Perry County, TN Volume 1 , livre ebook

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617 pages

English

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History and Families 1820-1995 (From the Acknowledgement) “The historical society presents this book to the citizens Perry County of yesterday, today and tomorrow as a symbol of Perry County’s spirit that is repeatedly evidenced in the family histories found on its pages."

Sujets

Histoire

Perry County

State

South

United States

History

Local

Tennessee

Informations

Publié par	Turner Publishing Company
Date de parution	01 janvier 1994
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781681622101
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	12 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,1198€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

TURNER PUBLISHING COMPANY
TURNER PUBLISHING COMPANY

Created by Kenny R. Rose, Publishing Consultant Turner Publishing Company
Copyright 1994 Perry County Historical Society Publishing Rights: Turner Publishing Company
This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Author and Publisher. The materials were compiled and produced using available information. Turner Publishing Company and the Perry County Historical Society regret they cannot assume liability for errors or omissions.
Library of Congress Catalog Card No: 94-61033
ISBN: 978-1-68162-208-8
Limited Edition of which this is number ________.
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
Foreword
Publisher s Message
Acknowledgment
Perry County History
History of Lobelville
Perry County Newspapers
Perry County in the Civil War
Flatwoods Community
Grist Mill on Lower Cane Creek
The Jolly Dozen
Education in Perry County
Brief History of Black Schools
Perry County Library
Tribute
Memorials
Churches
Photo Album
Family Histories
Index
F OREWORD

Billy Tucker
The Perry County Historical Society was formed many years ago by a few individuals with one purpose in mind. That was to bring together those persons interested in the history and genealogy of the county, to preserve and perpetuate the records of our ancestors, to publish public and private genealogical and historical records and to encourage and educate beginning genealogists in their research.
In the beginning, as a rule, we were content to gather bits and pieces of information and to share these with each other. As our interest grew, and the interest of others, the need for space and a place to store materials grew. This led to the creation of an archives area at the Perry County Public Library. Then came the restoration of Pinkney s Tomb and the placing of it on the National Register of Historical Places. Next came our state and federal charters. This led to our charter membership drive that brought 164 new members into our group. Then came the major undertaking of publishing a book. Never did we realize what a major undertaking this was. We set our goal for the book to be in print in time for the 175th anniversary of the forming of the county. This meant moving fast and working hard. We made it!!!!!
To future generations, we believe we are leaving you a rich written legacy, documented to the best of our ability, that shows the wide diversity of people who care about their heritage.

Billy Tucker, Coordinator Perry County History Book
A CKNOWLEDGMENT

Left to right: Billy Tucker, Mary Bowen, Dorotha Hudson and Gus Steele.
When the Perry County Historical Society decided to publish a Perry County History, we knew this was going to be a difficult undertaking. Gus Steele, Billy Tucker, Mary Bowen, and Dorotha Hudson volunteered to head up the project and since that day have worked many long hours collecting, organizing, recording, typing, and editing family histories. But they were not alone: many others, too numerous to try to name, helped in many ways. The result of all this work is the 175th Anniversary Perry County History and Families book.
The historical society presents this book to the citizens Perry County of yesterday, today and tomorrow as a symbol of Perry County s spirit that is repeatedly evidenced in the family histories found on its pages.

Old Time Fiddler s Contest in the old high school auditorium.

Logging was a means of earning a living in the early 1900s in many parts of Perry County.
P ERRY C OUNTY H ISTORY
There is very little to be said about the first settlers as authenticated records are scarce. It is to be assumed that they are of the famous Scotch Irish extraction, which is so prevalent in Tennessee, especially in the hill and mountain districts. From the date of the first settling until now the same families have predominated, indicating that there has been little influx of new blood. The settlements were made in the valleys along the water courses. They, for many years, were confined to these localities. There is no account of settlements prior to 1818; but it is evident that a number of individuals settled in the territory of the county before that date.

Perry county s first courthouse where Perry County was organized on the first Monday of January in 1820.

