A Biography Of
Richard
Allen Bridgwater
1821-1875
Written
By Robert Polk Thomson
Born in Smith County, Tennessee, on 25 January 1821,[1] Richard Allen Bridgwater was the son of Chesley
Bridgwater and his wife, Nancy Chambers. Chesley Bridgwater had moved to Dixon
Springs, in Smith County, not long after 1800 and had acquired substantial
acreage on Dixon Creek two or three miles upstream from the village center. A
hatter by trade, he owned a small factory and he was also a farmer. He
regularly exported tobacco to New Orleans. In his later years he was a money
lender. At their home, “Bearwallow,” he and Nancy reared a large family.
Richard Allen was the ninth of thirteen children. By the time he reached
maturity, in 1841, five of his sisters and one of his brothers, Dr. Samuel C.
Bridgwater, had married. Still living at home were his two teen age brothers,
Chesley and John C., and three sisters. One of these sisters, Harriet, died in
1845, a second, Emily, married in 1846 and the third sister, Lucy, who was two
years older than Richard, never married. Richard remained at home, helping his
aging father until his death in April 1846.[2] Chesley Bridgwater left a large estate in land and
slaves. His eldest son, S. C. Bridgwater, and one of his sons-in-law, Wilson Y.
Martin, administered the estate.[3] Less than a year later, in March 1847, Nancy Chambers
Bridgwater died, and Richard was appointed her estate administrator.[4]
Richard Bridgwater had already made an appearance in the
written records of Smith County. In March 1845 one Othiel Johnson had been
charged by his Baptist congregation in Dixon Springs with drunkenness. He
admitted that he had “drinked two much” at Richard Bridgwaters but denied the
general charge. The elders appointed to investigate the matter reported that
Johnson had been “vary drunk,” not able to walk without help, and the
congregation expelled him.[5] Although this incident occurred before Chesley
Bridgwater’s death, and Richard lived at home, the locale of the excessive
drinking was identified as being at Richard Bridgwater’s. Richard was
considered the head of the household until after his mother’s death. By that
time the family had already decided that in order to divide the estate equally
among the many heirs, they had to sell the family land and slaves. The Smith
County courts authorized auction sales and in May 1847 Samuel C. Bridgwater
became the purchaser of the home tract, and W. Y. Martin the adjacent farm.[6] Richard’s brother John entered into a mercantile
business in Dixon Springs and Richard moved to Nashville to try to establish
himself in the mercantile world.[7]
Bridgwater did business with his brother’s Dixon Springs
firm, Crain and Bridgwater, from the time he came to Nashville until mid 1852,
at least, when he left the city. He exported tobacco to New Orleans in 1848 as
an independent merchant but in January 1849 accepted a position with the
Nashville commission and forwarding merchant firm, H. T. Yeatman, at an annual
salary of $500.[8]
He remained with Yeatman for the next two and a half years, perhaps continuing
to deal in tobacco. In 1850 his substantial medical bills indicate that his
health was poor.[9]
During the Nashville years his Dixon Springs friends and
relatives called on him repeatedly to assist them with their affairs. He made
purchases of personal items, looked after the repair of jewelry, and handled
subscriptions to magazines and newspapers. He noted the date, in 1851, his
niece, Nannie Martin, entered school, presumably in Nashville, and over the
next several months made small payments on her behalf. Her father, Wilson Y.
Martin, no doubt reimbursed him.[10]
During 1852 and early 1853, Richard Bridgwater made three
trips to explore the advantages of moving West. The first was to West
Tennessee. The second he made with his young brother Chesley Bridgwater but it
aborted almost as soon as it began because Chesley became seriously ill. The
third trip was to Texas. He kept a brief diary of these travels and a detailed
account of his expences.[11]
They give a good picture of travels in the developing Southwest.
On the first trip, Richard Bridgwater left Wilson Y.
Martin’s, in Dixon Springs, on 10 May 1852. Traveling on horseback he went
through Gallatin and Cross Plains, crossed the Red River near Keysburg, in
Kentucky, and traveled through the Todd County towns of Hadenville and Trenton.
He crossed the west fork of the Red River and went into Christian County and traveled
to the home of his mother’s sister, Polly Gary, who lived on the Town Fork of
Little River, four miles south of Hopkinsville. Married to Robert S. Gary, her
family had moved to Kentucky from Buckingham County, VA in 1836.[12] It
had taken Richard three long days of travel to get there and he visited with
them for four days before moving on.
On May 17 he passed the Kentucky town of Lafayette and
returned to Tennessee, crossed the Cumberland River at Dover, and traveled ten
more miles before stopping for the night. The next day he crossed the Tennessee
River at the mouth of the Sandy River and passed through Paris on his way to
the Henry County home of his cousin, Jack Chambers. Jack was John Ayres
Chambers, a first cousin, and the husband of Lucy Ann Allen who was a sister of
Walter Clopton Allen, the husband of Richard’s sister, Nancy.[13] Lucy
Ann and Walter were first cousins of Richard’s mother, Nancy Chambers. If this
were not enough of a tangle of family relationships, matters were further
complicated by the fact that Jack and his wife lived in the midst of a tightly
bound community of Allen relatives, three of whom were physicians. More than a
dozen of them are buried in what is known as the Dinwiddie family cemetery in
Henry County.[14]
Richard spent four days at cousin Jack’s, then, on the 23rd of May
rode west through Caledonia, Dresden and Jacksonville to the home of yet
another cousin, John Chambers.
