Bedford County Established
Bedford County was erected by an act of
the General Assembly December 3, 1807 which act is as follows:
"Be it enacted by the General Assembly
of the State of Tennessee, that a new county be, and the same
is, hereby established south and southwest of, and adjoining the
county of Rutherford, by the name of Bedford, in memory of
Thomas Bedford, deceased, which said county shall begin at the
southwest corner of Rutherford and southeast corner of
Williamson County, on the Duck River Ridge, and run thence with
said Williamson County line to the line of the county of Maury;
thence along the same southwardly to the south boundary of the
State; thence eastwardly to the east boundary of Rutherford
County, thence along the same to the ridge that divides the
waters of Duck River from those of Cumberland; thence along the
same west wardly to the east corner of Williamson County,
leaving Rutherford County its constitutional limits, and all
that tract of country included in the above described lines
shall be included within the said county of Bedford.''
Section 2 of the act provides for the
holding of the courts of the new county at the house of Mrs.
Payne, near the head of Mulberry Creek, until the next General
Assembly, The county was surveyed and organized in the early
part of 1808, the courts being held at the place designated by
the act creating the county. Of the courts, court house, etc.,
but little is now remembered, and as the county was reduced in
limits the following year, thereby placing Mrs. Payne's
residence and farm in a new county (Lincoln), the county seat
was soon removed. On the 14th of November, 1809, the General
Assembly passed the following act, which reduced, materially,
the limits of Bedford County, the territory being taken in the
formation of Lincoln County:
"Be it enacted by the General Assembly
of the State of Tennessee, that the lines and boundaries of
Bedford County shall be as follows, to wit: Beginning on the
northeast corner of Maury County and running south with the
eastern boundary line thereof to the extreme height of the ridge
dividing the waters of Duck River from the waters of Elk River;
thence eastwardly to the extreme height of said ridge to the
present eastern boundary line of the said county of Bedford;
thence north to the south boundary line of Rutherford County;
thence west wardly with the said line to the southern boundary
line of Williamson County, and thence with the said line of
Williamson County to the beginning."
Section 2 of the act provides for the
appointment of John Atkinson, William Woods, Bartlett Martin,
Howell Dandy and Daniel McKissack as commissioners to locate a
county site for the new county on Duck River, within two miles
of the center of the county. Benjamin Bradford and John Lane
were subsequently added to the above commission by the
Legislature. The county was resurveyed by Malcom Gilchrist, and
the county site was located temporarily at the house of Amos
Balch, on the Lewisburg road, two and one-half miles southwest
of the present county seat. In May, 1810, however, the county
site was permanently located at Shelbyville, 100 acres of land
being donated for that purpose by Clement Cannon. Amos Balch and
William Galbreath each offered to donate to the commissioners
fifty acres on which to locate the county seat, but as the site
selected was more central and the donation more liberal their
offers were rejected.
Bedford County was materially reduced in
territory by the formation in 1836 of Coffee County on the east,
and again in 1837 by Marshall County on the west. At present
Bedford County is bounded on the north by Rutherford County,
northeast by Cannon County, east by the counties of Cannon and
Coffee, south by the counties of Moore and Lincoln, west by
Marshall County, and has an area of about 475 square miles.
Originally the the county was divided into twenty-live civil
districts, but upon the formation of Marshall County in 1837 a
number of these districts were placed in that county, and other
districts have since been merged into each other, and at present
there are only nineteen districts, they being designated
numerically as First, Second, Third, Fourth. Fifth, Sixth,
Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Eighteenth, Nineteenth,
Twentieth, Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third,
Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth.
In 1810 the population of Bedford County
was 8,242, and in 1830 had increased to 30,396. At that time it
was the most populous county in the State. The formation of the
new counties referred to before and various other causes,
reduced the population materially, and in 1870 it amounted to
only 24,333, and at present the population is about 26,100. The
voting population is about 4,500, and at the presidential
election of 1884 Mr. Cleveland received in the county a majority
of 171 votes over Mr. Blaine, though the usual Democratic
majority far exceeds that given to Mr. Cleveland. Bedford County
has a total area of 332,800 acres, of which 203,511 were
improved in 1885. During the above year the total value of
property assessed for taxes was §5,183,560. There are in the
county 741 town lots, at a total value of $522,515. The taxes of
1885 amounted as follows: Poll tax $7,508; State tax $13,787.41;
county tax $11,489.51; school tax $21,295.41; road tax
$4,399.84. The tax levy for 1886 was 20 cents on the $100 worth
of property for county purposes; 20 cents on the $100 and $1
poll for school purposes; 11 cents on $100 for roads and
highways.
The cereal products of the county for
1885 were of corn 1,682,358 bushels; wheat 257,-425 bushels;
oats 87,408 bushels; rye 6,145 bushels, and of barley, 108
bushels. During the same year there was owned in the county
live-stock as follows: 11,426 head of horses and mules, 14,188
head of cattle, 16,020 head of sheep and 46,251 head of hogs.
AHGP Tennessee
Source: History of Tennessee, Goodspeed
Publishing Company, 1886.
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