"History of White County", Chapter III

History of White County is a 1935 book by Reverend Monroe Seals.
==CHAPTER III==
===Economic History===
Gas. While boring for oil in Hickory Valley many years ago gas was struck,
which shot up a flame of gas through a two-inch pipe forty feet into the air. It
continued to flow for eighteen years, double the life of the average well. Gas
has since been struck and piped into town. An oil expert from Pennsylvania said
that in his opinion there was a fine lake of oil nine hundred and fifty feet
under the soil where the above gas was struck. In 1818 while boring for salt on
the Calfkiller near Blue Spring, John P. Graves struck gas and he and some of
his men were seriously burned.
Coal. About 1836 Brice Little opened a coal mine a few miles east of
Sparta, and supplied Sparta with coal for fifty years. As the demand increased
other mines were opened. Kimsey and Butler opened a mine near Little's mine. M.
C. Dibrell opened a mine near Bon Air which became the Bon Air Coal Company. J.
Keith of Sparta, was President; M. C. Dibrell, Secretary and Treasurer; and E.
W. Cole of Nashville, Chairman of the Executive Committee. The company then
owned eleven thousand acres of land. They worked a vein two and a half feet
thick. This Company has been reorganized a number of times, but is now the
Tennessee Products Corporation.
Iron. There is abundance of iron ore in White County. Three and a half
miles northwest of Sparta is a series of low hills with masses of chert and clay
mixed with brown limonite in pieces running in size up to three hundred pounds.
This deposit extends with occasional gaps about five miles. Board Valley
Mountain, about ten miles long by one mile wide, has abundant iron ore. A
veteran of the Revolution, who, perhaps, never came here, name Swindle, entered
514 acres of land on both sides of the Calfkiller in 1807 and proved his claim.
He then sold it to Isaac Swindle, perhaps his son, and Armistead Stubblefield.
These two built the Harriet Iron Works. For a debt of Mr. Stubblefield for three
hundred and three dollars the Harriet Iron Works and the tract of land were sold
to George Matlock in 1815 at a Sheriff's sale. T. B. Rice, who has erroneously
been supposed to have built the first iron works, bought the property in 1820
and began working it. In 1842 it was again sold at a Sheriff's sale. Several men
bought it but it is known that Drayton Rosier ran the foundry almost up to the
Civil War.
A man named Brown ran a forge on Falling Water, and A. C. Rodgers ran a
forge on Rocky Creek.
Salt. In 1818 John P. Graves began making salt on the Calfkiller above
Sparta. This was the beginning of a series of salt wells knows as the Calfkiller
Salt Works. During the Civil War period some of these wells were producing fifty
bushels of salt a day. This was the main source of salt for this section. The
Federals wrecked the salt works.
Building stone of many kinds is plentiful. There are various kinds of
sandstone and limestone. In Hickory Valley there is a gray fire-proof limestone.
Granite of the finest quality, including light rose and gray is abundant. Tested
lithograph stone is also abundant. Asphalt and cement rock are plentiful. At
various times in the County's history lead has been mined. The Cherokee Indians
got lead in great quantities which they used in barter with the whites. The
Confederate soldiers used White County lead for molding bullets during the war.
One vein of lead is on Milk Sick Mountain. Marble is also found in White County.
In the early days native stone was used for tomb stones and a dozen other uses.
In 1876 Eli Robinson lived at the Rock House and operated his marble works at
the foot of the mountain. His factory was destroyed by fire and with it perished
much of his work. One of the monuments destroyed was a monumment to Anthony
Dibrell.
Mineral water. Mineral water is so abundant that any mention of it insures
that many places will be missed. Clarktown has three kinds of water in thirty
feet. Mineral waters are found at Bon Air, Gracy Springs, Doyle, Fountain Head,
Doe Creek, and in the Calfkiller Valley. These waters include limestone,
Chalybeate, white sulphur, black sulphur, red sulphur, and magnesia.
