History of Gibson County Tennessee United States of America

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Local History Notes:

Gibson County was erected on October 21, 1823, from the Western District, "in honor of and to perpetuate the memory of Col. John H. Gibson." The act provided that, at first, the courts should hold their sessions at the house of Luke Biggs, four miles from Trenton, which was called Gibsonport until 1825, when the court was held at Trenton for the first time.

The first magistrates commissioned were: Wm. P. Leat, Robert Edmondson, O. Blakemore, Benj. White, Robert Read, __ Rice, Abner Burgan, John D. Love, Wm. W. Craig, W. B. G. Killingsworth, John J. Lane and F. Davis. The first session began on January 1, 1824, and Wm. P. Leat was chairman and Thomas Fite, clerk.

The first settlement was made in 1819 by Thomas Fite and John Spencer, his brother-in-law. They came from Warren County and located about eight miles east of Trenton. David Crockett also lived in the same year near Rutherford and was joined in a few months by his family.

Early lawyers were A. W. O. Totten, Felix Parker, and J. H. Talbot. Later lawyers were John W. Crockett, who became attorney-general, John A. Talliaferro, M. R. Hill, R. P. Caldwell, and Robila P. Raines. Gibson County has furnished three members of the State Supreme Court, viz.: A. W. O. Totten, T. J. Freeman and W. C. Caldwell.

Statistics of Gibson County: Population, 1920, 43,388. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $26,048,985. Area, 615 square miles. Number of farms, 6,585. Railway mileage, 71. Drained by Obion and Forked Deer rivers. One of the leading agricultural counties in the state. Surface generally level and very fertile. Portions well timbered. Cotton is leading product, and other staples are corn, wheat, fruits, vegetables, and live stock. Truck growing is a leading industry, large quantities of early vegetables being shipped to Northern markets. Trenton, the county seat, has a population of 2,751, and is on the Forked Deer River and the M. & O. Railroad. It has a number of manufacturing establishments, two weekly newspapers, good schools and churches, three banks, and prosperous mercantile establishments. Humboldt, at the junction of the M. & O. Railroad and L. & N. R. R., has a population of 3,913, and is the center of a large trucking section. It has good schools and churches, a weekly newspaper, two banks, manufacturing and commercial establishments. It is a large shipping point for fruits and early vegetables, poultry and eggs. Milan, another town at the junction of the Illinois Central and the L. & N., has a population of 2,057, and is also a vegetable and fruit shipping point of importance. It has good schools and churches, a weekly newspaper, two banks, and manufacturing and commercial establishments. Scholastic population of county, 15,339; high schools, 30.

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

Biographies:

Thomas J. Freeman, jurist, was born in Gibson county, Tenn., July 19, 1827, He attended an academy near his home, took up the study of law at Trenton, Tenn., and was licensed to practise in 1848. At the beginning of the civil war he enlisted in the 22d Tennessee regiment and was made its colonel. He was wounded at the battle of Shiloh April 6, 1862, and after recovering from his wound served under General Forrest for the remainder of the war. After the war he practised his profession in Brownsville, Tenn. He was judge of the supreme court. 1870-86, and afterward became dean of the law department of the University of Tennessee. He died at the borne of his son in Dallas, Texas, Sept. 16, 1891.

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

History of Gibson County Tennessee

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