John Wilmerton Chambers, a first cousin of Richard
Bridgwater, was a prosperous farmer who lived in Obion County, about three
miles northeast of the town of Union City.[15]
At the time of Richard’s visit John’s brother William Amas Chambers also lived
in the same vicinity and Richard recorded that William’s son “got killed” the
day before he arrived in Obion County. Richard spent three days at cousin
John’s then traveled eight miles to visit Sam Debow, a Smith County friend who
had moved to West Tennessee only two or three years earlier. The next day he
made a brief trip to Hickman County, KY, and returned to Debow’s. On May 27 he
went to William Chambers and spent two more days with his Chambers relatives.
The next four days Richard spent on the road, traveling
through Troy, Dyersburg, Ripley, Covington, and Concordia. On the 2nd
of June he arrived in the western edge of Shelby county where his sister,
Nancy, and her husband, Walter Clopton Allen, lived.[16] He spent four days with this sister, during which
time his horse recovered from lameness. No doubt weary of traveling, he next
turned eastward toward home. It took five days of travel, through Somerville,
over the Hatchy River, and on to Denmark, Huntingdon, Camden and other
Tennessee towns, one after the other. He crossed the Tennessee River, then
traveled through Waverly and Charlotte. When he reached Nashville, he stopped
at a hotel. The next day, June 13, he got home to Dixon Springs. He had been
gone a month and his travels had cost him $26.70. Almost every day he had noted
the quality of the lands he saw and estimated their value per acre. Rarely
impressed, if his purpose had been to locate a place where he wanted to settle,
he had returned home empty handed.
With his brother Chesley, Richard began a second trip in
late October 1852. From the beginning he was plagued by a lame horse. On the
fourth day, 29 October, Chesley became ill and remained so for more than a
week, probably longer. In mid-November the two men returned to Nashville, where
Richard left Chesley and returned home to Dixon Springs. Undaunted he began
immediately to make plans for a third trip.
On 8 December 1852 Richard Bridgwater left Dixon Springs
on his most ambitious trip. He got to his sister Nancy’s on the 23rd
of December and spent Christmas with her family, but his goal was Texas. In mid
January he went to Memphis and took passage on the steamer Naomi to Napoleon, a
river port at the mouth of the Arkansas River. The vessel was crowded and the
weather was rough. They came close to sinking and one passenger lost a horse
overboard.At Napoleon Richard boarded a river boat for Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
From the 20th of January through the month of February Richard
traveled by horseback through Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. From Pine Bluff
he went to Camden, Arkansas, then to Shreveport, LA, where he stayed at the
Palmetto House Hotel. Next he went into Texas, through snow and icy roads to
the town of Henderson. He crossed the Trinity River, then the Brazos River near
the mouth of the Aguilla River. His diary recorded harsh travel conditions and
contained notes he made about various river crossing points. This information
he must have gotten at stopping points along the road or from fellow travelers.
He often noted the names of people with whom he stayed, and in his little book
he also wrote out in pencil the names of people with addresses in places like
Houston and Austin. Most, perhaps all,were relatives. George H. Bagby, Ballard
C. Bagby, and Thomas M. Bagby were sons of his great aunt Lucy Hunt Allen, who
had married Daniel Bagby. Another, Calvin Chambers, was his first cousin, a son
of his uncle, Willis Chambers.[17] There is no evidence that he ever made contact with
any of them. But the family in Tennessee knew that they lived in Texas and
Richard had their names in the event that he got to their locales. He gave up
keeping a day by day diary, but his itemized expense accounts suggest that he
did not get into the southern parts of Texas where they lived. By the spring of
1853 Richard got home to Dixon Springs and he did not again seriously consider
moving to Texas. He never forgot the trip and told tales about his travels to
his children. His daughter, Emma, my grandmother, told me one of them when I
was a child. She reported that while traveling in Texas he had encountered a
man traveling on horseback, totally naked. For her this confirmed that Texas
was a wild, uncivilized place where he father had been in great peril.
During the rest of the year 1853 Richard Allen Bridgwater
appears to have been acting as a tobacco buyer in Smith County but he must have
been mostly interested in a young woman, Ann Methanius Seay, the daughter of
William Washington Seay who lived on the other side of the Cumberland River a
few miles east of the village of Rome. On the 20th of December 1853
they were married[18]
and took up residence on a farm located immediately across the road from
William Washington Seay’s grand plantation house. The farm was Seay family land
that he been inherited by Lelia and Erastus Harris from their mother, May Hearn
Harris. She had inherited it from her mother, Elizabeth Seay Hearn, who was a
daughter of the Seay family pioneer, John Seay, Sr. The Harris children’s
guardian was William Washington Seay, who obtained authorization from the
Wilson County court of offer the land for sale, at auction, in the interest of
his wards. The auction was held 8 December 1854 and Richard Allen Bridgwater
purchased lot 3 of the land for $18.55 per acre. He paid $50 in cash and gave
two notes, each for $2481. His securities were his father-in-law and
brother-in-law, William Washington Seay and John P. Seay.[19]
Richard Bridgwater spent his first years on the farm
figuring out how he could best earn a living. It was clear from the beginning
that agricultural products alone would not suffice. During 1854 he continued, on
a small scale, to buy and export tobacco to New Orleans.[20] As
late as February 1856 he was still contemplating his prospects as a tobacco
buyer and received some encouragement about market prospects from his brother
John, in Dixon Springs.[21]
William Washington Seay had built a small fortune in this trade and while
Richard might assist his father-in-law he could not earn a living as a
competitor. Early in 1854, backed by his father-in-law, Richard opened a
blacksmith shop, hiring William and Stephen Dawson as smiths. The shop’s main
business was the repair of agricultural equipment and the manufacture of a few
items, mostly plows. The shoeing of horses was only a minor part of the
business.[22] The operation was not very lucrative and in March
1855 S. S. Dawson moved to Arkansas.[23]
A Mr. Estes replaced him but it is uncertain how long the shop remained open.
