Jackson Purchase Historical Society

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from November 11, 1871
• The Hickman City Council met on November 8th. The Finance Committee reported payments to George Warren for printing the City’s Charter and By-laws, W. L. Gardner for street repairs, W. D. Taylor for feeding the prisoners in the city jail, and W. A. Brevard for printing bonds to fund the city debt. Alfred Gardner was ordered to remove his residential fence out of the street within 30 days. The City Marshal was directed to deliver the newly printed by-laws and ordinances to every business firm in the city.
• The Hickman Cornet Band planned to hold a concert at the Hickman City Hall on November 16th.
• An amendment was added to the Hickman Market Ordinance which prohibits “grocers, or others” from buying during market hours without a huckster license.
• Engineers of the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad finalized and submitted their report to the company’s Executive Board on building a new wharf and breakwater in Hickman.
• The Louisville Commercial reported that the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad purchased the Nashville & Northwestern Railroad extending to Hickman.
• The Grand Representative of the Odd Fellowship delivered a lecture at the Methodist Church in Hickman on November 4th.
• The construction of the Bayou de Chien Bridge near Hickman had been delayed due to want of materials.
• A buggy and wagon were stolen from Bos and Si Lauderdale, both of Hickman, at loss of around of $100.
• On November 7th, two detectives arrived in Hickman searching for the men involved in the Adams Express Company robbery at Union City, Tennessee a few weeks earlier. The detectives were directed to Luster’s Landing, fourteen miles south of Hickman, where the culprits were believed to be holding out. A gunfight ensued at a nearby residence, ten to fifteen shots were exchanged, and a detective and felon were wounded. Being dark the criminals escaped into the night. The next day a squad of fifteen to twenty citizens of the neighborhood scoured that part of the county with no success. The men believed to have committed the robbery were James Henry Clark, Edward L. Russell and William Barton. A $1,000 reward was offered for their capture.
• The Paducah Kentuckian reports that the rolling mill in the city was to be relocated to Cairo, Illinois unless investors come to the company’s rescue.
• The Ballard County Court found Thomas Williams, William Ivey and David Alburton guilty of larceny and Jack Wilson’s murder trial ended in a hung jury.
• The St. Louis & Iron Mountain Railroad Company purchased the Cairo & Fulton Railroad. Thomas Allen was appointed President and H. G. Marquand as Vice President.
• The Dyersburg Progress reported that acorns and hickory nuts were so plentiful that farmers were feeding them to their hogs.
• A school tax was defeated in Dyer County, Tennessee by a big majority on November 4th.
• The West Tennessee Democrat planned to begin publishing a weekly newspaper in Huntingdon, Tennessee. Thomas H. Baker was to be the editor.