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The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture © Tennessee Historical Society
Six miles northwest of Liberty is Alexandria, established in 1820 by Daniel Alexander,
another migrant from Maryland. Alexandria prospered and soon contained a number
of flourishing businesses and good schools. In 1856 Alexandria hosted the first
DeKalb County Fair, which is still held there annually. The fair grandstand is
the oldest in the state and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Also listed in the National Register is Alexandria's Seay Chapel United Methodist
Church, a former African American church building and now a community center,
where W. E. B. Du Bois attended services as a young man. Alexandria's 1990 population
totaled 730.
DeKalb County furnished almost as many Union troops as it did Confederate troops
in the Civil War. Fighting occurred around Liberty in 1863 and included the battle
of Snow's Hill on April 3, which engaged about two thousand men on each side.
After the armies left, guerrillas, or "bushwhackers," terrorized both Union and
Confederate sympathizers in the county. Bitter feelings about the war lasted
for decades and were especially strong at election time. Not long after the war,
Dowelltown grew up one mile east of Liberty. Named by the postmaster, Frank Dowell,
it became the home of several Union army veterans.
John H. Savage ranks among DeKalb County's outstanding antebellum political leaders.
Savage, a Democrat, served in the U.S. Congress from 1849 to 1859. During the
Civil War, he attained the rank of colonel in the Sixteenth Confederate Infantry
Regiment. His principal political opponent was William B. Stokes, who had served
as a colonel in the Fifth U.S. Cavalry and became a Republican congressman in
the postwar period.
World War II brought many changes to DeKalb County. The war affected almost every
family, as more than 700 area citizens entered active military service. DeKalb
Countians on the home front got a taste of military action when the county became
the site of army maneuvers held in preparation for the assault on Europe.
Just after World War II Joe L. Evins was elected to his first term and served
as a Democratic congressman from 1946 to 1976. State-level DeKalb Democrats have
also included McAllen Foutch, who served in the general assembly from 1943 to
1959 and as Speaker of the House from 1949 to 1959 and Frank Buck, a state representative
elected continuously since 1973.
From its earliest settlement DeKalb County's economy depended on agriculture,
but enormous economic change occurred completed Center Hill Dam, flooding the Caney Fork area and
forcing many farm families to move. By 1995 almost every farm family in the county
depended on supplemental income from an outside source.
Some manufacturing occurred in the county in the antebellum period. Jesse Allen
operated an iron forge on Pine Creek, and the Lefevre family and their relatives
made crockware pottery. Manufacturing on a large scale did not begin, however,
until 1948, when a shirt factory was constructed in Smithville. Many of the county's
present businesses supply parts for the growing automobile industry in Tennessee.
Electricity became available in the towns in the late 1920s. Telephone service from the
DeKalb Telephone Cooperative began in 1951. There were no medical facilities
in 1945, but hospitals and nursing homes began to appear in the 1960s, and now
Baptist DeKalb Hospital provides a wide range of medical services to the county.
According to the 2000 census, DeKalb County's population totaled 17,423. At the
end of the Civil War, African Americans made up about 10 percent of the population,
but out-migration had reduced the number of blacks to less than 3 percent by
the 1990 census. In the 1980s a number of Mexican laborers came to work in DeKalb's
nurseries, but few have become permanent residents.
