This county was established by an act of the Legislature in 1809, and organized the following year. It is bounded on the north by Marshall, Bedford and Moore, on the east by Moore and Franklin, on the south by the State of Alabama, and on the west by Giles and Marshall counties. It lies almost wholly within the great Central Basin of Middle Tennessee, and contains about 520 square miles or 332,800 acres. It is divided into twenty-five civil districts. The county is cut into nearly two equal parts by Elk River, which flows from east to west. The streams which enter this river from the north, beginning in the west, are Bradshaw Creek, Swan Creek, Cane Creek, Norris Creek, Mulberry Creek, Roundtree's Creek, Tucker's Creek and Farris' Creek. These tributaries of the Elk River all flow approximately south. The tributaries of the Elk River from the south side, beginning on the east, are Shelton's Creek, Duke's Creek, Stewart's Creek, Wells, Creek, Cold Water Creek and Kelley's Creek. Between Elk River and the Alabama line is a belt of high, level land, which is the water-shed between Elk River and the Tennessee. Flint River, with its numerous feeders, rises on this high land and flows south into the Tennessee River, as also does Piney. The surface of the comity is greatly diversified. On the north runs Elk Ridge, which divides the waters of Elk and Duck rivers. This ridge sends out numerous spurs, which form the elevated lands between the streams on the north side of Elk River. On the south side, high, flat-topped, rolling hills are met with until the flat lands begin, which latter extend to the Alabama line.

Climate and Geology. The climate of Lincoln county is mild and salubrious. An ice season seldom occurs, and the summer heat rarely reaches 100' Fahrenheit. Epidemics are almost unknown in the county. The average elevation being about 500 feet above the level of the sea, the air is comparatively free from miasmatic influences. The average temperature for winter is about 42º; spring, 61º; summer, 78º; autumn, 61º. The average for the year is 60º. The greatest range for any one month does not exceed 40º. The geological situation of the county is about equally divided between the Siliccous Group of the Lower Carboniferous formation and the Nashville Group of the Lower Silurian. On the line of railroad may be seen large quantities of Black Shale, which is so impregnated with petroleum or bitumen that it will sustain for months a fire when kindled on it. This Black Shale is also rich in sulphuret of iron, by the decomposition of which copperas and alum are formed. It easily disintegrates upon exposure, and is valueless except for the manufacture of the salts mentioned. Many of the limestone rocks are but aggregations of fossil remains.

Marble. There is in the county a very fair article of marble. A few miles east of Fayetteville is a quarry of reddish, variegated marble, such as is used in making the railing to the main stairway in the Capitol, and for making the columns in the Senate chamber, and usually denominated East Tennessee marble. Some specimens are superior to that used in the Capitol in fineness and colors. It is sometimes injured by particles of iron pyrites.

 Lands, Timber and Crops. The lands, with the exception of a strip lying on the Alabama line, about eight miles wide, and containing about one-third of the county, are very fertile. This is a strip of high plateau, and is exceedingly level, so much so that it is not well drained. The subsoil is a pale, yellowish clay, porous and leachy, except in swamps, where the clay is bluish, and therefore scarcely susceptible of improvement. A few spots, with good red clay subsoil, are found, and where these occur the lands are rated higher, and are much more productive. This portion of Lincoln county is of the same character as the flat lands in Lewis county, to which the reader is referred. No limestone rock is seen on this plateau and the wild growth indicates poverty. Much of it is, however, well timbered--oak, hickory, chestnut, blackjack, sourwood. Chestnut oak and poplar constitute the principal timber trees. The undergrowth is huckleberry bushes, green briers, and occasional patches of alder bushes.

Of the timber on these Highlands, chestnut is considered the most valuable, and great quantities of it are made into rails and sent to the other portions of the county. A good chestnut fence will, it is said, last forty years with little repair. The rails, delivered in Fayetteville, sell for three dollars per hundred, and there is a growing demand for them from the more fertile sections of the county. This land can be bought for a small price, ranging from three to ten dollars per acre. It is sparsely settled, and is regarded as of but little value, except for fruit trees and the timber.

The remainder of the county is of the most fertile character. Spacious valleys, alternating with hills and ridges, are the leading features of this portion of the county. Many knolls, near Elk river, are upraised alluvium, as is shown by the pebbles and other alluvial indications. Upon some of the hills, the loose limestone lies in such abundance as to preclude the possibility of culture. Upon these, however, blue-grass grows with great luxuriance, and the sunny slopes will furnish ample grazing during the entire winter for sheep and cows. The timber consists of linn, buckeye, hickory, poplar, box elder, black walnut, wild cherry, black locust, chestnut, beech, gum, dogwood, iron wood, hornbeam, sugar tree, hackberry, cedar in limited quantities, and elm. Chestnut oaks grow very large on Elk Ridge. An enterprising citizen, a few years since, planted a glady spot on his farm in black locust, which at present forms a splendid grove of that valuable timber. He thinks it is more valuable to him even than his rich bottom lands; for, in addition to the value of the wood, he has a good stand of blue-grass upon it, upon which subsists a large flock of goats during the entire year.

