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Changes in the Mississippi River Tipton County

Island 37 and the Mississippi River

Posted on March 23, 2019March 23, 2019 by ML Williams

A century ago, on July 31, 1915, a group of Arkansas militiamen raided a camp of bootleggers and other lawbreakers on what was then known as Island 37 on the Mississippi River. Sam Mauldin, sheriff of Mississippi County, Arkansas, was killed in the raid. The criminal case that came out of the incident brought to light the problems created by a border dispute between Arkansas and Tennessee.

Not long after this incident, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called State of Arkansas v. State of Tennessee. This is one of several times that questions about Tennessee’s western boundary have made it to the high court.

Historic Survey

A few years ago, with the help of historian and surveyor Bart Crattie, I wrote columns about Tennessee’s southern and northern boundaries. The main point of each article was that the boundaries are not exactly where they were originally intended to be because of human error. The surveyors who originally laid out the boundaries used crude equipment. They worked under difficult conditions. But, they did their best, and their errors are understandable.

A visitor wades through Mud Island's re-creation of the river's route.
A visitor wades through Mud Island’s re-creation of the river’s route.

As for the western boundary, surely this is simple, right? Tennessee’s western boundary is the Mississippi River, correct?

Not quite.

Tennessee’s western boundary is not where the Mississippi River is today. Over the years, the river has moved, causing confusion among the states of Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri about exactly where the boundaries lie.

U. S. Supreme Court

Under the direction of the U.S. Supreme Court, the western border of Tennessee cannot be moved because of geographic changes caused by the movement of the river. Therefore, Tennessee’s boundary with Arkansas lies where we think the main channel of the Mississippi River was in 1836. Tennessee’s boundary with Missouri is where the river was when Missouri became a state in 1821.

Like so many historic topics, the short summary is not nearly as interesting as the details. All the way from Lake County to Shelby County, there are stories and even legends about places where the river has moved. The best source of this material is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers book called “Historic Names and Places of the Lower Mississippi River” by Marion Bragg.

Tipton Tales

Here are some of these tales, starting in the north and moving south:

There is a part of Kentucky known as Kentucky Bend that is surrounded on three sides by the Mississippi River and one side by Lake County, Tennessee. Few people live there today. But Mark Twain, in his book “Life on the Mississippi,” described a feud between two families who lived there and attended the same church. “Half the church and half the aisle was in Kentucky, the other half in Tennessee,” he wrote. “Sundays you’d see the families drive up, all in their Sunday clothes, men, women, and children. They fill up the aisle, and set down, quiet and orderly. One lot sat on the Tennessee side of the church and the other on the Kentucky side.”

Moving downstream, the Lake County seat of Tiptonville used to be located along the river; however, the river has moved. Now, Tiptonville is more than a mile from the river.

Little Prairie Bend

Further south in Tipton County is a bend in the river known as Little Prairie Bend. Because of erosion, the bend isn’t shaped the way it once was. However, it was here, in the winter of 1820-21, that artist John James Audubon shot and killed the bald eagle he illustrated in his monumental work “Birds of America.”

Moving south, there formerly was a river town called Ashport at about mile 796, in present-day Lauderdale County. It had “several small warehouses and a big steam-powered sawmill,” Bragg wrote. But, the river eventually washed most of the original 200-acre town away.

Plum Point

Downstream and around the bend from Ashport is Plum Point. Plum Point was once considered one of the most dangerous places on the river. “A multitude of snags, half-concealed tree trunks, and sandbars gave even the most adventurous pilot cold chills. The currents, that foamed around the point, were enough to frighten a timid flatboatman half to death,” Bragg wrote. Over the years, the Army Corps of Engineers has made Plum Point safe for boats.

Fort Pillow

Fort Pillow, a Confederate Fort, is just downstream from Plum Point. As history buffs will tell you, Fort Pillow fell to Confederate cavalry led by Nathan Bedford Forrest in April 1862. This was one of the Civil War’s most controversial battles. Since then, the Mississippi has moved so much that today you can hardly see the river from Fort Pillow State Historic Park.