The County is bountifully watered. There are innumerable springs. The short
creeks are Wallace Creek, Jesse Williams, on which once was a mill, Lost Creek
on which the first mill in White County was built, Taylor's Creek, Short Creek,
Sink Creek, Town Creek, Doe Creek, Bickford's Mill Creek. The long creeks are
Caney Fork, Cherry Creek, Cedar Creek, Plum Creek, Wild Cat Creek, Calfkiller
River, Taylor's Creek, Rocky Creek, and Clifty Creek.
Timber. Timber is yet plentiful. There are over two hundred varieties of
trees and shrubs native to the County, some fifty of them being of commercial
value. Since the coming of the railroad timber and timber products have been one
of the chief sources of profit. Even before that the timber interests were
considerable. In 1832 Donald Phillips at the county fair exhibited one hundred
and forty-two kinds of wood growing in this County.
Farms. The farms of White County raise about every thing that is grown
outside of the tropics. In the early days however, there was not a large variety
of crops grown. Dick Crowder raised the first crop of wheat grown in this County
After that small crops of wheat were grown on nearly every farm for a great many
years. At first the wheat was cut with a sicle with which a man could cut about
an acre a day. Then came the cradle, then the reaper about 1880, then the
binder. Threashers were introduced into the County in 1870 and were of the tread
wheel kind. Riley Hasten had a ground hog horse power threasher in 1873, and
William Townsend got one in 1875. The first separator threasher was owned by Joe
W. Taylor. David England was the first man to grow strawberries in this County.
The first large planting of strawberries was made in 1932. Sweet potatoes were
grown for family use from the earliest days. The first large planting was made
in 1929, in which year a storage plant was erected in West Sparta. The first
nursery in the County was established by Dewitt Croley in 1876. The next nursery
was that of Pope Brothers, four miles north of Sparta, about 1885.
The largest steer ever raised in this County was raised by Solomon Seals in
1845 and weighed two thousand seven hundred pounds. The largest jack ever in the
County was owned by Tandy Lewis in the eighties. He was seventeen hands high and
named Big John. The laregst hog ever raised in the County weighed two thousand
two hundred and forty pounds. It had not stopped growing when it was injured
while being loaded for the World's Fair and had to be killed. In 1921 John Cole
raised seven hundred and fifty bushels of corn on seven and a half acres. The
first turning plows used in the County were the Vulcan and Avery. The first
Oliver Chilled plow was a left-handed number forty, brought in by John A.
Blackburn in 1873.
===Climate===
The climate of White County is comparatively even. The winters are
comparatively mild while the summers do not as a rule go over eighty-five
degrees, extremes of heat being very rare. The mountain part of the County in
summer time is about eight degrees cooler than the low lands. It is a fine
climate for summer resorts.
===Physiography===
The eastern part of the County for six or eight miles is Cumberland Mountain
Plateau. It is mostly gently rolling and is suitable for fruits and vegetables
and fine for grazing. The potatoes grown on the plateau are equal to those grown
in Michigan. Coves and small valleys cut their way into the mountain on its
Western side. These coves are very fertile. Leaves washed down make a rich mold.
These coves often open into wider valleys, as the Valley of the Calfkiller which
runs through the County, widening as it reaches Southward. Through the center of
the County west of the Calfkiller Valley there runs a narrow mountain range, the
highest peak being the Gum Spring Mountain, named from a gum around a boiling
spring. This peak is twenty-seven feet higher than the opposite Cumberland
mountain. West of this central ridge is the barrens. This land was formally
supposed to be barren. There are many fine farms in this section now. But in the
pioneer days there was no timber in this section of the County. This land is
comparatively level and when the white settlers first came it was covered with a
tall grass and not a tree could be seen. Some parts of it were covered with
canebrakes. The Indians burned these canebrakes and grass lands to run game for
their winters' kill. Great herds of buffalo and wild horses roamed over these
lands. When the Indians were driven out, and these fires ended, the timber grew
and this section of the County is well timbered now. The coves and valleys in
the early days were also burned over every year by the Indians BO that there was
no timber there. There was timber on the hills and on the sides of the mountains
and in secluded coves and valleys where the fires were not apt to rage.
