History of Benton County Tennessee United States of America

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Benton County was erected on November 24, 1835, from parts of Humphreys and Henry counties and was named in honor of Thomas H. Benton. It was organized on February 7, 1836, by the commissioners, Green Flowers, Ephraim Perkins, Lewis Brewer, John F. Johnson and George Camp. They met at the house of Samuel Haliburton, in Tranquillity, on the stage road from Nashville to Memphis, about a mile west of Camden.

The first settlement was made in 1819 by Willis and Dennis Rushing, on Rushing's Creek, about six miles north of Camden. Among the early settlers were: David Watson, Lewis Graham, Joseph Cowell, Zachary Barker, Benjamin Holland, Michael Fry, Cas Matlock, John Anderson and Jas. Wyly.

Camden, the county seat, was located on land of John Jackson, whose only title was that of occupancy. The town was surveyed and laid off in December, 1836. Irwin B. Carnes built the first dwelling in the town. Thos. H. Burton, Anderson Lashlee, and Jas. Haywood also built about the same time.

The first courthouse was of logs, but in 1837 a two-story brick courthouse was constructed.

The officers of the first County Court were: Thomas Haliburton, County Court clerk; Thomas Jones, sheriff; John H. Williams, trustee; George Hollowell, county superintendent of schools.

The first newspaper published in the county was the Central Democrat, established by William Doherty in 1852. The first school in the county was started in 1822 or 1823 on Rushing's Creek. The teacher was Allen C. Presson. The first church, Primitive Baptist, was organized by George Turner and Levi Kirkland. Cowell's Chapel Church was organized in 1824 by Benjamin Peebles, a pioneer circuit rider and presiding elder of West Tennessee. Among the early Baptist ministers were: Obadiah Hardin, Jacob Browning, Lemuel Herrin, and Josiah Arnold. Early Presbyterian ministers were: Samuel T. Thomas, Abner Cooper and H. Babbitt. Early circuit riders: Thomas Smith, Robert Collins and Levi B. Lee.

Statistics of Benton County: Population, 1920, 12,046. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $5,207,788. Area, 412 square miles. Number of farms, 1,983. Railway mileage, 26. This county is bounded on the east by the Tennessee River. Portions of the county are well timbered. The surface is level and the soil generally fertile. This is one of the peanut-growing counties, and other staple products are corn, cotton, wheat, oats, vegetables and live stock. Intersected by the N. C. & St. L. Railway. Camden, the county seat, has a population of 800, and is on the N. C. & St. L. Railway. It has good schools, churches, a weekly newspaper, two banks, and flourishing mercantile establishments. Scholastic population of county, 4,332; high schools, 3; elementary schools, 62.

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

History of Benton County Tennessee

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