USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee the making of a state > Part 25
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Among the first steps taken by the new projectors of Memphis was to give deeds of gift to some of the old set-
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tlers for the purpose of making a beginning of the town and from charitable motives. Lots were thus given to Peggy Grace " in consideration of the long residence of old Mr. Grace at the Chickasaw Bluffs." Pat Meagher was also given a lot. On the 22d of May, 1819, the pro- prietors entered into an agreement with John Henry Fooy, son of Judge Benjamin Fooy, to convey to him any lot he might select in the town then being laid off, on con- dition that said lot be purchased by Fooy or his agent at the publie sale of the first lots sold. Fooy selected lot No. 53, on the corner of Mississippi Row ( Front Row) and Sycamore Street. It is not known what fabulous price he may have ostensibly given for his lot, but he set an example which has found successful imitation even in our own day. The lot, however, brought him no good and was ultimately involved in litigation.
The number of lots sold at this public sale was very sinall, but Overton was by no means discouraged. With wise foresight the proprietors looked to the future for their reward, and they laid the foundations for a large superstructure. In one respect alone did they calculate falsely. They laid off into streets and squares too small a portion of their land. They expected Memphis, when it had grown to be a great city, to be as densely populated s the cities of Europe. They failed to make allowance for the spacious habitation which the American demands. This is the reason why the upper portion of the town is so evenly laid off whilst the suburbs are but little more regular than Boston itself.
They laid off four squares for public purposes, Court, Exchange, Market, and Auction squares. The prom- enade, subsequently the cause of violent dissensions, was laid off on the bluff, and was designed for a public pleas- ure ground. A burying-ground was laid off north of Poplar Street which was, for the first decade, the south- ern limit of the new town. The strip of land fronting
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the river and running from Jackson Street to where the Bayou empties into Wolf River was made a public land- ing, the ferry privileges, as it was afterwards asserted, being reserved.
The first feeble steps towards the making of a town have been partially preserved in the records of the court of pleas and quarter sessions. In May, 1820, Joseph James was allowed to keep an ordinary or house of en- tertainment in "the town of Memphis." Thomas H. Parsons, Charles Holman, Joshua Fletcher, M. B. Win- chester, John C. MeLemore and William Irvine were appointed a jury of review to mark out the best and near- est route for a road from the town of Memphis to the county line in the direction of Taylor's settlement situated on Forked Deer. William Irvine is allowed to keep a ferry across the Mississippi. At the August term of the same year patrolmen are appointed for the county, among the number being Russell Bean, the first-born of Tennes- see and the hero of the Jackson anecdote. Three indict- ments are found at the same term of court, one of them against Paddy Meagher for retailing spirits. Paddy, prob- ably having no exculpatory evidence, set the precedent for a long line of equally shrewd successors in that he disarmed judicial severity by pleading guilty and throwing himself upon the mercy of the court. It may have been that his offense was not regarded as a decided departure from the straight path, or the value of money may have been at a great premium, for he was only fined one dollar and costs. It was also ordered at this term that Thomas Carr be authorized and empowered to contract with some working- man to build and erect a temporary log court-house, jury-room, and jail on Market Square in the town of Mem- phis. One hundred and seventy-five dollars were appro- priated for erecting the same. The May term in 1821 was held in the court-house in the town of Memphis. This was a building procured instead of the one ordered
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to be built at a previous term of the court, since the order itself was reseinded.
