Weakley County is located on
the Plateau Slope of West Tennessee. It is bounded on the north by the State of
Kentucky, on the east by Henry County, on the south by Carroll and Gibson Counties,
and on the west by Obion County. The county is 26 miles from north to south, and
24 miles east to west. Presently, it covers an area of 576 square miles. There
are four chartered cities in Weakley County. They are: Dresden, the county seat; Martin,
the largest city in the county; Greenfield and Gleason. There are also several small towns and communities
in the county. They are: Sharon, Latham, Dukedom,
Mount Pelia, Ore Springs, Gardner,
Palmersville, and Ralston.
The cultural and social history of Weakley County began around ten to fifteen thousand years ago (Paleo-Indian Period) when nomadic hunters gradually ventured into this area while following herds of migrating animals. From the year 5,000 to 1,500 B.C. (Archaic Period) these nomadic hunters began to permanently reside in the county as they evolved into more agricultural based society. The Woodland Period from 1500 to 500 B.C. brought forth many advances in crop cultivation and the domestication of animals. The unique phenomenon of burial mounds began during this era and is evident in counties surrounding Weakley County. The early ancestors of the Chickasaw Indians temporally resided in the county between 500 A.D. and 1700 A.D. and built temple mounds for ceremonies and worship. A few such mounds can be found within the boundaries of the county.
European exploration of the Americas led to land claims by Spain, France and England respectively. By 1663, most of West Tennessee fell under the jurisdiction of the English government, specifically the western most precinct of Albemarle County in the province of Carolina. Between 1693 and 1712 Carolina gradually split into North and South and West Tennessee came under the legal authority of North Carolina. In 1776 the North Carolina Constitution created the Washington District which encompassed what presently is the State of Tennessee. Following the American Revolution the Washington District was divided and West Tennessee became Green County, North Carolina. On April 2, 1790 the Second Session Act ceded the lands "south of the River Ohio" to the United States government. Six years later, on June 1, 1796, the State of Tennessee was officially established.
The Chickasaw still held claims to the lands west of the Tennessee River until 1818, when General Andrew Jackson and Isaac Shelby purchased the land for $300,000. The relinquishment of the Chickasaw claims to Western Tennessee and Kentucky later became known as the Jackson Purchase. The following year the purchase area of Tennessee was divided into surveyor districts. Weakley County made up parts of the 12th and 13th districts. In 1821, the State Legislature passed an act to form and establish new counties west of the Tennessee River. On October 21, 1823, the 15th General Assembly of the State of Tennessee officially established Weakley County (State Act creating Weakley County). It was named in honor of Colonel Robert Weakley, who was then the Speaker of the Tennessee State Senate.
When the county was first organized in 1823 it was rectangular in shape and contained an area of over 700 square miles. The southern boundary was altered in 1837 in a land exchange with Gibson County. This was done so that settlers living on the land adjacent to the south fork of the Obion River could get to a county seat without having to cross the unbridged stream. The western boundary was changed in 1870 when the Obion County seat was transferred from Troy to Union City. At that time the state law required the county seats to be near the center of the county, thus the north-eastward relocation of the Obion County seat called for the northwestern boundary of Weakley County to be changed. The last change in Weakley County was in 1889 when J. W. Boyd and Company arranged for his business to be situated in Obion County instead of Weakley. With the political support of S. H. Hall and C. C. Adams in the State Legislature the final boundary change was approved. (1836 Map of Weakley County)
Prior to the organization of the county daring settlers migrated into this unchartered land. The first recorded settlers were Ruben Edmonston and John Bradshaw who both arrived in Weakley County in the fall of 1819. They originally settled about six miles west of Dresden and around three miles south of Martin. Bradshaw would be the first settler to raise corn in the county. Other settlers would soon follow. One of the more famous settlers was David Crockett who arrived a year before the county was officially organized in 1822. He would build a log cabin in the southwestern part of the county along the South Fork of the Obion River. He and his family resided in this cabin until his ill fated trip to Texas in 1835. In 1837, the property once owned by the Crockett's was ceded during the restructuring of the county and now lies in Gibson County near Rutherford, Tennessee.
In the
Antebellum era, Weakley County economically prospered and gradually progressed into
the industrial age. Mills to grind the harvested corn and wheat were the county's first
localized industries. Small community businesses and industries, such as
blacksmiths, wheelwrights, tanners, tailors, shoemakers, etc., soon followed
the growing number of settlers.
By the 1850's, tobacco warehouses, cotton gins and other agriculturally based industries evolved
and thrived. By the early 1850's, the citizens of the county sought a railroad connection to the
nearby Hickman and Obion Railroad which ran north to south through Union City toward
Hickman, Kentucky. After some financial and political setbacks the
railroad was eventually
completed in early 1861. Later that same year, with the United States at the brink of war,
Weakley Countians voted against the secession of Tennessee from the Union. Their Unionist
convictions were in vain as Tennessee followed other southern states in seeking independence.
The
Civil War had a devastating effect upon the population of Weakley County. The
severing of the county into two armed factions not only ripped apart individual
communities but also embittered families for generations to come. The majority
of Weakley Countians seemed to have supported the rebellion as about 1100 men
volunteered for service in the Confederate military while around 400 men chose
to fight for the Union. One of those Confederate soldiers was Martin Van Buren
Oldham who fought with the 9th Tennessee Infantry from 1862 to 1864. The war
hit home in early May of 1862, when a detachment of Union cavalry was surprised
by two regiments of Confederate cavalry at Lockridge's
Mill just north of Dresden. The Union forces were easily routed and driven
northward into Kentucky. The county fell into a state of anarchy between 1863
until the conclusion of the war. Guerrilla bands and outlaws roamed the county
pillaging communities and destroying homes and farms. Like most communities
in West Tennessee it would take decades to reconstruct the damage inflicted
from the war.
At present, Weakley County has a population of 31,972 (1990) and continues to have an agricultural based economy with few industrial businesses. Around 40% of the county's population lives in rural areas. The prevailing climate is temperate, with pronounced seasonal variations in both temperature and precipitation. Snowfall is variable from year to year. Most winters have little or no snow, but there are seasons when snowfall can accumulate up to 15 or 20 inches. The average annual temperature is 62 degrees and the annual precipitation is around 50 inches. The people of Weakley County, much like the climate, are warm and hospitable. We encourage all to visit our historic communities and parks.
Special Collections and Archives speccoll@utm.edu
Any comments, concerns, questions or suggestions should be directed
to:
Paul Meek Library,
University of Tennessee at Martin,
Martin, TN 38238