'/k tc: W hs i i • • ±c iher MEMPHIS STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS This is copy <^g of an edition of 2,000 copies published January, 1980 ^ j^JL^~s-> AUTHOR JJ EDITOR Q EDITOR / From La Potherie's Histo Mississippi Valley Collection TCHS STAFF Alicia M. Horton Assistant Editor Trude Wurz Secretary EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Jeanne Ridgway Bigger Ellsworth Brown Robert E. Corlew Arthur H. DeRosier Winfield Dunn Walter T. Durham May Dean Eberling Odie B. Faulk John R. Finger Gerald George Frank R. Ginanni Albert Gore, Jr. Herbert L. Harper J. Milton Henry Charles F. Holmes James K. Huhta Diana Johnson B. F. Jones Billy Mac Jones Carl A. Jones Eric Lacy Roy G. Lillard James Livingood Robert M. McBride William R. Majors Jerry B. Michel Jesse C. Mills Charles F. Ogilvie Drexel A. Peterson Daniel A. Powell Linda Scott Howard E. Sims, Sr. Alonzo T. Stephens, Alan R. Thoeny Jean B. Waggener Richard W. Weesner Charles Wolfe Sr. TENNESSEE COUNTY HISTORY SERIES Bradley County by Roy G. Lillard Joy Bailey Dunn Editor Charles W. Crawford Associate Editor tc hx MEMPHIS STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS Memphis, Tennessee Copyright © Memphis State University Press 1980 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechani- cal, including photocopying and recording, or by any informa- tion storage and retrieval system without permission from the publisher. Maps prepared by Reaves Engineering, Inc., Memphis, Tennessee. Manufactured in the United States of America. Designed by Gary G. Gore. ISBN: 0-87870-099-4 To my parents Abraham and Nora Kimbrough Lillard; and to the memory of the hearty Bradley County pioneers who settled and organized the county, to those who followed and contrib- uted greatly to its progress, to the present citizens, to the youth who are the citizens of tomorrow, and to the Cherokees who first made their home here. Acknowledgments The Reverend John Morgan Wooten (1862-1940), a Pres- byterian minister named for the famous Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan, spent more than ten years of his life in preparation for his History of Bradley County. Wooten is recog- nized as the "father of Bradley County history." However, the major contributing source to this present volume is The History of Bradley County, which the author edited. He contributed articles along with Marvin R. Batchelor, Mildred Batchelor, James F. Corn, Sr., Robert L. Ceorge, Mary Ann Green, Elizabeth Cate Manly, Hal Munck, Walter Presswood, Sheridan Charles Randolph, James L. Slay, Jr., William R. Snell, and Katharine Lowery Trewhitt. The 1976 publication of this comprehensive volume was made possible by a generous gift from Associated Industries and the contributions and cooperation of County Judge Carl Colloms and other Bradley Countians. Books, theses, and other works used in the preparation of both the TCHS volume and the longer history include Ducktown Back in Raht's Time by R. E. Barclay; "A History of Bradley County, Tennessee to 1861" by James L. Slay, Jr.; / Remember Tall Tales and True of Cleveland and Bradley County by Louise Harle; "The Diary of Myra Adelaide Inman Carter;" A History of the Rebellion in Bradley County by J. S. Hurlburt; Recollections of an Old Man by David Sullins; "A Geographic Study of Bradley County" by Cecil H. Stanberry; "An Educational Study of Brad- ley County, Tennessee" by Ernest L. Ross; "Fun, Fact and Phi- losophy: The Diary of John Coffee Williamson" by Ben H. McClary ; Red Clay and Rattlesnake Springs and Farewell the Hills by James F. Corn, Sr., and Tennessee: A Short History by Folmsbee, Corlew, and Mitchell. Articles written by the following also have been useful: Corn, C. L. McAlister, McClary, and Snell. Valuable assistance and information have been provided by Dr. Charles Faulkner regarding early Indian cultures and by Colonel Corn, vii A viii Acknowledgments McAlister, and Eugenia Rodgers. Informative works not cited here or in the text are listed under "Suggested Readings." I am indebted to Frederick Wood, Dr. Snell, and Elizabeth Gate Man- ly for reading and to Kay Graham for typing the manuscript. Appreciation is extended to everyone who has assisted in any way, especially to those supplying photographs, and to Joy Bailev Dunn, her staff, and the Memphis State University Press. Roy G. Lillard Gleveland, Tennessee Preface Bradley County presents a brief, concise history of the county which includes its geography, Indians, organization, and early history; its religious, educational, and cultural institutions; its literature and newspapers; and its services, wars, agriculture, industry, and citizenry. It is a story of a county created from the Ocoee District, the last area in Tennessee ceded to the U.S. Government by the Cherokees who traveled the "Trail of Tears" from Rattlesnake Springs, their last campground, leaving be- hind the last capital of the Cherokee Nation in the east, the Red Clay Council Ground. From its beginnings in scattered log cabin settlements in 1836, Bradley County has shown outstanding growth; its population is expected to reach 100,000 by the year 2000. It presently is the 13th largest county in the state. Beautiful homes equipped with modern furniture and appliances cover the hills and valleys. Cherokee crafts have been replaced with many productive industries. The trading center around the court- house square has been expanded to several prosperous shop- ping centers. Cleveland, the county seat, is the 1 2th largest city in the state. Transportation facilities — railroad, interstate high- way, Hiwassee and Ocoee rivers, and airport — have contributed greatly to county development. Recreational opportunities such IX v Preface as Whitewater rafting on the rivers, fishing, TVA lakes, Cher- okee National Forest, and parks attract visitors as well as provide pleasant leisure activities for county residents. More than 160 congregations of numerous denominations have developed since the days of McCaslin's Methodist Camp- ground. Cherokee mission schools and one-room schools have expanded to two excellent public school systems and five institu- tions of higher learning. The influence of both area churches and industries has reached worldwide proportions. An early resident, Horace W. Morelock, said of Bradley County, "No- where does the grass grow greener; nowhere does the chime of bells blend with sweeter harmony." Elizabeth Cate Manly summed up the feelings of past and present county citizens when she wrote, "Bradley County is a good place to live, get an education, work, raise a family, and enjoy an abundant life." ADLEY County is located at the southeastern corner of the state and lies, except for White Oak Mountain, within the Great Valley of East Tennessee. The county is immediately north of the Georgia state line and south of the Hiwassee River. From the southern boundary, which extends along the Georgia line for 12 miles, the county enlarges to approximately 17 miles in width in its central portion and comes to a point in the north. Bradley County with 338 miles in total area ranks 68th among Tennessee counties. It is bounded by six counties: Polk on the east, McMinn on the northeast, Hamilton and Meigs on the west, and Whitfield and Murray in Georgia. All of Polk County, ex- cept the first district north of the Hiwassee River, was taken from Bradley County in 1839. In addition, a strip was taken from the western part of the county to form part of James County which later was merged with Hamilton County. The topography of the county has a furrowed appearance due to alternating parallel ridges and valleys created by intense folding and faulting of the rocks and weathering. This appear- ance is accentuated by variances in elevation that range in alti- tude from approximately 700 feet to 1400 feet. Fertile valleys underlaid by easily soluble limestone are separated by resistant sandstone ridges. Cone-shaped red hills are spaced intermittent- 2 Tennessee County History Series ly between ridges and valleys creating an oddity in the terrain's general conformity. The terrain is highlighted by extensive for- ested patches containing various kinds of timber, including red and white oaks, yellow poplar, hickory, maple, yellow pine, and red gum. The major valleys in the county are Candy's (Candies) Creek, Chatata, Mouse Creek, and Walker. Soils in the valleys, rich in mineral content, have proven productive. Proclaimed as some of the best farmland anywhere, about one-half of the county's 216,320 acres can be used for agriculture. However, many differences exist in the characteris- tics of the soils which affect their agricultural suitability, one difference being drainage capabilities. Geologists believe that the northern part of the county was included in the most ancient parts of the Tennessee River sys- tem. Small meandering creeks and picturesque springs provide abundant supplies of fresh water and fish to the valleys. Major springs include Baugh, Beeler, Flint, McCaslin, Powder, Rattle- snake, Thompson, and Tucker. Creeks of the county include Bigsby, Black Fox, Brymer, Candy's (Candies), Chatata, Ches- tuee, Coahulla, Greasy, Hair's, Mill, Mouse, Prospect, and Sugar. The drainage of the northern two-thirds of the county is primarily to the northeast into the Hiwassee River, which forms the boundary between McMinn and Bradley counties. This riv- er, 144 miles long, rises in Towns County, Georgia, and flows into the Tennessee River 35 miles upstream from Chattanooga. The southern one-third of the county is drained by streams flowing into the Conasauga River which enters, runs about one- half mile inside the county, and leaves at the southeastern cor- ner. There is no distinct line between the two watersheds. The county uplands are well drained with the exception of Coahulla Creek watershed, part of the Conasauga River drain- age system, where the almost level terrain slows water flow. Bottomlands, especially around Mouse Creek, are often affected by flooding streams in periods of heavy rain. Some 2624 acres of Bradley County are covered by inland water, in addition to seven square miles of river bottomland now covered by the Tennessee Valley Authority's Chickamauga Reservoir. B R A D L E V 3 A visit in 1867 to the Hiwassee River by naturalist John Muir inspired him to describe the river in his book, A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf: My path all today led me along the leafy banks of the Hiwassee, a most impressive mountain river. Its channel is very rough, as it crosses the edges of upturned rock strata, some of them stand- ing at right angles, or glancing off obliquely to right and left. Thus a multitude of short resounding cataracts are produced, and the river is restrained from the headlong speed due to its volume and the inclination of its bed. All the larger streams of uncultivated countries are mysteriously charming and beauti- ful, whether in mountains or through swamps and plains. Their channels are interestingly sculptured, far more so than the grandest architectural work of man. The finest of the forests are usually found along their banks, and in the multitude of falls and rapids the wilderness finds a voice. Such a river is the Hiwassee, with its surface broken to a thousand sparkling gems, and its forest wall vinedraped and flowery as Eden. And how fine a song it sings! The climate of Bradley County is classified as humid con- tinental, with moderate temperatures in winter and summer, rarely exceeding the extremes of ten below7 and 104 degrees above zero and averaging 60 degrees annually. Seasons are distinct, but no prolonged weather extremes occur. Frequent rain and short, cold periods are characteristic of winter. Monthly precipitation ranges from 6.05 inches in March to 2.69 inches in September, with approximately 54 inches recorded annually. The wettest period occurs December through March; the dryest period, August through October. Since the winter of 1899- 1900, the average annual snowfall has been 5.72 inches. Local mineral ores, found in limited quantities, include bar- ite, aluminum clay, lead, manganese, tripoli, and zinc. There are numerous deposits of chert, limestone, and shale suitable for brick and tile manufacture; at this time only chert and limestone are mined for road surfacing. Other minerals have been worked out or can be mined more cheaply in other areas. Hardwick or "Dollie D" mine, opening in 1892 about four and one-half miles south of Cleveland, operated until 1906 and Tennessee County History Series MCMINN COUNTY HAMILTON IjyT COUNTY i LEGEND <•> COUNTY SEAT • Other Communities cQ Governmental Land Uses + LANDMARKS SURROUNDING COUNTIES 4*°/ Interstate Route -rQ_ Federal Route ^~ State Route " — s local Route RAIL SERVICE POLK COUNTY WHITFIELD COUNTY GEORGIA socwce ennessee Department ol Transportation Kilometers 0 1 2 3 4 s 6 7 8 | |' ' ' ' IU— aB ^B^M Miles 0 1 2 3 4 5 BRADLEY COUNTY BRADLEY 5 primarily produced sphalerite with some galena and pyrite. At its peak production, the mine had a daily output of 80 tons of crude ore. Hambright mine, operating periodically from 1850 to 1919, produced lead and zinc; it was located in the middle of Chatata Valley, about four miles south of Charleston. At this site are extensive "diggins" which neither Indians nor early settlers could explain. Around 1890 a barite mine operated for a short time east of Cleveland. Eight miles northwest of Cleveland, White Oak Mountain or Artz mine produced both iron and manganiferous ores until around 1918. About two miles south- west of the Artz site, high aluminum clay (hallasite) was mined. Until 1918, Underwood mine, located three and one-half miles southeast of Charleston, produced manganese, brown iron ore, and good grade hematite. Lime, last quarried about 1900, was located about ten miles south of Cleveland. The second Ham- bright mine, located eight miles south of Cleveland, is the most recently active of county mines. Its peak production period was between 1917 and 1920 when $50,000 worth of high grade, 50 percent manganese ore was produced. The mine closed in 1952 after periodic operations. Indian Heritage The county's natural environment, abundant wildlife, water, favorable climate, and plentiful stores of timber, proved to be a great ally to all early inhabitants. Human habitation of Tennes- see began thousands of years before the Cherokees and other historic tribes were found by the first white explorers. Little was known of prehistoric Indians in this region until the Tennessee Valley Authority was created in 1933. TVA and the University of Tennessee inaugurated a program of scientific excavation. Reports of these excavations have been published, and the skeletons, pottery, arrowheads, and other artifacts have been deposited with the university's McClung Museum in Knoxville. One publication, Site Reports, the Prehistory of the Chickamauga Basin by T. M. N. Lewis and Madeline Kneberg, indicated that more than 400 aboriginal sites were located within the basin. The five sites located within Bradley County include Candy's Creek, Ledford Island, Mouse Creek, Rymer, and Varnell. 6 Tennessee County History Series Paleo-Indians lived in Tennessee from approximately 10,000 B.C. to 8000 B.C. The Archaic Period followed and lasted from about 8000 B.C. to 1000 B.C., with Woodland cultures emerging out of Archaic cultures about 1000 B.C. to A.D. 1000. The Mississippian Period began about A.D. 1000 and lasted until the first European exploration of East Tennessee at the begin- ning of the eighteenth century. The latest Mississippian culture of East Tennessee was the Dallas culture which could be the immediate prehistoric ancestor of the Creek or Cherokee Indi- ans. The protohistoric Indians of East Tennessee included both the Creeks and the Yuchi. When the earliest Euro-Americans settled in East Tennessee, thev found the major river valleys occupied by Cherokees who built rectangular pole houses like those of Mississippian Indians, sometimes erected town houses on mounds, and decorated pot- tery with stamped designs like earlier Woodland Indians. Although strongly acculturated by Euro-American neighbors by mid-eighteenth century, these Indians continued to retain ele- ments of earlier native American traditions that linked them to the first Tennesseans of 1 1,000 years ago. The Creeks, Shawnees, and Yuchi were expelled from Ten- nessee during the early years of the eighteenth century, leaving the Cherokees as the only Indians occupying lands in the state. Cherokee towns were located primarily in the southern Appa- lachians of East Tennessee and in nearby areas of North and South Carolina and Georgia. The entire range of hunting terri- tory claimed by the Cherokees encompassed 40,000 square miles in portions of eight states. At the beginning of the Mississippian Period, it is estimated that their population consisted of 22,000 people living in 80 towns. The Cherokees were one of the largest and most important tribes of the southeastern United States, justifying the name of "principal people." Only one major Cher- okee town, Tsistetsiyi, located on south Mouse Creek, existed in Bradley County, but several small villages probably existed be- cause prior to 1835 the Cherokees owned and occupied the area which is now the county. One influence on the Cherokees living south of the Hiwassee was the Indian agency which had been relocated at Charleston BRADLEY Return Jonathan Meigs 8 Tennessee County History Series about 1821. For 22 years, from 1801 until 1823, the seasoned frontiersman and Revolutionary War hero, Return Jonathan Meigs, ably served as agent to the Cherokees. On a cold night in 1823, Meigs, at the age of 82, permitted an aged Cherokee chieftain to sleep in the comfortable agency headquarters while Meigs slept outside in a tent. This generosity resulted in a bout with pneumonia that caused Meigs's death. Another influence was the Reverend Gideon Blackburn, a Presbyterian minister, who established the first mission south of the Hiwassee River in 1804 near Hiwassee Old Town; the mission possibly later was moved nearer the agency. Representatives of the Brainerd Mis- sion, which was started near Chattanooga in 1817 by the Amer- ican Board, then under Congregation-Presbyterian control, organized two missions in what is now Bradley County — Candy's Creek Mission in 1824 and Red Clay Mission in 1835. A one-room log cabin at Flint Springs, about four miles from Red Clay, was the last eastern home of the great principal chief of the Cherokees, John Ross, who was statesman, warrior, pa- triot, and public servant to his people over a period of 57 years. During the War of 1812, he served as adjutant of a Cherokee regiment in the army of Andrew Jackson and fought in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend against the Creeks. He led the opposi- tion to the Cherokee removal, and at his Bradley County home he and his guest, John Howard Payne, author of "Home, Sweet Home," were arrested by the Georgia guard and taken to Spring Place, Georgia, where they were imprisoned on November 7, 1835. After his release, Payne wrote and spoke extensively in support of the Cherokee cause. John Ross was known for his devotion to the welfare of the Cherokees. Captain H. B. Henegar, employed by Ross during the removal, called him an "honorable, upright man" and re- ported that he overheard Sam Houston say that Ross belonged in the same category with Clay, Webster, and Calhoun for elo- quence and statesmanship. A Virginia statesman said Ross was equal to the distinguished John Forsyth, Georgia's leading statesman, in intellect and moral honesty. Lewis Ross, John's brother and one of the first justices of the Cherokee Supreme Court, was also a prominent Cherokee leader. BRADLEY 9 Sleeping Rabbit was one of the older Cherokee chiefs, a veteran of the War of 1812, and a man of influence and promi- nence in the Indian nation. His grave is near the Red Clay Council Ground in Tennessee, not in Georgia where a govern- ment gravestone was erected in error. At the time of the remov- al, according to tradition, Sleeping Rabbit was an old man and his wife already had died. He could not be located, and, after an extensive search, he was found dead on his wife's grave with a blade through his heart. Many other prominent Cherokee leaders were associated with Bradley County. Another great leader of the Cherokee Nation, the Reverend Jesse Bushyhead, a Baptist minister, teacher, interpreter, civic and political leader, chief of the con- stabulary in the west, clerk of the National Council, and chief justice of the Supreme Court, made his home in the county. He was said to be a man of personal charm and moral worth. Jack Walker, Jr., for whom the fertile valley running from Cleveland to Charleston was named, lived with his wife Emily, a grand- daughter of Meigs, the famous Indian agent, in a handsome two-story log home at the present site of Northside Presbyterian Church on North Lee Highway. Hair Conrad, also known as "the Hair," lived in the Candy's Creek vicinity, and Hair's Creek carries his name today. Conrad held many positions of trust, helped write the Cherokee con- stitution in 1827, and served as a conductor of the first Indian detachment leaving Rattlesnake Springs. Conrad's home, "High Orchard," a log cabin built about 1804 but still in a good state of preservation, is located on the Blythewood farm of Mary Elizabeth Neil. John Martin was judge of the Amohee and Coosawattee districts, treasurer of the Cherokee Nation, dele- gate to the Cherokee Constitutional Convention, and chief jus- tice of the first Supreme Court of the Cherokees after their removal to the west. Stephen Foreman, another Indian leader, was chosen by Chief Ross to conduct detachments during the removal. Fore- man was licensed to preach in 1833 and became especially active among the Cherokees who lived on Candy's Creek. Major John Ridge, leader of the protreaty party, was born at Hiwassee Old 10 Tennessee County History Series High Orchard," home of Hair Conrad Town, Polk County, and later lived in Georgia. Andrew Jackson gave him brevet rank and decorated him for bravery following the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Ridge considered signing the 1835 treaty the same as signing his own death warrant, and he, his son John, and Elias Boudinot, editor of the Cherokee Phoenix, were killed on June 22, 1839, by Indians from the Ross party who did not support the treaty. Other important Cherokees of the county included Drom- goole, a so-called chief; Black Fox, a noted chief; Henry Candy, for whom Candy's Creek was named; and Deer-in-the- Water, whose farm was considered as a possible site for the city of Cleveland. Nearby, in Polk County, which was largely a part of Bradley County until 1839, resided the famous Nancy Ward (1738-1822). The bronze tablet which marks her grave two miles south of Benton states that she was "Princess and Prophetess of the Cherokee Nation, the Pocahontas of Tennes- see, and a constant friend of the American Pioneer." Other BRADLEY 11 important Cherokees in that area included Chief Duck, the Hildebrands, and the McNairs. Following the Indian removal, Governor Andrew Johnson issued a land grant made possible by an act of the Legislature to Chief Walking Stick. A copy of the grant is filed in the Polk County Courthouse. Records indicate that some of the Indians living in the area included Beaver Carrier, Big Mush, Bridgemaker, Buffalo, Crow Marker, Crying Bear, Frozenfellow, Heavy, Horsefly, June Bug, Locust, Mink, Mocking Crow, Old Cup, Old Smoke, Onions-in-the-Pot, Pigeon-in-the-Water, Standing-in-the-Water, Whirlwind, Womanholder, and Young Duck. Many places in Bradley County were familiar to the Cher- okees, and these sites contributed substantially to their history. The great Indian warpath connecting the tribes of the south with the tribes of the north and east passed through the county. After the Hiwassee Purchase of 1819, the Indian agency was moved in 1821 to the south bank of the Hiwassee at the present site of Charleston, where it remained until discontinued. Lewis Ross constructed a brick storehouse and established a store near the present site of the Barrett house in Charleston. About four miles west of Cleveland is the site of Candy's Creek Mission. Red Clay Mission was located on the Ross reservation at the present site of Flint Springs. Thompson Springs, which now forms Fil- lauer Lake in northeast Cleveland, was the location of the Cher- okee courthouse of the Amohee District. Beeler Spring, located one-half mile east of Tasso, was an important point on the first road opened from the Indian agency at Charleston to the Red Clay Council Ground and was a well-known rendezvous for both Indians and whites. In the area that became Polk County, several sites are re- minders of the Cherokee heritage: Hiwassee Old Town, Amohee Baptist Church, Columbus, Old Federal Road, Old Fort Marr, the grave of Nancy Ward, the Hildebrand home, and the grave site of the McNairs. A part of the McNair epitaph inscribed on a marble slab covering the graves tells the heart- breaking story of the removal: "We leave this monument ... to guard their sacred ashes against the unhallowed intrusion of the white man." 1 2 Tennessee County History Series Located at a great spring 13 miles south of Cleveland in the southern part of the county was the last capital of the Cherokee Nation in the east, the Red Clay Council Cround. There the last council meetings were held before the removal. This seat of government existed from 1832 to 1838. The capitol building was unimpressive and consisted of only a rectangular council house open on all four sides; however, the place was one of great importance to the Cherokees during their critical last six years in the eastern United States. As many as 4000 to 5000 Indians attended some of the council meetings. The Red Clay Council Ground was the scene of many debates concerning removal, and it was there in October of 1835 that a proposed treaty with the United States providing for Indian removal to the west was overwhelmingly rejected. Cherokee males 18 or older voted; thus, 18 year olds were voting in Tennessee as early as 1828. Despite the adoption of a constitutional government, a writ- ten language, a bilingual newspaper, and other tangible evi- dence of rapid acculturation, the Cherokees were subjected to relentless demands for their land. The Treaty of Removal (Treaty of New Echota) was signed December 29, 1835. Of the 300 Indians who signed, only 79 were legal voters, and the treaty has been called the "Ocoee Steal" by some Cherokees. Although the treaty was repudiated by all but a small minority of Cher- okees, the U.S. Senate approved it on May 23, 1836, by a one- vote margin. With this treaty the Cherokees ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi in exchange for $5 million and the right to occupy lands in modern Oklahoma, agreeing to move west with- in two years. The John Ross party countered with a protest reputedly signed by 15,665 Cherokees on February 22, 1838. Governor George Gilmer of Georgia threatened to use state troops against the federal government immediately if removal was not completed. The roundup of the Indians began on May 26, 1838, under the direction of General Winfield Scott. The Cherokee agency at Charleston was the headquarters of General Scott and the army. Possibly as many as 29 detention camps or stockades were lo- cated at all large springs in the vicinity, with Rattlesnake Springs being the major camp. The main spring at Rattlesnake Springs B R A D L E Y 13 Restored Cherokee home, Red Clay Historic Are; Standing to the side of the James F. Corn, Sr., Interpretative Center at Red Clay are, left to right, Gary Lawson, site superintendent. Colonel Corn, sponsor of the project, and Tom Rowland, president. Red Clay Association. 