For several years Richard continued to give some thought to relocating in the
Southwest. Dawson wrote him several letters about prices and agricultural
prospects in Arkansas. In January 1857 his brother-in-law John P. Seay wrote
him from Shreveport, LA while on an extended trip to Galveston, Texas, that the
prospects were not good there. “I very well know that there is no chance for an
man of unmodest means, in Tenn. I had Thought ower country was full fast but
thare is no comparison. Southern life is a world of excitement, it requires a
large income to support it in my opinion a man in Tenn. Is better off in the
long run on his hog and hominna than the Southerner with all his cotton bales
and costly living.”[24] Chesley Bridgwater did make the move, in 1857
locating in Monroe, LA,[25]
but Richard had begun to settle in where he was. Another venture had proved to
be of more enduring benefit.
With the help of W. W. Seay, Richard Bridgwater acquired
a jack and a horse which he offered to stand at stud. In addition he stabled
other stud animals for their owners and oversaw their seasons. His farm became
a breeding center for much of Wilson and Smith Counties. In addition he housed
and fed mares for their owners, on request. He initiated this activity by 1855
at the latest. In 1855 he sent his own mare elsewhere to be bred[26] but
during 1855 and 1856 “Washington”, a horse owned by John McCall of Smith County
and William Martin of Sumner County, stood for service at his house. He and W.
W. Seay were authorized to pay the expenses of the horse out of the proceeds of
the horse books.[27]
During the same period W. W. Seay owned a jack he had placed in Bridgwater’s
care.[28] In
Feb. 1857 Richard had printed a flyer announcing the availability of the horse
“Major Ringgold” and the jack “Young Knight Errant.”[29]
“Major Ringgold” belonged to F. G. Haynes and Bridgwater paid him $33 for his
half of “Major Reingold”’s season.[30] In March 1857 he had paid Smith County $2.75
for licenses to stand his jack @ $6 and his horse @ $5. Among those who sent
mares in 1857 to be serviced by the horse were his brother-in-law, Wilson Y.
Martin, and John Ray, who sent his mare to “your very fine horse.”[31]
“Young Knight Errant” may have been W. W. Seay’s animal,
but he would remain the principal jack in the Bridgwater stable for the next
twenty years.[32] Bridgwater announced that he was born in 1853 and was
sired by Allison’s Knight Errant, his dam being Major Seay’s big Jennett, Lady
Washington. The flyer printed about him in 1858 stated that he had been a
winner in the Division Fair at Rome “last Fall” and that he was a beautiful
black, 15 hands high. It stated that “he will serve mares at the low price of
$6, no colt no pay, Jennetts at $15 for Jennett colts and $20 for Jack colts….”[33]
Business must have been satisfactory in 1858. In March Richard sent his own
jennett to J. Y. Blyth’s, near Lebanon, to be serviced by the jack “Black
Prince.” Inbreeding had to be avoided in order to maintain quality lines.
In February of 1859 Mr. John Ward sent up a mare
belonging to his brother in Nashville for Richard to keep. He had refused to
state what he would charge for keeping her until he had seen her fed a few
times. He then reported that it would take 1 1/4th bushel of corn at
$1, 14 bundles of oats at 42Ë, and pasturage on blue
grass and rye at 30Ë for a total of $1.97 pr
week. Grain was high and he was not sure that Ward would want to pay that much.[34]
Obviously business was good and he saw no reason to shave prices in order to
attract customers. Bridgwater’s stud book for 1859 showed accounts for a jack,
“Sam Motley” and a horse “Locomotive”. The fee charged for mares bred by “Sam
Motley” was $8, for jennets $15 and $20. Between April and September he stood
for jennets seven times and for mares sixty two times. Only three stands for
jennets were successful. Of the stands for mares, thirty nine were successful.
“Locomotive” stood to mares seventy one times, of which thirty seven stands
were successful. Both animals stood in 1860 and the statistics were about the
same.[35] C.
L. Neilson owned “Locomotive” and he received $50 for his part of the 1859
season.[36]
Business was also good in 1860 and 1861. Bridgwater’s license
fees to Smith County in 1860 were more than double those paid in 1857, totaling
$10, which could have been an indication of volume. In 1861 his stud book
listed “Young Arabian” rather than “Locomotive” in the horse accounts. In 1862
it listed “J K Polk.” By then the war was taking its effect and no records
exist until post war years. It is clear that horses and jacks at stud had
provided Richard Bridgwater with the margin of profit he needed to be a
successful farmer in the years preceding the Civil War.
The demands of the stud service also helped determine the
agricultural use of Richard Bridgwater’s land. His was not a large farm. In the
1860 agricultural census he was reported to have 125 improved acres and 105
unimproved acres of land and the farm was valued at $8000. Its equipment was
valued at $300. All this was about one tenth William Washington Seay’s great
estate. It was roughly equal to that of his brother, Dr. S. C. Bridgwater, and
half that of his brother-in-law, Wilson Y. Martin. He had four slaves, nine
horses and four mules. Most of the animals would have been required for farm
operations. He also had four cows, 18 sheep and 26 hogs, but no cattle. They
helped satisfy family needs and were too few to create a marketable surplus. In
1860- the farm grew a little tobacco and wheat and a moderate sized crop of
corn, 2000 bushels.[37]
He also grew substantial crops of oats. Although grown primarily for feed, on
one occasion, at least, he had enough oats to sell to the Salisbury merchant,
L. Stein.[38]
Oats and corn were staple foodstuff for the horses he stabled.