The valleys of Elk River and Cane Creek will average, probably, a mile in width, and the latter is probably fifteen miles in length. All the land north of Elk River was once covered with cane thirty feet high, and even now farmers in plowing to a great depth turn up passes of cane roots. The soil is as rich as any in the State, and it is not unusual to gather 1,000 pounds of seed cotton to the acre; 2,000 pounds have been raised. On East and West Mulberry, the lands are worth from ten to fifty dollars per acre, the former for ridge lands, and this may be considered a fair average price for the limestone soils of the county. The flat lands heretofore spoken of are much cheaper. The very best of them may be bought for ten dollars per acre, while large quantities of it will not bring in the market three dollars per acre.

The corn crops of Lincoln are generally very fine. It is questionable whether any other county in the State can make a better average in this great staple than Lincoln. Wheat, also, when properly put in, makes very satisfactory returns. Timothy grows with great luxuriance upon the moist bottoms, but the sun sometime kills it out very badly after the mowing season. But for this it would probably be a staple crop. Millet of every variety yields abundantly. The heaviest millet crops we have seen harvested in the State, grew in Lincoln. Cotton, however, is the great crop, and almost every thing in the better parts of the county is sacrificed to this. But for this Lincoln county would, undoubtedly, become famous for

Stock-raising. Every thing marks this county as well adapted to the rearing of stock. The blue-grass that clothes the slopes of the hills, the well watered valleys, and the case with which forage can be grown, as well as the abundant yield of the corn crop, show how easily and how cheaply stock of the best quality could be grown. There is an inclination among some of the best farmers to abandon the growing of cotton and substitute therefor, the raising of stock. The financial embarrassments under which the farmers labored immediately subsequent to the war, compelled many of them to continue the cultivation of cotton, although their judgments pointed to stock-raising as the most pleasant, and in time, the most remunerative. A great deal of fine soil has been sterilized by the cultivation of cotton, but it is pleasing to note that a manifest improvement is now going on. The farmers are sowing more clover, stopping washes, putting up stone fences, and increasing the quality and quantity of their stock. Some very fine short-horns have been imported, and some of the finest sheep to be found in the State are in Lincoln. The native breeds of cattle are hardy, and are usually good milkers. These are being crossed on the Short-horns and Alderney, and a high order of graded cattle will soon be found upon nearly every farm.

The Farmers and Farms. The farmers, as a class, are usually well-informed and industrious. There is, probably, a greater number of renters in Lincoln county than in any county in the Central Basin. The farms will probably average from twenty to fifty acres of arable land. The census returns show 3,393 farms, of which 1,154, or over one-third, were between twenty and fifty acres. Since 1870 a considerable portion of the county has been cut off, and is now embraced in the new county of Moore. The farm houses and improvements are greatly inferior to those of Maury, Davidson, Williamson, Rutherford, or Bedford, but the percentage of profits is probably greater. Land rents usually higher, and there is generally an active demand for lands to be rented. But little is sold however. As has been before remarked, the lands are usually fertile, but the exhaustive process through which some of them have passed, has impaired their fertility, to such an extent that no crop can be grown profitably upon them. We observe many hill-sides so washed as to be permanently ruined. The limestone lies very near the surface in Lincoln county, and when by injudicious tillage the soil is washed down to the underlying rock, the land cannot be reclaimed, except at a cost of three or four times its value. Deep plowing and subsoiling are lessons that the farmers of Lincoln will have to learn. Shallow plowing is the direct road to Poverty and exhaustion. Hill-side plows should be used, and team enough employed to plow to the depth of eight or ten inches, and behind them, at least once in three or four years, should be run a subsoiler. The large quantity of limestone rocks that are lying upon the surface should be broken into small pieces, and spread upon the surface. It will be found highly beneficial to the land. This has been tried in Bedford with marked effect upon worn soils. Let the farmers of that rich old county-rich in all the elements of wealth-rich in climate, in soil, in society, in history-see to it that their lands are preserved by deep plowing, subsoiling and clovering. Plowing with one horse upon rolling land is a suicidal policy. The very greatness of the county is involved in it. Their very hillsides will grow power, wealth and greatness for them if they are preserved. Let them sow clover and enrich their lands. Let intelligence, and not custom, govern. And then, with a proper diversification of crops and a judicious and far-sighted policy in the cultivation of their lands, new industries will spring up. Their streams, which are flowing with all their power to the gulf, will, in time, be harnessed and made to work up their products, so as to quadruple their value. Not a single pound of cotton should ever be exported from Lincoln. Just enough should be raised to supply the manufacturing establishments of the county, and no more. Just that much will be profitable. The greatest drawback to manufacturing in the county is the indisposition of large landholders to sell their lands. A dense population, perhaps, is not desirable, but a population sufficient to carry on every branch of human industry, for which there are natural facilities, should certainly be encouraged. Every foot of land that should be cultivated, and is not, for want of laborers, is so much loss to the owners, to the county and to the State. Every stream that can turn a manufacturing establishment profitably, and is wasting its power for want of labor, is so much loss. One reason why so many farms are found with whole fields washed into gullies, and irredeemably sterilized, is that the cultivators of them have generally no permanent interest in the soil. The remedy lies alone with the landholders-either long leases or sales.

