Ancestry Investigation, Part I

Tennessee Free Press Newspapers is offering this multi-part feature during 2013. Part I appears in their January 2013 edition. The printed paper is available throughout South Central Tennessee, or visit them on Facebook.

Part I

I am no genealogist. I need to make this clear right off, because I do not want to insult any “real” genealogists. The best description for what I do would be “ancestor investigation.” I love it. Somehow I had the impression for the first 48 years of my life that I could not put the pieces of my personal history together without professional help – which I had received free of charge over the years from two great genealogists, Frank Tate and Elizabeth White. I can only hope to become half the researchers they were, so the series of articles I will write on this subject during 2013 are dedicated to the memory of these beloved mentors.

If you are interested in your family history – and let’s face it, you either are or you aren’t – but you do not know where to begin, these articles are for you. I will attempt to share some of what I have learned about conducting research and utilizing historical resources. However, please heed this warning: ancestor investigation is addicting. You will know you have a problem when you begin to think more about your deceased relatives than your living ones. Or when you can’t wait to finish everything else so you can hit the research books or websites. You miss these people whose barely legible names are scrawled in some marriage bond or Census record or deed. Maps of the places they once lived mesmerize you as your imagination takes you over the paths and streams and hills they must have traveled. You imagine their anticipation at embarking on a new life when their name appears on a ship’s passenger list. You shed real tears when you read their will or touch their tombstone.

To genealogists those people whose names you have scarcely heard or whose stern faces you’ve glimpsed in old portraits become increasingly alive. You are connected to them – and not just by DNA. Their story, whether decades or centuries old, is part of your story. The totality of your family’s history is intertwined with the history of your community, state, continent and of the world itself.

What is most amazing, through diligent ancestor investigation, these connections are made and our limited years on this earth fit into the infinite expanse of time.

So how does one begin? Certainly not at the beginning, since it is very difficult to find where that is! First, buy yourself a sturdy notebook and some pencils with erasers. Yes, I know you will be using a computer for much of the process, but nothing takes the place of a notebook that can be carried anywhere…and should be. Do not worry yet about charts or programs. Nothing is as important as collecting the facts.

Begin with yourself. You probably know much more than you think you do. Write your name at the top of a page. Skip two or three pages, then write your mother’s name. Move on to your father, each grandparent, great grandparent and so on, skipping a few pages between each person. Under each name, start recording facts, such as birth, marriage, education, religion, military service, employment, death, burial, full names and anything else pertinent to that individual with as many dates and details as possible. If the person is still living, make a list of questions you need to have answered. This is where you will learn the names and/or nicknames of the older generations (make each one a page), family anecdotes, physical descriptions and other important information not contained in official records. Each person’s pages should be filled in as details emerge. These will be the basis for your research. Bear in mind that family members do not always know exact details about their elders any more than your children know or could recite all the facts about you. Memories are relative – no pun intended. Simply by urging a person to relate something to their own life or memories, you can estimate dates that could assist verification of facts that your parent, grandparent, older siblings or cousins, aunts or uncles or even longtime family friends are sharing. For example, your mother may not know when her great grandfather died, but she may remember that it was when she was in a certain grade of school, which can narrow down years in which to search for documents like wills, probate records or land sales.

Never pass up the chance to copy or make a good, clear high-resolution photograph or scan of any document, artifact, heirloom or photo offered. Sometimes letters, military papers, lawsuits, estate settlements and other fact-filled documents have been around so long, people have forgotten they exist. Ask if there is anything physical associated with the family history. This could be the last chance you will ever have to get a picture of your grandfather’s pistols or your grandmother’s wedding gown.

In the February issue, Part II will help you start assembling your materials and launching a more formal investigation using public records.

In the meantime, please visit www.pastpage.blogspot.com. On this blog, I provide numerous links to resources, samples of personal genealogy projects and printable forms for information gathering.

Click on the family history worksheets one page at a time to make each one full-size. Print the sheet to use as a guide for your questioning as you begin your Ancestry Investigation research.

Willard History Tells Story of America Through One Man

The History of Beverly Willard Family of Virginia and Tennessee chronicles 250 years of American history as told through the descendants of one man, Beverly Willard, who was born in the mid-1700s and lived in Virginia until his move to Middle Tennessee in the early 19^th Century.

“Willard settled in the rural area of what is now Cannon County, Tenn., before 1803,” explained Willard descendant Danny Nichols, author and history enthusiast who compiled, edited and created the narrative for the 1,435-page book. “It is more than the story of an individual, it is the story of a new country through revolution, westward expansion, civil war, industrial development, depression, disasters and the advent of technology. It is an American story of frontiersmen, farmers, patriots, moonshiners and preachers.”

Five years in the making, the publication, released in December 2011, is the collaborative effort of 50 contributors, crossing 13 generations and containing the names of more than 8,000 of Willard’s descendants. However, Nichols assures that the book is far more than traditional genealogical offerings, calling it “a true-to-life adventure,” supported by more than 200 pages of vintage photographs and hundreds of documents, letters, bible records, personal stories and newspaper accounts.

American history comes alive through stories of one young man who gave his life in 1814 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend; brothers on opposing sides during the Civil War; a mother who defied a Union officer’s attempt to steal the family meal; a duel in Auburntown, Tenn., and the 40-year feud that resulted; 15 children and their parents who braved the wild West on a wagon-train to settle Texas; a young Texas Ranger murdered in the line of duty; a 95-year-old woman who became a legend in her hometown; and countless other stories of regular people living ordinary – sometimes extraordinary – lives.

