‘Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story’

The Murfreesboro Post, May 3, 2009

This summer Linebaugh Public Library System is sponsoring a series of programs about the Federal Writers’ Project.

The FWP was one small part of President Franklin Roosevelt’s mammoth Works Progress Administration, designed to get America back to work after the Depression.  Probably the most widely known achievements of the FWP were the travel guides created for every state – the famous “American Guides” series.

The library’s programs are in conjunction with “Soul of a People: Writing America’s Story,” a new television documentary produced by Spark Media, Washington D.C., scheduled for broadcast later this year on the Smithsonian Channel HD.  Soul of a People programs in libraries are sponsored by the American Library Association Public Programs Office, with the support of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Below are some excerpts from “Tennessee: A Guide to the Volunteer State.”  Copies of this book are available in the Historical Research Room at the Linebaugh Public Library and at Smyrna Public Library.

“Tennessee: A Guide to the Volunteer State”

Compiled and written by the Federal Writers’ Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of Tennessee, 1939:

Tour 8

(Hopkinsville, Ky.)—Springfield—Nashville—Murfreesboro—Monteagle; US 41E and US 41.

Section b. NASHVILLE to MONTEAGLE, 90.5 m., US 41.

Between Nashville and Monteagle US 70 traverses three of the eight topographical sub-divisions of the State.

Between Nashville and Murfreesboro is the Central Basin, where the country is rolling and generally under cultivation. Back from the highway, on both sides, are lands covered with red cedar, the largest cedar forest in the State. South of Murfreesboro the rout ascends the Highland Rim. Above the rim lie the Barrens, covering part of three counties, an area generally flat with scrub oak that attests the thinness of the soil.

Between Manchester and the point where the ascent to the top of the mountain is made, the rout parallels the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau. This area is more fertile and under heavy cultivation.

Near Monteagle are mountains and the Cumberland Plateau.

US 41 leaves NASHVILLE, 0 m., on 4th Ave. S., to Peabody St.; L. on Peabody St. two blocks to 2nd Ave., the Murfreesboro Pike.

By an underpass of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry., 3.5 m., is (R) the camp site of the Irish Nomads. In the last week of April this roving clan of horse traders gathers in Nashville to attend the annual burial services of members who have died during the year. Between two and three thousands of them pitch their trailers in the open field. Though they are often mistaken for Gypsies, these people are of pure Irish stock, devout Roman Catholics, and bear such names as Costello, Sherlock, and Gorman.

The clan stems from four families of horse traders who came to the United States in 1875. They have always confined their trading to the South. Today they travel about the rural sections in cars and trucks, stopping frequently to buy horses and mules. The buying is not restricted to fine work animals. Farmers know that the Nomads will take a sick mule or an overworked horse, if it is not too old. Skilled for generations in doctoring ailing horses, they are remarkably successful in salvaging such animals. At New Orleans and Atlanta the clan maintains depots on a communal basis, in which the animals are collected and sold at auction. A large part of the trade is with foreign markets. Much of the mountain artillery of the Italian Army was carried into the hills of Ethiopia on the backs of mules bought for the Italian Government by the Irish Nomads.

The burial place for those who live east of the Alleghenies is Atlanta; for those who live West, Nashville. On the first of May mass for the dead is said at St. Patrick’s Church. Burial is at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, on the Lebanon Road.

COLEMERE (private), 6.7 m., has (L) a large house with a Greek Revival pedimented portico, designed by Russell Hart and built in 1930, after the first house had been destroyed by fire. The first house was built in 1893 by E. W. Cole, retired president of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. The rose gardens are notable.

THE NASHVILLE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (L), 7.7 m., has a modern hangar, an assembly hall, and a building for the use of the 105th Observation Squadron. The runways and some of the buildings on this 400-acre field were constructed by WPA labor.

The CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE (R), 7.8 m., is on a bluegrass farm. The hospital can care for 1,800 patients. The criminal department has a capacity of 300.

