USA > Tennessee > Williamson County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 17
USA > Tennessee > Maury County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 17
USA > Tennessee > Rutherford County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 17
USA > Tennessee > Wilson County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 17
USA > Tennessee > Bedford County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 17
USA > Tennessee > Marshall County > History of Tennessee, from the earliest time to the present; together with an historical and a biographical sketch of Maury, Williamson, Rutherford, Wilson, Bedford and Marshall counties, besides a valuable fund of notes, reminiscences, observations, etc., etc. Vol. 1 > Part 17
USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present , together with an historical and a biographical sketch of from twenty-five to thirty counties of east Tennessee, besides a valuable fund of notes, original observations, reminiscences, etc., etc. V. 1 > Part 17
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The following table shows the various land grants or appropriations by the State of North Carolina, within her western territory, now the State of Tennessee:
..
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Acres.
Acres.
Granted to claimants in the counties of Washington,
Sullivan, Greene and Hawkins .. 879.262
Granted to claimants in the Eastern, Middle and Wes- tern districts 1,271,280
2,150,542
Granted to the settlers on the Cumberland pre-emp- tion .
309,760
Granted to Maj .- Gen. Nathaniel Greene.
25,000
Granted to the officers and soldiers in the Continen- tal line. 1,239,498
Granted to ditto for which warrants had been granted, but for which grants had not been 1 issued. 1,594,726
2,83-1,224
Granted to the surveyor of the military lands for his services.
30,203
Granted to the commissioners, surveyors, officers and guards, for ascertaining the bounds of the mil- itary lands. 65,932
Total number of acres. 5.415.661
The above statement was certified by J. Glasgow, secretary of state for North Carolina, July 30, 1791, and by Alexander Martin, governor, August 10, of the same year.
Settlement of West Tennessee .- That portion of Tennessee lying west of the Tennessee River was not settled-was not opened for settle- ment-until long after Tennessee became a flourishing and wealthy State. The lands in this section were owned and occupied by the Chickasaw tribe of Indians as far back as there is any authentic record. Their firm friendship for the whites, particularly the English, was something rather remarkable. They were first met by De Soto in his tour of conquest in 1540, a little above the southern boundary of the State, by whom he was treated with remarkable courtesy until he demanded of them 200 of their number to carry his baggage. He had spent the winter at their village, Chisca, and received many courtesies from them, but on this demand they burned their village and flew to arms. They preferred desolated homes and death to anything like slavery. Whether De Soto and his band marched within the boundaries of this State is questioned. The next white man, possibly the first, was the Jesuit missionary, Marquette, who visited the borders of the State in 1673, but his voyage down the river was one of exploration and discovery rather than settlement. He found the dusky men of the forest armed with the weapons of civilized warfare, which they had doubtless obtained from traders along the Atlantic coast.
In 1736 an attempt was made by Bienville from the south, in concert
-
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
with D'Artaguette and Vinsenne from the north, to dispossess the Chick- asaws of their lands. The attempt was a disastrous failure, the two forces not acting simultaneously; the former was compelled to beat a hasty re- treat, and the latter two were captured and burned at the stake. In 1739 the French again attempted to possess themselves of the territory of the Chickasaws; this time they made an attack upon the Indians at Chicka- saw Bluffs (at Memphis), but were defeated with loss. The attempt was renewed at the same place in 1740 by Bienville and De Noailles, who ascended the river in boats. They met with little success but managed to patch up a hollow treaty. A fort was built by them at Chickasaw* Bluff. called Prud'homme, but the date is unknown. Desultory fighting was kept up between them for the possession of this territory for ten years longer. In nearly all the wars of the United States and while the colonies were under control of the English Government, these Indians sided with and assisted the English. In consequence of which they received very liberal boundaries at the treaty of Hopewell. after the Rev- olutionary war. Besides lands the Government courted their friendship by large donations of corn and other supplies.
