Tennessee:   Lawrence County:  1816 - 1916

After the Treaty with the Chickasaw was signed in September of 1816, Jacob and his family started westward again. They headed into what is now northern Lawrence County and settled on the banks of the Buffalo River, some of the choicest land around. The sights and sounds of autumn were all around in this fresh and beautiful region. The Penningtons must have fallen in love with the beautiful virgin forest and lush hills and valleys that abounded with deer, wild turkey and other game and with the crystal clear streams that were full of fish. This was their home now and surely they would live out the rest of their lives here.

In time this settlement would be known as Pennington, and then Henry and finally it would be called Henryville, as it is today.

Clearing the land was the first task of a pioneer family. The family picked a place that seemed best for farming, and started clearing the land so they could plow the soil and plant seeds. Pioneers had no machines to clear the land. They swung axes to cut away the bush, chop down trees, and trim logs. Every member of the family pitched in to help with the work a starting life on the frontier.

A log home was the typical pioneer home in a wooded region such as Tennessee. The pioneers cut trees into logs from 12 to 15 feet long. Then they chopped notches close to the ends. The notches held the logs to each other when they were fitted together to form the sides of the cabin. Four thick logs made up the foundation. The sides of a log cabin were about eight feet high. The women and children helped in the home building. Their job was to plug the spaces between the logs, using clay, moss or mud. Filling the spaces was called chinking.

Roofing began after the cabin sides had been completed. First the men fitted logs together on top of the sides to form the frame of the roof. Then they fastened clapboards (thin boards) to the frame. They overlapped the clapboards so that rain would run off. Few of the early pioneers had building nails. They used wooden pins to hold the parts of the roof together. The boys had the important job of whittling the pins.

The ground served as a cabin floor until the pioneer found time to build a wooden floor. He split logs into slabs and then pushed them lengthwise into the earth, split side up, and wedged them together. This wooden floor was much smoother and warmer than the ground, and it also improved the looks of the cabin.

A fireplace stood at one end of the cabin. It had a long chimney, chinked and lined with clay. The hearth, made of stones, was the family’s favorite gathering place. The mother kept a fire burning most of the time for cooking and to provide light and warmth. Frontier cabins had only small windows. The people covered them with animal skins or greased paper. Greased paper let light into the cabin. Glass later replaced these window coverings when storekeepers brought it from the East.

The cabin door was made of thick pieces of wood fastened to crosspieces. The door swung on hinges made of leather. A deerskin string was tied to the latch and hung outside. When someone pulled the latchstring, it drew up the latch and the door opened. At night, the latchstring hung inside, and the family put strong bars across the door to keep it shut.

Families started life on the frontier with a few pieces of handmade furniture and some household utensils. After getting settled, the pioneers bought other things from a peddler or a frontier store. Every growing settlement had a blacksmith, a cabinetmaker, and other craftworkers.

The family’s table was made of several split log slabs with four sturdy legs. Benches and stools were made of smaller slabs. A pole, stuck into the wall, formed the outside rail of the bedstead. A notched log held up the free end. Crosspoles were laid from the pole to a side wall. The crosspoles held a mattress stuffed with dried grass or leaves. Quilts, blankets, or animal skins served as bed coverings. Some cabins had a loft where the children slept. A steep ladder, built onto one side of the cabin, led to the loft.

The boys of pioneer families made many of the household utensils. Most of the boys were skilled whittlers and carved wooden spoons, ladles, bowls and platters. They also whittled long pegs that were driven into the cabin walls to hold the family’s clothing. Deer antlers, hung over the door, made a good rack for the pioneer’s rifle, bullet pouch and powder horn.

Corn and meat were the basic foods of a pioneer family. The family ate corn in some form at almost every meal. The pioneers raised corn as their chief crop because it kept well in any season, and could be used in many ways. After the corn had been husked, the kernels could be ground into corn meal. The settlers used the meal to make mush, porridge or various kinds of corn bread – ashcake, hoecake, johnnycake or corn pone. For a special treat, ears of corn were roasted.

The pioneers raised cattle, hogs, sheep, and chickens. They also hunted wild fowl and other game for much of their meat supply. Many meals consisted of wild duck, pigeon or turkey; or bear, buffalo, deer, opossum, rabbit or squirrel.

The pioneers had no refrigeration, but they knew how to keep meat from spoiling. They cut some kinds of meat into strips and dried them in the sun. They also smoked the strips over a fire. Other meat, especially pork, kept well after being salted or soaked in brine (very salty water).

Salt was in great demand on the frontier for preserving and seasoning food. It brought a high price when traders from the East sold it by the barrel. Instead of paying the high price, some settlers banded together once a year and traveled to a salt lick, where natural salt formed on the ground. Wild animals came there to lick the salt. A trip to a salt lick, no matter what the distance, was worthwhile for the settlers. There was good hunting at the salt lick, and they took home enough salt to supply the community for a year.