1 4 Tennessee County History Series continues to flow clear and cold from beneath the home of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Moore east of Dry Valley Road where some 13,000 Cherokees were encamped under the supervision of U.S. troops prior to their trek west in the autumn of 1838. By resolution of the council, Chief Ross was made superin- tendent of emigration. Thirteen detachments of about equal size were organized along lines of family ties and kinship, and each group was placed in the custody of two qualified Cherokee officers. In this way the Cherokees, including black slaves, were readied for the long overland journey. Ross started the final removal on October 1, 1838, by leading the first detachment in prayer, after which a bugle sounded, and the wagons started rolling. Peter Hildebrand led the last group to arrive in the west on March 25, 1839. Few Cherokees were adequately prepared for the trip. Most needed clothes, many were sick, and others became ill along the way. Although there is some disagreement on mortality figures, apparently almost 4000 died during capture, detention, and removal, or as a result of removal. On the trip, Quatie, wife of Chief Ross, contracted pneumonia and died; her uncoffined body was buried in a shallow grave as the remaining members of the party continued. There can be little doubt of the injustice in the Cherokee removal. The unfortunate combination of cir- cumstances made removal inevitable, with annihilation the only apparent alternative. The Legislature passed an act on November 20, 1837, pro- viding for disposal of the lands of the Ocoee District, which included the last landholdings of the Cherokees in Tennessee. Though the present counties of Bradley and Polk comprise much of the larger portion of the Ocoee District, that portion of Hamilton lying south of the Tennessee River and a strip along the eastern boundary of Monroe County were also included. The act provided that an entry taker's office be opened in Cleve- land, with Luke Lea named as entry taker and P.J. R. Edwards as register of the Ocoee District. It has taken more than 140 years to memorialize these noble Cherokees by placing three sites on the National Register of Historic Places: Red Clay Council Ground, Rattlesnake Springs, BRADLEY 15 and the home of Hair Conrad. The Trail of Tears Historic Route commemorates the journey of the Cherokees across Ten- nessee. The site of John Ross' log home has been. secured, and the project of reproducing the home has been undertaken by the Ruritan Clubs of Bradley County. Local artists also have honored the Cherokee heritage: Ben Hampton completed a painting of Nancy Ward; George Little entitled one of his paintings "Trail of Tears;" 17 Cherokee paintings by Brenda McLain hang in the Cherokee Valley Federal Savings and Loan Association building in Cleveland; and a wooden sculpture, "Cherokee Chieftain," by Peter Toth, stands before the Cleveland Public Library. Perhaps the crowning honor to the Cherokees, however, is the construction of the Red Clay State Historic Area, completed in the fall of 1979 at a cost of more than $1 million. Colonel James F. Corn, Sr., is regarded as the father of this project, having been the first person to realize the potential of the histor- ically valuable property. Corn purchased the site in order to preserve it. He was assisted in the promotion of this project by John Tyler, Walter Criley, and others. Colonel Corn expressed the significance of the Red Clay preservation with these remarks: Countless feet have trod this beautiful spot through the years, many in moccasins, many in the white man's shoes, and a few in expensive military boots. Countless lips have tasted the clear waters of the Great Council Spring. How heartwarming is the thought of the future thousands who will come here and medi- tate on the proud and tragic history of the great Indian people. Organization and Early History Some differences of opinion exist regarding the identity of the first white people in Bradley County. The concensus is that they were Spaniards, members of the Hernando De Soto expedi- tion. Records indicate that De Soto and his party most likely camped on the night of June 2, 1540, along the creek west of Cleveland. There are some sources, however, who insist that the Spaniards were preceded by a party of Welshmen. 1 6 Tennessee County History Series Although the last of the Cherokees did not leave the region until 1839, their lands had been inhabited by white settlers since the signing of the removal treaty in 1835, or possibly earlier. Many of the settlers of the Hiwassee District probably familiar- ized themselves with choice area locations and, as soon as the Treaty of Removal was signed, rushed across the boundary line to settle on the best land. Two years before the removal in 1838, Bradley County was officially organized. Colonel R. M. Edwards, a county attorney and politician, described the early scene in his Bradley County and the Town of Cleveland, Tennessee, published in 1893: At the time the writer came to the Nation the whites were rapidly moving in. This was in October, 1835. In 1836, quite a large population having moved in the Nation, preparation was made to organize a county. When the white folks came to the county in 1835-1836, the virgin forest was almost unbroken, save a few small patches the Indians had cleared in the richest spots. Along its beautiful valleys a deer might have been seen a mile or more distant. No wonder the Indians objected to the treaty which gave all those beautiful lands to the white race, and compelled them to seek a new home in the far-off West. Many of the pioneer settlers apparently came into the county from East Tennessee; however the county census of 1850 indi- cated that more than 40 percent of the citizens were born in North Carolina, approximately 23 percent in Virginia, 15 per- cent in South Carolina, and seven percent in Georgia. The first settlers of the county were described as follows by A.J. Williams in his Confederate History: Very few of them were wealthy, but the great majority of them were good livers, and most of them who were not in good circumstances when they came here soon became so. The land was rich and produced fine crops, and game, deer, wild turkey, racoons, and squirrels. They were industrious and frugal, and were soon in good circumstances. Excellent short biographies of the pioneer families of Gaut, Goodner, Hambright, Hardwick, Hughes, Jones Julian, Lea, BRADLEY 17 Lusk, McCartney, Parks, Ramsey, Shugart, Still, Tucker, Water- house, and Weatherly are provided in Penelope Allen's "Leaves from the Family Tree" columns in the Chattanooga Times ( 1933— 1937). Other early family names included Aiken, Bates, Brashears, Brown, Calloway, Carter, Cate, Defreese, Glass, Grant, Harle, Humphrey, Inman, Johnston, McGhee, Mcjunk- in, McReynolds, Miller, Osment, Parker, Payne, Pendergrass, Poe, Samples, Simmons, Stuart, Swann, Templeton, Thompson, Tipton, Trewhitt, Traynor, Young, and Walker. The original legislative act authorizing the organization of Bradley County, written in old-fashioned longhand, is kept in the Tennessee State Archives at Nashville. The county was cre- ated by this act on February 10, 1836, and was named for Colonel Edward Bradley, who served as a lieutenant colonel in the War of 1812 and was a friend of Andrew Jackson. About 1820, Bradley moved to Shelby County where he served as a member of the quarterly court until his death in 1829. On the day the county was created, the Legislature appointed William M. Biggs, Isaac Brazelton, Samuel Mahan, William Smedley and Ezekiel Spriggs to divide the county into eight civil districts. Joseph W. McMillan, a deputy sheriff of McMinn County, was appointed to hold an election on Saturday, April 2, 1836, for all county and district officers. The first elected county officers were William Carter, sheriff; the Reverend Henry Price, circuit court clerk; John H. Robertson, county court clerk; James Lauderdale, trustee; and Frank Kincannon, register of deeds. Carter died shortly after the election, and A. A. Clingan.com- pleted the term. Until recently the original members of the county quarterly court were unknown, due to the fact that county records were destroyed by fire on November 25, 1864. This information was found in the election returns in the State Archives, the election results having been sent to the governor by the sheriff appointed to hold the election. It was necessary to hold a second election in December of 1836 to fill a vacancy in the fourth district created by Elbert E. Cooper's leaving the position and a vacancy in the sixth district which existed because of a tie in the April election. Napin and Towns were elected to these positions. The site for 1 8 Tennessee County History Series the county seat was known as "Taylor's Place," and it is interest- ing that three of these quarterly court members were Taylors — Thomas, Benjamin, and Headrick. Results of both elections were as follows: First District Fifth District Joseph Seabourn Absolem Coleman Thomas Taylor Soloman Summy Second District Sixth District Isaac Day, Chairman James W. Wilson William Forster J°hn Towns Third District Seventh District George R. Cox J°hn Igou Benjamin F. Taylor Headrick M. Taylor Fourth District Eighth District John Davis Samuel Howard Elbert E. Coof>er Isaac Huffaker Archibald H. Napin The act creating the county specified that the county court hold its sessions at McCaslin's Methodist Campground, near Chatata Creek, until a county seat was selected. The Bradley County Quarterly Court held, as a Bicentennial project, a session at the same location in 1976. The Legislature provided that the county seat would be named Cleveland, in honor of Colonel Benjamin Cleveland of North Carolina, a Revolutionary War hero at the Battle of Kings Mountain, who reportedly weighed more than 400 pounds. Cleveland County, North Carolina, also, was named for him. County citizens selected "Taylor's Place," home of Andrew Taylor, as the site for Cleveland. Also considered for the county seat had been the home of a wealthy Cherokee, Deer-in-the- Water; the home is now owned by the B. T. Finnell family. Taylor had married an Indian woman and had built a large, commodious log house on the lot now occupied by the post office. The friendly attitude of the Taylors, together with the numerous springs, attracted many settlers, and Cleveland soon became the largest and most important settlement of the Ocoee District. BRADLEY 19 On January 20, 1838, the Legislature formally designated Cleveland as the county seat and appointed these county com- missioners: Robert S. Brashears, James Berry, Burrow Buckner, John Hardwick, John C. Kennedy, P.J. G. Lea, Nicholas Spring, Robert Swan, and Levi Trewhitt. Cleveland was incorporated on February 4, 1842. The first city officers are not known; however, it is believed that G. W. Parks was the first mayor. Other early known mavors included W. J. Campbell; Joseph H. Davis, I860; James Ware, 1865-1866; C. H. Weatherly, 1867; T. L. Gate, 1869, 1872; W. M. Campbell, 1871; C. L. Hardwick, 1873; F. E. Hardwick, 1874, 1876; Henderson H. Hix, 1875; J. C. Tipton, 1877-1879; and J. H. Gaut, 1882-1883. The city charter was repealed by the Legislature effective January 1, 1880, as the result of a hotly contested mayoralty race in 1879, and a new charter was not granted until 1882. In most cases, the streets of Cleveland — such as Berry, Bible, Inman, and Lea — were named in honor of prominent citizens. Ocoee Street was named for the district, and Church Street was so named because of the many churches located on it. The Cleveland Post Office was established on September 9, 1836, with Nicholas Spring, for whom Spring Street was named, as the first postmaster. After Englishman George W. Featherstonhaugh visited the area, he recorded the following observation on July 28, 1837: We at length reached an American settlement called Cleve- land, newly made on the road leading from Calhoun on the Hiwassee, in Tennessee, to Gainsville in Georgia. . . . Twelve months ago, there was not a building of any sort here, but such is the activity of these people that already they had got a street and a square, and a tavern, and stores upon the plan of the older settlements. By 1838 Cleveland boasted a population of 400 and rapidly was becoming a popular trading center. A newspaper columnist wrote that in the city's early days, saloons were plentiful. The square was surrounded by log cabins, with almost every alternate one a "doggery, " and every store kept a barrel of hard spirits for the use of its best customers. The people were very sociable and 20 Tennessee County History Series Benjamin Cleveland Wilkesboro, North Carolina 111' - ^ Right. The monument inscrip- tion reads: "Erected by members of the Cleveland Family in South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennes- see in honor of Colonel Ben- jamin Cleveland; a hero of the Revolution for American Inde- pendence and one of the com- manders in the Battle of Kings Mountain, North Carolina; 1738-1806:' BRADLEY 21 neighborly. House raisings, corn shuckings, and log rollings were common. Rosine Parmentier of New York City, en route to the Old Dutch Settlement in Polk County, visited Cleveland in 1852. She included the following notes in her diary: We reached Dalton at 2 o'clock and left for Cleveland over the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad. The scenery becomes more and more picturesque; on every side you see the moun- tains and the air already becomes purer. . . . Cleveland is situ- ated about 300 yards from the depot. The courthouse stands in the middle of the village and the houses and streets are built all around the square. The village is well laid out; the streets are wide and straight, many of them planted with trees. ... It is really tiresome to see how leisurely the people move about in these villages. Everyone walks slowly with his hands in his pock- ets as if they had absolutely nothing to do. John L. Mitchell in his Gazeteer described the city in 1860 as A thriving post city and the capital of Bradley county, in the south-eastern part of the State, and near the Georgia State line, situated on Mouse Creek, and on the East Tennessee and Geor- gia Railroad, 170 miles southeast from Nashville, fare $7.25, 82 miles southwest from Knoxville, fare $3.30, and by stage route (tri-weekly line) 40 miles from Copper Mines, fare $4.00. By 1866 the Cleveland population had grown to 1500, and by 1879 it had reached 2000. Colonel R. M. Edwards reported that there were approximately 70 businesses active in 1890; among these were the following saloons: Forked Lightning, Kelley & Cooper, Last Chance, Longley, Pinson, Runyon Brothers, and the White Elephant. The first federal census of Bradley County in 1840 indicated that 7441 persons resided in the county, of whom 450 were slaves and 19 were free blacks. By 1850 the population had reached 1 2,259, including 744 slaves and 37 free blacks; in 1 860, 11,701, with 1173 slaves and 58 free blacks; by 1900 the county had 15,757 citizens; and today the total number has reached 72,600. A tax list revealed that at least 141 slaves were living in the county in 1837, the number increasing by I860 to 1 173. Most 22 Tennessee County History Series slaveowners owned fewer than five slaves and slave trading in the county was infrequent. In July of 1854, Sheriff T. L. Bates advertised that he was holding a 40-year-old Negro man in jail for his owner to claim. In September of the same year a reward of $19 was offered for a Negro man, Jerry, and William Blair purchased a Negro boy, Pluto, for $1 100 in February of 1860. Again from her diary, Parmentier wrote: "The most polite Negro whom I have seen during our travels certainly is Ned, a servant belonging to Mrs. Inman, the lady who keeps the hotel." Ned was more than a servant to Mrs. J. W. Inman; he was a town alarm clock, welcoming committee of one, and village jester. Ned met both trains each day, hoping to secure customers for his mistress' establishment. Myra Inman, Cleveland teenager and faithful diarist, on August 18, 1865, probably expressed the feelings of many Brad- ley County citizens who had previously owned slaves and were dependent upon their services. She wrote: "We have not ser- vants to eat here, the first time such a thing has occurred since I can remember, it seems so strange we have to do our own work." Near the end of the Civil War, a black community developed in the northwest part of the county known as St. Elmo, which included at one time both a church and a school. In some cases land was given to freed slaves by their former masters, and in other instances white families assisted blacks in securing homes in the community. This community continues today with ten or 12 families residing there. Originally, St. Elmo residents made their living by farming; today they work in Cleveland. Bradley County is proud of its outstanding black citizens. Among this group are Inez W. Grattan, Jo Ann Hammons, Mose Henry Hardwick, Nena Howard, Doris McClary Johnson, Cinda Carol Jordan, Nancy Ruth Wood Jinks, George F. Knox, Upshur Lloyd Knox, Benny Lattimore, Margenie Wood McKissick, Dorothy Blackwell Phillips, F. L. Russell, J. Reuben Sheeler, Julian P. Smith, Thomas Eugene Stevens, Inez Tedford, Zeke Westfield, Janice White, Jesse White, Gayle Elizabeth Wood, Robert Stanly Wood, and William Austin Wood. Joseph "Joe" Bristol served as alderman of Cleveland in 1879, having been the first elected black city official. John Tibbs BRADLEY 23 Myra Adelaide Inman Carter, author of the well-known Diary, 1860-1865 24 Tennessee County History Series served in the same position from 1897 to 1898. It is believed that Dr. Thomas E. Stevens also held this post. The citizens of Bradley County cast their first presidential votes in 1836, with Hugh L. White, the Whig, receiving 59 votes and Martin Van Buren, the Democrat, receiving 49 votes. In the 1839 governor's race, William Cannon, the Whig, received 309 votes, while James K. Polk, the Democrat, received 903. The available election returns from 1840 to 1860 indicate that in both the presidential and gubernatorial elections the majority of county voters consistently marked their ballots for Democratic candidates. In 1860 on the question of secession, 507 citizens of Bradley County voted for separation, 1382 against. Since 1864 Republican presidential candidates have carried all elections in the county except two, Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936. Even in 1912 the combined Republican vote exceeded Wilson's vote. Bradley County had numerous early politicians of renown. Luke Lea, a distinguished county pioneer, not only served as entry taker for the Ocoee District but also in the U.S. House of Representatives, as secretary of state for Tennessee, and as Indian agent. William H. Tibbs of Cleveland served in the 30th General Assembly and in the first permanent Confederate con- gress, representing the third district. He had been a county trustee from 1 844 to 1 848 and was active on the board of trustees of the Masonic Female Academy. Andrew J. Fletcher served as secretary of state for Tennessee. R. M. Edwards, a prominent county attorney, ran for gov- ernor on the National Greenback party ticket in 1878 and in 1880. It was to Colonel Edwards that former President Andrew Johnson wrote in 1874 while making his successful senatorial campaign. In soliciting the colonel's support, Johnson wrote: "I am free to say that if I could be returned to the U.S. Senate in accordance with popular sentiment reflected by the Legislature, it would be appreciated by me as the greatest compliment of my life, and be a deserved rebuke to treachery and ingratitude." Judge George Washington Rowles was offered the position of U.S. treasurer, but he declined because of his strong dislike for President Buchanan. Judge Rowles served as presidential BRADLEY 25 William H. Tibbs (1816-1906) 26 Tennessee County History Series elector and a member of the Legislature. During his legislative tenure, as a result of an argument, he exchanged pistol shots with T. S. Heiskell when they met on the steps of the capitol building. Samuel Axley Smith of Cleveland represented the third congressional district as a U.S. Representative for three terms. Among presidents who visited Cleveland were Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877; Crover Cleveland in 1887; Benjamin Harrison in 1890; and Theodore Roosevelt in 1902 and 1907. It was during the political "War of the Roses" that brothers x\lf and Bob Taylor came to Cleveland on September 1 1, 1886, in their contest for the governorship of Tennessee. They spoke at the courthouse at 1:00 P.M., and an account in the Nashville American on September 12 stated that theirs was the "largest audience ever assembled in Bradley County. " Attorney Perry Gaut served as master of ceremonies and stated, "Remember, that an insult to one of these gentlemen is an insult to the other." Alf was introduced by Thomas L. Cate, and J. H. Bible, editor of the Cleveland Banner, introduced Bob. Historian Wilma Dykeman has written the. following description of the campaign in her book Tennessee: A History: They traveled together, ate together, awaited late trains together, spoke to throngs that "were never at any point in the smallest counties less than six thousand people; at Memphis there were fifteen thousand people; at Jackson, ten thousand; at Nashville, twenty-five thousand." . . . Thus they criss-crossed Tennessee and captured the nation's attention: stealing each other's speeches, playing pranks, fiddling, declaiming from stump and rostum. . . . Eventually both Alf and Bob Taylor served as governor of Ten- nessee. The Reverend Wiley B. Rutledge, Sr., a resident of Cleve- land for a number of years, had a son, Wiley, Jr., who was appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and served from 1943 to 1949. Notable in local politics in 1952 was the candidacy for president of the United States on a platform of "righteousness" by the Reverend Homer A. Tomlinson, son of A. J. Tomlinson. BRADLEY 27 To the early citizens of the county, roads were of vital impor- tance. A map of 1838 indicates that the major roads were Ala- bama, New Town, and Georgia, with all three roads leading from Charleston southward. Old Federal Road, constructed in 1805 in nearby Polk County, was important to the citizens of Bradley County also. Old Copper Road, leading from the Cop- per Basin to Cleveland, was completed around 1853 and served as a route through which a stream of wagons loaded with copper ingots and bars poured to the railroad at Cleveland and back again loaded with provisions and materials for consumption in the basin. The trip to Cleveland took two days, with one night spent at a camp site near the Halfway House. The copperhaulers were the "aristocrats of labor at Ducktown" until the railroad arrived in 1890. A hack line which operated three days a week was the only means of transportation connecting Cleveland, Benton, and Ducktown. Indian agent Meigs often used the Hiwassee River to trans- port Cherokee products to Chattanooga and Knoxville. Ocoee River, a tributary of the Hiwassee which ran within 1 1 miles of Conasauga River in southeastern Bradley County, provided a more direct route, made possible by use of a portage, to the Gulf of Mexico. A canal connecting the rivers was proposed, and the Hiwassee Canal Company was formed to supervise the project, which was abandoned when a survey indicated that a canal could not be built in the area. A steamboat, The Union, owned by General James Gamble, carried ore from the Copper Basin to Charleston in the 1850s. Following the Civil War, several steamboats were operated on the Hiwassee, and daily runs to Chattanooga were scheduled. At least two steamboat companies, Tennessee River Transporta- tion Company and Chattanooga 8c Hiwassee River Packett Com- pany, operated on the Hiwassee and Ocoee rivers in the 1880s and 1890s. Ferries operated at several points along Hiwassee River. Railroads have played a vital role in the history and develop- ment of the county. The first area railroad construction started in McMinn County in 1832, spreading into Bradley County with the completion of the Hiwassee River bridge in 1842, although 28 Tennessee County History Series Looking west from Five Points around 1887; shown are J. H. Harle 8c Bro. general store (1866-1922) and Cleveland's horse-drawn street car (1886-1899) in the middle of Inman Street. the railroad did not use the bridge until 1851. East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad Company completed a line which con- nected Cleveland with Dalton, Georgia, to the south and with Blair's Ferry (Loudon) to the north; it later added a line from Cleveland to Chattanooga. The arrival of the first train on June 10, 1851, was an exciting event in Cleveland and was duly re- corded in the Inman diary. Completion of the railroads made travel and shipping possible from the county to most of the southeastern United States. In 1886 John H. Craigmiles and J. H. Harle initiated the first and only streetcar operation in Cleveland. The cars were pulled by teams of mules, and the route began at the depot and ended at what is now 20th Street; the fare was 5^ a ride. The line closed in 1899. It is believed that the first automobile in Cleveland was owned by W. S. Milne, although W. O. Horner and W. P. Sykes purchased "horseless carriages" at about the same time. By 1888 Cleveland had telephones, and by 1891 there were 50 subscribers. In April of 1892, a telephone line was con- structed from Cleveland to Tucker Springs, a popular summer BRADLEY 29 resort. In 1893 the East Tennessee Telephone Company de- cided to connect Chattanooga and Cleveland with a telephone line. In June of 1894 George Hardwick announced that there would soon be a new telephone service which would serve "fami- lies at $2 per month and businesses at $3 per month." In 1897 Cleveland and Benton were connected by telephone. By 1901 direct business rates were $2.50 per month, three-party line business rates $1.50, and three-party line residential rates $1 a month. The county telephone company was involved in many upheavals and changes of ownership from 1884 to 1901. By 1894 when the East Tennessee Telephone Company took over the Cleveland exchange, communication by telephone was a relatively stable phenomenon in the Bradley County area; by 1 90 1 the telephone exchange was offering better and less expen- sive service for its patrons. In 1895 electricity, produced by a small steam plant, was available in Cleveland. By 1912 the Ocoee No. 1 Hydro Plant had been constructed in Polk County, 16 miles from Cleveland, by the Tennessee Power Company. This plant was the first large, central station hydroelectric plant in Tennessee, constructed at an estimated cost of $2.7 million. Later purchased by the Ten- nessee Valley Authority, Ocoee No. 1 today is the oldest TVA plant in operation. On January 28, 1912, at 4:00 P.M., the plant was placed in operation for the first time. At that hour what the Chattanooga Times called a "group of substantial citizens'1 gathered in the Ridgedale power house in Chattanooga. Virginia Lockett threw the switch which brought electricity to Cleveland, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Nashville, and Rome, Geor- gia. That night, in letters five feet tall atop the new Hamilton Bank Building in Chattanooga, the word Ocoee was spelled out to a waiting city. In 1912 the Ocoee plant was serving a population of 63,474. The county's early social life presented a varied and interest- ing picture. As the population grew, so did the number of clubs, groups, and events. Cleveland Lodge No. 134 of the Free and Accepted Masons was one civic-minded group that played an important role, having been organized on May 24, 1847, in the log courthouse. Perhaps the Masons' most far-reaching con- 30 Tennessee County History Series sJ U • ^ ^ en 5/2 OJ £ ft 0 •— 5 -C - H^ * S 0 T1 