Boundaries - Historical Notes

The private act has often been used as a means for transferring parcels of land from one county to another, often because the boundary lines would bisect an individual landowner's property, placing the landowner under the jurisdiction of two counties. This type of boundary change was often very general in its description of the land transferred, without any metes and bounds description. The following is a summary of acts which authorized boundary changes for Wilson County.

1. Acts of 1801, Chapter 37, extended the south boundary of the counties of Smith, Wilson, Davidson, Williamson and Robertson to the south boundary of the State of Tennessee.
2. Acts of 1801, Chapter 58, authorized the county courts of Wilson County and Davidson County to each appoint one surveyor who would have the power to run and designate the dividing line between the two counties as the same were delineated by Acts of 1801, Chapter 49. The Surveyors would be paid $2 for each day of service and were required to make a map of the line thus run and file it with the county court clerk.
3. Acts of 1803, Chapter 77, provided for surveyors to run the boundary line between Wilson County and Davidson County and between Wilson County and Rutherford County as directed by the General Assembly.
4. Acts of 1845-46, Chapter 137, moved the residence belonging to James King out of Wilson County and into Cannon County.
5. Acts of 1851-52, Chapter 302, changed the lines between Wilson County and Rutherford County so as to include the home and lands of John L. Pearcy wholly within Rutherford County.
6. Public Acts of 1857-58, Chapter 47, transferred the lands of James King out of Wilson County and into Cannon County.
7. Public Acts of 1857-58, Chapter 83, rearranged the lines between Wilson County and DeKalb County beginning at Pallace Laurence's south corner which is on the DeKalb and Wilson County lines; running thence with the said Laurence's southern line to Thomas J. Kidwell's farm; thence with Kidwell's southern and western line and the said Laurence's line to the Wilson County line thus placing the Laurence farm and the Kidwell farm wholly within the confines of DeKalb County.
8. Private Acts of 1859-60, Chapter 100, detached all the lands of James Holmes from Smith County and attached the same to Wilson County. Section 12 of this Act took the property of James P. Doss out of Wilson County and placed it into DeKalb County.
9. Private Acts of 1859-60, Chapter 135, returned the land of James Holmes from Smith County back to Wilson County, and Section 13 of same Act took the farm of Thomas Y. Northern out of Wilson County and placed it in Davidson County.
10. Private Acts of 1859-60, Chapter 210, moved the land belonging to Levi Fouch and Jane Turny out of Wilson County and into DeKalb County.
11. Private Acts of 1859-60, Chapter 211, changed the line between Rutherford County and Wilson County so that the residence of Claiborne H. Rhodes would be included wholly within Rutherford County.
12. Public Acts of 1867-68, Chapter 23, moved all the properties belonging to Edie Ways and Thomas West of Wilson County and placed them in DeKalb County.
13. Public Acts of 1867-68, Chapter 60, altered the boundary lines between Wilson County and Rutherford County commencing at or near Robert Black's, near the Cannon County line, running west so as to include W. J. Witty and J. R. Jennings until it strikes the Cainsville and Statesville Turnpike at an abrupt turn near H. G. John's residence, and running with the said Turnpike until it crosses Fall Creek, thence with the said Creek to the Rutherford County line.
14. Public Acts of 1868-69, Chapter 39, altered the boundary line between Wilson County and DeKalb County which then ran through a tract of land on Pertel's Creek which belonged to M. M. Brien, Sr., so that the entire 268 acres would be wholly within DeKalb County.
15. Public Acts of 1870, Chapter 27, created Trousdale County out of portions of Sumner County, Macon County, Smith County, and Wilson County according to the general description in the Act.
16. Public Acts of 1870-71, Chapter 18, Section 4, changed the lines between Wilson County and Rutherford County so as to include in Rutherford County that area of Wilson County beginning at the Rutherford County line at Kinchen Patterson's, running north with the District line between District 17 and District 18 of Wilson County to Joby Carson's, on Fall Creek; thence up said Creek to Tharp and Simmons' Mill; thence east with the road including C. Gilliland, Esq.; thence east to the said creek again; thence with the said creek including E. Preston on the south and leaving Len Phelps on the north; thence east to the Statesville road north of Daniel B. Smith's; thence with said road to the top of the ridge east of Ryal Perruals; thence with the top of the said ridge to the Cannon County line. This Section was repealed by Public Acts of 1883, Chapter 203.
17. Public Acts of 1879, Chapter 60, changed the line between Wilson and Trousdale counties so as to include all the lands of David G. Jackson in Wilson County.
18. Public Acts of 1879, Chapter 61, changed the boundaries between the Counties of Smith, DeKalb and Wilson so as to detach all that part of a tract of land owned by J. W. Wood from the Counties of Smith and DeKalb and attach the same to Wilson County, but the new lines could not come nearer than eleven miles to the county seats of Smith County and DeKalb County, nor could the counties of Smith and DeKalb be rendered below their constitutional limits.
