History of Overton County Tennessee United States of America

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Local History Notes:

Overton County was erected in 1806 from a part of Jackson County and was named in honor of Judge John Overton, the most intimate friend of Andrew Jackson. The earliest settlers were Col. Stephen Copeland and his son, 'Big Joe' Copeland. Other early settlers were: John Goodpasture, father of the distinguished jurist, Judge Jefferson D. Goodpasture, Capt. Jesse Arnold, Capt. Simeon Hinds, father of the learned chemist and teacher, Dr. J. I. D. Hinds, of Lebanon; Benjamin Totten, father of Judge A. W. O. Totten; Moses Fisk, Judge Alvin Cullom, Adam Huntsman, and some descendants of John Sevier.

The first court was held at a place called later James' Store, about five miles north of Livingston. In the year 1807 the Town of Monroe was laid off and selected as the county seat. Soon Livingston became a rival for the honor of being the county seat and a lively animosity arose between the two towns. Finally in an election in 1833, Livingston was victorious by a small majority.

The oldest town in the county is Hilham, founded in 1805 by Moses Fisk. It was there that the Fisk Female Academy was located, the first school distinctly for girls, chartered in the South, and one of the first in the entire United States.

Alpine Institute founded in 1821 by Dr. John L. Dillard, has had a remarkable career and is a flourishing institution today. Five governors have taught in it, including its most efficient president, Gov. A. H. Roberts.

Statistics of Overton County: Population, 1920, 17,617. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $4,471,888. Area, 376 square miles. Number of farms, 2,714. Railway mileage, thirty. Drained by Obed and Roaring rivers, tributaries of the Cumberland. Its surface is hilly and its soil very fertile. Fine grazing lands for cattle and sheep. Staple products are corn, wheat, hay and live stock. The county is well timbered and there are good deposits of coal. Livingston, the county seat, is the terminus of the Tennessee, Kentucky & Northern, a short line extending from the Tennessee Central, and has a population of 1,215. It has good schools and churches, two weekly newspapers, two banks and several manufacturing establishments, and is a flourishing town. Scholastic population of county, 6,597; high schools, six; elementary schools, eighty-four.

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

Biographies:

Benjamin Wilburn McDonnold, educator, was born in Overton county, Tenn., March 27, 1827; son of Thomas K. and Martha (Bates) McDonnold and grandson of John McDonnold, who came from county Ulster, Ireland, in 1790, and settled in North Carolina, and of Henderson and Sally (Gentry) Bates. He was graduated at Cumberland college, Princeton, Ky., in 1849. He was an instructor in Bethel college, Tenn., 1849-51; was ordained to the ministry, and served as pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian church at Philadelphia, Pa., 1851-52. He was married, July 22, 1852, to Albina, daughter of Thomas G. and Nancy (Dyer) Watkins. He engaged in teaching in Bethel college, 1854-59; travelled for the purpose of increasing the endowment fund of Cumberland university, 1859-60, and was pastor of the church at Lebanon, 1860-62. He served as chaplain in the Confederate army, 1862-65, and was again pastor of the church at Lebanon, 1866-67. He was professor of mathematics at Cumberland university, 1865-67; professor of belles-lettres and mental and moral science there, 1867-73, and president of the university, 1866-73. He travelled as an evangelist throughout the bounds of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, 1873-75, and preached in nearly all the southern states and in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri and California. He was a member of the American Bible society, and received the honorary degrees of D.D. and LL.D. He contributed to various periodicals, and is the author of the History of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (1888). He died in Lebanon, Tenn., Feb. 27, 1889.

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

History of Overton County Tennessee

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