This Week 150 Years Ago in Hickman – May 25, 1872

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from May 25, 1872

• A man by the name of Houston, while intoxicated, indiscriminately shot a bystander in the heel in Hickman on May 22^nd. Houston was arrested, imprisoned, and was awaiting trial.
• The black visitors on an excursion from Cairo, Illinois and Columbus arrived at Hickman on the Steamer Tyrone on May 23^rd. They met with black residents of the city to attend a grand picnic. “Politics ran high,” it was reported, as attendees debated on the candidates of the upcoming presidential election.
• The German Picnic on May 20^th was “highly enjoyable” and the “music was splendid.”
• The young ladies and gentlemen of Hickman enjoyed a dance at the City Hall on May 23^rd.
• The Hickman Courier announced support for Edward Crossland for a second term in the U.S. Congress. Congressman Crossland declared he would not support Horace Greeley’s candidacy for President.
• P. Oliver, Ben D. Thomason, and John F. Tyler announced themselves as candidates for Fulton County Sheriff. W. L. Garner declared he would seek another term as Hickman City Marshal.
• The mangers of the railroad at Hickman issued orders not to transport fish due to the odor. The decision was a serious loss for the 75 to 100 fishermen engaged in the trade.
• Levi’s Wholesale Liquor & Cigar Shop on Clinton Street in Hickman began selling Uncle Bob Lee Smoking Tobacco.
• An editorial by John C. Noble, a citizen of Hickman, proposed that the city “loan its bonds in liberal amounts” to build a cotton mill, woolen mill, wooden ware factory, a factory for hollow ware and a foundry for the manufacturing of machinery to compete with Paducah as a regional hub.
• Thomas Allen, of the Iron Mountain Railroad, informed the Mayor Hess of Columbus that a track along Front Street would be constructed and number of piles along the river would be required. Construction was to begin in thirty days.
• A “very fine bay horse” was found hitched at Moscow for which no owner could be found. The town marshal sought to locate the owner.
• A man wounded from a raid on the Clinton jail to breakout prisoners earlier in the month, died last week from a gunshot injury.
• Robert T. Albritton, sheriff of Graves County, received a dispatch from Governor Preston Leslie on May 20^th to proceed with the execution of John Ryan in Mayfield on May 31^st.
• The Southwestern Kentucky Medical Association met in Paducah on May 20^th. The Association published a resolution declaring the “great necessity” for a lunatic asylum in Western Kentucky.
• James A. Moore of Obion County, Tennessee declared that a foot log that crossed a stream on his property was cut down by Davy Crockett over forty years ago. An old hunting companion by the name of Captain [Alexander] Sterrett, who resided at nearby Crockett Branch confirmed the story.
• The City Council of Jackson, Tennessee passed an ordinance that all dog owners muzzle their animals for the next one hundred and twenty days. Mad dogs were reported to be “running loose everywhere.” The City Marshal was given the authority to “shoot all dogs” not muzzled.
• The Brownsville States reported a ghost in the home of one of its residents. The newspaper stated, “a mysterious lady’s hand appears on the wall, dimly at first, but gradually getting plainer, until it stands out perfect in every particular.”