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.2 > Part 20
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.2 > Part 20
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.2 > Part 20
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.2 > Part 20
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.2 > Part 20
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.2 > Part 20
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Andrew Hayes purchased the press of Mr. Walker and edited the paper for some time, assisted by Mr. Williamson. About 1833 the paper passed into the hands of Hon. A. O. P. Nicholson and Hon. Samuel D. Frierson, both of whom made national reputations on the bench and in other fields of usefulness. The paper at this time was called The West- ern Mercury. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer was for a time editor of the Columbia Observer. Associated with him for a time was Field, the editor and compiler of the Scrap Book. On January 1, 1839, this paper was begun, it is believed by C. P. Bynum. About the begin- ning of 1837 a paper called the Southern Cultivator was started by David Clayton. This was strictly an agricultural paper, and was devoted largely to stock raising and agricult- ural associations. The Guardian was begun in 1841 by the Rev. F. G. Smith, of the Fe- m'ale Institute. Ostensibly the paper was published in the interest of the school, but its matter covered a wide field, and the Guardian was filled with the choicest literature and was widely circulated. The paper is still issued by the Smith Bros., but rather as a vis- itor to old pupils and friends. It was issued at first from the office of Rosborough & Kidd, of the Observer. Other editors not already mentioned were C. J. Dickerson, S. W. Mitchell, James O. Griffin. John E. Hatcher, J. J. McDaniel, W. S. Fleming, N. R. Wilkes, James E. Johnson, Hunter Nicholson and W. L. Arnell.
Judge Stanley Mathews, of the United States Supreme Court, was admitted to the bar in Columbia in September, 1843, and resided in Columbia for some time, and while living in Columbia edited the Tennessee Democrat. The Columbia Herald was established in 1850, and with the exception of one or two short intervals has had a continuous exist- ence. Another paper called the Mail was consolidated with the Herald, with A. S. Hors- ley as editor and proprietor. In 1876 the Columbia Journal, owned and edited by A. B. Upshaw, and the Maury Sentinel were consolidated and became the Columbia Herald. In - 1851 the Columbia Herald was purchased by the Columbia Herald Company, composed of A. S. Hendley, A. W. Stockard, A. B. Upshaw, W. J. Embry, Horace Frierson, J. B. Rains, A. N. Akin, H. Williams, H. B. Cochran, J. M. Mayes, E. W. Gamble, W. P. In- gram, L. Marks, R. Holding, Joseph Towler, J. Joseph, J. P. Street, A. Rosenthal, W. P. Woldridge, C. Brown, W.C. Gordon, W. R. Webb, O. C. Owen, J. R. E. Carpenter, J. W. S. Ridley, W. J. Rushton, H. S. Cooper, J. H. Fussell, R. D. Smith and J. L. Jones. The president of the company now is E. C. McDowell, and J. L. Jones is secretary. The managers of the paper are Horace S. Cooper and E. E. Erwin. The Herald is on a sound financial basis, is Democratic in politics, but is devoted more to the growth and develop- ment of the county than to the discussion of partisan political questions. The Maury Democrat was established in the summer of 1882 by J. P. and J. F. Tucker, both natives of Maury County. Mr. J. F. Tucker was for a number of years local editor of the Herald, and was for a time connected with the Park City Times, of Bowling Green, Ky. Maj. John T. Williamson, a public-spirited citizen, has been connected with the Democrat for a number of years, to which he devotes his time and talents. The Democrat is a liberal and progressive paper.
