A Census Listing for 1880 - part 1

The 1880 census for the village of Ooltewah, James County, Tennessee dated the 1st of June, 1880 lists a population of 263 persons. The village of Ooltewah was in the 5th civil district.It was also the 61st enumeration district.  Below, I have listed the heads of household enumerated on  pages 1-6 of the census for that location.

page 1
Campbell, Richard
Lowe, Pleasant
Cowan, Andrew
Vest, Calvin
Wells, George
Vance, William
Childers, John
Berryhill, Andrew
Heaton, Jackson
McNabb, Robert

page 2
Crites, Isaac
Swoffard, Druzilla
Post, Sarah
Watkins, Reese
Hancock, Richard
Altom, John
Watkins, Tressie
Fuller, William
Collins, Frank
Green, Edward
Stevenson, William
Alexander, Loss

page 3
Childers, James
Chiders, Edam
Hugg, Joseph
Johnson, Benjamin
Wolf, Francis
Crane, Eliza
Roddy, Thomas
Nappier, Milton

page 4
Burley, Ransom
Wiley, Gustus
Hays, John
Perkison, Page
Sneed, William
Parker, Fannie
Stone, Henderson
Kinyan, Daniel
Gann, Adam
Moss, Alfred

page 5
Stone, Alex
McNab, Alexander
Taylor, Henry
Gibson, George
Smith, Samuel
Guthrie, Bruce
McCarron, Wilbert
Berryhill, John
Davis, George
Odell, Nancy

page 6
McNabb, Hannibel
Ragan, Jessie
Fitzgerald, John
Hays, Sarah
Cahan, Elvira

That is a total of 55 heads of household. The remaining 205 people are children and boarders. Stay tuned for more detail regarding this census.

The Crime of Lewdness

Lewdness:                                                       

Behavior that is deemed morally impure or unacceptable in a sexual sense; open and public indecency tending to corrupt the morals of the community; gross or wanton indecency in sexual relations.

An important element of lewdness is openness. Lewdness is sometimes used interchangeably with licentiousness or lasciviousness, which both relate to debauchery and moral turpitude. It is a specific offense in certain state statutes and is included in general provisions in others. 1


Now WHY? you ask, did I bring this up...

The 1880 census for the village of Ooltewah, 5th civil district of James County listed the Ooltewah Jail by itself, separate from the rest of the population. The county jailer, John Fitzgerald, and his sister and daughter lived on the premises. On the 1st of June, 1880, there were only 2 inmates at the time of the census taking.  They were Sarah Hays and Elvira Cahan. They were both listed as 20 year old, white, females. In the column for relationship, they were listed as prisoner. In the next major column, they were listed as having an occupation, profession or trade, of "lewdness".

Now, we can probably all guess what this occupation is labeled in today's society.We all have our own noun or adjective for this occupation. But, we must remember that the laws of 2 centuries ago are considerably different than the laws of today. 

 Before 1880, "the cases heard by the Circuit Court included those brought by the State for crimes against the people (criminal cases), and those between individuals (civil cases). Criminal cases included murder, unlawful retailing of liquor, lewdness, public fighting and theft. Most civil cases resulted from unpaid debts".2

Hmmm! Lewdness in the same category as Murder. Go figure!

1.West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/lewdness
 2.http://www.tngenweb.org/law/courtsys.htm

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round....

Leave Ooltewah 5:30 am
Leave Chatta 5:30 pm
Smith & Byrd Transportation Co.

    Ooltewah was the capital seat for James County. Today, it can take approximately 30 minutes or more to drive to downtown Chattanooga from Ooltewah on a 3 and 4 lane highway at the curreent speed limit. It's interesting to think how long it might have taken this bus to go the same distance on those tires and those roads.

When this picture was taken, the bus was loaded to full capacity. Judging by the use of the bus and the roads, it was probably full most of the time. During that time period, there were a vast number of jobs in the manufacturing industry in Chattanooga. It is difficult to tell from this picture whether these gentlemen were in the manufacturing industry. However, it is safe to assume that they were en route to or from their occupation.