Nichols observed that technology was crucial to the process and successful completion of one of the most comprehensive family histories written relative to Cannon County.

 “The Willard family was blessed when two descendants created a strong foundational history in the early 1960s,” Nichols said, explaining how the mammoth undertaking began. “With today’s technology, however, it became more apparent that the story was much larger than what was known of it in 1963. Computers and the Internet were not available to those earlier researchers, so finding data required thousands of hours of digging through courthouses and libraries and thousands of miles of travel.”

Nichols submits that contrary to what many think such new technologies have brought families closer.

“It was through the use of the Internet that cousins began to find one another and seek answers about their ancestry,” he said, crediting a “pool of inquisitive cousins” with the idea of coordinating individual efforts toward a common goal of updating the original work.

A private, invitational-access Internet website was created for correspondence among interested group members, with as many as 50 people in 16 states and one foreign country involved.

“To become a member of the Willard project one had to agree to contribute his or her own research materials and other pertinent resources,” Nichols said. “It is the sum of that research that truly tells the story. This work represents what can be accomplished through group effort. The result is well-indexed and referenced, making it a work of quality and significance. In 1803 when the Beverly Willard family settled on Hurricane Creek, no one would have ever dreamed such a story would unfold. It is a story worth telling and a most exciting story to read.”

 The History of the Beverly Willard Family of Virginia and Tennessee is being presented on DVD in two volumes in the .pdf format readable by all computers and mobile devices. It may be purchased through Dec. 1 at the pre-publication price of $25 (no shipping/handling) or after at $35 per copy. Orders are filled upon receipt at 1565 Main Street, Lynnville, TN 38472.

“The purchaser may view the DVD on a computer, choose to print the publication on a home printer or take the camera-ready files to a professional printer for creation of a book,” Nichols said, adding that 14 different covers were designed to offer choices in personalizing final printed edition.

Johnson Cousin was an Oz Munchkin

Margaret Williams Pellegrini (born September 23, 1923) is an American actress and one of three surviving munchkins from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, the other two being Jerry Maren and Ruth Robinson Duccini. She was born Margaret Williams in Tuscumbia, Alabama. When she was helping a relative in a potato chip booth at the Tennessee State Fair, a group of little people came by and asked if she wanted to join their show, Henry Kramer's Midgets. "At that time I didn't think I was a midget," says Pellegrini (who then stood about 3 ft. 4 inches).
In the film, Pellegrini played a "sleepyhead" and munchkin villager. After the film, she married Willie Pellegrini (an average-sized ex-fighter) and had two children.
Through the years, Pellegrini has frequently accompanied surviving Munchkins of Oz festivities. As of November 2011, she is a widowed great-grandmother living in Glendale, Arizona, with a room in her house devoted to her treasured Oz collectibles.

Margaret is the first cousin to the late Benjamin Monroe Johnson Sr. of Rose Hill, Giles County, Tenn. Her father and his mother were siblings.

Former Pulaski Citizen reporter recognized by State for work in historic preservation

Claudia Johnson was recently recognized by the Tennessee Historical Commission for her lifelong work in community historic preservation. She was presented with a Tennessee Historical Commission Certificate of Merit for 2012 in the category of the Commissioners' Special Commendation.

“I was deeply honored to have received this recognition,” Johnson said. “My passion is history, and I have spent a lifetime promoting and attempting to preserve our local history.”

Johnson was nominated for the award by one of the 24 commissioners who serve by gubernatorial appointment on the Historical Commission’s governing board. In presenting the award, THC Executive Director Patrick McIntyre specifically recognized Johnson’s leadership in helping save the historic Alvin York Institute building in Jamestown during her tenure as Executive Director of the Sgt. York Patriotic Foundation.

Johnson’s other preservation-related activities have included work on National Register of Historic Places nominations in Giles County; grant applications for preservation funds, heritage tourism development projects, archival photography and preservation planning.

She is a former president of the Giles County Historical Society, a former board member of the Elkton Historical Society, a member of the William Branch Giles Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution; a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a member of the Auburntown Historical Society and the current publicity chairman for the Campbellsville Area Association. Johnson continues to be a popular speaker on history-related topics, having spoken to dozens of groups in Tennessee and Alabama.

She is author of A Page from the Past, a 2005 book covering the 150-year influence of the Pulaski Citizen on the community. This book is available for purchase at Holley’s Printing. Additionally, she has edited or co-authored numerous other history books and publications, and as editor-in-chief of the Cumberland Business Journal in Cookeville worked with regional historians in publishing monthly articles about the influence of history on business and economic development.

An avid local historian and genealogist, Johnson maintains a number of history-related blogs, including www.claudiajohnson.blogspot.com, which showcases a special history project completed while at the Pulaski Citizen in which she was invited to the Smithsonian Institution for the opening of a Civil-War era coffin.

Presently she is Director of Grants for Columbia State Community College and resides in Giles County with her husband, Danny Nichols. She is the mother of two children, Sasha Dunavant, of Pulaski, and Benjamin Johnson of Nashville.

Uncovering Secrets Buried in Cemeteries Subject of Jan. 27 Historical Society Meeting

Author and historian Danny Nichols will present a program, “Buried Secrets,” about exploration of historic graveyards to the Giles County Historical Society and the public on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, at 2 p.m. at the First National Bank Community Room.