The first settlements in and about Spring Hill began about 1808. Abram Hammond, one of the first settlers in this part of the county, moved from Maryland to Kentucky, where he married a Miss Wells; thence he moved and settled within one mile of where Spring Hill now stands. He was the father-in-law of Nimrod Porter, who was sheriff of the county from 1818 to 1842. Col. Russell in an carly day cleared the land where Spring
3
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Hill now stands, and built a residence on the eminence just above the big spring. from which the town took its name. The Russell estate was sold to Maj. Winters, who sold it to James Peters, from whom it passed to his son, James P. Peters. Peters' Camp Ground was a gift from the elder Peters, and lay within the present limits of Spring Hill. This was at one time the most popular Methodist camp ground in Middle Tennessee, and was the resort of thousands at their annnal gatherings. Another very prominent one of the early settlers in this vicinity was Nathaniel Cheairs, who settled on the old Cheairs home- stead in 1810. Mr. Cheairs came with his good wife whom he had married in North Caro- lina some years before coming to Tennessee. Mr. Cheairs was the father of eleven children, nine of whom lived to manhood and womanhood. Of these Col. Martin T. Cheairs, who still lives, is a venerable and honorable representative of the family. He is now in his eighty-second year, and was born in North Carolina. and came with his parents to the in- fant State. John W. Cheairs is the father of John W. Cheairs, merchant of Spring Hill and the present sheriff; was for many years a prominent merchant of Spring Hill. Maj. Nat F. Cheairs, the younger brother of the three still living, has been all his life an ex- tensive farmer of the neighborhood. Near the same place settled the families of the Wades. Bonds, Capertons and Pointers. James Black, who lived near Spring Hill, was the grandfather of Henry Waterson, of the Courier-Journal, and father-in-law of Judge Stanley Mathews, of the supreme bench, who resided in Columbia in 1843-44. Near Black was the magnificent estate of Gen. Lucius J. Polk. On Carter's Creek lived the Carters, for whom the creek was named. Among them was Daniel F. Carter, a Revolutionary soldier and owner of a 5,000-acre grant. Near these were the Rollands. The Sandfords, Yanceys, Browns, Wellses, Blairs, Chapmans, Crawfords, Stephensons and Dunlaps lived .cither south or southeast of Spring Hill. A number of very distinguished persons are na- tives of this place. A. O. P. Nicholson, the distinguished judge and United States senator in 1841-42, was born at Old Sand Spring, where his parents resided. William Parkham, step-father of H. R. W. Hill, who became a merchant prince of New Orleans, lived near here
so. Fields, the compiler of the Scrap Book, was raised near here. The first store
the neighborhood was owned by a man named Brewster, who was afterward the pioneer merchant where Mount Pleasant now stands. His store was on the farm and on the south side of the old Davis Ford road, near the residence of Abram Hammonds. Col. William MeKissack was one of the earliest merchants in Spring Hill: in fact he began selling goods there about the time the place came into being-about 1825. Dr. S. McKissack, a brother of the above, was an early settler and a son-in-law of the elder James Peters, and was a man of wealth and influence. William Peters was one of the earliest merchants, and for him Col. Israel McCarroll was clerk. Old Daniel Brown kept a hotel or stand for the traveling public about one mile south of Spring Hill, near the grave-yard in M. T. Cheairs' field. An effort was made to call Spring Hill Petersburg, in honor of James Peters, but his puritanic ideas forbade it, and the name of Spring Hill was given it. Mary Doherty, the widow of George Doherty, together with her son-in-law, George Bond, moved from North Carolina about 1808, and settled on a 5,000-acre grant, made by the State of North Carolina to her husband, George Doherty, for his services as a major in the Revo- lutionary war. The land lay between Spring Hill and Thompson Station, a little north of Spring Hill. On a creek near where Dr. Sharber now lives was a little mill at a very early time, the only one in the vicinity. About it this tradition prevails: " Maj. Samuel Polk, father of the President, in company with several gentlemen visited this mill and examined it, and when through Maj. Polk remarked to the others: 'A man may fall down and wor- ship that mill and not commit sacrilege, because there is no likeness of it neither in the heavens above, nor in the earth beneath, nor in the waters under the earth.'" The first water-mill of any character was built by Isham Bunch on Rutherford Creek, and it is still in good running order. He also built a distillery at the same place. Maj. Robert Camp- bell had a distillery in the same neighborhood, as did also Esq. Black.
