History of Robertson County Tennessee United States of America

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Local History Notes:

The creation of Robertson County was synchronous with that of Montgomery County, both having been erected from Tennessee County on April 9, 1796. It was named in honor of James Robertson.

The first settler in this county was Thomas Kilgore. In 1776 or 1777 he lived for some time in a cave on the south fork of Red River, near what is now the Village of Cross Plains. After spending about a year here, he returned to his family in North Carolina and took part in the battle of King's Mountain. On his return he was accompanied by Moses Maulden, Ambrose Maulson, Samuel Mason, Josiah Hankins and several others with their families. They arrived toward the latter part of 1780 and built a fort, called Kilgore's Fort or Kilgore's Station, on Kilgore's land. After a few months, however, they abandoned the station because of the depredations of the Indians. Kilgore returned later and lived there until his death at the age of 108.

From Tennessee County, of which Robertson was a part, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1796 were Thomas Johnson, James Ford, William Fort, William Prince and Robert Prince. The original constitution is in the handwriting of William Fort, who was considered the best penman among the delegates.

On July 18, 1776, the first County Court organized at the house of Jacob McCarty, with the following named magistrates present: William Fort, chairman; Benj. Menees, Wm. Miles, Isaac Phillips, Bazil Boren, Martin Duncan, John Phillips, James Crabtree, and Zebulon Hart. Samuel Donelson was made county solicitor. The next term of the court was held at the house of Benj. McIntosh, and this continued to be the place of meeting until July, 1798, when it met at the store of Geo. Bell, where Springfield now is. When the courthouse was built in 1799 the sessions were held there.

In April, 1796, thirty acres were donated to the county by Archer Cheatham for a county site. In 1798 twenty acres more were bought from Thomas Johnson and Springfield became the county seat.

Early physicians were Drs. Levi Noyes, Clark, B. Bell, and Archie Thomas.

The Circuit Court was organized on April 10, 1810. It was presided over by Judge Parry W. Humphreys. The first lawyer was Thornton A. Cook. Other early lawyers were: W. H. Dortch and W. W. Pepper.

According to tradition Wm. Black taught the first school which was on Sulphur Fork. About 1805 Thomas Bowles and John Edwards taught at Springfield, and, in the next year, according to N. W. True, Liberty Academy was established at Springfield. This became a noted school and many prominent men were educated there. It existed about seventy-five years and was then sold to some negroes who used it for a church.

Early churches were the Red River Missionary Baptist Church, the first, 1791, the Cane Ridge Presbyterian Church, 1793, where some of the services of the Great Revival of 1800 were held and Mount Zion. A large camp ground was maintained also.

This county was the home of the so-called Bell witch about whom hair-raising stories were told, and also of the octoroon Elijah Cheek. It was also the scene of some of the startling exploits of the Night Riders a few years ago.

Statistics of Robertson County: Population, 1920, 25,621. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $17,859,694. Area, 536 square miles. Number of farms, 4,002. Railway mileage, twenty-six. Surface hilly and well covered with timber. Soil fertile. Tobacco is one of the principal products, this county being one of the largest producers in the state. Other staple products are wheat, corn, oats and live stock. Springfield, the county seat, has a population of 3,860, and is a flourishing town. It is one of the chief tobacco markets of the state. Springfield is on the L. & N. Railroad and is thirty miles from Nashville. It has fine schools and churches, two weekly newspapers, four banks, and manufacturing establishments. Adams, Green Brier and Cedar Hill are other towns. Scholastic population of county, 9,393; high schools, nine; elementary schools, seventy-four.

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

Biographies:

Cave Johnson, cabinet officer, was born in Robertson county, Tenn., Jan. 11, 1793. He received a liberal education at Cumberland college, and in 1811 raised a company among the students of which he was made captain, and which he tendered to General Jackson, who refused their services, advising them to return to their studies. He studied law in the office of W. W. Cooke until 1813, when he served as deputy brigade-quartermaster in his father's brigade of Tennessee militia in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814. He was admitted to the bar in 1814 and practised at Clarksville, Tenn. He was elected prosecuting attorney for his circuit in 1817; was a Democratic representative in the 21st-24th congresses, 1829-37; and in the 26th-28th congresses, 1839-45. He was postmaster-general in the cabinet of President Polk, 1845-49; judge of the circuit court in 1853; president of the Bank of Tennessee, 1854-60, and U.S. commissioner in settling the affairs of the United States and Paraguay Navigation company in 1860. He took no part in the civil war, as he was sixty-nine years old, but sympathized with the South and was pardoned by President Johnson in 1865. In 1866 he was elected to the state senate as a Unionist, but declined to serve. He died in Clarksville, Tenn., Nov. 23, 1866.

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

History of Robertson County Tennessee

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