Danny Nichols grew up in the Auburntown area of Cannon County, graduating from Auburn High School in 1971. Nichols said that history has long been a passion of his life, and while attending Cumberland College in Lebanon, his first aspirations toward performing historic research emerged.
Family history has always been at the heart of those interests, although he said he enjoys American history – especially early Tennessee history. He particularly enjoys Civil War history and how it affected family, community and country.
Nichols graduated from Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville with honors in 1975. During his time in Cookeville he utilized the TTU library to conduct genealogical research, which later led to the publishing of his Nichols Family History in 2005. Soon after, he led a group of 50 Willard descendants from across the country in an effort to update another line of his family history. This work, History of Beverly Willard Family of Virginia and Tennessee, was published in November 2011.
A charter member of the Cannon County Historical Society, Nichols has remained a member since its 1976 founding. He co-founded the Auburntown Historical Society in 2006, leading the organization during his presidency through publication of two books on local history and one containing favorite recipes of Auburntown citizens.

While growing up near a small family cemetery, Nichols developed an interest in the history such cemeteries contain. His presentation highlights cemetery research and discoveries made during his own quest of locating ancestors.
“I enjoy discovering what Mother Nature has hidden from those who find cemeteries of great interest and historical value,” he said, observing, “It is our history, our story that is recorded on the tombstones that now lie beneath the ground. I feel a certain comfort in knowing that finding and raising them brings back to life a certain part of our history.”
Nichols continues to work toward finding the graves of his own ancestors who settled in the Auburntown community in 1803 and those of his wife, Giles Countian Claudia Johnson, whose family settled in the Campbellsville area soon after Giles County was founded. Nichols and Johnson, who live near Campbellsville, are active members of the Campbellsville Area Association.

“In presenting ‘Buried Secrets,’ I will speak of lessons learned so that others interested in this subject may also engage successfully in this type of historical research and preservations efforts,” he said.
The Jan. 27 meeting is free and open to the public.

You are invited

a page from the past..., a 150-year look at Giles County's history as presented on the pages of the PULASKI CITIZEN since 1854, became available to the public June 15, 2005.
Reader requests solidified the decision to compile a year-long 2004 series, "a page from the past...," into a book, according to Claudia Johnson-Nichols, the PULASKI CITIZEN staff writer and Campbellsville native who spent 18 months on a special project to celebrate the newspaper’s 150th birthday.
Johnson-Nichols read hundreds of issues of the CITIZEN dating from the paper’s founding on Dec. 16, 1854, through modern times, all for the purpose of bringing CITIZEN readers a sense of how the paper covered the current events that have since become history.

“Certainly there are official records of these, but there’s more to a story than a document,” Johnson-Nichols commented, admitting that reading the old papers have reinforced her commitment to accurate reporting. “What’s in the paper is what the public in general will know, now and especially in the future.”

The book features stories on everything from horses, to education, to baseball, to industrial development, to an unsolved police slaying and visitors from outer space. Stories of national interest like wars, reconstruction, prohibition and suffrage were explored from the local perspective using the CITIZEN archives. Dozens of illustrations, including maps, photographs and postcards, have accentuated the reprinted articles and advertisements.

“I think I could have done this for the rest of my life and never exhausted the supply of interesting material. There are so many topics that were not touched just because there was not enough time,” Johnson-Nichols said.

A page from the past... is a 9 X 12 perfect-bound book printed on archival quality paper with a heavyweight, glossy cover. Johnson-Nichols was intimately involved with every detail of the book’s layout just as she was with selection of every piece of material it contains.
The final chapter is the 48-page souvenir edition with all material and photographs selected by Johnson-Nichols from archived newspapers and other sources highlighting the history of the PULASKI CITIZEN, which everyone who bought the newspaper on Dec. 16, 2004, received as a gift. This special section was honored with a first place award from the Tennessee Press Association for 2005.
A few copies of the book are still available at $27.95 plus applicable tax. Call 931 363 3544 for more information or to order by phone. It's a great way to celebrate Giles County's history or share it as a gift to someone else..

Tour the wineries of the U.C.

Stonehaus, Chestnut Hill, Del Monaco, Highland Manor, Holly Ridge, Red Barn and Mill Road

Claudia Johnson
The Upper Cumberland is a convenient and impressive destination for winery and vineyard touring and wine tasting. Many wineries have installed glass windows so that visitors may observe the tanks and equipment. Some, such as Stonehaus Winery Inc. at Crossville, invite visitors to view a DVD covering all aspects of the operation, including grape growing and crushing and the wine making and bottling processes.

In addition to a tasting area, all Upper Cumberland wineries have shops offering accessories like openers, pourers, stoppers, glasses and racks. Several stock other Tennessee agricultural products such as jellies, jams and sauces along with gift items – custom glassware, t-shirts, baskets and decorative items featuring a wine motif. Red Barn Winery & Vineyards in Macon County, Del Monaco Winery near Baxter in Putnam County and Holly Ridge Winery and Vineyard in Overton County maintain rooms suitable for weddings, reunions, parties and meetings.

Casual fine dining at Chestnut Hill Winery in Crossville is available at the accompanying Brass Lantern Restaurant and Lounge. Adjacent to Stonehaus is Halcyon Days Restaurant and an antique shop. Highland Manor in Jamestown allows visitors to picnic on the grounds or enjoy a private dinner in the wine cellar. Mill Road Winery in Clay County is situated in an orchard and sells seasonal fresh fruits in addition to fruit and grape wines.
In recent years Upper Cumberland wineries have taken gold, silver and bronze regional and international awards for their wines. The wineries of the U.C. continue to invest in agricultural and cultural tourism development. 
Most have special events throughout the year.
Visit http://www.uppercumberland.org/wineries.htm for more information.