The Goodspeed Publishing Co., History of Tennessee, 1887
The greater portion of Dekalb County lies on the Highland Rim, the remainder in the central basin and the valleys. The Highlands occupy the eastern and northern parts of the county, and the surface is gently undulating. The western part of the county lies in the central basin, and embraces several valleys of considerable size and of great agricultural value, separated from each other by ranges of hills. The valley of Caney Fork begins below the falls between White and Warren Counties, near the southeast corner of Dekalb, is very narrow at the upper end, but gradually widens to the average width of three-quarters of a mile. Its length is about thirty miles. The valley of Smith Fork extends through the western part of the county, from north to south, and has an average width of one mile and is about fifteen miles in length. Each of the tributaries of Smith Fork have valleys of their own. The lands of these valleys are rich, and produce large crops of wheat, corn, oats, hay, potatoes and other cereals. The cap rock of the highlands is siliceous and calcareous. Layers of flinty chert are found in many places, resting on beds of yellow clay. The underlying strata are hard siliceous limestone, and the soils found here are not fertile, the best highland lands being found on the hillsides and along the streams. Underlying the valleys and extending about half-way up the hills is found the limestone common to all parts of the central basin. On the east side of Caney Fork, near the White County line, are found beds of rich iron ore, extending over a space of several miles. The same ore exists on the west side of the stream, though not as extensive. Magnetic iron ore is also supposed to exist in various parts of the county. The black shale underlies the siliceous rocks of the highlands, cropping out on the sides of the hills facing Caney Fork Valley and the basin, but is not valuable. In caves and rock houses are found copperas and alum. The shale also yields mineral oils, in some instances amounting to forty gallons to the ton. The black shale is the source of sulphur springs, of which there are several on the table-land. Caney Fork, Smith Fork and Pine, Fall, Hurricane, Eagle, Holmes, Dry and Mine Lick Creeks are the principal streams of the county, some of which afford splendid water power. Caney Fork is navigable for small steamboats at certain seasons of the year. Two miles below the county seat, on Fall Creek, is a fall of over ninety feet, which presents a rare bit of natural scenery, a view of which may be found in the state department of this work. The timber of the county is abundant, and embraces hickory, walnut, poplar, oak, gum, maple, and other valuable species.
The settlement of Dekalb County dates back to the year 1779, at which time Adam Dale settled on Smith Fork, in the immediate neighborhood of the present town of Liberty. Dale was a Marylander in search of a home, and was attracted to Tennessee by the abundance of cheap land, and to the above locality by the fertile land and healthy climate. Being satisfied with the outlook he at once sent work back to his friends in the East, and two years later a colony of forty families, composed of his relatives, friends and acquaintances, left Maryland to join the pioneer in his frontier home. The colony came down the Ohio River, up the Cumberland to Nashville, and from that point made their way overland to the Dale settlement in wagons. There were no roads in those days and the journey from Nashville required several weeks’ time, passages for the teams having to be cut as they went along, the forests and canebrakes being impenetrable. Reaching Smith Fork they settled in and around what is now Liberty, and being of a hardy, industrious nature, were in an incredibly short time comfortably housed and domiciled. Among those who composed the colony were William and John Dale, Thomas West, William and George Givens, Thomas Whaley, Josiah Duncan, James and William Bratton, Henry Burton, The Walks, Fruits and others. Between 1800 and 1820 many new comers settled in various parts of the county, among whom were Jesse Allen, Allan Johnson, Martin Phillips, Britton Johnson, James Lockhart, John Martin, James Davis, Giles Driver, I. H. Hayes, Tobe Martin, John Robinson, George, Samuel H. and John Allen, John C. Kennedy, Milton Ward, John Wooldridge, John Frazier, David Taylor, Nicholas Smith, D. League, John Maynor, Henry Cameron, P. G. Magness, Zachariah Lafever, Jacob and Abraham Overall, Robin Forester, Ruben Evans, Matthew Selleers, James Powell, James Tubb, Jack Reynolds, Reddick Driver, Thomas Given, William Boyd, Thomas Duncan, Thomas Durham, Davidand William Adcock, William Floyd, Hezekiah Bowers, James Powell, John Vantrees, Jonathan and Stewart Dorse, E. Turner, James Goodner, Wm. Grandstaff, Thomas Simpson, William Wright, Benjamin Garrison, Anderson Pickett, Isaac Jones, James Jones and Edmund Turner, Sr.
