Tennessee has been divided, the county of Lawrence has, very properly, been assigned to the Highland Rim, and it preserves its continuity of upland from the north-east to its south-west boundaries. Here, it has been estimated, the Highland Rim, lying west and south of the Basin, rises to its loftiest height, and we are certain that from its sides rush and from its caverns gush streams that flow in every direction down into the Basin on the north and east, or rush down the slopes to the Valley of the Tennessee. The streams of Lawrence, renowned for their pure, clear waters, flowing over pebbles, shale or limestone bottoms, are but the limpid spurtings of the great watery heart that lies embosomed in her hills. While the formation of the county seems to have originated in a desire by other counties to lop off the barren from the more fertile, yet its topography very early suggested its great waterpowers and privileges. As early as 1829, we find Judge John Catron, who assisted in giving lustre to the judicial ermine of the State, entering large quantities of land in the north-western portion of the county (now within the territory of Lewis county) for the establishment of what was then, as well as now, known as the Buffalo Iron Works. Just as early the Legislature encouraged the building of mills by authorizing persons to have land set apart for their erection. These statutes seemed to have had a special application, in some instances applying exclusively to counties belonging to the Highland Rim. Shoal Creek needs only to be described that an approximate idea may be had of the water-power of the county. Three of the tributaries which make up Shoal Creek proper rise within the northern portion of a circle that might be described about Lawrenceburg, with a radius of six miles, and bring their sparkling forces within a mile of the town. One branch (Buler's Fork) rises about four miles east of town, and at an elevation of at least 1,000 feet above the level of the sea, as determined by the line surveyed from Nashville across the Highlands to Hamburg, on the Tennessee River. The hills are quite small around its source, but it soon breaks through the Lithostrotion Bed, upon which Lawrenceburg is situated, winding about from bluff to bluff in a most serpentine way until its course has measured fully forty miles before it crosses into Alabama. On one side or the other there are always large bluffs rising in solid limestone sometimes as high as 300 feet, in whose cliffs the eagles still build their nests and propagate their young. The valley is usually narrow, in no instance spreading out beyond half a mile. The fall from its head to the point where it leaves the State cannot be less than 300 feet, and its bottom is generally

of limestone, worn smooth by the rush of its waters, making it exceedingly difficult at places for the angler to maintain his equilibrium when he wades after the fine trout that lave their silvery fins in the pure, bright waters. The miller can always place his dam on an immovable foundation, and its narrow channel peculiarly adapts it to the building of cheap dams. These several tributaries have hardly emerged from the bosom of the earth before their waters are appropriated to the running of mills and cotton factories. Within five miles of Lawrenceburg five cotton factories are in successful operation, and, in the year 1860, run more spindles than all the rest of the State besides. There are several mills within the same distance, and there are as many locations at intermediate points equally if not more desirable than those already appropriated. Knob, Chisholm, Factory's Fork, Blue Water, Sugar Creek, Buffalo, and innumerable other smaller streams, rush down the slopes, sparkling in cascades and foaming in torrents, and laughingly inviting the mechanic, the machinist and the artizan to occupations that will give wealth and prosperity.

Towns and Villages. Lawrenceburg was established as the county seat of Lawrence county by an act of the General Assembly of the State, passed at Murfreesboro, on the 23rd day of November, 1819. The commissioners of the town, Enoch Tucker, Josephus Irvine, Henry Phenix and Maximillian H. Buchanan, by virtue of duplicate land warrants issued at Hillsboro, North Carolina, on the 14th day of April, 1792, assigned by F. Glasgow originally, and assigned at Nashville by J. Winchester, on the 10th day of April, 1807, and attested by R. McGavock, Clerk of Commissioners for West Tennessee, which warrant was issued to John Thompson, and lastly assigned to said commissioners, located 400 acres of land, the survey of which constituted the boundaries of the town, and to which it has been limited ever since. The German Catholic Homestead Association in the year 1870 purchased what was called the Bentley Farm, north of and adjoining the corporation, and have laid off 350 lots that will make a beautiful addition when improved. Shoal Creek runs through the southern portion of the corporation from east to west, and numerous springs rush out from the bluffs or bubble out from the banks, where cool, refreshing water can be had in abundance, which with very little expense can be driven into every family room and kitchen in town. The scenery skirting the banks of the creek or spreading out into gently undulating plains, is captivating to the transient visitor.

NOTE. The only monument in the State erected to the memory of those who gave their lives to their country's call in the war with Mexico, stands on the public square, north of the court-house. It is made of limestone. The base is about ten feet square and six feet high, then pyramidal about three feet, when a shaft shoots up about thirty feet, making it in all about forty feet high. Upon the upright shaft on the north side is the following dedication:

Of the First Regiment Tennessee Volunteers, who fell on the 21st of September, 1846, at the capture of Monterey by the American Army, under the command of MajorGeneral Z. Taylor, and of all Tennesseans, who died of wounds or disease, received or contracted during their service in the war with Mexico."

