Evening at Elmwood Celebrates Residents of Local Cemetery

J. Mark Lowe
Robertson County Historical Society
The summer evening was still. The shadows grew long as the sun began to slide below the horizon. It was a typical early summer evening. “Halt! Who goes there !!!,” shouted the sentry at his post. As the soldier drew near, his uniform marked him as a Confederate soldier. He looked tired and worn. He questioned the visitors about loyalty, and after determining that no “Yankee spies” were in the group, he began to tell his story.
Evening at Elmwood is the annual fundraiser by the Robertson County Historical Society that brings the stories of our past citizens to the attention of eager audience members.
This year [2010], participants will have the chance to meet Mrs. R. K. (Ann) Hicks, W.E. Ryan, Thomas W. Mason, Richard Cheatham, and T. Marion Henry. The evening will begin with a box supper on the grounds of historic Elmwood Cemetery.
After the meal, costumed guides will lead small groups of dinner guests throughout the cemetery where they will meet the special resident hosts and hear their story. These guides will also provide general information about the cemetery, point out interesting gravestones or share additional stories about other residents.
Here are just a few tidbits about the resident hosts for the evening:
Miss Ann K. Greer was born in Gallatin, Tennessee in 1815. She was married to young Physician, Robert K. Hicks in October 1842 by Thomas Farmer, a Justice of the Peace. The Methodist Church in Springfield was organized in the 1830’s. Mrs. Hicks was one of the early members. By 1850, the Hicks family had grown to include Robert Jr., Edwin and Ida. Mr. Hicks was also involved in politics. He attended an 1854 political Convention held in Charleston, representing nearly all of the Southern and Western States. The session lasted for six days, business of the greatest importance was discussed (including slavery, railroads, taxation, territorial expansion.) Hicks attended the convention at personal expense. Ann Hicks was connected to the famous Abingdon/Holston Salt works and wealthy land owner, William King. She filed a power of attorney to place her claim towards the estate. The exact relationship has not been determined.
William Eugene Ryan was born in Logan county, Ky in 1858, the son of James and Sarah Mason Ryan. The family moved to Springfield about 1880, where James Ryan operated a grocery. W.E. Ryan became Vice-President of the Springfield National Bank in place of the deceased John Y. Hutchinson. Ryan later became President of that bank. He was also one of the major founding stockholders of the Springfield Woolen Mill. W.E. Ryan & Co was the distributor of Horseshoe Brand Tobacco Grower fertilizer from 1900-1905.
Thomas W. Mason is buried beneath a gravestone indicating he was a Confederate soldier in the Civil War. The stone lacks a date of birth or date of death. Thomas W. Mason was born about 1843 in Logan county, Kentucky. He was the son of D.D. and Francis J. French Mason. After the death of his parents, Thomas lived with his half-sister, Sarah Mason, and her husband James Ryan. Young Thomas Mason enlisted in the 1st Kentucky Regiment on 23 April 1861, but the unit was disbanded in May of 1862. Mason then enlisted the 25th of August, 1862 at Keysburg, Kentucky in (Gano’s) 2nd Kentucky Cavalry. He was captured in Greensburg, Kentucky on 20 May 1863 and was taken to the Military Prison in Louisville, where he was sent to Baltimore on the 29th of May. He was paroled from Fort McHenry in Baltimore in June, and exchanged in Virginia. He was recaptured in Salineville, Ohio in July of the same year and taken to Camp Chase, Ohio. He was transferred to Camp Douglas, Illinois in August of 1863, where he remained until 21 January 1865 when he was released. He is surrounded my the Ryan family in Elmwood Cemetery.
Richard Cheatham, born in Springfield, Tennessee, in the year 1799 was a merchant, farmer, breeder of fine horses and cotton ginner. He was appointed a Brigadier General of the State Militia in 1829. Cheatham served as a Representative to the State legislature from 1825 until 1836. He battled Cave Johnson unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congressional Seat through the campaigns of 1830, 1832, and 1834 before defeating Johnson in 1836. Gen. Richard Cheatham served in Congress from the Whig party from 1837 to 1839. He was defeated by Cave Johnson, who returned to the House of Representatives.
Thomas Marion Henry was born in 1826. T. Marion married Miss Harriet Gunn in 1851. She was the daughter of the Rev Thomas Gunn and his wife, Frances. In the 1860 census, Mr. Henry’s occupation is a cabinet maker by 1880 he is listed as a furniture dealer. Previously Henry was in partnership of a grocery in Springfield with James T. Henry for only a year (1876-1877).
To learn more about this event or the wonderful history of Robertson County, call the Robertson County History Museum at 382-7173.

