Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from June 24, 1871
• Workmen commenced building a market house in Hickman.
• The assessment for the new city jail in Hickman amounted to $3,000.
• A railroad from Hickman to Tiptonville along the Mississippi River was discussed by businessmen of both communities and a company was to be organized to initiate funding for the rail line.
• The citizens of Hickman eagerly prepared for the upcoming County Fair.
• A Temperance Celebration occurred on July 17th in Hickman. A procession marched under the leadership of John C. Steele as marshal to the picnic grounds at 10 a.m. and was joined by several hundred followers. Addresses were given by Reverend Steele of the Methodist Church and Reverend Flowers of the Christian Church. The Hickman Star Band performed and many young couples danced until the day ended.
• The Hickman City Council voted to pay Pat Judge $35.90 for putting brush and rock on the river bank, assigned payment to W. T. Lineback and W. J. Cole for work on the new market house, and granted a license to Joseph Stegala to operate a coffee house for six months.
• The candidates for the State Legislature and Senate scheduled dates to speak in Fulton and Hickman County from July 3rd to July 29th. The candidates also planned to attend barbecues, and all other public events, until the day of the election.
• George W. Silvertooth spoke before the Graves County Court House in Mayfield on June 19th condemning radicalism in National government and arguing against the testimony of black citizens in State and local courts. Lucian Anderson followed Sivertooth and declared his support of President Grant’s “radical” administration and that African-Americans should have the right to testify in both Federal and State courts.
• Thomas C. McCreery telegraphed that he could no longer continue to participate in political discussions due to a busy schedule.
• The Masonic Fraternity at Jordan Station proposed celebrating St. John’s day on June 24th. Clint Randle was to be the orator of the day.
• A minstrel troop gave a free performance at Millet Hall in Hickman on June 19th.
• Reverend Flowers of the Christian Church held meetings at the “old house of worship” during the third week in June.
• James A. Overton, a businessman from Hickman, negotiated to have a daily packet be dedicated between Hickman and Cairo. The steamer Alice Dean offered a proposal.
• The editor of the Hickman Courier reported on the “healthy conditions of the town of Hickman” and predicted a large increase in trade in the fall.
• C. S. Payne removed his mill from Hickman to Oswald’s Steam Factory so as to be supplied with a reliable source of power.
• The Hickman City Jail was removed and place on hill away from the town.
• A boat club was formed in Paducah.
• The steamers Illinois and Grand Tower raced from Columbus to Cairo on June 18th. The Grand Tower won by over five minutes.
• Charles M. Braswell of Eddyville, Kentucky died suddenly in Paducah.
• Mike Madden, a citizen of Hickman and road master of the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad, died of pneumonia on June 23rd.
• The Paducah Herald published a call by N. M. Morse, and others, for a gathering of “old pioneers and brush breakers from the first settlement of the Jackson Purchase” to meet for dinner in Mayfield on July 27th.
• The Paducah Kentuckian reports that two men, who are brothers, employed at Hillman Iron Works on the Cumberland River weigh three hundred ninety and two hundred and eighty pounds respectively.
• George Washington, a former slave, died in Hickman on June 21st.
• R. A. Galbraith, a well-known and highly respected attorney from Hickman County, passed away in Clinton on June 8th.
• A passenger and freight train collided near McEwin Station, Tennessee on the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad on June 21st. A passenger named R. M. Voss was crushed to death, and W. S. Condon the baggage master and James Bonner the brakeman were seriously injured.
• Reverend Wright of Rutherford Station, Tennessee died in a fire on June 19th after saving his invalid wife and daughter.
• A black man was lynched in Gibson County, Tennessee on June 22nd and left hanging from a tree.
Jackson Purchase Historical Society