University of Virginia Library

BRISTOL, VIRGINIA.

It is with delicacy that we undertake to write of a locality that at
the present time is attracting the attention of a considerable part of
the business world and that is destined to become a great city.

There has been something in the location of Bristol that attracted
the attention of the early explorers of our country, and afterwards
many of our best and noblest citizens.

Some time after Colonel James Patton had obtained from the
Governor and Council of Virginia a grant for one hundred and
twenty thousand acres of land to be located in this section of Virginia,
John Buchanan, a deputy surveyor of Augusta county, with a
comany of explorers, visited this section of Virginia and from the

Bristol, 1856.

Bristol, 1903.

year 1746 to the year 1750 surveyed made tracts of the choicest land
to be found on all the waters of the Indian river.[41]

Among the lands surveyed by John Buchanan were three tracts in
the immediate vicinity of Bristol.

The three tracts in question were surveyed for John Taylor, of
Caroline county, Virginia, and are described as follows:

1,946 acres, Shallow Creek,[42] waters of Indian river.

1,000 acres, Shallow Creek, waters of Indian river.

720 acres, Shallow Creek, waters of Indian river.

The first tract was surveyed on the 22d of February, 1749, and to
it was given the name of "Sapling Grove"; the second tract was surveyed
on the 23d of February, 1749, and to it was given the name of
"Timber Grove," while the third tract was surveyed on the 19th of
March, 1749, and was given the name of the "Forks."

From this time until about the year 1765, the close of the French-Indian
war, no efforts were made to settle the lands in question, so
far as can be ascertained.

In the year 1765, or shortly thereafter, Evan Shelby and Isaac
Baker left their homes in Maryland[43] and came to the Holston country,
and soon thereafter purchased the "Sapling Grove" tract of
1,946 acres from John Buchanan, who, by assignment from John
Taylor, had become the owner thereof. This tract of land was
divided between Shelby and Baker by Robert Preston, Shelby owning
973 acres, the western end thereof, and Baker 973 acres, the
eastern end thereof.

Soon after the purchase Evan Shelby erected his residence upon
the lots now occupied by Dr. John Ensor and John H. Caldwell,
in South Bristol, while Isaac Baker erected his residence on Beaver
Creek, about 300 yards north of the present residence of A. A. Hobson
and north of the creek. The location of his residence is pointed
out at the present time in an old field in which stand a few apple
trees.

John Buchanan died before a patent issued for said land and
before he had executed a deed for same to Shelby and Baker, and
William Preston and William Campbell, the executors of John

Buchanan, for some reason, did not convey said land during their
lifetime.

Colonel William Preston, by his will, appointed John Preston,
Francis Preston, John Breckenridge and John Brown his executors,
and on the 2d of May, 1796, John Preston, one of the executors
of William Preston, executor of John Buchanan, deceased, executed
a deed to Isaac Baker, Jr., for the 973 acres of land contracted to his
father, Isaac Baker, deceased, and on the 22d of November, 1798,
Francis Preston, one of the executors of William Preston, executor
of John Buchanan, deceased, conveyed to Isaac Shelby, as executor
of Evan Shelby, deceased, the 973 acres of land contracted to Evan
Shelby by John Buchanan. The consideration paid by Isaac Baker
was 304 pounds, and by Evan Shelby 304 pounds. This 1,946-acre
tract of land was patented to William Preston and William Campbell,
executors of John Buchanan, deceased, on the 2d of November,
1779.

Evan Shelby and Isaac Baker were intimate friends before their
emigration to the Holston, as evidenced by the fact that Shelby had
named one of his sons Isaac for Isaac Baker, while Baker had
named one of his sons Evan for Evan Shelby. Isaac Shelby won distinction
at King's mountain and was several times Governor of Kentucky,
while Evan Baker took an active part in the cause of the
Colonies and served during the Revolutionary war as deputy commissary
on the waters of the Holston.

Isaac Baker by his will devised his moiety in the "Sapling Grove"
tract of land to his sons, Isaac Baker, Jr., and William Baker.

Evan Shelby and Isaac Baker, in their lifetime, conveyed small
portions of their respective properties to Henry Harkleroad, William
Bolton and John O'Brian.

It is worthy of mention at this point that Evan Shelby and Isaac
Baker, in their old age, were bereft of their wives, and subsequently
remarried—the former, Isabella Elliott; the latter, Mary Head, a
young widow—and each was required by his prospective wife to
make a settlement upon her before marriage, Evan Shelby conferring
upon his second wife a considerable interest in his personal
property, which was large, and of which a considerable number of
slaves formed a part, and in his real estate at "Sapling Grove," while
Isaac Baker made a similar provision for his second wife, and in

addition thereto conveyed to the two sons of Mary Head by her former
marriage one hundred acres of land each.

