History of

wDickson County, TN

New 65-Page Booklet

Early days in Dickson County in Middle Tennessee are recalled in this spiral bound booklet compiled from excerpts from: History of Tennessee, originally published in 1886 by Goodspeed Publishing Co., and Counties of Tennessee by Austin P. Foster (1923), and Tennessee, a Guide to the State, a 1939 Federal Writer's Project of the WPA. The new 65-page booklet is printed on 60# paper with the print enlarged for easier reading. A vinyl sheet has been added to protect the front cover.

Among the subjects included are: The Highland Rim, minerals and caves; Iron furnaces; Oil potential; Lime works and a sumac-mill; Military land grants with names and amounts; Names of early settlers; Block houses; John Holland, the first licensed storekeeper; Early Mills and distilleries; Slave owners; County organization and boundaries; County and court officials; The execution of a slave for murder; Other court cases, involving murder, harboring slaves, forgery, etc.; Judges, Court clerks, Grand Jurors, and Lawyers; Soldiers in the War of 1812; Civil War with support for the Confederacy; Federal soldiers in "Camp Charlotte" in 1863; Churches; Schools; Businesses, Secret Societies; the towns of Charlotte (the county seat), Dickson, White Bluff, Burns Station, and Gillam; and other items of interest.

Besides the names mentioned in the first part of the booklet, there are a number of biographies. Most are fairly lengthy, and often include ancestors, previous residences, children, in-laws, affiliations, war records, and business activities. In the course of this they often shed light on the early businesses, professions and institutions in the county. The biographies include: William M. Adams, Isaac M. Bowers, Edward Brown, J.R. Bryan, Dr. W.C. Charlton, Winfield S. Coleman, William C. Collier, Joe Cox, James N. Cunningham, Thomas S. Curtis, Jesse Daniel, J.A. Dodson, William Easley, Stephen G. Eleazer, Jonathan W. Elliott, R.D. Eubank, Rufus Ferbee, Col. Thomas Grigsby, William L. Grigsby, Samuel W. Grigsby, Joe Grimes, John P. Grimes, Dr. J.T. Henslee, Elbert J. Hicks, James C. Hunt, James Washington Hunter, James G. Jackson, W.J. Mathis, Anthony A. Matthews, J.D. Martin, William B. McFarland, Rev. W.G. McMillan, Augustus E.C. Miller, Pasivent S. Miller, John B. Monroe, James Martin Moody, Dr. Oscar Noel Moody, Thomas C. Morris, Col. Goerge H. Morton, Thomas J. Murrell, William M. Murrell, Kendrick Myatt, Allston Myatt, William T. Nesbitt, Jerry Nesbitt, William J.A. Nesbitt, Rev. George W. Nichols, Barton W. S. Nicks, James F. Nicks, William J. Norris, A.E. Pardue, Cave Johnson Phillips, Elridge Newson Phipps, Daniel Rice, John Rickert, Wiley M. Russell, Dr. John D. Slayden, James B. Smith, John M. Speight, James R. Spicer, Robert B. Stone, Mrs. J.J. Wyatt, William H. Taylor, James J. Thompson, Franklin Fulton Tidwell, and Prof. W.T. Wade.

The WPA excerpt includes information on the Ruskin Colony, a co-operative formed in 1894 under J.A. Wayland of Greensburg, Ohio.

Wouldn't this make a unique gift?