridges. These formations are confined to East Tennessee and in that portion of it which embraces the high mountains on the Southeast. The Ocowee group has an estimated thickness of ten thousand feet and includes heavy beds of hard conglomerate rocks, sandstones very compact, clay, slates, talcose and roofing slates and beds of magnesian limestones. All the strata of this formation dip at a very high angle.
(3.) The Chilhowee sandstone has a thickness of about two thousand feet. It is the material of which Chilhowee Mountain is composed. The sandstone is heavy-bedded generally, and greyish white in color where weathered. It builds up a broken chain of mountains that skirts the Unoka Mountain.
The next five formations embracing the Quebec and Trenton Periods contain sandstones, limestones and dolomites or magne-
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GEOLOGY OF TENNESSEE.
sian limestones. These formations are made of softer materials than those that have been heretofore mentioned, which are moun- tain-making or are composed of rocks that do not disintegrate of crumble readily by atmospheric influences. The five formations. namely, Knox sandstone. Knox shale, Knox dolomite, the Trenton and Cincinnati group are valley making: that is, their material is so soft that the erosive agencies of rain, frost and the atmosphere have been able to scoop out valleys and basins.
(1.) The Knox Sandstone is from eight hundred to one thous- and feet in thickness and is composed of variegated sandstones and shales with occasional beds of dolomite. This formation yields a poor thin soil but contributes a marked feature to the topography of the country by making sharp roof-like ridges.
(5.) The Knox Shale, coming next in ascending order is about two thousand feet thick and is made up of brown reddish buff and chloritic shades, often calcareous, and enclosing thin layers of colitic limestone. This formation gives rise to many beautiful and fertile valleys in East Tennessee. The oldest traces of animal life met with in Tennessee are found in this for- mation in the form of fossil, shells and trilobites.
(6.) The Knox Dolomite is the most massive formation in the State. It is thought to be a mile in thickness. It is made up of heavy-bedded strata of blue and grey limestones and dolomites or magnesian limestones. A good deal of chert also occurs with this formation. The topography of the Knox dolomite formation presents valleys, plateaus and broad rounded ridges making noted undulations in the great Valley of East Tennessee. Knoxville is on one of these ridges and Athens on another. The chert forming these ridges has been liberated by the solution of the calcareous rocks which once enclosed it and now form a shield which protects the underlying strata from erosion.
The rocks of the Knox dolomite formation make a fertile.
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
friable soil of much strength of constitution and of great productiveness.
(7.) The Trenton or Lebanon Group and the Nashville or Cincinnati Group. These two groups may be well considered together as they are always more or less associated-the Leba- non rocks. Both formations are composed of blue limestone- filled with fossil remains and yielding a larger area of good soil- than any other formations in the State. They make up the rocks of the Central Basin in which Nashville is situated where they lie in nearly a horizontal position. They form much of the surface also of the Valley of East Tennessee. The rocks o: both of these formations are soft and readily yield to erosive agencies making the richest valleys in the State. The maximum thickness of this formation in East Tennessee is from two thous- and five hundred to three thousand feet.
In the Central Basin, the Trenton or Lebanon and Nashville rocks make the floor and much of the walls of the Basin. All the rocks are blue fossiliterous limestones, rich in the constitu- ent elements of a fruitful soil. West of the Central Basin are only two outcrops of these rocks, one in Stewart County in the Wells Creek basin and the other in the bed of the Tennessee River. The marbles of East Tennessee and hydraulic lime- stones and much good building stone are derived from the rocks of these formations.
(9.) Clinch Mountain Sandstone. This comes next above the Nashville rocks. This is a local formation of no importance agri . culturally, and is made up of a greyish thick-bedded sandstone about four hundred feet thick. Its greatest development is on the Southern slope of Cinch Mountain from which it takes its name.
( 10.) The White Oak Mountain Sandstone formation is local and consists of a group of variegated sandstones and shales. red. green and buff colored. These rocks form the summit and East- eru slope of White Oak Mountain in James and Bradley coun-
..
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GEOLOGY OF TENNESSEE.
ties, and also the Eastern slopes of Powell and Loan Mountain in the Northern part of East Tennesse Valley. This formation is of no agricultural or mineral importance.
(II.) The Dyestone Group is from one hundred to three hun- dred feet in thickness and carries one to three layers of red fo -- sil ore, intercalated with shales and sandstones which makes this formation of great commercial importance. Many thousands of tons of iron ore are mined from this formation at Inman in Sequatchie Valley and at Rockwood in Roane County and at other places.
( 12.) The Niagara Limestone formation occurs mainly in the Western Valley of the Tennessee River. It is about two hun- dred feet thick and is made up of thick-bedded fossiliferous limestones. sometimes crystalline but often clayey. Some fair marble, variegated and grey, pertains to this formation. This group of rocks occupies the greater part of the surface of the Western Valley outside of the alluvial bottoms.