Stirring scenes were often witnessed in the "Sapling Grove" community
from the date of the settlement made by Shelby and Baker
until the year 1800. The armies of the State and large delegations
of Indians were many times visitors to this community.

Colonel Evan Shelby was one of the great men produced by the
conditions existing upon the frontiers in those days. He was well
educated, patriotic and a very wise counsellor, and many times did
he command expeditions against the Indian tribes living south of
the Tennessee.

The Virginia Government greatly appreciated his worth, and
prior to 1781 conferred upon him numerous (very valuable) tracts
of land within her territory, and subsequent to 1781 the Government
of North Carolina showered upon him every honor that could
be thought of.

Colonel Shelby departed this life in the year 1794, leaving Isaac
Shelby, Moses Shelby, Evan Shelby and James Shelby, sons, and
several daughters.

His remains were interred in a grove of very fine trees and within
view of his former residence, and remained there until the growth
of Bristol required their removal to the present cemetery. The location
of his grave previous to this removal is now pointed out as
being on Fifth street immediately in front of the First Presbyterian
church, Bristol, Tennessee. Isaac Baker was buried in this same
graveyard.

Isaac Baker, Sr., at the time of his death, left six sons, to-wit:
William Baker, Isaac Baker, Joshua Baker, Evan Baker, John
Baker and Thomas Baker and several daughters, to-wit: Hatchy
Baker, Susannah, who married Thomas Worley, Mary, who married
Thomas Van Swearingen and Catharine, who married Ephraim
Smith.

William Baker, who obtained an interest in the "Sapling Grove"
by the will of his father, removed to Knox county, Tennessee, and
on the 10th of September, 1799, conveyed his interest in said land,
being three hundred and forty-eight acres, to John Goodson, for the
sum of $3,000, and this tract of land afterwards became the
property of Colonel Samuel E. Goodson, and the location of a large
part of East Bristol.

Isaac Baker, Jr., conveyed part of the lands devised to him by his
father to William Bolton, Solomon Sell, Henry Harkleroad, David
Worley, John Cornett, Ephraim Johnson, John Cuff, Simeon Ely
and Jacob Susong, while Colonel Isaac Shelby, as executor of Evan
Shelby, conveyed the lands owned by Evan Shelby at "Sapling
Grove" to James King, Jr., on the 26th of November, 1814, for the
sum of $10,000. James King, immediately after his purchase, built
a residence on Solar Hill, near Sullins College and near the present
location of the late residence of H. E. McCoy, while the former
residence of Isaac Baker was occupied by John Goodson.

Some years previously to this an iron furnace was built on Beaver
Creek about three and a half miles below the present location of
Bristol at the Sulphur Springs. James King and John Goodson
for many years exercised great diligence in farming their respective
properties, and persons now living often speak of King's Meadows
as a beautiful farm.

In the year 1842, James King conveyed six acres of the "Sapling
Grove" tract to Campbell Galliher, and on the 18th of June he conveyed
to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company, in addition
to an eighty-foot right of way, ten acres of land for the use of the
company, and on the 12th of April, 1854, he conveyed to his son-in-law,
Joseph Anderson, four acres of land.

By the year 1850 the building of the Virginia and Tennessee railroad
had become an assured fact, and in view of the fact that the
terminus of that road under the Virginia charter was the State line,
the building of a town at this point was begun.

Colonel Samuel E. Goodson had a part of his lands surveyed, and
offered the same for sale. He gave to the proposed town the name
of "Goodsonville," which name it retained until the incorporation
of Goodson in the year 1856.

He also gave to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company a
right of way through his lands, and transferred to the said company
for a consideration, in the years 1851-1852, eleven acres of land for
the use of the said company. Among the first conveyances executed
by Colonel Goodson was to John G. King, Jacob H. Susong and
J. P. Hammer, as trustees for the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows,
and to John Fleming, John Moore, Fleming Crumbly, D. W.
Crumbly, W. W. James, William F. Bolton, Wm. H. Snodgrass,

Jesse Aydlott and Hardy Pool, as trustees for the Methodist Episcopal
church.

The lot last conveyed was Lot No. 103 in the plan of Goodsonville,
as surveyed by Edmund Winston, and this lot is now occupied
by the Colored Methodist Episcopal church on Lee street.