Though his was a moderate agricultural enterprise, at
best, Richard Bridgwater managed to provide his family with a comfortable and
pleasant existence during the six or seven years that preceded the Civil War.
Shortly after his marriage, in March 1854, he purchased furniture suitable for
a respectable household. He paid $76 for two cherry bedsteads, a dinner table,
a dress table, a dress bureau, a cherry press, and a trundle bedstead.[39] The
last item recognized Ann’s pregnancy, for she gave birth to her first child in
November. In 1856 he constructed a house for his family, paying, among other
things, a mason who constructed the brick chimney. His family made frequent
purchases from merchants in Salisbury, Rome, and Lebanon, and occasionally from
Nashville. In 1854 John Campsey, in Rome charged him $6.14 to make a coat.
Stratton & Golladay, in Lebanon, was a regular purveyor of goods, in 1855
including shoes, ribbon, silk cloth, gloves, a comb, and a carpet bag. Johnson,
Weaver & Co. of Nashville, on 1 Dec. 1855, supplied 50 pounds of Baltimore
coffee, ½ barrel of “Best Sugar” and a washboard. And so it went. Richard did
not stint himself. Stein of Salisbury regularly supplied him with whiskey, either
by the gallon or half gallon, totaling five gallons in 1856. As the years moved
by, the purchases increased in quantity and the charges mounted, reflecting
general prosperity and the needs of a growing family. The family purchased an
enormous quantity of cloth and sewing supplies, indicating that Ann was an
unrelenting seamstress. Richard also kept up with the outside world by
subscribing to several newspapers and magazines. He subscribed to the Tennessee
Farmer and Mechanic, The Southern Homestead, and the Weekly
Republican Banner. Perhaps it was Ann who subscribed to the Southern
Christian Advocate. It was a literate household.
Momentarily in 1856 Richard considered entering politics,
toying with the idea of running for a minor public office. Chesley predicted
that the office would be anything but remunerative, as he had learned that the
justices would set the pay and were unwilling for it to be more than they had
received themselves earlier for performing the service.[40]
Later, William Washington Seay served as an election judge in their district,
and in 1859 he passed along the assignment to Richard. He was appointed a judge
in District 12 for the March and August 1860 elections.[41] Once
or twice during the 1850’s he accepted appointment as an arbitrator in
neighborhood land disputes,[42]
but he never became active in public affairs.
The Bridgwaters shared their pleasant existence with
their families. The William Washington Seay family lived across the road,
almost within sight of their house. The Bridgwater home place was across the
Cumberland River, near Dixon Springs and five of Richard’s brothers and sisters
still lived in the vicinity. Visits were frequent and letters a regular feature
of daily life. Ann had lived in Lebanon with her sister, Caroline Ophelia,
during her school days, and Caroline wrote to her from Mississippi after her
family moved there. Ann’s brother John also wrote to her while on a trip to
Louisiana and Texas. Richard received numerous letters from his brother,
Chesley. In March 1855 Chesley sent over from Dixon Springs his horse “Black”
for a month or six weeks to help with farm work, but asked that his shoes be
taken off with care and “never suffer his tail or mane to be curried.”[43]
Other letters followed, from Nashville while Chesley was in medical school
there, and in 1857 from Louisiana where Chesley had moved to begin a medical
practice. In Nov. 1855 brother Sam C. Bridgwater wrote a brief note saying “I
learned from Miss Ann yesterday that you would visit John today….I should be pleased
if you & lady would spend tonight with us or some other before your return
to Round lick….” Brother John also wrote letters, sharing information and
advice about market conditions. But the most frequent correspondent was
Richard’s brother-in-law, Wilson Yandell Martin, and the two families were the
most intimate of friends.
In April 1857 W. Y. Maritn sent his mare “Nelly,” by John
Johnson, to be bred to Richard Bridgwater’s horse.[44] The
day after Christmas 1857 Martin wrote “to let you know that we are all still
alive and knocking along, much after the same old way—though your sister Polly
is not very well—bad cold—going about, and coughing. We have had all the
Christmas here, if you call having a lot of boys and gals about, tearing down
the house. Yesterday there was a round dozen of them here. 8 boys and 4
gals—they are now at Sam’s.[45]
In March 1858 he wrote to indicate that he had a young bull to send to Richard,
that he was busily engaged in prizing tobacco, but was very backward in
farming. “Nelly will have a colt shortly.”[46]
This type of correspondence continued at least through 1860, always conveying
news of the larger family and of the events of daily life. In 1854 Richard and
Ann Bridgwater named their first child Mary Caroline,[47]
undoubtedly for Mary Bridgwater Martin and Ann’s sister, Caroline Ophelia
Wallace. Their third child, born in 1858, they named Nannie Martin, explicitly
in honor of the Wilson Martin’s daughter, Nannie Martin, who was a year older
than Ann and with whom she had been a school mate. W. Y. Martin wrote, “Nannie
wants very much to go over to your house but the weather and roads are too bad.
