Jackson Purchase Historical Society

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from August 31, 1872

• A meteor was viewed by several observers in Hickman at ten o’clock on August 26^th. Witnesses claimed it was the size of a “full moon” and was “white like molten silver.”
• The corn crop in the region was reported to be greatly damaged by the drought. However, the tobacco crop appeared to be “never better than present.”
• Shots were exchanged in Hickman on the evening of August 24^th between a Mr. Woodworth and William Craig. Craig was seriously wounded, and it is feared he may die.
• A man by the name of Moody was arrested in West Hickman for shooting the horses of Dick Finch and John Millet.
• Sallie M. Davis, the nineteen-year-old daughter of J. H. Davis, overdosed on morphine on the morning of August 26^th. It was believed the overdose was by accident.
• There were no reports of men “under the influence of intoxicating drink” during the recent court sessions at the Fulton County Courthouse, as was the custom in years prior.
• The extension of the Nashville & Northwest Railroad to Hickman was to be delayed due to litigation between the Nashville & Northwest Railroad and the Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad Company.
• The editor of the Hickman Courier condemned the “policy of admitting side shows and other appliances” for attracting the attention of visitors from the primary objective of the county fair which was instruction and education in agriculture and animal breeding.
• The Fulton County Teacher’s Institute was in session at the Rural Academy on August 27^th and 28^th.
• The German School in Hickman was scheduled to commence on September 2^nd with Professor Schnider as principal.
• N. Cowgill was to perform Episcopal service at the Methodist Church on September 1^st.
• The Christian Church planned to meet for services on the morning of September 1^st at the Fulton County Courthouse.
• The Good Templars of Tyler Lodge held a barbeque at Kirk’s School near Hickman on August 29^th. Several speeches were delivered, and a good time was held by all.
• The Silver Star Lodge at Fulton Station held a Temperance Convention sponsored by the Fulton County Templars on August 3^rd. 756 members from eight lodges in the county attended.
• Horse-swapping was reported as being very active in Mayfield.
• Citizens in Mayfield demand a special police force to protect ladies when walking the streets from hearing “vulgar and indecent expressions from drunken rowdies.”
• County Court Day was conducted on August 26^th at Princeton.
• The Paducah Tobacco Plant reported the names of possible candidates for presidential elector for the First Congressional District, they included Fenton Simms of Trigg County, and B. A. Neal and W. C. Clark of Graves County.
• The editor of the Hickman Courier suggested the Kentucky and Tennessee organizations of the Hickman and Madrid Bend Levee and Railroad project consolidate and employ an agent to promote its construction.
• The mystery of a well-dressed woman found murdered with two pistol shots to the head in a pond near Ripley, Tennessee was solved when a ring with the name Emilie Rogers was removed from her finger. A man by the name of Martin was arrested for the murder. He had married the woman in Des Ark, Arkansas and killed her for her family’s property and money. Martin was later seized by a dozen men from the city jail and shot to death.
• The Mississippi Central Railroad proposed a route through Gardner Station, Tennessee.
• The sheriff of Shelby County, Tennessee reportedly quelled a riot composed of black families in Collierville with “200 armed white men.”
• Robert Shevils, the postal clerk on the steamer Illinois, was arrested and charged with theft of registered mail by officers in Cairo, Illinois. Shevils was suspended from service and reportedly departed the city.