Randolph

Former Site of Randolph TN
Little remains at the former site of Randolph, a town that for a time rivaled Memphis as the primary Tennessee city on the Mississippi River.

Continuing southward, the river passes the former site of the town of Randolph at about mile 771. Randolph is the most interesting ghost town in the Volunteer State. It once rivaled Memphis to become Tennessee’s premier city on the Mississippi River but declined because of a shifting of the river current. Once big enough to have a hotel and a newspaper, Randolph now consists of little more than a few houses and a historic marker.

Reverie

Just downstream and across the river from the former site of Randolph is the community of Reverie. Due to the movement of the river, this Tipton County town has the distinction of being the most populous Tennessee community on the west side of the Mississippi River. It is such a long drive to the rest of the county that the state of Tennessee pays Arkansas to educate Reverie’s children.

Centennial Cutoff

The Centennial Cutoof at the Devils Elbow
The Centennial Cutoof at the Devils Elbow

Continuing southward, there are many places in Tipton and Shelby counties where the river has “straightened itself” over the years, leaving much Tennessee land west of the river. One of these places is Centennial Cutoff, named for the fact that the river made the shift during a single day in the year 1876.

Centennial Cutoff removed a bend in the river that was called “Devil’s Elbow”. And, created a new island called Island 37. Because of confusion about which state owned the island, it became a harbor for lawbreakers. This is why the Arkansas militia raided the island in July 1915. In the 1918 case known as State of Arkansas v. State of Tennessee, the Supreme Court ruled that the piece of land then known as Island 37 was still part of Tennessee. Today the river has completely shifted to the east side of what was once known as Island 37; the land is attached to the Arkansas side but still part of Tennessee.

Centennial Cutoff removed a bend in the river that was called “Devil’s Elbow” and created a new island, Island 37. Because of confusion about which state owned the island, it became a harbor for lawbreakers, which is why the Arkansas militia raided the island in July 1915. In the 1918 case known as State of Arkansas v. State of Tennessee, the Supreme Court ruled that the piece of land then known as Island 37 was still part of Tennessee. Today the river has completely shifted to the east side of what was once known as Island 37; the land is attached to the Arkansas side but still part of Tennessee.

Sultana Disaster

Jerry Potter Memphis Historian
Jerry Potter, Memphis historian, attorney and author of “The Sultana Tragedy: America’s Greatest Maritime Disaster,” believes he found the ship’s wreckage buried in Arkansas farmland where the Mississippi River used to flow.

The saddest story associated with the movement of the Mississippi River comes from the Sultana disaster. In April 1865, the steamboat Sultana exploded just north of Memphis, killing as many as 1,800 people in the deadliest maritime accident in American history. Most of the victims were U.S. Army soldiers on their way home from Confederate prisoner-of-war camps.

Memphis attorney and historian Jerry Potter has spent many years researching the Sultana disaster and writing the book “The Sultana Tragedy: America’s Greatest Maritime Disaster.” His study led him to ask whatever became of the wreckage of the Sultana. As it turns out, the Mississippi River upstream of Memphis had changed course. The place where the Sultana exploded and sank is now in Arkansas.

Riverboat Parts

In 1982, Potter found riverboat parts on the former location of the river on the Arkansas side. Using metal detectors, he determined that there was a very large object buried about 30 feet below the surface of the earth. However, the land is so close to the Mississippi River that it would be very difficult and expensive to dig there.

“While I’m about 90 percent certain that we found the Sultana, I’m not 100 percent sure,” Potter says.

The remains of the deadliest shipwreck in American history, therefore, lie under a farmer’s field in Arkansas.

Carey, B. (2015, August). Stories abound regarding Tennessee’s western boundary. The Tennessee Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.tnmagazine.org/stories-abound-regarding-tennessees-western-boundary/

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Welcome!