She is very proud that you have named your baby for her. She takes it as very
complimentary, especially, that her favorite uncle should name a child for
her.”[48]
The Civil War brought to an end the comfortable world
that the Bridgwater family had enjoyed. Richard Bridgwater did not join the
army and his family may have suffered less than some, including that of his
father-in-law, William Washington Seay. But both he and Ann lost brothers. John
C. Bridgwater and William A. Seay were killed while serving in the Confederate
army. Life was necessarily difficult during the war years. Commerce and
communications were disrupted. Local government was suspended and before the
war’s end marauding bandits stole property, much like the soldiers of both
Union and Confederate armies. Livestock, horses and mules, and lumber were
liable to be confiscated. Emily Ann Bridgwater, a daughter born on 2 December 1859,[49] my
grandmother, remembered the war years of her early childhood. She told me that
the family had a hole in a wall of their house in which they hid valuables,
hidden by a piece of furniture in front of it. She told, also, about a potato
patch that was allowed to be concealed by overgrowth of weeds to prevent its
being raided by marauders. She said that men of the family home on visits
during the war had to hide out in the forested hills nearby to keep from being
captured by Union patrols. These were probably family stories told her later,
rather than her own recollections, but they were vivid memories. She told,
finally, of a freedman, formerly their slave, who returned more than once to
visit them after the war. She called him by name, but I cannot remember it.
Life after the war lacked the sense of optimism and
prosperity that had been so appealing in the 1850’s. For a decade the
Bridgwater farm operation remained basically unchanged, though it could not
have been as profitable as it had earlier been.[50]
The family grew steadily in size, for Ann gave birth to many children. The
relationship with the larger Bridgwater family changed drastically. Several of
Richard’s brothers and sisters died during the 1860’s. Chesley died in
Louisiana in 1862, John C. in Georgia in 1864, and Sam in Dixon Springs in
1869. Wilson Y. Martin, as close as a brother, died in 1868.Richard’s sister
Ann died in 1860, Nancy in 1865, Elizabeth in 1869. Sister Emily, for whom his
daughter Emily Ann had been named[51]
suffered misfortunes and Richard became responsible for her affairs.
In 1846 Emily Bridgwater had married Thomas C. Cryer,
from a well known Sumner county family.[52]
In March 1849 T. C. Cryer died, seven months before the birth of their second
child. John C. Bridgwater became the children’s guardian and Emily went to live
with her widowed sister, Elizabeth Johnson. When Elizabeth remarried, in 1854,
Emily moved to the home of her sister, Mary Martin. In November 1856 Wilson Y.
Martin wrote to Richard Bridgwater, “The object of this note is to request that
you and family will take supper at my house next Wednesday evening 19th
Inst. Emily and Carroll Martin are to be married at that time. Bring Ann and
the children over a day or two previous.”[53]
Thomas Carroll Martin owned land on Stone’s River, near Stewart’s Ferry, in
Davidson County, Tennessee, where he built a house for his new family. About a
decade later the marriage soured and once again Emily turned to her family for
support. In 1867 and 1868 she spent time with the Wilson Martin’s, helping to
care for him during a long illness. She was with her son, Hardy, in Nashville
in 1869 and in 1870 she resided in the Richard Bridgwater household.[54]
The most immediate responsibility Richard Bridgwater had to
undertake for Emily’s family was the guardianship of her two sons, Chesley and
Hardy, following the death, in 1864, of John C. Bridgwater. The Smith county
court appointed him guardian in January 1866,[55]
at which time he became responsible for $3846, the total value of their assets.[56] A good portion of this was in the form of notes due
from the estate of John C. Bridgwater, the previous guardian. Some were on the
firm of Crain Legand & Tunstall, the successor to John C. Bridgwater’s
mercantile company. Others involved J. H. Vaughan, J. C. Bridgwater’s
father-in-law, and other residents of Dixon Springs. The Smith County courts
kept close check on Richard’s stewardship for the duration of the guardianship
and he tried hard to protect the assets that had been placed in his hands. In
1872, the John C. Bridgwater estate being insolvent, he filed suit against the
securities on a note it owed the Cryers.[57]
In 1866 the Cryer boys lived with their mother in
Davidson County. The older son, Chesley, performed a chore for his uncle
Richard in August 1866, presenting one Mr. Creel with a statement asking for
payment for a mare Richard had sold him. Chesley reported that when he had done
so Creel “said tell your guardian to kiss my Ass. This was all he said about
the matter…”[58]
T. C. Martin appended a note recommending that Richard file suit against Creel.
Chesley did not have much longer to live. While traveling he became ill with
pneumonia and spent nine days at the house of Dick Hays near Nashville before
he died on 13 Jan. 1867.[59] His mother and his brother were his legal heirs and
Richard was his estate administrator. In October 1867, through her friend, John
P. Seay, Emily filed suit in Smith county against her husband and brother
Richard to have her share of the estate set aside for her own personal use,
free from the control and debts of her husband.[60]
Her suit was not contested, and at her request, Richard Bridgwater was named
her trustee to handle her share of Chesley Cryer’s estate.
Hardy Cryer spent 1866 and 1867 studying law at
Cumberland University in Lebanon. Richard kept close track on the expenses,
which were considerable, and the courts approved them, after taking depositions
to determine their reasonableness.[61]
Hardy was not frugal and continued to spend freely after August 1867 when he
married Helen Hall of Gainsboro. Evidently he also drank excessively but in
1869, when living in Nashville where he had begun to practice law, he reported
that he had joined the Sons of Temperance and drank only water.[62] He
became sick and in August a Nashville physician sent Richard a bill for $100
for his services.[63]
Hardy Cryer came of age on the 2nd of November 1870 and the
guardianship came to an end. Hardy received the remaining assets of the estate
and Richard Bridwater paid him $100 for title to a claim he had against the
estate of John C. Bridgwater that involved an ancient transaction not likely
ever to be settled.[64]
Hardy Cryer lived in Jackson County in 1870 but soon moved to Arkansas where he
practiced law. As late as 1878 he was in contact with the Bridgwater family.[65]
Emily Martin left the Bridgwater household to live in
Dixon Springs with her widowed sister, Mary Martin. She suffered extremely bad
health and was quite poor. She appreciated her brother’s help, but life was
hard. In 1874, following William Washington Seay’s death, she wrote to Ann. “I
was so sorry to hear of his death, it seems to me it must be very lonesome over
there now. I know Willie will miss him, that neighborhood will not be the same
now, it will be as much changed as this since Mr. Martin’s death. I feel almost
like I was among strangers here now, it is no more like it use to be, I haven’t
had a good free conversation with any one since I have been here…”[66] She
lived almost two years longer, dying 24 January 1876 when she was 53 years old.