My grandfather Solomon Seals, said when he came to White County there was not
a tree in Big Bottom larger than his waist and he added that he had since seen
many a five-foot log go down the river. When John Templeton came through Moore's
Cove to establish his home he had to cut his way through the canebrake. There
were no trees there then. When Thomas Little built his home in Blue Springs in
1823 the cove was a canebrake. When the Lewis brothers came to Hickory Valley,
the whole valley was a canebrake.
===Industries===
Hat makers. In the beginning hats were made of straw, skins, and buckeye
splits. Early in the history of the County regular hat makers came making hats
of wool, fur, and cotton. A man named Hardin ran a portable hat establishment in
the lower part of the County before 1840. W. C. Brittan ran a hat factory in
Sparta, the first regular hat factory in the County, working six or eight hands.
A man named Boss made hats at Cave. Joe Phifer made hats at Yankeetown. All
these were before the Civil War.
===Distilleries===
There were so many distilleries that only the most important ones can be
mentioned. Perhaps the first regular distillery was established up the river
from Dodson's Chapel soon after the settlement of that section. Dave Snodgrass
at Yankeetown and his brother James on Cherry Creek made whiskey almost a
hundred years ago. There was a distillery on Town Creek long before the Wakeman
& Hodge Distillery, was erected. Simpson Burgess made whiskey long before the
Civil War. After the War, owing to the tax on whiskey, he made brandy. Pertle
had a distillery at Cassville in 1850. In 1840 there were thirty-two
distilleries in White County. After the Civil War the leading distillers of the
County were: John A. Blackburn, whose distillery was established in 1874; Jasper
Camp, 1880; Steward Clark, 1885; Major Passons, 1877; George MeBride, 1880;
Pleasant and Nattie Austin, 1867; Edmond Cunningham and Pleas Farley during the
Civil War period. Bunker Hill had three saloons before the Civil War. Owing to
the war tax on liquor wildcatting became rampant. Liquor was sold in practically
all stores in the early days of the County. The first drug stores in Sparta were
really high class saloons where liquors and medicines were sold. The most noted
liquor business in White County was Mountain Springs Distillery owned by Wakeman
& Hodges, J. Hodges being the general manager. It was organized in 1882 and
employed about fifteen men all the time. Its capacity was one hundred and fifty
gallons a day. It was located at the Obe Jett Spring South of Sparta. This firm
supplied the territory around Sparta and shipped great quantities to other
states, at one time shipping three hundred barrels to Germany. The average sale
ran about six hundred dollars a day and they paid in taxes about two hundred
dollars a day. They not only made their own liquors but they bought practically
all the brandy made in Warren County. They manufactured their own barrels and
kept on hand about a hundred thousand staves. They bought all the surplus corn
and hogs in the County. They usually kept at least five thousand bushels of corn
in stock and fattened about four hundred head of hogs at a time. The net cash
income clear of all expenses was about one hundred and fifty dollars a day. The
distillery was stopped by the United States Government for illegal acts.
===Tanneries===
William Anderson was our first tanner. He was located in Sparta. In 1840 there
were sixty-eight tanneries in White County. Some of the leading tanners of that
period were Alec Goodwin, Dick Baker, Jack Whitley, C. C. Young, Newt Cameron,
General Gooch Smith, Dave Snodgrass, and a Mr. Stroud. The leading tanners of
the County since 1860 were Jack and George Simmons, twin brothers, John Goodwin,
and James Goodwin. Some of these tanners were also makers of leather goods. Two
of the most noted saddle makers of the County were Howard Farley, and Joe
McBride who from 1865 to 1885 made saddles which were sold in almost every state
in the Union. Local cobblers at different places in the County made shoes. Some
of these were Cid Golden, and Wink Sapp on Cherry Creek, Jack and George
Simmons, John Goodwin at Bakers Cross Roads. From shortly after the Civil War
for a great many years John Walker and Charlie DeBow had a harness factory in
Sparta and made nearly every kind of leather goods.