The first church in this vicinity was built by the Presbyterians about 1814. This was a hewed log house, and stood on the land of Col. Sanford, near where Jackson College stood
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MAURY COUNTY.
at a later date. Among the leading ones engaged in the erection of this house were Col. Sanford, Col. Hugh Brown, George Blair, Samuel Dunlap, and others. This house has long since been replaced by a substantial brick structure. The leading Presbyterian min ister in that early day was the Rev. Duncan Brown, whom many now living have heard with delight. also the Rev. Gideon Blackburn.
The leader and founder of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in the vicinity of Spring Hill, was the Rev. James B. Porter. The labors of the Rev. Porter were not con fined to the one church, but to the establishment of this infant denomination throughout Middle Tennessee. He was active in founding churches and in founding camp grounds so popular in the early history of the church. At a very early period the Methodists es- tablished Peter's Ground, before mentioned. Among those who labored for the Method- ist cause may be mentioned the Rev. Donaldson Potter, whose labors were untiring and brought their reward.
The first important school taught in this vicinity was kept by William L. Williford before 1820. The school was near Col. M. T. Cheair's place. Here attended the Russells. Cheairs. Winters, Nicholsons, Bonds, Hammonds, and others. Near the same ground, a short time afterward, was built Jackson College, which afterward became Union Semin- ary. Spring Hall now contains Beachcroft Academy, a female school conducted by Mrs. Estes, and the male college of Prof. Morton. The place now contains a Presbyterian, a Methodist, a Cumberland Presbyterian and an Episcopal Church: and near there is a Christian Church; also two colored churches, one Methodist, the other Baptist. Business: General stores. J. W. Alexander, Campbell & Harman, W. A. Odill; dry goods and cloth -. ing, J. W. Cheairs: drug stores, Alonzo McKissack and John Martin; physicians, Drs. J. O. Hardin, J. W. Sharber and E. W. Martin.
A short distance south of Spring Hill, on the railroad, is Ewell's Station, and here is the well known Ewell farm. Here lived the distinguished Confederate general, Richard S. Ewell, who took up his residence at this place after the war and who at the time of his death, was devoting his energies to the breeding and improvement of stock. The some- what romantic marriage of him and his estimable wife and the coincidence of their deaths are almost fit for a novel. At this place now resides Maj. Campbell Brown, step- son of the former. Maj. Campbell Brown is the well-known breeder of fine stock. In the Twenty-second District, in addition to Spring Hill and Ewell's, there is Woodlawn post- office, a beautiful place on the railroad and Neapolis, the seat of an academy.
Santa Fe is near the center of District No. 22. It is one of the oldest settlements in the county. The Indian title having been extinguished north of the river before they were south of it, settlements began there earlier. The following families are said to have settled in the county in 1806: the Caughrons, Brookes, on Snow Creek, McLeans, Neeley, Cinders, Griffins, Mitchells, Fitzgeralds, Dotys, Aydelottes, Piggs, Ayers, Bakers, Hills, Ladds. Seagraves, Lockharts. Owens and Edmistons. In 1807 came the Reaves, Bing- hams, Wrens, Hunters and McCrackens. It is said the first white child born on Snow Creek was Samuel H. Willams. The first mill was owned by Andrew Mitchell; this was a horse-mill. The first water-mill was owned by Spencer Griffith. The first blacksmith was Thomas Aydlotte. Carter Linsey was a smith and augur-maker. The first mer- chant was Jonathan Bullock; the first teacher was Richard Passmore; Mr. Hopkins was also an early teacher. The first physician was Dr. Stribbling, followed in order by Drs. Thomas W. and Samuel Kilpatrick, Dr. Douglas, Dr. Nicholas Scales, Dr. Bateman, Dr. W. W. Dabney, Dr. John Vestal, Dr. Satterfield, Dr. L. B. Forgey, Dr. Samuel Godwin, Dr. James Ragsdale and Dr. Sebastian, all of whom are now gone. The first minister in Santa Fe was the Rev. John Crane, a Methodist, who came there as early as 1807 and died in 1813 and was buried at Goshen Church, the first burial at that place. The Cumberland Church was organized at Santa Fe at a much later date. It is said Santa Fe was called Pinhook at first but was changed later to Benton, but on application for a postoffice, an- other change became necessary and it was given its present name-Santa Fe ..
