LOCAL HISTORY: Madison County politics and the impact on history

I am going to defer a bit from the usual crime and punishment that I usually write about here.               When the area of West Tennessee was being formed, things were quite different, but surprisingly, some things were the same as today. For instance, it is difficult for us who live in West Tennessee to envision boats travelling on the waters of the Forked Deer River or the other rivers of West Tennessee. Yet that was a major source of commerce back in the 1830s. They had boats that were mostly rafts that would drift downstream to deliver the goods produced here. 

In the great idea of commerce and making money, the people of West Tennessee used the natural waterways to produce a profit. As strange as it seems to us today, the Forked Deer River was a way to move products. We think of that river as a ditch, maybe even a congestive creek. Obviously, this was decades before the US Army Corps of Engineers channelized it. In our not-so-distant past, it was a major waterway that made Jackson what it is today. They shipped products like cotton downstream to the Mississippi River, eventually going to warehouses in Memphis. 

I say all of this to set the table for how David Crockett battled for Congressional seats in this district. It is ironic that even back in 1829 they used gerrymandering and Crockett lost his seat. That sounds familiar to us today, doesn’t it? 

During the race for that reelection in 1831, David Crockett used a rather unique method. Back in those days, opposing candidates would travel together and stay in the same places as a matter of convenience. Adam Huntsman had a fake leg or a peg leg, made of wood. So, it made a unique sound when he walked across a wood floor as most houses were built back then. They were staying at a farmer’s house during this race and that farmer had a teenage daughter. During the night, Crockett picked up a wooden chair and used the leg to make out like Huntsman was peg legging his way to the farmer’s daughter’s room. It goes without saying that didn’t go too well. (Tales of Madison, Harbert Alexander, 2002)

Crockett lost that election by fewer than 300 votes, and the result was history changed. Crockett is reported to have said at the Courthouse in Madison County that “They can all go to Hell, I am going to Texas”. David Crockett died on March 6, 1836. He was 39 years old, in battle at the Alamo. History doesn’t know if he died valiantly or not. (I suspect he did, him being a tough guy.)

There is an incredibly famous monument at the Madison County, Tennessee Courthouse that commemorates his life and death. I encourage you to go visit the monument as it is one of the most famous ties of Madison County to national history. A lot of tourists to Jackson happen upon the plaque and are amazed by the connection to history. It is on the north side of the Courthouse on Main Street, facing City Hall. It is important to remember our rich history that is right here in front of us.