===Mills===
The first mill in White County was established some time before 1808 on Lost
Creek. It is mentioned in Morris' Universal Geography. Scarbrough built a mill
on the Caney Fork River in 1812. William Glenn and Thomas Simpson built mills on
the Calf killer in 1815. The following corn mills were built between 1815 and
1820: Sam Denton, six miles from Sparta on the Calfkiller, Thomas Sperry and
Jacob A. Lane on Town Creek. William Bosson on the Caney Fork, Clark Swindle on
Cedar Creek, T. B. Rice and J. W. Taylor on Calfkiller. Simpson's mill became
the property of Oliver F. Young in 1871. There was a saw mill on one side of the
dam soon after 1800. Other early mills were Anderson's on Town Creek, Clark's on
Town Creek. This mill was situated only a few yards west of the present one
which was built by Clark in 1866. Taylor's mill had a saw mill a few yards down
stream. Some of the lower Calfkiller mills ceased to operate when the Tennessee
Power Company began to build their dam. These early mills were all burr mills.
The water wheels, when not overshot wheels, were made by hand or beveled wood. A
few of these burr mills are still running. In the flour mills the bolters at
first were turned by hand, two negroes being employed to turn the bolter, as was
done first at Clark's Mill. Mills were early constructed on Cherry Creek, the
first one by Wilhite, then one by William Sims lower down the creek. In 1865
Dire White built a mill on the Caney Fork with a sash saw in connection with it.
This is better known as Mitchell's Mill. This mill employed from thirty to forty
hands and a village grew up there. The mill in lower Hickory Valley was built by
Jesse Williams very early, and another similar mill on lower Caney Fork known as
Bickford's Mill. A carding mill and grist mill owned by James Robinson was run
by steam on Post Oak Creek before the Civil War. The first roller mill in the
County was built in 1840. There were ten flour mills, twenty-one grist mills,
thirteen sash saws, and a great number of saw mills.
Some of the roller mills in this County have been that of W. R. Allen, North
of Sparta; the Gillen mill at Blue Spring; Taylor and Burroughs, five miles
south of Sparta; J. R. Tubb, near the Sparta bridge; Mayberry on Town Creek in
the eighties; and the one in Sparta, established in 1902. Some of these mills
were sold to the Sparta Mill Company. The roller mill at Cookeville and the one
at Algood were constructed out of parts of these old mills.
Before the Civil War there were five carding mills in White County. Joe W.
Taylor at Cave, Henry Eckols on Falling Water, James Robinson on Post Oak, one
run in connection with the old factory, and that of George Ogden at Sparta,
which was built in 1831. Ogden built his own overshot wheel.
The following had cotton gins: Eli Sims, Bill Sims, Fate Carroll, Joe
Randolph, Yankee Wilson, Bill List at Cassville, and there were two gins in
Hickory Valley. Cotton was raised etxensively then and the factory used it to
its capacity. Most of these industries are now forgotten. The factory mentioned
was located where the present city waterworks plant now is. Another and much
larger factory was chartered in 1892. This was the Falls City Cotton Mill with a
capital of thirty thousand dollars chartered "to manufacture, spin, weave,
bleach, dye, print, finish, and sell all goods of every kind made of wool and
cotton." This mill was a three story brick building. It was famous for its
sheetings. The plant was wrecked in the flood of 1902 when every bridge and mill
on Caney Fork was destroyed.
===Some Sources of Income Long Ago===
Money was scarce in our early history, but the peopel needed but little money
as taxes then were negligible. They made their own clothing and raised their own
food. Only a few things were bought from the stores. In 1840 there were only
eight stores in the County. Their sources of income were maple sugar, tar,
cattle, hogs, sheep and turkeys. Maple sugar and tar were hauled to Nashville.
