This Week 150 Years Ago in Hickman – September 29, 1876

This Week 150 Years Ago in Hickman – September 29, 1876

• The Hickman shoe store of Fred Wehman was broken into and robbed of “fourteen pair of new boots and a few pair of shoes.” The thieves drilled a hole through the outside wall to gain access to the building. Wehman, Marshal James Warner, and a few others started down the river in pursuit on September 23^rd. Wehman and the others gave up the chase at New Madrid, Missouri, and returned to Hickman. However, Marshal Warner pressed on where he spotted three men on the shore near Gayosa, Missouri. As he approached, he noticed “a sack filled with boots and shoes,” whereby he drew his gun and ordered the men to surrender. The men responded by opening fire with pistols on Warner. A few dozen shots were fired, whereby Warner “badly wounded” one of the thieves but received wounds in his wrist, knee, and chest. Warner retreated into the underbrush and the men boarded his skiff and headed down river. As of time of publication, Warner made it back safely to Hickman to recover from his wounds. The three men had yet to be apprehended.
• The Fulton County Fair had “good” exhibitions, but that attendance was small during the early part of the week. Expectations were that Friday and Saturday would bring forth “immense” crowds.
• The Hickman City Council met on September 26^th, where contractors that worked on the local roads and city wharf were paid. The Council also addressed where the dirt would be procured from to construct the levee in West Hickman, and the acceptance of a $50 donation to build a gravel road to the gates of the Hickman City Cemetery.
• Lee Ellison of Hickman severely cut his foot while splitting logs and amputation may be necessary.
• The sorghum crop in Fulton County was reported as being much larger than in previous years.
• The Jewish community of Hickman celebrated the Day of Atonement on September 28^th.
• Thorne’s Theater Company performed the comedy-drama “Still Waters Run Deep” on the evening of September 29^th at Hickman City Hall.
• Robert C. Morris, chief engineer of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad, ordered one hundred barges of rock to be sunk above the railroad depot in Hickman and that work continue on the wharf.
• Some businessmen in Hickman were in favor of developing a steam ferry service from Hickman to points along the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. Captain Sneed Strong was mentioned as a “reliable and responsible” individual to “take charge of the enterprise.”
• C. S. Blackburn, Kentucky Congressional representative from the 7^th District, was scheduled to speak in Hickman on October 16^th.
• It was reported that A. R. Boone was nominated by the Democratic Convention in Paducah on September 27^th.
• Lucien Anderson responded to allegations, made in an article published by the Mayfield Monitor a few weeks earlier, of coercion and extortion during the Civil War by providing documents from the Congressional Globe, which declared that after a thorough investigation he was fully exonerated of all charges.
• The Mayfield Democrat reported that a man by the name of Parmenter was found dead in a stable in Boydsville on September 9^th.
• William P. Caldwell was nominated for Congress by the Democratic Party in Union City, Tennessee on September 27^th.
• The Troy Press (Troy, Tennessee) accused the Republican Party of never having tried to “bring about harmony between the races or between the two sections of the country.”