The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 114

42 THE JACKSOM SUN, SUNDAY, JUNI 2f, Hit Davy Crockett, Alvin Hawkins, Gordon Browning Have Added Color, History to Huntingdon Life it -45 ML y-q Zi. i rw. i Unl vjK, rw4sK -rt- I jilt bn ,4 A- fcS CARROLL COUNTY COURTHOUSE The to court square ing- down the steps in the above picture are (left to right) Mrs. Reid Melton, Horace Herron and Mrs. Roy Pate.

courthouse at Huntingdon, serving: Carroll County, was one of the first in West Tennessee to have a modern appearance. Built in 1931, it presents an attractive "centerpiece" WAY BACK WHEN MUk, In the year 1848, when the Jackson Sun was established as the Jackson Whig THE DAGUERREOTYPE WAS THE PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY. Contrast those dim prints on tin with the fine pictures of today. You'll find the best modern photography exemplified at MOORE'S where this bridge is being widened. It will eliminate a "bottleneck" in the flow of traffic into and out of Huntingdon.

Sun Photo by Jim Lowrey) BRIDGE WIDENED AT HUNTINGDON One of the visible signs of progress at Huntingdon is furnished the visitor arriving from the south over Highway 70 at the city limits i 1 fz Br MRS. ADDIE BILLIARD Son Correspondent HUNTINGDON, Tenn. The history of Huntingdon is a very colorful one. About the time of the laying-off of the town Davy Crockett was often seen on her streets; two governors, Alvin G. Hawkins and Gordon Browning, have called Huntingdon their home; and records of many other men and women whose names have gone down in history have been written in Huntingdon's Hall of Fame Nathan Nesbitt, Memi-can Hunt, Dr.

Joseph W. Mc-Call, Dr. William Moore Wright, Hon. H. C.

Townes. and many men and women who are still living. Carroll County is a part of the land that was once known as the Northwest Territory, and in turn was claimed by the Spanish, the French and the English. It was once called "The Land of the Chickasaws," and many arrowheads are still to be found near the town to prove that the Indians spent much time around the bluff and creek that are the site of Huntingdon. An act of the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, passed at Murfreesboro on Nov.

9, 1821, entitled an act to form and establish new counties west of the Tennessee River. One of these counties was named Carroll in honor of William Carroll, who was governor at that time. One of the holders of large tracts of land in this section was the Memican Hunt Company. This company held warrants for 20 tracts of land, each containing 5,000 acres, most of said land lying In the newly formed county of Carroll. On Sept.

9, 1822, Sterling Brewer and James Fentress, who had been appointed by the General Assembly to establish the site for the county seat, located the county seat of Carroll County on the lands belonging to the heirs of Memican Hunt, on the north bank of Beaver Creek, and the nearby bluff. The heirs donated to the county 50 acres for the location of the seat of justice. Banks M. Burrows, Thomas M. Thompson, John Stockard, Samuel Ingram, Mark Roberts and Nathan Nesbitt were appointed on June 18, 1822, to lay out the county seat, sell town ids and In some way to use the name Hunt in naming the town.

They named it Huntsville and It was so called until December, 1823, when the commissioners learned from Davy Crockett that there was a town in Alabama ty that name, so they decided to change it to Huntingdon which was a famous fiddle tune. A log courthouse was erected in 1822. On the morning cf Dec. 9 1822. Nathan Nesbitt, chairman of the County Court, carrying a cross-cut saw and an ax walked five miles from his home to open court.

Upon arriving at the spot, In order to gain entrance, he sawed out a door in the courthouse, entered and convened court within a room with a dirt floor. This was the first term of court ever held in Huntingdon. The jurors brought provisions and camped out during the term. In the June term of court in 1823, the following rates were set up for tavern keepers: Breakfast, 25 cents: dinner, XlVz cents: supper, 25 cents; lodging, 12Vi cents; man and horse per day, whiskey, 25 cents a pint; feeding horse, 25 cents: keeping horse over night, 50 cents; and keeping horse, day and night, 75 cents By September, 1823 the county court was making plans for a svstem of roads to connect Huntingdon with other towns in West Tennessee, one of which was a road of the third class to be laid out from Huntingdon to the Madison County line. Peter Honnel was appointed overseer of the construction of this road.