At the May terin in 1822 commissioners were appointed to lay off and establish a public road from Memphis to the settlement on Big Creek and Loosa Hatchie and thence to the Forked Deer River. One of these commis- sioners was Jesse Benton, the brother of Thomas H. Ben- ton and the implacable foe of Andrew Jackson, whose name at this time was frequently mentioned in connection with the presidency of the United States. Jesse qualified as justice of the peace at this same term of court. Com- missioners were also appointed to lay off a road to R. G. Thornton's settlement on Wolf River, thence to Fowler's Ferry on Big Hatchie. In August, 1823, the court ap- pointed a venire for the circuit court to be held for the first time in Memphis on the fourth Monday of October. When the court of pleas and quarter sessions met in 1825 a change of the county seat was not contemplated by the members of the court as a bare possibility even. Memphis had been actually laid off, and although the num- ber of inhabitants was not large, improvements of a sub- stantial nature had been made. But the overwhelming advantage which the Memphis of to-day has over the Ra- leigh of to-day did not exist at that time. There were no roads and no railroads, and the bulk of the interior com- merce was carried on upon the inland streams, Hatchie, Wolf, Nonconnah, and others. When, therefore, a plan was made for the transfer of the county seat from Mem- phis to a point some miles inland upon a branch of Wolf River, it was very far from being even remotely as pre- posterous as such a scheme would now seem .. The state legislature having appointed commissioners to fix the seat of justice in the counties west of the Tennessee River, the county court of Shelby County, whilst in session, were startled by a report signed by James Fentress, Benjamin Reynolds, William Martin, and Robert Jetton, stating
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that they had located the seat of justice for the county of Shelby on Sandelin's Bluff on the north bank of Wolf River.
The details of this plot, for such tradition tells us it was, have been lost. We only know that it excited vigor- ous opposition among those who had purchased lots in Memphis and especially among the proprietors. It was most likely a blow aimed at them. The court appointed commissioners to obtain a perfect title to the lands for the new county site, lay off a town, and advertise and sell the lots according to law. Among the commissioners were Robert Fearne, a pronounced enemy of the proprietors. In January, 1827, 8555 was appropriated for the building of the court-house at Raleigh.
The change of the county seat had no ill effect upon the growth of Memphis - perhaps the contrary. It caused an increase in the area of cultivation, and added to the means of communication. A firm entitled James Brown & Co. started a line of post coaches drawn by four horses between Memphis and Raleigh, which was soon extended to Somerville.
The chief street in the new town was Winchester. and the central point was at first Anderson's Bridge. Gayoso Bayou, now dry except for occasional puddles and the last rain, was then a running stream, the water of which was clear and pure. (On the map of 1827 it is called Gayoso Creek.)
In 1824 the three firms who carried on the business of the city were Winchester and Carr, Henderson and Fearne, subsequently Lawrence and Fearne, and Isaac Rawlings. The leading spirits in the new community were M. B. Winchester and Isaac Rawlings. The latter had a store at Anderson's Bridge which was the camping ground for Indians and in-coming emigrant trains. As long as this class of trade was most lucrative, Rawlings thrived. But Winchester, a late arrival, had a decided
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advantage, having been made postmaster as soon as the town was well under way. He built what was at that time the finest house in Memphis on Front Row just be- low Jackson Street. He also made roads - streets were out of the question - which rendered both the landing place on the Mississippi River and his own place of busi- ness more accessible. When the flat-boat trade became the source of commercial prosperity, and especially after the disappearance of the Indians, Winchester became the leading merchant of the town.
These two men are interesting figures in the history of Memphis, not merely because they were present at the founding of the city, but also because they represented the two opposing tendencies which in turn have had such a powerful effect upon its development. Rawlings was a man of cautious temperament, suspicions of innovation, well satisfied with the existing order of things unless working to his disadvantage, adverse to change, rough, blunt, and without mental discipline or cultivation. Win- chester had a quick mind, a clear judgment. a spirit of restless inquiry, ever eager for advancement, constantly in search of improved methods, prone to be led astray by theories and abstractions, refined, well educated in books as well as in knowledge of the world, lacking only a leaven of the practical common sense that was the distinguish- ing feature in the character of his rival. Rawlings was conservative ; Winchester was liberal. Their commercial rivalry was not diminished by the fact that Rawlings was a Whig and Winchester a Democrat. Rawlings had once been a sutler in Jackson's army, and had been at the bluffs longer than any one then living. He was among the first appointed magistrates. He predicted the failure of the effort to make a city on the Chickasaw Bluffs. His attitude of antagonism was perhaps confirmed by his rivalry with Winchester. His vanity, which was remark- ably robust, received daily blows from the decrcase of his
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importance as his rivals in trade grew more numerous and successful. After a time he began to realize that, con- trary to his predictions, Memphis was growing, and in- deed rapidly. He determined to change his site, and bought a lot of ground on an alley which subsequently, through his intercession, became Commerce Street, and built him a store, with many muttered revilings against the folly of people and their fondness for new things. But the current of trade had set towards Winchester and could not be changed. There is a tradition that Raw- lings marked the price on his goods, and in spite of all competition and the general decrease of priees refused to sell under his marks. It was said he had on hand at the time of his death goods purchased years before.
