Randolph, Tennessee

Infobox Settlement
name = Randolph, Tennessee
settlement_type = Unincorporated community

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image_caption = Randolph United Methodist Church
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dot_map_caption = Location in the state of Tennessee
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subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_name1 = Tennessee
subdivision_name2 = Tipton
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elevation_footnotes = cite web |url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=12628 |title=Randolph Tennessee profile |accessdate=2008-10-01 |work= |publisher=EpoDunk.com |date= ]
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postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 38015 (Burlison, Tennessee)
area_code = 901 (Memphis metro area)
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Randolph is an unincorporated rural community in Tipton County, Tennessee, United States.

Founded in the 1830's, the community is one of the earliest settlements in Tipton County. Randolph's location on the second Chickasaw Bluff along the banks of the Mississippi River and at the lower mouth of the Hatchie River, provided for an ideal harbor and made the town an early center of steamboat commerce in West Tennessee, outnumbering the cotton shipments from Memphis until 1840.

The fortunes of the community began to decline in the late 1840's due to failed railroad development and an unsuccessful attempt to move the county seat from Covington to Randolph. An unfinished project to cut a canal from the Hatchie River and the Tennessee River and other factors also contributed to the commercial demise of the town. Two forts were built in Randolph in the American Civil War. During that war, the town was burnt down twice, which further promoted the demise of the once flourishing community.

In 2008, Randolph has a population of about 200 people and consists of about two dozen dwellings with no major industries and businesses present.

History

Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto (c.1496-1542) was a Spanish explorer who led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern United States and the first European documented to have discovered the Mississippi River.

In 1541, De Soto and 400 men reached the Mississippi River in the area of what is modern Shelby County in southwest Tennessee or DeSoto County in northwest Mississippi. Within four weeks of their arrival, the expedition had built several floats in order to cross the river and continue their expedition westward into what would later become Arkansas territory. There is a documented controversy about the exact location of Hernando de Soto's crossing over the Mississippi River. A report published in 1874 suggests that "De Soto [...] traveled up to Randolph, and there built boats and crossed the river". [cite book |title=First and Second Reports of the Bureau of Agriculture for the State of Tennessee: Introduction to the Resources of Tennessee |last=Killebrew |first=Joseph Buckner |authorlink= |coauthors= |others=Tennessee Bureau of Agriculture |year=1874 |publisher=Tavel, Eastman & Howell |location= |isbn= |pages=1193 |url= ] Other documentations claim that it is "generally believed and [...] probably true" that De Soto crossed the Mississippi River at Memphis. [cite web |url=http://www.wdbj.net/shelby/goodspeed/history/history1.htm |title=Goodspeed's History of Shelby County, Tennessee (1887) |accessdate=2008-10-08 |work=Shelby County, Tennessee Genealogy & History |publisher=TNGenWeb Project |date= ]

Estabishment

Around 1800, Europeans began settling the land east of the Mississippi River that was inhabitated by Chickasaw Indians for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans. The settlers began to claim properties in what is modern West Tennessee and some early landowners were eager to secure their investment. In the 1810's, more than a decade before Randolph would be founded, wealthy and influential investors tried to find ways to get a return on their share. In 1818, John Overton wrote to James Winchester (1752-1826) that "We must not let the owners of the property on the Bluffs at the Mississippi above us be beforehand in laying off town — as it might damp the sale of ours".cite news
first = Perre
last = Magness
title = Randolph dominated early river towns | format = History column
publisher = Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee
location = Memphis, Tennessee
page = N2
date = Sept. 15, 1988 ] Overton and Winchester founded the City of Memphis along with Andrew Jackson in 1819. They were trying to secure investments in property in the Memphis area that they owned and not give the advantage to investors "above" [emphasis added] , north of Memphis on the Mississippi River, in Randolph.

Both Memphis and Randolph are located on one of the four Chickasaw Bluffs, Randolph on the second and Memphis on the fourth. In the early 1800's, the topology of the Chickasaw Bluffs was providing promising locations for a harbor on the Mississippi River for both emerging towns. In 1820, the area that would become Randolph a few years later had an estimated population of 54 people.]

Early in the 1820's, landowners and investors John T. Brown and Robert Bedford were the proprietors of the land on the second Chickasaw Bluff that would form Randolph a few years later. Only 40-50 mi (60-80 km) north of Memphis by water, they described it as "a good landing for Mississippi River flatboats". The Hatchie River, joining the the Mississippi River just north of the second Chickasaw Bluff, was accessible to steamboats for convert|60|mi|km|-1 upriver to Bolivar. Brown and Bedford chose the site on the second Chickasaw Bluff to lay out the plan for Randolph, a promising river town.