(13.) The Lower Helderberg formation is about seventy feet in thickness and consists of blue, thin-bedded. fossil limestones often carrying cherty lavers. The formation is found in its greatest development in the Western Valley and in the Valleys of Duck River and Buffalo River. The crumbling of the rocks of this formation makes an excellent friable soil, but the area of such soil is very limited.
(14.) The Black Shale Formation is made up of a black bit- uminous tough shale saturated with oil and is often taken for coal by ignorant people. Underlying this formation is often found a bed of phosphate rock valuable for making fertilizers. The thickness of this formation is from a few inches to fifty feet.
(15.) The Barren Group is a bed for the most part of flinty limestone. The derived soils are very thin and poor. It has a thickness of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred feet.
( 16.) The Coral Limestone formation is made up of a bluish limestone and has a thickness of from one hundred to two hun-
1
166
. THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
dred and fifty feet. The soil from the formation is very fruitful and makes the best tobacco lands in the State. Found all around the Central Basin and in some parts of East Tennessee.
(17.) The Mountain Limestone formation is unimportant for it is only seen on the slopes of the mountain. It is made up of heavy beds of limestone. It is from four hundred to eight hun- dred feet thick.
(18.) The Coal Measures cover about five thousand one hun- dred square miles in this State, and are from five hundred to two thousand feet in thickness. This formation carries from two to six workable seams of coal. There are about eighty-four coal mines worked in Tennessee and the average production is about two million five hundred thousand tons annually.
(19 and 20. ) The Coffee Sand and the Rotton Limestone for- inations occur in West Tennessee only. They give rise to soils of considerable fertility and the Rotton limestone formation car- ries a bed of green sand which makes a good fertilizer.
(21, 22 and 23. ) The Ripley Group is much like the Coffee sand and has a thickness of five hundred feet.
The Flatwoods Group which comes next is from two hundred to three hundred feet thick and has more clay in its composition than the Ripley Group.
The La Grange Group overlies the last and is probably six hundred feet thick and is a stratified mass of sand.
(24.) The Orange Sand or Drift formation comes next and is made up of sand and gravel and is drifted like show over the surface, leaving spots bare of it and at other places attaining a thickness of one hundred feet or more.
(25.) The Bluff Loam or Loess formation crowns the uplands of the counties of Shelby, Tipton. Lauderdale, Dyer and Obion. It is a fine calcareous and siliceous loam and gives rise to one of the most productive soils in the State. Its maximum thickness is about one hundred feet.
(26.) The Alluvium formation includes all the recent deposits
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CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
and consists of fine silt brought down from a higher level. The soils of the alluvian are the most productive and durable in the State.
SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND SERVICES OF J. B. KILLEBREW.
J. B. Killebrew was born in Montgomery County, Tennessee. May 29. 1831. was reared on a farm, educated at the University of North Carolina where he was graduated with the first distinc- tion in IS55; afterwards read law, devoted himself to agriculture. was made active Superintendent of Public Instruction in 18-1- 75, canvassed the State in the interest of public schools, making two valuable reports to the Legislature on that subject which were printed, and by their influence turned the tide of public opinion in favor of a public school system. Afterwards he de- voted his time to the duties of Commissioner of Agriculture for the State of Tennessee, which position he held for ten years. He wrote and published during his incumbency 10,000 pages on the resources of the State. Mr. Killebrew was a special expert in the census work of Isso and published a quarto volume on tobacco of the United States. He has been the editor of several journals. The degrees of A. M. and Ph. D. were conferred upon him by the University of North Carolina. During his ac- tive life he investigated the soils, crops and minerals of nearly every State in the Union and in several of the States of Mexico. His life has been a very active and useful one. His recent labors have been in assisting in the work of the Standard Dictionary. published in New York in two large volumes, and in inducing cap- ital and immigration to the South. He prepared this chapter.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
I. Civil Government is that authority by which a State or a Vation is ruled. It is established to preserve and keep society
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
in order. The foundation of society are the wants and fears c: individuals. Unless some superior be constituted, whose com mands and decisions all the members are bound to obey, they would still remain in a state of nature, without any judge upon earth to define their several rights and redress their severa! grievances.
2. Our State desires the protection and happiness of its citi- zens, and with that view its laws are enacted. In conjunction with the Federal Government, it watches and subserves our interests in many tangible ways. The people are the govern- ment, and it is successful in proportion to their intelligence and interest.
3. The government is divided into three general departments. viz .: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial, whose functions are to enact, enforce and interpret our laws. Wise legislation has for its object the promotion of certain interests; the executive power enforces it with that view: if found in contravention to right and justice, it is nullified by the judiciary department.