Family Farm Recognized

Ayres Family Farm recognized for Century of Agricultural Production

J. Mark Lowe

(as printed in the Robertson County Times, 20 Jan 2010)

Dan and Billie Ann Ayres along with their family were recognized in 2008 as living on a Tennessee Century Farm, by the Center for Historic Preservation, which is located on the MTSU campus. The Century Farm Program recognizes the contributions of Tennessee residents who have continuously owned, and kept in production, family land for at least 100 years. This project recognizes the important work of documenting Tennessee’s agricultural heritage and history through the Tennessee Century Farm Program.

On 7 April 1909, Daniel P. and Mary Ayres acquired 83 acres in Cedar Hill from J. B. and Malissa Robertson. Dan P. and Mary were parents to three sons, Joseph, Jack and William, and raised tobacco and corn. Prior to this, Daniel P. Ayres had been an undertaker in Cedar Hill.

div>The second owner of the land was Daniel’s brother, James M. Ayres. He acquired the property in 1910. He and wife Mary Elizabeth Moon reared five children: Bessie Ellen [married Walton Benton Cope], James Louis, Willie Stephen, Samuel Lee and Wallace [died as infant]. During this generation, the farm produced corn, tobacco and wheat. Daniel P. Ayres established a grist mill in Cedar Hill, which he operated until his death.

James M. Ayers and his wife, Mary mortgaged the land to the Union Central Life Insurance Company on 22 Sept 1913. The mortgage was for $700. A description of the property was included on the mortgage:

Beg at a stone, Jesse Alley’s Southeast Corner thence East 50 & 1/6 poles to a Stone, Bob Alley’s corner; thence North crossing the Adams and Barren Plains road [now known as Sturgeon Creek Road] with Bob Alley’s line 240 poles to a stone in William Miles line; thence West with his line 56-1/2 pols to a stone, Allbrooks’s Southeast corner; thence North 5-1/2 poles to a stone; thence West 3-1/3 poles to a stone in said Allbrook’s line; thence South crossing the Adams and Barren Plains road with Jesse Alley’s line 245-1/2 poles to the beginning , containing 83 acres.

After James M. Ayres died in 1919, the family sought to complete his earlier mortgage and extend a new mortgage for building and land.

Mrs. Mary Ayres in her deposition: “I am 59 years of age, reside in the 5th District of Robertson county, on the farm owned by my husband, James, at the time of his death, and my two sons, Louis and Samuel live with me and work and run the farm.

They proposed borrowing $1500 in order to “… pay off the loan and build a new tobacco barn as the storm blew our barn down and blew down the henhouse and damaged the dwelling some, and we have no other barn without building a new one to house our tobacco crop and it will be absolutely necessary to build a new tobacco barn so we can run the farm.” The family petitioned the court to remove the disability of age from Samuel Ayres so he could participate in the mortgage, he being 19 years of age at the time. The original mortgage was released on 19 November 1923.

In 1931, James Louis Ayres became the third generation to own the farm. Louis was married in 1925 to Virginia Ewing Webb (daughter of John J. and Nannie Webb) and their three children were Clarence Edward, James Daniel ‘Dan’ and Betty Ann.

Growing up during the Great Depression, Dan remembers that the family was reasonably self-sufficient. Everyone worked hard to produce corn, tobacco, dairy cattle, hogs and chickens for the family’s table and to sell. He also recalled that although their house was small, “we always had room for family or friends who had no other place to live.”

According to family records, in 1945 the farm received electricity and in the early 1950s, the family’s first telephone was on an eight-party line.

In 1981, Dan, who married Billie Ann Dority, became the fourth generation of the Ayres family to own the farm. Today, the couple’s son, Jeff, produces corn, tobacco, hay and beef cattle on the property, which is currently celebrating a century of family ownership and agricultural production. Lisa, the daughter of Dan and Billie Ann, and her husband, Chris Traughber, have also lived on the farm since they married. The sixth generation to live and work on the farm are the daughter of Lisa (LlieAnna Danielle) and son and daughter of Jeff (Louis Daniel and Laura).

