The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1902-03-14

the charge was false. One of these
circulars is in possession of Mrs.
Octavia Polk, his widow, whose
colonial home, ssMecklen," is stu
ated on a hill in the western envi-
rons of Bolivar, and was occupied
as headquarters during the Civil
War by Gen. Mcpherson, and after
wards by S. A. Hurlbut, of the 4th
Division of Grants army.
The original tombstone erected
over the grave of Ezekiel Polk in
Hatchie graveyard, three-quarters
of mile north of the present site
of the town, can now be seen in the
front yard of this home. This tab.
let contains the well-known epitaph
about which so much was said in
the '4O's, and which was an object
of great curiosity to the Federal of
fcers stationed there in the '60's.
AS has been stated above, Ezekiel
Polk and his family settled either in
the wane of the eighteenth or dawn
of the nineteenth century in Maury
county, Middle Tennessee, where it
is presumed he "gathered treasures"
from the rich valleys of the Cum
berland and Tennessee Rivers. Just
how long he remained in that por-
not be learned, but the old love of
adventure and discovery still chung
to the pioneer, as is cleaned from
the fact that shortly after the afore-
said treaty with the Indians and
whites was signed, we find that this
patriot, together with his son, Will
liam, and sons-in-law, Thomas Nc
Neal, the father of the McNeal
family in West Tennessee, and
Thomas Hardeman, for whom the
county was named, moved from
Maury county to this portion of the
state in the early ZOOS. The young
est member of this little group was
r. P. Nicely, who recently died at
the advanced age of SO years, his
grandson, then mere lad, who
made the journey on pony, 0arry
ing sides of bacon.
Tne following incident is illus
trative of the mode of travel in
those days: In making the journey
from Middle to w est Tennessee suf-
ficient provender could not be taken
for the horses, hence they had to
depend upon the grass by the road
side. One morning Col. Polk
found on rising that the horses had
disappeared. In his stentorian
voice he aroused the sleep
ing campers. "McNeal, get up;
the horses are gone. Rufus, get
up; the horses are gone. Well
have to walk back home. Harde-
man, get up, get up; the horses are
gone" On the horses!" said
Hardeman; and he turned over for
another snooze. The horses were
found about a mile from camp
grazing.
The advanced age to which Col
Polk had attained when Drawing
the trials and hardships incident to
pioneer life, being among the first
to "break ground where only
the savage hunters footprints
had previously trod, marked the
indomitable will and perseverance
of the man. The growth and pros
perity of Hardeman County in gen.
eral and Bolivar in particular are
due in no small degree to the enter
prising and industrious men of
wealth and intelligence of their first
settlers.
Col. Polk and Maj. Ramsey, the
progenitor of the Newbern family
in Hardeman County, gave fifty
acres each to a town site, both re-
serving the privilege of choice
lot. The location of the town as
it now is was selected instead of
Hatchie, which had been settled
year or more previous on the river
of the same name, about one mile
farther north, and was called Boil
var in honor of Simon Bolivar, the
liberator of South America.
c Ezekiel Folks home was situated
west of the town just south of"M eek
len," and was destroyed by the Fed
erals in the zoos. That he Vas a
man of strong character, marked
with peculiar idiosyncracies, is at
tested in the writing of his own
epitaph, which is as follows:
''Here lies the dust of old E. P.
One instance of mortality,
Pennsylvania born, Carolina bred,
In Tennessee died upon his bed.
His youthful days were spent in pleasure,
His latter days in gathering treasure.
From superstition lived quite free
And practiced strict morality.
To holy cheats never willing.
To give one solitary shilling.
He can foresee and foreseeing.
Could equal most of men in being
That church and state VIII join their power
And misery this country shower;
The Methodsts with their camp brawling
Will be the cause of the nations down falling.
An error not destined to see,
He waits for poor posterity.
First fruits and tenths odious things
And so are bishops, priests and kings"
The accompanying injunction was
in his will: "Lines to be
inscribed on the gravestone of
Ezekiel Polk, written by himself,
June "a, 1921, in the 74th year of his
90 Az there are no rocks in the