Raising vegetables and herbs was a job of the women and girls. Most of the vegetables planted by the pioneers could be cooked into hearty meals – beans, cabbages, potatoes, squash and turnips. Herbs included dill and sage.

Milk from the family cow was the chief mealtime drink. Coffee and tea were too expensive for the frontier. Whiskey, made from corn, was a favorite drink of the men. The pioneers sometimes mixed corn whiskey with milk, added some sweetening, and served it to the entire family. Common sweetenings included honey, molasses, and maple sugar or maple syrup.

Clothing was harder to provide on the frontier than either food or shelter. Clothing materials were expensive and making clothes was a long, difficult process. A pioneer housewife spun linen yarn from flax, and wool yarn from the wool of sheep. She wove the yarn into cloth, which she used to make shirts, trousers, dresses, and shawls. Spinning and weaving took a long time, but even more time was needed to grow flax or raise sheep. Most pioneers, for the first year or two on the frontier, wore the clothes they had brought with them. After this clothing wore out, they made garments of deerskin, like those worn by the Indians.

Many frontiersmen wore a deerskin hunting shirt and deerskin trousers. The shirt fitted loosely and hung to the thighs. It had no buttons, and was held in place by a belt. Instead of a collar, the shirt had a cape, perhaps trimmed with fringe. Deerskin clothing became cold and stiff when wet, and felt uncomfortable next to the skin. A man in deerskin usually wore underclothes of linsey-woolsey, a homemade material of part linen and part wool.

Lindsey-woolsey was the favorite material of the pioneer housewife for making clothes for herself and the children. She used deerskin only if she had no cloth. Most pioneer women wore a petticoat and a dress that resembled a smock. The petticoat was worn as a skirt, rather than as an undergarment. In cold weather, women wore a shawl of wool or linsey-woolsey. Pioneer boys and girl wore the same kind of clothing as their parents.

The children and adults went barefoot much of the time. Few pioneers had boots or shoes. They wore homemade moccasins or shoepacks made of hide. Shoepacks resembled moccasins, but they covered the ankles and had sturdy soles. For warmth and comfort, the pioneers stuffed their moccasins or shoepacks with deer hair or dry leaves.

In summer, the women and girls wore sunbonnets large enough to shield the face and neck. In winter, they covered their heads with shawls or wore woolen bonnets. Men and boys worn coonskin caps or fur hats in cold weather. In summer, they had hats made of loosely woven straw or corn husks.

Pioneers started farming with the hoe, plow, and other tools that they brought with them to the frontier. The cabin soon became a workshop as well as a home. The pioneers made most of their own farm tools. Sometimes they made pitchforks by attaching long handles to deer antlers. The settlers also made many household items. They whittled wooden spoons, bowls, and platters, and used gourds and animal horns for cups and containers.

During the early years of a settlement, every home served as a school. Parents were the only teachers, but they spent little time on spelling or arithmetic. They taught boys and girls the skills needed to live on the frontier. A boy learned to use an ax and a rifle, to farm and care for livestock, and to repair tools. A girl learned to cook, sew, spin, and weave. Parents also taught children to obey older persons and to behave politely.

Almost every large pioneer settlement had a church. Almost immediately in the settlement of Pennington the Primitive Baptist Church was established. The Primitive Baptists built the first church, a log "meeting house", in 1817, at a site adjacent to the present Henryville Cemetery. Rev. John Hunter of Maury County was the first minister and he also taught school in this church building. A settlement school had few books, and no blackboards, charts or maps. The children learned by repeating lessons read by the teacher. The teacher taught them reading, writing and arithmetic. They wrote on boards, and used pieces of charcoal as pencils. Some had pens, made of goose quills, and ink made from bark or berries. Slates came into use in about 1825. Most children attended school only during the winter. At other times, they were needed at home to help with the farm and household tasks.

A traveling preacher visited many settlements regularly. He conducted church services and funerals, and performed marriages and baptisms. The preacher was called a "circuit rider" because he rode horseback from one settlement to another on a route known as a circuit. For years the circuit riding preachers brought to the outlying settlement the only religious services they were able to attend. The intervals between preachers and services probably were long during the winter months and it is likely they were never closer than a month or six weeks. There were no preachers to conduct funeral services at the time of death unless one just happened to be in the community at the time.

Sometimes a preacher organized an outdoor religious service, or "camp meeting", which lasted several days and nights. It attracted families from many settlements on the frontier. The people brought food and other supplies, and camped in a large clearing where the meeting was held. The preacher led the pioneers in reciting prayers and singing hymns. The women and girls cooked food at the meeting site and the men and boys would go home each evening after the afternoon services to feed the livestock and tend to other necessary chores before returning for supper and the nightly sermon. Everyone enjoyed a camp meeting, especially the unmarried girls and men. It gave them a chance to make friendships that could lead to courtship and marriage.