If Richard Bridgwater’s major activity during the decade
following the close of the Civil Ware was the routine care of his farm and stud
business, his wife’s was that of child care. Between 1854 and 1876 Ann Seay Bridgwater
gave birth to twelve children. Her first born, Mary Caroline, died in 1858 when
she was only three years old. Eliza Jane, born in 1856, was followed by Nannie
in 1858 and Emily Ann in 1859. Her first son, William Seay Bridgwater, named
for her father, was born in 1862 and was followed in 1864 by a second son, John
Chambers Bridgwater. There were many Johns in the Seay family but John Chambers
was the name of Richard’s grandfather. Although Richard never knew his
grandfather, his mother had made sure that he knew and esteemed the Chambers
family. Ann’s next child, burn in 1868, was Lelia Ophelia. This child was named
for Ann’s sister, Ophelia and for his sister-in-law Lelia Harris who had in
186l married Ann’s brother Thomas J. Seay. Lelia was herself Ann’s first
cousin, once removed. The years 1871 and 1872 were difficult ones for Ann
Bridgwater. In September 1871 she gave birth
to a son who lived only six days. She had named him Daniel V, in honor
of her brother. A year later she gave birth to twins who lived less than two
weeks and were not named. In 1873 another daughter was born, Mattie Victoria.
The familial significance of Mattie is unclear, but Ann’s brother Charles I.
Seay was married to Victoria Rives, who had become a good friend. Ann’s last
child, Julia Allen, was born in 1876. Julia Cato, for whom she was named, had
married Ann’s brother, Dr. Daniel Seay. And Allen was Richard’s middle name and
the maiden name of his grandmother Chambers. The child lived only a year.[67]
The house full of children kept everyone busy. Schooling
also became a necessity. Smith County had common schools after the Civil War.
In 1870, in District 12, Dick Bridgwater was listed as the father of one male
and three female students. The next year he had five children in the common
school. By then the older children were old enough to be sent to academies and
education would become a pressing issue. One daughter, Emily Ann, had shown
musical talent and the bills for her education included substantial charges for
music.[68]
All of the demands of child care became difficult issues
in 1875, for the family suffered an abrupt change. The family recollection is
that Richard Allen Bridwater came into the house during a heavy rainfall,
soaking wet. He contracted pneumonia and on the 3rd of September
1875 died, only 56 years old. He was buried in his own family cemetery, located
not far behind his house. Ann Methanius Seay Bridgwater was left a widow,
pregnant, and with seven living children to care for. His had been a happy
productive life; hers became a courageous one.
The family rallied around Ann M. Bridgwater and she
proved herself to be a strong woman. Thomas J. Seay became the estate
administrator and saw to it that the courts laid out to her an ample supply of
goods to care for the family during the first year. Very soon Ann became the
official guardian for her children. As Richard Bridgwater died intestate his
children were the heirs of two thirds of the estate. Thomas made regular
payments to Ann as guardian of the children from the estate’s income,[69] so life was able to go on with little interruption.
Anne’s last child, Julia, was born in 1876 and, like many of the younger
children, was sickly. Dr. Hugh Blair, the family physician, visited her more
than a dozen times,[70]
but she died in 1878. In that year Ann enlarged her residence, adding space
that required the construction of two chimneys.[71]
Without question the space was needed.
Ann spent the rest of her life caring for her seven
remaining children during their childhood and sharing in their lives after they
had become adults. Education was a major concern, for she was determined that
her children would be well educated. In 1876 Nannie and Emma were sent to Soule
College in Murfreesboro. Eliza Seay paid one term’s tuition for Emma but Ann
bore most of the expense herself.[72]
I do not know whether Nannie received a degree from Soule, but in 1878 Emma was
awarded the degree of Mistress of Arts from the prestigious female college.[73] Both girls presented essays at the commencement exercises
on the 4th of June.[74]
William Seay Bridgwater, known to the family as “Willie”, was sent to
Cumberland University in Lebanon . By 1881 Willie had gone to Nashville to
attend Goodman’s Business College and while he was there Emma went to
Nashville, too, to study music at the Peabody Normal College.[75] Several years later Mattie received a degree from the
Peabody Normal College. Lelia and Mattie attended Bellwood Academy, in Wilson
County, in 1885-86[76]
and in 1886-87 the Bridgwater girls went to Maple Hill Seminary for Young
Ladies in Lebanon.[77]
I do not know where John C. Bridgwater attended an academy, but from 1886 to
1888 he was a student in the academic program at Vanderbilt University in
Nashville.[78] Emma, John Chambers, and Mattie all became school teachers.
As the children came of age Ann M. Bridgwater went
through the legal process of turning over to them their share of their father’s
personal estate that had been entrusted to her care as guardian. The courts
received signed statements from each of them, attesting to the money received.
