Jackson Purchase Historical Society

The Governor of Tennessee when South Carolina seceded from the Union was Isham Green Harris.  Elected in 1857, Harris urged secession after the November 1860 election named Abraham Lincoln president.  Voters in Tennessee initially rejected the idea of secession, especially in the eastern part of the state.  When the Tennessee general assembly finally passed an ordinance of independence and alliance with the Confederacy, Harris prevented the separation of East Tennessee and its alliance with the Union.  Tennessee was the last state to secede, joining the Confederate States of America on June 8, 1861.

Harris remained governor until he was forced to flee the state in 1862 after the fall of Nashville.  Harris volunteered to serve the Confederacy as an aide-de-camp and participated in all of the major battles fought  in Tennessee and by the Army of the West except Perryville.  When Lee surrendered, Harris fled to Mexico City fearing retribution from the Union victors.  In 1867 he moved to Memphis where he again practiced law.

Harris was born in Tullahoma, Tennessee on February 10, 1818.  After attending public aschols and Winchester Academy he moved to Paris, Tennessee and worked as a merchandise store clerk.  He moved to Mississippi to study law, passed the bar in 1841 and returned to Paris, Tennessee to practice.  He had a long political career before dying in Washington D. C. in 1897.

He was a Democrat and his political career began when he was elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 1847, the U.S. House of Representatives in 1849 serving until 1853, Governor of Tennessee from 1857 until 1862 (3 terms), and the U. S. Senate from 1877 until his death in 1897.

Serving in the U.S. House of Representatives  from March 4, 1859 to March 4, 1861 for the 8th Congressional District of Tennessee was James Minor Quarles from the Opposition Party.   The 8th Congressional District in 1860 covered the northwestern part of the state and included the present day counties of Lake, Henry, Weakley, Obion, and Stewart.  Quarles was born in Virginia in 1823, moving to Kentucky in 1833.  He was an attorney admitted to the bar in 1845 and practiced in Clarksville, Tennessee.  During the Civil War he served in the Confederate Army under his brother, Brig. Gen. W. A. Quarles, until the end of the war.  He then moved to Nashville in 1872 continuing to practice law.   He died in Nashville on March 3, 1901.

On December 20, 1860, South Carolina seceded from the Union!  Secessionists believed that the United States (the Union), was a confederation, allowing each state to “go its own way” and thus giving each state the right to secede.  Although various sections of the country had been disagreeing for several years over the issues of slavery, tariffs, states’ rights and the differences between agrarian and industrial lifestyles,  the magnitude of the Republican Party victory and the election of Abraham Lincoln  in 1860 created a secessionist response from the Deep South.   Lincoln’s winning meant that approximately three quarters of the elected officials in the next Congress would represent the “Yankee” and antislavery viewpoint.   South Carolina lawmakers’ reaction to Lincoln’s election was to convene and pass a secession ordinance before Lincoln could take office.  The U.S. Government rejected South Carolina’s secession as illegal.

In December 1860, the Congressional Representative for the First District of Kentucky, which encompassed the entire Jackson Purchase, was Henry C. Burnett, a Democrat-States Right advocate.  Burnett was elected first in March 1855 and would serve until December 1861 when he was expelled from Congress for his actions in support of the Confederacy.  Burnett had presided over the Russellville Convention in 1861 that formed a Confederate government for Kentucky.  Burnett was succeeded by Samuel L. Casey, a Republican Unionist.  Before the Civil War ended, Burnett raised a Confederate regiment at Hopkinsville and briefly served in the Confederate States Army.  The Confederate recruiting site, Camp Burnett, located in Clinton, Hickman County, Kentucky was named for him.

In December 1860, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky was Beriah Magoffin, a Democrat, who had been elected August 30, 1859 on a platform of states rights (right to secede) and slavery and had supported the Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision.  Magoffin sought compromise to avoid the country’s sectional divisions and wrote to an Alabama representative in December 1860: “You seek a remedy in secession from the Union.  We wish the united action of the slave states, assembled in convention with the Union.”  Magoffin would eventually resign on August 18, 1862 because the Unionists distrust of him and their repeated overriding of his vetos had put a tight rein on his powers and made his situation intolerable.  Magoffin was succeeded by James F. Robinson.   Magoffin would later serve a term in the Kentucky House of Representatives (1867-69).

EVENT: Our Civil War Sesquicentennial Celebration will kickoff at our Winter Meeting, January 22, 2011.  Dr. Mulligan will be our speaker and those attending will have the opportunity to win a special prize; won’t you make your plans now to attend?

