Dr. Bumpass was born in Person County, North Carolina,
about the year 1770. He and his brother, James, also a physician,
headed a colony of fifty or more immigrants out of South Carolina.
These people became the first settlers of Giles County, Tennessee,
although they were delayed about a year in Nashville waiting for the
Indians to cede their lands in that part of the state. Finally, around
1810, they began the task of cutting a road through the wilderness.
This highway from Columbia to Pulaski became known as the
Bumpass Trail.
Because of its early location alongside the river, Waterloo
was threatened by floods almost every spring season. A big one
came in 1847. Thirty-five houses as well as warehouses and boats
were either swept away or destroyed. Most of the families and
businesses moved to where the present town is, although it was
known then as the plateau. Yet, a few determined souls remained
at the old site. For the next twenty years there were two sections of
town - the old one near the river and the new town on the plateau
above the river. The next big flood hit in 1867 at which time all that
remained in the old town was washed away. The choice lots on the
plateau were owned by Dr. Bumpass who was then nearing his
eightieth birthday. These prime pieces of property on today's Main
Major James H. Witherspoon was said to have established
the first merchandise business here in 1824. A native of North
Carolina, Witherspoon from the beginning was the leading
merchant in Waterloo. Soon he was boasting a merchant house
made of bricks which were molded by slaves from the red clay. He
built a cotton gin, gristmill, and saw mill on Second Creek.
Witherspoon was also a Methodist minister who was credited with
organizing the church in Waterloo which is one of the earliest
Methodist congregations in the county. Witherspoon's home was a
landmark for more than a hundred years. It was a large two-story
log house, later covered with clapboards, with both upper and lower
porches in front. Major Witherspoon was born in 1808 and died in
1883. His wife, Jane, who was born in Ireland, preceded him in
death by eight years. Their graves were relocated to the
Richardson Cemetery in the late 1930's.
Soon after 1850 James Lathem, native of South Carolina,
became a town merchant. About the same time. Thomas T.
McCorkle came with his father, James, from York District. South
Carolina, and opened his combination merchandise and drug store,
a business that survived in this family for more than one hundred
years. The elder McCorkle was born in 1770 and died in 1866.
The McCorkles were excellent record keepers. Their store ledgers
and papers reveal an interesting story of life in early Waterloo.
Other early settlers at Waterloo included E. T. Chandler, R.
H. Rawiings, P. H. Cunningham, John Hinderman, George Waters,
and Bill Petus. Among those who invested in land prior to 1825
were: Dabney Morriss, Anthony and John Winston, William Berry,
Samuel White, Jesse Evans, Stephen Hightower. Richard Baugh.
William S. Barton, Thomas Kirkman, James Jackson, Charles N.
Baucher, Samuel Hazard, John Webb, Tyree Rodes, Eli Kerr.
Phillip J. Irion, William Parker, and James Madison.
Alexander Higgins was a pioneer gunsmith at Waterloo. He
first settled near Green Hill about 1818, coming from the Old
Ninety-Sixth District, South, Carolina. He established his
blacksmith and gun shop on Bumpass Creek Road east of the
town.
Around 1850 Jesse Lucy operated a general merchandise
at the foot of Lucy Hill, which later became known as Town Hill.
Lucy's business included a saloon where men could drink and
gamble. Joel Childress was murdered here one winter evening
while playing a game of "Seven-Up." He had accused his partner
of cheating.
Joseph Bishop's blacksmith shop was at the top of Lucy Hill
where Richardson Cemetery is now located. There was a large
distillery at Boatman Spring where both whiskey and brandy were
made from com. apples, and peaches. Other merchandise houses
during this period were listed as: Hargrave Barsew; Carter Madry;
James Humphrey; West and Jones; and Witherspoon and Harrison.
The post office at Waterloo dates back to April 1827 when
Thomas Pate was appointed as its first postmaster. Sixteen
months later it was moved to Barton, a community now known as
Gravelly Springs. However, it was re-established at Waterloo in
1828 with Edmund F. Wills as postmaster. In the early days the
mail arrived by boat. Later, a horse-drawn vehicle was dispatched
from Waterloo to Florence to pick up the mail. One of the last of
these carriers was Green Berry Lindsey, Senior. He would go to
Florence one day and return with the mail the next. In addition to
his mail delivery, Lindsey sought passengers who wished to ride to
and from the county seat. His father, Sylvester B. Lindsey,
preceded him in this business.
Around the turn of the century, the timber industry became a
big economic factor for Waterloo and the surrounding area. In
1897. within a twelve-mile radius there were seven saw and planing
mills owned by A. V. Bevis, John Sheppard. Kinney Crow, R. H.
Haynes, L. A. Ranson, Keel and Haynes. and Sheppard and
Franklin. These mills turned out vast quantities of lumber annually
for markets in St. Louis. Missouri, Evansville, Indiana, and East
Florence. Crossties were big items. In 1897, their average market
price amounted to $20.00 per hundred. A total of 121,550 ties were
cut and shipped that year from around Waterloo.
An early school at Waterloo was taught by Carrie Sullivan,
daughter of Dr. 0. B. Sullivan. There is an existing early document
called "Article of Agreement" between this teacher and her patrons
in the town "to teach a subscription school at Waterloo, Alabama"
for the term of five months for the sum of $1.25 per month "for each
subscribed pupil."'01 In the late 1890's, this young lady crossed the
area. This unit, commanded by Captain George Robinson, was a
part of Brigadier General Eli Long's Second Division which was
encamped at Gravelly Springs. One historian wrote that, although
Wilson had been ordered to bum Waterloo, "he succumbed to the
charm of the Southern ladies and spared the town."105
Bumpass Creek Road was said to have been one of the
main routes used by Confederate bushwhacker Bert Hayes.106
According to legend, Hayes was responsible for the deaths of a
number of people in this area, although this has never been
documented.
Excerpts from "A Walk Through The Past" by William Lindsey McDonald 2003.
You can see the entire book on "Google Books".