The Tennessee Department of Agriculture began the Tennessee Century Farm Program in 1976 as part of the nation’s bicentennial. Today, the TDA provides a metal outdoor sign denoting either 100, 150 or 200 years of “continuous agricultural production” to Century Farm families.

According to Caneta Hawkins, director of the Century Farms program, “To be considered for eligibility, a farm must be owned by the same family for at least 100 years; must produce $1,000 revenue annually; must have at least 10 acres of the original farm; and one owner must be a resident of Tennessee.The Century Farmers represent all the farm families of Tennessee and their contributions to the economy, and to the social, cultural and agrarian vitality of the state, both past and present, is immeasurable. Each farm is a Tennessee treasure.”

For more information about the Century Farms Program, please visit

http://histpres.mtsu.edu/histpres/initiatives/centuryfarms.html

Sources: Century Farm Application; Chancery Case #3027; Original Estate Settlements, Deeds and Mortgages in Robertson County Archives.

First Grade Christmas in Cedar Hill

(as published in the Robertson County Times, 23 Dec 2009)

Christmas is here. It seems like only yesterday that I was enjoying a party in my first-grade classroom in Cedar Hill Elementary. We had red punch, decorated sugar cookies and cupcakes. We also exchanged names in the class to purchase a Christmas gift. I don’t remember if there was a financial limit, but I can’t imagine it was more than five dollars. The class had decorated our cedar tree with colored paper chains and other decorations we made in class from glitter and glue. There might have been some tinfoil stars as well, but I know we had lots of tinsel added at the end.

Our teacher was Mrs. Sallie Gamble Orand. She was a very gentle woman, who was always smiling and seemed to have time to talk to each one of us. Just a month ago, we were practicing a couple of songs for the Annual School Christmas Program. I remember that we sang “Away, in the Manger” and another song with an older group. The sixth-grade students, taught by Mrs. Marion Martin, played two Christmas selections on their flutes. This was very impressive to all of us in the first grade. My older brother, Denny, would have been in the seventh grade that year. I’m sure he sang with his class, but I don’t remember their performance that year, because I was so nervous. All of the younger classes sat in chairs in front of the stage, while the older classes came onto the stage for their performances.

On the night of the performance, there was a large Christmas tree on the stage and our principal, Mr. Joe Borthick, welcomed all of the parents and guests. I remember several of the older students playing Christmas songs on the piano during the evening. I know I was focused on our songs. My parents; my sister, Beverly; my brother, Wayne, and of course, my brother, Denny were there for our Christmas extravaganza. Our big brother, Joe, was home from college and came to our big show. It seemed to me that everyone I knew from Cedar Hill was in the auditorium.

The first grade stood for their first presentation. I was on the second row. On the row just in front of me were Sharon Shepard, Pam Harris, Mary Jo ‘Josie’ Head, and Julie ‘Sweetie’ Tinsley. Beside me were Billy Corbin, Mark Mason, Robert Hulsey and Bailey Knight. There were about 28 of us in the class that year as we stood for our song. Mrs. Lovan gave us our notes from the piano and Mrs. Orand stood before us smiling and urging us to sing out. I’m sure our parents thought our rendition of “Away in the Manger” was as beautiful as ever heard. We finished our second song to loud applause and took our seats. We listened intently as all of the other classes performed. Just as we thought the evening was over, Mr. Borthick, said we have a guest who has traveled a long way to be here in Cedar Hill tonight. “Ho, Ho. Ho., Merry Christmas!” was booming as the jolly old elf himself walked out onto the stage standing just behind the first graders. Now I had seen Santa many times at Ben Franklin 5 & 10 Store, at Gamble’s Hardware, and other stores over the years, but never had I seen Santa in Cedar Hill. What a Christmas! I was ready for Santa to come.

We were gathered in class for our Christmas party and after we had distributed all of our gifts and enjoying the party, Mrs. Orand called each of us up to her desk, one at a time. She wished us a very Merry Christmas, gave us a book and a big hug. She gave me The Big-Little Dinosaur. I still have that book from that special person. It was not the first book I was ever given, but Mrs. Orand would always fill a special role for me. It was through her encouragement that I began reading every book I could. She encouraged me to learn music theory and I began taking piano lessons. Perhaps I learned that it was not the gift itself that was special, but the attachment to the special person who gave it.

