Monument

For this post I am going to veer away from Bell genealogy or any family genealogy and present an article from The Camden Chronicle, from Thursday, September 2, 2010.

Before I begin, this comes from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary to show I am keeping with the genealogy theme of this blog.

Definition of GENEALOGY
1 : an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms
2 : regular descent of a person, family, or group of organisms from a progenitor or older form : pedigree
3 : the study of family pedigrees
4 : an account of the origin and historical development of something.

Now on to my post -

Wow, I was fully prepared to label “Pilot Knob” as the highest point in West Tennessee. After all, this was something I had been told my entire life, by those I considered knowledgeable and educated in the matter; however, like so many things we “think” we learn as children, myths can take on a factual belief, yet are not necessarily real. Nevertheless, the historical significance of this site cannot be disputed, can it? Does this mean that some day history will be rewritten and future generations will be told the things General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his troops did were basically insignificant? I sincerely hope not!

This is what I discovered regarding “Pilot Knob”, from this website -
http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/tn_consv/archive/highpoints.htm

Tennessee’s High Points
By Bob Fulcher
Many of us have repeated the falsehood that Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park’s Pilot Knob is the highest point in West Tennessee. It is a cruel surprise that Pilot Knob is not even the Benton County HP. There are, in fact, 15 West Tennessee peaks on the list higher than our once-thought-to-be-so-special riverfront knob. Chester County’s Sand Mountain, at 740-feet, is the glory, the rooftop, the apex of West Tennessee.
(Bob Fulcher is a regional interpretive specialist for Tennessee State Parks.)

This article doesn't show an author, generally this means a staff writer; however, I am unable to offer credit to anyone, but clearly state it is not my article. Hopefully, I haven't made this too confusing, but I found the article extremely interesting and wanted to share.

In the Fall of 1931, an unidentified man and a monument in memory of Nathan B. Forrest arrived by rail at the Eva Depot from Calhoun, GA. This man stayed at the Holland Hotel in Eva about two weeks until the job of erecting the monument was completed.

Albert Cherry and Oscar Pafford were at the depot when the train arrived. The man said he was looking for someone to help get the monument up the hill and set it up. The monument consisted of the base, middle section and the shaft.

Mr. Cherry and Mr. Pafford contracted the job for $500. The monument was rolled off the train at the depot. Mr. Cherry and Mr. Pafford made wooden wheels for the wagon, Mr. Cherry had four big white horses and after loading the base onto the wagon the horses were hitched to the wagon and pulled the base to the foot of Knob Hill. The horses were unable to pull it up the hill. Mr. Cherry went to Dickson (Note: Dickson was some 50-60 miles or more from Eva) and rented a truck, the wagon was hooked to the truck and the truck couldn't pull up the hill. At this time, Mr. Bob Farmer was the Road Commissioner and he told Mr. Cherry that they had only one dozer, which was in use during the day, but they could use it after work to pull the load. Mr. Carsewell Holland drove the dozer home after work. Mr. Cherry, Mr. Pafford and Mr. Holland hooked the wagon onto the dozer and pulled it up the hill. The other two sections were lighter and were pulled up by the horses and wagon.

When all the pieces were on top of the hill and ready to set into place, some young men were hired to help. They were Ernie Cherry, David B. Pafford, Ben B. Holland, Addilea Hollingsworth and Omas (Bigen) Sanderfur. These young men were paid 25 cents per hour. An A-frame was built, cables were tied to trees with two winches on each side. Leather strips were put under the timber with long bolts to tighten the shaft to lift the set on the second piece. The base was set on lead to keep water out. Between the base and the first piece and the first and shaft a one inch strip of lead was laid around the edge to seal out water also.

Ernie Cherry placed a new Indian Head Penny, heads up on the base before the second piece was set into place. Mr. Ernie Cherry related this information to Clara Nelle Morisette on October 20, 1993. Mr. Cherry was 84 years old and the only one living at this time that helped in the erection of the monument in memory of Nathan Bedford Forrset. Mr. Ernie Cherry died November 21, 1995.

The following is an article that came out in the January 31, 1930 issue of The Camden Chronicle.
Forrest Monument for Pilot Knob -

While at Nashville last week attending the meeting of the Good Roads Association, O.P. Lashlee was informed that the legal status having been settled satisfactorily, a charter would be granted for the Forrest Memorial Park at Pilot Knob on the Tennessee River.