Sol Tollison was the last tar maker. Livestock and turkeys were driven south on
foot to market. Turkeys were driven sometimes in droves of five hundred. In
order to prevent them from becoming tender-footed, tar was smeared on their
feet. Later horses were driven south. Buying and selling slaves was a great
source of income. Two of the largest of the slave dealers were Daniel Clark and
W. H. Matlock. They bought negroes in Virginia and the Carolinas, selling what
they could here, and taking the rest south. Clark bought and sold about one
hundred and fifty slaves a year. The old slave block on which Matlock sold his
slaves still stands. Burley tobacco was also profitably grown here, one of the
chief growers being a French man named Lyda who built the brick house on the old
Jared place. It was reintroduced into the County as a money crop a few years
ago. Besides the sources of income mentioned, great numbers of small craftsmen
such as shoe makers, saddle makers, harness makers, and the like earned money
from their labor. In 1840 there were eight saddle makers in White County.
===Banks===
The first State bank was established in Nashville in 1807, but did not open
for business until 1810. This operated with the exception of a two-year interim,
until 1819 when it failed. It was called the Bank of Nashville. Great turmoil
resulted and Governor McMinn called an extra session of the Legislature to
remedy the unsettled state of affairs. The second State bank was established
which also failed. A third was soon after established. In 1838 the fourth was
established. A branch of this fourth state bank was established at Sparta in
March, 1840, and operated until during the Civil War. It seems to have been the
only bank in the mountain section of the state. Men came for fifty miles
bringing their money for deposit in saddle bags. Robbery of those thus bringing
their money was scarcely ever known. John Jett was the president of this bank,
A. L. Davis, cashier, and G. G. Dibrell, clerk. Mr. Jett died the year after the
bank was established 'and W. M. Young took his place. Those serving as
presidents in the order given were: James Snodgrass, John Warren, J. G.
Mitchell, and William Goodbar. During the Civil War J. G. Mitchell and two
others started to Chattanooga with the bank's funds, forty-three thousand
dollars, it was sure to fall into the hands of the Federals if left in Sparta.
They were met on the way by bushwhackers and robbed.
In 1885 the Bank of Sparta was organized with W. M. Cameron, president, and J.
N. Walling, cashier, with capital stock fifty thousand dollars. The next year it
was changed to the First National Bank of Sparta with Richard Hill, president,
W. M. Cameron, vice-president, and J. N. Walling, cashier, the capital stock
being reduced to forty thousand dollars. In 1905 this was raised to fifty
thousand dollars and later to a hundred thousand. Richard Hill was the efficient
president until his death in 1921, when his son, Robert L. Hill, became
president. The Peoples Bank was organized February 2, 1900. with a capital stock
of fifteen thousand, five hundred dollars, J. L. Dibrell, president, D. H.
Young, vice-president, T. E. Williams, cashier, and James N. Cox, assistant
cashier. On September 15, 1905, it was rechartered as the American National Bank
with a capital stock of fifty thousand. J. T. Anderson was its first president
and was succeeded by J. H. Potter. This bank later merged with the
Commerce-Union Bank of Nashville and became one link of a chain of banks. The
Peoples Bank and Trust Company was organized in July, 1921, with a capital stock
of twenty-five thousand, T. H. Faneher, president, and 0. L. Davis, cashier. The
Doyle Bank was organized in 1885. Its first president was Wilson McConnell who
served three years, then Bob Terry one year, then A. P. Johnson three years,
then Grade Gamble nineteen years. Upon the retirement of Mr. Gamble the bank
liquidated.
White County has never had a bank failure in its history. The number of White
Countians who have been presidents of banks outside the County is large. Some of
the best known of these are Anthony Dibrell, General George Gibbs, R. L. Parley,
Ed Rotan, and David C. Wilhite.