Adam Dale erected the first mill, which was a log, water-power corn-mill, on Smith Fork, near Liberty, built in 1800. The patronage of the mill came from the immediate Dale settlement, for the benefit of which it was established. Other early mills of the county were those of Leonard Fite, at Big Springs, on Smith Fork; Jesse Allen, on Eagle Creek; Thomas Durham and Abraham Farrington, on Pine Creek; James Lick, on Cane Creek, and Nicholas Smith, on Smith Fork. In connection with Allen’s mill was a cotton-gin and distillery, probably the first established in the county. The same gentleman also established and operated for a number of years an iron forge on Pine Creek, the ore being secured in the neighboring mountains. Between 1805 and 1815 the settlers would make frequent trips to New Orleans in keelboats, taking to market furs, produce, etc., and returning with salt, which would be sold in the settlements at as high a price as $10 per bushel. The voyagers were embarked on Caney Fork, floating into the Cumberland River, then the Ohio and into the Mississippi. From four to five months were required to make the trip to New Orleans and return. The principal mills of the county at present are as follows: Brown Bros. & Donnell’s steam flour mill, at Alexandria; J. H. Overall’s steam flour, meal and saw-mill, and Hale Bros.’ water-power grist-mill, at Liberty; Allen T. wright’s steam woolen-mill, at Dowelltown, and W. T. Robinson’s steam grist-mill, at Dowelltown, and T. H. W. Richardson’s, Wash. Reynolds’, James Oakley’s, W. G. Crowley’s, John Bone’s and James Kelton’s grist-mills in various parts of the county.
Dekalb County is bounded on the north by the counties of Smith and Putnam, east by Putnam and white, south by Warren and Cannon, and west by Cannon and Wilson. The county was established by act of the Legislature passed in 1837, the territory for the new county being cut off from the counties of White, Warren, Cannon, Wilson and Jackson. The act creating and naming the county is as follows: “Be it enacted by the General Assembly that a new county be and is hereby established of parts of White, Warren, Wilson, Cannon and Jackson, to be called DeKalb, in honor of Baron De Kalb, the friend of American liberty, who fell at the battle of Camden in the Revolutionary war.” The act also provided for the holding of the first sessions of the different courts at the house of Bernard Richardson, on the bank of Fall Creek, one Quarter of a mile east from the present county seat, and for the appointment of a committee to locate a permanent seat of justice, lay out a town and sell the lots of the same, and with the money derived from the sale, erect the necessary public buildings. The county was formally organized at Richardson’s house in March, 1838. A committee composed of Joseph Clark, Thomas Allen, Joseph Banks, Watson Cantrell and Thomas Durham, was appointed to select a site for a permanent seat of justice and erect a courthouse and jail. Of the commissioners, Joseph Clark is still living. A site was selected on the land of Bernard Richardson, who donated fifty acres of the same to the county, which was at once surveyed and laid off into lots and the same sold at public sale, and the town named Smithville in honor of John S. Bryan, who was known as and called Smith. A log courthouse and jail were at once erected, which stood and were used until about 1840, when the buildings of the present were erected. The courthouse is a square, brick building, two-story in height, and cost about $6,000. It is out of repair, and a new house will soon be a necessity. The jail is also a brick building, and cost about $2,500.
The population of the county in 1840 was 5,868; in 1850 it was 8,016; in 1860 it was 10,573; in 1870 it was 11,425; in 1880 it was 14,000 and in 1886 about 15,000. In 1886 the voting population was about 3,000, of which about 1,800 were Democrats and 1,2000 Republicans.
In 1870 there were 182,726 acres assessed for taxation in the county, valued at $1,510,563, and the total valuation of assessed taxable property amounted to $1,960,031. In 1886 the number of acres assessed was 192,704, valued at $1,192,315, while the total valuation of assessed property amounted to $1,408,775; the tax agregate for 1886 shows taxes assessed in the county as follows: State $4,226.32 1/2; county, $4,226.32 1/2; school, #3,521.93 3/4 poor, $704.38 3/4; highway, $1,127.02; Poll, $1,450.
The live stock of the county in 1870 amounted to 3,390 head of horses and mules, 3,885 head of cattle, 11,473 head of sheep, and 20,999 head of hogs. In 1886 the estimated live stock amounted to 5,000 head of horses and mules, 11,000 head of cattle, 7,100 head of sheep, and 2,800 head of hogs. In 1870 the cereal products of the county amounted to 81,412 bushel of wheat, 486,823 bushels of corn, 32,250 bushels of oats, and 1,492 bushels of rye. In 1886 the estimated products were 76,000 bushels of wheat, 863,200 bushels of corn, 21,200 bushels of oats, and 4,000 bushels of rye. Dekalb County is without railroads, the nearest one being the Lebanon branch of the Nashville, Chattannooga & St. Louis Railway,but has the next best thing, i.e., a splendid turnpike, leading from Lebanon, Wilson County, to Smithville, the county seat, upon which the towns and villages of the county are situated, and over which a daily mail and passenger stage is run, affording good transportation, express and nail facilities; at intervals of five miles toll-gates are situated, the income of which is ample to keep the pike and bridges in excellent repair. While the other highways of the county are poor in comparison with the pike, they afford good travel during the spring, summer and fall months. There are no bridges in the county of importance off the pike, there being no necessity for them, as the streams are fordable at almost any season of the year.