Southeast of this point the highway passes through fertile fields. The grassy meadows are bordered with trees and, in late spring, starred with wild daisies. Many of the fences along the highway are covered with wild honeysuckle.

A dangerous curve at the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. Underpass is at 16.3 m.

At 17.5 m. is the junction with a graveled road.

Left on this road to JEFFERSON SPRINGS, 7 m., a summer resort.

At 20.7 m. is the junction with paved State 102.

Left on State 102 is SMYRNA, 1.2 m. (510 alt., 531 pop.), a village in a rich farming section.

I. Left (straight ahead) 1 m. on an improved dirt road to the DAVIS HOME (open Mon.-Thurs.); here is the SAM DAVIS GRAVE. Davis, a 19-year-old scout, was captured by Federal troops on Nov. 9, 1863, after he had been in Union territory for more than two weeks. In his boot he had plans of Federal fortifications and information about the size and positions of Federal troops.

He was taken to General Dodge, who was anxious to learn what Confederate agent in the Federal ranks had helped Davis. The general endeavored to confuse the youth by questions. Without revealing any information, Sam said, “I know the danger of my situation, and I am willing to take the consequences.” Dodge persisted but found Davis adamant. He threatened court martial. Sam answered, “You are doing your duty as a soldier, and I am doing mine.”

The trial was postponed to the 26th. The sentence read: “… the said Samuel Davis of Coleman’s scouts in the service of the so-called Confederate States, to be hanged by the neck until dead.” In a letter he wrote to his parents that night, he said, “I do not fear to die.”

The next morning, after Davis had ridden to the scaffold on his coffin, General Dodge gave him one more chance; he sent a staff officer to ask if the boy would reveal the name of his informant. “If I had a thousand lives, I would lose them all here before I would betray my friends or the confidence of my informer,” was the answer as reported in histories. The sentence was executed.

The State owns and maintains the plain, long two-story house. Hand-hewn timbers have been clapboarded. The pedimented central portico has square columns. Central halls on both floors separate the rooms. Near the house is the log cabin used before the construction of the larger house.

2. Right 3.5 m. from Smyrna on an improved road is OLD JEFFERSON (520 alt., 87 pop.), on Stone’s River. In the days of river transportation the future of Jefferson seemed bright, for it was in a fertile region on a navigable stream. At first only flatboats and barges were cabled to its wharves, but in 1824 the keel of a steamboat was laid here. This boat carried passengers between Jefferson and Nashville. When water transportation was outmoded by railroads and good pikes, the navigability of Stone’s River did not matter, and the importance of Jefferson dwindled.

3. Left from Smyrna on an improved road to JEFFERSON SPRINGS (fishing, boating, swimming), a summer resort with a modern hotel. On the shady banks of Stone’s River are many cottages, some of them for rent.

STONE’S RIVER NATIONAL CEMETERY (L), 29.1 m., was established in 1867 for the interment of soldiers killed near Murfreesboro. Of the 6,177 graves, 2,360 hold unknown men.

East of the cemetery is a UNION MONUMENT erected in 1863 by survivors of Col. W. B. Hazen’s Union brigade as a memorial to 55 of their comrades who were killed here.

STONE’S RIVER NATIONAL MILITARY PARK (R), 30.7 m., was established in 1927 to preserve the relics of the Battle of Stone’s River. Considered from the standpoint of the loss of life, this battle was one of the most indecisive of the War between the States. Of 37,000 men, the Confederates lost 10,000; and of 44,000 men, the Union lost 13,000. At the end of the battle the Confederate army still blocked the Union advance on Chattanooga, though the Confederates had withdrawn from the field in apparent retreat.

