Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from April 13, 1872
- A lightning storm hit the region on April 7th and reports were received that houses and persons were struck by lightning.
- The Mississippi River was rising and people living along the river were warned to prepare for flooding.
- Caterpillars were reported to be causing damage to fruit trees in Fulton and nearby counties.
- The Hickman City Council met on April 4th where W. L. Gardner reported $132.30 was received from wharfage collections. The Council addressed complaints received by local businesses that recent tax assessments were too high. Frank Miller was granted a lager beer license for six months and the Hickman Brass Band were released from paying a license fee to perform concerts. A new ordinance was passed that fixed the amount paid to persons that worked and repaired roads in the city.
- The Fulton County Court met for their April term earlier in the week. John A. Noonan was appointed overseer of the Troy and Moscow Road and Benton Sloan resigned as overseer of the Dresden Road. William Rakes was paid $8.00 for furnishing a coffin and burying a dead man, George E. Caldwell was paid 38.40 for bridge lumber for the State Road and Kuy Noonan was paid $15.00 to repair the bridge.
- The minstrel troop of the Hickman Cornet Band performed at the Hickman City Hall on April 11th. The concert was well attended.
- Carles Wittig, and daughters Emily and Delga, scheduled a musical engagement in Hickman on April 15th. Wittig wished to open a school for music in Hickman.
- M. Galloway completed construction on a new corn mill in Hickman.
- Charles Oswald became a partner with E. Haug to form the Oswald & Haug Steam Furniture Factory of Hickman.
- H. Ryan planned to auction of his artwork in Hickman on April 17th.
- Elder Flowers planned to preach at the Hickman Baptist Church on April 14th.
- W. Bain, Grand Worthy Chief Templar of Kentucky, completed his lecture tour on the Temperance movement in Fulton County. He lectured at Hickman, Tyler Lodge, Poplar Grove, Jordan Station, Fulton Station, and Union Church.
- Louis Ebhard of Moscow died on April 11th.
- Ruth T. Winston died on March 24th at her residence four miles from Hickman.
- A pneumonia epidemic struck Obion County, Tennessee the last few weeks causing the deaths of many of the county’s best citizens.
- A ferry company in Columbus sued the Iron Mountain Railroad Company for transporting passengers across the Mississippi River to Belmont, Missouri without paying the $16 transfer fee to the ferry company as defined by a Kentucky statute. The statute stated that the ferry license prohibits competition within a mile of the established ferry. The Federal Court in Paducah found in favor of the railroad by declaring that “the navigation of the Mississippi River was free and could not be obstructed by State legislation.” The case was dismissed.
- James Cunningham was found guilty of the murder of James Pendergrass in Hickman County. The murder was committed in 1865 when Pendergrass a rebel soldier returning from a Northern prison was robbed and killed by Cunningham in Hickman County. The sentence was death by hanging, but on the night after the trial twenty-seven men entered Hickman to release Cunningham and other prisoners. A firefight broke near the jail where six guards held off the attack before the town was aroused and armed citizens began firing upon the assailants. Outnumbered and outgunned the outlaws exited Clinton with threats to return and burn down the town. None of the guards were wounded. The authorities at Clinton telegraphed the Governor for one hundred rifles to arm the local militia.
- The rape trial of Jackson and Coe began in Hickman County. Jackson and Coe were arrested two weeks earlier for raping the wife and daughter of a man named Shelton.
- Congressman Edward Crossland named his newborn son “Hickman County.”
- Arthur B. Beaumont, son of the editor of the Mayfield Democrat J. Beaumont, died earlier in the week.
- The Murray Gazette made charges of oppression and corruption by the Federal Government to the citizens of Paducah. The newspapers published in Paducah deny the accusations and requested evidence of the corruption.
- Planting season was being delayed in West Tennessee as the ground was too wet too plow.
- A brakeman on the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad by the name of Thomas House was killed when he fell between two freight cars near Waverly, Tennessee on April 8th.
- The director of the Paducah & Memphis Railroad, J. W. Ryan, stated that the twenty-seven-mile section of track from Troy to Dyersburg would be completed prior to the Memphis to Covington, Tennessee section due to the time to grade the terrain.
- The Steamer Oceana exploded near Cairo, Illinois on the night of April 11th. One hundred and thirteen lives were lost.