P^4 Tayl Har Har oi H C* XA ,*-> ft 0 Uh - V T3 Si U G <U U ft c 2^ T3 Ou, C/2 0 . T5 ,9 ^ ft o ^ £ T3 W 0 ft . l— - 3 *" ~ s s "TS ^ . ^ g * Q ~s ■ <ij r^ en ^5 ft ^ <o s ^c \A 0 £. t/3 pC © 2 h ** be -a ^r a; 5-i r ft -C u • c O Dh 3 Oi . r z en en o ^ c/5 be £< S-> 3 2^ ~s CQ -a 'u -a T3 fc fi ^ iS ^ <L> U > 'C! <l> £ u^ bci2 c DC <U • J U BRADLEY 31 tribution to the community was that of maintaining the Masonic Female Institute after 1856. The Bradley County Bible Society was organized in 1846. R. M. Edwards recorded his participation in the debates of the Hermesian Society in 1849 and listed some of the topics for debate: "Does the Revelation furnish greater evidence of the existence of God than Nature?" and "Should we erect monuments to our Great Men at Public Expense?" In 1857 Cleveland hosted a fair. On November 30, 1859, Myra Inman wrote: "Pretty day. I read a composition today. Mr. Blunt deliv- ered an address to the young men; a great many there. The reading circle met as usual. Mother and Sister went to Mrs. William Craigmiles this evening." John Coffee Williamson also made the following comments on December 22, 1860, regarding other activities in Cleveland: I went to Cleveland in the company of Joe Tedford. Joe got drunk. . . . Hoyle lets me sleep in his office . . . made arrange- ments with Mr. J. M. Horton, a merchant to board with him for $10.00 per month. ... I found I had located among good people. On January 16, 1861, Williamson stated that he had visited an advertised phrenologist and "acted the fool and paid him five dollars." Later, he determined to be more saving with his money. As early as 1866 Height's Circus visited Cleveland, and base- ball made its first recognized appearance during June of 1867. The Swiss Bell Ringers presented a program at city hall in December of 1869. The Baptist church was the scene in 1870 of the performance of Schuman's Grand French Biorama. Also in 1870 eight lamps were placed on the courthouse square that, when lighted for the first time, were said to create in part of the town "quite a city appearance." In 1871 a ventriloquist visited Cleveland, and rollerskating was introduced. On December 2, 1875, the Cleveland Herald announced the organization of the Cleveland Literary Society. Louise Harle, a lifelong Cleveland resident and descendant of pioneer settlers, described the life and times in Cleveland near the turn of the century in her recent book, / Remember Tall Tales and True of Cleveland and Bradley County: 32 Tennessee County History Series The home was the hub of the family. The parlor was only opened on Sunday afternoons and for funerals; the kitchen was the scene of activity from dawn to after dark to serve three full meals. Pleasures were not costly, but were satisfying. Literary societies and sewing circles, amateur theatricals and touring Chautauqua, picnics and carnivals, county fairs and band con- certs, Decoration Day parades and fireworks on the Glorious Fourth were all well-attended gala occasions; everybody went "up-town," even the dog. When people in those self-contained, turn-of-the-century towns wanted music, they had to sing, blow, plunk, saw or bang it out for themselves. The big moments, the special events, that everyone talked about were the night Forked Lightning Saloon burned, the first time the mule-drawn streetcar went down Inman Street to the depot, the first automobile bought by Mr. Milne that scared all the horses, the first airplane, the installation of crank-up tele- phones and electric lights, the first moving picture show in an empty building. Probably the most gala of all was when John Philip Sousa's band gave a concert at the Opera House. Always of interest to local citizens were the alluring newspa- per advertisements which proclaimed cures for rheumatism, arthritis, and, generally speaking, all kinds of painful ailments. Advertisements and news items in those days called for flowery language as evidenced by this 1891 obituary: "Again the sickle of death has been thrust into the family circle of our beloved friend, Marion Owen, and mowed down the brightest jewel and dearest one of this family." The Benton Weekly News, on June 7, 1894, carried an advertisement for Cleveland's Wonder Store. Items listed for l£ included a box of hairpins, a box of shoe blacking, 25 good envelopes, and one dozen clothespins. Early inns, taverns, and hotels were of great importance to the county. James Berry was believed to have operated Cleve- land's first hotel, the Berry. Other early hotel operators were Lorenzo DeLano, John G. Glass, Mrs. J. W. Inman, and Daniel A. Tibbs. In 1872 John Q. A. Lewis became proprietor of the Ocoee House which had been opened in 1854, and he announced that it "had been fitted up with a new bath house with BRADLEY 33 >• * -*, •> •,*, Wearing fashionable attire in 1896, these young Cleveland men meet under the banner which reads, "Laboring Men under McKinley Bill." Standing, left to right, Oscar Haggard, James C. Cate, and Carl Grigsby; seated, Lloyd Cate. elegant fixtures, where the blessings of a good bath may be hugely enjoyed for 15 cents." It was also in 1854 that the Loudon Free Press reported that there were "many evidences of the increasing prosperity of the citizens of Cleveland. There is prob- ably no town in East Tennessee that can boast of more enterpris- ing merchants." Harle gave the best description available of the Cleveland "uptown" business area at the turn of the century: 34 Tennessee County History Series Landmark Building in Cleveland, a mid-nineteenth century commercial building listed on the National Register of Historic Places BRADLEY 35 Cleveland was the agricultural and marketing hub of Bradley County and most of Polk County. Along Ocoee Street, the grocery and the hardware stores, the ice cream parlor and the meat market, the barber shop, and the saloon, the millinery shop and the dry goods emporium, the courthouse and the bank, the newspaper office and the drugstore, formed the "up- town" business area, which turned into Inman Street which led to the depot. Inman Street was rather a hodgepodge; there were churches and homes, livery stables and blacksmith shops, stores and saloons. Among the few specialty stores in Cleveland's early days was one referred to as "Mrs. Leeper's Millinery Emporium" in a flowery article carried in the Cleveland Weekly Herald: One of the best pretties establishments in Cleveland is the Mil- linery store of Mrs. S. J. Leeper. Mrs. Leeper has been in the millinery business for twenty-one years. In the spring, fall and summer, her parlors are marvels of beauty. Mrs. Leeper carries in addition to her millinery stock a line of fancy ribbons, the latest novelties in sofa pillows, cut work, drawn work, embroi- dery silk and all the beautiful novelties which go to make a home attractive. J. H. Harle & Brother, a store located on Inman and Ed- wards streets from 1866 to 1922, was operated by Louise Hade's grandfather and his brother. She described the store's activities as follows: On Saturdays, the back door of Crandfather's store would be ringed with country families in town for the day, lunching bountifully on a nickel's worth of cheese and a tin can of either sardines, oysters or salmon, per family, with crackers thrown in. The back door was chosen because the water bucket was placed on a shelf near by and the dipper was kept busy being passed from hand to hand. One of those farmers was probably Porter Kimbrough, who often made trips to Cleveland to sell produce and to purchase needed supplies. He frequently was accompanied by his daugh- ter, Nora, who later married Abraham Lillard. 36 Tennessee County History Series Other early stores included Steed Drug Company, estab- lished in 1867; W. O. Horner's Jewelry and Optical Shop, estab- lished in 1882; T. L. Rogers and Son, real estate and insurance, established in 1909; J. M. Bennett and Fillauers, probably two of the oldest hardware stores; R. H. Hawk, tinware business; Horace Tipton, furniture; and L. D. Campbell, J. N. Taylor, J. E. Roberts, and Walter Rucker, dry goods stores. The first self- service store was the Jitney Jungle, established in 1922 by Bethel C. Brown. Other important businesses were livery stables owned bv Henderson and Lillard, Joe Hawk, Campbell Jones, and O. H. Slover; blacksmith shops; and peddlers. Charleston Charleston is the second largest town in Bradley County. It began as a trading post around 1821 when it became the seat of the Cherokee agency and the site of the Lewis Ross store. Char- leston, located in the midst of splendid farming areas, was well equipped to take care of the business interests of farmers, in- cluding cotton gins, a substantial logging industry, and steam- boats plying the Hiwassee River. The Henry Benton Henegar home, built in 1840, was the first brick house in the county and is still standing on what was the site in 1838 of General Winfield Scott's barracks. The home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Near the end of the nineteenth century Charles- ton merchants included Dorsey, Campbell and Company, Ed- wards and Bryant, William McKamy, and William Knox. Other smaller county settlements can be traced to the Indian period. Black Fox Black Fox, named for the Cherokee principal chief who served around 1810 or 1811, was one of the early county com- munities in existence during the Cherokee period. It also shares its name with a local creek. A notable resident, "little Daniel" Boone, a nephew of Kentucky's Daniel Boone, settled here in the early 1860s and is buried in the Triplett cemetery. Some early settlers in the area were the Boones, Dentons, Lacys, Osments, and Tripletts. BRADLEY 37 Chatata Valley Named Chatata, "clear water, " by the Cherokees, this area was settled prior to the removal of the Indians, as indicated by the organization there of New Friendship Baptist Church in 1835. The early town consisted of mills, stores, schools, and two churches. A physician also had his practice there. Established in 1867, Chatata Seminary was a well-known boarding school. Names of early families included Barnett, Bell, Blair, Cate, Donahoo, Julian, Mee, Morelock, Richey, Simmons, and Smith. Chilcutfs Community An early Methodist campground, then called Dunn's, this settlement in the eastern part of the county later included a church, store, and school which became a county junior high school in the 1930s. Family names of settlers included Baldwin, Boyer, Chilcutt, Cowden, Catlin, Coins, Hagler, Johnson, Lawson, Longwith, McAlister, and Parker. Eureka Community In the northern county area, this community included Can- dy's Creek Baptist Church, established in 1834; Eureka Academy; three or four stores; wagon and hat factories; and the services of two physicians. Names of early settlers included Baker, Bryant, Duncan, Eads, Ceren, Cilbreath, Crisham, Hooper, Johnson, Johnston, King, Kirkpatrick, Lee, Mahan, McDaris, McPherson, Ross, Sharp, Shelton, Shiplet, Taylor, Wattenbarger, Wilson, and Witt. Georgetown On the northwest border of the county, this village spreads into three counties: Bradley, Hamilton, and Meigs. According to tradition, it may have been named for Cherokee Chief Ceorge as was a nearby Indian village. A bustling little town, it contained two churches, elementary school, post office, two physicians' practices, telephone exchange, drug store, several general stores, barber shop, and a blacksmith shop. Industries included a flour mill, tannery, and sawmill. Among the early settlers were families named Beaty, Carter, Dunham, Ceren, Hickman, Lee, Marler, Ross, and Seaborn. 38 Tennessee County History Series o 3 be C '5 qj 0 1/3 h BRADLEY 39 McDonald Some confusion exists over the origin of the name of this settlement, located near an old Indian watering place. A Scot named McDonald once operated an Indian trading station east of Tucker Springs. Other stories told that it was first called McDonald Station, possibly for the family of John Ross's mother. It also may have been named for M. W. McDonald, a man involved in railroad construction. Becoming the site of a railroad station stimulated community growth. Early families1 names in- cluded Bailey, Brock, Carson, Cooper, Keebler, McKamy, Robinson, Romine, Smith, Trotter, and Watkins. Because of several mineral springs, the McDonald area flourished as a popular resort from the 1 880s through the 1 920s. Several large hotels and cabins, located halfway between Cleve- land and Chattanooga near White Oak Mountain, were built when, during the Reconstruction period, the mineral water from the springs gained a reputation for health benefits. In addition to serving as social centers for the community, the hotels opened each summer for area visitors who stayed a week or longer. Improved roads and the availability of automobiles signaled an end to the summer resort era in the late 1920s, and the hotels later were either razed or destroyed by fire. Tucker Springs Hotel, built by a group of businessmen in 1890, was named for the owners of the land, John and Mary Tucker. It was so famed for its home cooked meals, mineral water, and social events featuring a dance pavilion and a bowling alley that it became a permanent railroad stop and had a federal post office until 1929. New Lauderback Springs Hotel, built in 1905 and operated by Sallie Lauderback Everhart, had 29 rooms on two floors with porches circling the building on both floors. There was no elec- tricity, but guests could use the crank telephone to ring Barry Kibler who would deliver guests and baggage by hack to the McDonald depot. The hotel had an unusual water sytem: a conveyor belt with small buckets attached all along its length to the spring was operated by guests using a crank inside the building to dip the buckets into the water and bring them back inside. Lauderback hotel finally closed its doors to all guests at 40 Tennessee County History Series the beginning of World War II and was destroyed by fire in 1960. " Powder Springs and Baugh Springs featured cabins, and the autumn turkey hunts at Baugh are still recalled by local resi- dents. Mineral Springs Inn was located on U.S. Highway 1 1 in what became northern Hamilton County. Tasso First called Fish Town, then McMillin Station, and later Chatata, this village was finally named Tasso in 1901 for an Italian poet. Tasso, situated near Little Chatata Creek, had elementary and high schools, a post office, railroad station, two stores, blacksmith shop, flour mill, and its own physician. Early family names from the area included Bates, Bryan, Bryant, Byrd, Castelow, Cline, Duncan, Elkins, Gladon, Goodner, Gregg, Heifner, Jenkins, Julian, Kibler, Lawson, Martin, Mull, Pierce, Ramsey, Roy, Simmons, Smalling, Stanley, Stowe, Sulli- van, Snyder, Wade, and Winkler. Religious Heritage Organization of the county government at McCaslin's Methodist Campground bears evidence to the priority given religion; the campground preceded the government. The emphasis placed on religion today is reflected in approximately 160 churches in the county and by Bradley County's being international headquarters for three denominations: Church of God; Church of God of Prophecy; and Church of God, Jeru- salem Acres. The county's pioneer settlers first built cabins for homes and opened them to neighbors for worship services. Crude brush arbors and log huts preceded meetinghouses. Zealous settlers frequently sought to educate and win their Cherokee neighbors to Christianity as they established their own religious bodies. The Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian faiths were the first to establish churches in the county. These religious foundations, established in the 1830s, were shaken in subsequent decades by the tragic division and destruction precipitated by the Civil War. However, these foundations were not destroyed, and the latter BRADLEY 41 part of the nineteenth century provided a time of great growth and unity. Presbyterians, who first established Candy's Creek Mission, were soon surpassed in numbers by Methodists with their camp meetings and colorful circuit riders and by the zealous Baptists with their congregational form of government that appealed to many. Three-fourths of the county's church membership continues to be distributed among these three de- nominations. Presbyterians pioneered religious work in the Ocoee District, which included Bradley County, by establishing in 1804 the first mission school south of Hiwassee River. The Presbyterian Church in Charleston, possibly organized in 1823, had the longest history of continuous operation of any church in the county before it was dissolved on November 8, 1959. The first organized religious group in Cleveland also was Presbyterian. On November 11, 1837, a small group of Cleveland's pioneer citizens met in the log courthouse and organized the First Pres- byterian Church. In addition to other Presbyterian congrega- tions within the county, one of the children's homes operated by the Presbyterian Church, Bachman Memorial Home, was lo- cated near Cleveland in 1950. On Friday, July 16, 1837, 28 persons, among whom were three slaves, were received into the communion of the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church in Cleveland. In 1846 the Cleveland church was followed by the Flint Spring Cumberland Presbyte- rian Church. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church at Charles- ton erected a building in 1860 which was dedicated at the Presbytery session held in March of 1861. While camped at Charleston, Federal soldiers used this building and tied their horses to the outside walls. Still visible today in the building are the deep scars made by horses' teeth on window sills and corner boards. The government paid the church $500 for the damage. There are now six Cumberland Presbyterian congregations in the county, and their memberships total approximately 1000. In existence prior to 1836, the most important Methodist campground in the county was located at McCaslin's Spring in the Lane Cap between Big Chatata and Little Chatata valleys. Charleston Methodist Church, with a record of meeting as early 42 Tennessee County History Series as 1825. is perhaps the county's oldest Methodist congregation. Like the Presbyterian and Cumberland Presbyterian, the Methodist church in Cleveland also was organized at the court- house in 1837. The M. E. Church South, now Broad Street United Methodist Church, erected a building at the corner of Broad Street and Central Avenue in 1867. The First Methodist Church was reorganized August 14, 1865. In 1979 a new build- ing was constructed at a cost of $1 million. Twenty-four Metho- dist churches are now located in Bradley County with a total membership of 4000. The work of Baptists in the Tennessee territory preceded the Revolutionary War. Their activity in Cherokee Valley towns resulted in organized churches, two of which were formed in 1835, before Bradley County was constituted: Candy's Creek and New Friendship Church. The Reverend Isham Simmons, second pastor of New Friendship Church, gave the land for the building site, a picturesque spot in Chatata Valley. Nine churches in the county, in addition to Candy's Creek and New Friendship, are more than 100 years old. The First Baptist Church of Cleveland was organized in 1857 by the Reverend Noah Cate and is now the largest congregation of any faith in the county, with 2140 members, having recently approved plans for an addition to church facilities, costing $1 million. The most significant growth of the Baptist denomination in the county has occurred since 1949, when the Bradley County Baptist Association was formed with the Reverend J. C. Williamson as director of missions. The Baptist student union building was opened at Cleveland State Community College in November of 1974 at a cost of approximately $200,000. Today there are more than 60 Baptist congregations in the county representing more than 50 percent of church memberships; 53 are association members. The first meeting of Episcopalians in Cleveland was held on July 22, 1867, under the leadership of the Right Reverend Charles Todd Quintard and the Reverend Ceorge N.James. St. Luke's Day, October 18, 1871, was a day that changed the de- velopment of the Episcopal Church in the city — seven-year-old Nina Craigmiles was killed when the buggy in which she was riding with her grandfather, Dr. Gideon Thompson, was struck BRADLEY 43 St. Luke's altar window by a train. Her father, John Craigmiles, her grandfather, and her uncle were all baptized on the day of her funeral. Craigmiles decided that a new church building would be a fitting memorial to his daughter, and on August 5, Nina's birthday, the actual groundbreaking for the new building occurred. The communi- cants of St. Alban's voted to change the mission's name to St. Luke's in memory of the date of the child's death. The small, beautiful Gothic church building, constructed of native stone and locally made bricks, is an example of outstanding architecture. Peter J. Williamson, pioneer Nashville architect, designed the building. Members of the Craigmiles family are buried in a marble mausoleum in the churchyard. Today St. Luke's has some 500 communicants. 44 Tennessee County History Series The Cleveland Banner of October 28, 1899, carried the follow- ing statement: "If there is one thing in which Cleveland takes more pride than in another it is the fact that it is a city of schools and churches." Referring to the period just after the turn of the century, Louise Harle has written, "I distinctly remember the Sunday morning ringing of the church bells in Cleveland. The Episcopal bell was the first, then the Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Cumberland bells chimed their calls." The most striking facet of county church history, generally speaking, since the Civil War has been the phenomenal increase in the number of Pentecostal churches. Cleveland is the interna- tional headquarters for the Church of God, which had its origin in the latter part of the nineteenth century. In 1904 the Rev- erend A. J. Tomlinson came to Cleveland to become pastor of one of those churches, and in 1909 he became first general overseer. Tomlinson was followed in 1923 by F. J. Lee. After Lee's death in 1928, Samuel W. Latimer became general over- seer and led the church through a period in the 1930s of signifi- cant growth in membership and considerable expansion of edu- cational missions. In 1946 the church purchased buildings from Bob Jones College and relocated Lee College. The church is now engaged in missionary work in 108 foreign countries and has a total of 4967 churches and membership of 401,019. Because of the international headquarters, publishing business, Lee Col- lege, and numerous churches, the Church of God exerts in- fluence in business, educational, and cultural as well as spiritual circles. There are 30 churches now located in Bradley County with a total membership of approximately 6000. The North Cleveland Church of God, with a current membership of 2020, is believed to be the oldest Pentecostal church in the world, having been in operation since 1906. The international headquarters of the Church of God of Prophecy also is located at Cleveland. The Reverend A. J. Tomlinson was also the first general overseer of this church when its organization became a separate body in 1923. The Reverend Milton Tomlinson now leads the church body. This church also has an extensive world mission organization with churches in 52 foreign countries for a total of 3825 congrega- BRADLEY 45 St. Luke's Episcopal Church 46 Tennessee County History Series i Dr. Marvin R. Gibson, pastor, First Baptist Church of Cleveland, and the Reverend Ronald E. Brock, pastor, North Cleveland Church of God tions and a total membership of 218,330. An annual assembly with as many as 25,000 delegates is held at the new General Assembly Auditorium in Cleveland. In addition to maintaining a system of orphanages, youth camps, Tomlinson College, and a Bible training institute, the Church of God of Prophecy owns and operates the White Wing Publishing House and Press in Cleveland, making this church an influential part of the local community. Ten churches are active in the county with a mem- bership of approximately 1000 people. Other denominations with smaller congregations are repre- sented in the county and include the Christian, Christian-Disci- ples of Christ, Church of Christ, Faith Memorial, Jehovah's Witnesses, Jerusalem Acres, Latter Day Saints (Mormons), Lutheran, Nazarene, Roman Catholic, and Seventh-Day Ad- BRADLEY 47 ventist. There are many active and growing black churches in Cleveland and Bradley County; among them are the Church of Christ, Church of God Sanctified, Green's Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian, Inman Street Church of God, Lee's AME, Mt. Eagle Baptist, Pleasant Grove Baptist, Price Memorial AME Zion, Saint James Cumberland Presbyterian, Shiloh Baptist, Trinity United Methodist, Watson's Chapel AME Zion, and Wildwood Avenue Church of God. The combined church membership in the county is abTout 32,000, and the landscape is dotted with church buildings. There are both imposing edifices with tall spires and many small churches. In contrast to offerings in the early days of camp meetings, itinerant circuit riders, and once-a-month preaching, modern church programs include athletic activities, bus minis- tries, choir instruction for all ages, craft programs under the supervision of trained staffs, day-care centers, goodwill stores, kindergartens, libraries, as well as preaching, Bible teaching, mission and evangelistic endeavors, and pastoral care. Three Rs and More Bradley County has been fortunate in its educational achievements from the early mission schools and academies to the present two systems of public education and five institutions of higher learning as well as several private institutions. Public education in the county began in 1804 when the Reverend Blackburn opened his Presbyterian mission school to 21 Cher- okee children. Representatives of Brainerd Mission soon orga- nized two other missions schools, Candy's Creek in 1824 and Red Clay in 1835. Bradley County schools were in operation by December 16, 1838, as extant reports of the five commissioners of the fifth district indicate. These commissioners included Moses C. Fergu- son, William Higgins, Abraham Lillard, A. R. Stephenson, and John Williams. A total of 358 students enrolled. The following report entry concerned the first salary scale: "Received of Abra- ham Lillard $34.00 for teaching an English School for the term of three months, January 1, 1840." By 1846 a teacher was paid $64 for the same period of service. 