Jackson Purchase Historical Society

Marshall County, 92nd created in the state in 1842, was named for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Marshall (1801-1835); it was carved out of the northern portion of Calloway County.     It is bordered on the north by Livingston, Lyon and McCracken counties, on the east by Trigg county, on the south by Calloway county and on the west by Graves County.    Its county seat is Benton, named in honor of Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri.

For 10 years in a row, 1999-2009, Marshall County has been named the best county to live in within the State of Kentucky.

Kentucky Lake and Barkley Lake, both created by the Tennessee Valley Authority by impounding  the Tennessee and  Cumberland Rivers,  make up one of the largest man-made bodies of water in the country.  It lies on the north/northeast boundary of Marshall County.

Benton holds its annual Tater Day Festival in April.  This festival has its origins in a trade day began in 1842 and is the world’s only celebration of the sweet potato.

Held annually the fourth Sunday of each May, is the Big Singing, which originated in 1884 and is the oldest continuously operating indigenous music festival in the United States. The Big Singing was founded by James R. Lemon, publisher of the Benton Tribune-Democrat.

One of Benton’s most famous sons was Joe Creason a journalist who was a columnist for the Courier-Journal from 1946-1963.  Creason also wrote two books based on the research he did for this columns before he died suddenly in 1974.

Calvert City was founded by Potilla Calvert and is known for its chemical and manufacturing plants.  Mr. Calvert’s home, Oak Hill, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Marshall County was the site of Cherokee State Park, located on the grounds of the current Kenlake State Resort park in Aurora.  This park operated as the only segregated resort facility for thousands of Negro citizens until the early 1960′s when it was closed after the state park system adopted a complete integration policy.

Calloway County was created out of Hickman County in 1822 and named for Col. Richard Calloway who came to Kentucky with Daniel Boone about 1776.  Calloway was one of the founders of Boonesboro and was killed there by Indians in 1780.

Calloway County is bounded on the north by Marshall County, on the east by the Tennessee River, on the south by the Tennessee/Kentucky border and on the west by Graves County.  When created, its northern boundary was the Ohio River.

As Calloway County grew, typhoid fever raged through the county, more severe in the warmer months.  The common house fly was identified as the carrier of the disease but as few windows had screens and sanitary conditions miserable, a rich breeding ground was readily available for the flies.    Warnings from various county and state officials sometimes generated sporadic campaigns to control the flies.  “The Women’s Club sponsored spring drives to get rid of the flies by awarding youngsters free movie tickets for each 25 early fly carcasses submitted in evidence, in late April and May, in the firm opinion that the destroying of the first flies would hold in check the summer’s population- Calloway’s first experiment in fly birth control.  The uncanny capacity of youth to outwit their elders found maximum ingenuity in perfecting a screen fly trap fashioned a bit along the lines of an ice cream cone shaped net.  Result:  A fly panic broke the Woman’s Club bank in a youth stampede on the Woodruff Opera House.  Moments later an official moratorium ended once and forever the Fly War of 1912.”  (The Story of Calloway County, 1822-1976, by Dorothy and Kerby Jennings, 1978, Murray Democrat Publishing Co., 615 Maple St., Murray, KY 42071, pages 168-169).

Henry County was created in 1821 and named for Revolutionary War statesman, Patrick Henry.   Paris, west Tennessee’s oldest incorporated municipality, has been its county seat since its creation.

Henry County is bounded on the north by Graves and Calloway Counties in Kentucky, on the east by Stewart and Benton Counties in Tennessee, on the south by Carroll and Benton Counties and on the west by Weakley County.

Henry County produced three (3) Tennessee governors: Isham Green Harris, Tennessee’s only Confederate Governor, elected in 1859; James Davis Porter, elected in 1874 (served two terms); and Thomas Clarke Rye, elected 1915. In addition, John Wesley Crockett, Davy’s eldest son, was elected to Congress in 1837, filling his father’s former seat.

Sulphur Well was the county’s first tourist attraction. Many people came to drink the waters believing it had curative powers including relief during the 1837 Yellow Fever epidemic. The well was struck by accident in 1821 while searching for a large salt bed on a former Chickasaw reservation. The well was covered by TVA’s Kentucky Lake in 1944.

(This posting created from the online Tennessee Encyclopedia and the Jackson Purchase Historical Society Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969)

Weakley County was created October 23, 1823 and named for Robert Weakley III, 1764-1845) Speaker of the Tennessee Senate. It is located in west Tennessee bounded on the north by Fulton and Graves counties in Kentucky, on the east by Henry County, on the south by Carroll and Gibson counties, and on the west by Obion County.