Mary Lynne Williams with Kenny Faulk at Bozos Bar-B-Q in 2018
Mary Lynne Williams with Kenny Faulk at Bozos Bar-B-Q in 2018

My name is ML Williams. I am a hiking, fossil hunting, God loving, coffee drinking, hot fries eatin' middle school math teacher! I love researching my family history and, since my family is from Tipton County, I love researching the people and areas of Tipton.

Thanks for visiting my site and good luck in your quest!

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© 2018-2021 Tipton County, Tennessee
Mary Lynne Williams

Shelley, Barbara June Abbott

BARBARA JUNE ABBOTT SHELLEY | 52, of Drummonds, Tenn., clerk for Abbott Jewelry, died Thursday at Baptist Memorial Hospital – Tipton in Covington, Tenn. Services will be at 2 p.m. today at Munford (Tenn.) Funeral Home with burial in Poplar Grove Cemetery in Drummonds.  She leaves a daughter, Kimberly Ann Douglas, and a son, James D. Shelley, both of Atlanta; her parents, John and Reamonia Millican Abbot of Drummonds; a brother, Paul Abbott of Memphis, and five grandchildren.

[Barbara June Abbott Shelley; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 14 Dec 2003; Pg 29]

Janie Reamonia Rann

JANIE REAMONIA RANN, 17, of Drummonds, Tenn., clerk for Abbott Diamond Enterprises, died Thursday at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. Services will be at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Munford (Tenn.) Funeral Home with Burial in Poplar Grove Cemetery in Drummonds. She was a member of Fellowship Baptist Church. She leaves her great-grandparents who raised her, Reamonia and John Abbott of Drummonds; a half-brother, John Abbot Peak of Texas, and her grandmother, Barbara Shelley of Drummonds.

[Janie Reamonia Rann; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 20 Sep 2003; Pg 15]

John A Murrell Death

Lillian Oreed Smith

Lillian was born August 22, 1903, in Tipton County, Tennessee and died June 22, 1992, in Covington, Tennessee.  She married William Austin Rhodes, May 25, 1924.  William was born July 18, 1894, and died September 17, 1980.  Lillian taught school in the schoolhouse at Bethel as a very young woman.  Then she went to Memphis where she met and married Austin.  They operated drug stores, sometimes one and sometimes two, in north Memphis most of their adult lives.  One of the stores was on Leath Street very near Humes High School and the other was on Manassas Street.  Rather late in life, they bought the old Smith family house and four acres from Lillian’s mother, Della, and moved back to Tipton County.  They put in a hen house for laying hens and sold eggs until retirement.  Austin and Lillian never had any children.  They both are buried in the “New Part” of Bethel Cemetery.

[ from An Illustrated History of the People and Towns of Northeast Shelby County and South Central Tipton County, page 178]

Lillian Oreed Smith Rhodes Obituary

ATOKA – Lillian Smith Rhodes, 88, retired merchant, died Monday at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Tipton after a long illness.  Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Munford Funeral Home with burial in Bethel Cemetery.  She was a member of Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Home Demonstration Club.  Mrs. Rhodes, the widow of Austin Rhodes, leaves a sister, Carmen Smith of Memphis, and two brothers, A. T. Smith of Atoka and Richard Smith of Gautier, Miss.

[Rhodes, Lillian Smith; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 24 Jun 1992; Pg 11]

Delayed birth certificate Lillian Oreed Smith
Delayed birth certificate Lillian Oreed Smith
Lillian Oreed Smith and W A Rhodes Marriage License
Lillian Oreed Smith and W A Rhodes Marriage License
Lillian Oreed Smith Rhodes
Lillian Oreed Smith Rhodes
Richard Arnold Smith