Bragg’s withdrawal was caused largely by the over-enthusiasm and overconfidence of some of his men. On the third day of the battle they had been ordered to dislodge the Union left from high ground along the river. The order to attack was given at 4 o’clock that afternoon—just long enough before dark to take the hill—but the first rush was successful, and the men pushed on too far, coming under direct and heavy fire of the Union artillery. They were shattered and driven back. The next day councils were held in both camps, and Bragg withdrew during the night.

Rosecrans failed to follow Bragg, because many of his supplies had been taken in a cavalry raid led by Wheeler, which preceded the actual battle. With fine strategy, Wheeler had encircled the Union troops and had captured the wagon train following the army. Rosecrans held fast to what he had gained by encamping at Murfreesboro, while Bragg retreated to Tullahoma.

A pyramid of cannon balls (L), 31 m., at the intersection of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Ry. And the highway, is the site of the TEMPORARY HEADQUARTERS OF GENERAL BRAGG, commander of the Army of Tennessee.

REDOUBT BRANNAN (R), 31.3 m., was built by Union troops in 1863 to protect Murfreesboro against invasion by the Confederates. The high earthworks are well preserved.

MURFREESBORO, 32.2 m. (616 alt, 7,993 pop.), seat of Rutherford County, is in a section noted for its purebred Jersey cattle and is an important shipping point for cotton and dairy products.

The abundant cedar forests nearby are cut on a large scale.

Murfreesboro grew from a small settlement nearby called Jefferson. Stone’s River was discovered in 1766 by a party of four men and named for one of them, Uriah Stone. The county was established in 1803, and seven months later, on August 3, 1805, Jefferson (now Old Jefferson) was selected as the county seat. Thomas H. Benton, United States Senator from Missouri (1821-1851), tried his first case there.

In October 1811 a second county seat was selected and named Cannonsburg by admirers of Newton Cannon, who was later Governor of the State (1835-1839). His victory in 1835 over a candidate supported by Andrew Jackson was the first indication of Jackson’s decreasing power in Tennessee politics. Cannon had been a political and personal enemy of Jackson since the time when Jackson had prosecuted a case on which Cannon sat as a juror. Jackson had fought hard for conviction, but the jury brought in a verdict acquitting the defendant. Jackson shook his finger in Cannon’s face and said: “I’ll mark you, young man.” Later, when Cannon’s popularity had waned, the name of the town was changed to honor Col. Hardy Murfree, a Revolutionary War hero.

Murfreesboro was the capital of Tennessee from 1819 to 1825. For three years after the courthouse burned in 1822, the delegates met in the Masonic Hall, but in 1825, the legislature convened in Nashville, because the hall was inadequate. Long after the legislators had left here, Murfreesboro was seeking their return and its re-establishment as the capital. It was nearer to the center of the State, its leading citizens argued, and, besides, it was “deficient in those sources of amusement which in Nashville are supposed to distract the legislators from strict attention to their duty.” When the time came to select a permanent capital, feeling was so strong that the local newspaper protested, “If the members can not accede to our wishes then we go for McMinnville, for Knoxville, for any place before Nashville!” Nevertheless, Nashville was chosen.

A RED-CEDAR BUCKET FACTORY here also makes churns, filter tubs, ice pails, and wine coolers.

The CONFEDERATE MONUMENT on the square is now a meeting place for farmers who stop to exchange gossip.

The TENNESSEE COLLEGE (Baptist), the only senior college for women in the State, occupies a 20-acre campus along Main St. Its handsome brick buildings have pillared porches in the Southern tradition and are shaded by ancient oaks. The 176 students come from several States.

The $1,500,000 plant of MIDDLE TENNESSEE TEACHER’S COLLEGE includes a demonstration farm and dairy as well as an impressive group of buildings. Largest of the three State Teacher’s College, it has an enrollment of 2,100 and a faculty of 45.

In a modernized antebellum home is the BRISTOL-NELSON PHYSIOLOGICAL SCHOOL where 25 sub-normal and backward children receive care and training under the direction of Mrs. Cora Bristol-Nelson, a specialist in abnormal psychology.