The pioneers made and enforced their own rules of behavior. There were no courts or law officers in the early settlements. If men quarreled, they fought with their fists, or even with knives or guns. The settlers would have nothing to do with a bully or his family. A man could not stay long in a frontier community without the help of neighbors. He either stayed out of trouble, or left in disgrace.

Most of the pioneers wanted to live peacefully and earn their living by hard work. But the frontier also attracted robbers and other outlaws. Sometimes outlaws invade a settlement and stole horses and cattle. The settlers then armed themselves and rode after the bandits. Horse thieves or cattle rustlers could expect to be hanged or shot if they were captured.

The pioneers brightened life on the frontier with many parties. They mixed work with fun and sports whenever possible. In autumn, they held corn husking contests and nutting parties. In spring, they gathered in a maple grove to make sugar and syrup. The women often got together for a quilting party. The quilts were much in demand as bed coverings.

The settlers always enjoyed a house-raising for newcomers or newlyweds. The men stopped working on the house now and then to drink whiskey, run races, or hold wrestling bouts or shooting contests. After the job was finished, everyone celebrated with a lively feast. The women prepared plenty of food, and after eating, the settlers sat around telling stories. As a rule, someone brought along a fiddle and dancing and singing went on until late the in the night.

In 1817, just after the Penningtons’ settled in Lawrence County, another pioneer arrived there - his name was Davy Crockett. Davy was a well-known and prominent figure in Lawrence County and he lived there until 1822.

From the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce:

David had a prominent part in the establishment of the new county of Lawrence in October 1817, and was one of the first Justices of the Peace of the county. He attended court at the temporary courthouse about six miles north of what is now Lawrenceburg. He lived for a time about one and a-half blocks south of the public square in the present Lawrenceburg.

David possessed 614 acres of land in the county, in 13 different tracts. One was the tract where he first located on the head of Shoal Creek. On another tract, he built a grist mill, powder mill and distillery, at a cost of more than $3,000, "being more money than I had in the world". Another tract was northwest of Lawrenceburg, and he was living there in a log house which he had built when, in 1822, he moved from Lawrence County to go further west.

In May of 1818, Lawrence County was organized and divided into districts - there were only two districts, Lawrenceburg and Pennington. Other settlers were coming to Lawrence County by now. The list of voters counted in the census of voters turned in to the County Court in May 1819 included 82 in the immediate vicinity of this settlement. In all Lawrence County there were 458 voters listed.

On June 9, 1821, Jacob and three of his sons, Isaac, William and Moses, received General Land Grant No. 15442 to 640 acres in Lawrence County, Tennessee, on the Buffalo River. On that same date, Jacob’s other two sons, Abraham and David received General Land Grant No. 15443 to 320 acres on the Buffalo River.

Roads were, of course, of primary importance to the settlers. Minutes of various County Court meetings contained many order pertaining to the laying out and maintenance of roads in various parts of the county. The practice was to appoint an overseer for a certain portion of road to name those settlers in that area to work under him to maintain that road. The road known today as Highway 240 (the Turnpike) was of particular importance to the development of Pennington. This road was most likely laid out in late 1821. In the Lawrence County Court Minutes dated Monday, October 1, 1821, it was ordered that Moses Pennington be appointed overseer of this road. The Turnpike played an important part in the development of the northern part of Lawrence County. It was completed about 1847 and by that time the settlement of Pennington was known as Henryville. Freight of all kinds came down the Tennessee River to Clifton in Wayne County and was hauled form there by wagon and team to Waynesboro, through Henryville, and then on to Columbia. Livestock, manufactured goods and produce could be sent to buyers along the Turnpike, up or down the Tennessee River, and on to other markets. This traffic through Henryville opened the opportunity of trade which helped this frontier settlement grow.

In 1822, David married Elizabeth Kirk. They would have eight children.

Children of David and Elizabeth Pennington

1.  Jacob M. Pennington born in 1823

2.  Isaac Newton Pennington born in 1827

3.  Abraham A. Pennington born in 1829

4.  *Young M. Pennington born on June 10, 1831

5.  Elizabeth Pennington born in 1832

6.  Rhoda Pennington born in 1833

7.  William G. Pennington born in 1838

8.  Elizabeth Pennington born in 1854.

This youngest child, Elizabeth, was probably so named because the elder Elizabeth had already died.  It was customary to name another child the same name as the one who had died.

