History of DeKalb County Tennessee United States of America

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DeKalb County was erected in 1837 out of parts of White, Warren, Cannon, Wilson and Jackson, and was named for Baron DeKalb, an officer in the Revolutionary war, who had fallen at Camden, New Jersey. The act creating this county provided that the first court should be held at the house of Bernard Richardson, near Smithville, which was chosen for the county seat and named for John Smith Bryan, who was commonly called ?Smith.? The committee appointed to select the county seat was: Thomas Durham, Joseph Banks, Thos. Allen, Watson Cantrell and Joseph Clark.

Bernard Richardson gave to the county fifty acres for the county seat, a part of which was laid out in lots which were sold at public sale.

On March 5, 1838, the county was organized with the following named magistrates in attendance: Lemuel Moore, chairman; Reuben Evans, Joseph Turney, Thomas Simpson, John Martin, Watson Cantrell, David Fisher, Wm. Scott, Samuel Strong, Henry Burton, Martin Phillips, John Frazier, Joel Cheatham, Jonathan Fuston, Peter Reynolds and James Batey.

A. J. Marchbanks was the first circuit judge, and B. L. Ridley the first chancellor.

The first settlement in DeKalb County was made in 1797 by Adam Dale, who came from Maryland and located on Smith's Fork Creek near Liberty, and erected there the first mill in the county.

Other early settlers were: Thomas Whaley, Josiah Duncan, Henry Burton, Thomas West, William and John Dale, James and William Bratton, William and George Givan, the Walkers, the Pruitts, Jacob and Abraham Overall, Robin Forester, Reuben Evan, Matthew Sellers, Benj. Blades, Nicholas Smith, Benj. Garrison, Jesse Allen, Martin Phillips, Britton Johnson, Giles Driver, Levi Bozarth, David Taylor, P. G. Magness, Zachariah Lefever, John Wooldridge, Bernard Richardson, William Adcock, Wm. Floyd, John Vantrease, Jonathan and Stewart Doss, E. Turner, James Goodner, Edmund Turner, Wm. Grandstaff, Thomas Simpson and Wm. Wright.

Statistics of DeKalb County: Population, 1920, 15,370. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $7,497,060. Area, 310 square miles. Number of farms, 2,792. Railway mileage, none. Drained by the Caney Fork River. Surface hilly in part and well covered in timber. The soil is fertile and the staple products are corn, wheat, and live stock. Splendid fruit growing section. Has some deposits of zinc and clay. Smithville, county seat, has a population of 687, good schools and churches, a weekly newspaper, bank, flourishing stores, flouring mill and spoke and handle factory. Alexandria has a population of 510, has good schools and churches, bank and prosperous business establishments. Liberty is another thriving town in DeKalb County. Scholastic population of county, 4,728; high schools, 5; elementary schools, 71.

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

History of DeKalb County Tennessee

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