Perry County s second courthouse was erected in 1868. It was destroyed by fire on January 1, 1928.
These early settlers must have come into the county via the Tennessee River, as the first known settlements were on Tom s Creek. Its proximity to a good landing site would have been a decided advantage for this beginning.
Naturally, the county being wild, they would have encountered numerous obstacles and hardships. First, a crude house of logs had to be raised, which was done next to the land that had to be cleared of its canebrakes and underbrush and growth in preparation for crops.
The settlers of southern Hickman and Humphreys County presented a petition to the state government on September 22, 1819 asking for the creation of a new county in that area. The county was to be named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a naval officer and hero of the War of 1812.
The county of Perry was created by an act of the General Assembly of the State, passed in November 14, 1819. The act provided that a new county be established north of Wayne, west of Hickman, by the name of Perry County, beginning at the southeast comer of Humphreys, and to include all the territory lying between Humphreys, Hardin, Wayne and Hickman Counties. The act also provided that, until otherwise directed, the quarterly sessions and circuit court should be held at the house of James Yates, on Tom s Creek, or at such other place in said county as the justices thereof might select. The territory originally included in the county embraced, in addition to what it now contains, nearly all of Decatur County.
The first magistrates (justices) of the county were James Dixon, Joseph Brown, William O. Britt, William Holmes, John L. Houston, Oswald Griffin, Enoch Hooper, Mr. Humm, and Green B. Newson. The house of James Dixon, on Lick Creek, was the place selected by the magistrates for holding their first sessions, and there, on the first Monday of January, 1820, they met and organized the county of Perry. Joseph Brown was elected chairman of the court of quarterly sessions (county court), and the first county officers were elected as follows: William Jarmon, Clerk; West Wood, Sheriff; John A. Rains, Register; Aaron Lewis, Trustee; Jacob Harmon, Ranger; Mark Murphy, Coroner; Joseph Dixon and four others were elected constables. In 1821, the year following the organization, the county seat was established at Perryville, on the west bank of the Tennessee River. At this time and in the days following, Perryville was a political and business center of importance. David Crockett, Andrew Jackson, Sam Houston, James K. Polk and other dignitaries are said to have visited there. An act of the General Assembly passed in November of 1845 provided that all the territory of Perry County lying west of the Tennessee River be formed into a new county, to be known as the county of Decatur. Accordingly, in 1846, the county of Perry was divided and the county of Decatur established with the Tennessee River as the boundary line between the two counties. The courts of Perry County were then adjourned to Harrisburg, a point 4 miles south of Linden. Here they were held two years. Meanwhile, the location of the new county seat was the absorbing question of the citizens. Harrisburg and Linden were competing points. An election was held and it was decided in favor of Linden by a majority of six votes and in 1848 the county seat was permanently established in Linden where it still remains. The site of Linden, consisting of forty acres, was donated to the county by David R. Harris. He reserved a few lots and named the place Linden at the suggestion of Major Thomas M. Brashear with reference to the poem Hohenlinden by Thomas Campbell. The town was surveyed into lots including a public square for county buildings. The lots were sold and the proceeds of the sales thereof were appropriated to defray the expense of erecting public buildings. The county was divided into eleven civil districts.
The following is a copy from The Linden Times February 26, 1880:
A correction: In our last issue in a local item we stated that Linden was originally called Harrisburg, after our late citizen David Harris, father of our townsman G. L. Harris, and Mrs. J. M. Dotson, but in this our informant was mistaken.
Harrisburg was at one time the county seat, and the court met there for several terms, but Harrisburg was at what we know as John L. Webb s farm, four miles south of Linden, and was called such in honor of Dr. Wyatt Harris who lived in this county at the time. James Simmons of Cypress Creek was a member of the jury there in 1846 and from what we learn is the only living citizen of the county who served on the jury at the court of Harrisburg.

Present courthouse which was constructed in 1928-29. Photo taken in 1994.
Linden was first named Milton in honor of Judge Milton Brown who is yet living at Jackson, Tennessee. Judge Brown was then the member of congress from this district and a most popular gentleman with his constituents. The name was selected by commissioners. When the act of legislature came to be enacted Maj. T. M. Brashear gave the name of Linden and established it as a county seat. Mr. David Harris owned the land and gave the county the land for the courthouse, etc. We are informed that the name of the town was not changed from Milton to Linden because of any loss of respect that Maj. Brashear or the people had for Judge Milton Brown, but mainly because there was another place named Milton in the State.
We make this correction and give these facts not because the error of our former statement wou