Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1879-05-15
For tie Tag eHcyilie ilLsefser.
Sullivan's Rock
and One Legcna orLynlan' ;. IIoIlow.

creek, a short distance above G.
Carrigcr's spring, is a smooth,
large limestone rock known as
"SuliTan's Rock to this day:
having taken its. name from a
Sullivan family that settlcd.near
there in an carly day. Their
name was attached to this rock
from fax Is that / shall detail IN
the subsequent part Of this arti-
Gle; but, before giving the histo-
iy Of Tie rock, l shall give a
short sketch Of the Sullivan FAM
lily, for the purpose of getting a
better view Of the times Of which
we write, ard to preserve the
character Of the pioneer families
of Tennessee.
The SullivaHs went from North
Carolina to Wilson county, this
State, and from thence to this
and settled at the above desig-
mated PLACE. The men were a
hardy, Wiiy set and always ready
for fight; the women, good sing
ers and dancers. 1t was fam
lily full Of life and good mimics,
noted for fine wit and sharp sar-
casm. If they had been edu-
Gated some of them would have
ranked with the Folks, Browns
and Joneses-as many Of their
descendants have shown by be-
ing educ ted.
To illustrate their character
and pluck, l give an incident
that occurred with them and ar
other party. In these days there
was log rolling on Mulberry,
near where Bonneville now
stands; every body was there, so
were the Sulliyans. Two, on this
occasion, Neal and Press Sulli-
van, in the evening after the logs
were rolled, the whiskey drank,
started in the direction of home
accompanied by one Reuben Lo-
gan, a large, raW-boned man.
A dispute arose between Logan
and Neal about some trivial af-
fair which resulted in a fisticuff.
Logan was too much for Neal;
Press stood by, saw the thing
fairly done; after which h e
said, 'Logan, you can't whip
me-" Logan avowed he could
and at they went. Logan whip
ped him quick. After the fight
Press said, "Well, Rube,, 'dod
drot' you, you whipped me quick
er nor you did cousin Neal" On
this they made friends and re-
manned so for life.
The.rock of which we begun
was used as a parlor for dancing
and Il threshing-foor for wheat.
The entire neighborhood carried
their wheat there, threshed it
with wooden fails or tramped it
out with horses. The hauling
was done on sledges or trick
wagons, mostly; few Of the
farmers had oX-carts. In those
days the people enjoyed them
selves socially as well as now,
and at these social gatherings
they danced, had shooting match
es or squirrel stews. There
were no buildings then in
the country of sufficient size to
accommodate the dancers, so this
rock was selected; here they
might dance, stew their squir-
rels, or barbecue their beef and
drink their liquor. At one Of
these socials, late in the day, the
liquor having given out, a por-
ton of them decided to protract
into the night; to do that more
whiskey was necessary. To Sc
cure the article a pony-purse was
madeup and a boy named "Skin-
ME" was put on a horse with the
money and a two gallon Jug,
paw-paW bark was tied in the
handle and around his neck like
a shot-pouch, and started over to
Mulberry after whiskey. Moth
ing out of the line of the ordina-
ry incidents occurred to him on
his way to or while at the place
of purchase. Skinnie tarried but
a very short time after getting
his goods, as he had very posi-
tive instructions not to idle time
or engage in any bovish tricks
or pranks on the trip and to-
keep sober, all of which Skinnie
obediently observed. But that
trip viii never be forgotten by |
Skinnie while he retains his men-
tai faculties. On his return near
the old "Leman. House" he was
approached by an object on
horseback; he quickened his
pace, the object did the same;
Skinnie grew faster, so did his
pursuer until he had his animal
1T his speed; Skinnie could feel
I strange sensation occasionally
ike something pulling aft the