As we went home from school that afternoon, everyone shouting Merry Christmas as they boarded the buses home for the holidays. There was a light snow falling as we pulled out of the school drive in Cedar Hill on Bus No. 6, driven by Mr. Porter Corbin. Now Mr. Porter was one of the nicest men I ever knew, but he didn’t put up with any shenanigans on the bus. He let my brother, Denny, off the bus at our Feed Mill. When I walked up to the front of the bus to get off, Mr. Porter said, “Not today young man, you’re headed to the house.” I was disappointed because I wanted a bag of peanuts and a Grape Delish soda from the big cooler at the Feed Mill. A few other students got off the bus at the railroad track and others at Gossett’s store. When the bus turned left onto the big Highway, I knew my house was the next stop. Mr. Porter stopped in front of my house and called one of the older students to cross the highway with me. He wished me a ‘Merry Christmas’ in his big booming voice and I waved bye to all of my friends who were headed home in the snow. The snow continued to fall until we had six inches.

We have some pictures of the holidays, but it is hard to capture the true essence of those family gatherings. Those photographs cannot hold the smell of my Mom’s cornbread dressing cooking or the taste of Aunt Martha’s fruit salad or the sound of my brothers playing with their new toys. Remember to take some time this season to share your memories with your family.

[The photo of Mrs. Sallie Orand was saved in one of my many memory boxes. I believe she gave each of us a picture in the First Grade. ]

Invincible in 1909

As the first decade of the promising 20th Century moved toward its end, American felt strong and proud of their country and its accomplishments.

Having weathered the Spanish-American War, the average American felt that growth in industry and family income would make the U.S. the strongest power in the world. America emerged as a World power. It had been called an age of innocence, adventure and invention. People were travelling across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe on luxury liners, and railroads provided the opportunity for many Americans to visit family members in other states.

Theodore ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt continued to captivate the American people and promote his strong business, strong military and enthusiastic conservation programs. The nation followed the adventures of this President. The ‘teddy’ bear, named for President Roosevelt became widely popular throughout the country.

Teddy’s successor elected in November 1908 would quickly be known for his size. William Howard Taft became the 37th President of the U.S. on March 4, 1909. Taft was a large man, weighing well over 300 pounds.

Although he was widely known as an intellectual and policy-oriented statesman, he is often mentioned as the man who traveled with his own bathtub. Taft’s tub, which was large enough for four average-sized men, was featured in newspaper photographs and articles throughout the country. President Taft was amused with the obsession with his tub and used the humor to further his policies while in office, although he was not successfully elected to a second term. His keen sense of policy design and interpretation of the American Constitution made Taft the only President who also served on the U.S. Supreme Court.

On the local front, Robertson county was sending their native son, Joseph Wellington Byrns, to the U.S. House of Representatives. Jo Byrns was born near Cedar Hill in 1867. He was a graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School and represented Robertson county in the State Legislature before his election to Washington. He replaced the flamboyant, but popular John Wesley Gaines in Washington.

Byrns would remain a well-respected leader, ultimately serving as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

Many local shoppers traveled by train to Nashville to shop in the large department stores. A newspaper advertisement of Castner-Knott in Nashville reminded customers that ‘all shoppers on Tuesdays and Wednesdays who presented a railway ticket for the day would be reimbursed for their travel.” Many people also worked in Nashville and depended on the early and late local for their transportation to work. Mail was delivered by railroad mail cars. Mail clerks sorted the mail between stops.

Overnight travel by trail was still an expensive option, but those passengers were treated to a luxurious dinner and superb service.

Tobacco farmers in this region were thrilled that Felix G. Ewing and other representatives of the Planters Protective Association signed an agreement of sale with the Imperial Buyers to purchase Association tobacco. The agreement and rising tobacco prices would soon bring an end to the Black Patch War and the Night Riders.

Although Ewing’s efforts would receive a boost as he was asked to speak at the State Democratic Party Convention, his political ambitions would never be realized. He had angered many individuals who disagree with the Association. Moses Wall, who refused to join the Association and called Ewing an anarchist, challenged him to a duel in Keysburg. Ewing’s brother-in-law, Joseph Washington, the former Congressman, became involved in a public debate with Ewing over roads in Robertson county. Washington’s public support and influential friends would find Ewing without the backing for a political race.

The summer of 1909 brought the Aero Club of America’s great national hot-air balloon race which began in Indianapolis to Robertson county. The Hoosier with Capt. Thomas Scott Baldwin as pilot and Charles Walsh, landed at Greenbrier, Tenn. One of those who had the pleasure of seeing the balloon soon after it landed near Greenbrier, and talking to its occupants, was James A. Althauser of the Bransford Realty Co. He gives an interesting account of the appearance of the balloon and of the statements made by the two aeronauts. [James A. Althauser was the son of William and Mary F. Swift Althauser.]

