The Jackson Purchase Historical Society will host a program at 10:30 on Saturday, November 7 in the events center at the Martin Public Library at 410 South Lindell Street, Martin, Tennessee. James and Gary Roberts will review the history of dredging operations along the Obion River in Weakley County, Tennessee, in the early twentieth century. River systems once existed in a natural and uncontrolled state, but annual flooding destroyed agricultural crops and limited the use of valuable farmland. This presentation documents how steam-powered dredges cut through forests and wetlands, transforming winding streams into engineered waterways designed to drain the land…

The Jackson Purchase Historical Society will meet Saturday, September 26 in the Community Room of the Graves County Public Library, 601 North 17th Street, Mayfield, Kentucky beginning at 10:30. The speaker will be Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Shea Nickell. Justice Nickell will discuss the career of Graves County native Alben Barkley and discuss items from his extensive collection of Barkley memorabilia. Barkley, who served as Vice President with President Harry S. Truman, was born in Wheel, Kentucky in 1877. He initially attended school in Lowes and, after his family moved to Clinton, graduated from Marvin College in 1897. He briefly…