4. The Legislative department is composed of Senators and Representatives elected by the qualified voters on the first Tues- day after the first Monday in November of even numbered years. A Senator must be at least thirty years old, and have resided three years in this State and one year in the county or district immediately preceding the election. A Representative must be at least twenty-one years of age, and have resided in this State at least three years next preceding his election and the last year thereof in the county, town or city he represents. These officers are elected for two years. The Senate and House of Represen- tatives elect their officers, who are vested with the power to act during the sitting of the body by which they were elected.
5. The Legislature may regulate the jurisdiction of the courts and establish new ones. It convenes biennially at Nashville in odd numbered years, but may meet in extra session at any time if the Governor deem it necessary. Its functions are outlined
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CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
and restricted by the State Constitution, which limits its regular session to seventy-five days. and its extra session to twenty days. Each legislator receives a per diem of four dollars, and mileage to and from Nashville, but these may be changed by any subse- quent session.
6. The Executive department is vested with authority to enforce legislative enactments. The Governor is the chief officer of the State. He is elected for two years by popular suffrage. He shall be at least thirty years of age, and must have resided in this State at least seven years next preceding his election.
7. The Secretary of State must be elected by the joint houses of the Legislature for a term of four years. His duties are to keep a fair register, and attest all the official acts of the Governor. and when required he shall lay before either house of the General Assembly all papers, vouchers, minutes, etc., relative to his office, and performi such other duties as may be required by law.
8. The State Treasurer is elected by the Legislature for two years, and must be at least twenty-one years of age, and must have resided within the State at least two years next preceding his election or appointment. His duties are to receive and safely keep in the treasury the State's money and accounts. He shall receive and pay out money from the treasury only upon the certificate or warrant of the Comptroller. unless the law directs it. He must keep true accounts of all receipts and disburse- ments. He must execute an official bond, approved by the Gov- ernor. before he can take charge of this department.
9. The Attorney-General is elected, by the Judges of the Supreme Court, for eight years. His function is to administer legal advice in cases in which the State is a party. The Register of the Land Office is elected for four years and has care of the original patents and surveys of lands in the State. He must execute bond with approved surety.
To. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and holds office two
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
years. His duties are to make correct reports of the condition progress, and prospects of the schools; to prepare suitable blank- for official reports, etc., and to advise and co-operate with schoo: officers in establishing and maintaining good schools.
II. The State Geologist has charge of the geological surveys of the State and inspects mines. He is appointed by the Gov- ernor. The Commissioner of Agriculture has charge of this bureau to aid farmers in promoting their interests. He is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, and holds office for two years. The Adjutant-General has charge of the State militia, the arms and munitions of war. The Governor appoints him. The State Librarian is elected by the General Assembly for two years, and has charge of the Public Library of the State and contracts for and furnishes the necessary sta- tionery to the State officers.
12. The Public Printer and Binder is elected by the Legisla- ture for two years, and is paid according to the work he does for the State. The Commissioner of Insurance is appointed by and is under the general supervision of the Comptroller. His duties are to investigate the reliability of insurance companies doing business in this State.
13. The State Inspector and Examiner is appointed by the Governor for two years. Once each year he must examine into the management and condition of the Comptroller's and Treas- urer's offices, and the prisons and charitable institutions operated by the State. The Board of Equalization consists of one member from each Appellate District, appointed by the Governor. They are required to equalize taxation throughout the State.
[4. The Governor in the recess of the Senate has power to fill vacancies in the foregoing offices by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of the next session, and shall fill the vacancy for the rest of the time or until the election, by and with the advice and cousent of the Senate. If a vacancy occurs in the office of Governor, the Speaker of the Senate becomes Gor-
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CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
ernor. The foregoing officers are allowed annual salaries, paya- ble monthly out of the State treasury, the Public Printer and Board of Equalization excepted. The General Assembly fixes the salaries.
15. The Sheriff, Trustee. Register, County Clerk, and Asses- sor, are county officers whose functions are well known and easily explained, hence we deem it unnecessary to outline them here. They are elected by the qualified voters and get their compensation in fees. The Surveyor and County Superintend- ent are elected by the County Court. Justices of the Peace are elected for six years, and there are two or more in each district. They compose the County Court. Constables are district officers who serve two years.
16. The Judicial department interprets laws and, if necessary. decides their constitutionality. In conjunction with the State Government is the Federal Government, which has the three departments, viz: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. The Legislative department is composed of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Senators are elected for a term of six years by the Legislature of the State which they represent. Each State is entitled to two Senators. A Senator must be at least thirty years of age, a citizen of the State from which he is elected, and have been a citizen of the United States nine years preceding his election. The Vice-President is ex-officio Presi- dent of the Senate.
