Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from September 2, 1871
• The Hickman City Council met on August 30th where the Finance Committee paid several contractors for work provided on the city’s streets and new Market House. The City Tax Collector reported receiving $892.90 in taxes and fees. A motion was approved that a $3.00 per month fee be fixed for the renting of horse stalls at the new Market House.
• The Fulton County Fair was set to commence on September 26 and continue for five days. Professor Webster was scheduled to offer balloon rides on the second day of the fair.
• The Mississippi River was reported to be lower than had been in many years.
• The Steamer Carrie V. Kountz sunk with a heavy cargo near Faris’ Landing above Hickman on September 1st.
• The new Market House in Hickman was completed and ready for occupancy. Some citizens of the city dubbed it the “Chinese Pagoda.”
• William L. Gardner was elected the wharfmaster and market master of Hickman.
• Jo Stegala, owner of Joe’s Saloon in Hickman, presented the Hickman Star Band with a set of uniform caps.
• Two young men practicing for the Grand Tournament were seriously wounded after falling off their horses.
• The first prize winner of the Grand Tournament was Mr. Walton of Union City, who chose Miss Alice Parker as the Tournament Queen. First Honor went to Jeff Alexander, who chose Miss Winston, and Second Honor went to Met Lunsford, who chose Miss Mollie Overton.
• Contractors were seen hauling construction materials to the site of the Fulton County Jail.
• Four criminal cases and several civil suits were scheduled to be heard before the Circuit Court on September 4th.
• John Casey Wilson, former captain of the 7th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, visited Hickman on a business trip.
• A. R. Boon planned to deliver a lecture on temperance at the Methodist Church on September 5th.
• Community leaders in Hickman began to correspond with the President of the Iron Mountain Railroad Company to extend a rail line from Columbus to Hickman.
• The Hickman and Tiptonville Levee Company applied for a joint charter from the State legislatures in both Tennessee and Kentucky.
• The Beechwood Seminary in Hickman planned to commence classes on September 4th. Tuition for 20 weeks was between $12.50 and $30.00 depending on the subject and level of scholarship.
• Marin L. Bain, mother of Major George Bain, died on August 22nd at age 80.
• R. J. Beaumont became the editor and business manager of the Mayfield Democrat on August 26th.
• Sim N. Leonard was to become the editor of a new Democratic newspaper to be started in Paducah.
• The Paducah Kentuckian printed an editorial by Judge R. K. Williams and response by Thomas E. Moss on the constitutionality of the 15th Amendment and the role of the Supreme Court to hear cases relevant to the amendment.
• Lawrence S. Trimble returned to Paducah from Obion and Trimble Counties in Tennessee after making a series of speeches promoting the railroad extension of the Paducah & Gulf Railroad to the Mississippi River railroad.
• The Trenton News reported that Emerson Etheridge spoke before a crowd at Trenton expressing his discontent with the Radical Democrats movement.
• On August 30th the mail room on the Steamer Illinois was broken into and robbed between Hickman and Columbus. It was the second mail robbery on the boat in the past few weeks.
Jackson Purchase Historical Society