Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from July 27, 1872
- Temperatures in Hickman ranged from 90 to 96 degrees during the past week. The warm weather has “caused dullness in business and the receipts of produce.”
- The Hickman Courier reported that the merchants and traders in the city were “willing to pay the highest prices for every description of produce.”
- Wheat had a market value of $1.25 per bushel in Hickman. Watermelons first appeared this season at the city market on July 25th.
- Concerned citizens in Hickman sought to have the city streets mowed since weeds had reached unkempt heights. Recent rains had removed the filth from the streets, but odors were still “distressingly offensive.”
- The Hickman City Council met on July 24th to pay city street workers and issue an order that upcoming election be held on August 5th. N. L. Nelson and Thomas C. Buck were appointed as inspectors for the election.
- An old house on Clinton Street in Hickman, which may have been one of the first to be constructed in the city, had become an eyesore and the City Council was encouraged to demolish the structure.
- The upcoming August election had two county officers, sheriff, and coroner on the ballot. Three candidates were campaigning for County Sheriff.
- Inconsistent roadwork in Fulton County had brought about complaints by citizens as some government appointed overseers had spent majority of their time “sitting down gossiping” instead of repairing roads.
- Members of the rebel brigade that once served under Ed Crossland planned to hold a reunion in Mayfield in September.
- The Central Western Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical Association elected Ervin Anderson as President and C. C. Coulter as Secretary. They planned to have a fair later in the year in Mayfield.
- The four-year-old son of Napoleon Holcomb, of Mayfield, was suffocated to death by a sliding bank of sand earlier in the week.
- Paducah reported to have a number of chicken thieves in the city.
- City authorities of Paducah were compelled to put women prisoners on the “chain gang” to conduct daily work on the streets.
- The editor of the Paducah Tobacco Plant, Edward K. Warren, challenged the editor of the Paducah Kentuckian, John Martin, Jr., to duel in a secluded wood near the city. Fortunately, both were arrested prior to the drawing of weapons by local officers of the law. The duelists were placed on probation to “keep the peace for six months.”
- The United States Government auctioned off 13,500 pounds of tobacco seized from Rogers Brothers Manufactory of Calloway County for violation of revenue laws.
- Solomon Eaves, who was thought to have been fatally shot two weeks earlier in Paducah after whipping his wife, recovered enough to appear before the McCracken County Court on assault charges. He was fined $25 for the offense.
- The festival at Fulton Station was found to be an “agreeable affair and largely attended.”
- Ed Crossland and John Martin, both candidates for Congress, addressed the citizens of Princeton on July 22nd.
- Sportsmen reported that fishing at Reelfoot Lake was “very fine at this time” and many trout can be caught in a few hours.
- Mattie Helm, daughter of John Helm of Henry County, Tennessee, severely broke her arm after the carriage she was traveling in overturned on July 19th. It was reported the arm may have to be removed.
- The Post Office at McKenzie, Tennessee was robbed the week prior of about twelve dollars in cash and fifteen dollars’ worth of stamps.
- A shooting occurred at the Palestine Church in Dyer County, Tennessee between John Green and Newton Blankenship which left Blankenship severely wounded, three other churchgoers maimed, and an infant nearly killed. The gunfight was initiated to settle an old grudge between the two men
- The game of croquet had become quite popular with the young ladies of Troy, Tennessee.
- A man with one arm living in Trenton, Tennessee was reported to have cleared six acres of land and cut and split nearly 3,000 rails. He also built his own house and stable.