GORDONSBURG 

Gordonsburg was a center for phosphate mining.  The phosphate mine at Gordonsburg employed a large number of local people.  At its peak, there were around 1,600 inhabitants of the area.  Tunneling was the mining method.  Tunnel mules pulled trams to the entrance, there the phosphate was put on dinkeys and taken to the crusher.  Tunnels were 300 feet apart.

  The mines were shut down about 1937 and rails were taken up about 1942.  John Sharp rode a company horse and looked after the land. Some of the stores were the commissary operated by Jenkins and Company, George Barnes store, Neely Shannon store, Silas Stockard at Bic.  Machinery to run the crusher was a 250 HP Allis Chalmers steam engine hooked to five boilers.  A 16 inch air pipe was used to run the mine equipment.

Jenkins and  Company had metal script for commissary use.  They ran out of high grade rock forcing a closing in 1937.  The lands were later owned by Mobil Oil Company.

REMEMBRANCES OF GORDONSBURG

 by Mary Beth Shannon.

May 1994

Mary Beth Shannon Presented The Following Program At
THE MAY MEETING OF THE LEWIS COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
It was printed in the JUNE 23rd. 1994 EDITION OF THE LEWIS COUNTY HERALD.

 

At a recent visit with Mrs. Shannon in Nashville, she gave additional details about her life in the Gordonsburg community.  A biographical sketch will be included in the section "Biographical sketches".

I will attempt to tell you some of the things I remember about Gordonsburg.  The Charleston Mining Company bought the Flannagen property and some other properties that I don't really  know abut around 1901.  They decided to call it Gordonsburg, probably because the first county seat of Lewis County was called Gordon on the John Sharp property.  It later moved to Newburg, and then to Hohenwald.

I have a very rough chart that shows the Gordonsburg I remember.  Mr. Keither asked me to do this. (note: On my visit with Mrs. Shannon, i took an aerial map and she pointed out different houses, schools, etc. and it is shown here) As you enter Gordonsburg from old 99 near the site of the Gordonsburg Church, then cross the railroad, here the road runs along between a very pretty clear stream and the railroad.  There the depot and water tank also a holding pen for livestock that was to be shipped out by train.  In fact, I remember helping my dad b ring cattle there to be shipped for sale.  At that time we had the no fence law. Animals were allowed to run outside in the wooded area, by fall they were very fat with beautiful shiny coats, beggar lice, which was a wild plant that grew really made them look absolutely beautiful.  This was also helpful to the farmers of the area, as I am sure many other people used it too.  From the depot you moved to the road to the area where the commissary was.  It was a large brick building which supplied the needs for the community, such items as horse collars, shoe strings, all types of sewing materials such as thread, needles, fabric, batting for making quilts.  There was all kinds of foods, crackers which were usually in a barrel, beans, potatoes, canned goods of the day, it certainly wasn't a Kroger by any means but served the needs of the community.  They also bough eggs from the farmers around.  I remember seeing Mr. Tob Duncan, Howard Duncan's father, ride a sorrel horse with a very large splint basket with eggs.  Howard told me he had the basket and it held 12 dozen eggs.  I am sure he was able to buy many of the supplies he needed such as groceries and other odd and ends, he would probably go home with some script in his pocket to use on his next visit.  I might mention script was Company money that could only be used at the commissary.

Mr. Duncan was just one of the many people up and down the creek that sold produce to the residents of the area.  Since there were so many people that liked what these people, up and down the creek brought to sell, such as eggs , milk, butter, all kinds of vegetables, peanuts, pumpkins, cantaloupes, watermelon, fresh meat (such as goat, mutton, port) in fact anything to eat.  Some of the people that I remember taking produce were Tandy Finerty, Ollie Johnston, who had regular route and days, Mondays and Fridays; also Olivea Lindsay, who was a widow which really made a living for her several children in the manner.  I don't remember her days.  At that time you were close friends to all of these people, many times they would stop and eat dinner with my family.  Mrs. Sally Sharp, a widow, lived with her mother, also a widow, this was a main source of their income.  All of this was very helpful to the people of this area.  Lula Johnston (my aunt), and Betty Johnston (my grandmother) also peddled, as we called it, together.  Tom Pollock, Willie Garner (which is Osteen Edwards grandfather), also Lonnie Garner, and I am sure there were many more, but those are the ones that I remember best.
 