It will be remembered that an appropriation of $10,000 for this purpose was made at the last season of the General Assembly, but the matter was held up until Governor Horton called the extra session, when the bill was revived and adopted.

This means that the money is available and as soon as Spring opens, steps will be taken to have a monument erected on the spot where General Forrest directed the memorable attack on the federal gunboat at Johnsonville in the sixties. Mr. Lashlee is chairman of the park association.

Alexander Bell

For some time now I have wondered who Alexander Bell was and if or how he was related to me. Here is what I knew about him. According to his tombstone at the Camden City Cemetery, in Camden, TN, he was born 22 October 1830 and died 24 January 1904 and was a Mason, but other than that I knew little about him. So, yesterday I ventured to the Benton County Library in Camden hoping to find answers.

If you have never been to this library and have relatives associated with Benton County I highly recommend a visit. While larger libraries may have more resources their Genealogy Room is well equipped with information pertaining to Benton and surrounding counties, as well as other states. And, if you are there on a Wednesday morning, Ms Virginia Pafford will assist in your efforts. Ms Pafford is knowledgable in a great deal of Benton County history, as well as Benton Countians. There may be others who volunteer and if so I suspect they are also extremely helpful, but Ms Pafford was there yesterday. Also, the lower level of the library, the basement if you will, houses the Archives, a wealth of information and there is a lady there who will gladly assist. I do not remember her name, sorry, but she too was extremely helpful. So if you're in the area, stop by the library I think you'll be glad you did. And if you're a fan of catfish, just down the street and off to the right is the Country and Western Restaurant. Of course, they have much more than catfish and all the trimmings, including a daily lunch buffet, but the catfish is delicious and irresistable.

Now back to Alexander Bell. I know he married Louisa Elizabeth Corbitt, 26 September 1858, in Benton County, TN. When Alex died, an article was written in the 29 January 1904, Camden Chronicle stating he was survived by seven children. In the same newspaper the were two separate notes that mentioned his illness and death. One notes that Carl McRae and his sister, Mrs. E. E. Travis of Memphis were called to Camden the latter part of the previous week due to the illness of their grandfather, Alex Bell.

The second article mentions Ella Lockhart and her two nephews, Charles Collier and Alexander Bell of Stewart were in Camden during the illness and death of her brother, Alex Bell. Research has led me to believe Ella is the shorten version of Louella and Louella E Bell married George W. Lockhart, 6 December 1874, in Houston County, TN. I also suspect the father and mother of Louella Bell are George Washington Bell and Hannah Brown Bell; however, this puts somewhat of a question concerning Alex Bell and Ella Lockhart being siblings. Oh well, this has become typical of late in my research. I find one thing or even a partial something and more confusion erupts.

It seems I am the only one reading this blog, but maybe with a little luck, okay a lot of luck, others will pass through, read my words and spread the word. Maybe then, someone will know the answer to some of my questions and actually be willing to share.

Until next time, have a great day and be thorough in your research!

I'm BACK!

It's been more than a year since my last post. Wow! Has it really been that long? I could attribute my absence to many things, some more believable than others, but the truth is, are you ready for this . . . . I lost my password!



Yeah, that makes me sound like a bungling idiot. Well?? Seriously, I have too many accounts that require a password. At first, I used the same password, but realized that probably wasn't the best idea. Bam! A hacker discovers a password and uh yeah, they can get in ALL my accounts and somehow I doubt they would be paying my electric bill or depositing money in my bank account, so, I devised a "plan". I use 3 x 5 index cards, write pertinent information on them, like passwords and keep my cards in a box. Simple and easy right? It is simple and easy IF I actually make a card for each account and I didn't for this blog.



Okay, still no problem . . . . just use my email, change my password and I'm back in business, right? But, I have too many email accounts, personal, business, bills, genealogy, etc. and I could not remember which email I used for this blog. Yes, I do feel stupid and when I took a few minutes it was easy to figure out, but I didn't take the time! However, I am back, index card in a secure place and from time to time I'll be posting genealogical information. I welcome and encourage any and all comments and maybe this time I can actually make this blog thing work.



Thank you for taking the time to read my ramblings and don't be shy. While it is entitled Bell Genealogy, I plan to expand to other family lines.