On Monday, March 5, 1838, James Goodner, Jonathan C. Doss, Lemuel Moore, Reuben Evans, Joseph Turney, Thomas Simpson, John Martin, Watson Cantrell, David Fisher, William Scott, Samuel Strong, Henry Burton, Martin Phillips, John Frazier, Joel Cheatham, Jonathan Fuston, Peter Reynolds and James Batey, all holding commissions as justices for Dekalb County, met at the house of Bernard Richardson, on Fall Creek, and organized the county court by electing Lemuel Moore, chairman. The several county officers produced their certificates of election, qualified and entered upon the discharge of their respective duties, and the wheels of the Government were set in motion. The court continued to meet at Richardson’s house until the completion of the log courthouse. The circuit court of Dekalb County was also organized at Richardson’s, the first session being held on the second Monday in August, 1838, over which Judge A. J. Marchbanks presided. The chancery court was organized at the courthouse in Smithville in March, 1844, by Chancellor B. L. Ridley.
Among the first lawyers of Dekalb County were Jonathan L. Farrar, M. M. Brien, W. W. Wade, Sr., J. J. Ford, John H. Savage and Monroe Savage. The lawyers who have practiced since the war, and are at present members of the bar of the county are as follows, in about the order given, some of whom are not at present residents of the County: John H. Savage, M. M. Brien, Robert Cantrell, James A. Nesmith, Robt. C. Nesmith, W. W. Wade, Jr. , T. M. Wade, J. S. Gibble, W. B. Stokes, B. M. Webb, B. G. Adcock, J. T, Holis, B. M. Cantrell, John B. Robinson, A. Arant, R. M. Magness, P. T. Showers, Joseph Clark, Will T. Hale, D. O. Williams, J. J. Ford and J. W. Batts.
The following is a list of the county officers who have served from the organization of the county:
County Court clerks: Pleasant M. Wade, William Lawrence, Washington Isbell, M. T. Martin, G. W. Eastham, P. G. Magness, E. J. Evans, Z. P. Lee and H. K. Allen, present incumbent.
Circuit court clerks: David Fite, William J. Given, J. B. Gibbs, J. T. Holis, W. T. Haskins, T. M. Christian and T. W. Shields, present incumbent.
Clerk and masters: Thomas Whaley, Washington Isbell, J. T. Hallin, John P. Robertson, W. W. Wade and M. A. Crowley, present incumbent.
Sheriffs: Pleasant A. Thomason, James McGuire, E. W. Taylor, John W. Dearman, J. Y. Stewart, John Hallum, W. L. Hathaway, C. Hill, J. H. Blackburn, M. F. Doss, C. S. Frazier, B. M. Merritt, H. S. Gill and S. P. Maxwell, present incumbent.
Registers: Daniel Coggin, W. I. Isbell, David Fite, J. H. Haynes, John K. Bain, M. H. McHarner, Judson Dale, J. C. Kennedy, J. B. Attwell, John Harrison, B. M. Cantrell, E. W. Taylor and John G. Evans, present incumbent.
Dekalb County has furnished her full quota of soldiers for all wars since organization, sending a full company, under command of Capt. John F. Goodner, to the war between the United States and Mexico, under the second call for volunteers, the company being mustered into service in 1847 in the Third Tennessee Regiment of Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, and during the civil war between the North and South furnished a number of companies to both the Northern and Southern Armies.