On the west side:

66

This column is erected by the grateful countrymen of the citizen-soldiers, who gave their lives a willing sacrifice at their country's call. May it be held sacred by posterity, and inspire future generations with love of patriotism and valor."

On the south side:

"Let posterity remember that the valor of the citizen-soldier scaled the Rocky Mountains, and planted our eagles on the banks of the Pacific, doubled our country's area, and opened a new path to the commerce of Asia.”

An appropriation was made by the State of $1,500, and $1,000 raised by private subscription, principally in Lawrence, for the building of the monument. This evidence

of appreciation of that noble patriotism that inspires the citizen-soldier to respond to the country's call when the slightest insult or injury is done to her honor or rights, certainly speaks well of the grateful countrymen. This most naturally suggests Texas, and her history cannot be mentioned without the name of Crockett, who was a citizen of this town and county at its organization, and for several years after. About this time the Hon. William R. Harris commenced the study of law in the office of Isaac Cook, Esq., and afterwards was appointed and elected to a place on the Supreme Bench.

Lawrenceburg has at this time seven dry goods stores, one drug store, three groceries, one tin shop, two furniture stores, two harness and saddle shops, one beer saloon, one jewelry store, three blacksmith shops, one millinery shop, three hotels, a printing office, four churches, Southern Methodist, a colored Methodist, one Presbyterian and one Catholic. The Catholics also have a large convent. The Protestants have two schoolhouses, the Jackson, male and female. The court-house is large and well arranged, with commodious offices for every county officer. The population of the town is reported, in the census of 1870, as being 351, though now it is estimated to be not less than 500. Henryville is a small village, 11 miles north-west of Lawrenceburg, on the Central Turnpike where it crosses Buffalo Creek, and has about 75 inhabitants, one dry goods store, a church and school-house, and a Catholic Church, at least in the course of construction. Every one who has traveled down the pike will remember the mill close by. West point is another little village, 15 miles to the south-west, with a population of 50; it has a dry goods store, a good flouring mill, and a church; and six miles south-east of West Point, almost cooped up by the hills, Wayland's Springs, with a population of forty, does a lively business, with two stores. Shoal Creek runs close by, and her fertile bottoms and rich hill-sides furnish the principal cotton raised in the county. Before the war, Wayland's Springs was visited by crowds of invalids and pleasure-seekers. The hotel and neatly hewn log cabins furnished room for hundreds at a time, and they were sometimes filled to their utmost capacity. The pleasure-seeker passed away the fleeting hours at angling, hunting, and in the "giddy mazes of the dance." The invalid frequently found relief from the use of the waters. The water underwent a chemical analysis at Nashville, and was pronounced inferior to none in point of medicinal virtues. It is reported to have cured chronic cases of scrofula, sore eyes, and dropsical affections. Their curative and health-promotive virtues are equal to Bailey's celebrated springs, near Florence, Alabama. The improvements were destroyed by fire during the war. Pretended soldiers did it.

Lands and Timber, Crops and Methods of Farming. The greater

part of the creek bottom lands has been cleared up, but the up or flat lands are a comparative wilderness, in some instances for miles square not a stick has ever been removed, where the wild deer sleeps as quietly as in the swamps of Arkansas, unless, as is occasionally the case, they are aroused by the horn or the dog of the huntsman. These flat lands are densely covered with white oak, post oak, chestnut, chestnut oak, black oak, red oak, and black jack timber. The creek bottoms and the hills that fringe them are quite productive. It is evident that the flat barren lands are well adapted to the cultivation of the grape, as they grow wild and in the greatest profusion on seemingly the poorest spots. The apple, cherry, pear and peach are equally as thrifty.

In Lawrence there are thousands of acres of waste lands, "old fields," and worn out hill-sides. In riding through portions of the county, one is very frequently confronted with the gloomy prospect of vast fields, whose corrugated surfaces show the wanton carelessness of the old-time farmer. These fields are monuments, so to speak, of the criminal prodigality of a time when it was decidedly cheaper to the then living generation to clear new fields than to pay any attention to the fertilizing, careful cultivation and preservation of those already cleared. These lands are not past redemption, but they have been exhausted years ago by bad tillage and a too constant drain upon the soil by reason of yearly corn crops. Reclamation is possible, but years of industry and scientific, intelligent farming are necessary to right the wrongs of those who have preceded us. As stated in the outset, the soil is of a decidedly retentive "character, owing to the waxy clay subsoil, and as a matter of course, under the judicious management of the careful farmer, and the generous application of manures, the land in a reasonable time regains its vitality and productiveness. Although there are some large, well managed and highly cultivated farms in Lawrence, yet there is a "taint of the olden time" lingering still. The average farm in the county generally comprises 160 acres. However, it is difficult to lay down anything like an average, or to make a relative statement as to the size of farms, from the fact that the entries of vacant lands have always conformed to the will and wish of the locator, and as a consequence, the lands are ragged, and without symmetry.

How sadly do we stand in need sometimes of that accurate system of surveys which, in some of the Northern and all the Western States, so admirably divides and sub-divides the lands in townships, sections and fractions of sections. The benefit of the government surveys on