48 Tennessee County History Series J 14 if / s s if / . &:_ <££ ■wiA**-*" Qje^I/ly ■^^C^^H*^* *^/'? p This page from the Bradley County School Records of 1838 shows that the head of the household is listed with the number of children attending. BRADLEY 49 The first schoolhouse in Cleveland was a small one-room cabin said to have been located 'just beyond the iron bridge west of town." Henry Walker taught there until 1839, when he was succeeded by James Tedford. The first house built strictly for school purposes was located near the spring over which the law offices of Whitson, Webb, and Burns now stand on First Street, west of the post office. In her diary entries from 1859 to 1861, Myra Inman related her struggles over dictionary lessons, com- positions, and algebra. Her cousin Elvira was detained after school for "prompting" one of the students. At one time Myra received "19 praise marks and 5 black marks." For 75 years Tennessee and the rest of the South were dependent upon academies for doctors, lawyers, teachers, and pastors. Teachers at academies were usually of high caliber and frequently were college graduates. James Tedford was the first teacher at Oak Grove Male Academy, the first chartered institu- tion in Ocoee District in 1837. Other notable teachers of this academy included Henrv W7. Von Aldehoff and M. H. B. Burkett. In 1848 the charter of Oak Grove Academy was amended to add a female department. The board began the erection of a building for girls on Ocoee Street. Unable to complete it for lack of funds, they transferred the responsibility for the building to Cleveland Lodge No. 134, F & AM. Under the direction of this order, the building was finished. The Masonic Female Academy opened in 1856 under the guidance of a board of directors appointed by the lodge, with Thomas H. Callaway as president. Henry W. Von Aldehoff was the first principal; he was suc- ceeded in 1859 by A. E. Blunt who served until the Civil War closed the school in 1 86 1 . Blunt was well known throughout East Tennessee; he was the county's first scientific farmer and be- came the first superintendent of Bradley County public schools in 1868. The Female Academy's building was continuously used by public or private schools until 1894 and also served as an Episcopal chapel until St. Luke's was built. With most of its architectural integrity preserved, it is now the Houston Apart- ments. Flint Springs Male and Female Academy was an outgrowth 50 Tennessee County History Series of a small community school held in a one-room log house, built in the early 1840s. Chatata Seminary which opened in 1867 was supported by farmers of the area. Students' Home, a private school founded after the Civil War, was conducted by M. H. B. Burkett. B. E. Atkins was the first principal of Chatata Academy. Blue Springs, Charleston, Eureka, Georgetown, Mouse Creek, and Red Hill also had academies. The Civil War brought most public eduation in the county to a halt. Colonel R. M. Edwards recorded that "during the war our school funds had been squandered, and no schools for some years were established in Cleveland, except subscription schools/' By 1867, however, Bradley County had a school population of 4518. In 1869 Superintendent Blunt wrote, "The principal difficulties met with were few and miserable school- houses, the want of good teachers, the lack of confidence in securing the school money." In spite of these problems, free public school existed by December 7, 1871, in all districts of the county. In 1885 M. R. Burke was elected superintendent of Bradley County Schools, marking the first time the superintendent's office was used to coordinate school programs and to establish qualifications for teachers. Burke was also instrumental in estab- lishing a uniform system of textbooks and in organizing a county teachers' association; in July of 1885, a three-week "county nor- mal" was held under his direction. A native Bradley Countian, Horace Wilson Morelock, was the first and only Democrat to become superintendent prior to 1899. Morelock claimed that his mother, Sarah Lucretia Weatherly Morelock, taught him to read before he was four years old and that at the same age he was admitted to Flint Springs Academy and enrolled in the third grade. Morelock received a salary of $25 a month in 1895 for teaching seven grades in a one-room school. "Every day, five days a week," he wrote, "I made the round trip on a stubborn mule. I parked him during school hours in a pasture nearby." However, his experi- ences as "professor" evidently compensated for hard work and small pay. Based on available records, the following have served as BRADLEY 51 superintendents of Bradley County schools: A. E. Blunt 1867- -1869 A. A. Kyle 1909- -1911 W. M. Wilhoite 1 869- -1875 S. Y. Adcock 191 1- -1913 W. L. Gate 1875- -1877 H. A. Hibben G. W. Ford 1877- -1880 on one record 1913- -1917 T. M. S. Y. Adcock Montgomery 1880- -1884 on another 1913- -1917 J. N. Varnell 1884- -1885 S. Y. Adcock 1917- -1919 M. R. M. Burke 1885- -1893 E. J. Frazier 1919- -1931 J. I. Harrison 1893- -1897 Sim Beatv 1931- -1938 W. R. Lawson 1897- -1899 T. R. Varnell 1938- -1943 Horace W. W. B. Cartwright 1943- -1949 Morelock 1899- -1901 Sim Beatv 1949- -1961 W. R. Lavvcon 1901- -1903 William R. Smith 1961- -1965 J. F. Harrison 1903- -1906 Grace Carroll 1965- -1969 J. T. Harrison William R. on one record 1906- -1909 Walker 1969-present J. A. Trewhitt on another 1906- -1909 By 1904 Bradley County reported 64 schoolhouses, 74 teachers, school property valued at $15,562, and a superinten- dent's salary of $600 a year. Charleston High School, in the renovated Charleston Grammar School building, opened its doors on September 18, 1913, as the first county high school, with John B. May as principal. In a new building north of the city, Bradley Central High School opened on September 11, 1916, with an enrollment of 215 students and eight teachers. Q. M. Smith was the first principal of this school and later served as president of Tennessee Technological University. From its conception the high school was known for its academic standards and for its emphasis on cultural activities. In 1972 its campus was moved to South Lee Highway, on grounds formerly occupied by Cleveland Golf and Country Club. At the time of the move, Bradley Central was the second largest high school in Tennessee, with facilities hailed as "the finest of the Southeastern United States. " In 1978-1979 the school had an enrollment of 2084 and a faculty of 100. Dale Hughes is current- ly principal. 52 Tennessee County History Series D. C. Arnold As early as 1873, Cleveland reported a high school with John Harvey as principal. The city's present school system, however, was inaugurated in 1885 when it was reorganized by D. C. Arnold, who has been called the "father of the graded school system of Cleveland." Colonel R. M. Edwards wrote, "About 1884, the citizens fired with a kind of education enthusiasm, BRADLEY 53 erected a twelve thousand dollar school building for the purpose of carrying on a graded two-year high school, having an average attendance of about five hundred." Arnold served as principal at the time. City high school students walked through the doors of the new Cleveland High School in September of 1966. In 1979 the city system enrolled 4400 students and had a professional staff of 258 and a budget of $6,2 16,822. The Cleveland City School System now ranks sixth in the state in teacher-pupil ratio with an average of 1 7- 1 . Net worth of all buildings and fixtures current- ly is estimated by Superintendent Donald P. Yates to be $13 million exclusive of real estate. In addition to the high school and junior high school, elementary schools currently included in this system are Arnold, T. C. Bowers, George R. Stuart, Blythe Avenue, Mayfield, and E. L. Ross. In addition to Yates, D. C. Arnold, R. T. Allen, T. C. Bower, Ira Douthitt, and E. L. Ross have served as city superintendent. Bradley County school consolidation began in 1912 with the closing of one-room schools and selection of new locations, erec- tion of modern buildings, and development of a transportation system. Superintendent Sim Beaty, who took office in 1931 and remained until 1961 with the exception of one four-year period, supervised much of the consolidated and modernized system the county enjoys today. E. J. Frazier also contributed to the consolidation program. Today the county education system pro- vides education for an enrollment of 10,571 students who are under the guidance of a professional staff of 474. The operating budget in 1979 for the system was $9,184,164.35 with the net worth of all buildings and fixtures estimated at almost $30 mil- lion. Schools now in the county system include Black Fox, Blue Springs, Bradley Central High, Bradley Elementary, Bradley Junior High, Charleston High, East Cleveland, Hopewell, McDonald, Michigan Avenue, North Cleveland, North Lee, Oak Grove, Prospect, Taylors, Travena kindergarten, Trewhitt Elementary, Trewhitt Junior High, Valley View, and Waterville. Bradley County also has been known for college level in- struction offered in its area. As early as 1865 citizens of the county petitioned the Legislature to establish the East Tennessee Tennessee County History Series B R A D L E Y 55 David Sullins, first president of Centenary College Female University at Cleveland and to provide $100,000 for its construction. This institution was not established; however, Cleveland has had seven colleges, five of which operate today. Methodist ministers Timothy Sullins, his younger brother David, and George Stuart, established the Centenary Female College, a Methodist school, in 1885. David Sullins was the first president. Every girl was required to take either music, art, or elocution. In December of 1929 Centenary closed its doors; however, for three years the property was leased by the Smokey Mountain schools. In 1933 Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., moved Bob Jones College, a nondenominational school, to the old Centenary cam- pus. During the 14 years the school operated at Cleveland, 17 buildings were acquired. Famous evangelist the Reverend Billy Graham attended Bob Jones College for a brief period. Lee College was moved in 1947 from Sevierville to Cleveland on the 56 Tennessee County History Series Dr. L. Quentin Lane, president of Cleveland State Community College, and Dr. David F. Adkisson, president emeritus newly purchased Bob Jones College campus. The college, now a four-year liberal arts college fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, currently has an enrollment of more than 1300 students with a full-time faculty of 57. Dr. Charles W. Conn has served as president since 1970. The Church of God also operates the Graduate School of Chris- tian Ministries which opened on September 1, 1975. The establishment of Cleveland State Community College offered Bradley Countians for the first time immediate access to public higher education. First quarter classes began on October BRADLEY 57 Nena B. Howard, former teacher and member of Cleveland board of education Inez Wood Grattan, retired teacher and member of Cleveland Human Relations Committee 2, 1967, and were held in North Cleveland Baptist Church. Dr. D. F. Adkisson was the college's first president, and Dr. L. Quentin Lane is the current president. The campus is now composed of nine major buildings which serve an enrollment of approximately 4400 students and a full-time staff of 95. Tomlinson Junior College, operated by the Church of God of Prophecy, was moved to Cleveland in 1967. The college's current president is Emerson Hall, and its present enrollment is 275 students. Kent College, organized at Cleveland in 1960, is operated by the Church of God of Jerusalem Acres with Dr. Terril Littrell as president. In Cleveland today there are also several private educational institutions, which include Bowman Hills Seventh Day Adventist Church School dating back to 1 903, Calvary Christian and New Life Bible schools, Cross Christian and Grace Christian academies, and a branch of Edmondson Junior College of business. 58 Tennessee County History Series Bradlev Countians Go To War Bradlev Countians through the years in wartime have car- ried out the spirit of "the Volunteer State. " Because Bradley Countv was not organized until 1836, it had no native sons in either the Revolutionary War or the War of 1812, but many residents are descendants of those who fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain and participated in the War of 1812. A few soldiers and widows of both wars came to the county after its establishment. Revolutionary soldiers or their widows who lived in the county include Walter Billingsley, Isabella Castiller, Sarah Cry, William Dodd, Robert Forester, Morton Gray, James Hamilton, Charles and Joseph Lain, John Latta, Joseph Lusk, William McAllister, Robert McCormick, Return Jonathan Meigs, Hardy Owen, James Sellers, and Nancy Roper Wooten. Forty-three veterans of the War of 1812 are known to have resided in the county including Cherokees John Ross and Sleeping Rabbit. Other names from official records include the following: Jesse Atchley Willard Barger George Beal James Berry Jacob Brown N. G. Burgess George Burns William Butcher Robert Campbell Robert Carson John Clark Thomas Cooper Joseph Craigmiles Jesse Dobbs Hugh Duggan William Findley William Forrester James Gilles William Grant, Sr. Henderson Headrick John Henderson, Sr. William Horn Zacariah Keith John Kibler Samuel Legg Joseph Lusk II Moses Maxwell Robert McCandless Samuel McCracken Samuel Mowery Danius O'Neill Jacob Overholser Samuel Parks Amos Potts William Randolph Samuel Read James Reagan Humphrey Reynolds Nathaniel Ross Larkin Taylor Enoch Thomas John Whitson The Mexican War was the first war in which the United States engaged after the organization of Bradley County. At least 30 men from the county have been identified as veterans of that war. John C. Henderson C. M. Pierce H. B. Henegar C. H. Rice Joseph W. Hicks Levi Rice James L. Kirby, Sr. VV. C. Shelton Armstrong Lea Prior Simons Russell Lawson Thomas Spurgen J. D. Lowery Thomas Tucker N. J. Melton William C. Walker Dallis H. Miller R. B. Wethers H. Nicholson Robert W. Wooten BRADLEY 59 W. P. Bryant John Burgess R. C. Carter J. B. Collins R. M. Edwards John Grant R.J. Grant John Hall Thomas Hall Dudley Harvey At the outbreak of the Civil War, Bradley County contained about 1200 slaves under the ownership of about 250 masters and a limited slave trade. On January 27, 1861, the Reverend Wil- liam McNutt, pastor of the Baptist Church of Cleveland, deliv- ered a sermon entitled "Slavery: A Bible Institution," which supported the view of numerous citizens. However, on June 9, 1861, the citizens of Bradley County voted against separation. The county provided eight units for the Confederacy and seven units for the Union Army. It has been said that in East Tennes- see the phrase brother's war was bloodily and tragically true. The bitterness was as deep as friendship and trust turned into fear and hate. The fact that Cleveland was important to the national war effort was made evident by the telegram sent by President Lincoln to General Henry W. Halleck on June 30, 1862: "To take and hold the railroad at or east of Cleveland, Tennessee, I think is as fully as important as the taking and holding of Rich- mond. " On November 8, 1861, the railroad bridge was des- troyed at Charleston, and on the same night eight other railroad bridges were burned in East Tennessee. On November 25, 1863, the Charleston bridge was burned a second time. All persons identified as having been engaged in bridge burning were to be executed on the spot by hanging, and their bodies were to be left hanging in the vicinity of the burned bridges as examples to others. The law did not require approval by the president. The frequent passing of troops along the road from Chattanooga to Knoxville kept the villages along the way in turmoil, and Bradley County was the scene of numerous skirmishes and engage- 60 Tennessee County History Series ments. Confederate forces managed to retain control of Bradley County until the fall of 1863. Perhaps the worst Civil War disaster to occur in the county was not from a battle but from a train wreck that resulted when the railroad bridge over Black Fox Creek collapsed, killing 270 Confederate soldiers. A handsome monument now stands at the junction of Ocoee and Broad streets which honors these soldiers. A monument to the soldiers of the Union Army stands at the entrance to Fort Hill cemetery. Diarist Myra Inman lived with her widowed mother who operated the Inman House in Cleveland; during the Civil War, it was a favorite stopping place for both Confederate and Union travelers. Bradley County frequently served as host for both armies. Common soldiers were left to forage the land or steal provisions from residents while officers were treated grandly. For example, Major General William T. Sherman enjoyed the hospitality of prominent county residents during his stay in the area. Other leaders known to have visited Cleveland and Brad- ley County during the war included Jefferson Davis, U. S. Grant, Eli Long, Joseph Wheeler, James Longstreet, Nathan B. Forrest, and Charles A. Dana. Provided below are excerpts from the Inman diary which presented conditions in Cleveland during the Civil War. In May of 1861 she wrote that the citizens were arming themselves with pistols because "the Negroes were to have an insurrection." Mary, Lavenie and I went down to Mrs. Stuart's to see 8,000 soldiers. I gave a captain a flag. (6/12/61) Messrs. Wm. Davis, Gus Bradford, and Dr. Brown were taken down the road [arrested] this evening. (12/9/61) The town is full of soldiers getting the hospitals ready for the sick. . . . Gave a dollar for a handful of greens, $ 1 2 lb. for butter, $8 gal. [Confederate money] for buttermilk. (7/19/63) This morn the Confederates had a skirmish with the Yankees' cavalry here, killed 3, wounded some, took some prisoners, and ran the rest towards Charleston. (8/18/63) All the town is in confusion . . . expecting the Yankees in here very soon. We all sat up until after eleven o'clock, hiding things, . . . waited until after the Negroes went to bed. (8/21/63) BRADLEY 61 \ mM Andrew J. Trewhitt (b. 1836), attorney and district attorney general. He was arrested twice during the Civil War for being an ardent Union supporter. All the southern army has left and left us to our fate. When will we see peace again? (9/8/63) The Yanks came in town this evening about 3 o'clock. Gen. Sherman's Co. camped all around us tonight, robbing us of our corn, potatoes, and taking all our chicken, left only two. Took Aunt P's [a slave] quilt off her bed. (1 1/29/63) This is the darkest hour our Confederacy has ever seen, about two thirds of Georgia has given it up. . . . (1/4/64) Between 75 and 100 wagons passed this morn enroute for the front. (6/10/64) Great excitement in town tonight, it is reported that Forrest 8c Wheeler are three miles from town. Rhoda 8c I packed up our clothes to be ready if we had to leave town. (10/4/64) Sherman's men took 21 bed quilts, 4 head of horses, 8 milk cows, 18 hogs, 100 chickens and turkeys, every knife and fork, broke the locks on all doors. Took all the salt, Hour, meal, jewelry, gloves, handkerchiefs, stockings and some under clo- thing. (10/31/64) Not until my friends returned home did I fully realize that my long cherished schemes were thwarted, my brightest, fondest, dearest hopes 8c wishes blasted forever — the independence of the South. (5/8/65) 62 Tennessee County History Series J. S. Hurlburt, in his Histon of the Rebellion in Bradley County, published in 1866, presented the Union side of conflict in the county. He recorded that in 1865 the courthouse was "the most sightly edifice of the place" and that Cleveland had a population of about 2000 with four churches and an academy. Many Union men in the county saved themselves from incarceration in Southern prisons by purchasing their freedom with money, others by instantaneous flight to the North, and still others by connecting themselves with the Confederate Army until oppor- tunities were offered for escape. Seventeen Union men were arrested including Thomas L. Cate, Dr. William Hunt, and Levi Trewhitt. Approximately 1000 guns were confiscated by the Confederates, and Union men in the county reported losses amounting to $860,000. Two women found lingering about the Confederate camp near Cleveland were tied to trees by the soldiers, compelled to remove their clothing down to their waists, and were lashed, resulting in cuts and bruises. Hurlburt noted with satisfaction that C. L. Hardwick had been left penniless due to his support of the Confederacy. Nevertheless, the Hardwick family made a rapid comeback. Bradley County Quarterly Court was com- pelled by the Confederate authorities to pass an act to support destitute families of Confederate soldiers, which would tax county property. The court also attempted to include families of Union soldiers but was not permitted to do so. Hurlburt said that this was "one of the most audacious swindles and one of the most heartless systems of robbery that the rebellion produced." Local governments were also called to provide salt, essential to everyday living, for their citizens. In 1863 Roane County purchased two carloads of salt, and Knox County appropriated $14,000 for salt. Fuel and food often were supplied by cities or counties who also took measures to prevent crime and disease. According to the hotel daybook kept by the great-grandmother of Louise Harle, many officers and their "ladies" stayed at the hotel during the war years. Their bills usually were paid, not in cash, but in sugar, tea, coffee, rice, and other staples that could be drawn from the commissary but were almost impossible to get anywhere else. BRADLEY 63 There were many other events that took place in Bradley County during the Civil War. A large number of prominent citizens were arrested. Robert McNelley, Cleveland Banner edi- tor, was arrested in 1863 by Federal troops because of his out- spoken political views; as a result, the Banner was not in print for two years. It resumed operations September 16, 1865, after McNelley took a loyalty oath and permitted himself to be ridden around town on a rail by Union men. The Reverend William McNutt, pastor of the Baptist Church of Cleveland, was arrested and forced to sweep out the courtyard. The church building was totally wrecked — floors, pews, pulpit, doors, blinds, and window sashes were used by soldiers for fuel. Because there are no records of the Cleveland Cumberland Presbyterian Church from February 17, 1861, to June 8, 1866, presumably no meet- ings were held during that crucial period. A significant event in the fall of 1863 was the burning by Union forces of the copper rolling mill in Cleveland. The spec- tacular noises made by exploding torpedolike shells which had been placed in the mill made the nearby Confederate troops believe that artillery had been brought up to support the Union men. The Confederate bewilderment allowed the Union troops to evacuate Cleveland with little fighting. The loss of the mill was acutely felt by the Confederacy because 90 percent of its copper came from the Ducktown mines. Despite the harsh realities of war, compassionate acts by individuals on opposing sides were not unknown. During a skirmish on Inman Street, Jane Montgomery Hardwick, an ar- dent Confederate, saw a Federal soldier, Hazard Barrere, fall from his horse. She had the wounded soldier carried into her home and cared for him until his death. She also saw that he was properly buried in Fort Hill cemetery. Bradley County was invaded no fewer than ten times by bands of guerrillas. After Sherman began his Atlanta campaign in the spring of 1864, with the exceptions of the principal towns and railroad stations, Bradley County was left unprotected. Cuerrilla attacks on Bradley County began as early as August of 1864 and continued until the following April or May. The raid- ers would strike the southern line of the county usually about 64 Tennessee County History Series sundown and on into the night, sometimes even to the northern part of the county, robbing and plundering Union families, shooting and murdering Union men; sweeping the county of stock, they would make their way back into Georgia about day- light the next morning. John P. Gatewood, noted guerrilla, murderer, and bush- whacker and leader of the most savage and blood-thirsty guerril- la gang in Tennessee and Northern Georgia, was born in Fen- tress County. Gatewood, 20 years old at the beginning of the war, was sent by General Wheeler in the summer of 1864 to recruit for the Confederacy in the rear of Sherman's army during the Atlanta campaign. Gatewood was referred to by area citizens as "that red-headed beast from Georgia," and he became widely feared because he boasted of never taking prisoners. Gatewood's company was composed of approximately 50 men, many of whom were Confederate deserters, and they operated in the area for seven to nine months. On November 29, 1864, Gatewood struck locally; the two right divisions entered Polk County while the left division en- tered Bradley County. In Bradley County they pillaged the premises of William Humberd and robbed other Union families. Thirteen men were, according to one source, killed in Polk County on that date; Gatewood, however, reported 22 dead. One minister was taken prisoner but later freed; many of the victims were robbed of their money and other valuables; and some 40 horses were taken during the day. In April of 1865 Gatewood and his men left for Texas knowing they would no longer be safe in the area. It is believed that Gatewood was killed by Union forces on the banks of the Mississippi River or in Texas. In the presidential election of 1864, Bradley County gave Lincoln 1022 votes and McClellan none. Near the end of the war, I. J. Stamper of the county saw Jefferson Davis and his cabinet in South Carolina with the archives of the Confederacy. On May 9, 1865, Stamper's regiment surrendered, and he re- ceived $28.25 as a part of the last of the Confederate treasury. After the freeing of the slaves, Myra Inman wrote, "I got up this morn and dressed myself, came out and got breakfast for the BRADLEY 65 first time in my life." Later the Inman women found themsleves doing the housework and milking the cows. Upon returning to Cleveland, Captain Julius E. Raht found his property, which had been used for Federal military head- quarters, in a sad state of repair. Four miles of fence, a large barn, a carriage house, a two-story spring house, the shade trees in the yard, and timber from 40 acres of land had been des- troyed. The war left a once beautiful county and a happy and prosperous population desolate, for both armies had marched and countermarched through it. When soldiers returned to their homes, however, both Federals and Confederates went to work to rebuild the waste places. Professor A. E. Blunt had reopened his school in Cleveland by December of 1864, and a newspaper announcement stated that the academy was refitted; a "fine supply of books and stationery" had been purchased. County men and women have fought gallantly in all wars of the United States. Records indicate that at least 47 veterans of the Spanish American War lived in the county. More than 600 Bradley Countians participated in World War I; more than 3 100 engaged in World War II; approximately 275 fought in Korea; and 2650 participated in the Vietnam conflict. Today 7780 veterans of all these wars reside within the county. Many brave soldiers are among the Bradley Countians who have served in the wars, and many have died. During World War I, Corporal Clarence L. Richmond was awarded the Distin- guished Service Cross, as well as the Navy Cross and the French Croix de Guerre, for his heroism as a stretcher bearer carrying wounded men through a heavy barrage of machine gun fire in the battle at Blanc Mont Ridge. Two outstanding heroes of World War II were county na- tives. Corporal Paul B. Huff received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration, for gallantry in action on February 8, 1944, as a parachute-infantryman against the Ger- mans near Carano, Italy. Major Paul Jones, a West Point gradu- ate, was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star. Jones was one of the first men captured by the Japanese and was held prison- er for three years. The Bradley County chapter of Disabled American Veterans was named for him. 66 Tennessee County History Series Corporal Paul B. Huff Major Paul M. Jones Organizations which residents supported or participated in during World War II included the Cleveland national guard units, civilian defense, selective service boards, Red Cross, ration boards, activities of farmers and farm women, National War Fund, War Relief, War Services of Women, and the state guard. Other activities included the blood donor campaign, victory book campaign, victory gardens, salvage collections, war bond sales, and day nurseries. County patriotic organizations have included Alexander Doran Chapter, National Society United States Daughters of 1812; American Legion Post 81; Bradley