History of Fayette County Tennessee United States of America

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Fayette County was erected on September 29, 1824, from fractions of Hardeman and Shelby counties, and was named in honor of Marquis de Lafayette. As provided by the act the sessions of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions were held at the house of Robert G. Thornton, the first meeting being on December 6, 1824. The subsequent meetings of the court were held here until November, 1825. The chairman of the first court was Edmund D. Tarver, and the first clerk was Henry M. Johnson, who was the first settler of Somerville. Only one case was tried at the first session and brought into the treasury of the county six and one-fourth cents as a fine. Wolf scalps were taken as shown by the entries of the clerk. A tax of thirty-seven and one-half cents on one hundred acres brought in a revenue of $750 in 1825, in which year Robert Cotton was taxed on a four-wheel carriage, the only one in the county.

Settlements began about 1822, when Thomas J. Cocke, of North Carolina located in the northwestern part of the county.

In February, 1825, the county seat, Somerville, was located on lands donated by Geo. Bowers and James Brown and the first session in this place was held in a log cabin on the public square. Three years later the first stage came to town.

Somerville was named in honor of Lieut. Robt. Somerville, who was killed in the battle of Tohopeka.

Statistics of Fayette County: Population, 1920, 31,499. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $13,974,350. Area, 630 square miles. Number of farms, 5,875. Railway mileage, 80. This county borders on the Mississippi, and the surface is generally level and in portions well timbered. Cotton is the leading product in the county, but it is well adapted to fruits and berries, and this industry is developing. It is a large producer of strawberries. Cotton, corn, fruit and livestock are staple products. Traversed by the L. & N., the Southern, and the N. C. & St. L. Railway. Somerville, the county seat, has a population of 1,106, and is on the Loosahatchie River. It has fine schools and churches, a weekly newspaper, two banks, prosperous business establishments and is surrounded by fine cotton plantations. Scholastie population of county, 11,771; high schools, 11; elementary schools, 56.

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

History of Fayette County Tennessee

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