The act which created the county specified that the judicial courts were to be held in the home of John Terrell, an early settler, until a court house could be built. The courts were held in Terrell’s house and that of Benjamin Bondurant until April 1828.

Dresden, incorporated in 1827, is the county seat. Martin, the county’s largest city, was incorporated in 1874 and is the home of the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Among its famous citizens are former Tennessee Governor Ned Ray McWherter and Mike Snider, county humorist, singer, Grand Old Opry member and star of the television series, Hee Haw.

(This posting created from the online Tennessee Encyclopedia and the Jackson Purchase Historical Society Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969)

Obion County is one of 95 in Tennessee created in 1823 and included was is now Lake County until 1870.  It is bounded on the north by Fulton County Kentucky, on the west by Lake County Tennessee, on the east by Weakley County Tennessee and on the south by both Dyer and Gibson Counties Tennessee.   It is generally considered to be named after the Obion River; Obion thought to be an Indian word meaning “many forks”.

Troy was the first county seat and the first incorporated town (March 1, 1843) in the county.   Davy Crockett was there when Troy was laid out as county seat.  Crockett would go on to represent Obion County in the U. S. House of Representatives.  Crockett’s fame as a bear killer (his record was 103) was made in Obion County.

Union City is now the county seat.  Laid out in 1854 on land owned by General George Gibbs, Union City came by its name because it was where the Nashville and Northwest Railroad and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad met.

(This posting created from the online Tennessee Encyclopedia and the Jackson Purchase Historical Society Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969)

Created in 1823, Graves County was named for Benjamin Franklin Graves. Born in Virginia in 1771, Graves is presumed to have died in Indian captivity as he was wounded and captured during the Battle of the River Raisin in the War of 1812. Formed out of Hickman County, Graves is the second largest county (in land mass) in Kentucky. Its county seat is Mayfield.

A perhaps forgotten citizen of Mayfield is George Bingham. Although born near Cadiz in Trigg County Kentucky, his family moved to Mayfield when George was 11 (1891). George was a journalist and humorist who created the imaginary hamlet of Hogwallow, Kentucky, populated with Kentuckians we would all recognize as they were drawn from citizens of Mayfield and Graves County. Through his syndicated column, he recorded daily the events in Hogwallow entertaining readers in the United States and Canada during the 1920-30s. He also published his Hogwallow stories in a weekly publication called the Hogwallow Kentuckian. Each issue of the Kentuckian contained a hand drawn map of Hogwallow so readers could follow exactly where “things” were happening. Mr. Bingham was co-owner of the Mayfield Messenger in the late 1920s contributing an “Around Town” column while contributing Hogwallow “paragraphs” to the Louisville Times. Mr. Bingham later published a weekly newspaper in Mayfield. He was also at one time associated with the Mayfield Daily Times. He died in 1938, leaving his wife, the former Ellie Gregory, a son, and two daughters.

It is not known if any issues of the Hogwallow Kentuckian still exist. But if the following sample is any indication, they would be good to read today:

“The curtain at the Tickville Opera House is worn out, and until a new one can be bought, the audience will have to keep its eyes shut between acts.”

(This posting created from an article in the Jackson Purchase Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969)

Created in 1824 and named in honor of Capt. Virgil McCracken, it was the 78th formed in the state. It is bounded on the north by the Ohio River, N.E. by the Tennessee River, south east by Marshall County, south by Graves County and west by Ballard County. First county seat was established in 1827 at Wilmington (about 8 miles west of Paducah and 3 miles south of the Ohio River). The county seat was moved to Paducah in 1832 because of flooding; the records were moved in skiff.

The county was named for Captain Virgil McCracken, a native of Woodford County Kentucky. McCracken was killed at the Battle of the River Raisin near Detroit during the War of 1812.

Besides being the home of Vice President Alben Barkley, Paducah was home to one of the most famous humorists, Irvin S. Cobb. Cobb was a newspaper reporter, war correspondent, author, and movie star. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Paducah.

American Red Cross organizer Clara Barton visited Paducah in 1884 via steamboat to help direct relief work during the Ohio River flood. Relief boats traveled from Pittsburgh to Cairo in the first flood relief operation of the American Red Cross.

