History of Lauderdale County Tennessee United States of America

Our database does not include an historic photo for Lauderdale County Tennessee, do you have one you would like to contribute? Contact Us!

Lauderdale County was erected on November 24, 1835, from parts of Dyer, Tipton and Haywood counties, and was named "in honor of and to perpetuate the memory of Col. James Lauderdale, who fell at the battle of New Orleans on the night of the 23d of December, 1814."

The first activities of white men looking to future settlements in what was ultimately to be Lauderdale County were exerted by Henry Rutherford in 1785. He located the famous 'Key Corner' 36 in that year and his surveys covered a large part of Lauderdale, Crockett and Haywood counties. Although he and his brother John, sons of the famous Gen. Griffith Rutherford, both settled in this county at a later day, it is said that the first permanent settler was Benjamin Porter, who located in April, 1820, having brought his effects on a flatboat up the Forked Deer River. His son, Benjamin Porter, Jr., was the first white child born in the county.

Fulton, the oldest town in the county, was laid out in 1827, by Jas. Trimble. Fulton was for some years a serious rival of Memphis.

The next oldest town, Durhamville, was established by Col. Thos. Durham, in 1829.

The commissioners appointed to select the county seat named it Ripley, in honor of General Ripley of the War of 1812. On February 24, 1836, the commissioners, Howell Taylor, Nicholas T. Perkins and David Hay, purchased from Thomas Brown 62 1/2 acres on which the town of Ripley was laid out by Abel H. Pope. It is located about seven miles east of the center of the county. The first church was Turner's Chapel, established in 1829 near Durhamville, by Rev. Wm. Taylor.

The first school was taught by Mrs. Edith Kinley at her home near Double Bridges.

The first newspaper was the Ripley Gazette established about 1860 by Mr. Youngblood.

Statistics of Lauderdale County: Population of 1920, 21,494. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $15,266,680. Area, 450 square miles. Number of farms, 3,406. Railway mileage, 26. Bounded on the west by the Mississippi River and drained by smaller streams. Surface nearly level with a good growth of timber. Soil fertile, and the county is a large producer of cotton. Other staple products are corn, fruit and livestock. The Illinois Central Railroad passes through the county. Ripley, the county seat, on the Illinois Central Railroad, has a population of 2,070. It has good schools and churches, a weekly newspaper, four banks, and manufacturing and commercial establishments. Henning and Halls are other towns in the county. Scholastic population of county, 9,587; high schools, 5; elementary schools, 68.

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

History of Lauderdale County Tennessee

Local History Notes:

Local History and Genealogy Links: