?Moving County Seat Quieted Village?
The Nashville Tennessean, 20 June 1984
Old Jefferson -- The summer quiet of this rural
community was broken only by two youngsters bicycling by
the church.old gaunt cedars shade the ante-bellum homes
from the dust of the road, where newer homes stand. But
according to a least one native, Old Jefferson wasn?t
always this peaceful-or this ?old.? ?There was a saloon on
every corner of the square,? Everett Waller recalled.
?Jefferson was a lively place.? Now covered by the waters
of Percy Priest Lake, the town of Jefferson was the first
county seat of Rutherford County, with the first County
Court meeting in 1804 in the home of Thomas Rucker.
Situated at the confluence of the east and west forks of
the Stones River, the village became a coach stop and
trading post on the Georgia Road. The first store was
established there in 1803 by Waller?s ancestor, William
Nash. COL Robert Weakley, and several fellow veterans of
the Revolutionary War, claimed government grants along
the river around the turn of the 19th century. Waller
proudly displayed a copy of the town plat, marked with the
1804 land prices. ?This lot listed fir $30.75 was about two
acres. The first houses were log cabin,but many were later
expanded into large homes.? Some historians list Jefferson
as an important river port, but Waller suspects this may
be an exaggeration. ?My grandmother remembered rafts
taking loads of timber to Nashville, but it was too shallow
upriver to float very much.?
When the County Court convened in 1811 to select a
permanent county seat, the contenders were Jefferson,
Readyville, and Murphree?s Spring, later renamed
Murfreesboro. ?Readyville is nearly to the county line to
the east, we were far to the west, but Murphree?s Spring
was centrally located,? Waller explained. ?That?s how we
lost out. The river used to flood here too, and that could
have had something to do with it.? With the seat of
government moved to Murfreesboro, Jefferson?s
courthouse became Jefferson Seminary of Learning.
Education was also available at a combination
schoolhouse/church, used for services by different
denominations.
?I grew up on the square, in an old two-story house with
lots of porches,? Waller recalled. ?There were about three
stores then, a blacksmith shop, and a church. My father ran
a grocery store. There were about 150 people living in the
village-big families, and we all lived close together.?
Waller?s grandfather, Ephriam Waller, and three of his
brothers, rode in Gen. Joseph Wheeler?s Confederate
cavalry,? Waller said. ?Here?s a picture of grandfather.
See his white goatee? I remember he always referred to
Wheeler as ?Little Joe.??
Cotton was the main crop for Jefferson farmers until
well into this century, Waller said. ?There was a large
black population who worked the cotton, but they gradually
moved away and the economy changed.? Farmers ?quit
cotton? and went into the dairy business. ?We sold out (of
the grocery business) and went into farming, on Sharp
Spring Road,? Waller said.?It?s mostly covered by the lake
now.? At some time, which Waller could not recall, the
village acquired the sobriquet ?old.? ?There was a place
called Jefferson Springs that became a resort. It wasn?t
the same place as Jefferson. Maybe that?s how it got
people started saying Old Jefferson.?When Priest Lake
changed the Rutherford County landscape, it was necessary
for many families to move. The Church of Christ relocated
in a modern building on Old Jefferson Pike, and, according
to church member Evelyn Maynard, several families who
once lived in the village still attend. A photo of the
original, one-room white church is kept lovingly in the
vestibule of the new building. Everett Waller and his wife,
Christine, live near the church-out of sight of the village,
which, for them, is still alive in memory. He remembers the
excitement of living on the square, on the low banks of two
rivers that flowed together into one. ?There?s many a story
that could be told about Old Jefferson,? he said, ?It was
the center of business for this end of the county. There
wasn?t no Smyrna then.?