Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from July 13, 1872
• Dan Steele, contractor for the West Hickman Levee, advertised that he required additional laborers and would pay $1.50 a day. He expected the work to last until Christmas.
• The son of Judge John W. Wingate, Harry Wingate, drowned earlier in the week at Uniontown, Kentucky.
• Jonah Montgomery drove into Hickman on July 11th with his wife and daughter when the horse leading his buggy “took fright” and dashed through the streets of town before overturning and throwing the family “into the gutter.” No serious injuries were reported from the accident.
• The law of drunkenness was reported as being seldom enforced in Hickman and that many citizens were unaware that it was a finable offense.
• The dog muzzling law imposed by the Hickman City Council was not being entirely enforced as “some dogs roam the streets with and some without.”
• The Hickman City Council met on July 10th where they paid several men for street repairs and honored the salaries of the city judge, printer, and treasurer.
• The Fulton County Court met for their July session and ordered Thomas J. Reed as overseer of the Moscow and Dresden Road, appointed R. T. Tyler as Deputy County Clerk, granted a tavern license to H. C. Hester & Company, and paid Q. M. T. Salmon three dollars for burying a dead man found floating in the river.
• The Fulton County Court scheduled elections for August 5th.
• The African American community of Hickman celebrated the Fourth of July with a picnic, school exhibition and several speeches from prominent black citizens. The Hickman Courier reported the “day passed off pleasantly without any disturbance.”
• The Hickman Band received numerous compliments for the music they played in Cairo, Illinois over the Fourth of July holiday.
• Thaddeus W. Thomas announced his candidacy for Hickman City Marshal.
• Reverend L. G. Watkins was appointed agent for the American Bible Society for Fulton County.
• The Fulton Bible Society advertised that the J. H. Davis Bookstore in Hickman would serve as a depository for their publications.
• The Woodland Mills Lodge of Good Templars planned a celebration and picnic for July 17th. Several Lodges in the region accepted invitations to the event. The Hickman Cornet Band was expected to play at the event along with other bands from Dresden and Union City, Tennessee. The public were invited to attend.
• The Common School Commissioner and County Surveyor of Hickman County completed a map of the county describing each school district and location of each farm and section of land.
• Morse’s Station on the Paducah & Memphis Railroad changed its name to Water Valley.
• R. E. Smith of Morse’s Station wrote the Hickman Courier that the Water Valley Order of Good Templars Lodge had 55 subordinate and 29 degreed members.
• The wheat crop in the Jackson Purchase is “all about saved” and considered to be a “magnificent one.”
• Edward Crossland gave his opening campaign speech in Mayfield on June 18th and declared his support for Greeley and Brown.
• J. W. Singleton, of Florence Station, joined the editorial department at the Mayfield Democrat.
• The Mayfield Democrat reported that a married man named Holden Cochran ran away with a Miss Brewer, the Postmistress at Bremen’s Mill. Cochran left a wife and four children.
• T. J. Pickett, the Postmaster at Paducah, was removed and J. Milton Best was appointed as his successor. Best was denied payment for damages to his property by Union troops during the Civil War when President Grant vetoed the law.
• W. C. Clark declined to enter as a candidate for the U. S. Congress according to the Paducah Tobacco Plant.
• Oscar Turner of Ballard County was encouraged to run as a candidate for the U. S. Congress.
• A new Union County courthouse was to be constructed in Morganfield at the cost of $60,000.
• George Martin and Peter B. Stubblefield opposed each other as candidates for the Tennessee State Legislature in Weakley County.
• Prominent and influential citizens of Union City, Tennessee petitioned the editor of the Union City Herald to suspend the publication of the newspaper declaring it a “disgrace to the community.”
• Bishop Robert Paine of the Methodist Episcopal Church was scheduled to preach at Union City, Tennessee on July 14th. A special train was to leave Hickman for Union City so local Church members could attend.
• John A. Board announced himself as candidate for the State Legislature in Obion County, Tennessee.
• Thomas W. Neal, of the Dyersburg Gazette, declined that he would be a candidate for the Tennessee State Senate.
• The Hickman Minstrel Troupe gave a show at Troy, Tennessee to a full house on July 6th.
• Professor Charles Wright relocated his teaching academy at Troy, Tennessee to Gadsden, Tennessee. The school was scheduled to open on July 15th.