Touring wineries is among our favorite pastimes. The wineries of the U.C. were recognized recently with a Cumberland Business Journal Ovation 2009 Award for Excellence in Economic Development based on Tourism. We encourage you to become one of those tourists. Take a day and tour the wineries, visit the vineyards and sample this ancient drink, mostly made from grapes and fruits grown in our rich Tennessee soil.
Cheers

A message on genealogy for pastpage visitors...

I have had several people who've visited this site contact me and/or my husband for additional information about history or genealogical research. His research is related to the Willard family, the Nichols family and to Auburntown or Cannon County, Tennessee. Mine is related to Giles County, Tenn and various branches of my family tree – Carvell, Carrell, Hays, Wilson, Williams, Johnson, Frame, Ball, Gattis, Joines, Arnold, Carpernter and others.

Please visit www.issuu.com/campbellsvilletn for free downloadable original books published by me for information on two lines of my family – the GATTIS and the JOINES families – including actual historic documents.

If you do have questions, please feel free to send them to our research email address at dejavu159@gmail.com. We will gladly forward the question to the appropriate group or individual who may be able to help.

At the right of this page you will note several links that could be of interest.

Claudia Kay Johnson Nichols

Giles Countians Distinguished Themselves in War of 1812

By Claudia Johnson

In the same year Giles County was created, 1809, newly elected President James Madison and his style setting wife, Dolly, moved into the White House. Tennessee was a mere child of thirteen, and the United States had been a nation for thirty-three years. In many respects, though, Great Britain had never recognized American independence and continued to treat the young nation as a British colony.

By 1811 when Pulaski was newly established, America's relationship with England had deteriorated to the point Congress declared war, listing Britain’s hostile actions as justification. Under the Orders of Council, American ships had been forced to pass through England despite their destination, curbing trade with other European countries. U.S. citizens sailing under the American flag had been forcibly seized and impressed into British navel service. U. S. commerce was being plundered under a pretended blockade.

Worst of all, at least to Southerners, the English were encouraging Indian warfare in recently settled areas, creating an atmosphere of fear and danger for pioneer families. Perhaps it was this situation, or expansionist urges, or a simple desire to protect the homes they had struggled to build out of wilderness, that evoked intense patriotic fervor among pioneers. Though poorly equipped and ill trained, the South readied its militia units to fight both the Indians and the British.

Paradoxically, the New England coastal states which had suffered economically from British hostilities, exhibited great sympathy for the enemy, sending supplies, money, even beef cows for food, to Britain’s offshore fleet and her armies in Canada. In 1813 the Embargo Act closed ports in New England, ending trade with the British.

Early Giles County historian, McCallum, related a story in which a local woman, like most settlers, patriotically refused to purchase imported goods. In the usual manner, she made coffee out of dried okra, and served it to a breakfast guest from the Northeast. The man commented that the coffee smelled very strong of the embargo. His hostess quickly replied that it smelled equally as strong of liberty.

With such sentiments, there is little wonder that Tennessee earned its nickname "The Volunteer State" during this period. A large number of Giles Countians served in the War of 1812, and many were alongside Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston in at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in Alabama during the Creek Indian Wars, which were a part of the War of 1812. Some later served with Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans.

Perhaps the most outstanding of the Giles County soldiers was Thomas Kennedy Gordon, who had been a captain in the militia at 18 and lieutenant colonel commandant of the Giles County Regiment of the Tennessee Militia at 22. He volunteered for the Creek Wars taking many locals with him. As rations and supplies dwindled, and most men were ill and wanted to head home, Gen. Jackson, who was also sick, declared, "As long as one man remains, I'll stay here and fight." Col. Gordon responded, "General, I'll stay, will die with you." Jackson and his men went on to defeat the Creeks, and the two men became lifelong friends. As President, Jackson mailed his wealthy planter friend and Buford Station resident, a letter addressed simply "the Colonel at Mont Gordon, Nashville." It arrived. Many Giles County Gordons are descended from the Colonel.

Another Giles Countian who distinguished himself, though rather dubiously, was Lt. William M. Kerley, who had come to the county with Tyree Rodes and lived on his land at Clifton Place. Among the first troops called for service, Kerley and other soldiers misunderstood the terms of their enlistment and planned to return home shortly after Horseshoe Bend, at which time Gen. Jackson demanded the return of Kerley's sword. When the lieutenant refused, Jackson threatened him with a pistol, which, according to Charles Clayton Abernathy, Jackson would certainly have used had yet another Giles Countian, Dr. Gilbert Taylor, not taken the weapon from Kerley an returned it to Jackson. Jackson later gave the sword back when Kerley explained he needed it as protection to lead his men home. Jackson said Kerley was too brave a man to punish and pardoned him.

Kerley's life was one of many saved by Dr. Gilbert Taylor, a distinguished surgeon trained in Philadelphia, who arrived in Pulaski in 1811. He volunteered for the Creek Wars and was surgeon of his regiment and on Jackson's own medical staff. At his own request, he acted with the artillery at Emuckfaw and Enotochopie. He bought an large gun, five feet long and of an unusual caliber, carrying nearly 40 buckshot at a load. At Emuckfaw he took a good position, watched for the flash of Indian guns, and fired at the flash. The easily recognizable blast of his gun prompted his comrades to cry out, "There's Taylor's artillery!" At Enotochopie he was one of twenty-five who volunteered for a dangerous defense mission and one of the six who survived it.

