Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from October 21, 1871
• A cabin on the farm of Henry Campbell, near Hickman, caught fire and was completely destroyed. A child of the black family that resided in the cabin died.
• Henry Ahlert, a worker at the Oswald Steam Furniture Shop, lost two fingers while feeding wood into a circular saw.
• Dr. Benjamin, former Chief Medical Inspector of the Trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederate States Army, settled in Hickman and began a medical practice.
• The Catholic Bishop of the Louisville Diocese, Reverend William G. McClusky, lectured at the Hickman Catholic Church on October 16th. A number of Protestants reportedly attended.
• Reverend E. B. Plummer was appointed to take charge of the Hickman Methodist Episcopal South Church to replace Reverend S. A. Steel.
• Refugees from the Chicago fire arrived in Hickman and were temporarily residing in local hotels.
• Several earthquake shocks had been felt at Hickman earlier in the week.
• The Hickman Courier encouraged city residents to purchase items made in the county. “It is the duty of every citizen who wishes to see home institutions prosper, and who desires to increase the wealth and build up the city in which he lives, to patronize at all times the local dealers and mechanics.”
• Hickman County had several first-degree murder trials postponed by the Circuit Court in Clinton.
• The Hickman Courier defended its stance on the desire of the people of the Jackson Purchase be annexed to Tennessee, after an editorial response in the Louisville Ledger requested the Courier expose “all the wrongs that the Purchase have suffered.” The Courier offered a detailed list of grievances dating back to before the Civil War.
• Congressman Edward Crossland appointed a board of examiners to review applicants for appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
• Aaron Asbell of Hickman passed away at age seventy.
• Members of the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Association met at Paducah on October 19th and 20th and planned to meet again on May 25th of next year.
• The Paducah Kentuckian reported that the receipts of the Confederate Bazaar held during the McCracken County Fair exceeded $800.
• It was reported that the upper extremes of the Mississippi River was so low that cows had invaded the channel and steamboat captains hired cattle wrestlers to have them removed.
Jackson Purchase Historical Society