In 1782 (December 11) Gen. Robertson established Chickasaw Bluffs as a depot to which was sent the supplies given to the Indians. The Bluffs thus became a kind of permanent post at which the English and Chickasaws met, from time to time, till the treaty of 1818, when the entire western portion of the State was transferred to the United States.
The Spanish seemed anxious to obtain this territory whether by fair means or foul. The Spanish governor of Natchez, Gayoso by name, appeared at the Chickasaw Bluffs some time between the last of May and the 9th of July, with the intention of building a fort there. He took possession of the bluff on the east side of the river within the territorial limits of the United States. He came up the river with three galleys which anchored on the side opposite the bluffs, until the materials on the west side were prepared for the erection of a block-house. When the material was ready it was quickly transferred across to the east side, and the block-house hastily erected. Complaint was made to Gov. Blount by the Chickasaws that their territorial rights had been invaded. Novem- ber 9, 1795, Gov. Blount, by direction of the President, sent a letter to Gayoso, by Col. McKee, at Fort St. Ferdinando, near the Chickasaw Bluff. This letter stated that the United States considered the establishment of a Spanish fort at or near Chickasaw Bluff an encroachment not only upou the territorial rights of the United States but also upon the rights of the Chickasaw nation, and that the Government of the United States expected
* Hay wood.
!
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
him to demolish the fort, block-house or whatever military works he may have erected, and to withdraw his troops from its limits. The Spanish officers at this time from Fort St. Ferdinando and New Madrid below and to the mouth of the Ohio above allowed no boats to pass without reporting their destination and cargo. This was done to prevent supplies being sent to the Chickasaws. Col. McKee who had been sent to Gayoso did not return till in the spring of 1796, when it was learned that the Gen- eral Government had made a treaty with Spain that ended all grounds for controversy.
Various treaties were made with the Chickasaws with a view to obtain their territory in the State for settlement. Among these treaties were those of 1806-07 by which they relinquished 355,000 acres for settlement for $22,000, and a large amount again in 1816, for which they received $4,500 cash and $12,000 in ten annual installments. The final treaty by which they relinquished all West Tennessee was signed October 19, 1518, by Isaac Shelby and Andrew Jackson on the part of President James Monroe, and by the chiefs on the part of the Chicasaws. The substance of this treaty is here given. It was to settle all territorial controversies and remove all grounds of complaint or dissatisfaction which might arise to interrupt the peace and harmony so long and so happily existing between the United States and the Chickasaw nation of Indians. It ceded all lands lying north of the southern boundary of the State (except a small tract reserved for a special purpose) described as follows: "Beginning on the Tennessee River about thirty-five miles by water below Col. George Colbert's ferry, where the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude strikes the same; thence due west with said parallel to where it cuts the Mississippi River at or near the Chicasaw Bluffs; thence up said river to the mouth of the Ohio; thence up the Ohio to the mouth of the Tennessee; thence up the Tennessee to the place of beginning."*
The consideration of this treaty was that the Chickasaws were to receive $20,000 annually for fifteen years to be paid to the chiefs of the nation ; also a private claim of Capt. John Gordon, $1,115 due him by Gen. William Colbert of the nation; to Capt. David Smith $2.000, for supplies furnished to himself and forty-five soldiers in assisting the Chickasaws in a war with the Creeks; to Oppassantubbee, principal chief, $500 for a tract of land two miles square, reserved for him in the treaty of September 20, 1816; to John Lewis $25, for a saddle lost in the service; to John Colbert $1,089, stolen from him at a theater in Baltimore; also reservations to Col. George Colbert, May Levi Colbert
»Land Laws.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
and John McClish, who had married a white woman. It was further ordered that the boundary line on the south should be marked in bold characters by commissioners agreeable to both the President and the Chickasaws. It was further agreed, in consideration of the faithfulness of the Chickasaws, but particularly as a "manifestation of the friendship and liberality of the President " of the United States, that the commis- sioners pay certain sums annually to the leading chiefs of the tribe.