County Chapter Confederate Veterans Society; Bradley County Chapter of the Disabled American Veterans; Jefferson Davis Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; Ocoee Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution; and Thomas Isbell Society, Children of the American Revolution. BRADLEY 67 Around the Courthouse On Saturdays the farmers of the county would bring pro- duce to town for sale. Their weekly jaunts usually included a visit to the courthouse or town square. There, one met friends and discussed politics or religion while swapping knives, whittling, or chewing tobacco. Many old knife swappers actually supported themselves by trading, improving, and retrading knives. Public preaching was also often in order. The circulation of a secret bottle of homemade whiskey was known to cause many discus- sions to become more intense. Days on which court was in session also brought citizens to town, both as jurors and observers. This "courthouse culture" at one time existed all across America; however, by 1960 it had disappeared from Bradley County. Today's trials command little such spectator interest. The importance of court week in rural counties was empha- sized by Simon Browder in a news story for Brownlow's Knoxville Whig on January 28, 1860; it described court week in nearby Polk County: Our little village has been in quite an uproar for two or three days. In fact for two or three weeks past, preparations have been going on, for the ushering in of one of the most interesting and important eras known to the history of villages — Court week. Certainly there would not have been greater preparations made for a Fourth of July celebration, or a Public barbecue than what was made upon that occasion. And the advent of a circus or menagerie could not have caused so much stir among the na- tives, or been looked forward to with so much anxiety as the sitting of the Circuit Court. The earliest courthouse in the county was the Cherokee courthouse of the Amohee District at Thompson Spring. From this courthouse in 1835 Judge Jack Martin sentenced one Indian to death for killing a fellow Cherokee, and he sentenced another Indian to receive 50 lashes on his bare back for stealing a horse. The hanging sentence was carried out the following day in a ravine east of the courthouse. The sheriff administered the lashing and followed it with a salt and whiskey treatment on the culprit's back. In August of 1834, the murder of John Walker, Jr., by James Foreman near Walker's home some eight miles 68 Tennessee County History Series south of Charleston caused widespread excitement in the area; it became the basis of a noted and lengthy trial. Foreman, howev- er, avoided any punishment in Tennessee and moved west where he was later killed by Stand Watie during the continuing feud among the Cherokees over the treaty and removal. Bradley County's temporary log courthouse was built in 1836 near the southwest corner of courthouse yard. A local story related that one night in the fall of 1 839 a few people gathered to tear down the old courthouse, considering it a disgrace to the rising greatness of the town. The county's first formal court- house, at the time reputed to be the finest in East Tennessee, was a brick structure completed in 1840 for $8000, which included the price of the jail. At this time, Cleveland was a lively little village of about 300 or 400 inhabitants. The principal business houses consisted of four or five stores; a couple of groceries, or doggeries; and two blacksmith shops. In 1892, the brick courthouse was razed and, at a cost of $75,000, a new and more commodious one built that served the needs of the county until the present modern struc- ture was completed in 1964 on the site of the first log building. Bradley County Circuit Court was organized by Judge Charles Fleming Keith of Athens on the first Sunday in May of 1836 and placed in the seventh judicial circuit. On this date two young lawyers were sworn in as attorneys, George W. Rowles and Moreau Campbell. Rowles, who settled in Cleveland, later became judge of circuit court. Campbell primarily practiced in Athens, Tennessee. In 1874, Bradley County Circuit Court was constituted in the 19th judicial circuit. The first county indict- ment was brought against Jere and Elias Towers for malicious mischief. Charged with throwing down the fence of Robert Watkins and found guilty, they were granted a new trial, and the case was dismissed finally. Grocery keeper, Green G. Witt, hav- ing engaged in a fight, was the first person to be convicted and fined. The first citizen sent to the penitentiary from the county was William Bailey, who was arrested for horse stealing. The Bradley County Chancery Court was organized in 1840 by Judge Thomas L. Williams. Bill No. 1 in the court was dated July 13, 1840, and was an injunction restraining Luke Lea, entry BRADLEY 69 taker, from transferring a certain piece of land. Judge Thomas Nixon Van Dyke served as chancellor from 1 852 until 1 862. One story told about Judge Van Dyke related that he came to the back porch of a Benton hotel to perform his morning ablution after the other guests had already left for breakfast. Noticing that the roller towel hanging over the big water bucket was quite dirty, the judge called for a fresh towel. The host replied: "Judge, you are the most particular man I ever knew; at least 40 men wiped on the towel this morning and you are the first one who has made a complaint." Prior to the turn of the century, Horace Morelock, who later became superintendent of Bradley County Schools, visited Col- onel P. B. Mayfield, Sr., for advice in selecting his vocation. The four walls of the office were covered with book shelves. Young Morelock inquired of Mayfield as to the cost of the law books. Upon hearing that they were worth approximately $40,000, Morelock decided to become a teacher. In 1925 the Legislature created a criminal court coextensive with the fourth circuit, and Governor Austin Peay appointed Judge John J. Blair of Loudon to preside until the next general election. Only two other judges have presided in this court: Sue K. Hicks and currently James C. Witt. In Harle's book I Remember, she recorded the following anec- dote about an early judge: Judge Scott, one of the most famous jurists of that time and an extremely capable circuit judge in the state, held court in Cleve- land. During one session, he fined one man $5.00 for getting drunk on mean whiskey and another 5<£ for getting drunk on sweet apple brandy, remarking that he would like some of the brandy himself. When holding court in Cleveland, Judge Scott always boarded at Poe's Tavern, about half a block from the courthouse on Lea Street. When dinner was ready, Mrs. Poe would come out on the porch that ran along the front of her hostelry and in a stentorian, "hog-calling" voice, would announce, 'Judge Scott, adjourn court, dinner is ready." And Judge Scott would rule, "That is a summons we must always obey. Adjourn court, Mr. Sheriff." 70 Tennessee County History Series Ann Yarbro McCoin Ray L. Brock, Jr. On a late September afternoon in 1871 an exchange of shots on one of the principal streets in Knoxville startled many citizens. David M. Nelson, lawyer from Cleveland and former lieutenant colonel in the Union Army, killed James H. Clanton, ex-Confederate officer, prominent attorney, and chairman of the Alabama State Democratic Committee. Clanton was on of- ficial state business as the personal representative of Covernor Robert B. Lindsay of Alabama. Nelson was the son of Thomas A. R. Nelson, a prominent political figure who was a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court. The two men, in addition to the conflict of their political affiliations in the sensitive Reconstruc- tion period, had a disagreement over a railroad case that was being tried in Knoxville. Their differences resulted in the death of Clanton, who previously had been involved in several cases of violence. Nelson eventually was acquitted. Another noted case involved the death on March 14, 1922, of BRADLEY 71 Polk County officers who captured the Borings. Left to right. Deputy Sheriff J. N. Woody, Sheriff Haden Bell, former Sheriff Abraham Lillard, and Deputy Sheriff Sam Payne. I. L. Smith, the only Bradley County sheriff to die in the line of duty. Accused of his murder, moonshiners Luther and Jasper Boring were pursued to the home of a kinsman near Greasy Creek in Polk County. After an all-night watch, Polk County officers entered the house shortly after daybreak, surprised the Borings in bed, and made the capture without firing a shot. In 195 1 Frances Jones became the first woman in the county to be summoned for jury duty, but she was excused. On Decem- ber 9, 1975, June Hixson became the first woman to serve on a jury and to hear evidence in a case. The county's first female attorney to be sworn in to the Bradley County Bar was Ann Yarbro McCoin, who is now teaching at Cleveland State Com- munity College. 72 Tennessee County History Series Carl E. Colloms County Judge According to tradition, both Jesse H. Gaut and Pearson B. Mayfield, Sr., leading Cleveland attorneys, served on the Ten- nessee Supreme Court. On July 2, 1979, Ray L. Brock, Jr., assumed the duties of chief justice of that court, having been elected in 1974. Brock was born and reared in McDonald and attended the McDonald Elementary School and Bradley Central High School. More than 60 lawyers currently practice in Cleve- land. Robert L. McMurray is president of the Bradley County Bar Association, having served as president of the Tennessee Bar Association in 1978. Culture, Literature, and the Press Among the pioneers of Bradley County were substantial families; although many of them were looking for financial opportunities, some were also concerned with the better things BRADLEY 73 of life. That many of the early settlers left comfortable, well- appointed homes to move into a hostile new land is attested to by family heirlooms of fine, handmade furniture, English porce- lain, beautifully loomed textiles, embroidered shawls, and many other family keepsakes carefully preserved by grandchildren. The Ocoee House was a fine hostelry, center of social life at Cleveland, and scene of many elaborate entertainments and balls. An invitation, once received by the mother of Louise Harle, was for the "Grand Cotillion given at the Ocoee House, on Tuesday, 5th of October, 1858, at 8 o'clock, P.M." An account from the Cleveland Banner' of April 16, 1896, reported an "ele- gant and delightful social event" — a "Leap Year Soiree — given at the ever hospitable DeArmond House." The first part of the Inman diary reflects the happy, young social life at Cleveland in 1860 with descriptions of parties, picnics, musical evenings, and balls. During the Civil War young men were scarce in Cleveland, and girls not of Union persuasion sometimes accepted Yankee lads as escorts to social affairs. Even though Hade's book commented that "at the turn-of- the-century if they wanted music, they had to sing, blow, plunk, saw or bang it out for themselves," the Cleveland area has had a long and distinguished list of musical activities. Both the Cleve- land Masonic Female Institute and Centenary College stressed the fine arts. Baccalaureate Sunday at Centenary College was always a red-letter day in Cleveland — no church services were held, and everyone went to the college. Craigmiles's Opera House, located on Ocoee Street across from the courthouse, was Cleveland's first cultural center. Prior to its construction in 1 878, public gatherings were held in the city hall, the Masonic Institute, or one of the local churches. In addition to providing entertainment through the years, it was the site of many social, educational, political, and religious gatherings. Early Cleveland theaters included the Bohemia, Gem, Moneta, Ocoee, Princess, Roxy, and Star. Today Cleve- land has one outdoor and three indoor theaters. The seemingly isolated community of Cleveland anticipated the Chautauqua show in 1914 as the advance man from Red path booking agency arrived to promote the city's first week of culture 74 Tennessee County History Series © oc oc T3 0 BRADLEY 75 under canvas. The Chautauqua made its last appearance locally in 1930. In recent years a number of outstanding speakers have appeared in Cleveland including Norman Vincent Peale and Governor Lamar Alexander. The Masonic Lodge organized an early band, and a brass band in 1917 included W. O. Horner and his two sons, Sam and Will, as members. The bands of both Bradley Central and Cleve- land high schools have been outstanding and have received numerous honors in recent years. Many churches now have outstanding musical programs. The various colleges at Cleve- land have contributed greatly to the musical activities of the area. Cleveland and Bradley County are fortunate in having had both outstanding musicians and music teachers. The Cleveland Com- munity Concert Series was first presented in 1950 and was offered again from 1961 to the present. The Cleveland Civic Choral Society also flourished under the direction of Dr. Delton Alford for several years. Clubs were popular in the early years of this century. It was about this time that the Embroidery Club was organized, and it is still carried on by descendants of the original members. Two other early clubs included the Travel Club and the 42 Club. The Cleveland Music Club was organized in 1911 and continues today. On February 19, 1923, the Cleveland Woman's Club was organized with Mrs. C. H. Itzel as first president, and the club continues to be active. Prominent women of this period included Mrs. R. T. Allen, Mrs. W. O. Haggard, Josephine Hickey, Melva Johnston, Emily Jory, Josephine Lee, Mrs. W. A. Lusk, Mrs. George C. Martin, Loma Green McClary, Mrs. A. M. Monds, Mrs. Arthur Rankin, and Mrs. C. T. Quintard Wiggins. Mary H. Edwards served as Cleveland postmistress from 1885 to 1887, and Sallie Hoskins held the position of vice-president at Cleve- land Bank & Trust Company from 1906 until 1943. Cleveland today boasts of more than 100 active clubs, includ- ing numerous women's clubs and civic groups, such as Alpha Delta Gamma, American Association of University Women, Bradley County Historical Society, Business and Professional Women's Club, Cleveland Jaycees, Cleveland Garden Club, Cleveland Music Club, Civitan International, Kiwanis Club, 76 Tennessee County History Series Embroidery Club, organized 1904 Lions, Magnolia Garden Club, Masonic Lodge 134, F&AM, National Secretaries Association, Ocoee Garden Club, Opti- mist Club, Rotary Club, Sertoma Club, and Toastmasters of Cleveland. In 1965 the Cleveland Creative Arts Guild was organized. Today its departments include those of drama, art, creative writing, puppetry, and crafts. Jeanne Turner is the current director. Ben Hampton is Bradley County's most prolific artist, having painted Nancy Ward and produced many other works. Brenda McLain has completed a series of paintings on the Cher- okees; E. Howard Burger has a series of historical paintings to his credit; and Jere Chumley, art professor at Cleveland State, on a number of occasions has exhibited his canvases. Billy Nip- per also is a well-known area artist. Warnie Dooly Finnell directs the Ocoee Academy of Speech and Theater. She has written and produced "Ocoee, Land of Legends," a historical pageant with original music. John Bradley of Cleveland State also has devoted much time to drama activities in the community. Bradley County is fortunate in the number and quality of BRADLEY 77 78 Tennessee County History Series authors it has produced. Among them are Marvin R. and Mildred Batchelor, the Reverend A. J. Berryhill, Thomas L. Bryan, Ellen Ann Campbell, Dr. Charles Conn, Charles Paul Conn, Colonel James F. Corn, Sr., D. W. Duncan, Colonel R. M. Edwards, Robert L. Ceorge, Susan M. Criffin, Lucina E. Hardy, Louise Harle, Roy G. Lillard, Elizabeth Cate Manly, C. L. McAllister, Dr. Ben H. McClary, Horace Morelock, Hal Munck, LaYerne Slaughter Owenby, Walter Presswood, Sheridan Charles Randolph, Eugenia Rodgers, Grace Rymer, James L. Slav, Jr., Dr. William R. Snell, Katherine Lowery Trewhitt, Nancy Walker, Margaret Williamson, and John Morgan Wooten. A list of distinguished women of Cleveland today would include Harriet Caldwell, Grace Carroll, Inez Higgins Clemmer, Warnie Dooly Finnell, Lillie Frank Fitzgerald, Hurlie Gatlin, Margaret Gilliland, Ruth Hale, Louise Harle, Aletta Johnson, Kathryne S. Johnston, Eva Lasater, Elizabeth Cate Manly, Bess Pirkle, Eugenia Rodgers, Sandra Rowland, Grace Rymer, Jana Schrader, Laura Smith, and Annette Stanbery. Schrader is rep- resentative of the large number of outstanding young people of the county. Bradley County has had an ample number of newspapers; more than two dozen have come and gone since 1854, support- ing the concept that the county press was a vigorous institution in the early rural South. The Cleveland Dispatch (1854-1856), reflecting Whig political views and with John W. and S. B. O'Brien as publishers, is believed to have been the county's oldest newspaper. However, the Cleveland Banner, with Robert McNelley as editor, was not far behind, appearing May 1, 1854. Under editor Beecher Hunter, today it is printed six days a week and is the city's only newspaper. A new modern facility was opened on 25th Street in January of 1970. Other newspapers which have been printed in Bradley County include, chronologically, The Polk County News, The Herald, The East Tennessee Herald, The Southern Clarion, The Battle Flag, The Ocoee Register, Delanys Register, Commercial Republican, The Cleveland Herald, Banner News, The Charleston Enterprise, The BRADLEY 79 Sallie and Will Hoskins in the 1890s Cleveland Journal, The Hiwassee News, The Cleveland Tribune, The Merchant's Appeal, The Bradley County Journal, The Civic Courier, The Cleveland Star, Charleston-Calhoun Record, The Commentator, The Cleveland Tennessean, The Hot Line News, The Cleveland Bradley County Ledger, The Cleveland Press, and The Morning Sun. Other media in Cleveland include radio station WBAC, begun on June 18, 1945, by R. W. Rounsaville and later owned and operated for 16 years by James S. Syers. Radio stations WCLE, which first aired in 1957, and WCLE-FM, begun in August of 1971, are owned by Southeastern Enterprises, Incorporated. The need for a library was expressed in Cleveland as early as 1870, and on November 21, 1877, the Cleveland Library Asso- 80 Tennessee County History Series Harry M. Johnson, executive director, Bradley-Cleveland Community Services Agency Mrs. C. L. Hardwick, civic leader and philanthropist Beecher Hunter, newspaper editor and civic leader James W. Parris, president, Cleveland-Bradley County NAACP B R A D L E Y 81 ciation was organized; it was composed largely of ministers and educators who were looking for opportunities to discuss books and authors and to enjoy readings and other related literary activities. They also collected books and papers for a permanent library. In April of 1891 Willie Fison, son of the pastor of the Baptist church, opened a circulating library from the bakery; he charged 10tf a book. The Cleveland's Woman's Club began to support a public library in 1899; it continued on a limited basis until a permanent library could be established. Cleveland-Bradley County American Revolution Bicentennial Com- mission. Left to right, first row, Mrs. Fred Pincard, Elizabeth Fillauer, Roy C. Lillard, chairman, Colonel James F. Corn, honorary chairman, Elizabeth Gate Manly, Mrs. Marvin Batchelor; second row, George Thorogood, Jr., John Tyler, Hugh Randolph, C. F. Kellev, Virgil F. Carmichael, Jesse White, and William R. Snell; members not pictured: Sam Fair, Joe Stamper, Madison Trewhitt, W. R. Walker, James S. Webb, and Donald Yates. 82 Tennessee County History Series Cleveland's permanent public library was presented formal- ly to the city on Monday, September 3, 1923. The library was made possible when descendants of Sarah Tucker Johnston donated 4000 volumes and the building, a house built in 1866 by Pleasant M. Craigmiles. The structure is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The library has been assisted bv a number of contributors: Ada Cross provided a $10,000 endowment, and Mrs. C. L. Hardwick contributed $30,000 for a much-needed addition which was completed in 1965. The success of the early library is due largely to the untiring efforts of the two dedicated women who served as chief librarians from the opening of the library until 1975. Annie Bowman was the first librarian in 1923 and was succeeded in 1938 by Ruth Chambers who served until 1975. Rebecca Bow- man, Annie's niece, is the current librarian. The library's activi- ties have shown substantial growth, and the operation now boasts more than 22,000 books, a circulation of 129,000, and a staff of nine. Cleveland citizens have shown an increasing interest in pre- serving and revitalizing the downtown area. In 1937 Mrs. C. L. Hardwick gave the city the land where her parents, John Tucker and Mary L. Tipton Johnston, had their home for 55 years. On this site Johnston Park was completed in 1979. The park con- tains a stage, acoustical shell, gazebo, fountain, benches, side- walks, and park lights; it frequently hosts public performances. The present profile of downtown Cleveland was established during the period from 1880 to 1915, and most of the exterior physical appearance of buildings has been maintained. A pro- ject, headed by Joe V. Williams, to create a historic district of approximately ten blocks is being considered. Health, Doctors, and Hospitals In his book Horse and Saddle Days on Candies Creek in Bradley County, E. L. Ross wrote, "In the Resurrection morning when the Spirit of earth takes wings and flies to heaven, St. Peter, I am sure, will make room on the front seat for the old-fashioned country doctor." However, "any farm boy who was too lazy to plow corn might buy a horse, a pair of saddlebags, a lancet, a few BRADLEY 83 dollars worth of drugs, and hang up a shingle naming himself a doctor and begin the practice of medicine," as noted by Phillip M. Hamer in Centennial History of Tennessee Medical Association. Three of the earliest medically trained doctors to arrive in Cleveland were Dr. Lemuel Shugart in 1828; Dr. P.J. R. Ed- wards in 1834; and Dr. Gideon B. Thompson in 1838. This early training usually consisted of a preceptorship under a practicing doctor and a few lectures at a medical school. Other practicing physicians who had no formal medical training later came into the area. The University of Nashville Medical College (1850— 1909) supplied the following medical graduates who practiced in Bradley County: Drs. George M. Bazemore, William B. Camp- bell, Charles T. Carroll, G. A. Long, J. A. Long, James M. Mcintosh, Thomas J. McKamy, G. A. Ramsey, Carl T. Speck, Sr., Robert L. Taylor, and W. H. Taylor. Some of the local doctors who graduated from Grant University (1899-1904) or Chattanooga Medical College (1904-1910) were Drs. R. L. Bean, T. E. P. Chambers, W. R. Cochran, R.J. Cooke, T. H. Davis, Benjamin F. Gates, John Franklin Gilbert, Orlando Greely Hughes, R. O. Kibler, J. L. McClary, J. L. McKenzie, Herman Schultz, T. L. Smith, R. P. Sullivan, W. H. Sullivan, and Henry Taylor. During the Civil War hospitals established in Cleveland in- cluded those located at Ocoee House, Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and the Methodist church. One legend holds that an isolation hospital or pest house was located at Wildwood Lake and that cases of smallpox were sent there. Several entries in the Inman diary indicate that her mother and other ladies, as well as the Soldiers' Aid Society, were kept busy making hospital stores for Cleveland hospitals and for shipment to other area hospitals. Apparently by July of 1862 Cleveland had become a hospital center and was receiving battle casualties from the front lines in Virginia. Dr. John G. Brown, a local doctor and Union sym- pathizer, was arrested December 8, 1861, and was, as Inman expressed it, "taken down the road." Dr. Samuel H. Day was a prominent local doctor who served the Confederacy. Upon his death the local press said, "He is dead. This announcement should and no doubt will send a thrill to every heart in Bradley County. His death was a tragic ending of a most useful life." 84 Tennessee County History Series s « 8 c .S .5P CL> u O ^5 w cS qj 2^ r-H T3 £ o bo c £ N w •a v > v BRADLEY 85 Although Cleveland escaped the yellow fever epidemic of 1883, Jack Beard, a volunteer worker who went to Memphis, did fall victim. Many people attempted to flee the epidemic areas; those who arrived at Cleveland were quarantined and not allowed to enter the city. In 1883 Cleveland was threatened with a smallpox epidemic. The city escaped with few cases and a small number of deaths. However, on January 27, 1883, the mayor and board of alder- men passed a city ordinance requiring strict quarantine of all cases of smallpox. This ordinance included specific methods of dealing with personal belongings and furnishings of victims, contact with others, funeral procedures and burial and required that each household with a smallpox case fly a yellow flag. The Reverend J. R. Dinsmore complained when the church doors were closed "against thousands of Sabbath School children and the vast number of sinners." The Cleveland Herald cited citizen complaints because justices were paying about $6 to bury each person who died from smallpox. The newspaper also printed the following story about smallpox flags: "A good one is told on one of our Polk County subscribers. As he came into town the other day he spied a clothes line full of yellow napkins, and putting his spurs to his horse shouted to his companion, 'Good God, Bill, there's forty cases at that house.' " One epidemic Bradley County did not escape was that of the influenza epidemic in 1918 and 1919. During the first week 1300 cases were reported in both the city and county. By the third week the disease had caused around 40 deaths, making the epidemic the worst known in the history of the county. The Red Cross Soup Kitchen, under the direction of Mrs. C. H. Weiss, distributed soup to homes of many families in distress. Dr. Will Sullivan reportedly not only treated flu victims but also milked their cows when the entire family was ill. The Reverend Claude Sprague, then pastor of the First Baptist Church, also per- formed many tasks to aid families who were ill. Louise Harle expressed well her remembrances of horse- and-buggy medical practices: In the early days in Cleveland and Bradley County, doctors and doctoring were very different than they are today. Doctors 86 Tennessee County History Series were fewer; most of their knowledge was gained by practicing. They traveled more, and much more slowly. Old Dobbin was just one-horse power and the buggies sat high to avoid the deep mud of the unimproved roads. In those davs, you did not go to the doctor, you sent for him and he came when your message caught up with him, which might have been hours later if he had been tied up with a long confinement, or ten miles in the country sewing up a foot badly damaged when chopping wood. When you sent for a doctor, you explained to his wife or sister, his cousin or his aunt, whoev- er kept house for him, the nature of your ailment and she probably suggested some home remedy or treatment until she could make contact with him. In the meantime, the "doctor book" was consulted. Every household had one of these. I remember that Grandmother's was kept on a shelf in the closet in her room and was frequently consulted. Also, her scrapbook included formulas and treat- ments clipped from newspapers for everything from itch to a cure for leprosy. Those early housewives had to be prepared for any eventuality no matter how unlikely. Most doctors, in those days, had their headquarters in their homes. When you saw a house with two doors along the front, you