In 1826 Memphis was made an incorporated town by the action of the legislature, although the limits of the new corporation were not defined. When the news reached Memphis there was a general outburst of alarm and indignation, especially from those most hostile to the proprietors. One of the characteristics of Memphis is the readiness with which it vents its spleen in an indigna- tion meeting. The first of a long series was held when the news of the incorporation came. The presiding of- ficer was Isaac Rawlings. But the meeting developed the unexpected fact that those most violently opposed to the incorporation were those who lived farthest from the cen- tre of business. It was therefore proposed that these should be left out. The change as suggested was adopted by the meeting. It was discovered when too late that the land left out belonged almost entirely to the proprietors, who were thus the chief beneficiaries.1
1 The only authority I have been able to find for this episode is the author of the Early History of Memphis, James D. Davis. It may be and probably is largely apocryphal. Davis says that the change of boundary by which the complainants were left out of the city limits was ratified by the legislature. I can find nothing in the
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According to the terms of the charter, seven aldermen were elected, who in turn were to elect one of their num- ber mayor. Winchester was postmaster at the time of the passage of the new charter, but he was immediately chosen mayor. Perhaps no better proof of his reputation for strict integrity and unbiased fairness could be given than this. Though looking after the interests of those who were regarded as the natural enemies of the inhabit- ants of Memphis, he was yet chosen to the office having at the time most influenee over their immediate welfare. During Winchester's second term of office, the corporate powers of Memphis were increased.
Among other changes was a restriction which prohibited the mayor from holding a federal office. Winchester re- fused to resign his postmastership. This opened the way for Isaac Rawlings, who succeeded him in March, 1829. This singular and almost grotesque figure made one of the best mayors who ever presided over Memphis from M. B. Winchester to D. P. Hadden. He was long known as the model mayor. Rawlings was vain, stubborn, self- willed, and imperious, impatient of contradiction and con- servative to a fault. But he was also honest, clear-minded, law-abiding, determined to be obeyed, and economical. He took the duties of his position in earnest, and rigor- ously enforced the law. preserved order, looked after the disbursement of the public funds with scrupulous care, and was remarkably energetic. His prejudice against the city appeared to die away after his exercise of power. He served two terms, from March, 1829, to March, 1831. retired for two years, was reelected in 1833, and served three successive terms until 1836. He was a candidate for the Constitutional Convention of 1834, but it was dur- ing the height of Jacksonian Democracy and he was de- feated. Ifis last appearance was almost dramatic. Hav-
records to justify the statement. There was probably some founda- tion for the tradition, as Davis wrote from memory.
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ing weathered the storm of .Democratie ascendency for many long years, he had himself carried in an easy-chair to cast his last vote for Harrison and Tyler. He was suffering from a mortal disease, and waited eagerly bnt confidently for news of the election. When it came he remarked, " Now I can die happy," and very shortly afterwards expired.