Road and Railroad may of Gordonsburg

As we get past the commissary, the houses start, on the right of the road the Raleigh Peyton's lived, he was a mill write for the company.  The next house is where the Bill Patton family lived.  Mr. Patton was a substitute dinky driver, also took care of the water pump that kept air in the mines.  Next the John Mathis' family (very large) lived, I don't really know what Mr. Mathis did.  Next door lived Cal Bloom, Thelma Patton's father, a machinist.  And then the post office. (at first the Post Office was in the commissary).  Mr. Schutti, Frances Jones Father, was also bookkeeper at the office and the first postmaster.)

Later the Post Office was built.  Some of the ladies that were postmistresses were Ethel Peery, Eddie Lee Yokley, Willie DeVore, and Rona Clayton.  Mrs. Clayton served at two different times.  She was Jerry Clayton's mother.  Maggie Rosson, Cecil Rosson's mother, also served and there may have been others that I don't remember.  Continuing down the road on the right above the Post Office were the homes of David Yokley, Rob Clay, Claude Quillen, Bertie Quillen's husband.  Mrs. Quillen now lives here in town.  Next came the house of Ebie Murphy, Ruby Sharp's father. She also lives here in town.

Then the road lead to Rabbit Knob, many families lived here all white, Frank Mitchell, Nick Bush (he was from Australia) hitched the dinky cars on the incline.  Jim Hardin, Johnny Murphy (Janice Bridges grandfather), Edgar McKnight (Danny McKnights' grandfather), Willis Mash, Henry Stinson, these are the ones I remember probably many others lived there; there were houses everywhere.

Beginning on the left side by the store lived John Stockard's family (his wife Ruth Stockard is now in the nursing home).  I don't recall who lived in the other houses here, many people exchanged houses when one became available. Rent was $3.00 to $5.00 paid at the office.  Melvin Lawson, a dinky operator, lived in one of the houses.  Mr. Lawson was a very religious man (Dell Spears' father). They were very close friends of my family.  On the corner lived the Will Clay family, a very large family, he and sons cut timber for all the needs for the mines.  Continuing straight on the road the next corner Connie Harris lived.  He was a blacksmith.  In front of his house was the road to Smokey Hollow. The water supply for the community came from here. Also all of the explosives were stored here. Several families lived in Smokey Hollow, all black.  I remember Ann Hodge and Callie Christmas lived there. Callie Christmas had a boarding house some say twenty rooms.  If a family had a burn out, they were housed there until their house could be rebuilt.  Also, if there were newcomers without a house, they would board there until one could be built for them.

Back to the corner where the Will Clay family lived, if you continue on the road the office, and phosphate shed were located on the left.  The first house on the right was the Ike Perry House (very large family), here the road went up the hill to the right of the Perry house.  It was called "nigger hill".  I don't know much about this area except there were many, many, many houses up there. And dogs, dogs, chained to a large block of wood continuously barking.  My daddy kept a flock of sheep.  He told these people if their dog killed any of his sheep he would shoot the dogs and he did.

Off the Big Hill on up the road on the next corner A. P. Rosson lived.  He weighed rock.  Next lived Lee Yokely (Margie York's grandfather(, who was mine foreman, and then Paul Bell, who worked in the office.  Dr. Spiceland lived in the last house on the end, if I remember correctly.  He delivered me at my farm home on Swan Creek, August 27, 1915.  He was considered a very fine doctor for his time.  I don't know if he died or just moved away. Then Dr. Waldon was the mine doctor.  He lived in Mt. Pleasant.  He came every day. They blew the whistle to let every one know he was there.  The whistle also blew at 4:30 am to wake everyone, at 6:00am to start work, at 12:00noon for lunch, at at 1:00pm back to work, and again at 5:00pm quitting time.

