Growth of the County

The first money for county purposes was derived from the sale of lots in Lewisburg November 30, and December 1 and 2, 1836. These sales amounted to $22,861, which was appropriated for public improvements. The lots were usually sold on time, and January 4, 1837, the treasurer reported "no money in the treasury." In 1841 the following levy of tax was made: On each $100 worth of property (for county) 6 cents; on each $100 worth of property (for poor) 1¼ cents; on each poll, 26 cents; on each merchant peddler or hawker, $5; on shows, $50.

The tax for 1842 was the same as for the year previous, except that a bridge tax of 61 cents on each poll and 4¼ cents on each $100 worth of property was assessed. For 1886 the tax levy was at the following rate: County tax, 40 cents on $100; State tax, 30 cents on $100; school tax, 15 cents on $100; railroad tax, 35 cents on $100; highway, 11 cents on $100; total $1.31 on $100. In 1886 there was reported 224,829 acres of land valued at $2,205,117. The total taxable property was valued at $2,578,170. The population in 1880 was 19,260.

Indicative of the rich agricultural resources, the following official report of 1885 is given: Number of acres of improved land, 132,513; number of horses and mules, 9,344: number of cattle, 9,808; number of sheep, 10,118; number of hogs, 37,815; Indian corn, 1,176,536 bushels; oats, 59,567 bushels; rye, 2,050 bushels; wheat, 172,584 bushels.

November 7, 1836, James Osborn, William Williams, Joel Yowell, Aaron Boyd and James C. Record were appointed commissioners to lay off and sell town lots in Lewisburg and to superintend the erection of public buildings; and December 5, 1836, the same body of men, with the exception of James Osborn, was appointed a committee to draft plans and specifications for a courthouse and a jail. On January 2, 1837, they reported that after due consideration and deliberation they would suggest the said buildings to be similar to those of Bedford County, with some alterations. The first court house, modeled after the one them in Shelbyville, was built at a cost of $8,750, and was completed, received and occupied by October 1, 1838. This building burned in 1873, and the next year the present court house was erected. The contract for its erection was $21,900, and carpeting, desks, chairs, tables, shelves, etc., amounted to about $1,000 more. This is a splendid two-story brick building, and with its yard full of shade trees presents a handsome appearance.

Thomas D. Moore, Samuel Davis, J. B. Ezell, James Hendricks and James W. Nance composed the committee to draft the plans and specifications. A notable fact is that W. H. Wisener made the first and last speech in the old court house, and the first speed in the new one.

The first jail was a brick building 26x50 feet. It was lined with a double wall of hewn oak logs, having a space of eight inches between, which was filled with stones. The floor and ceiling were of two-inch oak plank. It was completed March 1, 1838, at a cost of $3,850. This jail was a secure one, as no prisoners ever escaped from it. It was burned about the close of the war and in 1867 the present one was built of stone, at a cost of $9,108.06.

On January 1, 1838, court appropriated $1,000 for building a poor-house. The poor farm was located two and a half miles southwest of Lewisburg, and comprised seventy-two acres. In 1858 it was sold, and the present one of 160 acres, was bought. It is ten miles south of the county seat. There are now ten white and seven colored inmates of the asylum.

In 1871 the people of Marshall voted an appropriation of $315,000, to the proposed building of the Cumberland & Ohio Railroad through the county. In 1873 the amount was divided, $200,000 being still appropriated to the above road, and $115,000 to the Duck River Valley Railroad. The panic of 1873 destroyed the hopes of the Cumberland & Ohio Road; but the Duck River Valley Road was completed to Lewisburg from Columbia, in April, 1877, and in October, 1879, it was completed to the Lincoln County line. Besides the $115,000 a large individual subscription was raised. Dr. R. G. McClure and Col. J. H. Lewis were instrumental in securing the road. Dr. McClure was president of the company for three years and was succeeded by Col. Lewis, who was president two years previous to its lease to the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Road. Marshall Bounty issued bonds for the $115,000. The railroad tax pays the interest on these bonds md also creates a sinking fund, by which the debt has been reduced to $87,600. This road supplies the much needed outlet for grain which has so long been felt, and it has been the means of placing Marshall high in the rank of agricultural counties of the State.

The Shelbyville & Lewisburg, Lewisburg & Franklin, Nashville, Nolensville & Chapel Hill, Cornersville & Lewisburg, and Lewisburg & Mooresville Pikes were built before the war. Since the war the Cornersville & Lewisburg Pike has been extended, to Pulaski, and the Lewisburg & Mooresville Pike Road runs to Culleoka. The Nashville, Nolensville & Chapel Hill Pike has also been extended from Chapel Hill to Farmington. Others which have been constructed recently are the Cornersville & Lynnville, Cornersville & Spring Place and Lewisburg & Columbia Pikes.

The first bridge was built across Duck River within this county in 1838, at a cost of $6,892. It was a covered wooden bridge supported on stone piers. There are now two splendid iron bridges across the river and one of wood.

 Marshall County | AHGP Tennessee

Source: History of Tennessee, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1886