17. The House of Representatives consists of members elected directly by the people. They hold office for two years. These two bodies are known as Congress, which is the law-making power of the United States. Each Congress lasts two years, and holds two sessions, a long and a short one; but the President can call extra sessions. A Representative must be at least twenty- five years of age, and must have been at least seven years a citizen of the United States and an inhabitant of the State from which he is chosen. The decennial census fixes the number of
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Representatives, but each State is entitled to one. Each organ ized Territory is entitled to one Delegate, who may engage in debate, but not vote. Senators and Representatives get an annual salary, paid out of the United States treasury.
18. The Executive department is composed of the President and his Cabinet officers, who have the laws of Congress to enforce. The President is elected by the Electoral College. composed of electors, from the various States, who were elected by the people. The President selects his Cabinet officers and the Senate confirms them. The President's and Vice-President's term of office is four years, but they may be re-elected. If the President is removed, the Vice-President becomes President, and if he be removed, then the Secretary of State becomes President. The President must be a native citizen of the United States, and at least thirty-five years of age, and been fourteen years a resi- dent of the United States. The Constitution of the United States outlines Congressional duties.
19. The Judicial department interprets the laws enacted by Congress and advises, when necessary, the various department- how to make legal procedure in cases. The Federal Courts arc under the jurisdiction of this department. For full information in civil government see Free's Manual: The Principles of Civil Government in the United States and State of Tennessee.
CHAPTER XXIX.
CHRONOLOGY OF TENNESSEE, 1796-1895.
1796 .- January 11, Constitutional Convention met at Knox- ville, William Blount, President: William Machin, Secretary. March 31, William Blount and William Cocke were elected United States Senators: William Machin, Secretary of State. June i, this State admitted into the Union.
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CHRONOLOGY OF TENNESSEE, 1796-1895.
1797 .- July 8. William Blount expelled from the United States Senate.
1798 .- December 3. second session of General Assembly met at Knoxville: William Blount elected Speaker.
1799 .- October 26, the first camp meeting was held in the State, in Sumner county.
1 8oo .- Governor William Blount died at Knoxville.
1801 .- September 21, the General Assembly met at Knoxville and adjourned. November 14. November 6. Gallatin, Rut- ledge, Lebanon and Tazewell established.
1802 .- John Sevier. Moses Fisk and John Rutledge. of Ten- nessee, and Creed Taylor. Joseph Martin and Peter Johnson. of Virginia, appointed Commissioners to survey the line be- tween Virginia and Tennessee.
1803 .-- State composed of three Congressional Districts, Wash- ington, Hamilton and Mero: Commissioners appointed to survey boundary line between Kentucky and Tennessee: Jack- son challenged Sevier to duel.
1804 .- Legislature provided for public roads; horse-racing in- augurated in Tennessee, at Gallatin.
1805 .- Aaron Burr visits Nashville: Governor William Brown- low, born in Virginia, August 29, died at Knoxville, April 29. IS77.
1806 .- Joseph Coleman. first Mayor of Nashville. March I. duel between W. A. McNairy and General William Coffee.
1807 .- East Tennessee College ( Blount College) established at Knoxville: General William Campbell, born at Nashville, February t, died at Nashville. August r9, 1867.
1808 .- General Assembly (second session ) met at Kingston. April 3, adjourned April 22: Andrew Johnson, born in North Carolina. December 29. died at Carter's Station, Tennessee. July 31, 1875.
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THE HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
1809 .- Hugh L. White and G. W. Campbell, first Supreme Judges; Governor James C. Jones, born in Davidson county April 20, died at Memphis, October 29, 1859.
ISIo .- February 4, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized at Samuel McAdow's residence. Dickson county, as an independent Presbytery: Governor Neil S. Brown, born in Giles county, April 18, died at Nashville, 1886.
18II .- Supreme Court vested with exclusive equity jurisdiction: the General Assembly met in Knoxville for the last time. except in 1817: Reynoldsburg, Elkton, Washington ( in Rhea) and Murfreesboro were established: Reelfoot Lake made by an earthquake.
1812 .- Governor Blount furnishes the War Department twenty- five hundred men for the war of [812-15: State divided into six Congressional Districts; importation of slaves prohibited for five years; Jackson gets "Old Hickory;" Nashville Whig established.
1813 .- Governor authorized to march three thousand and five hundred men against the Creek Indians: Andrew Jackson appointed Major-General in the United States army.
1814 .- James Robertson died at Chickasaw Agency, Memphis. September 1: President Madison appointed George W. Cami- bell, Secretary of the United States Treasury.
1815 .- Battle of New Orleans fought, January 8; Parry W. Humphreys appointed. November 29, Commissioner for Ten- nessee to settle line between Kentucky and Tennessee: Joseph Anderson appointed Comptroller of the United States Treas- ury.
1816 .- Andrew Jackson negotiated with the Cherokees and Chick- asaws to extinguish their claims to lands in Tennessee.
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