(exerpted from Marshall County Historical Quarterlies and Marshall County, Tennessee: A Sesquicentennial History)
Marshall County was a part of the great tract of land purchased by Richard Henderson from the Cherokee Indians on March 15, 1775. In 1783, the state of North Carolina sent commissioners to this portion of Tennessee, which was then within the borders of that state, to survey lands bestowed upon her soldiers for their services in the Revolutionary War. Absolum Tatum, Isaac Shelby and Anthony Bledsoe were appointed for that purpose. Accompanied by about eighty prospectors and guards, these three crossed the Duck River near the mouth of Flat Creek and passed south of the Elk River on their mission. These were among the first white men ever in Marshall County.
It is believed that no settlements were made within the present limits of Marshall County prior to 1806. The first settlers found a growth of cane so tall and thick that they traveled the creek beds rather than cut through the cane. Most of the earliest settlers came here to live on land which had been granted to soldiers as compensation for fighting in the Revolutionary War. The fertile soil and pleasant climate attracted others. By 1810 there were many clearings and the pioneers began to call this land their home.
It is not known where or by whom the first settlement was made. Early in the year 1806, James Neil came from North Carolina to where Farmington is now located and built a cabin just northwest of the highway in the village. He was soon followed by two of his brothers, Andrew and Alexander, who lived within a quarter of a mile of the village. About the same time, John Reed and John Dysart opened up farms one mile south. Allen Leiper was the first settler three miles from Farmington on Rock Creek. By 1808, Allen Leiper was operating a valuable watermill on Rock Creek which supplied the demand for the central section of the county for two years. In 1808, John Shaw settled one mile north of the village. The village of Farmington is said to be the oldest settlement in Tennessee south of Duck River. James Leiper, brother of Allen, Benjamin Simmons, Josiah and John Blackwell and John and Robin Orr settled on the headwaters of Rock Creek about 1808.
On Caney Spring Creek, near the village of Caney Spring, Asa Fonville raised a crop in 1807. A little farther up the creek, James Patterson began clearing a farm early in the same year. Four miles northwest of Caney Spring, Squire Atkisson settled and near him were James Hayes and a Mr. Kellams. Prior to 1810, families of Allens, Wallaces and Becks had settled in this area. Samuel Ramsey settled on Caney Spring Creek about 1808 and afterward in 1809 moved south of Duck River.Other early settlers on Duck River were Billingtons, Rev. Warner, James Patton, Hugh McClelland, Richard Walker and the McClures.
At Cornersville, the first settler was John Haynes in 1807. He was joined in 1808 by William Henderson and Pearsley Cox. That same year Billy Marr and Ephriam Massey settled near Robertson Fork. Other early settlers in this area were Ephriam Patrick, John Dabney, John Cockrill, Billy Alexander, John and Thomas Walker. John Parkes lived four miles south on Richland Creek in 1807.
Early in 1807, Nathaniel Dryden made his way to Belfast. His first neighbor was Thompson Cannon. They were soon joined by Francis H. Woods and James Coffey. In 1808, William Williams settled near Round Hill but soon afterward moved to Belfast.
Andrew Patterson and his brother James began to clear the village of Chapel Hill in 1808. Joseph Brittain settled nearby on a 5,000 acre grant in 1809. By 1810 the Boyds and Riggs had made their way to this area.
Between 1807 and 1810, the first settlers to make their way to Cane Creek, 10 miles south of Lewisburg, were Elisha and Joab Bagley, James Brown, Josiah McAdams, James and Irvin McAdams.
It is believed that Abner Houston and his brother Hugh were the first to settle Lewisburg. Jonathan Moore was the first to settle on Globe Creek and was soon followed by John Wilkes.
Bethbirei Presbyterian Church was the first church of any denomination to be established in what is now Marshall County. Bethbirei, which means "House of My Creation" in Hebrew, was organized June 1, 1810, by Rev. Samuel Finley of Kentucky and 26 charter members. In 1814, the church hired their third minister, Rev. Thomas J. Hall, who soon opened the first grammar school in this section of the country. Hall also organized the Rock Creek Bible Society, an interdenominational group, in 1815. The Rock Creek Bible Society still meets annually on the Saturday before the third Sunday in May and is the oldest organization of its kind in the world.
Marshall County itself was actually established by an act of the state legislature on February 20, 1836. The county was formed from parts of Lincoln, Bedford, and Maury County on that date and later by an area of Giles County. It was named in honor of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Abner Houston, who was living in the area which was to become Lewisburg, donated 50 acres valued at $400 for the county seat. Lewisburg did not exist before this time. It was formed and named out of a need for a new county seat or government center for the growing area. The new county seat town was named for Meriwether Lewis, famed explorer of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. On October 4, 1836 the county court of Marshall County appointed a committee to build a county courthouse and a jail, lay off streets and sell lots in the new town.