The "Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture" gives the date of Randolph's official establishment as 1823.cite web |url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=T097 |title=TN Encyclopedia: Tipton County |accessdate=2008-10-04 |work= |publisher=The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture |date= ] Other reports date the foundation to 1827 or 1828. The founders of Randolph named the community for John Randolph (1773-1833), a leader in Congress from Virginia and spokesman for the "Old Republican" faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that wanted to restrict the federal government's roles.

teamboat commerce

uccess

Located on the banks of the Mississippi River on the second Chickasaw Bluff, the topology of Randolph provided for an ideal harbor for steamboats and flatboats at all stages of the river. Randolph became the center of steamboat commerce in Tennessee and an important cotton shipping point in the 1830's. The town was an early rival of Memphis over commercial superiority on the Mississippi River.Citation
title = Covington-Tipton County Community Guide
place = Covington, Tennessee
publisher = Tipton County Chamber of Commerce
year = 2005] In 1830, Randolph was the most important shipping point in Tennessee.Citation
title = Tennessee Historical Markers
place =
publisher = Tennessee Historical Commission
year = 1996
edition = 8th
isbn = 0874020212] In the mid 1830s, Randolph shipped 35,000 to 40,000 bales of cotton on the Mississippi River every year, in 1839 cotton shipments added up to 20,000 to 25,000 bales. More cotton was shipped from Randolph than it was from Memphis until 1840. At the peak of its commercial success, the community was called the "great steamboat depot of West Tennessee".]

By 1829, Randolph had three commission warehouses, six dry goods stores, ten physicians and one tavern, 20 to 30 families were living there. Early in the 1830's the town developed quickly. Randolph had a population of approximately 1,000 people in 1834. By that time, the town had four hotels, almost fifty businesses, one of them a distillery, several private schools, and more than ten saloons. In the 1830's, Randolph had two newspapers, the "Randolph Recorder" and the "Randolph Whig". The "Randolph Recorder" was founded in 1834 and continued business until 1836. The "Randolph Whig" was established in 1836 or 1837 and discontinued shortly afterwards. [cite web |url=http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/newspapers/paper-r.htm |title=Newspapers on Microfilm at TSLA |accessdate=2008-10-08 |work= |publisher=Tennessee State Library and Archives |date= ]

Decline

The fortunes of the community declined in the later 1840's and the 1850's due to many factors. Five years after Randolph was founded, a dispute over the ownership of the land the town was estabished on arose over a faulty land title with a land owner of New York. The residents of the community bought back the land their town was built on for $8,000 in a settlement. An unfavorable mail line also had an early and lasting negative influence on the fortunes of the town. When the mail route was established in 1829, it went from Nashville to Jackson, Bolivar, Somerville, Tennessee, Raleigh and ended in Memphis, but Randolph was left out. Randolph was put at the end of a branch route of the mail line and received mail only once a week.Failed railroad development further contributed to the demise of the town. In 1852, residents of Randolph unsuccessfully tried to move the county seat from Covington to Randolph. [cite web |title=memphisRegion.com - History of the region |url=http://www.memphisregion.com/pdf/Mem09_His+Inf.pdf |accessdate=October 11 |accessyear=2008]

Financial depression and David Crockett's failed attempt to cut a canal from the Hatchie River to the Tennessee River also were problems that had a negative impact on the future of commercial prosperity in Randolph. During the Civil War, the town was burt down twice, in 1862 and in 1865, discouraging many residents to re-build residences and businesses a second time. This contributed further to the declining fortunes of the community.

Civil War

Because of its strategic location on top of the second Chickasaw Bluff along the Mississippi River, two forts were built at Randolph in the Civil War.

On January 20, 1861 the Memphis "Appeal" published a pro-secessionist proposal to build a fort in Randolph do defend Memphis from invaders. [cite web |title=Pro-secessionist proposal to construct a fort at Randolph, Tennessee, on the Mississippi River |url=http://tennessee.civilwarsourcebook.com/collection/1861-01/1861-01-Article-6-Page9.pdf |accessdate=October 5 |accessyear=2008] In April 1861, Governor Isham G. Harris ordered Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Wright to establish a camp at Randolph and complete the fortification. About 5,000 troops from Tennessee, Arkansas and the Confederate Army were stationed at Randolph for the task. It took four months to fortify the bluff at Randolph with earthen defenses and artillery batteries to protect it from land attacks and from naval attacks. Fort Wright was the forwardmost defensive position on the Mississippi River until July 1861, it was abandoned by the Confederate infantry by 1862 but sporadically occupied by other southern forces during the Civil War.cite web |url=http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?EntryID=F051 |title=TN Encyclopedia: Fort Wright |accessdate=2008-10-05 |work= |publisher=The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture |date= ] In 2008, only a powder magazine is left of Fort Wright. Fort Randolph, a second fortification in the area, was located about convert|1|mi|km southwest of Fort Wright.cite web |url=http://www.eachtown.com/place.php/id/1646819 |title=Tennessee Places, Fort Randolph (historical) |accessdate=2008-10-07 |work= |publisher=eachTown.com |date= ] In 2008, Fort Randolph is no longer in existence.

Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) and Alexander P. Stewart (1821-1908) trained in Fort Wright, both would later become important figures in the rank of Lieutenant General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Other future leaders in the Army of Tennessee and Forrest's cavalry received training at Fort Wright. The fort was Tennessee's first military training camp in which soldiers could gain experience in the construction of fortifications and the setup of artillery batteries to counter naval attacks. They could undertake defense drills and acquire general military skills and discipline. The soldiers who were trained at Fort Wright fought in battles on different battlefields later in the war, the Battle of Shiloh, the Battle of Belmont, the Battle of Murfreesboro, the Battle of Chickamauga, the Battle of Franklin and the Battle of Bentonville.

Union Army soldiers under the command of General William Tecumseh Sherman burnt down Randolph in 1862. The town was burnt down a second time by federal soldiers in 1865.

Modern

Agriculture is the dominant source of income in the area surrounding Randolph, especially the cultivation of cotton. After the abolition of slavery, sharecropping was the primary means of income for low income families in the area. Mostly for the cultivation of cotton, land would be used by sharecroppers in return for a share of the crop to the landowner. Modern machines such as the cotton picker have made the manual cultivation obsolete over time as they took over the work from the hand laborers.

On Oct. 11, 2008, the Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation, a non-profit organisation, dedicated "Randolph Bluff Historic Park" in a celebration with politicians, conservationists, historians and community members. The convert|19|acre|ha|0 property on the second Chickasaw Bluff was purchased for $378,000. The park is intended to promote the Civil War history of the community and make the unique views of the Mississippi River available to a wider public, additional revenue from tourism is expected for the community. "Randolph Bluff Historic Park" is part of the Mississippi River Corridor Tennessee, a project to "create a scenic byway that connects historic sites along the Mississippi River", the project also promotes economical develpoment and the preservation of land and wildlife in the Tennessee counties bordering the Mississippi River.cite web |url=http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/10/nonprofitdedicates-randolph-park/ |title=Tennessee Parks and Greenways Foundation dedicates Randolph Bluff Historic Park in Tipton County |accessdate=2008-10-11 |work= |publisher=Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tennessee |date= ]

In 2008, the community has a population of ca. 200 people and consists of about two dozen dwellings with no major industry or businesses present.

Geography and postal

Geography

Randolph is located at 35° 30' 59" North, 89° 53' 19" West [cite web |url=http://www.maplandia.com/united-states/tennessee/tipton-county/randolph/ |title=Randolph Map |accessdate=2008-10-01 |work= |publisher=MapLandia.com |date= ] on the banks of the Mississippi River. The elevation above sea level is 315 ft (96 m).

Cotton-fields and the Mississippi River bluffs dominate the rural landscape of the area. The community is located on top of the second Chickasaw Bluff. Randolph is situated on the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, an area with a high earthquake risk.

Postal and telephone

The Randolph Post Office was established in 1827, it was in operation until 1932. [cite book |title=Notes on Randolph, TN |last=Wade |first=William J. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1949 |publisher= |location=Memphis |isbn= |pages= |url= ]

The U.S. ZIP Code for Randolph is 38015 (Burlison, TN) [cite web |url=http://usps.com |title=USPS ZIP Code Lookup|accessdate=2008-10-02 |work= |publisher=United States Postal Service |date= ] and the telephone area code is 901 (Memphis metro area). [cite web |url=http://www.allareacodes.com/tennessee_area_codes.htm#901 |title=Tennessee Area Codes |accessdate=2008-10-01 |work= |publisher=AllAreaCodes.com |date= ]

Notable natives

* William Clyde Martin (died 1984) was a Bishop of three Methodist churches, born in Randolph 28 July 1893. [cite book |title=Prominent Personalities in American Methodism |last=Howell |first=Clinton T. |year=1945 |publisher=The Lowry Press |location=Birmingham, Alabama |isbn= |pages= |url= ]

Historical locations

* Fort Wright (historical) was at coordinates coord|35.521121|-89.887437. [cite web |url=http://tiptonco.com/dept_property.htm |title=Tipton County interactive mapping |accessdate=2008-10-07 |work= |publisher=Tipton County Assessor of Property |date= ]

* Fort Randolph (historical) was at coordinates coord|35.508330|-89.906670.

References