People's Pilot, Volume 5, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 November 1895 — Written for the People’s Pilot. [ARTICLE]

Written for the People’s Pilot.

Soddy Tenn., Nov. 12, 1895. —On Sep. 9, self and family, accompanied by James Richmond, left Lee, Indiana, bound for East Tennessee. At Crawfordville, we were joined by our well known friend, James P. Overton. Our aim was to avoid the hills, therefore we bore west, via of Terre Haute, thence south and east crossing the Ohio river at Grandville. This route gave us but one day in the hills these with the hills in Knox county, Ind., constituted our worst roads, except the ascending and decending of the mountains, and those were not half so bad as we anticipated. We crossed the Kentucky and Tennessee line at Adairville, Ky., and had good pike roads to the Cumberland mountains. Nashville is the most beautiful city we passed through and is under the best city government. But among the beautiful sights was the government cemetery at Stony River, near Muffreesboro. We stopped our teamsand went all through it, but to give a detailed account of it at this writing w r ould be impossible, it was simply grand. From there we went to Woodbury and ascended the first bench of the Cumberland. We were about tw’o hours its making this ascent. From this point to the main mountains is 29 miles, but only 21 miles to McMinville. The surface of this mountain is slightly broken, and most of the land seems poor, although we saw as good corn on this mountain as we saw at any place along our route. Taken into consideration the way land is farmed on the mountains, a man cannot at once determine just how well the land will produce. The improvments are scattering and for the most part in colonies. Some Ohio colonies are undoubtedly doing well. There is an immense amount of improved land on the mountains. After we ascend the highest part of the Cumberland mountains, 8 miles east of McMinville, it is 19 miles to where we begin the descent. From this point the valley below constitutes a beautiful sight. The farms look like gardens in size and the roads like narrow paths. All the mountains have deep hollows, called coves, thaWextend from the valleys. It is in these coves you find mountain streams, along which bear and deer are more or less plentiful.

We descended Waldron’s ridge at a mining town, called Snoddy, an incorporated town of about 1,500 inhabitants, in the Tennessee river valley. This valley is very broken, except a very narrow strip along the river, and often the level land is on one side of the river and not more than one half mile wide. At Igoe’s ferry, five miles from where we came down Waldron’s ridge, we crossed the Tennessee river, and four miles from this point east is Long’s Savannah in Janies county, there we decided to stop and look around, and made some arrangements to locate, and go into business, but had word sent me that if I expected to succeed I must be a republican. James county is re publican. It is enough to say I did not locate there. Their school terms are short in James county, but in Hamilton county, in the country we have eight months school and ten in the towns; excellent teachers and schools under the best control. Of the people all through this country, their hospitality was never too highly spoken of. I

think that there is a great many openings here for people of our country, but will not say until I have seen further as regards the land. There is some that is excellent—the bottom lands are unexcelled. The ridge land, though excellent for all kinds of fruit and vegetables, is not so good for grain, but are about equal to the Jasper and White counties sand ridge. It is healthy on the hills and mountains, but along the streams it is malarious. We have a perfect system of gravel roads. L. E. Noland.