History of Bedford County Tennessee United States of America

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Local History Notes:

Bedford County was erected on December 3, 1807, out of Rutherford County and was named for Thomas Bedford. It was organized in 1808. Early settlers were: Clement Cannon, Philip Burrow, Freeman Burrow, William McMahon, Matt Martin, Barkley Martin, Mrs. Mary Scruggs, William Hix, Robert and Henry Hastings, ?Sally? Sailors, Joseph Tillman, James Reagan, David Floyd, Thomas Gibson, and Cuthbert Word. The two Martins and five of their brothers served seven years under George Washington.

Several thousand acres of land in Bedford County were issued by North Carolina to the officers and soldiers of the Continental Line. Others were issued for the State of Tennessee. Among the latter was a grant to Andrew Jackson for land near Fall Creek.

Named for Col. Isaac Shelby.

In 1808, the county was organized at the home of Mrs. Payne near the head of Mulberry Creek. In 1809, the Legislature passed an act providing for the appointment of a committee consisting of John Atkinson, William Wood, Barthell Martin, Howell Dandy and David McKissack to locate a county seat within two miles of the center of the county. Afterwards, John Lane and Benjamin Bradford were added to the committee. The home of Amos Balch, two or three miles southeast of Shelbyville, was the county seat temporarily. It was permanently located at Shelbyville,22 in May, 1810, on land donated by Clement Cannon. Shelbyville was incorporated on October 7, 1819.

The first courthouse was erected in 1810 or soon afterwards. The first chancery court was held in 1836. Prominent lawyers of the early days were: Archibald Yell, who was governor of Arkansas, 1840-1844. William Gilchrist, I. J. Frierson, William H. Wisener, Henry Cooper, Hugh L. Davidson and Thos. Whitesides.

Early physicians were: Doctors J. G. Barksdale, Grant Whitney, James Kincade, Frank Blakemore, G. W. Fogleman, and John Blakemore.

Famous schools were: Salem Academy, established at Bellbuckle in 1820; the Martin School at Fairfield, in 1828; the school of Rev. Geo. Newton, started near Wartrace in 1815 or 1816; Dixon Academy, established in Shelbyville in 1820; the Webb School at Bellbuckle; the Brandon Training School at Wartrace; and the Tate School at Shelbyville.

Probably the earliest church was Salem built about 1807 near Shelbyville. Rev. John Brooks ?rode circuit? in this county.

The war record of Bedford County is remarkable. It furnished a full company in the War of 1812, which took part in the battle of New Orleans. Its captain was Barrett and some of the members were: John Farrer, Wm. Hazlett, James Gowan, Michael Womack, Jno. L. Neil, James, Philip and William Burrows, John Casteel, Wm. Wood, 'Sally' Sailors, Robt. Fergison, Wm. P. Finch, Jno. Pool, Andrew Mathus, Townsend Fugett, Wesley Rainwater, Benjamin Webb, Martin Hancock, J. L. W. Dillard, John Murphey, Moses Pruitt, and James Scott. It furnished a full company under Captain Hunter in the Second Seminole war. In this company were: Lewis Tillman, William Wood, Albert Smell, John Hudlow, John Stone, Standards, Thomas, and Abraham McMahon. In the war with Mexico it furnished a company under Capt. E. W. Frierson. In the war between the States it furnished troops to both the Federal and the Confederate armies in almost equal proportions.

Statistics of Bedford County: Population, 1920, 21,737. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $17,532,014. Area, 550 square miles. Number of farms, 3,340. Railway mileage, 25. Drained by Duck River and tributaries. Traversed by Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. Farms are in a fine state of cultivation, and staple products are corn, wheat, cotton, grasses and live stock. Shelbyville, the county seat, has a population of 2,912 and is on a branch of the N. C. & St. L. Railway. It has an electric light plant, water works, cotton factory, a hub and spoke factory, foundry, saw mills, planing mills, and other manufacturing enterprises, with good banks, churches and schools, and two newspapers. Other prosperous towns are Bellbuckle, Wartrace, Normandy, Flat Creek and Unionville. Scholastic population of county, 7,403; high schools, 5; elementary schools, 74.

From: Moore, John Trotwood. Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL, USA: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.

Biographies:

Nicholas Nichols Cox, representative, was born in Bedford county, Tenn., Jan. 6, 1837; son of Caleb and Nancy (Allen) Cox. He removed with his parents to Seguin, Texas, when a small bey and attended the public schools in that place. In 1858 he was graduated from the law school at Lebanon, Tenn., and the same year was licensed to practise. He Was a colonel in the Confederate army and after the war located in Franklin, Tenn., where he engaged in farming and the practice of his profession. He was a presidential elector on the Breckinridge ticket in 1860 and on the Greeley ticket in 1872, and was a Democratic representative from the seventh district of Tennessee in the 52d, 53d, 64th, 55th and 56th congresses, 1891-1901.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Nathan Bedford Forrest, soldier, was born in Bedford county, Tenn., July 13, 1821. His father removed the family to Mississippi in 1834, where he died in 1837, leaving to Nathan the care of a large household. He had no school training and established himself as a merchant at Hernando in 1842, renmving in 1852 to Memphis, Tenn., where he engaged as a real estate broker and in merchandising. In 1859 he became a planter in Coahoma county, Miss., and amassed a considerable fortune. He joined the Confederate army as a private in the Tennessee mounted rifles in June, 1861, and at the request of Governor Harris recruited a regiment of cavalry which he equipped at his personal expense and of which he was made lieutenant-colonel He escaped with his force from Fort Donelson, Feb. 15, 1862, after his advice to the commandant to continue to hold the fort was not acted on. He then made a raid by way of Nashville, Huntsville and Iuka, arriving in time to take part in the battle of Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, and was wounded in combat, April 8. As commander of the cavalry force he made the successful attack on Murfreesboro, Tenn., July 13, 1862, and while in command at that place, having been promoted brigadier-general, July 21, 1862, he took part in the action at Parkor's Cross Roads, Dec. 31, 1862. He was engaged in the battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 19-20, 1863, and was in northern Mississippi, November and December, 1863, when he was made major-general, and his command was known as Forrest's cavalry department, He commanded at Fort Pillow in April, 1864, and directed the attack on the fort after the Federal force had refused to surrender. The men trader his command gave the colored troops no quarter and the excuse for the massacre was the alleged presence of the flag over the fort and the stubborn refusal of the Federal officers to surrender, which was not true. He annoyed the forces under Schofield and Thomas in Tennessee and received for his activity the rank of lieutenant-general in February, 1865. He was opposed by the cavalry force of 15,000 men under Gen. James H. Wilson in the spring of 1865 in northern Alabama, was defeated April 2, 1865, and surrendered his force at Gainesvilla, May 9, 1865. After the war he engaged in railroad building and became president of the Selma, Marion & Memphis railroad. He wore throughout the war a pair of silver spurs, fashioned out of thimbles that had been worn and presented by the ladies of Mississippi, He died in Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 29, 1877.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Bedford County Tennessee

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