Fruit-growing. While the low bottoms are not well adapted to the growth of fruit on account of its liability to be killed by late frosts in spring, the flat lands and hilly regions grow almost every variety of fruit to be found in the State, to great perfection. The farmers are planting out many new orchards, and special attention has, within the past few years, been directed to the culture of the grape. The admirable drainage and broken surface of the country around Fayetteville, together with the abundance of wild grape-vines, show a peculiar fitness in the soil for the growth of this fruit. A gentleman living in Fayetteville, of foreign descent, planted, a few years since, one hundred and ten vines. They were of the Concord, Catawba, Delaware and Herbemont's Madeira-the last a native of Georgia. Nine out of ten bore well, and the third year after planting them he made one hundred and ten gallons of wine, and this from a quarter of all acre.
He thinks it can be made the most profitable crop in the country, and recently he has purchased land upon one of the many slopes around Fayetteville, and intends going largely into thee cultivation of the vine. The Concord is his preference for a wine grape. It is hardy, a generous bearer, and suited to the climate.

The Water-power, while not the best in the State, is fully equal to all the present, and probable future, demands of the county. Elk River is not an ungovernable stream, and has rarely, if ever, been destructive to mills or dams, and for every distance of five miles good sites for manufactories may be found. The banks are limestone, generally, and material is abundant for the construction of durable dams, at a small cost. The fall of the river is good, the supply of water constant, and many necks of peninsulas may be tunneled so as to secure I very rapid flow of water. Several good flouring mills are on the river; one near Fayetteville that manufactures a superior article of flour.

History of Organization, Towns and Public Improvements. In the organization of the county, in 1810, Oliver Williams, of Williamson county, qualified the Justices of the Peace, and Thomas H. Benton, then a young man of twenty-eight, who had removed, with his mother, to Tennessee from North Caroilna, acted as Clerk, pro tem. At this meeting, Brice M. Garner was elected County Court Clerk, and entered upon the duties of his office. Steps were immediately taken to build a temple of justice, and Micajah and William McElroy, father and son, became the contractors. Prior to 1809 District Courts were held, but during that year a law was enacted by the Legislature establishing our present system of Circuit Courts. Thomas Stewart was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of the circuit including Lincoln, upon the organizition of the county, and James Bright appointed Clerk. The first courts were held in a house two miles west of the present county seat, then owned by a man named Greer. Ezekiel Norris, who removed  from Montgomery county-about the year 1805, bought two sections of land, containing 1,280 acres, lying at the junction of Norris' Creek with Elk River, that had been taken up in the year 1787, under an old North Carolina warrant. He having heard that Greer had agreed to donate a small quantity of land for the county seat, met the commissioner and proposed to give one hundred acres where the present town of Fayetteville stands, if the commissioner would build the court-house upon it. This he readily agreed to do, and accepted Norris' proposal, but Norris, having learned in the meanwhile that he bad been misinformed as to Greer, afterwards demanded compensation for the hundred acres, and was allowed by the commissioner $700. This was then divided into lots and sold, and the money appropriated to county buildings. And thus began the pleasant town of

Fayetteville, which stands on a considerable elevation, and commands a fine view of the surrounding country. The scenery is decidedly picturesque; the spurs of Elk Ridge and Pea Ridge rise in solemn grandeur like the parapets of the Titans. The intervenient valleys through which flow Elk River and Norris' Creek, present a lovely country. The luxuriant fields of wheat and grass, the stately residences peeping out from a mass of dense foliage, the snug cottages embowered in evergreens, and winding roads, skirted with white-washed fences, present such a variety to the eye that it never wearies. The town has a population of 1,800, and is a place of considerable trade. Among other things, it has seven dry goods stores, six wholesale grocery stores, three drug stores, one boot, shoe and hat store, six retail liquor establishments, two saddler shops, three tailor shops, five blacksmith shops, two cabinet shops, one tin shop, two hardware stores, four carpenter shops, one carriage and wagon shop, one seed and implement store, two printing offices, at which are printed the Fayetteville Press, and the Fayetteville Observer, two livery stables, two silversmith shops, one gallery of art, one hotel, four boarding houses, two barber shops, three church buildings for white, and two for colored, one tan-yard, four shoe shops, one butcher, five doctors, two dentists, one gunsmith, four schools and twenty-six lawyers. Besides Fayetteville, there are several other flourishing towns in the county: Molino, on McCullough's Creek, Mulberry, seven and a half miles north-east of Fayetteville, Oak Hill, on Norris' Creek, Petersburg, on Cane Creek, and Oregon, are all thriving villages. The last mentioned has near it a cotton factory, which  manufactures heavy domestics. It runs about 400 spindles,employs 30 hands, and has 16 looms in operation. Besides these villages, another has recently been built in the southern part of the county, on the flat lands, by immigrants from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. It is called Lincoln, and is a place of considerable activity. Nothing, probably, shows more public spirit among the people of Lincoln than the attention they have paid to