Mount Pleasant is at the terminus of a branch of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad,
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
1 which leads from Columbia to Mount Pleasant. The country surrounding Mount Pleasant is claimed to be the finest in the State. To strangers visiting Maury County this question is always put: "Have you been out on the Mount Pleasant Pike?" Mount Pleasant was founded about 1820. Old Father Hunter, a famous bear hunter and Primitive Baptist preacher, was one of the first settlers in that vicinity. Other settlers were the MeGees, Griffiths, Craigs. Coopers, Mitchells. Stockards, Pickards and Baileys. Not far from these were the Nixons, Buckners and Grimeses. The first merchant in Mount Pleasant was Lyman D. Brewster, who moved from Spring Hill to that place about 1820. There were formerly some very large landed estates lying in the vicinity of Mount Pleasant, but these have mostly been divided up into smaller farms.
Among the early business men of Mount Pleasant were Hervey Hoge, Lemuel Long, Samuel P. Lea, Messrs. Willson & Jennings. Among the later ones were Henry A. Miller, Ephraim Dickson, Alex Williams and E. O. Cross. Among the noted physicians are noticed Dr. Hamilton, Dr. Thorenot (who died of cholera in 1834), Dr. Sprinkle. Dr. Stockard. Dr. Sansom and Dr. Jordan, who is believed to be the oldest man in the county, and still vigorous. Among the later physicians are Dr. Hunter, Dr. Long and Dr. Will- iams. Hunter's Church, about one mile south of Mount Pleasant, is contemporary with Zion, and was built about 1810. The first Presbyterian ministers here were Duncan Brown, Hugh Shaw and John S. Frierson. A new church has since been built at Mount Pleasant and the membership of the church transferred there. The early Methodist min- isters were John Akin, John Daniel, John Nixon, Kesterson and Tidwell. This denomi- nation has a large and flourishing church at Mount Pleasant. There are also quite a number of Cumberland Presbyterians in this section, and these people have an old camp ground and church at Mount Joy, on the west fork of Bigby, about three miles from Mount Pleasant. Good schools have been maintained at Mount Pleasant for more than a half century. Mathew D. Cooper is said to have taught school there as early as 1809-10. Further notice of the schools of Mount Pleasant and Mount Joy will be made under the head of "Schools." Cross Bridge is the name of a little place about ten miles from Columbia, on the Columbia & Hampshire Pike. At this place is a store, postoffice and an academy. Hampshire is a small village in District No. 15, and is about fifteen miles west of Columbia, and is situated on Cathey's Creek. Lands in this neighborhood were settled in 1807. The first settlers in the neighborhood were the Akins, Loves, Farises, Whitesides, Lusks, Williamses, Erwins, Alexanders, Peytons, Bells, Isoms, Biffles and Burnses. Hampshire is a place of some wealth and business. Game in this vicinity was formerly very abundant. It is said that the wife of William Alexander killed a deer with a smoothing iron in 1808. Near Hampshire on the creek below were settled the Kennedys, Malones and Catheys, the latter giving the name to the streani. The first Presbyterian. church in this neighborhood was organized by the Rev. James White Stephenson, who was then pastor of Zion Church. The first church of the Primitive Baptists was organ- ized by the Rev. . Mr. McCaleb, who, with the Rev. McConico, was the first minister of that persuasion. The first Methodist preacher was the Rev. John Akin. In the Cathey neighborhood are a Presbyterian and a Christian Church; the latter has quite a large con- gregation. The first school teachers in the neighborhood were Rev. John Akin, Asoph Enloe and Henry Young. Bigbyville is about nine miles south of Columbia. The origin of the place dates about 1834 or 1835. The village is quite small, and has made little progress, in a commercial sense, for a number of years. It was incorporated a number of years ago, but in April. 1882, it surrendered its charter. Settlements began in the vicinity of Bigbyville about 1807. Among the early settlers were the Hendersons, Reeses, Alex- anders, Smiths, Matthews, Hannas, McCains. Perrys. Scotts and Zollicoffers. John J. Zollicoffer, father of Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer, died on his farm near Bigbyville, and here, too, the General was born. Frederick Zollicoffer, a brother of the General, was one of the first merchants in Bigbyville. The place contains the usual number of business houses of a place of its size; also a Methodist church and a Masonic ball.