RUTHERFORD HOSPITAL is the home of the Rutherford County Health Department, which has lowered the infant mortality rate in this county to 26.6 per 1,000 live births. The hospital was built and the demonstration unit established by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City in 1924 as one of four child health demonstrations.

In Murfreesboro is the junction with US 70A (see Tour 12A) and US 231 (see Tour 8A).

Left from Murfreesboro on State 96 to Rucker Lane, 5 m.; L. here 1.6 m. to MARYMONT (private), built on land claimed in 1807 by Aaron Jenkins for services rendered in the Revolutionary War. The house was built by his son Nimrod. It is a large square brick Greek Revival structure with a central pedimented portico, two stories high. The portico shelters a small second floor gallery. During the War between the States, the house was a Union headquarters and later a hospital, but it received good care. Consequently, it was one of the few homes spared during the Battle of Murfreesboro.

The grounds and garden were mutilated by Federal soldiers during General Rosecrans’ occupation of Murfreesboro.

1. Left from Murfreesboro on State 96, to a huge FLAT ROCK, 2.1 m.(R), covering three acres. This rock is in the geographical center of the State.

2. Right from Murfreesboro on State 96 to the junction with a graveled road, 8.5 m.;R. here 2 m. to SNAIL SHELL CAVE, in which 17 varieties of snail shells have been found. A small stream runs though the cave with water so deep that parts of the cave have never been explored. The mouth is about 200 feet wide by 300 feet long. It is in a hollow with perpendicular cliffs on three sides, and a gravelly slope on the fourth.

Southeast of Murfreesboro, following a former Indian trail, US 41 traverses a fertile level farming country. The land is intensively cultivated on the outskirts of the town.

At 42.1 m. is the junction with a graveled road.

Right on this road to the former HOME OF JOHN P. BUCHANAN, Governor of Tennessee (1891-93). Buchanan was the first president of the Farmers and Laborers Union of Tennessee (1889), a political organization known as the Farmers Alliance. The first activities of the Alliance were non-political. It undertook to eliminate the middleman by establishing co-operative rolling mills, cotton exchanges, tobacco warehouses, and stores. Later, when the organization entered national politics, its goal was the abolition of national banks and the establishment of a graduated income tax.

The Alliance was politically powerful in Tennessee by 1890; it successfully attempted to control the Democratic Party, and Buchanan was nominated for the governorship, which meant election.

The great problem of his administration arose from the practice of leasing convicts to private contractors. The United Mine Workers of East Tennessee protested. Buchanan had some conciliatory laws passed but finally called out the militia (see Tour 5). Buchanan was not re-elected.

The Cumberland Mountains are in view at 61.4 m.

The route reaches the top of the Highland Rim, 63 m., known since the days of the explorers as the Barrens because of the scarcity of timber and other growth here. Fires have often swept the area during the last forty years. They usually begin in the spring. After the timber has been killed by fire, the grass, briars, and bushes grow profusely, furnishing excellent pasturage for cattle, goats, and hogs. For this reason cattlemen from the adjoining counties have long been accused of setting these fires.

US 41 crosses Duck River on a steel bridge at 64.3 m. The Duck River cascades are (R) 0.3 miles downstream.

At 65 m. is the junction with an unmarked dirt road.

Right on this road to OLD STONE FORT, 6 m., an unusually fine example of prehistoric defense works. Occupying a highly strategic position, the walls, 20 feet thick, are built of stone and earth and enclose about 32 acres. The intricate inner defenses, which surround the only gateway, were evidently the work of skilled engineers. It is not known by whom the fort was built. Some have credited De Soto with its construction during his march northward from Florida, but this theory was combated by John Haywood, the Tennessee historian, who told of a white oak tree that had grown up over the remains. He said that it had been demonstrated by study of the rings that the tree was about 78 years old when De Soto landed on the coast of Florida. If the fort was built by a prehistoric tribe, their culture must have been much more advanced than any known to have lived north of Mexico.