To the time of the above treaty little effort at settlement had been made in West Tennessee. The friendly feeling so long existing between the whites and the Chickasaws, and the determination of the Government to maintain that friendship by preventing any encroachment upon their territory, prevented a long series of murders and Indian massacres so common to the settlement of a new country. From this time the settle- ment became rapid and soon grew to vast proportions, owing to the invit- ing lands and large population in sections so near. Before any settle- ments had been made there were roads or traces leading through the territory on which occasionally there was a squatter. One of these roads or traces, known as the "Massac trace," entered West Tennessee nearly south of Somerville and passed a little west of north through Haywood County and in the same direction to Fort Massac, in Illinois. Another was a United States road that entered West Tennessee west from Waverly, and passed through the territory in a southwesterly direction. Along the southern boundary of the State was another road or pathway. On the upper courses of the main stream of the Big Hatchie were two or three rough bridges. These roads were opened about the beginning of the present century. Among the squatters who lived on these roads was John Chambers who dwelt on the road leading south to Natchez. He raised cattle and corn; the latter he sold at a very high price. The first settlers in the northwest part of the State were Stephen Mitchell, eight miles below New Madrid, at Mitchell's Landing on the Mississippi ; Enoch Walker, at Walker's Landing, on Reelfoot Lake; Evan Shelby, at Shelby's Landing, also on Reelfoot Lake, and the Bone family, three miles below Shelby's. All these were between 1818 and 1820 and were in Lake County.
Others in the same county and about the same time were Robert and Jefferson Nolen, John and R. J. Rivers, Reuben and Richard Anderson, Michael Peacock, William Box, Henry Walker, Joe Bone, Robert C. Nall, Ezekiel Williams, Thomas Wynn, Robert Thompson, Richard J. Hill, James Crockett, John Campbell, E. W. Nevill, Jesse Gray, Richard Sand, J. W. Bradford, C. H. Bird and B. B. Bird. The first settlers en- tered Obion County about 1S21; among them were Tohn Cloy, Valentine
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Westerbrook, Thornton Edwards, James Hollowman, Benjamin Totten, Benjamin and David Hubbard, James Collins, John Tarr, James Bedford, John Clark, O. Roberts, Fletcher Edwards, John White, Benjamin Far- ris, William Scott, Col. Lysander Adams, Gen. George Gibbs, Hardin Talley, Robert Corwin, John Parkey, William Caldwell, Alfred MeDan- iel and Benjamin Evans. The celebrated Davy Crockett assisted in lay- ing off the town of Troy in 1825, and later, when on a tour, canvassing for Congress, he was without money, and Col. William M. Wilson came to his relief and paid his hotel bill. A nice family Bible was sent to Col. Wilson from Washington by Crockett, as a reward for his kindness. It is needless to say that this is kept as a highly prized heirloom by the Wilson family. The first white child born in the county was Thomas D. Wilson, son of Col. William M. Wilson. The first settlement in Weak- ley County was made in 1819. Those settling in the vicinity of Dresden were John Terrill, Perry Vincent, Dr. Jubilee Rogers, Benjamin Bondu- rant, Richard Porter, T. and A. Gardner and Robert Powell. A few years later than these were Vincent Rust, Claiborne Stone, Thomas Par- ham and John H. Reams. Vincent Rust raised the first hogshead of tobacco in Weakley County in 1835. This was hauled by Dr. Reams to Hickman, Ky., and sold at 5 cents per pound. Those settling northeast of Dresden were Levi Mizell, Joe Wilson, John Webb, and those a little later were the families of Ridgeway, Buckley, Killebrew and Kilgore. Those on the northeast between the middle fork of Obion and the Ken- tucky line were John F. Cavitt, who settled there March 20, 1820, also John Stevenson, Isaac and William Killingham, who had preceded Ster- enson a short time and had erected a hut; John Rogers moved into the cabin with Cavitt above mentioned until he could erect a cabin for him- self. These were soon followed by J. B. Davis, Peter Williams, Marcus Austin, L. F. Abernathy and Benjamin Farmer. The latter was elected constable and was given an execution levying on a cow and calf, to serve on a settler. In his simplicity he ran down the cow and rubbed the execution against her, but was unable to catch the calf; he shook the in- strument at it and exclaimed: "you too, calfy." Alexander Paschall was one of the first settlers in the northeast part of the county; he came there in 1824 from Carroll County, N. C. As evidence of the sparsely settled country, Paschall, in building his house, invited all persons living within a circuit of twelve miles, and got only thirty-one hands. Other settlers about the same time were Daniel Laswell, Sr .. John and George Harlin and Peter Mooney.