On the other side of the road, the offices of the Doctor, Foreman, and Superintendent, and many other offices were located.  I think there was one, two, or three apartments over the offices.  Behind the office the dinky track ran to the shed to unload the phosphate.  The shed was built by Bill McClahon and his two brothers,Albert and John.  They also built many of the houses.  The shed was 1,500 feet long and 350 feet wide. The temple was nearby where the rock was weighed by Johnny Patterson, a Short baldheaded man.  (note: The photo above labeled "foundation for the crusher is what Mrs.. Shannon and others of the time called the "Temple")

Mr. Patterson, a bachelor, I believe, lived at the clubhouse, and drove a runabout buggy and white horse (I can almost see him now).  Later, Mr. A. P. Rosson did this job.  I don't know what happened to Mr. Patterson, died or maybe became disabled.

Here the rock was crushed, dried, run through a cracker jack to finer crush it.  Then it was loaded into a boxcar by wheelbarrow, there were a few men that were able to load a box car a day (some worker I would say).  There were several men who were dinky operators/driver. Ellis Mathis, Willis Mash, Melvin Lawson, J.B. Clayton, and Mr. Bill Patton, who was a substitute driver.  It must have been a very responsible job.  There were 22 miles of dinky track.  It brought the phosphate from the tunnels, where the miners wearing a carbide light brought the cars out of the mines by donkeys.  They were cared for by Johnny Woods.  The dinky tracks were laid by Gil Biglow (Lewis Lee Smith's Uncle). 

The mines were first operated by the Wright Brothers, Melvin, Superintendent, and Bob took care of the commissary.  Other people who did this were Lee Adkinson (got sick and died), Orlanda Williams, a Mr. Bruce (which I don't remember), Mr. Kelsey Brown (which is J. B. Browns' father).  There many people who worked as helpers in the store although I don't recall their names.

The different men who were superintendents were Melvin Wright, Frank Farris, and Leslie Burnett.  He is the one that I remember, a very nice person.  They had four children, Anna Frances, married to Mike McGaw.  They are both in very poor health.  I was told Mr. McGaw had much good information on Gordonsburg, which he gave to some gentleman in Hohenwald to be used in our museum.  But so far no one claims to have that material.  Hope it will show up later, sure would love to read it.

Some of the foreman were Charlis McKee, George Bell, Ed Wilcox, Lee Yokley, John Fite, and A. P. Rosson.  Some of the depot agents were:  Mr. Bloodworth, a very nice religious man, also rather large; Mr. Blue, Mr. Peelings, very much liked in the community; and Mr. Williams.  If there were more I don't know their names.

I remember an agent lived in the house I now live in.  I don't remember his name.  I was rather small.  There were several small settlements nearby Phoset near where I lived. This is where the Flannagan house was.  It was pretty and nice house for the times.  The Ollie Smith's lived there.  He was a blacksmith.  He was a jolly heavyset man, his wife being very thin with beautiful brown eyes.  They were Lewis Lee Smith's grandparents.  We visited them often when I was a child.  Later the Clayton family lived there until the trace took it.  There were many houses in this area.

There was Yankee Hollow near the clubhouse where the Haywood family now live.  It took three years to built it 1909 - 1911.  It has thirteen rooms and one bathroom.  It is still very nice.  If you have a chance, call for a visit.  Down in the field about one quarter mile was the house where the store keeper lived.

Stony lonesome was where the blacks buried the ones that got in fights and were killed on payday, Saturday night.  There was Murphy Hill, Grinders Creek, Hound Hill, Glover, Jenkins Hollow and there were houses everywhere.  There was close to two thousand people in the Gordonsburg area in 1905. The train ran twice a day for two years. Then it ran once a day until the mines closed.  It ran to Mt. Pleasant.  That is 5 days a week.

There was a one room school, in the area.  I don't remember just where.  Mr. Carson Wright was the teacher for many years.  He was rather strong disciplinarian.  I have been told if those rough boys gave him trouble he took them to the door and kicked them down the hill.  I understood there were several steps to the door.  Kinda rough I would say.