“The balloon came down in Butler Allen’s field about three miles from Greenbrier,” says Mr. Althauser, “and was hauled in to town in wagons. Its appearance created much interest and excitement there and a good-sized crowd gathered. [J. Butler Allen and wife, Clay, lived on Gideon Road.] Capt. Baldwin and Mr. Walsh seemed little the worse for wear. They said they were close enough to talk to people on the ground and until they landed they did not know in what state they were. Frequently, when they would ask where they were, people would yell back ‘come down and take breakfast with us’ or some such pleasantry.”

They told the crowd they would have kept on and could have gone further if they had not struck a sapling and become entangled in it. Under the rules this barred them from proceeding further. The balloon and its occupants with their balloon neatly folded, boarded the L & N Passenger train at 8:16 headed for New York.

America remained a regional country despite the extensive railroad network, hot-air ballooning and introduction of the automobile. Veterans of the Civil War gathered regularly for battlefield reunions and to dedicate monuments to fallen comrades.

Industrial changes and technological advances made Americans contemplate how far man could go in the 20th Century. Locally, sentiments against the whiskey industry were growing. In 1870, Charles Nelson, a native of Mecklenburg, Germany, who had come to Nashville from Cincinnati, bought the Greenbrier distillery to supply his wholesale grocery business in Nashville (at that time grocers sold whiskey). The whiskey was manufactured in Robertson County, but it was both bottled under the Greenbrier label and distributed from his Nashville warehouse on Second Avenue North. When the distillery was founded by Charles Palmer of Springfield, the capacity was a modest five gallons a day. At the peak of production, the distillery employed a work force of fifteen to twenty-five men. According to Goodspeed’s History, in 1885 the Greenbrier Distillery manufactured 8,000 barrels of whiskey or a little less than 380,000 gallons a year, and paid annual taxes of over $341,000.

By 1894, Nelson’s widow, Louisa, was running the distillery but Tennessee was gradually becoming a dry state. In 1903, the Four Mile Law (enacted in 1877) closed the saloons of Springfield. State-wide prohibition of the manufacture of whiskey was enacted in 1909 and Nelson’s Greenbrier distillery went out of business, along with all other distillers in Robertson county.

Learning about the historical events in your area, and understanding how they might have impacted your ancestor is part of keeping the story alive.

Ninety Six Years of Great Living

Robertson County

Tennessee lost another hero this week. Joe Harvey McClanahan ended this chapter of his life on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2009 at his home. This information is taken from an article I compiled in 2008 for his 95th birthday. I have added some notes and pictures. As researchers and family historians, people like Joe Harvey are rare. He remembered minute details about every person he encountered. He had a keen, discerning eye which I admired. Thank you Joe Harvey.

When I need to learn about any event in Robertson County or any person who lived in the last 150 years, I turn to one person, Joe Harvey McClanahan. He is the historian’s historian. Joe Harvey is an active member of this community and a former businessman. He is a charter member of the Springfield Lions Club and a 48-year-member of the American Legion. He was a lifelong member of Springfield Baptist Church and likely to be seen around town at the Farmers’ Bank Coffee Club or learning about new happenings in town.

Joe Harvey McClanahan was born 20 August 1913 in the house where he lives today.[He died in the same room he was born.] His parents were Albion Amzi McClanahan and Ella White McClanahan. Across the street his nephew, Wilbur McClanahan was born in 1914. Wilbur and Joe Harvey would become close friends and playmates.

The McClanahan family moved into the house at 251 Oak Street (now known at 315 Oak Street) after Dr. A.A. McClanahan purchased the house and lot from Kate England in 1897. In his book, The Springfield I Have Known, Charles Love discussed the backside of this property at the turn of the century.

There were no buildings on the East side of Walnut Street between Third and Fourth avenues. Milton Green’s pasture embraced all of the territory between Oak and Walnut streets and the martin (now Tony Dowlen) property. Along Walnut street between the Green pasture and Third Avenue were the cow lots of G.P. Martin, Dr. McClanahan, John R. Long and others.