The picture does give us some clues. They must be in Chattanooga on their way home. Regardless of the time of year, it would be very dark at 5:30 in the morning. Hence, they could not be in Ooltewah. Since it is still daylight, it must be 5:30 in the afternoon.  The sun appears to be relatively high in the sky, judging by the shadows, which leads us to the conclusion that it is probably summertime. Also, judging by the lack of heavy coats and the open windows on the bus, again, it probably is summertime. A Google Image search reveals that this bus is dated approximately 1920. I could not find any information relating to the Smith and Byrd Transportation Co. The final conclusion is that this picture was taken around 5:30 pm in Chattanooga during the summer circa 1920.

If anyone has information concerning today's post, please contact us. We would love to hear about it and post the additional information here for everyone to see.

   

Upcoming Meeting

Come Join Us

Society meetings are held quarterly. The next meeting is Sunday, February 5th at 2:30 pm.  It will be held at Ooltewah United Methodist Church, in Ooltewah, Tennessee.  Below is a map for your convenience. A presentation on Social Media and how it relates to the James County Historical Society will be addressed. Also, please bring any documents, pictures, newspapers, ephemera, etc that you may want to to share. We will discuss these items and scan them for use on the blog at a later date. We look forward to seeing you!

Directions:
Take exit 11 off of I-75 in Tennessee. Go east on Lee Hwy (off the exit). Turn left after less than 1/2 a mile onto Relocation Way. The church sits behind a Bi-Lo Grocery Store.

A New Bridge

 There was a small newspaper in James County for a short while. It was called "The James County Times". It was located in Ooltewah, Tennessee. From time to time, I will bring you articles from the few newspapers that still exist.  Below is an article from Wednesday, December 2, 1914. This article was located on the front page in the far right hand column.

Hurricane Bridge Completed

The bridge across Hurricane Creek between Ooltewah and Ringgold near the State line erected by Champion Bridge Co., was completed Friday and accepted by the Bridge committee. This will add greatly to the convenience of public travel.

This bridge is still in existence, I believe. The bridge is located on Ooltewah-Ringgold Road, just before you get to the Windstone Subdivision.

Champion Bridge Company was founded in 1854 by Zimri Wall in Ohio. In the 1880's, they expanded their business into the deep south.  You can read the history of this company here: http://www.championbridgecompany.com/history.htm

The Lost County of Tennessee

County of James
The Lost County of Tennessee
1871-1919
"Created out of rivalry of politcal factions during the reconstruction period following the Civil War. James County consisted of parts of Hamilton and Bradley counties. Plagued by political strife and supported mainly by farmers unable to provide an adequate tax base, its forty-eight year history ended in bankruptcy and its territory became a part of Hamilton County."

This historic marker is located in front of the old James County Courthouse in Ooltewah, Tennessee. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 by the James County Historical Society.

Boundries

Section II of the Act to create James County identifies the boundries set by the Tennessee General Assembly on the 30 January 1871 as:

   Beginning at the corner of Bradley and Meigs county lines;
   thence running along and with said Meigs county line to the middle of the Tennessee River;
   thence down the middle of said river to the Dallas Island, leaving said Dallas Island in the new county;
   thence continuing down the middle of said river to a point opposite the mouth of the Harrison Spring Branch, where it enters into the said river below Harrison;
   from thence southeast of the residence of the late George House on the East Tennessee and Georgia railroad;
   thence south, southwest of the Georgia State, line at or near Blackwell's ford on Chickamauga Creek,
   thence with the Georgia State line to a point midway between Fayette Howard's residence in Bradley county and the Hamilton county lines;
   and thence northwest along Antioch Ridge across the old Alabama road to T.C. Johes',{sic} leaving the said Jones in the new county;
   thence to the gap of  Round Mountain;
   thence by Nathan Hinch's, leaving said Hinch in the new county;
   thence to the Hamilton county line at Johnson's Gap on White Oak Mountain;
   thence with the Bradley county line to the beginning