History of Weakley County Tennessee United States of America

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Local History Notes:

Weakley County was erected on October 21, 1823, from the Western District, and was named in honor of Col. Robert Weakley, one of the most prominent of the early pioneers of Middle Tennessee, a member of Tennessee's first Legislature, and speaker of the State Senate in 1823.

Provision was made in the act which created this county that the sessions of the County and Circuit courts should be held at the house of John Tyrrell until otherwise provided for by law.

The first settlers were: Reuben Edmonston and John Bradshaw, brothers-in-law, who located on Mud Creek, in 1819. Alexander Paschal arrived in 1822 and was considered well-to-do, as his wife had seven dresses. The first cabin was built by John Bradshaw. The county was organized in 1825 and Dresden was selected as the county seat and laid out in that same year. The first courthouse was completed in 1827 and the first session of the court held in it in 1828. Prior to this time some of the sessions of the court had been held in the house of Benjamin Bondurant in Dresden.

Early members of the bar were: A. G. Bondurant, Henry A. Semple, John A. Garner, S. A. Warner, and John Grundy, son of Felix Grundy. Emerson Etheridge, the famous orator, was a resident of Dresden.

Early physicians were: Drs. T. C. Edwards, Joseph Irby, and Jubilee Rogers.

Early preachers were: Thos. Ross, Gilliland Holland, and Lorenzo D. Overall.

Weakley County furnished eleven companies to the Confederate Army, and four companies to the Federal Army.

Martin was established in 1873 and incorporated in 1874.

Statistics of Weakley County: Population, 1920, 31,053. Assessed valuation of taxable property, 1921, $21,969,965. Area, 620 square miles. Number of farms, 5,050. Railway mileage, 51. Drained by the Obion River. The surface is generally level and the soil fertile. Staple products are cotton, tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, fruits, vegetables and live stock. The N. C. & St. L. railway and the Illinois Central traverse the county. Dresden, the county seat, has a population of 1,007, good schools and churches, lumber mills, stave factory, tannery, a weekly newspaper, three banks, and is a flourishing town. Martin, another prosperous town at the junction of the railroad, has a population of 2,837, good schools and churches, manufacturing establishments, prosperous stores, a weekly newspaper, and three banks. Scholastic population of county, 10,914; high schools, 15; elementary schools, 91.

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

Biographies:

Rice Alexander Pierce, representative, was born in Weakley county, Tenn., July 3, 1849; son of Thomas M. Pierce. After attending the common schools he enlisted in the Confederate army as a private in the 8th Tennessee cavalry regiment, under General Forrest, and was taken prisoner at Jackson, Tenn., in 1864, and confined till the close of the war. He attended the high school at London, Ontario, and was admitted to the bar of North Carolina in July, 1868. He was married in April, 1873, to Mary Hunter of Hamburg, Mo. He was district attorney-general for the twelfth judicial circuit of Tennessee, 1874-83, and a Democratic representative in the 48th congress, 1883-85, the 51st-52nd congresses, 1889-93, and in the 55th-58th congresses, 1897-1905.

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

History of Weakley County Tennessee

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