Not far from Bigbyville, near the head waters of the Little Bigby, is what is calle
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MAURY COUNTY.
Southport. William McConnell is said to have been the first settler in this vicinity. He built a tannery near where the village stands. Near the place were the MeKnights, Gal- loways, Mathewses and Ralstons. Near here also lived and died Col. William Pillow. The Methodists have a church here and the Christians have one near the place. The first lodge of Good Templars in Maury County was organized at Southport by the Rev. Mr. Hensley in 1868. . Near the dividing line between Maury and Giles Counties, at source of Little Bigby, is a cave of considerable size. Here saltpetre was obtained for the powder- mill that first stood in Columbia.
Williamsport is situated in the western part of the county on Duck River. The land where the town now stands was entered by Edward Williams and a ferry was established by him at that place called "Williams" Ferry." The town was laid out in 1817 by Edward Williams, and being on the river was very naturally named Williamsport. The town was incorporated in 1817 by an act of the Legislature, but the charter was allowed to lapse after a time, but was re-incorporated in November, 1845, and the charter amended in 1855. Among the early settlers in and about Williamsport were the Cooks, Williamses. Pools. Edwardses, Comptons, Oliphants, Bullocks and Englishes. Across the river were the Leipers, Greenfields and Colemans. Hugh Leiper gave name to Leiper's Creek. The first physician of Williamsport was Dr. James G. Smith, who came to the county with the Greenfields. Dr. Thomas Greenfield came out from Maryland and settled Greenfield Bend. Williamsport was in an early day an important shipping point, being on the river as it was. The boats used were flat-boats, keel-boats and pirogues. John Muirhead, who lived south of Gordon's Ferry, and Samuel Oliphant are said to have built the first flat- boat that ever floated out of Duck River to New Orleans. Maj. John Bullock, John O. Cook and James Blakely are said to have brought the first salt from the famous " saline works," near Shawnectown, Ill. This was as early as about 1814. The first merchant in Williamsport was George Hicks. Several distinguished business and professional men have lived in Williamsport; among them were Powhattan Gordon, Abraham Church and Dr. Samuel S. Porter. Although in a healthful section of the country, Williamsport was
scourged by cholera in 1835. The town is surrounded by good farming country and has its complement of churches, schools, business and professional men. In the same district, No. 14, is a village or settlement called Saw Dust Valley, the center of a prosperous com- munity. In this vicinity is the well-known old Methodist camp ground called Mount Nebo. Near the old camp ground is the modern church of Mount Nebo.
In the First District, in the northwestern part of the county, is a settlement called Kinderhook. The particular place mentioned lies on the line of the old Natchez Trace. The first settler in that region is said to have been a man named Kersey. A county may fail to name some insignificant place Boston or Charleston, but it never fails to liave a Kinderhook.
On a branch of the Big Bigby, in the southwestern part of the county, is New York. It is more the name of a settlement than a town. It contains a store, Scott Mill, and one or two shops. Near the place is a Presbyterian Church, and about one mile from the place is a Methodist Church. In the Eleventh District is a neighborhood called Enter- prise. There was formerly a store and business shop and a mill there. The place is too far from railroad communication to thrive, although surrounded as it is by fine lands. . In the vicinity of Enterprise are a Methodist and a Baptist Church. Rally Hill lies in the eastern part of the county, about fifteen miles from Columbia. The early settlers in this district, the Twenty-fifth, were the Hardisons, Boyds, Peays, Billingtons, Strattous, Hurts; Derryberrys, Smiths, Hueys, Foglemans and others. Other centers in the Twenty- fifth District are Glenn's Store, where there is also a postoffice, Hurt's Cross Roads, Orr's Cross Roads; the latter contains an academy and a church, and Hardison's Mill's. There is a postoffice at the last named place. In former days the settlers about Bear and Flat Creeks were wont to come to Columbia and meet their rivals from the vicinity of Culleoka and engage them in the "manly art" of fisticuff. These contests were often long and sometimes bloody, but were simply tests of muscle.