He became a Methodist minister in 1819 and served his community until his death in 1870.
James Patterson, a civilian who had been illegally held captive for three years during the Mexican War for Independence, was a member of Capt. John Gordon's company of spies during the Creek Wars, with a squad of twenty men under him in special service to Gen. Jackson. Although he carried a six-foot- long bear gun, he was nearly killed by a Creek Indian with a tomahawk, who chased him, striking him in the back several times. Patterson was saved by his thick buckskin shirt, the only uniform he and most of his fellow Giles County soldiers ever knew.

Outstanding Giles Countian Charles Clayton Abernathy in his "Recollections" recounted his return home from the Creek Wars. He and his friend, a Gen. McCafferty, started from Ft. Strother, during a rain storm with only one horse and without provisions. The storm became a flood, preventing building of a fire and forcing the men to walk in waist deep water for many miles and to finally abandon the horse. Constant walking in water and crudely made shoes rendered Abernathy's feet so sore he was unable to walk. Outside Huntsville, a compassionate traveler en route to Maury County offered Abernathy his horse, thus bringing him safely home.

Abernathy went on to read law, become judge advocate of the military courts, entry taker in the land office, county pension agent, first Clerk and Master of the county and first Circuit Court Clerk. A fierce Democrat and a devout Methodist, he married twice fathering 18 children, and many Abernathys in Middle Tennessee are his descendants.

A number of Giles Countians are descendants of soldiers of the War of 1812. Below is a list of last names of known soldiers. Research assistants in the Giles County Historical Society Genealogy Room can provide help in tracing family histories. The Society of the War of 1812, a national organization, extends membership to all descendants of that war's soldiers.

Rambo, Maxwell, Madry, Warren, Johnston, Hogan, Kiddy, Hiles, Kelly, Henry Dugger, Hamlet, Gordon, McCandliss, Hazelwood, Barker, Jackson, Clark, White, Creasy, Dodson, Smith, Kidwell, Davis, Chapman, Estis, Emerson, Hichmans, Richie, Button, Dodson, Evans, Abernathy, Bass, Buford, Caruthers, Clack, Cleveland, Everly, Flournoy, Hurlston, McDonald, Morris, Phillips, Kirley, Patterson, Rose, Taylor, Kimbrough, Wilcockson, Carrell, Joines, Coleman Hardy.
For more information visit www.nps.gov/hobe/. Be warned that the site does not list our Giles County soldiers.

A Chapter from My Book – A Page from the Past

These stories unless otherwise indicated were published in various issues of the Pulaski Citizen. This is a chapter (Relics) of my book, a page from the past...

Claudia Johnson-Nichols

An Old Relic

Thurston Griffin and some others were in Richland Creek swimming Sunday afternoon. Just below the site of the Old Second Street bridge, now removed, Mr. Griffin dived to the bottom, and his hand came in contact with something, which he brought up to the surface. It was an old Colt’s cap and ball revolver, all chambers loaded and the hammer on safety. The pistol may have been at the creek bottom since Civil War days, or possibly it may have been thrown into the creek at a later date. Its rusted condition indicated that it had been in the creek a long time. Mr. Griffin loans the pistol to the Museum. May never call for or may at some time want to make another disposition of it.

- CITIZEN, July 21, 1937

The Museum

The little Giles County Museum has been moved into one of the class rooms arranged for the school last spring in the Dormitory Building of the old Massey School Building. While not quite accessible for the general public, the new location is more accessible to High School boys and girls who are the greatest beneficiaries. The room is larger and the light much better in the new location and tourists who go up on the hill to see the museum will get a magnificent view of the hills surrounding Pulaski.

Many of the smaller articles were packed in boxes for removal and have not been unpacked and arranged for observation. Indeed, while work is in progress on the new High School Building the auditorium and gymnasium it will probably be best to let the museum remain closed. That will permit sufficient time without undue haste to arrange articles for observation.

- Aug. 25, 1937

Saber Found in Creek

Some boys diving for scrap iron in Richland Creek near the old bridge at the south end of second creek Thursday afternoon found an officer’s saber, probably a relic of the Civil War.

- CITIZEN, Aug. 25, 1937

A Relic of the Storm

Mrs. Jesse Fitzgerald who lives on Sam Davis Avenue found half of an old copy of the Citizen in the backyard at her home Saturday afternoon, probably carried from the wrecked home by the storm and dropped there. Mrs. Fitzgerald had not heard of the storm when she found the paper, but when she did hear of homes being wrecked, the thought occurred to her that it might have come from one of these. The sheet found is the inside pages of the Citizen of Aug. 11, 1898. As the first page was not with it, the subscriber’s name does not appear. So the paper gives no indication of where it came from.

There are many interesting items in the old paper.

Mrs. Yeaman, wife of the architect in charge of improvements at Martin College, was here for the corner stone ceremony. Among them are”

Rivers Carter, Civil Engineer, was here to make a survey of the town preparatory to putting in a sewer system.

Thomas H. Peebles, principal, has an advertisement of West Hill Training School.

- April 28,1937

A Land Mark

Before the picture show people start work on the new theater at the north-west corner of the Square, it might be interesting to notice the door to the basement room at the north-west corner of the original two-story part of the building.

The jail occupied that lot before, and at the time of the Civil War. It was in the jail that stood one that lot where Sam Davis and Capt. Shaw were imprisoned. It was from that jail that Sam Davis went to his execution on East Hill.