(This posting created using the following resources:  Kentucky’s Civil War, 1861-1865, Back Home in Kentucky, Inc. publisher, ISBN 0976923122; The Jackson Purchase Sesquicentennial Publication, 1819-1869; Internet website at http://en. wikipedia.org)

Dr. Robert H. Grubbs accepts Nobel Prize from His Majesty the King, Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, December 10, 2005

On December 10, 2005, Robert Howard Grubbs was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry along with Yves Chauvin and Richard R. Schrock.   This Nobel Prize recognized Grubbs’ work in the development of the metathesis method of organic synthesis.   “Metathesis is a chemical reaction in which atom groups break away and reform, “switching partners”. It is used in organic chemistry and pharmaceutical research, and Grubbs’ work has led to more efficient, simpler and more environmentally benign ways to synthesize medicines and plastics” (www.nndb.com/people).

Grubbs was born February 27, 1942, in Marshall County, Kentucky on a farm between Calvert City and Possum Trot, to Howard and Faye Grubbs.  Both parents were from small farm families.  Howard Grubbs moved his family to Paducah where Robert in due time graduated from Paducah Tilghman High School.  Grubbs credits a junior high teacher with interesting him in science.

Grubbs earned his B.S. and M. A. in chemistry at the University of Florida, and his PhD in organic chemistry from Columbia University.  He has been a professor at Michigan State University and is currently Victor and Elizabeth Atkins Professor of Chemistry at the California institute of Technology.  He is married and the father of three children.

Grubbs says “The academic model of my mother and grandmother and the very practical, mechanical training from my father turned out to be perfect training for organic chemical research”.   His mother, Faye Grubbs,  persevered  for 28 years to earn her degree from Murray State while teaching school on a teaching certificate.  She taught school for 35 years.   His father attended night classes when he returned from WWII and became a diesel mechanic.   Grubbs has two sisters, one a teacher and one who became the first female journeyman electrician in western Kentucky.

Even in a family that treasures intellectual achievement, being awarded the Nobel Prize must have earned Grubbs at least a well deserved pat on the back!

(This posting created using the following resources:  More Profiles of Past – Paducah People, Volume 4, 2010, by Allan Rhodes, Sr. and John E. L. Robertson, Sr.; www.nobelprize.org, Les Prix Nobel, The Nobel Prizes 2005, Editor, Karl Grandin [Nobel Foundation] Stockholm, 2006;  http://en.wikipedia.org; and www.nndb.com/people)

Obituary from the Mayfield Monitor’s Wednesday, 8-14-1895 edition:

“T. B. Waller died at his home…after complication of diseases after illness of only a few days.  About two years ago, he came to Mayfield…engaged in queenware business until his death.”

Queenware? The online World English Dictionary says queensware is “a type of light white earthenware with a brilliant glaze developed from creamware by Josiah Wedgwood and named in honor of his patroness, Queen Charlotte”.    Wedgwood gifted Queen Charlotte, wife of George III, with a tea set made of this tableware which resulted in Wedgwood being appointed Potter to Her Majesty in 1765.   Upon receiving the Queen’s permission this tableware was called Queen’s Ware.

Queen’s Ware was not an original invention of Wedgwood but a refinement and development of a cream coloured earthenware already produced in several potteries in Staffordshire, England.   Queen’s Ware rapidly became the generic name for creamware.  In 1767, Wedgwood wrote to a friend that “it was really amazing how rapidly the use of it (Queen’s Ware) has spread almost over the whole globe, and how universally it is liked.”  It was also apparently very affordable in cost for the non-royals.

Wedgwood’s Queen’s Ware is described as being able to stand sudden changes in heat and cold without “injury” and made in a “fine form, thin body, clear and brilliant glaze which formed a perfect background for the ingenious enamellers as well as other more mechanical forms of decoration”.   Queen’s Ware will have a mark and the words “Queen’s Ware” on the underside.  A partial dinner service of Queen’s Ware, circa 1790, with impressed marks and gilt was auctioned for $17,719 at Christie’s in November of 2008.

So, if Mr. Waller sold Queen’s Ware, and grandma was one of his customers, there may be cash in your cupboard!

(Information used in this posting found in the Graves Co. KY Newspaper Genealogical Abstracts, Volumn 4, Mayfield Monitor Jan. 1894 to April 1896, Copyright 1981 by Don Simmons; Internet sources at http://dictionary.reference.com/browse, www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk,  www.thepotteries.org/types, and www.christies.com)

Every county in the South has a yearly Fair.  It is is time of carnival rides, and food, and horse races, and mule pulls, and “home ec” competitions, which together create such wonderful memories!  We take them for granted, never questioning their existence, but “someone” had to have the foresight to make them happen.  And the first requirement is space enough for all the activities.   In Graves County, it was Dr. Walter who provided that space.