(This posting created from articles printed in the Jackson Purchase Historical Society 1969 Sesquicentennial publication)

Lake County Tennessee is located in the far northwest corner of the state bordered on the west by the Mississippi River, on the north by Fulton County Kentucky, on the east by Obion county, Reelfoot Lake, and on the east and south by Dyer county.  Mostly flat it contains approximately 104,950 acres of land and about 15,000 acres in lakes.  The county was created in 1870 out of Obion County and named for Reelfoot Lake, which was created by the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquakes.  Tiptonville is the county seat.

Lake County’s most famous son is Carl Perkins, the King of Rockabilly.  He was born near Tiptonville in April 1932.  When he was fourteen, his father moved the family to the Memphis area.   Perkins was best known for writing the song, Blue Suede Shoes, which made both Perkins and Elvis Presley famous.  Perkins played his guitar commercially for over 40 years and toured with Johnny Cash for over 10 years.  Perkins died in Jackson, Tennessee on January 19, 1998.

Today, Tiptonville’s visitor center is named after Carl Perkins and the city holds an annual Blue Suede Shoes and BBQ event in the summer.  This year the event will be held July 15, 16, and 17.  Ya’ll come!

(This post created primarily from information found on the Internet)

Fulton County was created on January , 1845, the 99th, out of Hickman County.  It was fittingly named for the famous steamboat inventor, Robert Fulton, “the engineer who helped usher in the era of the paddle wheelers and turned the river into an even more important artery of commerce”.  (Paducah Sun article, September 6, 1966, by Bruce Gardner)

Containing 184 square miles, its creation was the result of efforts to keep the town of Moscow from becoming the county seat of then Hickman County.  Moscow was a thriving trade center strategically located near the center of the County.  Those wanting to keep Clinton as county seat teamed with resident in the town of Hickman and surrounding areas to get their State Representative to introduce a bill establishing Fulton County.  The bill was enacted with the interesting and unusual provision that the town of Hickman should be the county seat upon condition that the sum of $4,000 should be pledged and secured on or before the month of August following enactment for the purpose of erecting a courthouse. (Hickman County Kentucky Pictorial Book)  The courthouse was raised in 1847.

Fulton County contains the “thumb” (called Madrid Bend) that sticks out into the Mississippi (dividing the county into two parts) and runs eastward until it ends at the Graves County boundary.  Its southern boundary is the Tennessee state line and its northern boundary is part of the Mississippi River and  Hickman County.

Operating continuously (more or less as it closed for a short period 1991-199) since 1840, a ferry service connects Hickman (Fulton County), Kentucky to Dorena, Missouri.  This 12 car capacity ferry operates from April 1 to December 24 yearly and is located at River Mile Marker 922 (from New Orleans) approximately halfway between St. Louis and Memphis.

The largest city in the county is the City of Fulton.  Incorporated in 1872, the city grew and in the 1890s, the Illinois Central consolidated the rail line serving Fulton linking it to the rest of the nation.  The city became the system’s primary banana refrigeration stop in the early 20th century and was once called the Banana Capital of the World.   The International Banana Festival began in 1963 but has since been discontinued.

Mississippi River from the bluffs at Columbus Belmont State Park, Kentucky looking toward Missouri

Hickman County is probably most noted for the Columbus-Belmont State Park located on the bluffs above the Mississippi River.  The park contains  the anchor and and a portion of the  chain with which the Confederate Army tried to block the river and keep the Union Army from controlling it.

Born in Hickman County on December 29, 1954, Robert Burns Smith went on to become the third governor of Montana (1897-1901).  Smith was educated in Kentucky, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1877.  He began his legal career in Mayfield, Kentucky and continued it in Helena, Montana.  As member of the 1884 Montana State Constitutional Convention, he served as U.S. District Attorney, City Attorney of Helena and was elected governor in 1896.   Education was a major part of his tenure as he supported the state’s agricultural school in Bozeman, the state university in Missoula and the school of mines in Butte.  Smith died on November 16, 1908 and is buried in the Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell, Montana.

Hickman was the 71st county formed, in 1822, and was named for Captain Paschal Hickman of the 1st Rifle Regiment, Kentucky Militia who was killed by Indians in the Massacre of the River Raisin during the War of 1812.  Columbus was the original county seat but in 1830 it was moved to Clinton.  According to the 2000 Census, Hickman is the least densely populated county in the state.

(Information for this posting was taken from the National Governors Association website at www.nga.org and Wikipedia website at http://en.wikipedia.org)