The first courthouse, a very securely built jail, a poorhouse for the indigent, and a bridge over Duck River were all completed in 1838. Academies sprang up all around the county for the convenience of parents who did not want to send their children away to boarding school. In 1838 qualified voters numbered 2000. This 2000 voters did not include white nonproperty owners, blacks, and women. The value of land, slaves and livestock totaled three million dollars. In the1850 census the most frequently listed occupation was farmer. People who were economically deprived were listed as paupers, mentally deficient, idiots, or lunatics. The most common crops were cotton and tobacco. Between 1871 and 1941, Jersey cows were the source of income for many farmers. By 1949 there were 12,000 Jersey cows in Marshall County. Tied to the agricultural movement is the Ladies Rest Room, which was a public restroom built in 1924 for the wives of farmers who came to town on Saturday to conduct business. The Ladies Rest Room is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Some important "firsts" of the county include these: First marriage license issued to Thomas Bryant and Elizabeth Richie. First divorce was between James and Elizabeth Gates. First store in Marshall County was on Barnes Hill, 2 1/2 miles west of Lewisburg. First hotel stood on the Lewisburg Square where the First Presbyterian Church is today. It burned early in the 1840s as the city's first misfortune with fire. The first piano made in Tennessee was made by W. C. Butler of Petersburg in 1833. A fine quality of rifle powder was manufactured at Catalpa in a plant owned by Major Crashers. Petersburg was the first town to be incorporated by an Act of the General Assembly after the county was formed. W. G. Loyd was the first child born in Lewisburg. The first will recorded was that of John Hill. The first newspaper was the Democratic Mirror published in 1838. The first bank in Marshall County was the Bank of Lewisburg established in 1882.
In 1838 the county was divided into 15 districts for the purpose of electing justices of the peace and constables. In later years the districts numbered 18 to accommodate the addition of the Cornersville area.
Most of the county roads were developed by people living in the area where the road ran. Every farmer, along with his hired help, was expected to do his share in establishing roads and bridges. When iron bridges were erected in an area, the people were expected to build the stone piers and erect the approaches while the county paid for the iron work. Toll gates were established to help maintain the roads.
The railroad is said to be responsible for bringing Marshall County out of the back woods. Until the railroad was available, livestock had to be walked to market. A livestock drive to another state was both time consuming and risky. The narrow gauge railroad was operating in Marshall County as early as 1877. The L and N Railroad came later and connected Lewisburg to all points north and south. With the train, students had a way to get to school; merchants had train stops as places to conduct business; farmers had a way to transport products. Soon manufacturing plants followed. The Wherle Stove Company was established in 1888 and the American Lead Pencil Company established a saw mill and a slat mill in Lewisburg in 1894. Later, Lewisburg would be declared the Pencil Capital of the World. General Shoe Corporation came at the end of the Great Depression in 1936. When employees were hired, they agreeed to give 5% of their wages each week to pay for the building. The debt was paid in three years. Lewisburg Casting followed in 1946, Walker Die Casting in 1958, Moon Pencil in 1961. In 1961 the Lewisburg Industrial Park opened with Inland Equipment as the first industry in the park.
Several Marshall County politicians have served at the state and federal level. Marshall County is proud to boast three governors: Henry Horton, Jim McCord, and Buford Ellington. Judge A. B. Neil was Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Lieutenant General Nathan Bedford Forrest reached his military rank for service to the Confederacy. President James K. Polk practiced law in Lewisburg for three years.
Marshall County has always followed the call to military duty. Men from Marshall County gave support to the Confederacy. Three companies of men went to Mexico to fight in the war there. Many young men fought and died in World War I and World War II. We were also well represented in the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict, the Gulf War, and the War with Iraq.
Private academies were the education institutions in the county until 1874 when the public school system was put into operation. The following were private institutions: Lewisburg Male Academy 1838, Lewisburg Female Academy 1838, Marshall Academy 1842, Cornersville Institute in 1854, Good Land College in Cornersville in the 1870s, Mooresville Male Academy in 1838, Mooresville Female Academy in 1839, Union Academy at Belfast in 1859, the Chapel Hill Academy for Males and Females in 1833, the Cane Creek Academy at Petersburg, the Wilson Academy at Thick, the Buckeye School at Ostella, the McClure Institute and the Forest Grove Methodist Church School at Robertson Fork, and the Promise Academy at Holt's Corner. By 1885, there were 85 county schools funded jointly by state funds and private subscription. The most famous private high schools were the Haynes-McLean School (later called Price-Webb) in Lewisburg and the Morgan School at Petersburg.
The Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders and Exhibitors Association is headquartered in Lewisburg and was organized in 1935 by Burt Hunter, Mayor Jim McCord, and others interested in the growing breed. Horses had been used for farm work, transportation, and racing since the earliest days of the county. As early as 1858, a race track had been incorporated into the local fairgrounds. In the 1870s and '80s the outstanding pacer was Little Brown Jug, who was raised on a farm in Mooresville. Mr. Harrison Dawes of Farmington had a race track where he trained the best pacers of the day. It was at this Farmington track that Mr. Bright Hunter first observed the gait that is now characteristic of the Tennessee Walking Horse, which is the only breed to originate in the South.
The fainting goat, for which a major festival is named, came to Marshall County from Europe in the 1880s. The stiff-legged appearance and the fainting is caused by a condition called myotonia. We celebrate this fainting goat because Marshall County was its first home in America.
The history of Marshall County is rich and fascinating and continues to be researched daily by members of the Marshall County Historical Society and many individuals who use the resources of the Genealogical Room at the Marshall County Library, the Marshall County Historical Museum, and the records housed in the office of the Register of Deeds. For more information about purchasing historical quarterlies or available resources, please contact the Marshall County Historical Society, P.O. Box 1352, Lewisburg, TN 37091.