From 1820 to about 1833 Memphis was still an experi- ment. The natural advantages which it then possessed belonged in an almost equal degree to Fort Pickering below and Randolph above. There was as yet no white population in Arkansas and Mississippi to draw together the nucleus of a town as a depot of supplies. The region which was inhabited was that which stretched back towards Jackson and the Big Hatchie country, and for the pur- poses of navigation and trade Randolph was not less con- venient than Memphis. That Memphis became the city and not either Fort Pickering or Randolph is due mainly to the wisdom of one man, John Overton. The other pro- prietors exercised merely a passive ownership. The terms upon which Overton conveyed one half of the Rice grant to Andrew Jackson are not known. But the latter dis- posed of his interest long years before the dream of Over- ton, which dated from his purchase of Rice's land in 1794, began to be realized. Jackson sold to John C. McLemore, in 1823, his last remaining interest (one eighth) in the grant. The other three he had already sold to the Win- chester brothers. The fact that he had an interest in the Rice grant was made the cause of much severe criticisin at the time of the treaty in 1818. Those who had already settled on the Chickasaw Bluffs, especially a few of his old soldiers, expected to have their rights recognized, some of them having purchased from the Indians. These lost sight of the fact that the Rice grant had already been surveyed and located. In order to spare himself these criticisms, for at this time he was no longer in pecuniary
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stress, he sold his interest to John C. MeLemore. The other proprietors were, besides Overton, who still had his one half, William Winchester, who owned one eighth, and Gen. James Winchester, who owned one eighth in his own right and one eighth as trustee for the children of a de- ceased brother. William Lawrence and M. B. Winches- ter were agents of the original proprietors. The final division of unsold lots took place in 1829. But during all the time that Memphis was still an experiment, John Overton was the only one of the proprietors who did any- thing to advance its interests, and he did everything. From the first he had looked into the future far as human could see, and he had literally seen all the visions of the world and the wonders that should be. He not only foresaw the future of the Chickasaw Bluffs as a city, but he also appreciated the minor consequences that would flow from founding a city there, and turned them to his cwn advantage. He exercised the minutest care in per- fecting his title. He not only bought the Rice grant from Elisha Rice, but also obtained quitelaim deeds from all possible distributees in case no will existed. The reason of this was that John Rice's will, though in his own hand- writing, was not attested.
Overton possessed neither brilliancy of mind nor strik- ing greatness of character, but he was a man of singularly sterling qualities and had a remarkable aptitude for busi- ness. He possessed in a fortunate degree that peculiar combination of practical caution and liberal temerity that alone carries great undertakings to a successful termina- tion. Having foreseen what was coming for Memphis, he mapped out in really a marvelous manner the line of its development. He devised the general policy which con- trolled the proprietors in their dealings with the inhabit- ants. It was his eye that watched with microscopie care every point, and it was his ingenuity that turned it to the advantage of the infant town. He used his influence
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with the general government to secure the establishment of a mail stage-route from Memphis to other points. The commercial contest between Memphis and Randolph was decided in favor of the former by several factors, one of the chief of which was the line of tri-weekly mail stage- coaches from the East to Memphis by the way of Nash- ville, Charlotte, Reynoldsburg, Jackson, Bolivar, and Somerville, which the postmaster-general established at the intereession of Overton in 1829. After Jackson be- came president, he also succeeded in having a weekly mail, carried on horseback, established between Jackson and Memphis by way of Brownsville. Covington, and Randolph. When a hospital is to be built he is ready to furnish the ground free of charge, but he uses his generosity as a means of preventing its being built in a wrong place. When a possible purchaser goes to Memphis, he writes to Winchester, "Make him pleased with the place by polite attentions." One of the most active opponents of the proprietors was Fearne. Fearne's partner was Robert, a brother of William Lawrence. Overton advocated mak- ing Robert joint agent with William in order to soften Fearne's opposition. When the town was fairly on its legs, he remitted none of his eare, and his letters, even during this period, were filled with minute directions as regards the laying of corner-stones, the grading of streets. the opening of alleys, the laying off of graveyards and the like. As a matter of course he was a friend of Jackson. But he was ever anxious for Memphis to emphasize the part that it also was Jackson's friend. He, as all other friends of Jackson, knew that these things did them no harm with the imperious old soldier. When the " Globe " was started at Washington, he wrote to Winchester, send- ing him a copy, and requesting him to proeure half a dozen subscribers from among the friends of the administration. "Tell your editor Phebus to get the paper and extract from it fully, for rest assured it is and will be ably con-
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ducted." The next sentence has a touch of unconseious irony. " Besides, in these intriguing corrupt times, it is absolutely necessary for the support of correet principles." When Van Buren is rejected by the Senate he wants an indignation meeting held in Memphis. Hearing that a majority of the people of Memphis will vote for Crockett for Congress, he is filled with indignation. "But for the present administration, it would not have risen as it has. Don't your citizens sometimes think of this? What ad- ministration was it made it the great road leading east and west throughout the United States to Mexico by the establishment of three stages a week, besides speaking of it as it deserves ? Is there no consideration of these things? Besides giving the public printing of the United States to the editor of your newspaper ?"