MANCHESTER, 65.6 m. (1,069 alt., 1,227 pop.), at the foot of the Cumberland Plateau, is the seat of Coffee County which was named for Gen. John Coffee (1772-1833), a surveyor and a close friend of Andrew Jackson. A garment factory here is the only remnant of Manchester’s once thriving cotton factories. As early as 1791 an advertisement appeared in the Knoxville Gazette: “The subscriber has his machine in order for carding, spinning, and weaving and is wanting a number of good weavers-such as are acquainted with the weaving of velvets, corduroys, and calicoes. John Hague, Manchester (Meter District) Nov. 11, 1791.”

Manchester has long been a shipping point for crossties; cutting them was long a source of cash income for farmers. When the farmer had gathered his crop he had little else to do except feed the stock and lay in a supply of wood. He then went to the woods to chop or saw down a tree. If the trees were tall and had few limbs, the farmer could get two “ties” from one tree, otherwise he got only one. After the tree had been felled, the length of one or two “ties” was measured off and the log notched.

When a load of crossties was finished, it was hauled into town and sold. Cash received for such a load was exchanged for shoes and heavy underwear, or for coffee, sugar, or other foods that could not be produced on the place. At Christmas time, tie money went into the purchase of nuts, apples, oranges, candy, and shotgun shells for hunting on Christmas Day.

The process of producing crossties has changed. A portable sawmill is now moved into the woods, and the logs are sawed into crossties there. This method is much faster and more economical.

At the northeast corner of the public square is a large MOUND of earth and stone, believed to have been built by prehistoric tribesmen as a signal point for the Old Stone Fort.

At 86.6 m. is the junction with a graveled road.

Left on this road to WONDER CAVE (adm. $1 with guide), 0.5 m. A stream runs though the mouth of the cave. The main stalactite room is about 400 yards long, 100 yards wide, and 8 feet high.

The route begins at 87.1 m. its 3-mile ascent to the top of the Cumberland Mountain. There are several places from which the valley below can be seen.

MONTEAGLE, 90.5 m. (2,006 alt., 1,000 pop.) (see Tour 13) is at the junctions with US 64 (see Tour 13) and US 68 (see Tour 16).

Tour 8A

Murfreesboro—Shelbyville—Fayetteville—(Huntsville, Ala.); US 231. Murfreesboro to Alabama Line, 66.4 m.

Between Murfreesboro and Shelbyville US 231 traverses country that is flat and grown sparsely with cedars. Outcrops of bedrock rising in many places above the shallow topsoil make this poor farming country. It was once said that a man living back in the cedars “…has got to scratch and sweat mightily if he wants to starve decent.” South of Shelbyville gently rolling hills alternate with steep ridges. On the whole the countryside is bleakly forbidding, except in spring and summer, when patches of pink crowsfoot moss and white sandwort appear in the cedar barrens, bluish lichens splotch exposed rock, and the yellow of wild mustard flowers spreads across the open country.

MURFREESBORO, 0 m. (573 alt., 8,000 pop.) (see Tour 8), is at the junctions with US 41 (see Tour 8) and US 70A (see Tour 12A).

The rather prosperous farming country immediately south of Murfreesboro fades into a country of mournful cedar thickets alternating with wasteland, rocky and gouged by gullies; the people live in weathered shacks beside skimpy truck patches. A few of the old cedar snake-rail fences remain but they are rapidly being sold to manufacturers of pencils.

A marker (R) at 4.1 m. is in memory of Benjamin Liddon, who was awarded two tracts of land, including Liddon Springs, as a bonus for Revolutionary War services.

At 18.6 m. is the junction with a graveled road.