As a youth, Joe Harvey had a continuing love for the trumpet and band music. One band he led was called “Blues Chasers.” Their theme song was “Goodbye, Blues.” They traveled throughout the area playing for dances and special events. Among the band members were Charlie Brandon, Herbie Knowles, G.B. Kemper, Bobby Rosson, Johnny Whiting, Haywood Couts, Howard Byrum, Ellis Binkley, and Pope Johnson. His love for music continued. He was a charter member of the Springfield Lions Club where he received the Melvin Jones Fellow Award and also directed the first Springfield [Tenn.] Lions Club Minstrel.

Joe Harvey attended Main Street school and graduated from Springfield High School and also attended Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon [Tenn.].

A few years later, he opened the Gulf Pride Service Station, which was located at 4th and North Main, across from the Center. He was a contractor and insurance agent for White-McClanahan Insurance Agency. Mr. McClanahan purchased the Stinnett Coal Company, which later became McClanahan Lumber Company, which he owned and operated with his son, Harvey, until his retirement in the mid-1990s.

Shortly after the marriage of Joe Harvey to his wife, Ruth Glover, the McClanahans moved into what they call the “little house.” According to the family, Joe Harvey built the little house in 1935. His first two children, Harvey and Gail [Holman], were born in the little house. After A.A. McClanahan broke his hip, Joe Harvey and his family moved into the big house about 1938.

The second floor of the house at 315 Oak Street became the home for Joe Harvey, Ruth and their growing family. Their third child, Ella [Bellflower], was born after the family was living in the “big house.” The former pump room of the big house became the kitchen for the family. Joe Harvey had grown up hearing stories about the pumping of water from his older brothers, White and Albion. The front room became Joe Harvey and Ruth’s bedroom. Their children called it the “big room.” Gail and Ella shared a bedroom at the rear of the house beside the kitchen. Harvey’s bedroom was very small. There was just enough room for a bed and a chest.

The family flourished and enjoyed their home. They lived and played in their second floor home for many years. With the exception of weekends, they ate their meals upstairs in the kitchen / dining room. On the weekends, they would go downstairs and dine with Joe Harvey’s parents (or as the children called them, Grandmother and Papa.)

Joe Harvey entered the U.S. Army during World War II. He completed training for the Infantry, was involved in combat in France, and completed his service as an Army clerk. After his military service, he returned to Springfield and the Gulf Pride Service Station. Joe Harvey was involved in several business interests, but we all remember his involvement with McClanahan Lumber on Cheatham Street. He was member of American Legion Post #48.

Joe Harvey and his family have celebrated every Christmas together on Oak Street except one. The family moved to Silver Springs, Maryland, in 1943. Joe Harvey was working in a bakery, until he was called into service. The family moved back to Springfield eighteen months later. Ella remembered celebrating her fourth birthday in Maryland.

[Let me add a note to this memory. During World War II, Joe Harvey was a member of the 4th Infantry Division in France. He completed his Infantry training and remained in the Infantry until the end of the War. Just prior to his discharge, he was encouraged to change his military status so he would receive more compensation. With a young family he changed his status or MOS. Several years after the War, a military friend and colleague wrote Joe Harvey a letter telling him that he was eligible for a Combat Infantry Badge for personally participating in active ground combat while a member of infantry unit after 6 December 1941. Joe Harvey applied for this Badge and was turned down because he had changed his MOS from Infantry to a Clerk. All parties agreed he would have been eligible except for the change in his MOS. He worked with every elected official throughout the years, but was unable to gain that medal. We once thought we could obtain this medal for Joe Harvey and have it presented to him. A medal was purchased and mailed to him with the return address of the awarding organization, but the postage endorsement indicated it was mailed from Springfield, Tenn. He immediately questioned his daughter, Gail, about who might have sent this medal. He was unwilling to accept the medal except if presented from the U.S. Army. He was still working on that at the time of his death. ]

Your life is an inspiration to all who had the pleasure of knowing you. Thanks for the memories and life lessons.

New Atlas Will Broaden Early Tennessee Research

Whenever we have an opportunity to understand the land around us, we should take advantage of that education. The state of Tennessee is a diverse landscape with people whose background is as widely varied as the terrain where they settled. Tennessee is distributed into three natural geographic divisions called East, Middle and West Tennessee. These geographic grand divisions correspond to the political, economic and settlement cultures of the state’s three regions.