There is a story, probably true, to the effect that sometime after the execution of Sam Davis, a local citizen was held in the jail for some violation of military regulations, and that the jail was badly infested with bed bugs, fleas, lice and possibly other vermin. The citizen was released after a few days but was outraged that a man should be imprisoned in such a place. A few days after he was released, the jail count on fire one night and burned down – bedbugs, fleas and all. Whiles here were no clues as to the sourced of the fire, many people had their suspicions, but generally kept them to themselves.

The lot was bought and Bannister Hall, the present house, was erected there very soon after the war.

J.D. Lewis was a soldier under Gen. Harrison, who became interested in some timber land in the Aspen Hill community, and when mustered out of service, young Lewis was given employment in the office of the lumber yard by Gen. Harrison. He proved himself competent and when the new Postmaster was to be appointed for Pulaski on recommendation of Gen. Harrison, Lewis was appointed.

He secured the basement room at the west end of the building facing Jefferson Street for the post office, and a slot was cut in the door so letters could be slipped through when the office was locked up. The old door with the slot for letters is still there. Before it is torn away, if it is to be removed when time comes for overhauling the old building, you might find it interesting to look over it over and compare what e had sixty years ago with the handsome post office we now have.

-April 28, 1937

Bones of Prehistoric People Washed Up by Flood

After noticing the more material destruction wrought by the recent flood there is interest and fascination in studying some of its freaks which appeal more to sentiment and the student. Ancient graves were washed up in several places. The editor visited one of these Monday. On Dave Wade’s farm between his residence and Richland Mill, the flood washed up what is called an “old Indian graveyard.” The burying place was located on a knoll rising greatly from the creek and evidently supposed to be above high water by the prehistoric people who buried their dead there with such care. But all trace of a graveyard had long since disappeared and not even a tradition remained among the old Negroes in the neighborhood.

The field was worth $60 an acre before the flood and last year 16 acres including the old graveyard produced 14 bales of cotton. The land had been in cultivation long before it come into possession of Mr. Wade and as stated there was neither trace nor tradition of a graveyard.

But when the creek spread over the bottoms as never before this knoll extending down into the bend of the creek land suffered great destruction by the swift current flowing across it. The soil was swept away and when the flood receded the graves were exposed. We cannot tell how deep the bodies were originally buried nor how many were swept away leaving no trace.

About a dozen graves were left exposed. Some of these are graves of small children. The vaults were formed somewhat similar to vaults in graves today. Thin slabs of limestone evidently brought from some distance perhaps across the creek are placed edgeways along the sides and ends. The graves are about 2 feet to 6 feet in wide indicating that the bodies were buried on the side as they are too narrow to permit a body to lie on the back as we bury and persons who first looked into the graves say the skeletons were laying on the side. The body had been placed in the vault which was covered by other flat rocks and thus it was expected by the mourners and loved ones who placed it there that the body would rest undisturbed to the end of time. But when the flood exposed these carefully prepared vaults, they were soon opened and in the absence of other souvenirs the tones of these ancient people were carried away.

A seashell was found in one grave, but the others contained nothing but decayed bones.

The Indians who occupied this country up to about one hundred years ago did not usually bury their dead with such care. They simply opened a grave, wrapped a blanket around the dead body, laid it in the shallow grave and filled in the earth.

Students of ethnology claim this county was inhabited by a race of idol worshipping people, commonly called the “Mound Builders,” who were driven out by the Indians. These mound builders are believed to have been superior to the Indian in many respects, but they worshipped idols while the Indian worshipped the “Great Spirit,” and some students account for the complete annihilation of the Mound Builders by an inferior people on this hypothesis.

The graves recently washed up on the Wade farm may have some connection with a discovery made about 30 years ago in the bluff on the opposite side of the creek. Dave Inman, who lived at the Mrs. Hays place, went to some dogs that had chased a rabbit into the rocks on the bluff. Among the rubbish he found to small clay figures, one the form of a man, the other a woman. They were in sitting posture, perhaps 4 or 5 inches high, the familiar clay idols of the Aztecs. Dr. Grant at that time took a good deal of interest in such matters and Joe Lindsey secured the figures for him. Later Dr. Grant, Joe Lindsey, Ben Epperson and Tully Brown made some excavations and found a number of bones near where the idols were found.

- April 24, 1902

Buried Money (?)

Recently the local Junior Order Lodge leased the first floor of its lodge building to the Swift Co., and it is being used as an exchange depot for trucks hauling Swift products.

One day recently a hole approximately square and about big enough for a man to crawl through was discovered in the floor. An iron rod was sticking up out of the ground under the hole. And the men who tried it were unable to pull the rod out of the ground. And nobody was able to solve the mystery. The Swift people knew nothing about it. Neither did members of the Junior Order. The question was who had cut the hold in the floor and why? And what connection is any had the iron rod?

Somebody suggested a “mineral rod.” And that behaved in a way supposed to indicate the presence of money, near by. Then the party became excited. Imagination supplied all lacking details. It was evident that John Long had buried money under the store. And that somebody who knew something about it was planning to get it. But the Junior Order men, having discovered his plans, decided to beat him to it. So they set to work to dig a hole, following the iron rod to the pit of gold. As some would dig, others would plan what use they would make of the money. There was no question of ownership. Long is dead. And the lodge owned the place in fee simple. So they worked in relays making a hole just big enough for a man to work in.

After several hours they reached the end of the rod, but found no pot of gold there. And if you find out who they were, better not try to sell on of them a “mineral rod” at least for a few weeks. And the hole in the floor remains a mystery. Our guess would be that it was cut from below by somebody who thought he might find in the building something to steal.