The Confederate companies was as follows: Capt. John F. Goodner’s company of the Twenty-fourth Tennessee Regiment of Infantry, raised at Alexandria in April, 1861; Capt. R. D. Allison’s company of the Sixteenth Tennessee Regiment of Infantry (of which regiment Capt. Allison was elected Colonel, and Boob Savage, of his company, elected major), organized at Alexandria in 1861; Capts. J. S. Reece’s and R. V. Wright’s companies of Allison’s Battalion of cavalry, raised at Alexandria by Col. Allison in 1862; Capt. Robert Cantrell’s company of the Twenty-third Tennessee Regiment of Infantry, raised at Smithville in 1861; Capt. John Peck’s company of the Forty-fourth Regiment of Tennessee Infantry, and Capt. Perry Adcock’s company of the same regiment, both raised at Smithville in 1862. The Federal companies were as follows: Three companies of the Fifth Regiment of Tennessee Cavalry, organized at Nashville in 1862, of which W. B. Stokes, of Liberty, was elected Colonel, they being Company A, captain, J. H. Blackburn; Company B, captain, S. Waters, and Company K, captain, E. W. Bass . Six companies of the Fourth Regiment of Tennessee Mounted Infantry were organized at Liberty in 1864, of which J. H. Blackburn was elected colonel, they being Company D, captain, Martin E. Quinn; Company E, captain, McAdoo Vanatta; company F, captain, William L. Hathaway; Company G, captain, James P. Paty; Company H, captain, John T. Thomas, and Company I, captain, John Simpson. Of the First Regiment of Tennessee Mounted Infantry, organized at Carthage in 1864, one company, commanded by Andrew J. Garrison. It is estimated that from 150 to 200 soldiers went from Dekalb County into other regiments, they going in squads, of which there was no record kept.
For history of above regiments and companies see Confederate and Federal military chapters in state department of this volume.
Smithville, the county seat, is situated on the Lebanon and Smithville pike, eighteen miles from Alexandria, and has a population of about 800. The town was founded in 1838 by the commissioners appointed by the county court to locate a permanent seat of justice. W. W. Wade, Sr., Samuel Chandler and P. M. Wade were the first merchants. Following, in the order given, the merchants were P. G. Magness, John L. Dearman, George Beckwith, J. Y. Stewart, S. B. Whaley and Elijah Whaley. Dr. G. W. Eastham was the first hotel-keeper, and he was succeeded in turn by James Ervin and Bernard Richardson. In 1846 a stock company erected a frame hotel building, which is now conducted by Joseph Bozarth. The other hotel is conducted by Mrs. N. G. Tyra. The present business of Smithville is as follows: R. B. West, G. R. Smith& Son, Smith Bros., Black & Bond, T. B. Potter, S. D. Blankenship, all general Merchandise; W. B. Foster, C. Parker, Groceries; Hooper & Bros., Hardware; D. S. Harrison, F. Z. Webb, drugs; A. L. Foster, saddles and harness; R. B. West and E. J. Evans, Livery stables.
Among the early physicians of Smithville were Drs. G. W. Eastman; Charles Schurer, J. C. Buckley, -- Barnes, J. C. Cox, and E. Tubb. Those of the present are Drs. J. Z. Webb, P. W. Eaton, M. L. Wilson and James Womack.
The early schools of Smithville were of little consequence, and of them there is no record. In 1842 a brick building was erected and Fulton Academy established. This school was a very good one, and continued intil 1883, when it was succeeded by Pure Fountain College, for which a large three-story brick building was erected, at a cost of $12,000. Prof. T. B. Kelley has charge of the college at present, and is meeting with success.
The first church erected was a brick, put up in 1848 by the Methodists. A frame building was erected in its place in 1856, and is in use at present. The next church was the Baptist, erected in 1858, the next the Christian, erected in 1873, and the next the Cumberland Presbyterian, erected in 1886. Before the Methodist Church was built log houses were used for churches.
Alexandria, is the largest town of the county, with a population of about 900, is on the Lebanon and Smithville pike, half way between the two places (eighteen miles from each), and was founded about 1815, by ---- Alexanderia who named the town after his native town in Virginia. A charter of incorporation was secured in 1846, and the town was incorporated until 1879, when the charter was surrendered and the “four mile” temperance law given authority and force, in order to close out saloons.
