The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1915-02-26

who was born and raised in Lagrange,
who has climbed to the height of his
legal profession as Supreme Court
Justice of the State, and who, more
than once, when asked to run for Gov
ernor declined stating that the law was
his chosen profession and that he did
not care to leave it for the uncertain
vicissitudes of political career, and
who, for many years and until his death,
was judge of the Chancery Court of
Shelby County. He said, my, how
that does bring back old memories of
old LAGRANGE. The first school | ever
went to was in log house that stood
where the brick depot was blown down
by the cyclone. can remember Mrs.
Green, who, when sixty-four years old,
rode on horseback all the way to Muir
freesboro, Tennessee, and back to at
tend some convention of her church.
The LAGRANGE and Memphis Rail Road
was the second built in the South. The
first was in South Carolina. All the
money to build the Lagrange Railroad
was subscribed and paid in by the
citizens of Lagrange. The town is
older than Memphis. 1t was trading
post with the Indians before there was
house of any kind. The offices of the
Rail Road were in house that stood on
that corner Indicating the South East
Corner of Main and Fourth Streets).
The first rails that were used were
stringers of wood laid lenghthwise upon
the cross ties, and had thin piece of
iron four inches wide spiked down upon
the stringers of wood. All of US old
lawyers remember the suits for
damages originating from those strips
of iron. The spikes would get loose and
come out. The hot sun would draw up
the ends of the iron strip, the wheels
would mash them down and they would
come up with spring so high that
they would slide up the advancing
wheel, run through the bottom of the
car and, sometimes, kill the passenger
sitting in his seat. 1t was common
saying that the safest seat was the one
next to the aisle. When the road was
built the first engine was shipped from
New York to New Orleans, rolled upon
the front end of a steamboat and
brought to Memphis. They had big
gala day upon its arrival. All busi-
ness was suspended, the schools were
all closed, every body went down 60
meet the boat They covered the
engine with fowes, tied ropes covered
with silk ribbon to it and pulled it by
the hands of the crowd up to Court
Square where they had big speaking
time. They then carried it down to the
track and it two days before they could
get it to run. The road never got any
farther than to Collierville and the
engine could not make any faster time
than the stage coach. The company
busted and the track was there for
few years not used. Then a new COM
pany was formed with great expecta-
tions, for it was called the Memphis and
Charleston and was going to run from
the Mississippi river to the sea, from
Memphis to Charleston, South Carolina.
1t was while the road was being or
ganized that the great Mississippi
orator, Prentis, went to Charleston,
South Carolina, and brought back to
Memphis barrel of sea water, and at
great gathering of the people at the
river bank he poured the sea water in
to the Mississippi River, typifying the
the union of the two waters that would |
be united by the proposed bands of steal. |
1t was upon this occasion that while
making his speach as orator of the day,
that he used the ever since famous ex-
preston that when God Almighty
made the Mississippi river he took the
bride off and told her to go where she
would" and she has been going that
way every since, in spite of man trying
to confne her with levies. Prentis
then filled his barrel with Mississippi
water and started to Charleston, South
Carolina, to repeat the performance,
but somewhere upon the way, the stage