The land that became the state of Tennessee was originally part of North Carolina. The King’s Proclamation of 1763 was intended to prevent settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains on the land of native people. However, settlers in southwest Virginia just continued to move down the valley into what is today, Tennessee. The first permanent settlement in Tennessee was made in 1769 on Boone Creek by Capt. William Bean, who came in that year from Pittsylvania county, Va. His son, Russell Bean, is said to have been the first white child born in the State.

Soon after Bean made his settlement, in 1770 and 1771, James Robertson. Landon Carter and others, laid the foundation of the Watauga settlements, which at first were in what is now known as Carter county. The steady stream of emigrants from the older States, however, soon forced these to overflow into the territory now embraced in Washington and Greene counties. Richard Henderson and the Transylvania Company purchased most of the land in northern Middle Tennessee and Kentucky from the Cherokees. In 1780, James Robertson and John Overton brought settlers to the area of Nashville.

With the Revolutionary War, colonies (states) did not have an abundance of money, but did possess unsettled land. Soldiers were promised land in return for service. The military district for the state of North Carolina covered the Middle Tennessee area from the Tennessee River eastward into Clay county. These soldiers or their heirs were given grants on the basis of military service in the North Carolina Continental Line. In addition, North Carolina granted land to those families who were settled in the area (or prempted) prior to statehood. Land was also available to surveyors and assistants, commissioners, individuals for special service and, finally, to the general public for purchase.

Knowledge of these land grants paint a vivid picture of life out on the frontier. Identification of trails, stations, forts and homeplaces would make understanding the Cumberland settlements more complete. It was just that desire for knowledge that led three historians to construct the Founding of the Cumberland Settlements: The First Atlas 1779 – 1804. Doug Drake, Jack Masters and Bill Puryear studied and worked together to compile the first land grants located in portions of eleven counties in Middle Tennessee. In addition this book will include the locations of publicly designed areas, early Indian trails, traces and roads.

Doug Drake traces his kin back to signers of the Cumberland Compact and an original pioneer, John Drake. Jack Masters is a retired Engineering Manager of Aladdin Industries in Nashville and an active member of Bledsoe Lick Historical Association and Sumner County Historical Society. Bill Puryear is a Sumner county native with roots in Dixon Springs & Hartsville and he chairs one of the largest charitable foundations in Tennessee. All three are active historians. In a discussion with Jack Masters at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, he told me that three came together through the Bledsoe Lick Historical Association. One of them mentioned that they should locate the original road or trace and began their search. They learned about the North Carolina land grants and a three-year project was born.

This book will become a well-used reference for land and family historians of Tennessee. The Atlas includes the 1500 land grants taken from the manuscripts of the North Carolina Secretary of State Land Grant Office. This will include a transcription of the land description along with a copy of the surveyor plats from the grant.

Drake, Masters, and Puryear started this project in an effort to locate sites of stations and roads. With the information learned from these grants, these men have been able to identify original sites and have walked the grounds of these pioneer roads. Their first book covers all of Robertson, Macon, Trousdale and Sumner counties and portions of Cheatham, Davidson, Montgomery, Wilson, Smith, and others.

In addition, these compilers have included topographic maps depicting the earliest Indian trails, pioneer roads/traces and a sequence of maps depicting the growth of settlements. In addition to an every-name index, you will find biographical sketches for the pioneers who signed the Cumberland Compact on May 13, 1780.

Lest you think this book is filled with great historical information – it is. However, it is also illustrated with the paintings of nationally recognized artist, David Wright and abundant photography of old roads, buffalo trace segments, fords, fort sites and ruins, relics, historic sites, and portraits of pioneers.

Volume I Founding of the Cumberland Settlements - The First Atlas 1779 - 1804 is in limited pre-publication sales (through August 31st) and can only be purchased via their website www.cumberlandpioneers.com . Delivery on these books is expected in October. Also included with the Atlas is a CD containing copies of all 1,500 land grants. This data supplement is also available in a separately purchased book.

1888 Summer Teachers' School

Since schools will soon be starting up, let's look back at a Summer Teacher Institute held in July 1888. The students compiled the letter to report on their activities. The Robertson County[Tenn.] Teachers Normal School was held on the grounds of the Cedar Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, South, under the oversight of the County Superintendent, J.E. Ruffin. Photo is the Cedar Hill Methodist Church, Cedar Hill, Tenn.

Report from Cedar Hill [Tenn.] Normal School – Springfield Record, July 5, 1888

Knowing the great interest you feel in the young teachers of Robertson county, we offer you a few items from our Normal school now in session at Cedar Hill. And as all young folks like to see their name in the paper we will, in our jottings, insert the name of every member of the class.