It is said the first preaching in that vicinity was by a colored minis- ter. Everybody was anxious to go to church, but few of the women had
156
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
a change of dresses. Mrs. Paschall having seven, loaned six to her less fortunate sisters and thus enabled them to attend the first preaching in that vicinity. On Mud Creek were settled Reuben Edmunson, Dudley Glass, Sr., Levi Clark and Israel Jones. Between Mud Creek and Mid- dle Fork were Owen Parrish, Thomas Etheridge, father of Hon. Emerson Etheridge, A. Clemens, J. W. Rogers and John Jenkins. Between Middle and South Fork were Duke Cantrell, M. H. G. Williams, William Hills, Alfred Bethel, F. A. Kemp and Calloway Hardin. Higher up the river were Robert Mosely, E. D. Dickson. James Hornback, John and G. Bradshaw and Richard Drewery. Southeast on Upper Spring Creek were Thomas Osborne, A. Demming, Isaac Crew, Robert Gilbert, Jona- than Gilbert, James and Alfred Smith, William Hamilton, Francis Lid- dle, John O'Neal, James Kennedy and Tilghman Johnson. On Thomp- son's Creek were John Thomas, Daniel Campbell, Samuel Morgan, Elijah Stanley, M. Shaw, William Gay, John H. Moore and Hayden E. Wells. On Lower Cypress were Capt. John Rogers, E. P. Latham, the Carneys, McLeans, Scultzs and Stewarts. On Upper Cypress were the Rosses, Thompsons, Winsteads and Beadles. Davy Crockett settled near the junction of South and Rutherford Forks of Obion, in Weakley County, and was elected to the Legislature the same year on a majority of 247 votes. He was beaten for Congress in 1825 and 1827 by Hon. A. R. Alexander on a majority of only two votes each time. He was elected in 1829 by 3,585 votes. He was beaten by William Fitzgerald in 1831, and he in turn beat Fitzgerald in 1833 by a good majority. Crockett was himself beaten in 1835 by Adam Huntzman, a wooden-legged lawyer. Crockett was in Congress the author of the "occupant's bill," a measure to give each settler 200 acres of land. Henry Stunson, who was born in 1821, was the first white child born in Weakley County. The first cabin built by a white man was erected in 1819 by John Bradshaw.
The settlement in the northeastern part of the western section of the State began in 1819; the first settlers were from Stewart County; they were Joel Ragler, John Studdart and James Williams. They came in wagons, having made their way through the forest and settled near Man- leyville. When they arrived at Big Sandy it was so high they could not cross. After waiting two weeks they were compelled to make a and a raft. When these were completed some of the party hesitat enter. . As evidence of the bold spirit of those pioneer women, "Granny" Studdart, on seeing the hesitation of the party, said, "I-I'll get in." She did so, and soon all were landed safely on the other shore. Other settlers near Paris were James Leiper, Gen. Richard Porter, John Brown, J. L. Allen and Dr. T. K. Allen. A horse-mill was erected by John
FROM PHOTO BY THUSS. KDELLEIN & GIERS. NASHVILLE
DAVID CROCKETT
1
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE
Carter, near Springville, in 1820, and a water-mill in the northwest part of this county in the same year by Thomas James.