===Timber Products===
Much has been made of the way in which the early settler wasted timber. The
early settler had very little timber to waste. At a later period, when forests
had grown, there was great waste; for timber had very small commercial value
until after the coming of the railroad in 1884. By that time there were great
forests in White County. Colonel Phil Goodwin and Professor Roe Todd were the
chief timber buyers for ten years after the railroads came. They paid a dollar a
piece for walnut and poplar trees on the stump. In that first ten year period
one million dollars worth of walnut timber alone was shipped out of White
County, besides great quantities of other timber. The local uses to which timber
has been put are for buildings, fences, and fire wood and for the making of
furniture and farm implements and other things made of wood. Until comparatively
recent years all of these things including farm wagons were made in White
County. Great quantities of White County walnut were used during the World War
for gun stocks, first for the Allied Army and later for our own army. Millions
and millions of golf sticks have been made out of White County hickory. Hard
maple and red beech have been shipped out in great quantities for automobile
bodies and for furniture. Great stave companies have consumed quantities of
White County white oak for barrel staves and heads. White County oak and
hickory, dogwood and persimmon, have been used for shuttles, and for handles and
spokes. Some facts from the United States census as to the use of the timber in
White County are these: In 1840, 796 cords of wood were sold; in 1880, 38,365;
1930, 18,628 cords; in 1930, 426 cords of pulp wood, 36,734 posts, 3,950
railroad ties, and 132 poles and piles.
===Bricks===
Brick kilns have been operated in White County since the early period. Daniel
Clark made brick near Clark's Mill which were used in building the old factory,
the mill, and the old brick house west of the mill which is now known as the
Brock House. Brick were made in the Western part of the County in at least two
places as early as 1830. Brick making has never been on a large scale due to the
difficulty of finding dirt free from gravel.
===Agriculture===
Agriculture has always been the chief industry of White County. A great
majority of the people of the County have always gained their living chiefly
from the farm. There is an idea that the pioneer ruined his land in short order.
This is a mistake, except as to hillside land, and even then he did well
considering his chances. He plowed with a bull tongue plow, which left the land
rough and most of the rubbish was left on top of the soil. Turning plows plowed
this rubbish under, and left the land smooth and hard under the soil a few
inches. It is my observation that more good land was ruined after 1875, when
turning plows were introduced, than before that time. The principal crop1 in
this County has always been corn, for food and for stock. Corn is better for
food in this section than in any other place in the world for it contains more
phosphorus. In the days of the distilleries corn was largely used in the
manufacture of whiskey. The best test acre of corn grown in this County, so far
as I have learned, yielded 122 1/2 bushels. The United States census shows the
following yields of corn for this County: In 1840, 405,149 bushels; 1850,
599,015 bushels; 1860, 472,563 bushels; 1870, 347,944 bushels; 1880, 637,143
bushels; 1900, 508,690 bushels; 1910, 537,773 bushels; 1920, 645,843 bushels;
1930, 582,639 bushels.
Other grain products in White County are wheat, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat
and millet. Wheat was introduced into the County sometime before 1840. It was
never grown on a large scale, but there was a time when nearly every farmer
produced enough wheat for his own use. In 1840, the County produced 5,183
bushels and there was a gradual increase up to 1890. In this year there were
threshed 74,050 bushels. Since that time the growing of wheat has declined,
reaching a low in 1930 of 7,010 bushels. Since 1930 there has been a gradual
upturn in wheat production. Oats were grown in the County from the first, more
extensively in the early years than now. The falling off of the production of
oats is accounted for from the fact that the fresh lands of that day yielded
better returns than now, and from the fact that oats constituted the principal
hay crop then. In 1840 White County produced 85,899 bushels of oats, as compared
with 10,576 in 1930. Rye was another grain crop that was grown in this County
from the first. It was used for making rye bread, whiskey, and a substitute for
coffee. It was grown much more extensively in the early years than now. At the
present time, however, rye bids fair to become an important crop again, but not
for grain purposes, but for soil improvement. Buckwheat has never been
extensively grown, but throughout the years a few farmers have raised buckwheat.
