Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from November 25, 1871
• The Hickman City Council completed a contract with the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad Company for the construction of a new wharf and protection of the city’s riverfront. The city gave the Company its stock in the old Hickman & Obion Railroad Company and one-half of the city wharfs, in perpetual, on the condition that the Railroad company “build at once a good and permanent wharf.” The Company also purchased the warehouse of Overton, Steel & Co. and their riverfront for $10,000. The Company planned to erect a large steam elevator on the property.
• Some city authorities discovered that two $500 bonds were entered to certain parties in the Hickman City Bond Books for which there was no bond issued and no consideration ever received by the city. The City Council ordered their cancellation.
• Representative A. S. Arnold visited Hickman on November 21st and declared he was in favor of building a levee from Hickman to Tiptonville. He promised to use his influence in the State Legislature to secure the legislation required to advance the project.
• George W. Silvertooth stated he would be a candidate for clerk of the Kentucky State Senate.
• Complaints received by the Hickman Courier that there was a scarcity of houses in the city led the editor to recommend the construction of a number of “cheap cottages.” He also encouraged the city to contribute $25,000 to the development of the Hickman to Tiptonville levee.
• The Methodist Sabbath School planned to have a Christmas tree at the Methodist Church on Christmas night. The members of all Baptist and Christian church schools were invited to attend.
• Fulton County employees made improvements on the jail grounds by constructing a brick and cement wall on Carrol Street in Hickman.
• John Stegala and J. K. Lane opened a new saloon and billiard rooms in Hickman on November 21st. The grand opening included a free lunch that brought in a large crowd.
• The Plaut Brothers Company claimed to employ thirteen clerks and that the business was expanding.
• John Lauderdale, a resident of Hickman, returned to the city after a several month absence. His health was considered “feeble” at time of publication.
• The Steamer Tom Jasper Sunk near Chalk Bluffs on November 24th. A vast amount of freight vanished in to Mississippi River but no lives were lost.
• Evan H. Settles received an appointment as assistant lecturer on the “good cause of temperance” in the First District of Kentucky.
• J. J. Hickman, former Grand Worthy Chief Templar of Kentucky, delivered a lecture in Hickman on November 20th.
• The Hickman Courier reported that the Grand Duke Alexis, the Russian Prince, might visit Hickman in early January during his American tour.
• The Court of Appeals of the First Judicial District was scheduled to hear cases from February 26th to March 4th, 1872.
• Congressman Ed Crossland met with applicants in Mayfield for appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point on November 25th. The applicants were from the age of 17 to 22 years of age.
• A stock company formed in Paducah for the manufacturing of tobacco, the Paducah Kentuckian reported.
• Dr. T. H. Benton of Dyersburg, Tennessee was severely hurt a week prior after being thrown from a buggy when the mule towing the buggy darted off the road.
• The Dyersburg Gazette reports the Judge Isaac Sampson had been confined to his bed for several days with a “dangerous attack of flux.”
• The annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, for the Memphis District, was held on November 21st at Trenton, Tennessee. James G. Pirtle was appointed as Hickman Circuit Chaplin.
Jackson Purchase Historical Society