This Week 150 Years Ago in Hickman – June 27, 1874

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from June 27, 1874

• After January 1, 1875, subscribers of the Hickman Courier will no longer have to pay postage for delivery of the newspaper. The publisher would be required to pre-pay the postage where the subscriber resides.
• E. Millet took charge of the Planter’s Hotel in Hickman after recently purchasing the property.
• The Hickman City Council met on June 22^nd to allocate funds to pay monthly salaries and compensate contractors for services rendered to the city. A motion was approved to have a lock put on the door of City Hall and that the City Judge be provided with a key. A license to operate a coffee house was issued to Joseph Steagala for six months.
• The first session of Addie Garret’s school in Hickman closed on June 26^th with an “illuminated picnic” in the East Hickman Grove. Prizes were given to students for penmanship and overall academic performance during the session. The next session was scheduled for the first Monday in September.
• An ongoing religious revival sponsored by the Methodist Church was reported in Hickman that had already lasted over two weeks.
• The Hickman Methodist Sunday School planned a picnic at Poplar Grove Church later next week.
• Reverend J. J. Page was to preach at the Hickman Episcopal Church on June 28^th.
• The only celebration on the 4^th of July in Hickman was to be at Miller’s Garden by the German Benevolent Society. A large crown was projected to attend.
• Hickman City Marshal, John W. Cole, published a notification that dogs in the city must be muzzled after June 27^th. Owners would be fined ten dollars and the dog exterminated if captured.
• W. Faris, the brother of Dr. Alex A. Feris, joined his brother to practice medicine in Hickman. He was a graduate of Nashville Medical College and previously practiced in Nashville, New Orleans and New York.
• The Board of Directors of the Fulton County Fair met June 20^th to plan for the fall fair. The directors stated that the fair’s prospects were “better than any previous year” and that there would be a “good fair this time.” C. L. Randle was elected Chief Marshal of the Board.
• It was reported that a “leading insurance company” planned to make investments in Fulton County and that the county government was approached with a proposed loan for $20,000 or $25,000 with bonds running twenty years at 6 percent. How the funding was to be spent was an issue among the stakeholders. Some wished the money spent on county roads, while others wished to invest in the construction of the Hickman to Tiptonville levee.
• It was reported that Thomas J. Pickett was likely to be chosen as the Republican candidate for Congress for the First District. Lucien Anderson, Isaac Trabue, and Henry Houston were also mentioned as noteworthy candidates.
• The Hickman County Council of the Patrons of Husbandry in Clinton appointed a committee to “solicit, collect, and deliver” provisions for suffers of the recent floods and encouraged all citizens to donate to the committee.
• Crops of corn and grass in Hickman County were the “poorest ever seen” and no tobacco plants had been set. The tobacco crop in Calloway County was considered a “failure.” The corn crop in Ballard County was “fine” but only a “half crop of tobacco” was to be harvested. The wheat crop in McCracken County was “safe” and low prices in flour were expected.
• B. Goshorn, former postmaster of Dyersburg, Tennessee, was convicted of embezzling $3,500 and sentenced to prison for twelve months.