History of Obion County Tennessee United States of America

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Local History Notes:

Obion County was erected on October 24, 1823, from the Western District, and named for the Obion River.

The first settler was Elisha Parker who located in 1819 in the northeast part of the county near the Weakley County line.

The first court in accordance with the act creating the county met at the house of Wm. M. Wilson, on January 19, 1824. This location was about three miles west of Troy which was selected by the commissioners in 1825 as the county seat, and which was laid out on land donated by Wm. Polk.

The sessions of the court continued to be held at Wilson's home until the county courthouse was built at Troy in 1824.

Union City was laid out in 1854 on the land of Gen. G. W. Gibbs. It was incorporated in 1861, the first mayor having been Thomas Ray, and is now the county seat. One of the first resident attorneys was Charles McAlister. In 1842 S. W. Cochran from Ohio located in Troy and became one of the leading attorneys in that part of the state. Other early lawyers of Troy were: Jno. C. Hawkins, J. W. Buford, T. C. Swanson, Thos. R. Shearon. Early lawyers of Union City were: D. D. Bell, Charles N. Gibbs, and Wm. B. Gibbs.

Statistics of Obion County: Population, 1920, 28,393. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $29,793,421. Area, 540 square miles. Number of farms, 3,378. Railway mileage, 73. This county is bordered on the north by Kentucky and on the west by Reelfoot Lake and is one of the richest agricultural counties in the state. Surface nearly level and there is a plentiful supply of timber. Soil rich and fertile, and staple products are cotton, corn, wheat, oats and live stock. One of the best wheat producing counties in the state. Intersected by the Illinois Central, the Mobile & Ohio, and the N. C. & St. L. Railway. Union City, county seat, has a population of 4,412, and is a flourishing town with fine schools and churches, various manufacturing establishments, up-to-date stores, two weekly newspapers, two banks, lumber mills, railroad shops, etc. Other towns are Kenton, Obion and Troy. Scholastic population of county, 10,500; high schools, 11; elementary schools, 85.

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

Biographies:

Maecenas E. Benton, representative, was born in Obion county, Tenn., Jan. 29, 1849, a grand-nephew of Thomas Hart Benton, U.S. senator. He was graduated at the College of Christian Brothers at St. Louis, Mo., and at the law school of Cumberland university, Lebanon, Tenn., in 1870. He was admitted to the bar, removed to Neosho, Mo., in 1870, where he practised law and served as prosecuting attorney of Newton county, Mo., 1878-82. He was U.S. district attorney for the western district of Missouri, 1885-89, and was removed for" pernicious activity in politics," He was later reinstated by President Cleveland and continued in office under President Harrison for some time. He presided over the Democratic state conventions in 1890 and 1896; was a delegate to the Democratic national convention in 1896, and was a representative from the 15th Missouri district in 1897-1905.

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

History of Obion County Tennessee

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