In 1925, Herb DeFoe and Will Jones built the three room school house which late burned in the 60's.  I taught there for 4 years.  In 1927, the Church of Christ building was built by Jim Peeler (Ruby Hales father).  It is rather unusual in that the pulpit is in the front of the building by the door.  It is a pretty and nice and they meet there three times a week with L. C. Loveless as minister.

The mines closed in 1923 for two years then reopened and ran until 1937 when it closed for lack of phosphate.  Also war was brewing.  The employees began to receive social security checks in 1937.  People went to other areas to find employment in Florence, Al. (Reynolds Co) Mt. Pleasant, Columbia, and other places.

Closing out an area that was very profitable to a large group of residents.  I hope you have enjoyed the things I have told you about this.  Maybe many things you will remember differently if so you can tell them to us later.

Because Mrs. Shannon was so thorough with her article, the following summary from my visit with her will be brief.  Thanks also to John Shannon for a copy of the above account and for his guided tour. 

This from John:

The mining operation began at the present Natchez Trace Parkway continuing around the base of the hills for several miles.  The dinky track followed this route to and past the processing plant.  Everything was slightly down hill making work a little easier.  There are numerous tunnels and numerous accumulations of pilings (extra, unusable material from the mines).  The dinky trains  brought the ore to the back of the crusher.

The regular size railroad began in the bottom near where the trace is now and continued on to Mt. Pleasant where the Phosphate was processed.  It is the same, but remodeled, plant today and some of the descendents of the Gordonsburg mining days still work there.  It was told that a Mr. Brewer would walk the RR bed at night going home.  He wore stove pipes on his legs and could hear the snakes striking them often.  Black cinders still coat much of the original RR bed.  John's mothers family "hit" the Gordonsburg area in 1791.  The trace did not follow the original route because of the numerous mines but instead took much of their farm including the pretty water fall now a tourist  attraction.  There are numerous unmarked graves in Stony Lonesome cemetery (black)

Because life was so rough for many of the workers and there was no apparent law, a group of rangers were sent in around 1908 - 1909.  This had a calming effect and stopped many apparent  lynchings, etc..

Mrs. Shannon:

When asked about the Churches in the area at that time Mrs. Shannon said there was at one time a Methodist building, unused, that was used by the Church of Christ until their building was erected.  She said that the large building still standing was not used primarily as a commissary and that the original or main commissary was across from the school house.  Mr. Jim Polk tore the commissary building down.

When asked about her health (86) she remarked that she was ok until she was told that her house and much of her farm was to be taken by the new highway construction.  This was in addition to land taken by the Trace and Hwy 99 earlier years.  She had lived in the same house all of her 86 years and her parents before her.  She attended college at Freed Hardeman in Henderson, Tn. where her grandson is now attending.  Mrs. Shannon's grandfather died before she was born.  Her father was born on Grinders creek off 412, formerly 99 hwy.

Mrs. Shannon was told by a Mr. Burnette that at the time, the Gordonsburg phosphate operation was the most extensive one in the world and the best grade of blue rock (see photo) came from where the trace crosses Swan.  There was blue rock and brown rock. 

The big spring in Smoky Hollow, where several hundred people lived, furnished water for everyone to use in their households.  Commodore Spann and Kelsey Brown, at different times, had a store across the highway from her house and both families lived in her house at different times.

There were over 20 miles of dinky track in the area plus the main railroad line.  The whistle mentioned in her article meant a lot to the folks there as their lives were pretty much timed by the company whistle.  The Post Office spoken of was very tiny.  Rabbit Knob had 8 - 10 houses.  Malcolm Runions had four children when they lived there and they would wade across the creek to get to school.  He worked at Mt. Pleasant and would trade sugar stamps for coffee stamps.

Mrs. Shannon's words to remember were, "Believe in the Lord and Trust in him".  She was baptized in the creek at the age of 16.  She went to church at Salem when as a child.  Salem was built in 1872.

If you would like to contact Mrs. Shannon you can call her son John, here in Hohenwald.  The Lewis County Library has the sketch of Gordonsburg with location of the post office, mill, store and approximately where several families lived. 
Thanks, Mrs. Shannon for your valuable article. We hope others will volunteer information and Biographical sketches.

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