1818-1876
Lycurgus Cage, the man Cageville, later Alamo, was name in honor of seems to be only a footnote in the available histories of the early settlement of the town of Alamo. Isaac Johnson, in his memoirs, did not mention his partner in the mercantile business. So we are left to conjecture as to who this man was that came and left his mark on the community. By researching some available records, I will strive to bring Lycrugus Cage out of the shadows and into the limelight of our early heritage.
Lycurgus Cage was born, 17 Jun 1818, at Cage’s Bend in Sumner County, Tennessee. He was the sixth son and eight child of William Cage, Jr. and his wife, Frances (Fanny) Street. His paternal grandfather, Major William Cage, Sr. had settled in the Cages Bend area of Sumner County, in 1785, while the Indian massacres were still prevalent in the Middle and other parts of Tennessee. He took a leading role in developing the area. Lycurgus Cage’s maternal grandfather, William Street, help defend the early settlements in the Middle Tennessee area and was granted 640 acres of land for his service.
Major William Cage served in the Revolutionary War, and for his service he received land grants that included 200 acres in Greene County; 640 acres in Sumner County; 1800 acres in the Middle District; and 228 acres in Sumner County. The place he settled was later called Cage’s Bend. In this area were the Douglas, Dillard, Crain, and Lindsay families, all Methodist converts, who began holding services in the Dillard home until a log cabin was built to meet the needs of the congregation. This log cabin was on the land of Lewis Crain and was called Crane’s Meeting house. Francis Asbury and Leaner Blackmon preached at Crane’s Meeting House. The name was later changed to Rehoboth Methodist Church.
When the Territorial Government was formed, in 1790, Major William Gage became the first Sheriff of Sumner County. He served for six years when he was succeeded by his son Reuben Cage, who was succeeded by his brother, James Cage.
William Cage, Jr., the father of Lycurgus married Frances (Fanny) Street, 12 Mar 1806, in Sumner County. William Cage, Jr. was in the mercantile and trade business. Along with his father, Major William Cage and General James Winchester 150 acres of land was purchased on the north bank of the Cumberland River about three quarters of a mile below Bledsoe’s Creek for the purpose of having a town on the river for receiving and sending goods down the river to New Orleans. Lots were offered for sale and the town flourished. The town was incorporated in 1815. It was named Cairo for the city in Egypt. Steamboats plying the river between Nashville and New Orleans stopped regularly at the little town and by 1834, it contained thirty families, with two physicians, an academy and church, one tavern, one cabinet maker, one machine maker, one cotton and wool factory, one rope walk, two tailors, two blacksmiths, one gunsmith, and two shoemakers. Lycurgus Cage was probably born in Cairo.
It could only have been an adventurous spirit that compelled Lycurgus Cage to remove from Sumner County to the wilderness area that was to become Crockett County. He was born in 1818 and had probably arrived in the area around 1838. He remained there until around 1842. Goodspeed erred in his history when he indicated that Isaac Johnson and Lycurgus Cage were in business in 1846. An early reference in “The Grand” newspaper, Holly Springs, Marshall County, Mississippi, dated, 3 Jan 1843, confirms that he had migrated there by that time.
The first reference to Cage and Company, was the above item which read: Rev. T. Bartholomews, M. D., Expectorant, This syrup is superior to any invention ever before offered to the public. It never fails, when used according to directions, to cure the above complaints, enabling the patient to raise freely without pain. Many certificates extol of the wonderful effects of this syrup. For Sale by Cage and Company, Agents, Holly Springs, Mississippi.
Marshall County, Mississippi had been form, 9 Feb 1836. However it development had begun long before the county was recognized as a result of the Chickasaw Session in 1834.
Lycurgus Cage would have used the old Buffalo Path between the Mississippi and Tennessee River to travel to the new territory in Mississippi. This path had been used by the Chickasaw Indians for centuries. His destination was Holly Springs where his sister, Marie Elizabeth Cage Crutcher Nelson, was already living with her second husband, James H. Nelson.
Holly Springs, sometimes called, “The City of Flowers” had been a poplar camping ground for the Indians and early hunters and had received its name from the many holly trees and numerous springs that were found in the area.
Lycurgus Cage married Elizabeth Lyman James, 19 May 1844 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She was born, 20 Oct 1827, in Tennessee. The 1850 Census of Marshall County, Mississippi, Northern Division lists the following household: 179-179, James H. Nelson, age 40, Clerk, born in Virginia; Maria Nelson, age 40, born in Tennessee; William C. Nelson, age 9, born in Mississippi; Thomas H. Nelson, age 2, born in Mississippi; Lycurgus Cage, age 30, Trader, born in Tennessee; Elizabeth L. Cage, age 23, born in Tennessee; Foster Cage, age 5, born in Tennessee; Lyman J. Cage, age 3, born in Mississippi; and Mary C. Cage, age 3 months, born in Mississippi.
Maria Nelson, sister of Lycurgus Cage, married, first, Foster Crutcher and they evidently moved to the Holly Springs area shortly after it became a county. She married for the second time, James H. Nelson.
Lycurgus and Elizabeth Cage had the following children: Foster Crutcher Cage, Lyman James Cage, Mary Courtney Cage, Edwin Cage, Lucille Beatrice Cage, Bettie James Cage, and William Cage.
Lycurgus Cage, b. 17 Jun 1818, d. 20 Sep 1876, is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery, Holly Springs, Mississippi. Buried along with him is his wife, Elizabeth Lyman James Cage, b. 20 Oct 1827, d. 1 Apr 1869; Lyman James Cage, b. 12 Jul 1848, d. 8 Feb 1881, in Helena, Arkansas; James Crutcher Cage, d. 12 Jan 1895; Bettie James Cage, b. 23 Jun 1861, d. 25 Sep 1862; and William Cage, b. 4 Sep 1864, d. 5 Sep 1864.
It would seem that Lycurgus Cage had retained the qualities that exemplified his ancestors and the township named for him can be proud of the honor they bestowed on him, however it is sad that the town was renamed, in 1872, before his death in 1876.
Margaret Nolen Nichol – 2007