Left on this road is BELL BUCKLE, 5 m. (856 alt., 378 pop.) settled in 1853 and named, according to legend, for the creek that runs through the town. The creek itself was earlier so named because of a bell and a buckle carved on a large beech tree near the source of the stream. The carving is supposed to have been made by Indians or by one of the Long Hunters. Bell Buckle is surrounded by farm land that produces abundant crops and pasturage without the use of fertilizers. Freestone water is piped from springs near Wartrace. In Bell Buckle is WEBB SCHOOL, founded in 1870 by the late W. R. (Sawney) Webb, who has been called “the father of preparatory school education in the South.” The school, which had been established in Culleoka, Maury County, was brought here in 1886. Now a well-known preparatory school for boys, it is non-sectarian and has accommodations for more than 200 boarding students.

SHELBYVILLE, 26.3 m. (771 alt., 5,010 pop.), seat of Bedford County, was named for Col. Isaac Shelby who led a force of Tennessee riflemen at King’s Mountain against the British. he Duck River almost encircles the town, which is the leading business and shipping center of the Duck River Valley.

The population of this town increased by two-thirds between 1920 and 1930 with industrial development. One of the larger factories is the UNITED STATES RUBBER COMPANY PLANT, manufacturing cotton cord for tires. Another, the NATIONAL PENCIL COMPANY PLANT, ships products all over the United States and to foreign markets.

Tour 12A

Crossville—Sparta—McMinnville—Murfreesboro; 98.5 m. US 70A

… US 70A branches west from US 70 (see Tour 12) at CROSSVILLE, 0 m. (1,881 alt., 1,125 pop.), and descends to the flatland where the farming people earn cash by the sale of crossties, wild blackberries, huckleberries, and the furs of squirrels, raccoons, opossums, and rabbits. The meat of these animals constitutes much of their food supply.

Coon dogs are standard household equipment. The dogs are bright yellow, snuff-brown, or black-and-tan, long-eared, and sad-eyed. During the day they loss under the floor of the cabins and lazily scratch at the colonies of fleas. At command they will rush into gardens or cornfields to chase out chickens or to lead pigs by their ears to the pens. These dogs, with short names like Drum, Ring, Gun, Rip, Biff, and the like, are the pride of their owners, who think the coon dog should replace the American eagle.

Raccoons and opossum hunts take place at night in the fall and winter. When the dogs are called for the hunt, they become very alert, and lead the hunters deep into the woods, calling mournfully as the pick up a trail. Having treed a ‘possum or ‘coon, they roar and leap around the tree trunk until the hunters arrive to “shine” the animal with a flashlight. Several methods are used in making the catch; one is to climb the tree and shake the quarry from the limb; another is to cut off the limb; a third is to cut down the tree; and the last is to shoot the animal from its perch. When the furry ball falls to the ground, the dogs pounce on it and hold it until it is retrieved by the hunters. A ‘possum usually “sulls” (turns on its side and plays dead). If not watched closely, it will jump up and “high step” into the bushes, tail held over its back. An unwounded ‘coon turns on its back and puts up a desperate fight; it is usually a match for two dogs. Many times the ‘coon escapes and takes to water, if a stream is near; it is an expert swimmer and will rest on driftwood and logs. When a dogs swims near, the ‘coon reaches out with one paw, or hand, and pushes the dogs head under water. These duckings will continue until the dog stars under, unless rescued by its master.

‘Possums and ‘coons are also found in hollow logs and are prodded, chased, or smoked out.

The captured animals are placed in tow (gunny) sacks alive, and then the hunters sit by lantern light to rest, smoke, drink corn, and tell stories.

The best way to kill a ‘possum is to place a stick of stovewood on its neck, stand with one foot on each end of the stick, take the animal by the tail and give a vigorous pull. There will be a sharp crack, and the ‘possum’s neck is broken.

Roast or baked ‘coon is a delicacy. Roasted ‘possum with sweet potatoes is a prime Tennessee dish. ‘Possum is even better barbecued, for it is a greasy animal that lives on persimmons and carrion. In some sections of the state ‘possum and ‘taters are canned.