Millet was not introduced into the County until late and is not even grown now
as grain but for hay. Barley is another grain crop which has been grown mainly
for hay, though some farmers thresh their barley for grain. Sorghum was
introduced into the County sometime before 1850. In that year 181 gallons of
molasses were made. At first the cane was ground on a wooden mill and boiled in
pots and pans. It is used now quite extensively for making molasses and for
stock feed. The other grain sorghums have only recently been introduced into the
County and are not yet extensively grown.
Grasses and clovers were not introduced into the County until within the last
few years. When red top was first introduced, farmers were afraid to plant it
for fear it would become a pest. Red top is now the most extensively planted
grass for hay. Timothy is also grown and blue grass to some extent. The clovers
now grown in White County are red clover, which was introduced some time before
the Civil War, alfalfa, and crimson clover, introduced only a few years ago, and
lespedeza, also a comparatively recent crop. In the early days much corn fodder
was used for feed. Hay now largely takes the place of fodder. Within the last
twenty years tobacco has become again an important farm crop in this County.
Hogs. The raising of hogs has declined due to the greater expense of raising
them. In the old days hogs were fattened on the mast and were grown at
practically no cost at all. When the time came that hogs had to be fattened on
corn, it was necessary to introduce better breeds, the razor back being the type
grown heretofore, and White County now has blooded hogs. Where farmers use
pasture in the fattening process, hogs are still grown at a profit.
Sheep. The early settlers used sheep for mutton and they used the wool for
making clothes. The type of sheep grown then were hardy and lived mostly on the
range. With the increase of dogs the growing of sheep became unprofitable and
the industry nearly passed from White County. Of late years sheep growing has
received a fresh impetus and the County bids fair once more to become a sheep
growing section.
Poultry. In the early days of the County ducks and geese were extensively
raised for making feather beds. Turkeys were grown for market, while chickens
were raised mainly for home use, there being then not much market for chickens
and eggs. Eggs sold as cheap as three cents a dozen and hens sold as cheap as
five cents apiece. After J. E. Tubb established a poultry business at Sparta and
began buying and selling chickens and eggs on a large scale, it began to be an
important industry. It has grown now to the place where the poultry in White
County brings more money to the farms of the County than any other part of the
farm industry. In recent years during the best part of the season from three to
five car loads of chickens and a car load of eggs a week have been shipped from
Sparta.
Orchard Products. The early settlers brought with them many kinds of fruit,
and from the first, fruits and vegetables have played an important part in the
diet of every family. There were some fruits growing wild when the first white
people came here. Strawberries growing wild were abundant. As were also
blackberries, dewberries, and even raspberries. Huckleberries grew in great
abundance. Muscadines and wild grapes grew in great profusion. Even wild plums
grew everywhere. Added to these native wild fruits the settlers soon had apples,
pears, plums and cherries growing. These all thrived well in this section and
while never grown for market, they added greately to the living of every family.
Cattle. Both beef cattle and milk cows have had an important place in the
County from the first. The first settlers brought with them their cattle which
were mainly Airshire. The cattle were raised without much expense, ebing allowed
to run at large on the range. After the valley section was thickly settled and
there was no longer any free range, the cattle were driven in the spring time to
the plateau to fatten on the wild grasses, only the milk cows being kept at
home. Cattlemen frequently owned cabins on the mountains where they went at
intervals to round up their cattle and salt them. They were thus grown at small
expense and since they could be driven long distances to market at small expense
the cattle business was a profitable business. Judge Dickinson and Mr. Overton
introduced Jersey cattle into this County and there are now some fine Jersey
herds in the County. A few years ago Herefords, Aberdeens, Angus, and other beef
types were introduced and the County now has very fine beef cattle. The growing
of cattle is still a porfitable part of the farm industry.
There has been a great forward movement in agriculture in White County since
the beginning of the work of County Agents. C. M. Franklin was appointed first
Agricultural County Agent in 1914. He established a County experiment station on
the High School ground which was responsible for the introduction of new crops
and new methods of farming. He served until 1917. In that year the Home
Demonstration Agent was appointed and the work of the County Agent was
discontinued. The work of the County Agent was reestablished in 1918 and H. W.