The deed was recorded on June 4, 1948 and it says that “E.C. Walter and wife Geneva Walter have sold…to the Graves County War Memorial Association, Inc., for the purpose of being used only for a Fairground or Racetrack, or Childrens’ playground or Public Park…and should said land ever cease to be used for any of said purposes the title thereto shall at once revert to and be vested in” the Walters or their heirs.  There was one other stipulation, that “a marker to be erected at some agreeable spot on the land conveyed with the following inscription therein, to-wit:  ‘In honor of Effie Louisa Walter, mother of Dr. E. C. Walter.’”

The fairground was duly created sitting on the north side of Highway 121, north of Mayfield, and is the site of the yearly Graves County Fair.   The marker was erected at the entrance to the fairgrounds and is still there today.  In addition to the Fair, the Graves County Riding Club holds horse shows on the grounds every year from May to September.  Also, horse barns on the fairgrounds are full, almost year round, of harness racing horses whose owners use the racetrack there for training.

Earle Charles Walter was a physician and the president of the Mayfield Hospital.  He lived on North 18th Street and raised Saddlebred horses; the east side of the driveway leading to his barn lot was one of the boundaries of this conveyed property, as the current Highway 121 had not been built in 1948.  Dr. Walter died in 1958 and is buried in Highland Park Cemetery, Mayfield.

(Information used to create this posting was found in the Deed Records of the Graves County Clerk, The 1949 Mayfield City Directory, Volume 5 of the Graves County Cemetery books published through the Graves County Historical Society, and personal observation at the fairgrounds.)

Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same if the sweet potatoes disappeared from our Southern tables.  Some of us like them candied, some with marshmallows melted on top, some mashed with brown sugar and butter, some with just butter, some in a pie.   However they come to the table, though, they bring the smell and flavor of fall.   On occasion, they also generate lively table discussions as to what, exactly, is the difference between a sweet potato and a yam? Most Southern cooks will say that the yam is a darker orange and a “tad” sweeter than the sweet potato but both just as good in their recipes – “just use what’s to hand”!

To help with this year’s possible discussions, here is a little of what the experts say.  Sweet potatoes and white potatoes are not related even though the light yellow skinned sweet potato has a dry, crumbly texture similar to the white potato.   Most commonly called yams are the “sweet potatoes” that are darker orange to reddish with thicker skins and a sweet, moist, orangy flesh.  Sweet potatoes and yams are long with ends tapering to a point as opposed to the white potato’s rounded ends.   The experts say that yams are the tubers of a tropical vine. The word, yam, is of African origin and was first recorded in American in 1676.

Within the Jackson Purchase, two communities celebrate the sweet potato’s popularity yearly. In Kentucky, Benton in Marshall County holds its annual Tater Day Festival the first Monday in April.  Begun in 1843, the town’s population would come together to celebrate spring and trade in sweet potato slips (used to grown the crop.)  Benton’s Tater Day is said to be the oldest continuous trade day in the U.S.   There is always a parade, games, carnival rides and a “flea” market.

In Gleason, (Weakley County) Tennessee, the sweet potato became the town’s number one agricultural export early in the 20th century and  gained for it the nickname of Tatertown.  On Labor Day weekend every year a “Tater Town Special” is held to celebrate the economic contribution of this crop.  The celebration is a community homecoming affair with a parade, good food, high school reunions, family reunions and on Sunday a community-wide church service.

Well, knowing all this won’t make the “taters” taste any sweeter, but maybe it will make the table talk interesting and different!  Happy Thanksgiving!

(Information for this posting found on the Internet at www.gleasononline.com/tater_town_online.htm; en.wikipedia; www.utm.edu; www.homecooking.about.com)

“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” – Winston Churchill, WWII

Answering their country’s call to duty, our warriors have been sent all over the world to defeat those who wanted to take from us our freedoms and our tangible riches.  Our warriors all came back – some only in spirit, their bodies left on foreign soil, some physically but wounded either in body, mind, or spirit.   We honor and remember their service by setting aside special days: Memorial Day, 4th of July, Veterans Day and erecting monuments.  But so many of us, when the parades and speeches are over, go home and forget our warriors until the next “round” of parades and speeches, or heaven forbid, war.

But it is our veterans, 24.9 million of them, who live every day with the aftermath inflected by horrors of  their war.  A grateful government cannot possibly administer adequately to all of the every day and special needs of these warriors.  And so, many private organizations have been formed to help supply these needs, some by the veterans themselves.  A movement has been started to create an American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial in Washington, D.C. If you value the service rendered for you by these veterans, you might want to visit some of these websites:

• American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial: www.avdlm.org
• Veterans of Foreign Wars: www.vfw.org.  The VFW’s Buddy Poppy program provides employment for disabled vets.
• Disabled American Vets: www.dav.org
• www.freedomisnotfree.com
• www.help4vets.org
• Strummings for Vets provides music therapy: www.strummingforvets.org
• www.woundedwarriorproject.org

A simple browser search will also identify other sites dedicated to the veterans, including ones containing poetry.