The first two weeks of our term Prof. Hooker gave us a thorough drill in practical Arithmetic, introducing some work entirely new to some of us.

Prof. Willett gave us an exhaustive review of practical and analytical Grammar on a new method, which we like very much, and Prof. Clinard wrestled with our dull comprehension in the intricate analysis of intellectual Arithmetic.

This week Prof. Watson has critically ventilated all our pet authors and theories upon Phonic Elements, Reading and Elocution. His work has been intensely interesting both for its merit and novelty.

Prof. Empson has been laboring hard to impress upon our imaginations the graceful forms of his elegant penmanship. Miss Callie Johnson has been striving, with equal emphasis, to resurrect the little knowledge of Geography, which we obtained in our childhood days; and out Superintendent has set us to writing a History of the United States. We think of having it copyrighted and published under the firm name of Robertson County Teachers Normal School.

Our class is composed of twenty girls and five boys. A citizen of Cedar Hill said he thought the women would capture the school of Robertson County before many years, and Supt. Ruffin flattered us by rejoining, “they ought to.”

Bud Moore, Nat Kernan, Charlie Payne and John Cook are domiciled at Rev. F.G. Cobb’s. When Bro. Cobb was asked if the boys had run him from home yet, he remarked, with a wise look, “I think I will hold the fort.”

Misses Lula and Lee Atkins are boarding at Mrs. Melvin’s; Attie Rosson and Maggie Morrow at J.F. Ruffin’s; Sudie and Mattie Chambers at J.C. Ruffin’s; Lattie Holland at Mrs. Wynn’s; Lula Jones and Ida Fry at Dr. Hawkins’; Prof. and Mrs. Walton and John T. White at W.R. Featherston’s and Prof. Empson and Clarance Nave at T.J. Ayers.

Our school is opened every morning with religious service. Misses Jessie Ruffin and Mattie Ayers are our organists. Misses Minnie Henry, Kittie Connell, Walton Ryan and Mollie Clinard, come regularly from Springfield. Bud Moore is the champion athlete of the class.

Nat Kernan is the bashful boy in school. He was seen one evening throwing stones (very softly, of course) at some girls who were leisurely taking a walk down the railroad. Misses Kittie Connell and Mollie Clinard could not be convinced that they are not the tallest in the school until Prof. Willett backed up the standard. Sudie Chambers and Carrie Ruffin are the baby girls of the class.

The girls have christened Prof. Hooker “Lightening Calculator.” Prof. Walton is known as “Old Chris,” and Prof. White “Little Chris.” We are hunting a nick name for Supt. Ruffin but we shan’t talk very loud till after examination.

Mr. and Mrs. T.J. Ayers entertained Prof. and Mrs. Walton and a number of students, Thursday night. The most delightful feature of the evening was Mrs. Walton’s rendition of some find music on the piano. Bro. Reams and Mr. Ben Mallory of Adams Station, spent one day with us.

We have had quite a number of visitors. The people of Cedar Hill have manifested some interest in our work and have treated us with marked courtesy and hospitality. The most delightful entertainment of the season, was given at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Bascom Batts, in honor of Misses Clardy and Carlyle, who are visiting there. We, poor, tired Normal students, were out en masse and all went away thinking our kind entertainers for turning our thoughts away from formulas and rlues event for an evening. We miss, this year, some familiar faces of last year’s class.” Virginia Cobb, Nora Richards, Gussie Owen, Addie Smith, Georgie Atkins and Nannie Atkins, Lucy Felts, Louis P. Pearson, C.P. Kernan, J.E. Empson, and others. Most of all we miss Prof. Borthick, one of our best teacher. One of them, Prof. Pearson, has died. A man whom we all admired – Miss Nannie Atkins has abandoned her profession to became a farmer.

This 1888 report mentioned Professor Louis P. Pearson. His obituary appeared in the Springfield [Tennessee] Record just two months before the school report was shared.

“On Sunday night, April 29th, gloom was cast over the entire community by the death of Professor Louis P. Pearson. No grander, nobler man ever lived. Notwithstanding he had been sorely afflicted for years, he ever maintained a cheerful and amiable disposition. He was a candidate for County Court Clerk in the race of 1886. He leaves a devoted mother and twin sister, and other loving sisters and brothers.”

Sources: Springfield Record, 5 July & 10 May 1888.

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