This is ‘Chapter 3’ highlighting, or
trying to highlight, some of the listings from the National Register of Historic
Places that Laurie, Dawn Marie and myself ‘found’ during our mid-March
exploration of Meigs County Tennessee. Once again, I found very little history about two
of these structures and I’ve supplemented what I did find with other
information regarding the county and/or its former and current residents…
This is the Buchanan House on Vernon
Street in Decatur Tennessee. It was
built ca. 1875 and it was listed in the NRHP in 1982. The Buchanan’s must have been relative ‘late comers’
to the area as I couldn’t find any of them included in the 1860 census for the
County.
Meigs County was formed in 1836. It was formerly a portion of Rhea
County…that portion that was east of the Tennessee River. As of 2010, Meigs County had a population of
11,753 and Decatur, the County Seat, is the only incorporated town in the
county. Today, with the building of the
Watts Bar and the Chickamauga Dams…the county’s border on the west now consists
of the Watts Bar and Chickamauga Lakes.
There are no Interstate or US Highways in the county.
Just to deviate from the historical sites
for the moment… I personally liked the appearance of this house in
Decatur. It looked Victorian/Gothic…and in
style, it is. If you’re interested, it’s
for sale. This 1920 home has 1,756 sq.
ft. with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath. The lot
is 70 ft. by 231 ft. and it includes a large outbuilding, (studio?), and a
big covered area. FYI…The asking price
was only $145,000 and it’s only a couple of blocks from downtown Decatur! Hey…this could be 'the place' for you to retire!
Back to the historical structures… The stately
old Meigs County Courthouse has been completely renovated, the fireplaces
reopened and the clocks repaired. The original portion
of this structure was built in 1905 to replace an earlier courthouse which
burned down…
Meigs County was named after Colonel Return
J. Meigs. (Born in 1740, died in 1823) He was a Revolutionary War hero and he
was one of the founding settlers of the Northwest Territory…in what is now
Ohio. Colonel Meigs fought at the Battles
of Lexington and Stony Point. His
wartime claim to fame was Meigs Raid…a daring nighttime raid on the British
Fleet at Sag Harbor New York. Meigs and
his team of 200 plus soldiers rowed across Long Island Sound in the dark from Connecticut
and managed to burn 12 British ships and capture 90 prisoners without any
American loss of life.
Colonel Meigs later moved to Tennessee
where he operated a ferry across the Tennessee River… He became both a military
and Indian agent in the area. He was
allegedly fair and honest with the Cherokee Indians. Before 1819, Rhea and what was to become
Meigs County were part of Cherokee Territory.
The Colonel’s son became Governor of Ohio and served as a US
Senator. Meigs County Ohio is named
after him. The Colonel’s brother was a
lawyer who was President of the University of Georgia and later, served as
Surveyor General under President James Madison.
A grandson married the daughter of the principal chief of the Cherokee
and he ‘emigrated’ to Oklahoma to join his wife’s forced immigration via the “Trail
of Tears”.
For more on Colonel Meigs and for links
to other distinguished members of the family, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_J._Meigs,_Sr.
Even more interesting is the Meigs Family
Genealogy at http://meigs.org/. It dates back to the 1600’s and includes the ‘Chicago’
member of the Meigs family for which the former Meigs Field Airport on Chicago’s waterfront
was named…
In 2004, a 2-story addition was added to
the Meigs County Courthouse, utilizing modern equipment and technology,
including the addition of an elevator.
This photo is from the reverse side of Decatur’s Courthouse Square…opposite
the original entrance in the previous photo of the courthouse. The courthouse lost many old records in
earlier fires but they do maintain marriage and probate records from 1836. The bell from the original (pre-1905) courthouse
is now being used in Decatur’s Baptist Church…
The Associated Press filed the following report on
9/4/87 regarding a bit of excitement that took place at the Meigs County
Courthouse:
200 Riot in Tennessee Courtroom as Slayer
Is Freed
A county-wide curfew was in effect and
jurors were under guard today after more than 200 people rioted in a courtroom
when the jury declared a man not guilty of murder.
The defendant, Jerry Allen, and his
family went into hiding for their own protection, the authorities said. Mr. Allen testified he had lived in fear of
the victims for years and had shot them in self-defense.
Mr. Allen, 27 years old, was cleared
Wednesday in the slaying of Eddie Lee Anderson, 25, and the wounding of Tim
Keaton, 23, and Mike Roberts, 21, on March 27 at a tavern, the Dew Drop Inn.
About 200 people went on the rampage in
the Meigs County Courthouse when the verdict was announced. The authorities
said most of those involved in the melee were friends or relatives of the dead
man. Another 200 people milled about outside the courthouse, the authorities
said.
The Highway Patrol and about 100
law-enforcement officers from surrounding counties helped restore order in this
town of 1,190 people about 45 miles north of Chattanooga.
Roger Delp, the Meigs County Assistant
District Attorney, said today that Mr. Allen had feared the three men since
quarrels and at least one fist-fight about six years ago with one of the men. Mr. Allen testified that he shot them with a
shotgun after they threatened to kill him, Mr. Delp said.
The two men who survived the shooting
testified that they did not threaten Mr. Allen, although they said one had
produced a pistol from inside his shirt and placed it on the bar when Mr. Allen
left the tavern briefly, Mr. Delp said.
After the jury announced its verdict,
Sheriff McKenzie said the mob overturned benches, hurled chairs and shattered
windows as some tried to grab Mr. Allen and break into the jury room. Mr. Allen was rushed from the courtroom into a
nearby office. . . ''He got under a table and started crying and screaming,''
Sheriff McKenzie said. "The crowd was after him.''. . .
This is the former Jacob L. Grubb Store
on TN Highway 58 in Meigs County. It was
built in 1925. Dawn Marie was hoping for
a true ‘old time’ store where she could spend a little money but she was disappointed
to discover that it was out of business.
The “Discover Tennessee – Trails and Byways” website suggests that the
Grubb/Erwin’s Store is a "great place to grab a snack and experience an old
time country store as they used to be…” The website has been updated this year
but they missed the fact that this ‘store’ is now closed.
That’s about it for now… Just click on
any of the photos to enlarge them.
Thanks for stopping by for a bit of East
Tennessee history!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