The amounts varied from $97 to $179,
depending on what advancements each had received.[79] Gradually all left home except Eliza and
Lelia, who remained single, and Willie, who assumed the management of the farm
. Eventually he bought all of the shares held by his brothers and sisters. At
the turn of the century Ann M. Bridgwater was still in active touch with all of
her children, by letter or by visits, and she still earned income from the
farm. She sold tobacco and wheat, largely through her son’s activity, and small
amounts of butter and eggs, from her own work. Eliza and Lelia each had her own
chickens and also sent to market eggs from their flocks. It was a quiet, modest
rural world. Ann Methanius Seay Bridgwater died 4 November 1907,[80] a
woman beloved by her children and grandchildren. Her sister Eliza wrote her
obituary notice for the Christian Advocate and praised her for her
kindness and love for her children. She had led an exemplary life.
Robert Polk Thomson
3 October 2001
Revised 27 December 2001
Back To Links To Smith
County Families
[1] Richard Allen Bridgwater family bible, photocopy in my possession.
[2] All names and dates are in the Chesley Bridgwater family bible.
[3] Smith County, TN, County Court Minute Book, 272. 4 May 1846.
[4] Ibid., 332. 4 April 1847.
[5] Dixon Creek TN Baptist Church Minutes, 78-79, March & April 1845. Typescript in TSLA.
[6] Nancy Bridgwater & S. C. Bridgwater et al vs. Thomas Phelps & Ann, his wife, et al. Smith County Circuit Court Minute Book, 143. 3 Aug. 1846; ibid., 212; W. Y. Martin & S. C. Bridgwater, administrators of Chesley Bridgwater, ibid., 149. 5 Aug. 1846; Smith County Deed Book U, 486-488. 3 May 1847.
[7] 15 Nov. 1848 Davidson County, TN tax receipt to Richard A. Bridgwater for the year. Bridgwater Mss., in my possession.
[8] Richad Allen Bridgwater Address Book. Bridgwater Mss.
[9] In that year he acquired a walking stick with a gold knob on which is engraved “Richard Allen Bridgwater
Nashville 1850”. In 2001 the stick is in the possession of one of his great granddaughters, Betty Bernice Bridgwater of Knoxville, TN.
[10] Penciled notes in the Richard Allen Bridgwater Diary. Bridgwater Mss.
[11] Richard Allen Bridgwater Diary. Bridgwater Mss. Unless otherwise noted all the following account of his travels comes from the diary.
[12] Christian County Genealogical Society, Family Histories of Christian County, Kentucky (Paducah, KY: Turney Publishing Co., 1986), 190.
[14] Paris Area Genealogical Society, compiler, Henry County, Tennessee Inscriptions in Stone (Paris, Tennessee: np, 1989), vol. 2, 392-1.
[15] “Agricultural Survey,” Obion Origins, 2(May 1984):2, p. 2.
[16] Wicker, The Allen Family, 79.
[17] Ibid., 22; “The Clopton Chronicles”.
[18] Richard Allen Bridgwater family bible.
[19] Wilson County, Tennessee Chancery Court Minute Book C, 26.
[20] On 12 Oct. 1854 R. Yeatman & Co., in New Orleans, answered Richard Bridgwter’s letter of the 3rd inst. giving him, in detail, the prospects of tobacco prices. Bridgwater Mss.
[21] “…I think that the article can be bought at 5Ë prised if there is no alterations by the time the market ones….Mr. Tunstall had engaged to prise for Carter & Co but I do not think that will prevent from buying 25—50 or perhaps 100 Hhds. I think you can buy that amt of Tobo. Made on the ridge which is a better article than that made on the creeks.” John C. Bridgwater to Richard Allen Bridgwater, Dixon Springs Febry 18th ’56. Bridgwater Mss.
[22] Richard Allen Bridgwater Blacksmith Book. Bridgwater Mss.
[23] On 16 March 1855 Dawson bought a pistol “& appendages” from Richard Bridgwater’s brother-in-law, D. V. Seay, and paid for it by conveying to Seay seventeen notes and accounts, totaling about $85. Dawson wrote to Bridgwater from St. Francis County, Arkasnsas on 3 September 1855, inquiring about friends in Smith county and describing his new situation. Bridgwater Mss.
[24] Letter dated 25 January 1857. Bridgwater Mss.
[25] His first letter to Richard Bridgwater from Monroe, LA was dated 24 August 1857. Bridgwater Mss.
[26] Receipt for five dollars in full for the Season of a Mare in 1855. W. B. Bracey, 11 April 1857. Bridgwater Mss.
[27] Smith County Chancery Court Loose Records, No. #661.
[28] Seay refused an offer to buy the jack, stating that he had rather Bridgwater keep him for the year. Undated note from W. W. Seay to Richard Bridgwater. Bridgwater Mss.
[29] Receipt from W. Y. Neal to R. A. Bridgwater for $6.50 for printing bills. 26 Feb. 1857. Bridgwater Mss.
[30] Receipt from F. G. Haynes, dated 7 October 1858. Bridgwater Mss.
[31] W. Y. Martin to Bridgwater, 24 April 1857; John Ray to Bridgwater, 31 May 1857. Bridgwater Mss.
[32] A flyer printed in March 1875 by Bridgwater, primarily to advertise the horse “Black Blb”, announced that Knight Errant would stand this season. Photocopy in Bridgwater Mss.
[33] Photocopy of 1858 flyer in Bridgwater Mss.
[34] R. A. Bridgwater to Mr. A. Ward 21 February 1859. Photocopy in Bridgwater Mss.
[35] R. A. Bridgwater Stud Book, Bridgwater Mss.