In 1833 the postmaster-general makes Memphis a dis- tributing point. While in the North he hears that a Clay organ is about to be established in Memphis. He is even told by those who watch affairs minutely that Winchester himself, though a federal office holder, is not in high favor with the administration. He is suspected of secret lean- ings towards the corrupt enemies of good government, namely, the Whigs. He tells Winchester plainly that the enemy of an administration so capable of doing a small town injury and the agent for the proprietors cannot be the same person. He subscribes liberally for the estab- lishment of a newspaper. As the various suits involving his proprietory interests arise, he attends to them in all their details with unflagging interest. He is an unweary- ing letter-writer. His style is charming by reason of its clear, direet simplicity and pure, wholesome English. He has a trick of at times repeating his words that accom- plishes the purpose of emphasis admirably. In one letter he says, "I pray you - I pray you, look after this." In another he writes, " Do not, I beseech you, do not let this be known." Being old and garrulous, towards the
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last he writes very long and reiterative letters, but always clear, full of eminently judicious advice and suggestion.
In addition to the difficulty which besets all new towns, Memphis labored under an unusual and decided disadvantage in the feeling of antagonism that existed on the part of the inhabitants against the proprietors. This feeling of hostility was a well-recognized fact. Overton, in 1831, says : " Particularly where the people have mani- fested so much hostility as those about Memphis have." As a rule the inhabitants were wrong. Those who came in at first, generally, had no money. They bought lots on long time, and were rarely able to meet the first payment. From 1819 to 1829, when the first era of decided prosper- ity set in, the inhabitants rather regarded themselves as patrons of the proprietors whom they were accommodat- ing by living in their town. Overton had seen to it that the new town was well advertised. So early as 1820 the " Portfolio " of Philadelphia published a long and glow- ing account of it. Inducements were held out to bona fide settlers. Long leases were frequently given to those who would clear the soil and build cabins on it. A typical lease is one made to Samuel Gibson. Overton leased to him the place on which he was living for the term of six years from January, 1826, on the following conditions : He was to clear and cultivate at least thirty acres of land, build a good log cabin. plant out and take care of one hundred fruit trees to be furnished by Overton. He was to leave abont ten acres of woodland around the spring. The timber outside the clearing is only to be used for the improvement of the place. At the end of said term of six years, Gibson is to return the said place to Overton in good farming order and well feneed.
In 1826 a newspaper was established at Memphis, to which the proprietors, at the instigation of Overton, sub- scribed liberally. This was Thomas Phoebus's " Memphis Advocate." The chief business of the " Advocate " was
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to urge the elaims of General Jackson for the presidency, and to call universal and uneeasing attention to the pecul- iar advantages offered by Memphis to settlers. These were both themes agreeable to Overton, and he wrote a great deal for the new paper. Those who came in answer to such direct invitations as those contained in the Mem- phis papers felt as if they were going rather upon the judgment of the proprietors than for their own satisfac- tion. One of the main causes of discord was the cutting of timber. On this point, Overton was particularly sen- sitive. When it became necessary, the inhabitants, in a manner very far from clandestine, cut down and used for fuel the trees most conveniently situated near them. Winchester wrote the proprietors that he was helpless to stay the destruction. Overton, who could be bitter as well as prudent, wrote to him that the destruction must be stopped. He advised hiring a man by the month to guard the woodland. He also directed Winchester to hire teams, and as soon as the wood was cut by the depredators, to haul it to town and sell it. Public sentiment eventually corrected the evil.
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