Old records reveal that the tax rate for 1824 were $1.50 for each town lot, and 75 cents for each hundred acres of land The same year $10 was allowed the commissioners for whiskey and paper used at the sale of the town lots. The dauy wage paid the five commissioners for lavins off the town was $3. In 1824 there were six saloons In Huntingdon. Fighting was a commonplace affair. Early court records show that fines were paid in animal skins, cash or farm products.

David Crock ett paid such a fine. He also reported killing several wolves near Huntingdon and was paid a bounty for each wolf ituiea Court House A frame court house replaced the log structure. The frame building gave way to a small brick house and later to a larg er one. the architect and con structor of which was Col. Joel R.

Smith. This building was destroyed by fire and the present building took its place some 30 years ago, at a cost of $95,000. The most tragic period In the history of the town was the Civil War years when families were divided in their allegiance, and neighbors and brothers fought against each other. In February. 1861, a mass meeting of the citizens of Car roll County was held in the court square.

The following re port signed by Isaac Hawkins, Alvin Hawkins, Dr. Ben ana A B. Hall was read and adopted: "That we are in favor of the seceding states being restored to their allegiance to the gov ernment of the United States peaceably, if possible, but forci bly If necessary. The men who favored secession left by the south gate of the courtyard to be enlisted, and those who favored the north left by the north gate, thereby showing their allegiance. Dr.

WiHIam Moore Wright, a surgeon In the Confederate For many, many years we have served the people of this great section with photographs of distinction. We acknowledge with sincere thanks and appreciation the splendid patronage accorded us7 and solicit its continuation. I at Huntingdon. Shown com 1 i Hit ed "The Carroll Patriot" a few years later. 'The Tennessee Republican" was established in March, 1868, by E.

G. Ridgeley. Later Col. T. H.

Baker took over the own-: ership, followed by his son-in- law, the late R. A. Greene, whose sons, Tom and Richard, continue its publication. "The Vindicator" established by Grizzard and Algee, and pub- lished for about two years was Democratic in politics. Then followed "The Carroll County Democrat," which is now in its 70th year.

It was published until 1940 by J. Gilbert. Since Nov. 1, 1946, W. H.

McConnell has been its pub lisher. The Carroll County Fair is another old institution that is associated with Huntingdon. The first fair was held in McKenzie around 1855, but fairs were dis continued for many years. In 1906 the County Fair was resumed with W. L.

Noell as man ager. This fair and the ones that have followed have been held in Huntingdon. Several years ago property belonging to another pioneer family of Huntingdon was purchased by the Huntingdon Lions Club and designated as Edwards Park in honor of the former owners. This site is the place where the county fair is held each year. In 1956 the Carroll County Fair honored the late Fred Walters, who had been associated wth the fair in various capacities for 50 years.

J. Lee Taylor, Huntingdon attorney, is president of the Carroll County Fair Association and Joe H. Hilliard is general manager. Railroads About a hundred years ago, until the building of the old Northwestern Railroad in 1868, later the N.C.&St. L.

R.R., Huntingdon was the half-way point, a day and a half out of Nashville on the three-day tor- (Conitnued on Page 46) 1 1 iyH HUNTINGDON HIGH SCHOOL The high school at Huntingdon is a source of civic pride, not only because of its high scholastic standing and good athletic teams, but also because of its beauty, as shown in the above picture. CONGRATULATIONS and BEST WISHES To THE JACKSON SUN upon the faith in Jackson and the future and the progress of today it indicates. Good Luck and Success through the next Five Score Years and Ten. army, attended Albert Sidney Johnson when he was wounded and died at Shiloh battlefield. He took an active part in the Constiutional Con vention of 1870, and at one time was supermtendent of prisons in Tennessee.

Dr. Joseph McCall successful ly treated the first authenticat ed case of trichinosis in the state of Tennessee. The oldest house In Hunting don is the home of Miss Alida Townes. It is located on East Main Street. It was built before the Civil War by Col.