might bejustified in surmising that it was the home of either a doctor or a lawyer. Some of these professions had small sepa- rate buildings adjacent to the home for their offices. In those days every family had a "family" doctor who treated all the household from the hired girl who usually "lived on the place." I remember that for years my father paid Dr. G. M. Bazemore $100.00 a year to doctor our family, and that in- cluded every ailment from green-apple stomach ache to child- birth. This must have been Cleveland's first prepaid medical plan. I remember that ever so often my grandfather thought that everyone must have a course of calomel. I don't think that Grandmother held much to the calomel treatment, but when Grandfather said calomel, calomel it was. With us children that meant "pink pills." How we gagged and moaned and loathed those times. But Grandmother had a special way of administer- ing those small pink pellets. She would peel an apple with a silver table knife, scrape the meat into a small mass in which she hid the pill. She usually started by giving us just apple, then would surreptitiously hide the the pill in a mouthful. BRADLEY 87 Up until the establishment of Speck Hospital, patients requir- ing hospital care were put on stretchers and loaded into the baggage car of a train and sent to Chattanooga, the nearest town with a hospital. Sometimes, in the early days, when a patient was so ill as to require more of the doctor's care than trips to his home would permit, he was taken to the doctor's home, put into one of the family beds, and cared for by the doctor's wife, family, and servants. The Commercial Republican mentioned a professional medical organization in an article dated August 21,1 873, but the current group began on April 26, 1888, when 12 doctors met at Cleve- land and organized the Bradley County Medical Society for Cleveland and the surrounding country. By 1891 membership had increased to 30 when other area doctors joined. Dr. G. A. Long served as the organization's first president. According to the bylaws, each member was charged annual dues of 50^, and by 1919 the fee was $1. Records of a meeting held in April indicate that the group adjourned "to meet the first Monday night before the first full moon in May." This method of sched- uling meetings seems ironic in view of the members' scientific training. The Women's Auxiliary to the Bradley County Medical Society was organized on November 25, 1952, with Mrs. William A. Garrott as president. Auxiliary projects have included baby sitting courses, classes and recreation activities for multihandi- capped children, public information on programs and recruit- ing, and funding programs for paramedical students. Today more than 50 physicians are practicing in the county. Bradley County has been the location of a number of health institutions. The county's first medical facility, Speck Hospital, was established in 1916 by Dr. C. T. Speck, Sr., and continued in operation until 1962. Physicians and Surgeons Hospital (P 8c S), which was opened in 1932 at the old Harle home on Inman Street by Dr. E. R. Ferguson, operated until 1952. Bradley County Memorial Hospital was established on December 30, 1952; Dr. S. J. Sullivan was its first chief of staff. Today this hospital has 251 beds. Cherokee Park Hospital opened as a 100-bed facility for surgical and medical patients in 1975, and Dr. James C. Lowe served as its first chief of staff. Bradley 88 Tennessee County History Series Hi *> 1 i Dr. William I. Profitt and Dr. Marvin R. Batchelor, two of the county's outstanding physicians; both have served as president of the Bradley County Medical Society and as Chief of Staff at Bradley County Memo- rial Hospital; Profitt also has served as vice-president of the Tennessee Medical Association. County Nursing Home opened with 30 beds in 1957 and today reports 95 beds with a 64-bed addition scheduled to be built in 1980. Garden Terrace Convalescent Center currently operates with 163 beds. Early boards of health assisted in epidemic crises until a full-time Bradley County Health Department opened in 1928. Today it offers comprehensive health services to county citizens. The Cleveland-Bradley County Regional Mental Health Center was established in July of 1972 and in 1975 was merged with the one in Athens to become the Hiwassee Mental Health Center, offering services to Bradley, McMinn, Meigs, and Polk counties. The first "tooth-doctors" in the county were itinerant ones who often had a dental chair and other equipment mounted in a wagon which they used to travel from settlement to settlement to care for the "aches" of residents. Early Cleveland dentists in- BRADLEY 89 eluded Drs. W. C. Carson, William Cooke, George Day. H. E. Dodson, Thomas Jordan, J. P. Moss, W.J. Parks, and Ernest Swartz. Today more than 25 dentists practice in Cleveland. Dr. Kenneth Beard heads the Cleveland Dental Society, organized in 1954. Agricultural Heritage In 1836 land-hungry settlers coming to lower East Tennes- see were excited by the fertile valleys and low ridges of the land. Low prices made land ownership possible, and a determined and optimistic people set to work to clear and cultivate it. During the first 45 years of its history, Bradley County was purely agricultural, and agriculture has maintained its role even through considerable industrial development. Fine, rolling fields have made diversified agriculture possible. Abundant springs and creeks contribute to dairy and livestock farms. Agricultural businesses in the county produce more than $ 1 1 million annually. Forty-five percent of the county's 338 square miles is farmland. Fewer than five percent of 742 farms are run by tenants; one-third of farm owners are employed part-time elsewhere. Farmers and their families are proud of their impor- tance in the favorably balanced economy. Until after the Civil War, a sizeable slave population and hired hands assisted in farm work, but the average farm was operated by the owner and family. The usually large families enjoyed social life which centered around camp meetings, church functions, and get togethers for cornhuskings, log roll- ings, quiltings, and spelling bees. Neighbors visited and swapped commodities and skills. Some farmers' skills which were neces- sary for their neighbors were listed in the 1850 census for Brad- ley County: saddlers, coopers, wagonmakers, brick masons, tin- ners, tanners, and many blacksmiths and millers. The 1860 census listed as major crops in the county: corn, oats, wheat, sweet potatoes, tobacco, and cotton; and livestock included cat- tle, horses, mules, sheep, and swine. Hog killings were exciting occasions for families and neigh- bors. Farmers, estimating the need for one hog in the smoke- house and one can of lard in the cellar for every person to be fed, 90 Tennessee County History Series An old well with its bucket hanging at the end of a rope. This place for refreshment now stands as a fading symbol of bygone days when it served as an oasis for many plowhands and Sunday dinner guests. Photograph courtesy of Pete McCollum. BRADLEY 91 would be out at dawn, their knives sharpened, building fires and heating water for the scalding barrel. Children often helped by turning the grindstone, while dogs excitedly ran in circles. The women later would render lard, make and fry down sausage, and cook hogs' heads for sousemeat, leaving grease everywhere. Side meat and livers were given away. Farmers shared the losses brought by the Civil War. With no able-bodied men or animals to work, crops went unattended. Destruction of property and the soldiers1 demands left little of value. The clever housewife made salt of a kind from drippings on the smokehouse floor and brewed a substitute for coffee from roots and herbs. The guns from Chickamauga could be heard by children in the fields. For the survivors, the war's end was a time of beginning again. Worthless Confederate money which had been saved with privation and sacrifice for land payments be- came playthings for children; farmers had little left except land and debts. However, by 1885 Bradley County reported 2746 horses and mules, 5283 cattle, 6393 sheep, and 1 1,242 hogs. Corn continued to be one of the main crops, but tobacco was raised only in small patches for home use before the 1880s, at which time the Tobacco Growers' Association was formed and a small cigar factory was started. Tobacco acreage in the county today remains small. Cotton was an important crop until livestock raising and dairying began to take precedence. No cotton is raised in the county today. Cotton gins and seed houses included Hambright Brothers Ginning Company in Charleston, Julian-Cate Gin in Chatata Valley, and in Cleveland a gin on Chair Factory Lane. Gins in Cohutta, Georgia, or Polk County, were closer for farm- ers in the southern part of the county. For harvesting wheat and small grains, the cradle and scythe gave way to the McCormick reaper and the thresher run by a steam engine. The thresher, announced by a whistle, would pull in the barn lot amid much activity to get ready for it. Many hands were needed to haul wheat from fields, feed the thresher, handle straw, sack grain, and haul it to mill. The women prepared sufficient food for several tables of hungry men, some of whom stayed overnight. Children were sent to inform neighbors when 92 Tennessee County History Series the thresher would reach their farms. When the thresher left, women and children would take freshly washed straw ticks to the stack and fill them with fragrant new straw, making a high mattress to be covered with a good feather bed. Charleston in those days was a busy trading center, and thousands of cotton bales were transported by barges down Hiwassee River. Charleston also was known as the "cowpea cen- ter of the world" in the early 1900s when Palmer Brothers Warehouse bought thousands of bushels of peas, also taken to market by barges. Schools were usually dismissed for two weeks in the fall so that children could help pick peas and cotton. Poultry and dairy products were shipped from Charleston to Chattanooga, the freshly churned butter packed in tin butter buckets. They were carried by buggy to catch the local "milk train." Dairymen took their milk cans in a one-horse wagon to the depot. Early farm related businesses were creameries, livery stables, nurseries, and flour and corn mills. In those days of low prices, a hired man often worked all day for a bushel of corn or a gallon of molasses. A family man could earn from $12 to $18 per month, plus fringe benefits of house, garden spot, and pasturage for one cow. If a farmer furnished only the land for a sharecropper, he would receive one-third of the harvest. If he furnished tools, draft animals, and one-half of the fertilizer, he would receive one-half of the harvest. Many young men from the Tasso farming community went to work for the railroads undoubtedly because of poor pay on the farms. Rural mail service was a great boon to farmers. The mailman usually knew everyone in the family from grandparents to chil- dren. He served as personal verbal message carrier and per- formed many services outside of mail delivery for his patrons. Often invited to basket dinners along route five, long-time mail- man Jerry Chambers could time his delivery in order to be present. Around 1929, there were 1836 farms in the county. In 1932 prices of farm products were still low: country ham and butter were only 15# a pound and apples and potatoes sold for as little as 75£ a bushel. The majority of farms still used kerosene lamps and wood fires although some had Delco or carbide lights. Only BRADLEY 93 John W. Cate (1876-1963), farmer and agricultural leader three percent had electricity. The Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933 not only brought wide and economical distribution of electric power but also food and soil erosion control. Educational programs to meet farmers' needs were sponsored by TVA who also assisted in the development and availability of fertilizers. Agriculture became more diversified and profitable. Soil con- servation practices were started with the cooperation of the University of Tennessee. Although Columbus A. Mee had ter- raced his fields prior to 1900, only a few of his fellow farmers had followed his lead. TVA established a county-wide effort to ter- race fields, many of which are now used as pastures. TVA dams and locks have improved river navigation and created re- creational facilities nearby for all county residents. TVA and Bowater Southern Paper Company have brought com- plementary practices to forest improvement. Tree farming has become increasingly profitable. Their experiences during the divisive Civil War made farm- ers realize that there must be cooperation in agriculture as well as in other pursuits. By 1874 seven granges had been established 94 Tennessee County History Series in the county. Granges were the beginnings of today's agricultu- ral organizations. The East Tennessee Farmers' Convention, organized in Knoxville in 1872, was an effective cooperative, organized agricultural program, providing information to farmers and publicizing agricultural resources and achieve- ments. In 1878 the State Agricultural Experiment Station was begun. Organized and coordinated efforts were made in the 1920s to immunize county herds against tuberculosis. D. W. Duncan began the project, and later John W. Gate successfully completed it. The successful Farmers' Union Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany of Bradley County was formed in 1914, with S. N. Varnell, president; J. W. McGhee, vice-president; and J. B. McKenzie, secretary-treasurer. The following directors were elected by the policy holders: J. P. Boothby, W. H. Brown, John W. Gate, J. G. M. Officer, and D. C: Renner. J. B. McKenzie and son, James L., have served as company agents and inspectors. Beecher Lawson is currently president. Dairymen purchased a site on 3 1st Street, now 2nd Street, to open Bradley County Co-Operative Creamery. By 1929 it had 235 patrons, and its products were widely known. Herman Lar- son bought the creamery in 1944, and it continued for awhile as a private business. Cleveland Ice Cream and Milk Company, opened in 1922, also bought milk from the dairymen. Clark and Carroll, original owners, sold to Charles Gray. John Dunlap owned and operated the business after 1934. In 1931 the Chattanooga Area Milk Producers' Association was developed under the leadership of Noah R. Wilson of Charleston. Many Bradley County dairymen were involved in this cooperative venture. Those who signed the original charter were John W. Cate, Walter Dodson, S. V. Eldridge, M. L. Harris, Sam L. Kibler, Walter Lawson, J. B. McKenzie, E. F. Shouse, Frank Simmons, William Trewhitt, S. N. Varnell, and Wilson. This organization received national recognition for improved practices in marketing milk and for the stability it brought to dairying in the area. Today dairying is big business, and the dairyman has an investment of about $1500 for every cow in his herd. BRADLEY 95 Another organized effort beginning in the 1920s was the County Council of Agriculture with 60 members. It was changed after three years to a modified form of the present farm bureau, and membership increased to 85. In 1923 a State Farm Bureau Federation to be affiliated with the Federal Farm Bureau was set up following Nashville meetings of farm leaders from several Tennessee counties, including S. N. Varnell. The standard farm bureau plan was adopted by the local association in April of 1 924 with 185 members. Early officers were Varnell, W. A. Brown, and Clyde Gobble; directors included R. R. Abel, H. D. Ayre, J. T. Blair, John W. Cate, Mrs. D. W. Duncan, H. T. Hall, Thomas Haun, W. F. Lacey, Walter Lawson,W. F. Mclntire, J. B. McKen- zie, and W. E. Wattenbarger. Mrs. Wattenbarger served as chair- man of women's activities. On July 19, 1946, when the charter of incorporation for Bradley County Farm Bureau was signed, its purpose was "To develop, foster, promote, and protect pro- grams for the general welfare including economic, social, educa- tional, and political well being of farm people." Charter signers included James Everhart, E. B. Harris, Gus Harris, Mrs. Milton Humberd, Melba Lee, Mrs. Will Trewhitt, William Trewhitt, W. T. Triplett, and Owen Wattenbarger. Current officers are Wayne Varnell, president; Sam Whaley, vice-president; Mrs. Frank Randolph, secretary-treasurer; and directors include Ann Boyd, Carrie Calfee, Mrs. Virgil Calfee, Joe Gobble, John W. Hannah, Joe Harris, Pauline Hysinger, Herman Mantooth, Howard Moore, Jack B. Moore, Maxine Moore, Donald Ownby, John Ownby, Robert F. Still, and Owen Wattenbarger. Conveniently located on the northern edge of one of the largest poultry producing areas in the country, Bradley County has a thriving poultry business. Broiler houses holding 10,000 or more broilers are frequently seen in the southern part of the county. Automation has made possible laying houses, each hav- ing a capacity for 60,000 hens that can produce 55,000 eggs daily never touched by people. A crop returning to importance in the county is peaches. Attracting customers from a wide area, Gilliland's Orchards sells tree-ripened fruit. Apple orchards also are increasing in num- 96 Tennessee County History Series T. Sam Colbert, president, Cleveland-Bradley County Chamber of Commerce, presenting plaque to Mr. and Mrs. William N. Hale in recognition of their outstanding service to the community. ber as are strawberry farms. The plants also are sold. Consisting of 56 acres, Melinda's Vineyards offers a variety of grapes. Two county nurseries have been in operation for many years. Tennessee Nursery and Seed Company, begun in 1899 by A. J. Fletcher, was operated by the Fletcher family until 1972 when it was purchased by Bill Boatman. It specializes in wholesale and mail order business. W. A. Easterly, a charter member and a president of the Southern Nurserymen's Associa- tion, founded Easterly's Nursery in 1900. Easterly's son-in-law, John F. Varnell, now owns and manages the business which has been renamed Varnell's Nursery and Garden Center. As an educational arm of the U.S. Department of Agricul- ture and the University of Tennessee, the Agricultural Exten- sion Service has made significant contributions in Bradley Coun- ty. The latest research information is made available to farmers, homemakers receive information and training through Home BRADLEY 97 Demonstration Clubs and other activities, and 4-H Clubs give many opportunities to youth. The first county extension agent was W.J. Sanfordin 1915. Other men who have served are Elton E. Shouse, 1919-1939; E. H. Swingle as assistant agent, 1928- 1933, and as agent, 1939-1952; William M. "Bill" Hale as assis- tant agent, 1946-1952, and as agent, 1952-1979; John Paysing- er, assistant agent from 1958, now agent. Hale has received honors for his work including the distinguished Service Award of the National Association of Agricultural Agents. Paysinger also has received this award. Many outstanding persons have received awards in various areas of extension work. These awards have included Master Breeder Award from the Amer- ican Jersey Cattle Club to Milton Humberd in 1971; National 4-H Award and scholarship in the area of health to Kris Hyber- ger in 1975; Farmers' Home Administration Family of the Year for Tennessee to the Joe Gobble family in 1972. Melissa Byrd of Tasso was one of the first home demonstra- tion agents in the state. The granddaughter of Joseph W. McMil- lin who held the election for first county officers, Byrd made many contributions to the organization and the county during her 18 years of service. Tomato and poultry clubs and canning demonstrations were early activities. In 1929, 465 girls were involved in clubwork and the role of women in extension work was increasing. Margaret Weeks of Charleston served as agent from 1931 to 1970. She led the program's expansion, utilizing project leaders and community resource persons. The current agent is Judith Smith. Several civic and business groups have sponsored agricultur- al activities. From the 1930s the Kiwanis Club has sponsored the Bradley County 4-H Fall Rally, later adding the Junior Fat Hog Show and 4-H speaking activity. Cleveland Rotary Club has sponsored the Junior Dairy Show for 40 years. Delegates to National 4-H meetings and camps have been supported by Kiwanis and Farm Bureau. Radio station WBAC has offered agricultural programs for a number of years, and the Cleveland Daily Banner has provided excellent reporting of activities and information. A part of Ruritan National, 12 local clubs bring men together with mutual interests and civic concerns. 98 Tennessee County History Series Agricultural Extension Service cannery building for use by home canners When Bradley County High School opened in 1916, it offered a vocational agriculture program. The first instructor was Walter Armentrout. James T. Lovell expanded the program into an outstanding unit. Following Lowell, Walter Clift, O. J. Matill, and T. M. Oakley taught in this program. The Future Farmers of America local chapter was chartered in 1928 and has provided many leadership opportunities for boys. John F. Var- nell was the first president and C. L. McAlister, secretary. The current agriculture program offers a shop, greenhouse, and nursery in addition to classroom activities, with Richard Ledford and Herbert Lackey in charge. Other organizations which have had significant impact on county rural and farm life include Farmers' Home Administra- tion; Chattanooga Production Credit Association, a cooperative owned by farm families; Bradley County Farmers' Co-op; and Farmers' Market. Some large and small farms of varying degrees of fertility and productivity have been in operation by the same families BRADLEY 99 since 1836; others are well known for their outstanding achieve- ments in specialized operations. Blythewood Farms, Hist known as the Cooper Place, now owned by Mary Elizabeth Neil, has produced at least 100 well-bred American saddle horses, and eight to ten world champions have been raised, trained, or shown under Blythewood colors. In 1932 Summerfield K. Johnston purchased the farm originally owned by his grand- father, James Johnston. Located on South Lee Highway, the farm was named Bendabout for a well-to-do Indian chief who lived on Candy's Creek. Tucker Springs Farm adjoins Bend- about. Hardwick Farms, owned by Jo Corn Stuart and located on North Lee Highway, was purchased in 1932 by the late C. L. Hardwick. Operating it as a stock farm, Hardwick built up a nationally recognized herd of pedigree Angus cattle. Near Black Fox, the Easterly Farm, home of Cleveland Postmaster Robert H. Easterly, was known originally as the Triplett Place and was the site of an early mill. A dairy and cattle feed farm, Rattlesnake Springs Farm in Dry Valley, has been in the Moore family for seven generations. In 1976 the following families reported that their farms had been in the families for more than 1 00 years: Mr. and Mrs. Joe Ralph Alexander, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Theodore Chase, Mr. and Mrs. Harold Wade Kelley, and Mr. and Mrs. William Maroon Varnell. Business and Industry Prior to the signing of the Treaty of Removal by the Cher- okees in 1835, Cleveland's entire population consisted of Andrew Taylor and his Indian wife. It now numbers more than 30,000. Bradley County has an estimated population of 72,600, with a work force of approximately 25,000 and an estimated annual payroll of more than $150 million. The value of goods manufactured is nearing $300 million, as compared to less than $10 million in 1929. Modern Cleveland has approximately 500 retail stores, reporting sales of more than $205 million annually. The number of industries located in Bradley County is nearing 100. The first county settlers were primarily farmers; therefore, the early economy was primarily agrarian, and early manufac- 1 00 Tennessee County History Series taring establishments catered to the requirements of such an economy. Today the economic prosperity of the county is basi- cally industrial. Contributing factors in this transition have been an a\ailable work force, cheap electricity, transportation facili- ties, and natural resources. However, the single most important factor has been the character and nature of the early settlers and the leadership of families such as the Callaways, Cates, Craigmileses, Hardwicks, Henegars, Jordans, Julians, Rahts, and Rymers. According to the federal census of 1840, 1025 persons farmed in the county and 220 persons worked for either com- mercial or manufacturing businesses, the most frequent of which were gristmills and sawmills; later cabinet-making shops, tanyards, and harness and saddle shops were established. Cleve- land by 1840 had a sizeable business district consisting of at least two blacksmith shops, several dry goods stores, two tailoring establishments, two saloons, five carpentry or cabinet-making operations, several small tanyards, one harness shop and sad- dlery, and two boardinghouses. Several distilleries were prob- ably located in the county during this time because wagon ship- ments of whiskey, beeswax, and cotton from the county were frequently exchanged in Augusta, Ceorgia, for such items as coffee and sugar. Cleveland early became a busy trading center. Three important events occurred during the 1850s that con- tributed to the nature of the county's economy for many years to come — the completion of railroad construction through Bradley County, the expansion of Ducktown copper mining operations in Polk County, and the completion of a road between Cleveland and Ducktown. The first railroad cars arrived in Cleveland in 185 1 . T. Nixon Van Dyke, first president of the East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, announced on August 10, 1852, a sche- dule which would connect Loudon and Cleveland with Dalton, Georgia. The same company completed another section of the railroad from Chattanooga to Cleveland in 1858. In 1851 a miner, John Caldwell, personally began building what would become the Old Copper Road, leading from the Copper Basin to Cleveland. With Caldwell's leadership, the road was completed in 1853 at a cost of $22,000. A dozen Cherokees were said to 101 Copper hauler's wagon have been employed on the project. This important road served as a route for transporting copper to the railhead and for sup- plying provisions and materials to the mine. The trade of the Ducktown district proved to be of more value to Cleveland merchants than their local business. Economic prosperity was being enjoyed in the region by 1857, for Cleveland by then had, according to newspaper adver- tisements, at least 17 dry goods stores, three hotels, a jewelry store and watchmaker shop, one clothing store, a carriage and wagon shop, and at least one house, sign, and ornamental paint- ing operation. Twenty-one manufacturing establishments had been located in the county by 1861, representing a total investment of $85,000. The dominant industry was the manufacture in nine mills of flour and meal. The second most important industry was the production in six mills of sawed lumber. Together, these two industries employed 78 percent of all residents employed in manufacturing for that period. 