[36] Receipt from C. L. Neilson, 15 Sept. 1860. Bridgwater Mss.
[37] 1860 U. S. Agricultural Census for Smith County, Tennessee, District 12.
[38] Undated note from L. Stein to Richard Bridgwater. He had received some and requested “2 more bushels.” Bridgwater Mss.
[39] Bill, marked pd, from D. H. & W. N. Suite, 11 March 1854. Bridgwater Mss.
[40] C. W. Bridgwater to Richard Bridgwater, 8 April 1856. Bridgwater Mss.
[41] Smith County Court Minute Book 20, 352, 420. October 1859 and 2 Jan. 1860
[42] He preserved in his papers documents dated 1846 and 1856 relating to a dispute between Joel Algood and Daniel Seay over payments for a land sale. He was one of the arbitrators who considered the matter.
[43] Letter of March 22, 1855. Bridgwater Mss.
[44] W.Y. Martin to R. A. Bridgwater, 24 April 1857. John Johnson, then fourteen years old, was the nephew of Mary Martin, the son of Elizabeth Bridgwater who had remarried after the death of her husband, Jacob Johnson. John lived with the Martins for about a year.
[45] W. Y. Martin to R. A. Bridgwater, 26 Dec. 1857. Bridgwater Mss.
[46] W. Y. Martin to R. A. Bridgwater, 28 March 1858. Bridgwater Mss.
[47] Richard Allen Bridgwater family bible.
[48] W. Y. Martin to R. A. Bridgwater, 28 March 1858. Bridgwater Mss.
[49] Richard Allen Bridgwater family bible.
[50] The stud book contains stud records from 1870 through 1874 and a 1875 flyer advertises “Black Bob”. Penciled notes in the stud book also detail information about crops of wheat and corn, as well as the sale of hogs in 1872 and 1873. A photocopy of the flyer is in the Bridgwater Mss.
[51] “I want you and Ann to come as soon as you can and bring the children especially my name sake. I want to see her worse than any child living. I hope she has blue eyes.” Emily Martin to R. A. Bridgwater, 15 April 1860. Bridgwater Mss.
[52] Chesley Bridgwater family bible.
[53] W. Y. Martin to R. A. Bridgwater, undated. The only Wednesday the 19th in this time period was in November 1856. The date is further confirmed by a deposition of Richard C. Johnson, Emily’s nephew, in which he stated that he had lived with his mother until the winter of 1856, and then for a year in Davidson County with Carroll Martin. Sumner County, Tennessee Chancery Court Loose Records, No. #12146.
[54] U. S. Census, 1870, Smith County, TN. Her letters to the Richad Bridgwater family document her earlier places of residence.
[55] Smith County Chancery Court Loose Records, No. #3580.
[56] The Bridgwater Mss. Include copious guardianship records, including numerous receipts and statements, some letters, and a leather bound volume of accounts of expenditures from the guardianship funds.
[57] Richard A. Bridgwater vs. Mitchell Perry & E. T. Bowles, Smith County Chancery Court Loose Records, No. #1285.
[58] C. B. Cryer to R. A. Bridgwater 20August 1866. Bridgwater Mss.
[59] Cryer account book, Bridgwater Mss.
[60] Smith County Chancery Court Minutes, 1860- , p. 567. 30 October 1867. A copy of be bill of complaint is in the Bridgwater Mss.
[61] Smith County Chancery Court Minutes 1860 , p. 575. December 1867.
[62] H. M. Cryer to R. A. Bridgwater, 28 May 1869. Bridgwater Mss.
[63] Dr. J. H. Oney to Richard Bridgwater, 10 August 1869. Bridgwater Mss.
[64] Smith County TN Deed Book DD, 82. 2 November 1870.
[65] H. M. Cryer to Ann M. Bridgwater, 8 January 1878. Bridgwater Mss.
[66] E. C. Martin to Mrs. A. M. Bridgwater, 30 April 1874. Bridgwater Mss.
[67] The Richard Allen Bridgwater family bible lists all the births.
[68] On 31 Dec. 1874 Richard paid Jannie Waters $32.10 for tuition and educational supplies, including $10 for music, for Emma, Nannie, Willie, and Johnnie. Bridgwater Mss.
[69] One such payment, on 7 June 1877, was for $200. Bridgwater Mss.
[70] On 18 Sept. 1877 he gave Ann a receipt for payment in full of the account. Bridgwater Mss.
[71] B. F. Atwood acknowledged payment of $55 for building two chimneys and laying pillors for the house. 11 May 1878. Other receipts are for wall paper from John W. Hill 7 Co. in Nashville and for shipments of lathe and lime which would have been used for plastered walls. Bridgwater Mss.
[72] She paid Soule College $155 for Emma’s tuition, board and music for the second term of 1877-1878. W. P. Thomson Mss., in my possession.
[73] Her diploma is in my possession.
[74] Commencement program, Soule College. W. P. Thomson Mss.
[75] Several letters to Willie from his mother and sisters, dated in 1881 and 1882, are in the Bridgwater Mss. The music books Emma used as texts at Peabody are in my possession.
[76] Bellwood Academy Programs 21 Dec. 1885 and 21 May 1886 list them as instrumental soloists. W. P. Thomson Mss.
[77] In May 1887 Ann M. Bridgwater paid $197 in tuition, board, and other expenses at the school. Bridgwater Mss.
[78] His name is listed in an early alumni directory located in the Vanderbilt University archives.
[79] The Bridgwater Mss contain receipts from Nannie, Emma, John C. and Mattie.
[80] R. A. Bridgwater family bible.