This Week 150 Years Ago in Hickman – August 7, 1874

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from August 7, 1874

• John W. Cowgill was elected the Judge of the Hickman City Court by a majority of 89 votes. John W. Cole was elected City Marshal by a majority vote of 92.
• The Fulton County election winners were John F. Tyler – Sheriff, J. H. Montgomery – County Judge, William H. Taylor – Jailor, B. F. Hubert – Assessor, Robert McConnell – Surveyor, G. B. Prather – County Attorney, John A. Wilson – County Court Clerk, and J. Tap Bynum – Circuit Court Clerk.
• The Hickman County election winners were M. Vaughn – Sheriff, Thomas G. Poore – Circuit Clerk, Smith Taylor – County Clerk, Gideon J. Binford – County Judge, and H. H. Winters – Jailer.
• W. Robertson, of Graves County, won a very close election against Joseph M. Bigger for Circuit Judge of the First District.
• The Hickman City Council met on August 3^rd where John W. Cowgill was declared City Judge for four years and John W. Cole as City Marshal for two years. The council also ordered that brick sidewalks be placed along Clinton Street between Kentucky and Ohio Streets and between Clinton and Water Streets.
• The black citizens on Hickman celebrated the anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation on August 4^th with a picnic and speeches made by Thomas Warrick, Harrison Atkins, Frank Thompson, Thomas Bogy, and Ike Bowden. The event was sponsored by the Colored Benevolent Society of Hickman and found to be “orderly and well behaved throughout.”
• An excursion party from Hickman to Cairo was planned for August 9th. The round trip was set at $2.00, and the Hickman Cornet Band was scheduled to provide entertainment during the excursion.
• A protracted meeting at the Hickman Baptist Church had been in “progress for the past two weeks” and has produced considerable interest in the community. Reverend Achilles D. Sears of Clarksville, Tennessee was scheduled to preach a series of sermons.
• Reverend J. J. Page was scheduled to have a sermon on the “laying on of hands” at St. Paul’s Church on August 9^th.
• On August 3^rd the Hickman Lodge, No. 96, of the International Organization of Good Templars installed R. M. Metheny as Worthy Chief Templar, A. D. Kingman as Past Worth Chief Templar, and Ellen Harding as Worthy Vice Templar.
• Charles Steiman, a married man, and Parthenia Kingman eloped on the night of August 4^th to St. Louis. However, it was reported that Parthenia was already engaged to William Steiman, the younger brother of Charles.
• The Fulton Gazette reported the death of James Hail a prominent member of the International Organization of Good Templars and business community.
• The Local Option Law to restrict the sale of liquor carried in the precincts of Moscow and Benton.
• J. Grubbs of Caldwell County was the father of twenty-five children, seventeen by his present wife.
• The Republican Party in Paducah resolved that it “would be unwise and impolitic for the Republican Party of this district to place any candidate in the field.”
• G. Craig sued the City of Paducah for $300 for the “loss of a valuable dog” killed by a member of the city police force.
• B. Morton began publishing the Union City Reveille, a weekly paper which was “conservative in tone.”
• A lack of stock water was “very seriously felt” by the farmers of Obion County, Tennessee.
• The construction of a cotton factory in Gardner, Tennessee was discussed by the community.
• The McKenzie Times reported that “monster rattle snake” was seen near Peeks Bridge on the middle fork of the Obion River in Weakley County, Tennessee. According to a man who witnessed the snake, the head of the reptile was at “least six inches across” and as long as a “man’s body.”
• H. Pate and B. V. Allen, both of McKenzie, Tennessee, were married by Reverend A. L. Pritchett at the residence of D. A. Janes in East Jackson, Tennessee.