102 Tennessee County History Series mM, P ■■/■■■ Thomas Howard Callaway (1812-1870) BRADLEY 103 All the early mills were water powered. E. L. Ross has made a study of county mills and as a result explains that three or so were tub mills, a few were undershot mills, but that most were overshot mills. The tub mill had the waterwheel and the mill stone on the same shaft; the undershot mill wheel turned as a result of water pressure beneath it; and the overshot wheel turned as water fell onto it from above. Names associated with these mills were Allen, Castiller, Cleveland, Gofer, Davis, Hooper, McReynolds, Raht, Witt, and the Government Mill and Still House in the northwest part of the county; Goodner, Johnston, McCulley, McGhee, Reeder, Smith, Spivy, and Triplett in the southwest; Manis, McGlure, Norman, Roberts, Shields, and Thompson in the southeast; and Gate, Julian, Mee, Simmons-Neil, and Wells-Green in the northeast. In addition to these mills, Prater's "Turning Lay" (lathe) was located at McCas- lin Springs on Little Chatata Creek; it produced furniture. Near- by was Purvine Wool Carding Place and Abraham Snyder's tanyard, which used a waterwheel with cups attached to furnish water to the vats used to tan hides. Having settled in Bradley County in 1838, Thomas H. Call- away and his family were leaders in the growth and development of East Tennessee. With skill and wisdom, Callaway contributed to railroad, banking, mining, agricultural and educational pro- jects. He served as president of East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad. Calloway was first president of and, along with Euclid Waterhouse, a principal stockholder in Cleveland's first bank, chartered on February 25, 1854. Other incorporators of Ocoee Bank were Alexander Cleage, Samuel Congdon, and William G. Swann. Thomas Jo Campbell was cashier. The bank occupied offices in the Ocoee House until it closed its doors during the Civil War and moved to Knoxville. The Civil War was not kind to the county's economy; how- ever, with its end and the reopening of the copper mines, trade and commerce began to recover. Many residents were forced to seek new types of employment because both personal and coun- ty resources had been either completely destroyed or severely damaged. Captain Julius E. Raht emerged as an economic lead- er, managing the Tennessee Copper Company from his Cleve- 104 Tennessee County History Series BRADLEY 105 land home. Referred to as "the richest man in Tennessee," he was instrumental in founding, with $100,000 in capital, the Cleveland National Bank on December 26, 1866. Since that time the bank has continued to operate in its original location; the building was remodeled in 1908, in 1953, and again in 1969. Initial stockholders were Raht, M. W. Legg, D. C. McMillin, W. B. Reynolds and John Tonkin. Reynolds was the bank's first president; he was followed by Raht, J. H. Craigmiles, J. E. Johnston, Frank J. Harle, C. L. Wilson, George C. Castings, Richard S. Norman, and J. O. Williams. The postwar years brought the beginning of two major coun- ty industries, Hardwick Stove and Hardwick Clothes. Once a prosperous farmer and merchant, Christopher Hardwick was left penniless following the war. With hard work and ingenuity, he rebuilt his mercantile business and in 1879 helped his sons, Joseph H. and John M., start a backyard foundry in which they built cast iron cook stoves. The Stove Foundry, or Cleveland Stove Works, had 15 employees, capital of $10,000, and was completing 12 stoves daily by the late 1880s. By 1884 Hardwick stoves were marketed throughout the South. With the only break in production occurring between 1942 and 1945 during World War II, the plant now employs more than 1000 people and produces 250,000 stoves annually. The 100-year produc- tion total is approximately 9,750,000 stoves. Around the turn of the century, Joseph's son, C. L. Hardwick, began a 63-year management career which he pursued until his death in 1961. Hardwick was followed by Reeves Brown and Harold C. Almond who assumed the presidency in 1975. Christopher Hardwick's vision and persuasiveness with prominent Cleveland businessmen made possible the charter on April 1, 1880, for Cleveland Woolen Mills. The initial mill was a two-story frame building housing 25 employees. Weekly pro- duction was 2750 yards of goods. A Hardwick son, George, first expanded the plant, then rebuilt it in 1904 after a disastrous fire. By 1 925 Hardwick Woolen Mills was the largest mill in the world producing clothing from raw wool to finished garments. During the Depression the "home" method of production was used; most sewing was done in the homes of machine operators due to 106 Tennessee County History Series Hardwick Woolen Mill in the 1930s limited transportation facilities. This method of production was ended in 1934 by the wage and hour regulations of the National Recovery Act. During World War II Hardwick produced mili- tary clothing. In the postwar years, responding to fashion trends, the plant added other fabrics, including synthetics, to its line. By 1958, it manufactured men's suits, sport coats, and slacks. Hardwick Clothes moved to their new 42-acre site north of Cleveland in 1973. With approximately 500 employees, it produces more than 5500 coats and 5000 pairs of pants weekly. Company leadership has included George L. Hardwick, Jr., Frank T. Hardwick, and D. S. Stuart, the current president. By the 1890s, Bradley County also had a flour mill which BRADLEY 107 produced 150 barrels daily, and was operated by W. C. Mansfield; a sash and blind factory begun by S. W. Marshall and Company; Marshall, Geren, and Craigmiles lumber company; J. B. Fillauer and J. C. Cockreham tanneries; Cleveland Chair Company; and an insurance company, Cleveland Life Mutual Association, led by P. C. L. Hardwick. About this time eggs cost 25tf for three dozen, butter 10^ a pound, and milk 5# a quart; the butcher gave away liver, and the hired girl received $2 a week and did the washing. The Cleveland Chair Company, begun in 1884 by C. T. and W. P. Campbell and W. F. Miller, was sold in 1888 to W. S. Milne and Son of Canada. Ray Jackson, a county native, acquired the company in 1942, and Jackson Furniture Companies now have two facilities in Cleveland and several satellite companies throughout the United States. With $50,000 in capital, Merchants Bank was chartered on January 20, 1902, with J. B. Fillauer as president. Directors included George T. Hall, C. W. and L. L. Harle, and Judge Arthur Traynor. George R. Taylor was elected president in 1970. Having begun business in the Ocoee House building, the bank now occupies a new building on the original site of the old hotel. Following an investment of $40,000 in capital, Cleveland Bank and Trust Company was chartered on January 3, 1906; J. E. Johnston served as the first president. Other directors included Frank Harle, W. P. Lang, J. E. and P. B. Mayfield; the current president is James Brewer. New industries established around the turn of the century included Cleveland Milling Company, Cleveland Coca-Cola Bottling Works, and Cleveland Casket Company. George Hain, W. T. Johnston, J. F.Johnston, and J. H. Milne organized the milling company in 1901. Hugh M. Knox, first manager, later acquired all the company stock. T.J. Knox, Hugh's son, served as president until his death in 1972. The company is still in operation at its original site on Central Avenue. Colonel C. A. Mee and J. Hardie Johnston opened the bottling plant on South Ocoee Street in 1904. Since 1975 it has occupied new facilities southeast of Cleveland. In Charleston, before 1900, R. M. Neal 108 V fc/ Tennessee County History Series : .■ ^ ]k <D U C a. 1/3 o S- .° a. QJ ft u O CL o u a u bC BRADLEY 109 and Charles Itzel began what became the Cleveland Coffin Com- pany after it was purchased by businessmen W. T. Johnston and J. L. Kirby, and the company moved to Cleveland. During World War II, the company became the largest wooden casket manu- facturer in the South. Company leadership was carried on by E. H. McCowen and J. Morgan Johnston, Sr. The company was manufacturing metal caskets in the 1950s in its building on Bates Street. The establishment and expansion of business concerns in the decade from 1910 to 1920 had a lasting effect on the personal economics of Bradley Countians. Cleveland Chair Company expanded into new markets, and Manufacturers Soap and Chemicals Company become a division of Hardwick Woolen Mills. It produced scouring agents, wool oils, and fueling com- pounds. Becoming a separate corporation in 1923, the company began to diversify its products and expand its sales territory. W. T. Corn, owner and manager since 1929, promoted company growth to its present 15,000-square-foot facility and sales in eight southeastern states and Canada. Current president is George H. Corn. In continuous operation in Cleveland since this period, Church of God Publishing House edits and publishes Christian literature. Over four million copies of The Church Hymnal have been published in addition to other Church of God religious and educational materials. The year 1917 was notable for the founding of an outstand- ing industry, Dixie Foundry, later Magic Chef, reporting in 1 979 the manufacture of gas and electric ranges, microwave ovens, refrigerators, home laundry equipment, heating and air con- ditioning equipment, and soft drink vending machines. The Cleveland export department ships products to 60 countries. Plants are located in six states, providing employment for ap- proximately 8000 persons. Some 1800 persons are employed in the Cleveland plant, making it the county's largest employer. This industrial empire began on July 16, 1917, when a small group of men fired a cupola or melting furnace in a 60-foot by 60-foot, tin-roofed building on a two-acre tract at the southeast- ern edge of Cleveland. The visionary leader of this group was S. 110 Tennessee County History Series B. Rymer, Sr., who, along with his wife, Clara LaDosky Gee, was a native of Polk County. The two returned from Oklahoma in 1916 and established a series of retail businesses leading to the opening of Dixie Foundry. Clara Rymer served as a member of the board of directors for 41 years and has been closely iden- tified with the company from the beginning. Early company products were skillets, corn stick pans, fireplace grates and frames, tea kettles and other cast-iron items. By 1921 coal and wood ranges were included. "Magic Chef in the 1930s was synonymous with a new type of gas range. Adding electric ranges in 1952 to its product line, by 1969 Magic Chef had cornered 1 1 percent of the total range market. The company was a family business until it became a public corporation in 1964 with S. B. Rymer, Jr., serving as president. In 1925 the chamber of commerce was organized to promote the economic, industrial, professional, commercial, cultural, educational, agricultural, and civic welfare of Cleveland and Bradley County. A. M. Bryant was the first president, and the first project was a new Cleveland hotel, the Cherokee, completed in 1928 after stock sales of $100,000. After 1973 the organiza- tion officially became known as the Cleveland-Bradley County Chamber of Commerce. The Cleveland-Tennessee Enamel Company, chartered on September, 27, 1928, came into being because C. L. Hardwick and Charles Frost saw a need for the enameling process, and the company quickly succeeded. Although the company had numerous customers in the early years, the growth of Hardwick Stoves soon made it the only user of the company's enameling operations. Other industries dating from the 1920s include Debonair Hosiery Mill; it was followed by Cherokee Knitting Mills bought in 1930 by Shreve and Adams, Incorporated, who in 1945 founded the "S and A" mill, later called Sanda Hosiery Mills. Sanda and Cherokee merged and now operate from the original Cherokee site on Edwards Street. Other concerns from this period are Charles H. Bacon Hosiery Mills, Cleveland Ice Com- pany, Cleveland Lumber and Manufacturing Company, W. J. Hargis Lumber Company, Knox Hosiery Mills. Peoples Ice BRADLEY 111 Company, J. D. Seaborn Lumber Company, Southern Cold Storage Company, Stivers Lumber Company, and Theodore Stivers Milling Company. Although the Depression had a se- rious effect on the county, no industry ceased operation during that period. On July 3, 1934, Cleveland Federal Savings and Loan Asso- ciation was organized. First directors were A. M. Bryant, James F. Corn, J. Y. Elliott, Walter L. Fike, C. W. Harle, Glenn Hender- son, C. F. Kelly, E. R. Stivers, and Noah Wilson. Fike served as president, Harle as vice-president, W. G. Randolph as secretary- treasurer, and Elliott as attorney. Business operations began in county courthouse offices and went through several moves, finally occupying a new building on Ocoee Street. By 1975 assets totaled in excess of $50 million with 75 percent of the growth occurring in the decade from 1965 to 1975. The name was changed in 1975 to Cherokee Valley Federal Savings and Loan Association. Branches have been established in Chattanooga and Sweetwater. S. Wayne Feehrer was elected president in 1972. Brown Stove Works, Incorporated, third stove foundry in Cleveland, was organized in 1935 with G. C. Brown as president. J. M. Carl, H. M. Fullbright, and C. C. Harle were the other company officers. Coal and wood ranges and heaters were pro- duced, and gas ranges were added in 1948. Located on the original site on Carolina Avenue, the company offers a full line of gas ranges, built-in and surface units, special travel trailer and camper units, and vent hoods. K. Harrison Brown is the current president. During World War II most county manufacturing establish- ments put their resources in the production of materials to support the war effort. Few concerns were begun during this period. However, in 1941, L. C. "Bud" Davis founded the Charleston Hosiery Mill in a grocery store basement in Charles- ton. It later moved to Cleveland and from 1968 to 1975 was owned by U.S. Industries. It is now locally owned, employs more than 250 persons in two Cleveland plants and in New York and Cincinnati sales departments, and has markets of international scope. In 1943 Maples Chair Company was founded by Roy L. 112 Tennessee County History Series BRADLEY 113 Maples. In continuous operation since then, it was purchased by Dorset Company of Kentucky in the 1970s. Paul Davis began Davis Braided Rug Company in 1946, and operations continue today. American Uniform Company, formed in Minneapolis, Min- nesota, in 1932, moved its manufacturing operations and 15 families to Cleveland in 1949. Company growth has been excel- lent, and current plant space equals nearly ten times that of the original plant. Other companies have been acquired, and Euro- pean operations began in 1966. In 1976, with Gary K. Smith as president, the company employed 1200 persons nationwide. This plant began the pattern of northeastern and midwestern companies' moving into Bradley County to benefit from local resources, labor, and transportation. Although not within county borders, Bowater Southern Pap- er Corporation, which opened in 1954 at Calhoun across Hiwas- see River from Charleston, has provided a considerable boost to county and area economy. Since 1912 Bowater, a London based company, has maintained a sales organization in the United States. With this country's high consumption of newsprint as a stimulus, Bowater determined to locate a mill in the southeast, and construction began in 1952. The Calhoun mill uses more than 90 rail cars of wood every day. Some 9000 persons in 90-plus counties receive the dollars paid out by Bowater to acquire wood. William C. Grater is president of the southern plant where employees number 1400. A Bowater subsidiary, Hiwassee Land Company has acquired woodlands to insure an adequate wood supply for paper production. About 75 percent of these lands are targeted for rotating crops of pine trees, the remainder for hardwood or mixed pine-hardwood forests. Because of Bowater's multiple- use forest management, the woodlands generally are available for public use. A small business printing establishment in 1955, Preston Company has grown to a modern well-equipped plant and one of the most outstanding lithographers in the southeast. The company facilities make possible the production of finished work from an original idea through copywriting, including de- 114 Tennessee County History Series sign and layout, typesetting, color separations and mechanicals, plates, presswork, and bindery finishing. Winston P. Preston is president of this company and of Hospital Publications, In- corporated, founded in 1961 ; the latter offers services in public relations communications which include everything from logos to total communications package. More than 3000 hospitals in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the United States avail themselves of these services. On July 1, 1958, Cooke Manufacturing Company was orga- nized to produce upholstered living room furniture. Today it manufactures a complete line of living room and den furniture, which is sold worldwide. Numerous new industries were estab- lished in the Bradley County area during the 1960s. The com- pletion of Interstate 75 to Cleveland from the south added a new dimension in transportation availability. The majority of manu- facturers who have established plants in the county since 1960 have been national concerns. Mallory Battery Company from Indiana established a plant in Cleveland in 1960. The J. H. Kellman Company, Incorporated, moved its garment-making plant from New York to Cleveland in 1961. Olin Chemicals, a $13 million operation, opened in Charleston in 1962. Bendix Corporation, manufacturer of automotive products, completed in 1964 construction of its 67,000-square-foot Cleveland plant. Cleveland Associated Industries was organized in 1965 for the purpose of using the talents and resources of industry in a program of positive action. Membership today includes more than 30 local industries. During the late 1960s and into the mid-1970s, additional plants were established in the county, including Owen-Illinois of Toledo, Ohio, which established a corrugated box plant, and Westvaco Corporation of New York, which acquired one existing box plant and constructed a folding carton plant. On September 30, 1971, First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chattanooga opened a Cleveland branch on Keith Street. Another financial institution, locally owned by more than 600 citizens, First Citizens Bank opened on April 1, 1974. Members of the board of directors and bank officers include CharlesJ. Mullinax, chairman; Hal Bernard Dixon; Jack BRADLEY 115 Lonas; James C. Lowe; Austin Maples; Max Carroll; John P. Collins, Jr.; George R. Johnson; Kenneth H. Rayborn, pres- ident; Bob Smith, vice-president and cashier; Larry Mills, vice- president and loan officer; and David Allen, assistant cashier. The main bank office is located on Keith Street. A recent addition to Bradley County industries, M 8c M Mars, began its operation in Cleveland in 1979 with 325 employees. Other industries currently operating in the county include Bishop Baking Company; Cleveland Millwright 8c Machine Company; Collins Manufacturing Company; Coppinger Color Lab, Incorporated; Cutler-Hammer, Incorporated; Elastic Yarns, Incorporated; Jackson Manufacturing Company; Perm- na Color Corporation; SECO Industries; Scholl Incorporated; Specialty Chemical Company; Tennessee Tufting Corporation; Todd Manufacturing Company; and Tri-State Truss Company. Today, more than 55 manufacturers, which meet the qual- ifications of the standard Industrial Classification Manual, Bureau of Census, are located in the Bradley County area. Together with roughly 40 local unclassified industries, these firms employ an estimated 25,000 persons. Products include auto and truck brake linings, blocks, cardboard cartons, chem- icals, cotton and polyester garments, farm machinery, gas and electrical ranges, hosiery, manganese batteries, masonry prod- ucts, men's and children's wear, plastic upholstering, printing, and other items. Bradley County has led the state in economic growth in recent years. Among a number of outstanding achievements has been the growth of salaries and wages in industries and indus- tries' purchase of supplies and services. More than one-half of the net income of product industry has gone toward the support of government and its essential services through local, state, and federal taxes. Louise Harle concluded her memoirs by writing; Today Bradley County is one of the fastest growing industrial areas of the South, but in our involvement with industrial growth and financial gain, may we not forget those other and even more important growths of character, spirituality and humanity. Let's ring the school bells and the church bells, as well as toot the whistles of commerce and industry. 116 Tennessee County History Series 111 M°MINN ^"v^^ COUNTY HAMILTON ijy COUNTY f POLK COUNTY TY / 4 (, K o R (» I A HISTORICAL SITES of BRADLEY COUNTY Historic Sites in Bradley County 1. Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Charleston. Erected in I860, the structure housed Federal soldiers during the Civil War. The window sills and cornerboards have remained untouched since that time and show deep scars made by horses' teeth. 2. Henegar House, Charleston. Henry Benton Henegar built the first brick house in Bradlev County around 1840; it is now owned bv Mr. and Mrs. Von Eastland. During the Civil War, officers from both sides occupied it, and conferences were held in the parlor. When General Wheeler raided the Charleston area, a line of battle was formed along the south side of the house. 3. Charleston Manor, Charleston. The building which was con- structed on the foundation of the Lewis Ross store contains two man- tels which Ross had shipped from England. Formerly called the Barrett house, it was used as a rooming house. General Winfield Scott and John Ross are said to have met frequently under the large oak tree in front of the building to discuss details of the Cherokee removal. 4. W. P. Bryant House, west of Charleston. Constructed on their farm around 1 870 as a home for the Bryant family, this spacious hilltop house has in its construction locally made brick and hardware. Later, the property was owned by the Callaway family and now by Wright Brothers Company. 5. C. A. Alee House, southeast of Charleston in Chatata Valley. This plantation home reflects the affluence of large landowners prior to the Civil War. The main two-story structure has a wing off the ground floor which was used for large gatherings. The site includes a one- room smokehouse, slave quarters, and barn of hand-hewn timbers. The quality of construction indicates the high skills of the builders. Paul Sanders is the present owner. 6. Greenberry Cate House, Chatata Valley. The house was built in the 1860s by Greenberry Gate, pioneer settler of the valley. Several genera- tions of Gates lived in the house. Robert Hamilton now owns the property. 7. Chilcutt School, northeastern part of the county near Piney Campground. A brick structure dating back to the early 1900s, it was a junior high school in the 1930s. The building has not been used since county school consolidation. 1 17 118 Tennessee County History Series 8. Rattlesnake Springs, northeast of Cleveland. This was the site of the last Cherokee campground before their removal in 1838 under the direction of General Winfield Scott; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The property is owned by Mr. and Mrs. John B. Moore. 9. Hair Conrad Cabin, west of Cleveland. "High Orchard" is a well-preserved structure built around 1804 and is located on Mary Elizabeth Neils Blythewood farm. The cabin is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 10. Thompson Springs, northeast Cleveland. The springs are now a part of Fillauer Lake. The Cherokee courthouse of the Amohee Dis- trict was located here prior to 1838. ll.y. E. Raht House, south Cleveland. Although Thomas H. Call- away constructed the house, Raht purchased it in 1869 and from it directed his extensive commercial operations. A local tradition says that during the Civil War a tunnel led from the basement to the railroad station and was used to hide Confederate soldiers and sup- plies. The brick masonry and wood trim show classic craftsmanship. T. E. May is the present owner. 12. Craigmiles House, Cleveland. Built in 1866 for Pleasant Craig- miles, this home of Italian architecture was presented by the Johnston family to the city in 1923 to house the public library. In 1975 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 13. Craigmiles Hall, Cleveland. Constructed by Walter Craigmiles in 1878, the building was Cleveland's first cultural center and the site of many social, political, and religious events. 14. St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Cleveland. This Gothic structure was completed in 1872 as a memorial to Nina Craigmiles. Native stone and locally made bricks were used in construction. A white marble mausoleum on the grounds is the burial place of the Craigmiles family. 15. Landmark Building, Cleveland. The structure, a well-preserved and restored example of a mid-nineteenth century commercial build- ing, has housed several businesses including a saloon, W. J. Hughes' enterprises, C. J. Wilson's clothing store, and today the law firm of Donald and Paul Dietrich, owners. Architectural details — one-story cast iron front, stone arches over second-story windows, corbeled brickwork, wooden panels, and a stamped metal cornice bearing nautical emblems — enhance the building which is listed on the Nation- al Register of Historic Places. 16. Fillauer House, Cleveland. An example of Queen Anne Victo- rian architecture built in 1890 by William S. Tipton, the house was BRADLEY 119 Fillauer House purchased in 1924 by W. H. Fillauer and restored by W. K. and E. A. Fillauer in 1977-1978 to house the law offices of W. K. Fillauer, Robert B. Wilson III, and Randall Sellers. Interior details include unusual oak wood, brass light fixtures, carved Italian marble mantels and a carved stairway. Application has been made to the National Register. 17 .Johnston Park, Cleveland. Formerly the home site of Mary and John T.Johnston, it was donated to the city in 1937 by their daughter, Mrs. C. L. Hardwick. Renovations were completed in 1979, and the facilities now host public performances as well as provide pleasant surroundings for downtown visitors. 18. Jordan House, southeast Cleveland. The structure which was once a fine home in an "uptown" section near the railroad station became isolated in a commercial zone of the city and has recently been torn down. 19. Red Hill Academy, southern part of the county in Red Hill Community. All that remains of this academy dating back to the mid- 1800s is a two-story wooden frame structure presently being used as a barn. 20. Red Clay Council Cround, southwest corner of the county, near the Georgia line. Last seat of the Cherokee government from 1832 to 1838, this site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 120 Tennessee County History Series x^i*^X^.^f i Cleveland Public Library Under the leadership of Colonel James R. Corn, Sr., the 275-acre property has been developed to include a museum, council house, visitor center and cabins, trails, picnic areas and shelter, amphitheater, observation platform, superintendent's home, and a restored Cher- okee village composed of home, barn, and crib. Gary Lawson is direc- tor of the facilities. Suggested Readings Allen, Penelope Johnson. "Leaves from the Family Tree." Chattanooga Times, 1933-1937. Barclay, R. E. Ducktown Back in Rahl's Time. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1946. The Railroad Comes to Ducktown. Knoxville: Cole Printing and Thesis Service, Inc. 1973. The Copper Basin: 1890—1963. Knoxville: Cole Printing and Thesis Service, Inc., 1973. Bradley County, Historic Site Survey. Prepared by the Bradley County Regional Planning Commission, 1973. Bradley County Medical Society Minutes, 1888 to present. In the possession of Dr. and Mrs. Marvin Batchelor. Bradley County Official Records. The courthouse burned November 25, 1864; however, a few records prior to that date exist. Brewer, Carson. "Cherokee Along the Little Tennessee." Tennessee Valley Pers- pective, Winter, 1970. Brown, John P. "Cherokee Removal, An Unnecessary Tragedy." The East Tennessee Historical Society's Publications, No. 11, 1939. Campbell, Ellen Ann Westerberg, ed. Bradley County, Tennessee, 1850 Federal Census. 