John Clark for his daughter, Julia, who married Col. James Townes of Mecklenberg County, Va. The flower garden that sur rounds this stately old home is a thing of beauty. The garden retains its original size and plan, with a summer house in the center, the pergola and damson trees in the background. The Iris, Michrofellow rose.

Yellow Jasmine and many varieties of honeysuckle brought from the Townes plantation home in Virginia, with other rare old fashioned flowers, grow here." Mrs. Julia Clark Townes and Mrs. Alice Crockett Townes were makers of the garden. An interesting sidelight on the house follows. During the Civil War, Major James Algee, a guerrilla in the Confederate Army, returned to the Townes home to see his wife the former Miss Virginia Townes.

While he was here on leave, the Union soldiers came to find him. They demanded to search the house or burn it to the ground. Mrs. Townes and her daughter, Mrs. Algee, gave the soldiers permission to search the house.

They could not find Major Algee. He had safely hidden in a low closet or "cubby hole" in one of the upstairs bedrooms, and a chest of drawers had been carefully placed before the closet door. The major escaped that time, but soon afterwards was captured and died in a Union prison. Hon. Henry Clay Townes, father of Miss Alida, was one of the charter members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at Sydney Hampden College in Sydney-Hampton, Va.

It was founded in 1860. When the Civil War began all 20 fraternity brothers entered the Army of Northern Virginia, in the cavalry under General Fitzhugh Lee. Letters that these fraternity brothers wrote to each other during the war are still in existence. In a letter from Evanston, 111., dated Jan. 25, 1908, Townes was asked to help compile the early history of the S.A.E.

fraternity. He complied with the request and from his letters and other materials was able to contribute much to the history of the organization. Townes was a lawyer, and he was also a member of the faculty of the Southern Normal Law School. Churches The Cumberland Presbyterian Church was the first erected In Huntingdon. Between 1830 and 1840 the Methodist Church was organized and their first church was built in 1840.

The church record shows that in 1870 a total of $600 was raised for the purchase of stained glass windows. Col. R. N. Payne made a trip to Nashville to purchase the windows.

About 1910 a new sanctuary was erected, but the beautiful v.v.;.-:w.fr liiSJ A i i i'i mm old windows were put into the new building. They may still be seen in the First Methodist Church of Huntingdon, which is located one block from the square on East Main Street. Work began on the Christian Church May 21, 1889. The present Church of Christ was erected in 1949 on the site formerly owned by the Christian Church. The Presbyterian Church, U.S.A., was erected in 1910.

The Huntingdon Baptist Church was organized Dec. 31, 1888, in the Cumberland Presbyterian edifice in Huntingdon with 23 charter members. They were J. W. Brown, H.

F. Bridges, B. F. Bridges, E. Bridges, F.

C. Sanders, J. B. Sanders, E. C.

Sanders, A. D. Hilliard, F. C. Hilliard, Eliza Townes, Ada rewer, Diana Rogers, Martha Rogers, Phedora Duncan, H.

O. Hood, Triona Hood, Narcissus Hood, J. B. Gilbert, Mahala Morgan, Lina Gooch, Sallie Daniel, E. B.

Butler and W. W. Gee. The church building was erected in 1889 on a lot that was given by Joe R. Hawkins.

Wings were added to the old church as the membership in creased. They were used as Sunday School rooms until the education building was added at the back of the church building. In 1955 the old church was torn down and a beautiful new structure was erected. Other beautiful houses of worship include the Pentecostal Church and the Assembly of God. Many never-to-be forgotten revivals have been enjoyed here.

In 1906 occurred one of the greatest spiritual refreshings the town has ever experienced. The revival services lasted a month and "great numbers of souls were saved." The first newspaper published in Carroll County was the Huntingdon Advertiser. It ap peared in 1839 and was published by W. W. Gates, who advocated the principles of the Whig Party.

William H. Hawkins establish iSfilll3i0J 1 i nnrm I THE Leaders In Photography for over Fifty Years MOORE STUDIO 215 N. Liberty Street Phone 7-1296.