Richard was born on June 29, 1912, and died in Pascagoula, Mississippi on June 3, 1994.  He married Zelma Wright on October 19, 1940.  Richard attended college at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.  I do not know if he got a degree or not.  After college, he went to work for Continental Gin Company as a sales engineer in Birmingham.  He and Zelma lived there for a long time.  He finally did transfer to Memphis and lived there for several years.  During his years with Continental Gin Company, he traveled a lot, even to India for several months to install a cotton gin there.  After a long career with Continental, they bought a small tourist court in Pascagoula and moved down there to operate it.  This facility consisted of several individual cottages scattered through a pine grove.  They did most of the work themselves, just hiring people to supplement in areas that they could not see after twenty-four hours per day.  Most of their clientele were extended stay types who worked on the shrimp boats that fished out of the Pascagoula harbor and construction workers who were there for several months at a time.  Of course, they did do some overnight business, too.  Later in life, when the work became too difficult, they sold the tourist court and retired to Dolphin Island where they lived until Richard died.  It is assumed that both Richard and Zelma are buried in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

[An Illustrated History of the People and Towns of Northeast Shelby County and South Central Tipton County]

Jackson County Memorial Park

Iva Electa Smith

Iva Electa was born April 20, 1901, and died December 24, 1991, in Savannah, Hardin County, Tennessee.  She married Lenvil Gordon Beaver on March 30, 1925.  He died February 21, 1949.  They lived in the community that was named after his family, Beaver, or sometimes referred to as Beaver Town.  There was a store and cotton gin, both of which he owned.  They lived in a house that sat across the road from the store.  They had five children: Lenvil Oneda, Iva Shirley, Steve, Carmen Theo, and Lemuel Gordon Beaver.  Gordon and Iva Electa are buried in Ravencroft Cemetery in Tipton County, Tennessee.

[An Illustrated History of the People and Towns of Northeast Shelby County and South Central Tipton County, page 178]

After the death of Gordon in 1949, Iva Electa married Jesse Ray Blakey on 21 Aug 1970.  Both the bride and the groom were 69 years of age.

Iva Electa passed away on 24 Dec 1991.  Her obit is below:

BRIGHTON – Electa Smith Beaver Blakey, 90, former teacher, died Tuesday at Hardin County General Hospital in Savannah.  Services will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Munford Funeral Home with burial in Ravenscroft Cemetery.  She was a member of Beaver Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday School and the Women’s Bible Class.  Mrs. Blakey, the widow of Gordon Beaver and J. R. Blakey, leaves three daughters, Lenvil Leadbetter of Savannah, Shirley Dyer of Clinton, Ill., and Carmen Harshfield of Somerville; a son, Gordon ‘Lem’ Beaver Jr. of Brighton; two sisters, Carmen Smith of Memphis and Lillian Rhodes of Savannah; two brothers, A. T. Smith of Atoka and Richard Smith of Gauthier, Miss., 15 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Electa Smith Beaver Blakey; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, TN; 26 Dec 1991; Pg 29
Electa Smith Beaver Blakey; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, TN; 26 Dec 1991; Pg 29

 

Gordon and Electa Beaver's Headstone in Ravenscroft Cemetery
Gordon and Electa Beaver’s Headstone in Ravenscroft Cemetery
Delayed Birth Record Iva Electa Smith
Delayed Birth Record Iva Electa Smith
Electa Smith marriage to Lenvil Gordon Beaver
Electa Smith marriage to Lenvil Gordon Beaver
Electa Smith Beaver Marriage to Jesse Ray Blakey
Electa Smith Beaver Marriage to Jesse Ray Blakey
Carmen Theo Smith

Carmen was born on 24 Oct 1898 in Tipton County, Tennessee.  After graduating high school, Carmen moved to Memphis where she was a bookkeeper and secretary for William G. Smith.  William owned a refrigerator business.  They soon fell in love and where married on 24 Jun 1927.  William had three children from a previous marriage, and he and Carmen did not have any children.  They lived on E. Cherry Circle in Memphis.  According to Wayne Smith, their house was very nice and sat on about two acres of land.  Carmen died on 6 Feb 2000 in Shelby County, Tennessee.  Both William and Carmen are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.