Some time previous to the 1st of April, 1855, A. K. Moore, from
Pennsylvania, arrived in Bristol and decided to make it his home,
and ever thereafter until his death, in the year 1863, he was a most
enthusiastic believer in the future of Bristol. He was a real estate
agent by profession and an accomplished gentleman, and his views
in regard to the future of Bristol were so convincing that the early
settlers of the town were confident that it was a question of only a
few years when Bristol would monopolize the trade and business of
all the surrounding country. And having this object in view, the
projectors of the town so named the streets thereof that by the year
1860 we find the principal streets having the following names: Virginia
street, in honor of the Commonwealth; Washington street, in
honor of Washington county; Russell street, in honor of Russell
county; Lee street, in honor of Lee county; Scott street, in honor of
Scott county; Cumberland street, in honor of the mountain of that
name; while Moore street, King street, Shelby street and Spencer
street were named for James King, A. K. Moore, Evan Shelby and
Geo. M. Spencer, and Edmund street in honor of Edmund Winston,
who first surveyed the lots and streets of the town.

In the year 1855 the Magnolia House was built upon the location
of the present Hamilton House, and a number of small houses were
erected on both sides of Main street. James King about this time
moved from his residence on Solar Hill to his home in South Bristol,
where he subsequently died in 1867, and his former home on
Solar Hill was occupied and used as a boarding house and as an
office by Dr. J. P. Hammer and Walter Willoughby.

A storehouse and hotel were built at the corner of Washington
and Main streets on the corner now owned by John R. Dickey, and
was occupied by Wilson & Loyd, merchants, and the hotel was conducted
by J. H. Everett.

Jos. R. Anderson occupied the brick building on the southwest
corner of Main and Fourth streets, and conducted a store therein.

In the fall of the year 1855 it was found necessary to have local
government in the town, and all the citizens of Bristol, Tennessee,

and Goodson, Virginia, were called to meet upon the present location
of the St. Lawrence Hotel, and at this meeting the Rev. James
King presided. The meeting decided that it was necessary that the
town should have local government, and after petitioning the General
Assembly of Virginia to incorporate the town of Goodson, they
proceeded to select one of their number to act as Mayor until a
charter could be obtained. William L. Rice, a citizen of Goodson
and at that time a member of the County Court of Washington
county, and having the power in that capacity to administer oaths,
to issue warrants for, and try, offenders against the law, was selected
by the meeting to act as Mayor, tax collector and sergeant of the
town.

Pursuant to this authority, Mr. Rice proceeded to discharge his
duties, and wishes the fact to be recorded that V. Keebler was the
first man in the town to voluntarily pay one dollar to be used in
discharging the costs of the government thus organized.

Pursuant to the petition of the citizens of the two towns, the
General Assembly of Virginia, on the 5th of March, 1856, incorporated
the town of Goodson, and directed that the officers of the
said town should consist of seven trustees and a sergeant, and their
term of office was fixed at one year and until their successors were
appointed, and it was directed that an election should be held for
the selection of the trustees and sergeant therein provided for on the
first Saturday in April, 1856, and James Fields, John N. Bosang
and A. T. Wilson, or any two of them, were directed to conduct said
election.

It will be observed that this Act contemplated the government of
the town by a Board of Trustees, and nothing was said as to a Mayor,
but the citizens of the town thereafter selected a Mayor until the
charter of the town was amended, among the number thus selected
being A. K. Moore, A. M. Appling, William L. Rice, Philip Rohr
and others, whose names I have been unable to obtain.

The persons thus selected to act in the capacity of Mayor also
acted as sergeant of the town.

It is a matter of regret that no record has been preserved of the
early trustees of the town of Goodson.

The boundaries of the town of Goodson, as set out in the Act of
incorporation, were as follows: Beginning at a sycamore tree on the
west side of the said town; running thence north 22 east one hundred

and ten poles; thence due east one hundred and fifty poles;
thence due south 22 east one hundred and forty poles; thence south
56 west one hundred poles; thence north 37 west one hundred and
fifty poles to the beginning.

The sycamore tree mentioned in this Act stood about two feet
south of the middle of Main street, and in front of the storehouse
formerly occupied by T. F. Wood.

The Virginia and Tennessee railroad reached Bristol in the fall
of the year 1856, and at the time the following merchants were
doing business in the town, to-wit: Seneker & James, on Main street
between Fourth and Water streets at the place now occupied by
Bunn's store; Jos. R. Anderson, at the corner of Fourth and Main
streets, as before described; Rosenheim Bros., on southwest corner of
Main and Fifth streets, the present location of the drug store;
Martin Bros., on the location of the National Bank of Bristol, and
Wilbar Bros., on the southwest corner of Main and Sixth streets;
Smith & Wilson, at the corner of Main and Washington streets, and
L. F. Johnson, in a brick building south of the Norfolk and Western
railway and near the west bank of the creek.

J. N. Bosang kept a bar-room on the lot now occupied by the
Dominion National Bank and Williams Walters a bar-room at the
present location of the Stanley House, and in addition thereto
whiskey was retailed at several of the stores above enumerated.
Three hotels were found in the town at that time, the Caywood
House, kept by Ezekiel Caywood, at the present location of the
Thomas House; the Magnolia House, kept by Peck & Langhorne,
at the present location of the Hamilton House, and the Virginia
House, kept by John H. Everett, at the corner of Main and Washington
streets on the Dickey lot. In addition to the places named
several small houses were found along the Virginia side of Main
street from Fourth to Moore, and one brick residence on Main
street between Fourth and Water streets, east of Bosang's bar-room,
and known as the Zimmerman House. A portion of this house is
now occupied by Col. J. B. Peters, President of the Board of Health,
as an office.

In the year 1855, upon the application of William L. Rice, the
county court of this county appointed John F. Preston, Wallace
Maxwell, Moses H. Latham, William B. Campbell, E. R. Rhea and
Jonathan T. Hanby commissioners to view a location for a road

from the town of Goodson to the Jonesboro road at or near the lands
of John L. Bradley, three miles west of Abingdon. The commissioners
thus named made their report, and the main Bristol road was
opened in the following year.

In December of this year the county court of this county appointed
the following citizens living in the vicinity of Goodson to
patrol in the neighborhood of Goodson: Roland T. Legard, captain,
James T. Preston, Henry A. Wilds, William A. Preston, E. L.
Brooks, John P. Buchanan, Joseph Rhea, Alexander, James, and
Jacob Carmack.

In the following year Nunley & Fuqua and Booker & Trammel
were licensed to conduct business in the town of Goodson.

Early in the year 1857 a number of the citizens of Goodson and
Bristol, recognizing the importance of a newspaper, formed a joint
stock company and purchased a printing press in Philadelphia, and
in the month of May, 1857, began the publication of the Bristol
News. The head lines of this paper presented a very suggestive
scene. To the left of the page was placed an engine and car and to
the right was placed a man on horseback, the train and horseman
facing to the centre of the page. This paper was edited for a short
while by A. K. Moore, who was succeeded by J. Austin Speery.
Speery continued to edit this paper until the year 1862, in which
year he became the editor of the Knoxville Register, and the News
was discontinued until 1865. In 1858 Lafayette F. Johnson and
Andrew Manonie were licensed to transact business in Goodson by
the county court of Washington county.

On the 10th of May, 1858, at about 1 o'clock A. M., in the night
time of that day, the Magnolia Hotel was destroyed by fire and
Minor Boler and George Ligon, free men of color, were arrested
and tried, charged with having fired said building, but were acquitted.

Soon thereafter the county court of this county appointed the
following citizens to patrol in the town of Goodson: Robert B. Moore,
captain, Lucian Johnson, J. F. H. Ledbetter, Edward Johnson,
John C. Carner, Samuel G. Booker, Hardy Pool, John Hammit,
James Williams and Joseph Barnes.

About this time two lawyers came to Bristol and decided to make
it their future home, John S. Mosby[44] and Gideon Burkett.

Burkett located on the Tennessee side of the town and had his office
in the frame building that stood upon the lot occupied by Rosenheim
Bros., while Mosby settled on the Virginia side and had his
office in a building, owned by James King, that stood upon the lot
now occupied by the Tip-Top Restaurant, at the corner of Cumberland
and Fourth streets.

Bristol, Virginia, should be proud of the fact that her first lawyer
afterwards distinguished himself in the defence of his State.

In the year 1859 Raine & Megginson, Jos. W. Jones, Lafayette
F. Johnson and Raine & Jamison were licensed to transact business
in the town of Goodson, and John S. Mosby qualified as a
notary public.

By the year 1860 Col. Goodson had sold and transferred lots in
the town of Goodson to the following citizens: Reuben H. Crabtree,
J. N. Bosang, Thos. E. Bibb, Morgan & Thomas, James H. Johnson,
J. C. Hayter, Samuel Sells, John B. Wagoner, M. T. & James
W. Morgan, Jane G. Wilds, Thos. Lanahan, Stephen Connelly,
A. T. Wilson, Ella Shelor, Sarah A. Howard, Henry Rosenheim,
David Rust, John OBrian, Elijah Coman, John Rhea, George M.
Spencer, Mary A. Hammit, David P. Jamison, Alex. Morgan, James
Johnston, H. D. Shell, I. N. McQuown, Thos. J. Morrison, Wm.
Rencher (colored barber), John Dulaney, Cordle Harmeling, L. F.
Johnston, W. E. Eakin, Wm. Trammel, I. B. Dunn, S. H. Milliard,
James A. Apling, D. J. Ensor, and many others.

The Rev. James King had sold to David F. Scranton and Joseph
Johnston, of Savannah, Georgia, sixty-five and a half acres of land,
and they had conveyed parts thereof to W. L. Martin, James A.
Apling, W. F. Moon, M. W. Jones, Alexander Lazenbay, Jesse
Aydlott, V. Keebler, Samuel E. Philips, Bridget Powers, Sparrel
Askew, John H. Newman, Thos. E. Lancaster, Jos. W. Jones, and
several others.

Such was Goodson, as best it can be described, at the opening of
the war between the States.

In the spring of the year 1861 Philip Rohr was elected Mayor,
V. Keebler Recorder and Treasurer, Campbell Galliher, Sergeant,
and J. N. Bosang, J. E. Pepper, John Johnston and W. H. Trammel
aldermen of said town, and the officers thus elected served with
but few changes until the year 1870.

Immediately upon the declaration of war a company was organized

at Goodson, to which was given the name of the Goodson
Rifles, of which company John F. Terry was elected captain.
This company was assigned to the Thirty-seventh Virginia Regiment,
commanded by Col. Samuel V. Fulkerson, and many brave
deeds are recorded as having been performed by the members of this
company.

On the 23d of July, 1861, Campbell Galliher, Sergeant of the
town of Goodson, appeared before the county court of Washington
county and represented to the court the need of firearms in said
town, whereupon the county court directed the sheriff of this
county to lend to the said Galliher, for use in the town of Goodson,
ten guns, the property of the Commonwealth.

In the month of February, 1862, Martin L. Comann and Rev.
W. W. Neal purchased from Henry W. Baker the outfit of the
Abingdon Democrat, and on the 27th of March, 1862, the first issue
of the Southern Advocate was published in the town of Goodson,
the Bristol News having passed out of existence at this time. The
headline of this paper was such as to be worth recording. Between
the words Southern and Advocate, which were printed in large letters,
were placed the seal of the State of Virginia and the seal of
the State of Tennessee, and above the seals was printed in small
type "Virginia & Tennessee." From this paper I ascertain that
Jos. B. Palmer was at that time practising law in the town of
Goodson, that L. A. Womack and W. W. Nickels were the proprietors
of the Exchange Hotel, afterwards the Nickels House, and
that the Bank of Philippi was temporarily transacting business in
Goodson, with L. D. Morall as president and J. W. Payne as cashier.
The Provost Marshal stationed at Bristol in the year 1862 was
Joshua H. Pitts, but he was shortly thereafter succeeded by William
D. Gammon.

In the month of April the authorities of the Presbyterian and
Methodist churches of Bristol tendered the use of their churches to
the authorities of the Confederate States for the care of the sick
and wounded soldiers.

In 1862 a young ladies' boarding school was conducted in Bristol
by Mrs. M. M. Bailey and was continued for several years thereafter.
At the same time two schools for boys were conducted in the
town the Bristol-Goodson Academy, of which Thos. D. Walthall
was principal, and the Bristol High School, of which Prof.

H. C. Neal was principal. From the files of the Southern Advocate
we ascertain that W. M. Pettyjohn was conducting a general land
agency, L. M. Hall practising dentistry, and A. P. Johnston, J. F.
Parrot, M. D. Richmond & Co., Johnston & Pile and Wilbar Bros.,
merchants, were doing business in the town.

In February, 1863, small-pox appeared in the town, causing a
great deal of uneasiness, and Philip Rohr, the Mayor of Goodson,
applied to the County Court of Washington county and was allowed
the sum of five hundred dollars to fight the small-pox in the
town.

In the spring of this year the Southern Advocate ceased to exist,
and the first issue of the State Line Gazette was published on the
6th of March, 1863. Martin L. Comann and Wm. L. Rice owned
and edited this paper, and afterwards W. W. Langhorne, a young
lawyer who had settled in the town, was associate editor. This
paper lived about five years, and ceased to exist.

By this time Goodson contained a considerable population, and
on the 25th of May, 1863, Wm. F. Moon[45] petitioned the County
Court of Washington county for the establishment of a voting precinct
in the town, which precinct was established at the storehouse
of A. M. Apling, and Wm. L. Rice was appointed conductor and
Wm. F. Moon, Malon S. Susong, Valentine Keebler, Elijah
Seneker and Hugh M. Milliard commissioners to hold all elections
in said town. In the fall of the year 1863 the Federal forces
reached Bristol and destroyed the freight depot, the brick storehouse
occupied by L. F. Johnston, and the Masonic Lodge. And
while the town was visited several times thereafter by the Federal
forces during the war, no other property was destroyed by fire.

In this year A. K. Moore was killed by Captain Lucas, of Kentucky,
at the Thomas House, in Bristol, Tenn.

Upon the close of the war, and in 1865, the Bristol News was
resurrected by John Slack, and the first issue of this paper appeared
on the 9th of August, 1865.

From the files of this paper we find that Chas. R. Vance, J. R.
Deadrick and J. B. Palmer, practising attorneys, then lived in
Bristol-Goodson.

Previous to the incorporation of Goodson by the General Assembly
in the year 1856, and probably as late as the year 1860, the

postoffice was "Sapling Grove," and was at first kept in the residence
of James King on now Solar Hill, and afterwards in a small
frame house on the lot now occupied by the St. Lawrence Hotel.
The postoffice was removed to the Tennessee side of the town in
1865, by order of President Johnson.

Early in the year 1866, the Rev. James King donated property
situated in South Bristol, and valued at $16,000, for the purpose of
establishing a school for young men, and to be under the management
of the Holston Presbytery. The Presbytery which met at
Leesburg, Tenn., shortly thereafter, accepted the proposition of Mr.
King and appointed a board of curators, consisting of fifteen gentlemen,
and this board was directed by the Presbytery to assemble
in Bristol on the 4th of July, 1866, for the purpose of organizing
the school and electing officers for the same. This school was organized,
and has for many years been known as King College, one
of the best-equipped schools to be found in all this section of the
Holston country.

The Virginia and Kentucky railroad was undertaken, and considerable
work was accomplished on said road previously to 1861, but
the outbreak of the war caused a cessation of all work for the time;
but interest in the building of this road was again manifested in the
year 1866, and the attention of the citizens of Goodson-Bristol to
this matter was urged by Robert W. Hughes, president of the company,
and a mass-meeting of the citizens was held in the Methodist
church in Goodson in this year.

Governor Francis H. Pierpoint and the Board of Public Works
attended this meeting, and a great deal of interest was manifested.
The meeting was called to order by the Rev. Philip Rohr, then
Mayor of Goodson, Robert W. Hughes was elected chairman
and Chas. R. Vance secretary, and strong resolutions, prepared by
a committee composed of James King, John Slack and Wm. L.
Rice, were adopted, and Jos. R. Anderson, Philip Rohr and L. F.
Johnston were appointed a committee to solicit subscriptions to the
enterprise. The building of this railroad was begun, and, in addition
to the subscriptions of private individuals, the town of Goodson,
on the 12th of May, 1877, subscribed five thousand dollars to
the Bristol Coal and Iron Narrow-Guage Railroad Company, the
successor of the Virginia and Kentucky railroad, and to-day this

road, now called the Virginia and Southwestern, is one of the most
profitable enterprises that Bristol can boast of.

In March, 1866, the following lawyers were practising in the
town of Goodson: W. W. Langhorne, J. B. Maclin, N. M. Taylor
and York & Fulkerson.

In the fall of this year the Bristol News was leased by John Slack
to David F. Bailey, and the first issue of the News published by
Bailey was on the 9th of August, 1867. From an inspection of this
paper we find that M. L. Blackley and W. N. Clarkson were practising
law in the town, and that the Bristol High School, under the
management of J. D. Tadlock, and a male and female school, under
the management of B. G. Maynard, were doing a thriving business.

The Bristol News was edited by D. F. Bailey, and then by Bailey
and Ramey, and on August 7th, 1868, was sold and transferred to
I. C. and Elbert Fowler.

In the year 1870 John Slack began the publication of the Bristol
Courier, and the two papers, the News and the Courier, are still published
in Bristol.

At the time of the total eclipse of the sun in the month of August,
1869, Goodson being in the centre of the path of totality, the
United States Coast Survey directed Colonel R. D. Cutts, of the
United States Navy, to proceed to Bristol and to prepare for making
observation during the eclipse. Colonel Cutts visited Goodson and
erected an observatory on Lancaster Hill, now called Solar Hill.
The observations were taken, and the latitude of Goodson ascertained
to be 36° 35′ 50.2″, the longitude to be 5° 08′ Washington
time, 20-32 fast. Afterwards, in the year 1870, the street now
known as Solar street was opened, and the observatory used by
Colonel Cutts was found to be in the centre of the proposed street,
and from that circumstance, and at the suggestion of the Mayor,
the street was called Solar street, and the hill has since been called
Solar Hill.

By the year 1870 Goodson had grown rapidly and the future of
the town was exceedingly bright, and in this year the General Assembly
of Virginia amended the charter of the town and extended
the corporate limits, the provisions of said charter as to the limits
of said town being as follows: Beginning at the intersection of the
Virginia and Tennessee States' line and the western boundary line
of the town cemetery, and running west with said State line twenty-two

hundred yards; thence north nine hundred and fifty yards;
thence east twenty-two hundred yards on a line parallel with the
States' line; thence south nine hundred and fifty yards to the point
of beginning. This Act provided for a mayor, five councilmen, a
recorder and sergeant, all to be elected by the vote of the people, and
directed that the election should be held for that purpose on the 2d
of July, 1870, at King Block, on Front street, and John N. Bosang,
John Keys and Jesse H. Pepper were directed to superintend said
election.

The first election held under this Act resulted in the election of
the following officers:

Mayor—I. C. Fowler.

Recorder—J. T. Millard.

Sergeant—J. L. Ligon.

Councilmen—John H. Winston, President; S. L. Saul, Chas. T.
Pepper, Geo. H. DeVault and Jos. W. Owens.

At a meeting of the Mayor and Council on the 27th of July,
1870, rules and regulations were adopted by the Council for the
government of the body in their proceedings, and the foundations
were laid for an era of prosperity and growth that has met the expectations
of the most ardent friends of the town.

By the amended charter the Council of the town was authorized
to provide a building for the safekeeping of all persons sentenced to
imprisonment under the ordinances of the town, and, pursuant to
this authority, the Council appointed a committee to select a place
and to ascertain the cost of such a building. This committee
selected a place on Washington street, now Wagoner's planing mill,
and employed Archer & Carmack to erect the necessary buildings
thereon.

At a meeting of the Mayor and Council of the town on the 23d
of January, 1871, the Council requested the General Assembly of
Virginia to amend the charter of the town so as to increase the
Council from five to seven members, and to authorize the Council of
the town to open and extend the streets of the town, and to subscribe
a sum of money, not exceeding twenty-five thousand dollars,
to be used in purchasing suitable grounds within the limits of the
town for a public square, for building a town hall, and also for the
purpose of purchasing a tract of land then within the corporate
limits of the said town, the property of Joseph Johnston, and giving

to the Council the authority to lay off said land, when purchased,
into lots, and dispose of the same to the best interest of the corporation,
and pursuant to this petition the General Assembly of Virginia,
on the 14th of March, 1871, amended the charter of Goodson
as petitioned for, except that it was provided that no subscription
should be made until the expediency thereof should be submitted to
the qualified voters in the corporation and should receive three-fifths
of the votes actually polled at said election; and it was further
provided that said property, when purchased, should be sold
by the Council, and for the purpose of improvement only.

The Council of Bristol ordered this election to be held, and the
proposition to purchase the Johnston lands received more than
three-fifths of all the votes polled, and these lands, containing about
sixty acres, were purchased by the Mayor and Council of Goodson
for the sum of eighteen thousand dollars.

On the 8th of May, 1871, I. C. Fowler, John H. Winston and
Jos. W. Owens were appointed a committee to superintend the laying
off of said lands into streets and lots, and Thos. D. Walthall
was designated to survey said land. The lands when laid off into
lots were ordered to be sold, and Dr. David Sullins was the auctioneer.

After the sale of these lots, and in the fall of the same year, the
lots owned by the town and the money and notes received from the
purchasers of lots previously sold amounted to $41,218, or $16,000
profit on the investment.

On the 13th of June, 1870, the General Assembly of Virginia
incorporated the Bank of Goodson, with Z. L. Burson, W. W.
James, I. C. Fowler, U. L. York and I. B. Dunn as directors. This
bank was organized and transacted business in Goodson for several
years, and was known as James' Bank.

In August of the year 1871, while great improvements were
being projected and the Council of Goodson was transacting the
most extensive real estate business that the town has known in its
history, the Council of the city were presented with a melon by the
"Marble Players" of the town, and the present was so much appreciated
that the Council at its meeting on the 29th of August
adopted the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the thanks of the Council be tendered the `Marble

Players' of this corporation for the present of a magnificent
melon."

In the same year a chain-gang was organized, and in the year
1873 goats, swine and cows were prohibited from running at large
in the town.

In 1874 it was provided that wooden buildings should not be
erected in the town except upon the petition of two-thirds of the
land-owners in the square where the building was proposed to be
erected, and from the year 1871 to 1880 most of the streets of the
town were macadamized, and in many cases extended so as to meet
the requirements of a rapidly increasing population.

In the year 1881 it was thought necessary by the Council of
Goodson to have a public building erected for the use of the officers
of the town, and the question was submitted to the vote of the people,
and having received the necessary vote, the Council appointed
John H. Winston, Z. L. Burson and W. W. James a committee to
report a plan and the cost of a public building. This committee reported,
and a very commodious hall, built of brick, was erected
some time thereafter on the corner of Cumberland and Lee streets,
at a cost of about $7,000 to the corporation.

By the year 1890 the town of Goodson had grown to be a city,
and the inconvenience attending the transaction of the legal business
of the town at Abingdon created a public demand for the establishment
of a corporation court for the city, and in answer to
this demand the General Assembly of Virginia, on the 12th of February,
1890, changed the name of the town of Goodson to that of
the city of Bristol, and adopted a new charter for said city. The
officers provided for by the new charter were a mayor, treasurer,
nine councilmen, a clerk of the corporation court, an attorney for
the Commonwealth, a sergeant, one justice of the peace for each
ward in said city, and one constable. Pursuant to this Act of the
Assembly, the first Corporation Court of the city of Bristol assembled
in the City Hall on the 3d of March, 1890, Judge Wm. F.
Rhea presiding. The following officers were appointed by the court
for said city: Clerk, J. H. Winston, Jr.; Commonwealth's Attorney,
W. S. Hamilton; Treasurer, C. C. Minor; Sergeant, Chas.
Worley; Commissioner of the Revenue, J. W. Mort.

The court thus organized has continued until the present time
and is at this time presided over by Judge Wm. S. Stuart. The

city of Bristol has grown rapidly and to-day it is a very thrifty city,
with beautiful streets and many large and handsome business
houses.

In the city of Bristol are to be found two female colleges—towit:
Sullins College and the Southwest Virginia Institute—that
cannot be excelled anywhere in the South.

In the year 1902 the Norfolk and Western Railway Company
tore down the old depot, erected in 1865, and on the same site
erected as handsome a depot as is to be found in Southwest Virginia.

Census of Bristol, Virginia.

     

1880	1,562
1890	2,902
1900	4,579

Census of Bristol, Tennessee.

     

1880	1,647
1890	3,324
1900	5,271

Officers of Bristol-Goodson.

Mayors.

             

1871-1875	—I. C. Fowler.
1875-1886	—John F. Terry.
1886-1889	—A. F. Miles.
1889-1894	—W. A. Rader.
1894-1898	—J. H. Winston, Jr.
1898-1902	—Chas. F. Gauthier.
1902	—William L. Rice.

Sergeants.

                           

1871-1872	—J. L. Ligon.
1872-1874	—D. A. Wheeler.
1874-1875	—W. H. Trammell.
1875-1877	—R. T. Hamlet.
1877-1881	—John B. Keller.
1881-1884	—D. A. Wheeler.
1884-1887	—Chas. Worley.
1887-1888	—W. P. Hughes.
1888-1890	—Chas. Worley.
1890-1892	—W. J. Cox.
1892-1894	—Justin King.
1894-1898	—John H. Gose.
1900	—Luther Rush, resigned.
1902	—Jerry Bunting, appointed.

Recorder and Treasurer.

                             

1870-1876	—T. J. Millard.
1876-1878	—M. T. Devault.
1878-1884	—G. G. Hickman.
1884-1885	—James Byrne.
1885-1886	—A. F. Miles.
1886-1887	—G. G. Hickman.
1887-1888	—John D. Witt.
1888-1890	—J. W. Mort, Clerk.
1890-1894	—J. H. Winston, Jr., Clerk.
1894-1896	—J. A. Stone, Clerk.
1896-1897	—G. H. Reed, Clerk.
1897-1900	—H. Doriot, Clerk.
1900-1902	—W. H. Price, Jr., Clerk.
1902	—J. H. Gose, Clerk.
1902	—P. C. Marsh. Clerk.

Judges of Corporation Court.

   

1890-1896	—Wm. F. Rhea.
1896-1904	—Wm. S. Stuart.

Commonwealth's Attorneys.

     

1890-1894	—William S. Hamilton.
1894-1896	—Preston Lewis Gray.
1896-1904	—John S. Ashworth.

Clerks of Corporation Court.

         

1890-1894	—J. H. Winston, Jr.
1894-1896	—Isaac Sharett.
1896-1898	—James A. Stone.
1898-1902	—W. H. Price, Jr.
1902	—John H. Gose.

Treasurers.

     

1890	—C. C. Minor.
1890-1896	—J. L. C. Smith.
1896-1904	—J. W. Owens.

Commissioners of the Revenue.

       

1890-1896	—J. W. Mort.
1896-1900	—J. W. Frizzell.
1900-1902	—S. D. Keller.
1902-1904	—Geo. W. Hammit.

Chief of Police.

   

1896-1898	—Geo. W. Wolf.
[46] 1898-1904	—W. B. Kilgore.