19. Public Acts of 1879, Chapter 137, Section 14, detached the lands of E. B. Marshall, C. W. Brantley, James Johnson, Clay Massey, T. L. Webster, Pleasant Turner, and R. S. Badgeth from Wilson County and placed all of them in Trousdale County. The new line ran from the east bank of Cumberland River at the mouth of Jackson's Branch, then running east on the line between the lands of David Jackson and W. B. Ramsey; thence between D. Jackson and Lon Bell; ther nce between E. B. Marshall and John Bonner; thence between Clay Massey and Sam DeBow; thence between Massey, Thomas Petway and Turner to David Young's line, then on the line between Young and Webster to the Cumberland River.
20. Public Acts of 1885, Chapter 146, moved the lands of E. B. Marshall, containing about 88 acres, out of Wilson County and placed them in Trousdale County.
21. Public Acts of 1887, Chapter 18, took all the lands belonging to William Byrn, J. E. Allen, W. S. Rhodes, and R. E. Jarman out of the 17th Civil District of Wilson County and placed them in the 16th Civil District of Rutherford County.
22. Public Acts of 1889, Chapter 55, detached the lands belonging to R. A. Hancock and J. R. Dougherty from Wilson County and attached them to Cannon County.
23. . Public Acts of 1889, Chapter 56, changed the line between Rutherford County and Wilson County to follow the meanderings of the center of Fall Creek on the north boundary of R. D. Puckett's lands to the center of the Cumberland and Stones River Turnpike, thence with the center of the Turnpike to the intersection of the old line so that the lands of R. D. Puckett would rest wholly within the boundaries of Rutherford County.
24. Public Acts of 1895, Chapter 82, rearranged the boundary lines between Smith County and Wilson County so as to include the lands of W. R. Seay and D. E. Seay, and the lands of E. C. Harris totally within Wilson County.
25. Public Acts of 1899, Chapter 263, moved the lands owned by Lewis Bond out of Wilson county and into Davidson County.
26. Private Acts of 1905, Chapter 35, changed the county lines between Wilson County and Cannon County so that the properties belonging to J. B. Smithson would be wholly within Cannon County.
27. Private Acts of 1905, Chapter 47, transferred the lands of E. C. Maxey, bounded on the east by the land of Levi Beard, on the north by Thomas Conatser's heirs, on the west by D. J. Shipp, and on the south by Jacob Faley's heirs, out of Smith County and into Wilson County.
28. Private Acts of 1905, Chapter 222, moved the lands of Henry Thomas, T. L. McMillin and Marguerite Tenpenny out of Wilson County and into Cannon County.
29. Private Acts of 1907, Chapter 223, changed the lines between Wilson County and Davidson County so that the properties of Thomas S. Pride would be located entirely within Wilson County.
30. Private Acts of 1909, Chapter 454, moved all the lands owned by John M. Kennedy out of Wilson County and into Cannon County.
31. Private Acts of 1909, Chapter 455, detached the lands belonging to Mrs. Bettie Grooms from the 14th Civil District of Wilson County and attached them to Cannon County.
32. Private Acts of 1909, Chapter 455, detached the lands belonging to Mrs. Bettie Grooms from the 14th Civil District of Wilson County and attached them to Cannon County.
33. Private Acts of 1909, Chapter 514, transferred the 77 acre tract of land owned by W. A. Jackson in the 8th Civil District of Trousdale County out of that county and included the same entirely in Wilson County.
34. Private Acts of 1911, Chapter 415, rearranged the boundary lines between Wilson County and DeKalb County so that all the lands owned by J. S. Berry in DeKalb County would hereafter be contained wholly within Wilson County.
35. Private Acts of 1913, Chapter 276, removed the lands of Mrs. T. H. Henson, consisting of about 27 acres, and the property of W. S. Bridgewater, containing about 50 acres from Wilson County and placed them all within the confines of Smith County. The Act further changed the line by including the farm of D. E. Seay, lying between Round Lick Creek and the Trousdale Ferry Turnpike, wholly within Wilson County.
36. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 237, took the farms owned by Arch Parker, Brit Floyd, Lillard Oakley, and C. R. Barry out of the 19th Civil District of Smith County and placed them in the 12th Civil District of Wilson County.
37. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 246, detached the land belonging to Charley Edwards from the First Civil District of Rutherford County and attached the same to the 23rd Civil District of Wilson County.
38. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 260, moved the lands owned by Shelia Jennings, T. R. Jennings and T. D. Fite out of the 13th Civil District of DeKalb County and into the 13th Civil District of Wilson County.
39. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 527, took all the lands of Bud Lane out of Wilson County and put the same into Rutherford County.
40. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 528, changed the lines between Wilson County and DeKalb County so that the whole of the lands owned by W. A. Huggins would hereafter be included in Wilson County.
41. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 558, transferred the lands owned by Mrs. J. T. Qualls out of Wilson County and into DeKalb County.
42. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 562, rearranged the boundary lines between Wilson County and Smith County beginning at the corner of the yard fence of J. R. Talley's, Isaac Ford's corner, thence east about 70 yards to the road at Charles Comatsers, thence south about 210 yards to Sam Williams' line, thence west about 70 yards to the Wilson and Smith County line at Talley's corner which embraced that portion of Talley's land located in Smith County, about 3 acres, more or less, which would hereafter be in Wilson County.
43. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 670, moved the lands owned by G. W. Oakley and R. M. Baxter out of Wilson County and placed the same in Rutherford County.
44. Private Acts of 1923, Chapter 514,, moved the 44 acres owned by Mrs. Rebecca Worrell, the 70 acres owned by Gordon Cummins, the 114 acres belonging to Couch Bradford, the 8 acres owned by J. M. Wright, the 84 acres belonging to Mrs. Mollie Jenkins, and the 49 acres owned by A. T. Jenkins, all out of Wilson County and located them entirely in Davidson County.
45. Private Acts of 1927, Chapter 785,, changed the boundary between Wilson County and DeKalb County so as to include the farm of Mrs. M. C. Saddler, located in the 13th Civil District of DeKalb County, containing some 115 acres, more or less, in the 13th Civil District of Wilson County, which action would greatly facilitate the construction of a road through the 13th Civil District of Wilson County.
46. Private Acts of 1929, Chapter 147, detached the land owned by E. A. Simpson from Wilson County and attached the same to the 11th Civil District of Cannon County, which lands were known as the Couch and Truett lands.
47. Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 673, moved about 18 acres owned by Rice Moss, out of the 8th Civil District of Wilson County and into the 12th Civil District of Smith County. The Act further detached about 40 acres of the Dave Litchford farm from the 8th Civil District of Wilson County and attached the same to the 12th Civil District of Smith County.
48. Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 770, detached the farm of C. H. Baird from the 12th Civil District of Smith County and attached the same to the 7th Civil District of Wilson County.
49. Private Acts of 1931, Chapter 771, detached that portion of the farm owned by Roe Purnell, consisting of about 20 acres, from the 7th Civil District of Wilson County and attached the same to the 12th Civil District of Smith County.
50. Private Acts of 1933, Chapter 227, moved about 205 acres of land owned by Grover Foutch and Andrew M. Foutch out of DeKalb County and placed the same within Wilson County's boundaries.
51. Private Acts of 1935, Chapter 93, rearranged the boundary lines between Wilson County and DeKalb County so that the 40 acre tract owned by W. A. Fite, bounded on the north by John Allen, on the east by Bill Crook's heirs, on the south by the Liberty and Murfreesboro Pike, and on the west by W. A. Fite, would be wholly contained in the 14th Civil District of Wilson County.
52. Private Acts of 1935, Chapter 218, transferred a 17 acre tract, being part of the farm of Lillard E. Oakley, located in the 19th Civil District of Smith County, bounded on the north by Webb McEachern, on the south by Robert Hickey, on the east by Bert Allison and Well Herndon, and on the west by Lillard Oakley, out of Smith County and located the same in the 12th Civil District of Wilson County.
53. Private Acts of 1935, Chapter 422, changed the boundary lines between Wilson County and Rutherford County so as to detach from the 17th Civil District of Wilson County and attach to the 16th Civil District of Rutherford County the three tracts of land owned by J. G. Allen, H. P. Allen, C. W. Allen, and F. E. Allen, consisting of some 231 acres, more or less.
54. Private Acts of 1935, Chapter 588, rearranged the county line between Wilson County and Rutherford County so as to include in the 23rd Civil District of Wilson County the lands owned by Joe Leath, which were lying immediately across the county line in Rutherford County. These lands, containing some ten acres, were bounded on the north by Underwood and Bond, on the east by a private road by Guethlien and Charlton, on the south by Hunter or a public road, and on the west by a public road.
55. Private Acts of 1939, Chapter 369, detached that portion of the farm belonging to D. E. Seay, Sr., which was described in the Act, known as the old Hinson or Seay place, which contained some 40 acres, from the 18th Civil District of Smith County and attached the same to the 8th Civil District of Wilson County. The land which was moved had the old Seay residence, the tenant house, and the barn located on it.
56. Private Acts of 1955, Chapter 54, rearranged the lines between Rutherford County and Wilson County so as to include wholly within the First Civil District of Rutherford County all the lands of Orell Woodson and wife, Alma, which were particularly described in the Act, and which included some 31 acres, more or less. This Act was properly ratified by the Quarterly County Courts of both Rutherford and Wilson County.
57. Private Acts of 1959, Chapter 375, moved a 215 acre tract of land belonging to W. M. Earp and Juanita Earp out of the 17th Civil District of Wilson County and into the 15th Civil District of Rutherford County.