Obituary for Carmen Theo Smith

Carmen T. Smith, 101, of Bartlett, retired bookkeeper for Smith’s Refrigeration Co., died of heart failure Sunday at Ave Maria Nursing Home.  Services will be at 1 p.m. today at Memorial Park Funeral Home with burial in Memorial Park.  She was a choir member at Broadmoor Baptist Church, taught Sunday school, and was a charter member at Sunset Baptist Church.  Mrs. Smith, the widow of William G. Smith, leaves a brother, A. T. Smith of Atoka, Tenn. The family requests that any memorials be sent to Bethel Cumberland Presbyterian Churchin Atoka.

Carmen T Smith; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 8 Feb 2000; Pg 14
Carmen T Smith; The Commercial Appeal; Memphis, Tenn; 8 Feb 2000; Pg 14

 

Delayed Birth Certificate
Delayed Birth Certificate
1910 US Census
1910 US Census
1920 US Census
1920 US Census
1940 US Census
1940 US Census
1950 US Census
1950 US Census
Allie Perry Smith

Allie was born about 1865 and died on 10 Aug 1911.  Allie worked as a clerk in  a store in Randolph, Tennessee.  He never married.

There is an old rumor that Allie was shot and killed.  The suspect, a jealous husband, but no one was ever charged with the crime.  It seems, although an interesting story, this cannot be true as his death certificate states he died of Typhoid Fever.

Fannie Smith

Fannie was born in 1867.  She married John W Reeves (1862-1945) on 7 Feb 1889 in Tipton County, Tenn.  The couple had two children:  Baudine and Finis Henry Uric.  The Reeves family was instrumental in the growth of business and church affairs in Atoka.  John was a merchant for many years and he was very active in the civic projects of the town.  They were members of the Methodist Church, where Fannie taught Sunday school.  Their son, Finis, born 6 Aug 1895, was confined to a wheelchair because of a spinal injury he received as a child.  He died on 28 Jan 1924, at the at of 29. Fannie, John and Finis are buried in Bethel Cemetery.  Baudine, who was born 19 Nov 1893, married James C Smith (1891-1981) on 3 Sep 1916 in Tipton County, Tenn.  Baudine died in Dec of 1981 and is buried in Bethel Cemetery.

 

William Richard Smith

William was born February 16, 1863, and died 22 Oct 1900.  He married Lula Victoria Aycock.  The couple farmed between Tipton and Bethel on land they had purchased.  William and Lula had two daughters, Dorcas Smith and Gladys Smith, and one son, William R Smith who was born 16 Feb 1901, and died 25 Feb 1902.  William and Lula are buried in Bethel Cemetery in unmarked graves.  Their son, William, is buried in part “C” of the cemetery.  They are probably buried in that vicinity.

After William’s death, Lula married Walter Lyles. Walter had a child from a previous marriage named Helen.  Walter and Lula did not have children.

Edward Scott Smith

Edward was born 1860 and died in 1932.  He married Laura McCormick who was born 1859 and died in 1945.  They lived in Shelby County near the Tipton County line just south of Bethel Road.  They farmed, but the land was very poor and they did not do very well.  After their children were grown, Ed and Laura moved into a house located on Tipton Road between Tipton and Munford.  They are buried in the “C” section of Bethel Cemetery.  The children of Edward and Laura McCormick were daughter Myrtle and twins Roger B. and Rodney.

John Alexander Smith

John Alexander married Jarusha Dorcas Walker Oct. 28, 1959 in Tipton County, Tennessee.  She was the daughter of John and Frances Walker.  Jarusha was born July 20, 1842, and died April 24, 1917.  John and Jarusha are buried in the “B” section of Bethel Cemetery.

Arthur Theophilus Smith said that he always heard that John and Jarusha did not own the house and property where they were living when John died.  This property was located in Shelby County between Tracy Road and Mudville Road.  Today the road is known as Mulberry Road.  Somehow, Jarusha managed to raise seven children and purchase a portion of the property, at least the house and maybe some land.  The children of John A. and Jarusha Walker Smith were:  Edward Scott, William Richard, Allie, Fannie, Auther Theophilus, Wyatt Andrew and Johnny LeAndrew.