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
Among the first settlers in the vicinity where Culleoka now stands was David Love. who built a mill on Fountain Creek. This was long known as Love's mill. Lemuel Prewett settled at Cave Hill, west of Culleoka, in 1807. Col. Joe Brown was another early settler in that locality. John Toombs was an early settler near Culleoka. He once built a distillery near the present site of the county poor-house. Near Culleoka was the old Pleasant Grove Academy; near this is the old Wilkes' Camp Ground and Church. 3 short distance east of Culleoka is a Baptist Church. At the village of Culleoka is the well- known school of the Wells brothers. This school has long since swallowed up the old Pleasant Grove Academy. In addition to this well-known school Culleoka contains a Methodist and a Presbyterian Church, a Masonic hall, a hotel and numerous business houses.
Hurricane Switch lies six miles beyond Columbia. The village contains two or three stores, a postoffice, several shops and a Methodist Church and camp ground. Pleasant Grove Depot lies on the railroad, ten miles from Columbia. This place contains several stores, a steam flouring-mill, a hotel and other buildings. Campbell's Station lies three miles beyond Culleoka, on the railroad. This was named from the family of Campbells who settled there in an early day. Among the early settlers near there were the Camp- bells, Gills, Davis Kerr and Amis. Besides a few business houses there is a Christian Church near Campbell's Station. Formerly there was, near this place, Shane's Church and Grave-yard. Mark Jackson, an old Revolutionary soldier, was buried here, as well as many of the old settlers.
By an act passed November 23, 1809, William Berryhill. William W. Thompson, Lud- well B. Estes, Isaac Roberts, William Bradshaw, Joseph Brown, William Dooley and Samuel Witherspoon were constituted a body politic and corporate to be known by the name of the trustees of the Woodward Academy, in the county of Maury. In a few days after Andrew Henderson and Ebenezer Leath were added to the committee to act with above committee. October 22, 1811, the trustees were ordered to draft a scheme for a lot- tery and publish the same. The tickets were to be of four classes, and the sum to be raised was not to exceed $5,000. The trustees were to enter bond with the chairman of the Maury County Court into a bond of double the amount to be invested in the lottery. and in case the lottery failed the money was to be returned to the purchasers of tickets within six years. It was further ordered that when a sufficient number of tickets had been sold notice should be given for three weeks in the Western Chronicle, and the trust- ees were themselves allowed to purchase tickets subject to the option of the superintend- ent of the drawing. The act further allowed a small fee to the trustees for their services. Woodward was located a little east of Columbia, near what is known as Burns' Spring. This institution was in a flourishing condition for many years. There were no buildings erected for Woodward till 1815. November 22 of that year Isaac Roberts, Joseph Brown, John C. Wormley. William Dooley, John Mathews, William Bradshaw, Horatio Depriest and David Ogilvie, who were then trustees, purchased two acres of land for $500. The lot is described as "lying on the east of Joseph C. McDowell, six poles and nine links to the chimney of the house built by Horatio Depriest, where Samuel Craig now lives." Woodward was the only institution of the kind for many years in the vicinity of Colum- bia. Here attended the rising young men of the community, among them A. O. P. Nich- olson, Thomas J. Porter, W. P. Martin, George W. Gordon and many others. Among the teachers now remembered are David Weir and Dr. S. P. Jordan, who is still living near Mount Pleasant. Dr. Jordan taught in Woodward about 1821.
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