1973. Cannon, Shelia, and Pat Henley. A History of Bradley County and Cleveland. Cleveland: Cleveland City Schools, 1979. Carroll, Grace T. "Improvement of Supervisory Projects in Bradley County Schools." Thesis. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1954. Carter, Myra Adelaide Inman. The Dairy ofMyra Adelaide Inman Carter. 1860- 1865, Cleveland, Tennessee. Cate, Beulah Julian. "Memories and Meditations." Manuscript in the posses- sion of Elizabeth Cate Manly, Cleveland, Tennessee. Clemmer, J. D. Scrapbooks. Cleveland State Community College Library. Cleveland, Tennessee. Coe, Miles. "Some Aspects of the Congressional Career of Samuel Axley Smith." Manuscript in the possession of author. Conn, Charles W. Like A Mighty Army. Cleveland: Church of God Publishing House, 1955. Corn, James Franklin. Farewell the Hills, A Novel of the Eastern Cherokees. New York: Vantage Press, 1971 Red Clay and Rattlesnake Springs. Cleveland, 1959. "Removal of the Cherokees from the East." The Filson Club History Quarterly, 27, No. I (January 1953), 37-51. Cummings, Frank, and Katharine L. Trewhitt. History of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Cleveland: Vestry of St. Luke's, 1967. 121 1 2 2 Suggested R e actings Edwards, R. M. "Bradley County and Town of Cleveland, Tennessee," East Tennessee Historical and Biographical. Chattanooga: A. D. Smith and Com- pany, 1893. Fillauer. Elizabeth. "Homes in Bradley County." Historic Homes in Tennessee. 1976. Goodspeed, Weston A., et al., eds. History of Tennessee. Nashville: Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1887. Graf, Zola Rvmer. .4 Family Chronical of S. Bradford Rymer. Cleveland, 1960. Hardv, Lucina W. Historical Memories from 1830-1961. Cleveland, 1962. Harle, Louise. / Remember Tall Tales and True of Cleveland and Bradley County. Cleveland, 1979. Henegar Scrapbooks. In the possession of Mrs. Von Eastland, Charleston, Tennessee. Hurlburt, J. S. History of the Rebellion in Bradley County, East Tennessee. Downey and Brouse, 1866. Julian, Bettie Bryan. "History of Tasso Methodist Church." Manuscript, 1928. Lamon, Sue, and Virginia Glisson. "A History of the Hiwassee River During the Civil War." Manuscript. Cleveland State Community College Library, Cleveland, Tennessee. Lillard, Roy G. "A Glimpse of Polk County's History." Polk County News, May 2, 1957. "Col. William H. Tibbs — Bradley Countian Served in Confederate Congress." Cleveland Daily Banner, February 25, 1980. "Hardwick Stove Company: 100 Years of Leadership, 1879—1979." Cleveland Daily Banner, February 27, 1979. "Hiwassee, and Ocoee Rivers," in James A. Crutchfield, ed., Rivers of Tennessee. Memphis, forthcoming. "The Construction of the Lake Ocoee Dam." Cleveland Daily Banner, February 29, 1980. , ed. The History of Bradley County. Cleveland, 1976. The Story of Nancy Ward, 1738-1822." Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, January 1976. Manlv, Elizabeth Gate. A History of New Friendship Church, 1835-1935. Cleve- land, 1935. Supplement, 1960. Bryans, Hortons and Allied Families. Cleveland, 1978. The Cates of Lower East Tennessee. Cleveland, 1971. The Julians and Allied Families. Cleveland, 1972. Marriage Book I, 1864-1887, Bradley County, Tennessee. Cleveland, 1974. Manly, Frank. Centennial Celebration, First Baptist Church, Cleveland, Tennessee, 1857-1957. Duff Printing Company, 1957. McAllister, C. L. "Mac Answers, Fact and Legend," and other articles. Cleveland Daily Banner,. 1965-1974. McClary, Ben H. "Fun, Fact, and Philosophy: The Diary of John Coffee Williamson." Thesis. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1957. McClary, Ben H., and LeRoy P. Graf. "Vineland in Tennessee, the Dutch Settlement, 1852: The Journal of Rosine Parmentier." East Tennessee His- torical Society's Publications, No. 31 (1959), 95-1 1 1. 5 ugge steel R ea dings 123 Nerren, Sally, and Janet Kellev. "Charleston During the Civil War." Manu- script. Cleveland State Community College, Cleveland, Tennessee. Randolph, Sheridan C, ed. Bradley County Tennessee 1840 Federal Census. Cleve- land: Lee College, 1975. Richmond, Clarence L. "World War I Diary." Cleveland Public Library. Rodgers, Eugenia. "Chips." The Bradley County Journal, 1937—1946. Ross, Ernest L. Abandoned School Sites of Bradley County, Tennessee, 1838-1974. Cleveland, 1974. "Education." Cleveland Press, August 12, 19, 1971. Historical Cemetery Records, Bradley County. 2 Vols. 1973. Water Powered Grain Mills i)i Bradley County. Cleveland, 1975. Rvmer, S. B., Jr. The Magic Chef Ston. New York: The Newcomer Society in North America, 1979. Slay, James Linwood, Jr. "A History of Bradley County Tennessee, to 1861." Thesis. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 1967. Snell, William R. "At a Snell's Pace," Cleveland Daily Banner, 1973-1976. "Banner Began as a Dream of Robert McNellev — 125 Years." Cleve- land Daily Banner, May 25, 1979. Stamper, I.J. "Diary, 1862-1864." Cleveland Public Library. Stanbery, Cecil, H. "A Ceographic Survey of Bradley County, Tennessee." Thesis. Knoxville: University of Tennessee. Sullins, David. Recollections of an Old Man; Seventy Years in Dixie, 1827—1897. Bristol: King Printing Company, 1910. Tennesseans in the Civil War. 2 Vols. Nashville: Cavil War Centennial Commis- sion, 1964. Thatch, T. E. "Brief Sketch of a County Neighborhood, Laurel Hill." 1894. Trewhitt, Frank G. "Ghost Tales from Bradley County." Tennessee Folklore Society Bulletin, 29, (1963), 10-12. Underbill, Patsy Louisa Crox. A Histoiy and Lineage of the Baldwin, Crox, Fldrige and McClaiy and Allied Families. College Park, MD, 1971. Walker, Robert S. Torchlights to the Cherokees. New York: Macmillan Companv- 1931. War of the Rebellion. A compilation of the official records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, 1880-1901. White, Robert C. Cherokee Indian Removal from the Lower Hiwassee Valley. Hivvas- see River Watershed Development Association and Tennessee Valley Authority, 1973. Wooten, John Morgan. A Histoiy of Bradley County. Bradley County Post 8 1 , The American Legion, 1949. Red Clay Council Ground, 1832-1838. Cleveland, 1938. Red Clay in History. Cleveland, 1935. This may be found in James Franklin Corn's Red Clay and Rattlesnake Springs, Bicentennial Edition. Cleveland, 1976. .. Scrapbooks. On microfilm in the Cleveland State Community Col- lege Library and the Cleveland Public Library Appendix Officials of Bradley County Assessors of Property Fred Boyles, 1920-1924 Ivo Hamilton, 1944-1952 John D. Bowman, 1924-1929 Ernest Haun, 1952-1968 A. B. Burnette, 1929-1932 Charles D. Elrod, 1968- W. E. Bacon. 1932-1944 Circuit Court Clerks Henry Price, 1836-1848 Claude Bell, 1903-1914; appointed John H. Pavne, 1848-1864 to fill McNabb's term J. C. Tipton, 1864-1874 James G. Gate, 1914-1918 W. H. Curry, 1874-1878 William H. Haven, 1918-1938 Robert W. Selvidge, 1878-1886 W. B. Henson, 1938-1954 A.J. Fletcher, 1886-1894 Clav V. King, 1954-1962 S. F. Geren, 1894-1902 Joe Tallv, 1962- Winston McNabb, 1902-1903; died in office Clerk and Masters James Berrv, 1840-1856 Thomas McKamv. 19 10-19 Hi William Hunt, 1856-1862 James M. Stuart, 1916-1953 D. C. McMillan, 1862-1864 Jennie Edgerton Stuart. 1953;'filled A.J.White, 1864-1871 unexpired term W. H. McKamv, Sr., 1871-1894 Robert Hamilton Tucker, 1953-1979 W. H. McKamv, Jr., 1894-1907 Reginald G. Hvberger, 1979- Joseph A. McKamv, 1907-1910 County Judges W. L. Humphrey, 1922-1926 H. M. Fulbright,* 1950-1956 Arthur Travnor,* 1926-1932 Nelom B. Jackson, 1956-1974 Nat Eldredge, 1932-1950 Carl Colloms, 1974- */. Y. Elliott served during Traynors illness; /. W. Stins and William K. Fillaua sewed during Fullbright's illness. 25 126 Appendix County Court Clerks John H. Robertson. 1836-1857 Joseph H. Rucker, 1857-1864 Joseph H. Davis, 1864-1868 Samuel Hunt, 1868-1870 J. H. Rucker. 1870-1884; died in office Will S. Edwards, 1884; filled Rucker's unexpired term F. A. Frazier, 1884-1890 Bascom Rogers, 1890-1898 J. I. Harrison, 1898-1906 Jacob Smith, 1906-1914 J. G. Hearring, 1914-1918 Robert Henderson, 1918-1922 A. W. Rogers, 1922-1926; died in office Mrs. A. W. Rogers, 1926; filled unexpired term Lon Brock, 1926-1938 Marvin Kirkpatrick, 1938-1950 Paul M. Davis, 1950-1958 Bob Easterly, 1958-1962 Claude Climer, 1962- Register of Deeds Frank Kincannon, 1836-1846 William H. White, 1846-1847 A.J. White, 1847-1852 Stephen Hempstead, 1852-1856 Joseph W. Hicks, 1856-1868 A. B. Norton, 1868-1870 Joseph W7. Hicks, 1870-1886 A. A. Ragsdale, 1886-1890 P. C. McKamv, 1890-1898 T. M. Caldwell, 1898-1908 E. M. Morrison, 1908-1914 Buford Lawson, 1914-1918 H. M. Foster, 1918-1926 James W. Murphy, 1926-1949; died in office Earle Murphy, 1949-1950; filled unexpired term J. W. Gilliland, 1950-1954 James Logan, 1954— Sheriffs William Carter, 1836; died in office A. A. Clingan, 1836-1838; filled unexpired term James Lauderdale, 1838-1842 A. A. Clingan, 1842-1846 Charles I. Price, 1846-1848 Thomas L. Bates, 1848-1854 James H. Kuhn, 1854-1860; resigned John K. Brown; served until election Isaac Low; served until 1866 C. D. Champion, 1866-1868 P. W. Norwood, 1868-1872 Isaac Low, 1872-1876 George B. Hays, 1876-1880 A.J. Carson, 1880-1882 W. G. Stockburger, 1882-1884 H.J. Parks, 1884-1888 WT. F. Barrett, 1888-1890 C. T. Duff, 1890-1894 J. O. Blackburn, 1894-1898 J. M. Hambright, 1898-1902 W. C. Barger, 1902-1906 W. H. Crdx, 1906-1910 J. C. Cockreham, 1910-1912 Charles Bean, 1912-1914 George C. Moore, 1914-1916 E. L. Gibson, 1916-1919; resigned Israel Smith, 1919-1922; died in line of duty General Bryant, 1922; served until election J. L. Boyd, 1922-1924 N. A. Barger, 1924-1928 O.J. Lawson, 1928-1932 E. F. Hysinger, 1932-1934 O.J. Lawson, 1934-1936 Appendix N. A. Barger, 193(5-1940 John Hysinger, 1940-1944 Bud Cash, 1944-1950 French Alford, 1950-1954 Paul Russell Jones, 1954-1956 Ernest C. Pierce, 195(5-1958 Paul Russell Jones-1958-1960 27 Sam Cannon, 1960-1966 Wendall Davis, 196(5-1970 Jarvis Gibson, 1970; appointed Sam Cannon, 1970-1972 Bill Gibson, 1972-1974 Lamar Lawson, 1974-1980; died Dewey Chastain, acting, 1980- Trustees James Lauderdale, 1836-1838 Eli King, 1838-1840 John Wood, 1840-1842 John H. Payne,* 1842- John M. Raper* William H. Tibbs, 1844-1848 James H. Hawkins* R. A. Giddens, 1854-1856 A. R. Potts, 1856-1858 Posev Roberts, 1858-1860 James H. Norman, 1860-1865 John F. Haves, 1865-1871 A.J. WThitei 1871-1874 J. Wr. Glass, 1874-1876 A.J. White, 1876-1882 J. A. Denton, 1882-1884 M. L.Julian, 1884-1890 John K. Randolph, 1890-1894 ^records lost in fire D. H. Hambright, 1894-1898 Alexander Campbell, 1898-1902 Levi Trewhitt, 1902-1906 J. A.Johnston, 1906-1910 J. H. Smith, 1910-1912 C. W. Allen, 1912-1914 J. T. Blair, 1914-1916 H. W. Parks, 1916-1920 Walter Kile, 1920-1924 W. C. Randolph, 1924-1928 W. M. Nichols, 1928-1932 W. W. Randolph, 1932-1936 G. W. Weaver, 1936-1940 H. L. Million, 1940-1946 R. L. Maples, 1946-1951 Virgil Parker, 1951-1956 Andrew Harley Higgins, 1956-1966 John Dockery, 1966— Jerrv Bancroft OllieJ. Bond K. Harrison Brown Harry Burch Ulyss Calfee Ralph Finnell Randall Fisher County Commissioners 1980 Margaret Gilliland Maurice Higgins Bill Humberd Bill Ledford Theodore Mackev Milford Miller Roy Ragsdale 128 Appendix Citv of Cleveland Officials 1980 Mayor Commissioners Harry L. Dethero J. Edward Barrett Max R. Carroll Eddie G. Cartwright Kenneth Tinslev City of Charleston Officials 1980 Commissioners Steve Keasler, City Manager Hoyt Berry Jerry Freeman Cleveland/Bradlev Chamber of Commerce, Incorporated 1980 Officers President Vice-president and president-elect Treasurer I division vice-president II division vice-presdient III division vice-president Immediate past president Executive vice-president Ex officio O. Wayne Chambers L. Quentin Lane Leonard W. Thurman S. D. Fair James C. Brewer Jeanne Turner T. S. Colbert Nelom B. Jackson Mayor Harry L. Dethero Judge Carl Colloms Larry Led ford Jaycee representative Directors Judy Chandler William R. Ewing Jack A. Hall J. R. Jones T. L. Lowery Kenneth H. Rayborn Joe Rodgers, Jr. Donald G. Russell Ed Serum George R. Taylor James S. Thompson Index Adkisson, David F., 57, (picture) 56 Agricultural Extension Services, 96-98; agents and asst. agents, 97; 4-H Clubs, 97; Home Demonstration activities, 97; cannery building, (picture) 98 Agriculture, 2, 89-99; awards in, 97; crops, 89, 91-92, 95-96; vocational program in, 98; organizations, 93-95; see farming Aldehoff, Henry W. Von, 49 Almond, Harold C, 105 Amohee District, 9, 11, 67, 118 Armentrout, Walter, 98 Arnold, D. C, 52-53, (picture) 52 Artists, in county, 15, 76 Atkins, B. E., 50 Authors, in county, 78 Banks, in county, 15, 35, 75, 103, 105, 107, 111, 114-115 Batchelor, Marvin R., 78, (picture) 88; Mildred, 78, (picture), 81 Baugh Springs, 2, 40 Bazemore, George M., 83, 86 Beard, Jack, 85 Beard, Kenneth, 89 Beaty, Sim, 83 Beeler Springs, 2, 1 1 Bennett, J. M., 36 Benton, 10, 27, 29, 69 Berry, James, 19, 32 Bible, J. H., 26 Biggs, William, 17 Black Fox, Community, 10, 36, 99; Creek, 2, 36, 60 Black leaders, in county, 22, (pictures), 57, 80-81 Blacksmiths, 35-37, 40, 68, 89, 100 Blair, John J., 69 Blunt, A. E., 31, 49-50, 65 Boatman, Bill, 96 Boone, "Little Daniel," 36 Boring, Luther and Jasper, 71 Boudinot, Elias, 10 Bowman, Annie, and Rebecca, 82 Bradley County, passim; Bar Association, 72; census, 16, 21, 89, 100; climate, 3; courts, 17-18, 62, 68-69; courthouse, 21, 26, 29, 35, 41-42, 62, 67-68, 73, 111; creation of, 17; elections in, 17, 24, 59, 64; health dept., 88; mail delivery, 92; Medical Society, 87; minerals and mines in, 3-5; naming of, 17; officials in, 14, 17, 19; organization and early history; 15-40; post offices, 18, 39-40, 49, 75; public library, 79, 81-82, 118, (picture) 120; population of, 21, 99; rivers in, 2; seat of, see Cleveland; soils in, 2; springs in, 2; timber, kinds of, 2; topography of, 2; wild game in, 6 Brashears, Robert S., 19 Brazelton, Isaac, 17 Brewer, James, 107 Brock, Ray L., Jr., (picture) 70, 72 Brown, Bethel C, 36 Brown G. C, 111 Brown, John G., 83 Brown, K. Harrison, 1 1 1 Brown, Reeves, 105 Bryant, A. M., 110-111 Buckner, Burrow, 19 Burke, M. R., 50 Burkett, M. H. B., 49-50 Businesses, 32, 35-37, 39-40, 99-101; see industries Byrd, Lydia, 54 Byrd, Melissa, 97 Callaway, Thomas H., 49, (picture) 102, 103, 118 Caldwell, John, 100 Campbell, C. T., 107 Campbell, L. D., 36 Campbell, W.J. , 19 Campbell, W. M., 19 Campbell, W. P., 107 Candy's Creek, 2, 5, 9-10, 42, 99; mission, 8, 11,41,47 Carter, William, 17 Cate, John W., (picture) 93, 95-95 Cate, Thomas L., 19, 26, (picture) 30, 62 Cemeteries, 36, 60, 63 Chambers, Ruth, 82 Charleston, 5, 11-12, 27, 36, 41, 59-60, 68, 91-92, y4, 97, 107, 113, 117; early businesses, 36 129 130 Index Chatata. Academy, 50; Creek, 2, 18, 40, 103: Seminary, 37, 50; Valley, 5, 32, 42. 91. 117 Chattanooga. 2, 8, 19, 27-29, 39, 59, 87, 92, 94. 100; Medical College, 83 Cherokee Indians, 5-6, 8-9, 40, 58, 76, 100-101, 117; agency, 6-7, 11, 36; courthouse, 11, 67, 118; goyernment, 12, 119; names of, 8, 10-12, 18; supreme court, 8-9, treaty and removal, 12, 14, 16, 27, 99, 118; see Indians Cherokee Phoenix, 10 Chilcutt's Community, 37; school, 117 Churches, 9, 11, 22, 35, 37, 40-47, 49, 56-57, 59, 62-63, 73, 75, 81, 83, 85, 118; see religion Civil War, 22, 27, 40, 44, 49-50, 59-65, 70, 73, 83,89,91,93, 103, 117-118; hospitals, 83 Clanton, James H., 70 Cleveland-Bradley County, bicentennial commission, (picture) 81; chamber of commerce, 110; library, 79,. 81-82, 118; mental health center, 88 Cleveland, City of, 3, 5, 10-12, 18, 26-29, 32-33, 39, 41-42, 44, 46-47, 49-50, 52, 55, 57, 59-60, 62, 65, 69, 73, 78-79, 81-83, 85, 87-89, 91, 99-101, 107, 110, 118-119; Associated Industries, 114; businesses in, 19, 22, 33-36, 68, (pictures) 28, 34; charter of, 19; citizens of, (pictures) 30, 33, 84; Dental Society, 89; historic district in, 82; Library Association, 79, 81; officials of, 19, 22-24; population, 19, 21, 62, 68 Cleveland, Benjamin, 18, (pictures) 20 Cleveland Daily Banner, 26, 44, 63, 73, 78, 97 Cleveland Weekly Herald, 31, 35, 85 Clift, Walter, 98 Clingan, A. A., 17 Clubs and organizations, in county, 15, 29, 31-32, 49, 65-66, 75, 81, 97; see social activities Cockreham, J. C, 107 Colleges and universities, 5, 42, 44, 46-47, 51, 53, 55-57, 71, 73, 75-76, 78, 83, 93, 96 Conasauga River, 2, 27 Conn, Charles W., 56, 78 Copper Basin, 27; mines in, 21, 103 Copper rolling mill, 63 Corn, James F., Sr., 15, 78, 111, 120, (pictures) 13, 81 Corn, George H. and W. T., 109 Craigmiles John H., 28, 43, 105 Craigmiles, Nina, 42-43, 118 Craigmiles's Opera House, 32, 73 Craigmiles, Pleasant M., 82; home of, 118 Craigmiles, Walter, 118 Cross, Ada, 82 Dairying, 92, 94; dairymen, 94; organizations, 94 Davis, Jefferson, 60, 64 Davis, Joseph T., 19 Davis L. C. "Bud," 1 1 1 Davis, Paul, 113 Day, Samuel H., 83 Depression, the, 105, 111 Dinsmore, J. R., 85 Doctors, physicians, 37, 40, 42, 82-87; dentists, 88-89 Ducktown, 27, 63, 100, 106; see Copper Basin Duncan, D. W., 78, 94; wife, 95 Dunlap, John, 94 Easterly, Robert H., 99 Easterly, W. A., 96 East Tennessee, 59, 68, 89; Female University, 55; Telephone Company, 29; and Georgia Railroad Company, 21, 28, 100, 103 Economy, in county, 99-101, 103, 107, 109, 111, 115 Education, 47-57; see schools, colleges Edwards, Mary H., 75 Edwards, P. J. R., 14, 83 Edwards, R. M., 16, 21, 24, (picture) 30, 31,50,52,78 Electricity, 29, 32, 93 Epidemics, 85 Everhart, Sallie Lauderback, 39 Eureka Community, 37; Academy, 37 Farming and farmers, 16, 22, 36, 49, 89, 91, 98-99; Farm Bureau, 95; businesses, 92; equipment, 91-92; organizations, 93, 95, 98; products, 92; wages, 92; see agriculture Feehrer, S. Wayne, 1 1 1 Ferguson, E. R., 87 Ferguson, Moses C, 47-48 Fillauer, E. A., 119 Fillauer Lake, 11, 118 Fillauer, J. B., 107 Fillauer, W. H., and W. K., 119 Finnell, B. T., 18 Finnell, Warnie Dooly, 76, 78 Fish Town, 40 Fison, Willie, 81 Fletcher, Andrew J., 24, 96 Flint Springs, 2, 8, 11, 41; Academy, 49-50 Index 131 Foreman, James, 67-68 Foreman, Stephen, 9 Frazier, £. J., 53 Frost, Charles, 1 10 Garrott, Mrs. William, 87 Gatewood, John P., 64 Gaut, Jesse H., 19, 72 Gaut, Perry, 26 Gins, 36, 91 Gobble, Joe, 95, 97 Grater, William C, 113 Grattan, Inez Wood, 22, (picture) 57 Gray, Charles, 94 Greasy Creek, 2, 71 Guerillas, in Civil War, 63-64 Hain, George, 107 Hair Conrad, 9; home of, 9, (picture) 10, 118 Hair's Creek, 2, 9 Hale, William M., 97, and wife, (picture) 96 Hall, Emerson, 57 Halleck, Henry W., 59 Hamilton County, 1, 14, 37 Hardwick, Mrs. C. L., (picture) 80, 82, 119 Hardwick, C. L., Sr., 19, (picture) 30, 105 Hardwick, C. L., 62, 99, 105, 110 Hardwick, F. E., 19 Hardwick, Frank T., (picture) 30, 106 Hardwick, George, 29, 105 Hardwick, George, Jr., 106 Hardwick, Jane Montgomery, 63 Hardwick, John, 19 Hardwick, Joseph H. and John M., 105 Hardwick, P. C. L., 107 Harle, C. W., 107, 111 Harle, Frank J., 105, 107 Harle, J. H., 28 Harle, Louise, 31, 33, 35, 44, 62, 69, 73, 78, 85, 115 Hawk, Joe, 36 Hawk, R. H., 36 Henegar, Henry Benton, 8, 117; home of, 36, 117 HiQks, Sue K., 69 Higgins, William, 47-48' Hildebrand, Peter, 12, 14 Hiwassee, Canal Company, 27; District, 16; Land Company, 1 13; Old Town, 8-9, 11; Purchase, 11 Hiwassee River, 1-3, 6, 8, 11, 27, 36, 92, 113; Packett Company, 27 Hix, Henderson, H., 19 Hixson, June, 71 Horner, Sam and Will, 75 Horner, W. O., 28, 75; store of, 36 Hoskins, Sallie, 75, and Will, (picture) 79 Hospitals, 83, 87-88 Hotels, 22, 32, 39, 60, 62, 69, 73, 100, 110; see resorts Howard, Nena B., 22, (picture) 57 Huff, Paul B., 65, (picture) 66 Hughes, Dale, 51 Hughes, W.J., 118 Humberd, William, 64 Hunt, William, 62 Hunter, Beecher, 78, (picture) 80 Hyberger, Kris, 97 Indians, 5-16, 36-37, 39, 67-68, 99; early cultures, 6; sites, 5, 1 1; see Cherokee Indians Industries, 93, 99-115; early, 36, 100-101 103, 105-107; current list of, 1 10-1 11, 114-115; see businesses Inman, Mrs. J. W., 22, 32 Inman, Myra Adelaide (m. Carter), 22, (picture) 23, 28, 31, 49, 60-61, 64-65, 73,83 Itzel, Mrs. C. H., 75 Itzel, Charles, 109 Jackson, Ray, 107 James, George N., 42 Johnson, Harry M., 80 Johnston, James, 99 Johnston, J. E., 105, 107 Johnston, J. F., 107 Johnston, J. Hardie, 107 Johnston, J. Morgan, Sr., 109 Johnston, Mary L. Tipton and John Tucker, 82, 119 Johnston, Sarah Tucker, 82 Johnston, Summerfield, K., 99 Johnston, W. T., 107, 109 Jones, Bob, Sr., 55 Jones, Campbell, 36 Jones, Pau, 65, (picture) 66 Jones, Frances, 71 Keith, Charles Fleming, 68 Kelley, C. F., (picture) 81, 111 Kennedy, John C, 19 Kibler, Barry, 39 Kimbrough, Porter, 35 Kincannon, Frank, 17 Kirby.J. L., 109 Knox, Hugh M., 107 Knox, T.J. , 107 Knoxville, 5, 21, 27, 29, 59, 70, 103 Lackey, Herbert, 98 Landmark Building, (picture) 34, 118 Lane, L. Quentin, 57, (picture) 56 Larson, Herman, 94 132 Index Latimer. Samuel W., 44 Lauderdale, James, 17 Lawson. Beecher, 94 Lawson, Walter, 94-95 Lawyers, 68-72 Lea,' Luke, 14,24,68-69 Lea, P.J. G., 19 Ledford, Richard, 98 Lee, F. J., 44 Leeper, Mrs. S. J., 35 Lewis, John Q. A., 32 Lillard, Abraham, 35, 47-48, (picture) 71 Lillard, Nora Kimbrough, 35, (picture) 104 Lincoln, Abraham, 59, 64 Little, George, 15 Littrell, Terril, 57 Livery stables, 35-36 Livestock, in county, 89, 91-92, 95, 99 Long, G. A., 83, 87 Loudon, 28, 69, 100 Lovell, James T., 98 Lowe, James, C., 87, 115 Mahan, Samuel, 17 Manly, Elizabeth Cate, 78, (picture) 81 Mansfield, W. C., 107 Maples, Roy. L., 111-113 Marshall, S. W., 107 Martin, John, 9, 67 Masonic Female Academy (Institute), 24, 31,49, 73 May, John B., 51 Matill, O.J., 98 Mayfield, Pearson B., Sr., 69, 72, 107 McAllister, C. L., 78, 98 McCaslin Springs, 2, 18, 41, 103 McCoin, Ann Yarbro, (picture) 70, 71 McCowen, E. H., 109 McDonald Community, 39, 72; Station, 39 McDonald, M. W., 39 McKamy, William, 36 McKenzie, J. B., 94-95; and James L., 94 McMillan, Joseph W., 17, 97 McMillin Station, 40 McMinn County, 2, 17, 27, 88 McMurray Robert L., 72 McNelley, Robert, 63, 78 McNutt, William, 59, 63 Mee, Columbus A., 93, 107; home of, 117 Meigs County, 37, 88 Meigs, Return Jonathan, (picture) 7, 8, 27, 58; daughter of, 9 Mills, 37, 40, 92, 99, 100-101, 103, 106-107 Miller, W. F., 107 Milne, J. H., 107 Milne, W. S., 28, 32, 107 Mitchell, John L., 21 Moore, Mr. and Mrs. John B., 14, 95, 118 Morelock, Horace Wilson, 50, 69, 78 Mouse Creek, 2, 5-6, 21 Mullinax, Charles J., 114 Music activities, 32, 73, 75, (pictures) 74, 77 Nashville, 17, 29, 43 Neal, R. M., 107-108 Neil, Mary Elizabeth, 9, 99, 118 Nelson, David, 70 Nelson, Thomas A., 70 Newspapers, 26, 29, 31-33, 35, 44, 65, 73, 78-79, 83, 87, 97 Oak Grove Male Academy, 49; Female Academy, 49 Oakley, T. M., 98 O'Brien, John W. and S. B., 78 Ocoee, District, 12, 14, 18, 24, 41; House, 32, 73, 103, 107; River, 27 Parks, G. W., 19 Parmentier, Rosine, 21-22 Payne, John Howard, 8 Paysinger, John, 97 Polk County, 1, 10-11, 14, 21, 27, 29, 64, 67, 71, 85, 88, 91; courthouse, 11 Politics, 17, 24-26; politicians, early, 24; political parties, 24 Powder Springs, 2, 40 Preston, Winston P., 114 Price, Henry, 17 Quintard, Charles Todd, 42 Radio stations, 78-79, 97 Raht, Julius E., 103; home of, 118 Randolph, W. G., Ill Rankin, Mrs. Arthur, 75 Rattlesnake Springs, 2, 9, 12, 14, 118; Farm, 99 Rayborn, H. Kenneth, 118 Reconstruction Period, 39, 70 Red Clay Council Ground, 9, 11-12, (pictures) 13, 14-15, 119-120; mission, 8, 11,47 Religion, 8, 18, 37, 40-47, 109; denominations, lists of, 46-47; see churches Resorts, 28, 39-40; see hotels Richmond, Clarence L., 65 Ridge, John, 9 Roberts, J. E., 36 Robertson, John H., 17 Rogers, T. L., 36 Ross, John, 8-9, 12, 14, 39, 58, 117; Index 133 Quatie, wife of, 14; home of, 15 Ron, Lewis, 8, 11, 117; store of, 36 Rounsaville, R. W., 79 Rowles, George Washington, 24-26, 68 Rucker, Walter, 36 Rutledge, Wiley B., Jr. and Sr., 26 Rymer, Clara LaDosky Gee, 1 10 Rymer, S. B., Jr. and Sr., 110 Saloons, 19-20, 32, 35, 100, 118 Sanford, W.J., 97 Scott, Winfield, 12, 36, 117-118 Schools, 8, 22, 24, 37, 40-41, 47, 50, 53, 55, 57, 65, 75, 98, 117; academies, 47, 50, 62, 1 17, 1 19; consolidation of, 53; enrollment, 47, 51, 53; facilities, 49, 51 53; faculty, 49-51, 53; private, 57; superintendents of, 49, 51, 53; transportation to, 53 Settlers, early, 16-17, 36-37, 39-40, 100 Shouse, Elton F., 94, 97 Simmons, Isham, 42 Slavery, 22, 59; slaves, 14, 21, 59; slave trade, 22, 59 Slover, O. H., 36 Smedley, William, 17 Smith, Gary K., 113 Smith, I. L., 71 Smith, Judith, 97 Smith, Q. M., 51 Smith, Samuel Axley, 26 Snell, William R., 78, (picture) 81 Snyder, Abraham, 103 Social activities, recreation, in county, 19-21, 29, 31-32, 73, 89; see clubs Speck, Carl T., Sr., 83, 87 Sprague, Claude, 85 Spriggs, Ezekiel, 17 Spring, Nicholas, 19 St. Elmo, 22 Stephenson, A. R., 47-48 Stevens, Thomas E., 22, 24 Stuart, D. S., 106 Stuart, Jo Corn, 99 Sullins, David, 55, (picture) 55; George Stuart and Timothy, 55 Sullivan, S. J., 87 Sullivan, Will, 85 Swan, Robert, 19 Swingle, E. H., 97 Syers, James S., 79 Sykes, W. P., 28 Tanneries, 37, 100, 103, 107 Tasso, 11, (picture) 38, 40, 92, 97 Taylor, Alf and Bob, 26 Taylor, Andrew, 18, 99 Taylor, George R., 107 Taylor, J. N., 36 Tedford, James, 49 Telephones, 28-29, 32, 37, 39 Tennessee River, 2; Transportation Company, 27 Tennessee Supreme Court, 70, 72 Tennessee Valley Authority, 2, 5, 29, 93 Thompson, Gideon B., 42, 83 Thompson Springs, 2, 1 1, 67, 1 18 Tibbs, William, 24, (picture) 25 Tipton, J. C, 19 Tipton, William S., 118 Tomlinson, A. J., 26, 44; Homer A., 26; Milton, 44 Toth, Peter, 15 Transportation, automobiles, 28, 32; ferries, 27; highways, roads, streets, 9, 11, 14, 19,21,27, 32, 35,39,42,49, 51, 60, 63, 72-73, 87, 100, 107, 109, 111; railroads, 21, 27-28, 39-40, 59-60, 100; stagecoach route, 21; steamboats, 27, 36; streetcar, 28, 32 Trewhitt, Levi, 19, 62 Trewhitt, William, 94-95, and wife, 95 Tucker Springs, 2, 28; Farm, 99; Hotel, 39 Valleys, 1, 2, 9, 41, 99 Van Dyke, Thomas Nixon, 69, 100 Vanell,John F., 96, 98 Vanell, S. N., 94-95 Wagonmakers, 37, 89, 101 Walker, Henry, 49 Walker, Jack, Jr., 9, 67; Emily, wife of, 9 Ward, Nancy, 10, 76 Ware, James, 19 Wars, 58-66 Waterhouse, Euclid, 103 Weatherly, C. H., 19 Weeks, Margaret, 97 Weiss, Mrs. C. H., 85 White, Jesse, 22, (picture) 81 White Oak Mountain, 1, 5, 39 Williams, A. J., 16 Williams, John, 47-48 Williams, Joe V., 82 Williams, Thomas L., 68 Williamson, John Coffee, 31, 42 Williamson, Peter J., 43 Wilson C. J., 118 Wilson, Noah R., 94, 111 Witt, James C, 69 Women, outstanding- in county, early, 22, 75; current, 78, 110 Yates, Donald P., 53 Roy G. Lillard, son of Abraham and Nora Kimbrough Lillard, was born at Parksville, Tennessee. After attending pub- lic schools of Polk County and Etowah, he received a B.A. degree from Carson-Newman College, a M.A. degree from the Uni- versity of Tennessee, and has completed course work for the Ph.D. degree. He taught history and political science at Cleve- land State Community College for 12 years and served as chair- man of the social science and business division for ten years and, for a shorter period, as chairman of the education, psychology, and recreation division. At the college he also served as president of the college education association and advisor to the student government association and the Baptist student union. His teaching experi- ence includes positions with city schools of Knoxville, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, University of Tennessee at Chatta- nooga, Tennessee Wesleyan College, Lee College, and Tennes- see Valley Authority. He has held the offices of chairman of the Bradley County Bicentennial Commission, co-chairman of the Polk County Bicentennial Commission, Polk County Historian, president of the East Tennessee Historical Society, Bradley, and Polk County Historical societies. He has received a certificate of merit from the Tennessee Historical Commission and has served as editor of the History of Bradley County, Studies In Polk County History, and Echoes.
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