- June 22, 1937

Drillers Now 854 Feet Below Surface; Splendid Progress

Company is Averaging About 150 Feet per Day on Beeler Farm

Drilling for oil on the E.W. Beeler farm in the Campbellsville community of Giles County had reached a depth of 854 feet as of Thursday morning, April 24, two weeks after the start of operations, according to W.L. Folsom, representative of the California Oil Company.

In comparison of distances the announced depth of 854 feet starting with the Sharp Garage and extending across the public square down South Second Street to the Post office approximately.

The progress of the drilling represents an average of 150 feet per day at the present time, a figure that is three times as great as the 50 feet overall average expected to be realized during the drilling of the well, according to a previous estimate by officials.

A more comprehensive idea of the extent of the drilling operations may be obtained by comparing the 854-foot depth with the average of the 50 to 100-foot depth of wells drilled for water in this county.

In the belief that Giles Countians are entitled to the information on the progress of this drilling, the company representative stated Thursday that a release setting forth the figure will be issued each week through the medium of this paper.

- April 23, 1947

Relics

John Abernathy brought in one day last week a brass key tag which was plowed up by a negro man the in the Brick Church community. This is a large brass plate about three inches across and scalloped around the edge with the inscription “Linden Hotel, Pulaski, Tennessee, J.A.P. Skillern, Prop.” This type of key tag is designed to be so large that the hotel guest cannot forget it, and carry it away in his pocket. But somebody evidently forgot this one and then threw it away instead of returning it.

Mr. Skillern conducted a hotel on South First Street, where Mr. and mrs. C.B. Patterson ow live and called it the Linden House. Later, he leased the hotel on the west side of the Square, now the Richland, and when he moved in, he brought his name “Linden House” with him. This key tag probably belonged to room 15 in one of these hotels. It has been about 40 years since Mr. Skillern gave up the management of the hotel on the west side of the Square, according to Ollie Doud. You may guess how long since the key tag was thrown out into the field where it was plowed up.

- May 26, 1937

Old Land Marks

By a treaty between commissioners representing the United States and Indian tribes entered into July 23, 1805, the Indians ceded to the United States the lands lying east of a line extending generally northward from the Tennessee River to the Duck River. This old Indian treaty line passed through (what is now) Giles County.

Later by an Act of Congress the Congressional Reservation Line was established and still later was surveyed and marked. It became the base for nearly all the early surveys in Giles County.

Congress granted the State of Tennessee the right to issue land grants and deal with titles to land eastward of this line, but reserved to the Federal Government the right to issue grants west of this line. Hence, the name Congressional Reservation Line.

Thus it was that the original grant of land for the Town of Pulaski, which lies west of the Congressional Reservation Line, came from the General Land Office under President Madison, Nov. 11, 1812, and not from the State of Tennessee.

The original town site was one mile square. Commissioner were appointed to have charge of the survey of the town, location of Public Square, sale of lots, etc. But if these commissioners ever filed a report of their work, the report has been lost. However, by the authority of someone, probably the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, and perhaps in the year 1841, the four corners of the original town site were marked.

Beginning on the Congressional Reservation Line (Sam Davis Avenue) at the point where the white and colored cemeteries join, thence due west one mile along Cemetery Street, crossing Richland Creek just above the bridge to a point in Mr. and Mrs. B.F. McGrew’s lawn near where the Bethel Road leaves the Vale Mill Pike (now vicinity of St. Andrew Church). Thence north one mile to a set stone about one hundred and fifty yards west of the McKissack home (the antebellum home of the late Judge Thomas on the south side of Rocky Road, which was destroyed by fire in recent years). Thence east with the line of R.H. Harris’ pasture passing south of Fort Hill near the colored school alone the south side of an alley and the south side of the Brick Church Pike to the north-east corner of J.N. Speer’s grass lot (corner of Hwy. 31 North and Hwy. 31A). Thence to the Congressional Reservation Line to the beginning.

These four corners are all marked with large cut stones of same pattern each bearing the date 1841.

- May 7, 1924

NOTE: The NE and SE stones are clearly visible and easily accessible in 2004. Former CITIZEN editor W.B. Romine wrote that he was “probably the only living man who has seen all four” and “a good deal of patient, persistent effort was necessary to locate them.” Claudia

Sphinx Uncovered

Cairo, June 25, 1926  For the first time in 2,200 years the Sphinx is now entirely visible. No less than 200 boys and girls and a large corps of skilled masons have been employed for months in the excavation and renovation of the Sphinx. The Sphinx faces due east and since he was first cut from virgin rock has greeted the rising sun 2,000,000 times. In Egyptian the name is Abu Hol, “the father of Fear.”

- excerpt from an Associated Press article in the CITIZEN, July 1926

Ancient Wood Water Line is Uncovered at Village Square

An underground water line possibly a part of Pulaski’s pre-Civil War water system was unearthed last week by contractor Bobby Lee (The Old Dirt Dobber) and some of his employees in the process of preparing the site along Pleasant Run Creek for the location of Village Square Shopping Center.

Discovery of the almost perfectly preserved line built of hollowed out cedar longs along with a number of buried yellow poplar troughs and foot-deep layers of sawdust several feel below ground level has proved interesting speculation as to the extent of the water line and what it served and whether or not there may have been in some distant past a sawmill or similar type industry on the site.

The cedar pipes running parallel to the creek north and south were apparently hollowed out by use of red-hot metal rods one end tapered to fit into the other and fastened with hammered iron bands. They varied in size from about six inches in diameter to 10 to 12 inches in the open centers measuring some three inches. Wood samples taken from the interior still retain the red color and distinctive aroma of cedar. Most of the pipes are 8 to 9 feet.

