Jackson D. Carriger, son of Godfrey Carriger, Jr., was born March 8, 1821, and at the age of five years was left an orphan. He supplemented his public school education by study in the Duffield Academy and at the age of seventeen years took charge of the property which he inherited and afterward managed his own affairs in a very successful manner. He was sworn into a company in the secret service of the United States known as the East Tennessee Bridge Burners during the Civil war, under the order of Colonel Dan Stover, and assisted in burning the bridge at Bluff City, Tennessee, November 8, 1861. He was suspicioned as a bridge burner and had to seek refuge in the mountains, there suffering many hardships and exposure, from which he never fully recovered. He was finally captured and taken to Taylorsville, now Mountain City, Tennessee, for trial and would have been hanged but for the fact that one of the men before whom he was tried was a brother Mason [p.422] who interceded and saved his life. He was a trustee of the county, was gauger under federal appointment, justice of the peace for ten years and a member of the school board for many years. He took an active interest in public affairs, especially everything relating to the advancement of education and Christianity. He married Edna G. Dugger, who was born in Carter county, near the present site of Butler, April 8, 1838. She was a member of the Baptist church and her Christian spirit found frequent expression in her aid of those in distress. Her favorite passage of scripture was: “Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.” Edna G. Dugger was a daughter of Samuel Dugger, who was born January 16, 1806, and died June 12, 1890. He married Hannah Potter, a descendant of John Potter, who was born and reared on the Catawba river in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, and by grant received hundreds of acres of land in both Tennessee and North Carolina. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and according to the records the land came to him in recognition of his services. The ancestry in the Dugger line can be traced back to Julius Dugger, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, and there is a strongly supported tradition that the first American ancestor of the family was Hackney McDuggen. The prefix “Mc” was dropped and the final “n” was changed to “r.” Julius Dugger had a brother Ben and one of his descendants, William Dugger, had in his possession a book printed in the Scottish dialect, upon the fly leaf of which appeared the name of the owner, Hackney McDuggen. The Dugger family was established near Petersburg, Virginia, and Julius Dugger emigrated to Tennessee with four brothers, and possibly others, and one sister who became Mrs. Mary Smith. Julius Dugger settled near what was later known as Dugger’s Bridge and afterward removed to Wilkes county, North Carolina, but later returned to Tennessee. His brother Ben settled in western North Carolina, while Daniel went on to Kentucky and William took up his abode below Dugger’s Bridge. Julius Dugger arrived about 1766 in company with Andrew Greer and they are believed to be the first white men who settled south of what was afterward the Virginia line. Family tradition has it that he served in the Revolutionary war and he was also in the War of 1812, serving two different times. He married Mary Hall of Rockbridge county, Virginia, believed to be an only daughter, but she had a brother Sam who left descendants (the Daugherty family) and a brother George, who was killed by the Indians. Julius Dugger owned slaves and land at the foot of Dugger’s mountain, in Caldwell county, North Carolina, the mountain and creek there being named for him and his kindred because they hunted in that locality. He seems to have been alone loyal to the country in the midst of a Tory neighborhood and to avoid trouble he returned with his family to Tennessee and helped to clear the land where Elizabethton now stands. He and his descendants are spoken of as men of intelligence and of notable foresight.

Transcribed from: Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1796-1923 by John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster published by S.J Clarke Publishing Co., 1923.