The final service we can do for our fallen soldiers is bury them, giving them forever to a merciful Higher Power.  In addition to the military cemeteries on American soil, the United States through the American Battle Monuments Commission maintains 24 cemeteries in 10 foreign countries.  These cemeteries are places of interment for our warriors who fell on those foreign grounds.  Most are found near former battlefield sites and our military bases throughout the world on land given in perpetuity by host nations.  Visit the Commission’s website at www.abmc.gov to find information about these cemeteries, obtain assistance with planning a trip to one of these cemeteries and/or memorials, find information about any service personnel buried or honored at a specific cemetery, obtain assistance in finding lodging/travel information and for obtaining a fee-free passport for family members so they can visit a grave.

(Information for this posting was found: (1) via an Internet search which rendered the websites set out in it, (2) the Sunday edition, November 7, 2010, of the Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas.)

Marvin Downing

Our Fall Meeting was a joint one with the West Tennessee Historical Society.   A short business meeting involved a reminder that the artwork for the New Madrid postal cancellation project is due to Cecelia Edwards by December 31, 2010 and a request for ideas for the JPHS Civil War celebration activities.

At the conclusion of the business meeting, Marvin Downing, PhD, spoke on the subject of Christmasville, Tennessee.  He began by showing a 6 minute DVD segment of Tennessee Crossroads about Christmasville; Downing served as a consultant on this program.  After the segment, he distributed a handout containing a current map of west Tennessee counties and a detailed map of the same area in 1864 showing the location of Christmasville on the south fork of the Obion River in Caroll (now Carroll) County, pictures of John C. McLemore and his wife, Elizabeth Donelson McLemore, and a sketch by Thomas F. Moore, a native of Christmasville, showing the area circa 1865.   It was on land owned by McLemore that Christmasville was built and incorporated in 1823.  Downing spoke eloquently about the area which is no longer a viable community, but still remembered as attested to by  a recent newspaper article concerning a hunting accident in which it was mentioned that one of the young men involved was from the “Christmasville area”.  After the program, Dr. Downing was applauded for all the research and work he had done on this topic.

The next JPHS meeting will be January 22, 2011 in the auditorium of the Wrather Museum on the campus of Murray State University.  The meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m.  Our speaker will be Dr. Bill Mulligan, Professor of History at Murray State.

Marvin Downing

Downing and meeting attendees

Dr. Marvin Downing will be addressing the society at the quarterly meeting. In anticipation of the upcoming talk, we talked with him about his 34-year career as a professor of history at UT Martin, his civic activities he performs and his research and knowledge of Christmasville. It was the town that time forgot, nestled away in the Tennessee woods. It would fail to take advantage of technology in railroads and slowly die down to nothing but a post office until 1903 and then nothing after that.

Join us as we take a look at a now forgotten part of the Jackson Purchase.

Felix Holt, author

It was indeed Felix Holt who wrote and told our story.  He was born in Murray, Calloway County, Kentucky in 1898.  From his father he learned to appreciate great literature, but was destined to complete his formal education with high school.  It was perhaps experience rather than education which proved to be the most valuable asset to Felix Holt.

He was a cartoonist for Stars and Stripes, the Army newspaper in Paris, during WW I.  This led him to serve as a cartoonist and later as a reporter for the newspapers in Chicago following the War.  He moved to Detroit and wrote for the Detroit News and Detroit Times in the 1920s.  He began his career in radio in the 1930s and became chief writer for the Lone Ranger serial which had originated from Detroit.

He drew on the family reminiscences and legends handed down from his pioneer ancestors in Kentucky to produce his first novel, The Gabriel Horn in 1951.  The Gabriel Horn is the story of “the last immense wilderness of western Kentucky – the Jackson Purchase country”.  The Gabriel Horn made it to the movies as “The Kentuckian” in 1955 starring Burt Lancaster.  Holt’s second book, Daniel Boone Kissed Me, came out in 1954, shortly before his death.   Holt died in Bucks County Pennsylvania June 2, 1954 at the age of 56.

(This posting adapted from the article by Danny R. Hatcher which appeared in the Jackson Purchase Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969, of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society.  The above picture accompanied the article and carried this caption:  Photograph taken during the 1920s.  Photograph courtesy of Mrs. Louise Holt Dick of Murray, KY.)