Another discovery made in the earth-moving process was a second water line constructed of cast iron and showing excessive deterioration running parallel to the wooden line and only about 14 inches away from it.

The troughs made of 2 by 12-inch poplar plans were found after Lee’s heavy equipment had uncovered a spring. They were laid so as to lead from the spring to the creek and when last Saturday’s heavy rains washed off the dirt with which they were covered a plank covering beneath them wa revealed – so the mystery grows.

The CITIZEN will be interested in pursuing the historical background of these findings and anyone having any knowledge of such is requested to contact this office.

- Sept. 13, 1967

NOTE: The 1878 DG Beers map of Pulaski shows that J.H. Jackson owned a huge operation covering the entire block between from North First Street to the west, Jefferson Street to the south, Washington Street to the north, and (what is now) Sam Davis Ave, to the east. Later, there was an ice house, owned by Basil Dobrey, and water-pumping station, manned by Robert Gordon, a Black resident of Pulaski, near East Washington Street, which reportedly pumped water from a large spring at that location to the city reservoir. Irwin McGrew’s flour mill stood where Davis and Eslick now operates, and Patterson Lumber’s buildings were across from the fire hall. Claudia

ANTIQUITIES

On the lands lately owned by the heirs of James Patterson one and one-half miles east of Pulaski and now owned by Governor John C. Brown, near his western boundary and near what was the boundary line or dividing line between the old Patterson tract and the Bernard M. Patterson tract, about 300 yards south of the Fayetteville road there were two Indian mounds; one 40 feet at the base and eight feet high, the other about 30 feet at the base and six feet high. Human bones were found in these mounds. No appearance where the earth thrown up was taken from. Large forest trees are growing on them and around the base.

On the lands owned by L. D. Suttle eight miles southeast of Pulaski on the place known as the Biles tract, on the East side of Richland Creek there was the remains of an ancient fortification. It was on high ground, might be called a hill, with a commanding view of all directions. On the side next to the creek it was steep; about 30 acres were enclosed, with an embankment five or six feet high, which, in 1826, before the land was cleared, was too high and steep to ride over it except in places. The forest growth was large poplar, beech, etc., and trees three and four feet through were growing on the embankment and at the base of it. It was laid off with angles at particular places, had the appearance of been planned by persons acquainted with military defenses and must have been laid off by a people further advanced in civilization than the Aborigines of this country. On the lands lately owned by Dr. Ben Carter adjoining the town of Pulaski, about 100 yards south of the well where the Negro quarters were, was a mound about thirty feet at the base and six or seven feet high. Between the well and the mound is a branch, the bottom of which is a hard limestone rock, on one side is a rock ten or fifteen feet long and several feet wide, in which was the well defined track of a large oxen and a man with a moccasin on. The track of the oxen is two or three inches deep, and that of the man one and a half or two inches. Both tracks plain and distinct, as if made in soft clay. The mound is southwest of the railroad and near to it. The tracks are 50 or 100 yards northeast of the mound.

CANNON BALL

In 1812 or 1813 a cannon ball was found by one of the Negroes that belonged to Wm. Marr, in a dense cane-brake, at what is known as the panther spring, three-quarters of a mile northwest of Mars Hill Church, and about four and a half miles northwest of Cornersville. At the same time they found in a hollow tree at the spring a large number of rock arrow points. The old McCutcheon trace passed near the spring. The cannon ball is in my possession and weighs 11 and a half pounds and is doubtless what was called a 12 pounder. When Mr. Marr moved from the county in 1818, he left the ball with Ephraim Patrick, who was a neighbor, and it has remained in his family ever since, and was sent to me by his daughter, Mrs. Moffitt.

The inquiry naturally arises, how did the cannon ball come there? It may have been taken there by the Indians traveling from the settlements on the Cumberland, or the Commissioners who went out to Latitude Hill in 1783 may have had artillery with them and left it there. They had a guard of soldiers and traveled the McCutcheon trace which was near where the ball was found. Or if DeSoto crossed the Tennessee River as is insisted by some and is more than probable, that he did, it may have been left there by him.

Ancient Fortification

On the east side of Richland Creek opposite the shoals, on a high bluff were the remains of an ancient fortification. About four acres were enclosed within the embankment, oblong in form and evidently designed for defense. The earth was thrown up and although beaten down considerably, was since the settlement about three feet high, and had the appearance of having had four entrances at unequal distances, one toward a spring in the bank of the creek. There were Indian graves within the enclosure. Kirk’s house, where the first courts were held, was in the enclosure. In a cave at the spring known as Anderson’s spring in the northern part of the town, the bones of a remarkably large human were found. The jawbone would go over an ordinary man’s jaw, and the thigh bone was a good deal larger than that of a very tall man. Some pieces of pottery were also found. The pottery was a composition of shells; some flint pikes were occasionally seen. High up in the cave a human body was discovered in a remarkable state of preservation, surrounded with a cloth in which feathers had been interwoven. Numerous mounds and burying places exist in various parts of the County, which from the trees growing on and about them must have been made hundreds of years before the white people settled the country. A remarkable feature in some of those mounds is that they are built up of shells and pebbles, which must have been transported from a considerable distance from river or creek. Another remarkable feature in those burying places is the wonderful state of preservation in which the bones were found when first exhumed.

- James McCallum, Early History of Giles County, published by PULASKI CITIZEN, 1928; first presented as a speech July 4, 1876, at the U.S. Centennial celebration at Wales.