Among the early merchants were Joshua Coffee, ---- Alexandria, Samuel Young, Church Anderson, Jacob Fite, James Goodner, William Floyd, J. D. Wheeler, Bone & Bros., Thomas Crompton, Reece & Ford, Turner Bros., Wheeler & Jones, John F. Moore, S. W. Pearce, Lawrence & Ray, William Geltford, L. D. Fite, J. D. Beard, and Beard & Goodner, all of whom were in business prior to the war. During the latter part of the war the only firm in business was that of Dexter Buck, J. M. Beard, Stokes & Wood, Edward Turner & Bros., Dinges & Lincoln, Hurd & Co., Bridges & Smith, George Evans, and M. F. Doss. Between 1870 and 1880: Dinges & Co., Rutland & Goodner, S. W. McClelland, Ray & Zergin, John Jost, John Garrison, Edwards & Rutland, and L. Tubb. The merchants of the present are as follows: Dinges & Co., Rutland & Goodner, S. W. McClelland, general merchandise; J. W. King, Edwards & Rutland, and Gould & Newman, drugs; Tubb & Schure, hardware and groceries; John Jost, confectionery; John Garrison, fancy groceries; L. Tubb, dry goods; Batts & Garrison and H. C. Flippin, Undertakers; D. W. Dingess, livery stable, and B. F. Bell, hotel.
The early physicians of Alexandria down to the war were as follows in the order given: Drs. John Overall, George Gray, ---- Dougherty, William Sales, Cornelius Sales, William and Richard Blyth, T. J. Sneed, T. F. Evart, and T. J. Sneed, Jr. Since the war: C. L. Barton, O. D. Williams, T. A. Gould and Thomas Davis. Present: O. D. Williams, T. A. Gould, and Thomas Davis. The first school was taught by John Collins in a frame house. The first building erected expressly for a school was a frame, about 1840. The Masonic Academy was next, in 1856, and in 1858 T. M. Lawrence college was erected, the latter two being in operation at present.
In about 1820 the Methodists erected a log church, and in 1835 the same denomination erected a frame church, and in 1885 put up their present handsome frame church. In 1835 the Christians erected a frame church, and the present frame church of that denomination was built in 1851. In 1881 the Cumberland Presbyterians erected a frame building, which they use at present. There is a Baptist organization but no building.
The Alexandria Patriot, a weekly paper, was established in 1860 by W. H. Mott , which was published until 1861, when it suspended. In 1882 the Alexandria Enterprise was established by J. W. Newman, and published for about two years.
Liberty, situated on the pike, seven miles from Alexandria, has a population of about 500, and was founded in about 1800 by Adam Dale, and names in honor of the founder’s home in Maryland. The first house was built by William Givens. ---- Walk was the first merchant, and was followed by Fite & Duncan, ---- Young, Moore & price, Benjamin Bloyds, Joshua Bratton, and Leonard Moore, all of whom were in business before the late war. Since the war, Eli Vick, Fate Hale, Overall & Hale, Columbus Vick, and Elija Bratton were the merchants, and at present the business is conducted by the following firms: Hale & Son, William Vick & Son, and James Pritchett, General merchandise; D. D. Overall, drugs, etc.; James Pritchett, hotel.
The Liberty Herald, the only newspaper published in Dekalb County, was established April 1, 1886, by Will A. Vick. The Herald is a neat and newsy weekly, well edited and extensively patronized. A power press for the Herald is among the probabilities of the near future.
One of the first, if not the first, school taught in Liberty was that taught by --- Gay, at a very early date, in a log house. Other schools were taught afterward, but all were of an inferior class, and it was not until about 1870 that a good school was established. At that time a substantial two-story brick house was erected and the Masonic Normal School founded, which is in successful operation at the present.
Salem Baptist Church was erected in 1810, being the first church built at Liberty. This denomination erected a new frame house in 1849, and a third frame house in 1880. The other church of Liberty is the Methodist, the original house being erected in 1825 and the present one in 1869.
Dowelltown, two miles from Liberty, on the pike, has a population of about 300, with a good frame Methodist Church, built in 1880, and a frame schoolhouse erected in 1885.
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