My
name is Annette Bame Peebles and I am your Grundy County Volunteer
Coordinator. I would like to thank Debi Houser Kendrick for doing
a great job before me.
I do not live in Tennessee and am unable to do
research.
If there is something that you would like to see added please email me
at apeebles@sat-co.net and
let
me know.
If you would like to adopt another county, you
can contact Connie Burkett at TNGenNet@gmail.com.
History of Grundy County
Grundy County Contents
Grundy County is located in Middle
Tennessee, on the border of East Tennessee. The Cumberland mountains
divide
the county into a series of valleys and plateaus. The county was formed
in 1844 with lands from Coffee, Franklin & Warren counties.
History of Grundy County
Many of the earliest settlers in
Grundy County came from North Carolina. They settled primarily in the
valleys
of Warren and Franklin counties, along the Collins and Elk rivers.
During
the period from about 1810 to 1840, settlers poured into the wilderness
which was to become Grundy County. The records of Warren County detail
the Collins River valley settlement during this period, while the Elk
River
valley was part of Franklin County.
In 1843 more than 300 residents of
the area petitioned the state legislature asking that a new county be
formed.
On January 29, 1844, the legislature honored their request, and created
the new county of Grundy. They named it for Felix
Grundy, one of their number who had risen to national
prominence,
and who had died just three years earlier.
In the 1850s a prestigious community
developed at Beersheba Springs, on top of the mountain in the
northeastern
part of the county. Under t he leadership of the wealthy John Armfield,
Beersheba Springs became a popular health resort. A fine hotel, many
impressive
summer "cottages" for prominent southern families, and the businesses
needed
to support such a community sprang up on the mountain top. It was at
Beersheba
Springs that the plan to develop an Episcopal university at Sewanee was
hatched and brought to fruition.
During the Civil War both Union and
Confederate units were raised in the county. The first of these was
Alexander
Patton's company of infantry, which became part of the First Tennessee
Infantry under Franklin County's Col. Peter Turney. Patton owned many
slaves
and a large plantation near Pelham, and was the county's wealthiest man
before the war. Much hard feeling existed between neighbors with
differing
views on the conflict. Grundy saw some fighting, particularly
skirmishes
in the area around Tracy City, but no serious battles. Probably the
greatest
damage was done by bushwhackers and outlaws who took advantage of t he
lack of legal authority and disorganization of the war to prey on
innocent
civilians. After the war, men like Patton and Armfield were in
financial
ruin, and the entire county suffered the effects of a long
Reconstruction-era
depression.
In 1869 a group of Swiss emigrants
arrived in Grundy County. Shrewd promoters had persuaded them to
purchase
lands they had never seen atop the Cumberland mountain. Upon arrival,
they
were dismayed to find the "paradise" that had been promised them to be
a rough, unpromising country. They established the village of Gruetli,
however, and through hard work and innovative methods many of the Swiss
became successful farmers and merchants.
Railroad and mining interests on
the mountain led to the development of Tracy City after the Civil War.
This growth was prompted mainly by the Tennessee Coal and Railroad
Company.
The coke ovens at Tracy City, supplying railroad and industrial fuel,
brought
an influx of workers and their families during the period from about
1875
t o 1900. By 1910, problems with labor unions and convict labor had
taken
their toll on the mining business, and it gradually faded out.
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| TNGRUNDY
- A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in Grundy
County, Tennessee. To subscribe send "subscribe" to tngrundy-l-request
(mail mode) or tngrundy-d-request (digest mode) |
| TNWARREN - A
mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in "Old" Warren
County,
Tennessee. Since "Old" Warren County covered a much larger area than
the present Warren County, queries are welcome from
those researching in Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Grundy, Van Buren, Warren,
and White counties. To subscribe send "subscribe" to tnwarren-l-request
(mail mode) or tnwarren-d-request (digest mode). |
| TN-AfriGeneas
- A mailing list to coordinate, network and strengthen the efforts of
African
ancestored family researchers within Tennessee. You can subscribe
from tn-afrigeneas or by sending the
following to tn-afrigeneas-subscribe: subscribe |
| TN-NATIVE
AMERICAN - A mailing list for anyone with a genealogical interest in
Native Americans in Tennessee. To subscribe send "subscribe" to tn-nativeamerican-l-request (mail mode)
or tn-nativeamerican-d-request (digest
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This page was last updated Tuesday, November 18, 2008.
