History of Morgan County Tennessee United States of America

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Morgan County was erected in 1817 from Roane County and was named for Gen. Daniel Morgan. The first county seat was at Montgomery. Later Wartburg was selected. It is said that the first settler was Samuel Hall who located in 1807 about seven miles northeast of Wartburg. Other early comers were: Martin Hall, Joseph Stonecipher, Benjamin Stonecipher, Michael Stonecipher, Ezra Stonecipher, John M. Staples, Elijah Reese, Titus England, John Freels, Royal Price, William Shoemaker, Matthias Williams, Ephraim Davis, Morgan Hendricks, John Webb, Littleburg Brient, Lewis Rector, John Craig, and Basil Human. Wartburg, the county seat, was settled by an enterprising and thrifty colony of Germans, who proved to be industrious and intelligent and did much for the material and educational interests of the county. The first term of the County Court was held in January, 1818. Morgan County contains great wealth in timber and coal; but most of the land suitable for cultivation is in the valleys. The state possesses coal lands at Petros, the mines of which are worked by the convicts of the branch prison at that place. That unique settlement called the Rugby colony was established in the northwestern part of the county. Its first name was The Board of Aid to Land Ownership when it was organized by Boston people in 1877 and was changed three years later to Rugby colony when the celebrated English author, Thomas Hughes, and other English capitalists became interested. Mr. Hughes opened the colony on October 5, 1880. They bought large tracts of land also in Scott and Fentress counties. Morgan County statistics: Population, 1920, 13,285. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $7,724,137. Area, 448 square miles. Number of farms, 1,251. Railway mileage, 61. Drained by Emory and Obed rivers. Its surface is hilly and well timbered with oak, chestnut and pine. Corn, grasses and live stock are staple products. Fruit growing is a paying industry. Large deposits of coal are found in the county. The Cincinnati Southern Railway intersects the county. Wartburg, the county seat, has a population of about five hundred, has a weekly newspaper, bank and general stores. Scholastic population of county, 4,453; high schools, 4; elementary schools, 51. From: Moore, John Trotwood. Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL, USA: S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.

History of Morgan County Tennessee

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