Settlements began in Dyer County in 1823. William Nash settled between the forks of Forked Deer River; John Rutledge at Key Corner, and the Dugan family on Obion Lake. The first house built in Dyers- burg was erected by Elias Dement, and had only a dirt floor. Among other settlers in this section were John Rutherford, Benjamin Porter, John Bowers, William Bowers and William Martin. Nathaniel Benton, another settler, was a brother of Thomas H. Benton, who moved to Dyer County about 1818. The section away from the large rivers-the Ten- nessee and Mississippi-was not settled quite so early as those along the rivers. In what is now Gibson County the first settlement began about 1819. Those who settled in that year were Thomas Fite, John Spencer and J. F. Randolph. This settlement was made about eight miles east of Trenton. Other settlers followed in rapid succession; among them were Luke and Reuben Biggs, William Holmes, John B. Hogg, David P. Hamilton, Col. Thomas Gibson, John Ford and W. C. Love. That part of West Tennessee now embraced in Carroll County was settled by Thomas Hamilton on Cedar Creek, near Mckenzie; John Woods on Ruth- erford Fork of Obion; Samuel McKee, Spencer and Nathaniel Edwards on the Big Sandy; and E. C. Daugherty where Mclemoresville now stands; and John Blunt, who built a mill on a branch of the Big Sandy in 1821-22. Settlements in Benton County began in 1819-20, the first settler being William and D. Rushing, on Rushing Creek, six miles north of Camden; the next was by Nicholas and Lewis Browers in 1820, on Randall Creek, twelve miles from Camden; Thomas and William Minnis, on Bird Song Creek, in 1820. Lauderdale County was first set- tled by Benjamin Porter, in April, 1820. He moved from Reynolds- ville by way of the Tennessee, the Ohio; thence down the Mississippi to the mouth of the Forked Deer; thence up said river to Key Corner, near which place he settled and remained till his death. The first flat-boat on Forked Deer River brought the family, household goods and stock of Henry Benjamin to Lauderdale County in 1820. One of the first cotton gins in West Tennessee is said to have been built at Key Corner in 1827, by John Jordan and William Chambers. Capt. Shockey ran the first steam-boat, the "Grey Eagle," up Forked Deer River in 1836. Capt. Thomas Durham, of North Carolina, settled at what is now Durhamville, in 1826. A man named Vincent settled at Fulton, near the Chickasaw Bluffs, on the Mississippi, in 1819, and John A. Givens, from South Carolina, one and one-half miles east of the bluff in 1820. Other set- tlers in Lauderdale were Henry and John Rutherford, sons of Gen.
to
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Griffith Rutherford, of North Carolina. James Sherman, who resided in Lauderdale for a great many years, was once on a jury which was trying a man for his life. They were unable to agree, and stood six for con- viction and six for clearing the man. The judge refused to release the jury without a verdict. It was finally agreed to leave the matter to a game of "seven-up." A deck was sent for and the champions were chosen. The game was hotly contested, but by the fortunate turn of a card the game was decided in favor of the defendant. This story, though seemingly incredible, is vouched for on excellent authority, and shows the crude idea of administering justice in that day.
The first settlers in Tipton County were from Middle Tennessee and the older States. Among these were H. Terrell, E. T. Pope, R. W. San- ford, Gen. Jacob Tipton, Maj. Lauderdale, Capt. Scurry, Dr. Hold, the Durhams, Mitchells, Davises, Pryors, Hills, Parrishes and Garlands. In the White and Archer neighborhood were C. C. Archer, George Shark- ley, William McGuire and the Whites. In and near Randolph were K. H. Douglass, George W. Frazier, Thomas Robinson, Jesse Benton, M. Phillips, R. H. Munford, A. N. McAllister, W. P. Mills, Anderson Hunt, the Simpsons and Clements. On Big Creek were Dr. R. H. Rose, Henry Turnage, Capt Jones, Capt. Newman, Alfred Hill and Maj. Legrand. The vicinity of Indian Creek was settled by the Smiths, Owens, Kellers, Kinneys and Walks. "Old Uncle Tommy " Ralp built a horse-mill one mile from Covington, this being perhaps the first in the county.
The portion of West Tennessee known as Crockett County, was set- tled about 1823. Among the first in this section were John B. Boykin, B. B. Epperson, Alexander Avery, David Nann, Isaac Koonse, Thomas Thw- eatt, James Friar Randolph, Anthony Swift, John McFarland, John Yancey, Zepheniah Porter, Solomon Rice, Giles Hawkins, Joseph Clay, John Bowers, E. Williams, Cornelius Bunch and Robert Johnson. J. F. Randolph, above mentioned, moved with his father from Alabama, and settled at McMinnville, Warren County; thence to West Tennessee. I M. Johnson was a native of Rutherford County, and settled in what was. then Haywood, now Crockett, in 1823.
Into Haywood County the whites began to enter about 1820. The first permanent settler is believed to have been Col. Richard Nixon, in 1821, who was born October 26, 1769, and whose father was a Revolutionary soldier. For his services in that war he was reward- ed by a grant of 3,600 acres of land. The grant fell in Haywood County, and on a portion of this Col. Nixon settled. His place of settlement was on Nixon Creek, about four miles from Brownsville. Lawrence McGuire, David Hay, Sr., B. H. Sanders, David Jefferson, N.
1
159
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
T. Perkins, David Cherry and Joel Estes, were among those who found homes on the north side of the river. Those settling down amidst the virgin forest on the south side of the river were Oliver Wood, B. G. Alexander, Samuel P. Ashe and Rev. Thomas P. Neely. The latter of these came between 1826 and 1828. It was at the house of Col. Nixon that the first courts were established in 1824. As rivers were about the only means of egress at that time nearly all settlements were made along the river courses.
After the final treaty with the Chickasaws, by which they gave up West Tennessee, the inhabitants from East and Middle Tennessee, North and South Carolina and Virginia began to pour rapidly into those un- occupied lands. The first in the vicinity of Jackson were Adam R. Alexander, William Doak and Lewis Jones. In the Wilson neigh- borhood were Theophilus and David Launder, and Mr, Lacy. In 1820 John Hargrave and Duncan McIver settled in the vicinity of " Old Cot- ton Grove," and a little later John Bradley; about the same time J. Wad- dell settled on Spring Creek. The city of Jackson was built on lands owned by .B. G. Stewart, Joseph Lynn and James Trousdale. Dr. Will- iam Butler planted cotton in 1821, in this county; also erected a gin the same year, which was brought all the way from Davidson County. Bernard Mitchell brought a keel-boat loaded with goods, groceries and whisky, up Forked Deer, and landed within one mile and a half of Jack- son; this was the first to vex the waters of that stream.
Pioneers came into Henderson County in 1821; a few came earlier. Joseph Reel was beyond doubt the first permanent white settler in the county. He came to the place in 1818, and settled on Beech River, about five miles east of the present site of Lexington. His sons John and Will- iam remained on the same land during their lifetime. Abner Taylor set- tled near the site of Lexington; Maj. John Harmon near the head waters of the Big Sandy; Jacob Bartholomew and William Hay at the head of Beech River; William Cain and George Powers near the site of Pleas- ant Exchange; William Doffy at the head waters of the south branch of Forked Deer River; William Dismukes on the north fork of Forked Deer, and Joseph Reed near Pine Knob. This county developed rapidly. A mill was built on Mud Creek, in 1821, by John and William Brigham, and one on Forked Deer about the same time by Daniel Barecroft. A horse-mill was built on the road from Lexington to Trenton about the same tinte; also a cotten-gin by Maj. John Harmon, on Beech Creek, in 1823. The first legal hanging in the vicinity was the execution of a slave woman of Dr. John A. Wilson's for the willful drowning of his daughter. Willis Dæden, who moved into this county from North Car-
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
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