Public Improvements. There are four turnpike roads centering in Fayetteville, and another is in process of construction. One of these roads crosses the Elk River, near town, by one of the most substantial stone bridges in the State. This bridge was built in 1861, by Patrick Flannery and John Markham, of limestone rock obtained from a quarry near by. It is composed of six elliptical arches, four of them sixty feet from center to center, one forty-five feet, and one thirty feet, making the total length of the bridge 315 feet. The piers are in Ashler masonry. The roadway is fifteen feet wide, flanked by stone walls three feet in height and two in width. The two arches on the east end of the bridge are not built in the water, but on the bottom land, and are lower than the others, so there is a gradual declination from the end of the fourth arch of about 12" to the southern terminus of the bridge. This is considered the only defect in the bridge, is the approach of a wagon cannot be seen from either end, and the roadway is scarcely wide enough for wagons to pass. Its cost was about $40,000.

Railroads. There is but one railroad in the county, and that runs from Dechard, in Franklin county, where it branches off from the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, passing by Winchester, the county seat of Franklin, in a southerly direction, until it reaches a point near the Alabama line, where it turns in a north-westerly direction to Fayetteville. This road is a great convenience to the people of Lincoln. Before its construction the farmers were compelled to ship their cotton and other produce down the Elk River in flatboats to the Tennessee River, or carry it in wagons to the Chattanooga road.

Schools. In regard to the sentiment of the county as to public schools, it is believed to be more favorable now than it was a few years back. There is, however, a class of influential citizens who have always opposed their establishment, and have regarded all efforts in that direction with disfavor.

The Antiquities of the county are numerous and interesting. Between the Stone Bridge and Fayetteville, a little to the right of the, turnpike leading into town, are to be seen the remains of an ancient. fortification extending in a semi-elliptical form, some 500 yards along the banks of Elk River. The line of fortifications is frequently broken by bastions. No tradition has come down to this age as to the work--the Indians themselves had no tradition respecting it. There is but one possible conjecture in regard to it. Bastions were probably unknown among the nations of Europe previous to 1527. After that date they came into frequent use. Now Hernando de Soto, a Spanish officer, who studied at one of the universities, and kept himself informed in all military inventions, was, doubtless, acquainted with the bastion as a means of defense. It is recorded, that in the winter of 1540, he encamped in the northern part of the State of Mississippi, through the winter, in one of the Indian villages. Northern Alabama was called Mississippi less than a century ago. Now it is altogether probable that the place of his encampment was in the southern part of Tennessee. This conjecture is strengthened by the fact that remains of a large Indian village are found near Fayetteville. It is further strengthened by the discovery of an antique coin, a few years ago, near this spot, bearing the image and superscription of the Caesars. Putting all these circumstances together, it is highly probable that Hernando de Soto passed the winter of 1540-41 on the site of the present town of Fayetteville.

Statistics. Lincoln county contained in 1870, a population of 28,050 persons. In 1860 the population was 22,828. Number of dwellings in 1870, 5,080; number of families, 5,069; white population, 22,097; free colored, 5,953. In 1860 the white population was 15,926; colored 6,902. This shows that during the decade ending June 1, 1870, the white population increased 6,171, while the colored decreased 949. The number reported in 1870, that could not read, was 6,526, that could not write, 9,064, or nearly one-third of the whole population. The assessed value of lands in 1873, was $4,087,394; 317,079 acres were reported, which is about $12.90 per acre. The total amount of taxable property is valued at $5,178,933; number polls, 3,134; number voters in 1871, 4,983, of whom 778 were colored.

Lincoln was in 1870, a "banner county" in more respects than one. For that year it produced a greater number of pounds of wool, and of honey, had a larger number of sheep, and had more capital in live stock than any other county in the State. It was, moreover, second only in quantity of rye produced, pounds of butter, and in number of horses. It was third in corn and fourth in wheat.