History of

wShelby County, Tennessee

New 122-Page Booklet

The early history of Shelby County, Tennessee, which includes the City of Memphis, is recalled in this spiral bound booklet taken from: History of Tennessee, originally published in 1887 by Goodspeed Publishing Co. The new 122-page 8 1/2 x 11" spiral-bound booklet is printed on 60# paper with the print enlarged for easier reading. A vinyl sheet protects the front cover.

The booklet contents include: the physical features -- boundaries, water courses, bluffs,  soil, etc.; De  Soto, Father Marquett and M. Joliet, and other explorers who visited the area; Fort Assumption; Land grants; County organization in 1820; Early settlers; Miss Frances Wright and Nashoba, an attempt to educate and emancipate slaves; Elections and results; Courthouse and other county buildings; Roads and Railroads; Officials; Attorneys; Jury members; Court cases -- horse stealing, negro stealing, grand larceny, biting off an ear, murder, etc.; Wade Bolton's interesting will; the feud between Bolton and Tom Dickens; Memphis indebetedness in 1879; War with Mexico; Civil War -- units that fought and actions on the home front; Elmwood Cemetery and the National Cemetery; Education; the Highbee School, the Clara Conway Institute, the Le Moyne Institute, the Christian Brothers' College, and St. Agnes Female Seminary; Churches -- Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Catholics,  and others; the City of Memphis -- early settlers, including Isaac Rawlings, John C. McLemore, John Overton, Andrew Jackson, and others; Epidemics of yellow fever and cholera; Names of Doctors and clergy who died fighting the diseases;  banks, insurance companies, power companies, manufacturers, newspapers; the Memphis Merchants Exchange; the Leath Orphan Asylum; societies; other communities -- Raleigh, Arlington, Collierville, Bartlett, Germantown, etc.  

A second booklet will soon be available with biographies of many Shelby County residents taken from this same source, plus items of interest from 2 other sources.

Wouldn't this make a unique gift?