The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1914-12-25
HAS STRANGE HISTORY.

I wealthy Wade H. Bolton, the older
| brother.
From differences over the payment or
Isaa6 Bottoms trial expenses sprans
| the teud which soon enmeshed Wade
Bolton: factions were quickly formed.
! armed men were put in the field. and
| battles between the feudists were IRE
quent.
had been killed, and IL was then that
| Wade Bolton. leader of one clan. and
Thomas Dickens, leader OF the others,
came face to face in court house square,
| Memphis.
Instantly guns leaped into the hands
OF the feudists. Their shots cracked
almost simultaneously. and the smoke
drifted away over the body of Wade
H. Bolton, shot to death
Dickens was unhurt, but did not live
long. dying within the year as the re-
suit of the accidental discharge OF his
own gun.
But the death Of Wade II. Bolton.
slaVe-trader and feudtst, brought the
possibility of Bolton School upon the
horizon, for. when the old mans will
was probated. a remarkable document
was put upon record. Filled with gram
NAUTICAL errors, and almost nlegibly
written in the chirography of the dead
feudist, it made many requests, among
which appeared paragraph which
read:
| give and bequeath to the widow
and children Of Gen Thomas Jona-
than Jackson. known as ''StoneWalI
Jackson. who fell at the battle OF -
Charlottesville, Va. $4,000 as his
tory tells me that his widows fur
niture was sold for debt after his
death.
Bolton Agricultural High School was
established by the fourteenth clause or
the will By It. he gave his Hoboken
farm. in Shelby county, to be the site
of a college for the education of poor
and orphaned white children. and for
its support he created an endowment
of the residue Of his estate. which
should remain after certain requests
But the trouble which seemed to Iurk
in the wake OF the Bolton estate did not
vanish with the old mans death gu
for a time shed its baleful influence
over the yOuEs school
As soon as the school was cStabliShc
there began factiOnal fight for IN,
control of the institution. and each fac
ton, as IL succeeded relatively To- a.
control would lcr out the farms 10 tao
ton ieNoriteS, Charging only nominal
rents: and loanins the funds as they
saw IL
But this practice was stopped by IN,
Shelby county court. " hiCh finally tUUN
over the Bolton beqGest. nov sh, udkr-
pitsfuHy To $4,000. ou a uttvSu-yrJ-
Ioan. and other cndOw mcuts. Iuvre-tS-
a board of trustees. upon which seven
prom nent citizens served. WAS also up-
pointed. and the rehabilitation Of She
school was begun.
Its finances placed safely. the board
began locating suitable tenants for the
school FARMS, who would pay proper
rentals TO the school. and were sue
ceeding well until. upon behalf OF the
deposed ''favOriteS' Of the old faction.
band OF white cap Eight-riGecS'' was
organized. These raiders logged Snd
threatened the new tenants INTO a state
of absolute terror. which threatened To
disrupt the constructive efforts OF the
new trustees at the time one Of the
new tenants was shot by the night
riding gentry.
With the rout OF the night riders.
Bolton Agricultural High School GU
tered upon its era of prosperity. To-
day Il is regarded as one of the most
progressive schools in the newly awak-
ened South.