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How Did We Get Here? Part I

Weekly 150

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One of the most interesting details of history is learning how the early settlements emerged, developed and transpired into the current cities and towns. Maya Angelou said it best, “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.”
To begin the story of McKenzie, one must travel back to the time when the Chickasaw controlled West Tennessee. What would later become McKenzie was named the “Barren Lands” because few trees occupied the landscape; the terrain was covered by “barren grass that grew so high riders on horseback could be seen only from the shoulders up.”
Dating back to the 16th Century, Spaniards were the first Europeans to step foot onto West Tennessee soil. Hernando De Soto brought his conquistadors across the Tennessee border and died near Memphis; with his body being tossed into the Mississippi River to conceal his mortality. Next were French fur traders of the 17th Century who worked their way down the Mississippi River claiming the Mississippi River valley in the name of Louis XIV. With the close of the Revolutionary War, expansion brought settlers closer to West Tennessee and into contact with the Chickasaw Nation.
The Chickasaw were friendly with the white expansionists who brought various treaties for the indigenous tribesmen to sign. The documents were obtained with the sole purpose of building settlements. Jackson Purchase in 1818 was the final treaty turning West Tennessee over to the United States. The treaty was brokered by Andrew Jackson and Isaac Shelby. Through the negotiations, West Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers were purchased for $300,000. At the time of settlement, one trail or trace, the West Tennessee Chickasaw Trail, ran through what would become McKenzie. The trail was an offshoot of the Natchez Trace.
In 1785, Henry Rutherford, the first surveyor in this area, discovered Clear Lake which was originally named Boyd’s Lake named for Reverend Adam Boyd, a Revolutionary War chaplain in North Carolina. Boyd held large land grants in this area.
By 1819, R.E.C. Dougherty was appointed land entry taker in what is present day McLemorsville. The first county court sessions took place there while the county seat would end up being located near Beaver Creek in nearby Huntsville.
On November 7, 1821, the Tennessee State Legislature passed an act creating Carroll County in honor of Governor William Carroll. In December of 1823, the county seat Huntsville changed its name to Huntingdon.
Historical celebrities like Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett passed through the area. Crockett settled near the Obion River in Gibson County and made numerous visits to the community of Caledonia, four miles north of McKenzie in Henry County. He was known to attend Shiloh Church when he was in this portion of his congressional district.
Stephen Pate is theorized as the first settler with his home west of McKenzie, with several hundred acres towards Greenfield. Other settlers include, John M. Gilbert in the North, Colonel John D. McKenzie and R.S. Cole the central portion, Garland Snead in the South, and men named Harris and Collier to the East. The Sneads and Gilberts took the lead in building up the area with the construction of two trading posts.
Gardner Gilbert and his son John M. Gilbert were the leaders of an area they called Marrieta. Centered near the intersection of Magnolia and Stonewall, the settlement included a business office, a log schoolhouse and a few other small buildings. The large rock found on the corner of Magnolia and Stonewall was used as a step to the old schoolhouse.

The Snead family claimed founding the Dundas settlement. Lasting only five years, the trading center consisted of a trading store, a post office, a saloon, blacksmith, and a hotel “The Carroll House.”
In 1859, James Monroe McKenzie built The McKenzie Hotel. The McKenzie family prevailed at the close of the Civil War with the crossing of railroad lines on the family property. George McKenzie became the station manager at the behest of his father, James Monroe. The first timetables printed bore the name “McKenzie, Tennessee.”
In the next edition, we will go deeper into surrounding communities that were absorbed by the City of McKenzie, the Civil War in this area and some early government leaders.
If you have any good stories or family information you would like to share, be sure to email me at The Banner.

Jason R. Martin
B.S. • M.A.Ed • MLS
Councilman, Ward II
Executive Chairman, McKenzie 150th Celebration
E: jmartin@mckenziebanner.com  P: 731.352.3323

Jason Martin is a life-long resident of McKenzie. He graduated from McKenzie High School in 2000; earned a Bachelor of Science in History from Bethel College in 2004; a Masters in Education from Bethel University in 2009 and a Masters in History and Humanities from Fort Hays State University in 2011.

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