The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1880-07-15
Tennessee Letter.
DICKSON, DICKSON Co, TENN, I
July 4th. 1880.

Tennessee Letter.
DICKSON, DICKSON Co., TENN, I
July 4th, 1880. {
Editor Democratic Press:
Probably some of the readers of the
good old Democratia Press would like
to hear from some of the counties OF
Tennessee. My wife and myself re-
Gently took u pleasure trip through
Hickman County. 1t lies in the mid
die division of Tennessee, near the
center of the State, and is the richest
section in the. great iron belt of the
State. 1t possesses vast resources OF
every kind, which as yet are almost
undeveloped. Its agricultural products
are corn, cotton, wheat. barley, pea
nuts, rye, oats, sweet potatoes and Irish
potatoes - well, in fact, everything
which sny man wants to cultivate. 1t
hes vast deposits of iron ore of the very
beat qus'ity, besides lead and other
minera's, all of which lie in the crude
state; and some silver hes been dis
covered in a small town between Dick
son and Nashville, which has created
some excitement. It also has very
large qusntities of the finest stone for
building and other purposes. Its up
lands, which are not cultivated, are all
covered with the finest timber of every
variety that grows. The country be-
ing spai sely settled, thousands of acres
of these uplands are entirely unoccu-
pied, aud could be purchased ut very
low figures. All these are admirably
adapted to iruit growing, being too
much elevated for the fiuit to be in
jured by the early and late irosts. Fine
water is available on most of the nu-
merous streams of the country. The
prevailing character of the water is
freestone, and at the foot of nearly
every ridge along the streams, clear
springs of the purest water gush forth.
There are three impOl ant watering
places In the county, viz: Bonaqua,
Beaver Dam and Primm's Springs.
Altogether, Hickman is over an av-
erage county, even in her undevelOped
condition. Centreville, the county
site, is pleasantly situated ON the south
side and at the head of navigation Of
Duck river, 81 miles by water from
the Tennessee river, and 54 miles from
Nashville, the capital of the state. At
this point the Nashville & Tuscaloosa
r. r., now in course of construction,
will cross Duck river, running south
olon<, ~, n s,voot Suyoofor,, irov, bolk spD,;e
place Is destined at no distant day to
be town of vast commercial impor-
tance. Any one wishing good, COM
Portable aud cheap homes, should en-
igrate here. The timber will pay
double what the cost Of land per acre
is,
There is many q man, young and
old, sitting and loafing on corners in
the North and East, from this State,
who could have homes Of their own if
they would start out. I saw letter
was published In the Ravenna Repub-
lican paper, which was written by
Gard, stating the South was so years
behind. 1t is very true, some portions
Va ~ oAC SOS O0V ~ LAG WOuAO t0AC SOu4C
of that to himself at home, he would
know what was the cause Of it. Let
him come to Nashville. aud think he
will see more improvements than he
ever saw at Ravenna. They have two
Universities. a most splendid Custom
House, and Centennial Buildings, the
Capitol Building. three grades of school
that are not at Ravenna, and about 20
wholesale houses, and machinery of
all descriptions, State Prison, steam
boats, and various other improvements
that you have not in Ravenna; and
more wealthy y-nen, worth one and a
half millions of money, and they are
all going for Gen. Hancock, solid, and
his assistant, Mr.. English. These
gentlemen are not any of the Credit
Mobilier or Grab-Salary, or of those
who took their oaths to discharge the
duties Of the offices to which they were
elected for certain amount, and then
grabbed for double the amount, thus
swindling the people out of their hard
earnings, asserting that it was all right,
and then seeking reelection, that
they might destroy what our forefath.
ers had fought aud died for. There are
few reptiles here called cotton.
mouths. They are very poisonous
since we raised Hancock aud English
Stars and Stripes.
These cOtton-mouths have nearly all
died off, and the county is looking
more prosperous, aud will continue to
since the nomination of Hancock and
English.
We have had glorious rains, and
everything is looking gloriously. We
have plenty of ripe peaches, apples
potatoes, green corn, &c. Wheat is al
thrashed, and we are plowing wheat
stubble to plant more corn. That
shows the favor of the Almighty when
things thus prosper.
I will try and send more Hancock
news in my next letter. J. M.
Portage County Medical society
RAvENNA, July 1st, 1880.
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