This Week 150 Years Ago in Hickman – March 28, 1874

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from March 28, 1874

• The Hickman City Council met on March 21^st to discuss tax assessments within city limits. The Assessment Committee reported some “alterations” and a list of taxpayers and amounts owed to the city.
• The Hickman Courier published the proposed Temperance Law, titled “An Act to Prohibit the Sale of Spirituous Liquors in Fulton County,” which was scheduled for a vote on May 9^th.
• The State Geologist of Kentucky, B. R. Walker, was expected to visit Hickman to survey the land between Hickman and Tiptonville for the possible construction of a levee.
• The new Episcopal Church in Hickman was approaching completion. The church is to be consecrated on April 15^th with Reverand Berkley of St. Louis officiating.
• The Grand Worthy Chief Templar of Kentucky spoke at the Hickman Methodist Church on March 25th. His lecture was on the effects of alcohol on health and temperance laws in different countries.
• An informal meeting was held on March 23^rd at the offices of Randle & Tyler in Hickman to discuss the practicability of organizing a Building Association. A number of local businessmen and property owners were present and many approved of such an organization. The plan was to organize an association for a term of five years, issue stock, and grant the association the “power to build, sell, lease, rent, etc.”
• F. Hubert announced his candidacy for Fulton County Assessor.
• R. Walker returned from Frankfort to practice law in Hickman.
• W. Powell contributed an editorial to the Hickman Courier on his recent travels. He described McKenzie, Tennessee as a “flourishing village, boasting of two colleges, and other advantages.” He remarked that the “citizens of Weakley, Henry and Carroll counties [were] complaining miserably of hard times.” Union City was “doing less for her pretentions and population than any other place” and that the “business of Union City has fallen off very much and a population decreased since the horrid scourge cholera visited them last summer.” The village of Frost had “many a cozy little cottage and business houses peeping up among the tall oaks” and that much of the trade was going to Cairo.
• The crop prospect in Madrid Bend appeared to be better than in many years. Farmers will produce more corn and less cotton than last year. The wheat crop in Fulton County also looks very promising.
• Hugh Fayhey stabbed Maurice L. Cashin in the abdomen on March 14^th in Columbus. Cashin died of his wounds on the night of March 23^rd. Fayhey was arrested the night of the stabbing and was awaiting trial in the city jail.
• The Paducah Kentuckian stated that Thomas E. Moss was being induced to become a candidate for Congress.
• The Princeton Banner reported that A. R. Boon and Oscar Turner, candidates for Congress, spoke at Princeton. Turner spoke for an hour discussing the current administration’s “extravagances, expenditures, corruptions, etc.” and the “unjust manner in which the agricultural interest of the country had been neglected.” Boon spoke for a half hour and “covered pretty much the same ground” as Turner. Both candidates were slated to meet at Blandville on April 1^st.
• The jurisdiction of County Judges in the counties of Hickman, Fulton, Graves, and Calloway was increased to $200.
• The candidates for Circuit Judge met on March 23^rd at Blandville but “no new issues were developed in their discussion.” The Republican candidate was expected to get a “large democratic vote in Ballard.”
• Ballard County was reported to have over seventy-five candidates on the ballot for county offices in the upcoming election.
• The Paris Intelligencer chronicled that Dennis Cox, a citizen of Henry County, Tennessee, stayed one night at a Paris hotel, which was the first time he had left his home in thirty-eight years.
• The Troy Signal reported that the daughter of Judge Solomon W. Cochran, of Troy, Tennessee, severely burned one of her hands in a fire but was expected to recover rapidly. The Signal also reported that Sheriff Henry W. Hickman arrested the United States Deputy Marshal of Obion County on the charge of “assault to kill.” The Marshal was released on a $1,000 bond.
• The Jackson Whig stated that young man from Jackson located a large beech tree with the words “$10,000 – 20 ft West – 1861” below a “square with two perpendicular lines through the center” carved into the bark. The man remarked that he did not think “it could be interpreted [as to] lead to the hidden treasure.”
• Carl Wittig and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at Scheel’s Hall in Cairo, Illinois on March 15^th. The couple were both born on the same day eighty years ago. An “elegant cake trimmed with eighty gold dollars” was given by their friends and family to the couple.
• Elam Roper of Hickman County died at his residence on December 24, 1873, after a “long and painful illness.” He was fifty-seven years of age.
• Sallie Stubblefield, wife of G. W. Stubblefield, died on March 25^th at Lodgton.