In 1827, David’s father, Jacob, the Lawrence County settler, died. According to three Deeds, all dated November 22, 1827, the following transactions took place in the settling of Jacob’s estate:

                155 acres deeded to Isaac Pennington

One negro boy named Miner, about nine years old, sold to Abraham Pennington for $325

One negro man named Jacob, about 16 years old, sold to Elizabeth Matthews for $450

In 1829, David’s brother, Abraham Pennington, died. The inventory of his estate gives a good idea of what the Penningtons’ owned.

INVENTORY OF THE ESTATE OF ABRAHAM PENNINGTON

October 2^nd, 1829, State of Tennessee Lawrence County Inventory of A. Pennington, deceased: one gray horse, one bay mare, one 26 gallon still, 12 tubs and other vessels, 5 cows and calves, 2 cows 2 years old and 2 heifers, 12 head of hogs, some old wagon irons, a one horse cart, 2 shovel plows, one bull tongue plow, 2 pair of gears with singletrees, one mattaxe, 3 hoes, 2 axes, some carpenter tools, 6 bedsteads, one frow, one iron wedge, 2 large pots, and one kettle, 3 small pots, one oven, and rifle gun, four beds and furniture, two chests, one table, one loom, and three slays, 8 chairs, 2 basins, one dish, two spinning wheels, some book accounts, a note on Isaac Pennington for two hundred and forty nine dollars 25 cents, due December 1831, one note on B. S. Burns for ten dollars 75 cents due December 1830 with credit $1.50, one note on William Voss for $4.37 ½ cents due on the 29^th of April with credit of two dollars, one note on Leroy Burns for 21 dollars 65 cents due 2^nd October 1829, one mare saddle, one woman’s saddle.

Around this time, David’s brother, Isaac built the first grist mill on the Buffalo River, near where the bridge on the Turnpike is located today. Probably he ground mostly corn because the area isn’t suited for growing wheat. Moses Pennington established the first the first still and sold whiskey to the new settlers and to people passing through. This was legal as long as the person selling the whiskey was properly licensed.

In 1831, David and Elizabeth’s fourth son, Young M. Pennington was born.

On February 29, 1838, David’s brother, Isaac, died. Again, it is interesting to see what he owned at the time of his death.

INVENTORY OF ISSAC PENNINGTON ESTATE

560 acres deeded land; 3 negroes, one man, one woman, very old, one boy about 20 years old; 5 head of colts, 3 head of grown horses, one yoke of oxen almost worn out, 7 milch cows and calves, 11 head of young cattle, one wagon out of fix for business, a part of a carryall, about 30 head of hogs, 7 head of sheep, some blacksmith tools, 3 plows, and gears, 4 hoes, one matox, some other tools, 2 hand saws, 1 x-cut saw, one drawing knife, 4 or 5 plains, 1 foot adge, 3 chopping axes, some groceries, 2 kegs nails, 1 dog, champaign wine bottles, ½ keg tobacco, some empty barrels, 1 household and kitchen furniture, 8 beds and furniture, and steds, 1 burro, 1 clock, 2 tables, 1 cupboard, 1 loom, 2 wheels, 10 chairs, 3 pots, 2 ovens, 3 skillets, and lids, 2 pot racks, 1 side saddle, 2 men’s saddles, 1 bridle.

During this period of the early 1800’s, white settlers were demanding that the United States Government move all Indians in the southeastern United States to areas west of the Mississippi. Some Cherokee Indians in Tennessee agreed to move West, but most were opposed. In order to force the Indians to relocate West, the Indian Removal Act was passed by Congress in 1830. Beginning in the spring of 1837 and continuing through the fall of 1838, over 600 wagons, steamers and keel boats were used to force sixteen thousand Cherokee Indians out of Tennessee by land and by river. Their forced 1,200 mile march became known as The Trail of Tears. The infamous journey took between 104 and 189 days and before they arrived in Oklahoma, torrential rains, ice storms, disease and broken heartedness had claimed the lives of at least 4,000 men, women and children. Some of the Indians traveled relatively near to seven-year-old Young Pennington’s home on their journey . . . the water route used was the Tennessee River which comes within 30 miles of Henryville.

On May 22, 1843, a post office was established at the settlement of Pennington and the name was changed to Henry in honor of the postmaster there. This name would be used for ten years, until June 20, 1853, when the community’s name was changed to Henryville, which it still uses today.

Young Pennington was 20 years old when he married Emily C. King in 1850. They would have eleven children together.

Children of Young and Emily Pennington

1.  James D. Pennington born in 1853

2.  Mary A. Pennington born in 1856

3.  Rhoda M. Pennington born in 1858

4.  Nancy J. Pennington born in 1861

5.  William A. Pennington born in 1864

6.  Martha E. Pennington born in 1866

7.  Jacob Pennington born in 1867

8.  *Mariar Anna Pennington born in 1870

9.  George F. Pennington and

10.  John A. Pennington (twins) born in 1873

11.  *Louida Pennington born in 1875

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