Andrews was appointed in that year as the County Agent. He has served
continuously ever since. Under the leadership of the County Agents men and women
have been organized into clubs as have also boys and girls in the 4-H Clubs.
Through the County Fair and the work of these clubs there has been great
improvement both in production and in marketing of agricultural products. Some
old industries long forgotten, as for instance cheese making, which in the early
days held an important place in every farm home, have been reestablished.
===A Steamboat Line===
Before the Civil war a steamboat line operated from Nashville to Sligo on the
Caney Fork. This line was run by Amos Livingston Davis. There were two ships,
the smaller one named The May Dew, the larger one named Everyday Dick. The
farthest a steamboat ever came up the Caney Fork River was to Frank's Ferry. It
was the Alleyona. A windlass was used to bring her over the shoals. This was a
short time after the Civil War.
===Roads===
In 1897 the County appropriated $60,000 for road building, and later it
appropriated another $50,000 to finish the project started. The Road Commission
appointed to serve with the County Judge, who was then J. D. Goff, were J. R.
Lee, Franklin Wilhite, and Perry Officer. Officer did the engineering. Crushed
limestone was put on the road, the road itself being twelve feet wide. This
program met with opposition but the opposition largely disappeared when it was
seen how small the taxes were. The first auto in White County was owned by
Oliver Anderson in 1908. After automobiles began to be common here, the interest
in good roads increased and a new period of road building came which has now
resulted in nearly every prominent road in the County having a hard surface.
===Hotels===
The old hotel at Bon Air was our most noted hotel because Bon Air Springs, as
has been stated, was the first summer resort in the South. Sparta had a famous
hotel owned by William Glenn covering much more than the Quarles block. Mr.
McGee had a hotel which was burned by Stokes men during the Civil War. There was
a hotel where the Keystone Hotel was run by Mr. Barnes. There was another hotel
where the Lee Hotel stands back of which was a little woodland. The Rhea House
was built for the Sparta branch of the old State Bank. The Lee Hotel was built a
few years ago at a cost of $100,000.00.
===Mining===
Mining has been an important industry ever since the opening of the Bon Air
Mines. There were small drift mines in White County years earlier, but these
supplied only local needs. The Bon Air shaft was sunk in 1902. For twenty years
the company averaged 350 tons a day from that one shaft. In 1902 the Eastland
mines were opened. This mine operated for thirty years at an average daily
tonage of 350. In 1917 William J. Cummins bought the Bon Air Coal & Iron
Corporation, the land consisting of more than 50,000 acres. This company was
reorganized and the name changed to The Bon Air Coal & Iron Corporation with
James R. Oldfield, president, and W. J. Cummins, vice-president and general
manager, John McE. Bowman, treasurer, Frederic Leake, secretary, and William
Wrigley, Jr., chairman of the board of trustees. In 1920 Dr. W. B. Young was
made general superintendent. Different companies under different managements
owned and operated drift mines, the Carola shaft, the Ravenscroft and Eastland
mines until 1926, when the Tennessee Products Corporation was formed by merging
the Bon Air Coal & Iron Corporation, the Chattanooga Coke & Gas Company and the
J. J. Gray Iron Works. The Clifty property was owned by people who had no
connection with the seven Bon Air concerns until it was purchased by the Bon Air
Coal & Iron Corporation in 1926. In the autumn of 1903 Jesse Walling of
McMinnville purchased the John H. Savage tract of 5,000 acres in this and
Cumberland Counties and at once proceeded to organize the Clifty Creek Coal &
Coke Company and to operate the mines. The company owned the town, including
commissary store, school house, and all other buildings. On the opening of the
mines towns sprang up around them as if over night, including DeRossett. In 1920
White County ranked sixth among the coal producing counties in Tennessee.
Category:"History of White County"
Category:Texts