History of Cannon County Tennessee United States of America

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Cannon County was erected on January 21, 1836, out of Warren, Coffee, Wilson and Rutherford counties and was named for Newton Cannon, who was governor at that time, and who appointed a commission of five members to establish the lines between Cannon and the adjoining counties and to lay off a public square at Danville which was the name of the county seat until it was changed to Woodbury in honor of Gen. Levi Woodbury.

Henry D. McBroom and his brother owned most of the land on and adjacent to the public square of Woodbury and the former gave every alternate lot around it to those who would put up a structure on it. He also owned the only hotel or inn at that time. He later built the Dillon Hotel which was an historic structure. It was burned in 1907.

At the time the county was organized the only store in Woodbury (Danville) was that of Henry Wiley.

Among the early pioneers were: Henry D. McBroom, Wm. Hollis, John Wood, Henry Ford, Wm. Mears, Usibel Stone, Benj. Allen, Geo. St. John, Wm. McFerrin, Joshua Barton, Archibald Stone, Asa Smith, Elijah Stephens, Wm. Preston, Sr., Walter Wood, Benjamin Cummings, Sr., Warren Cummings, Wm. Cummings, Sr., John Stone, Andrew Melton, Alexander McBroom, Wm. James, John Wood, James Todd, Benjamin Hale, Jno. Haley, Archibald Hicks, Gideon Rucker, Lonis Jetton, Gabriel Elkins, James Avent, and Lemuel Moore.

The first County Court met in May, 1836, at the tavern of Henry D. McBroom, with the following named magistrates in attendance: Thomas Powell, Allen Haley, Joseph Simpson, Blake Sedgley, Isaac Finley, Jas. L. Essary, Isaac W. Ellidge, John Pendleton, I. M. Brown, Elijah Stephens, F. L. Turner, C. C. Evans, John Melton, Samuel Lance, Wm. Bates, John Martin, Wm. B. Foster, John Frazer, Martin Phillips, Lemuel Moore, Reuben Evans, Jas. Goodwin, Peter Reynolds, Jas. Batey, Joel Cheatham and Jonathan Fuston. The following named officials qualified at this meeting: Samuel J. Garrison, county court clerk; Geo. Grizzle, sheriff; Alex. F. McFerrin, register; Job Stephens, trustee; Alexander McKnight, coroner; Henry H. Clifton, ranger; Wm. Stone, entry-taker; Hugh Robinson, surveyor. A committee of six consisting of Hugh Robinson, James Clark, Arch Stone, Wm. Bates, John B. Stone, and Jno. Brown, was appointed to lay off town lots.

Statistics of Cannon County: Population, 1920, 10,241. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $4,248,639. Area, 280 square miles. Number of farms, 1992. Railway mileage, none. Drained by numerous small streams. Surface hilly and rolling and soil very fertile. Corn, wheat and live stock are staple products. Woodbury, the county seat, has a population of 278, and is a flourishing town with good schools, churches, bank, weekly newspaper and prosperous mercantile establishments. Scholastic population of county, 4,560; high schools, 7; elementary schools, 34.

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

History of Cannon County Tennessee

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