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Boundaries - Historical Notes

Tennessee Code Annotated
Tennessee Attorney General Opinions

 The following is a summary of acts which authorized boundary changes for Dickson County.

  1. Acts of 1799, Chapter 3, divided Davidson County into two counties calling one Williamson County from which Dickson County was later taken.
  2. Acts of 1805, Chapter 52, appointed Henry Rutherford, as a Commissioner to run and mark the boundary lines between Williamson County, Davidson County and Dickson County.  Rutherford would be paid $2.00 per day and each chain carrier hired would get $1.00 per day, which expense would be equally divided among the three counties.  He must also be sworn in before commencing the work.
  3. Acts of 1806, Chapter 22, apportioned the sum to be paid to Henry Rutherford for established and marking the lines between the counties of Dickson, Davidson and Williamson, at two-fifths for Davidson, two fifths for Williamson, and one fifth for Dickson.
  4. Acts of 1806, Chapter 50, Section 3, required that the principal surveyors of the First and Second District would run and mark the county lines of Rutherford, Williamson, Dickson, and Stewart Counties extending them towards the south to the Indian Territory, or to the southern boundary of the State as the case may be.
  5. Acts of 1807, Chapter 44, created Hickman County which took part of Dickson County. This Act is published herein.
  6. Acts of 1809, Chapter 28, provided that the extension of the boundary lines of several counties south to the Indian Territory, or the southern boundary of the State, would be paid for by the people of the respective counties which included Dickson County.
  7. Acts of 1809, Chapter 31, established Humphreys County south of Stewart County and adjoining the counties of Hickman and Dickson but there is no indication in the Act that any of Dickson County was taken to form the new County.
  8. Acts of 1809, Chapter 97, which added a portion of Dickson County to Humphreys County, is published herein.
  9. Acts of 1817, Chapter 14, make it the duty of the Sheriff to hold an election in the City of Charlotte at 1:00 p.m. on the first Saturday in April to elect seven Commissioners for the city, who must be sworn into office, select one of their members as the Chairman of the Commission, and appoint a Clerk and Treasurer for the city, whose primary duties were enumerated in the Act.  Many of the powers of the Commission were stipulated, including the authority to levy a tax in accordance with the schedule incorporated into this law.  No appropriation of money could be made unless authorized under the law and then only for the benefit of the citizens in the town.
  10. Acts of 1819, Chapter 109, Section 11, provided that the boundary line run by William B. Ross as the dividing line between Dickson County and Hickman County would be and remain as the true boundary line between these two counties.
  11. Acts of 1821, Chapter 125, changed the lines between Dickson County and Humphreys County.  This act is printed herein.
  12. Acts of 1831, Chapter 214, made it the duty of the Sheriff of Dickson County to open and hold an election at the Courthouse in Charlotte on the first Saturday in next April to elect seven Commissioners for the town of Charlotte with a majority of the Commissioners being given the power to transact the business of the town.
  13. Acts of 1837-38, Chapter 8, created Cumberland County out of parts of Davidson County, Robertson County, Montgomery County, and Dickson County describing the area included within the new county with a particular description.  Courts were to meet at the house of James Stewart until the county seat was selected and a Courthouse was available.  The Sheriff of the former counties would collect the taxes due in the portion stricken off for the current year.  James Darden, of Robertson County, Allen Thompson and Samuel B. Davidson, of Davidson County, and Pleasant Bagwell, of Dickson County, were named as Commissioners to pick a county seat who would be joined by five others from the new County.  Thomas Shaw, of Robertson County, would run and mark the boundary liens.  All of the above was contingent upon approval by the voters in a referendum election which approval apparently never came.
  14. Acts of 1837-38, Chapter 49, incorporated the City of Charlotte under the Mayor-Aldermen type of government which would have the same corporate powers and privileges as were heretofore granted to Dover in Stewart County, except the ones of a purely local nature.
  15. Acts of 1837-38, Chapter 124, provided that the dividing lines between the counties of Davidson, Robertson, Montgomery, Dickson, and Cumberland would be run and marked sufficiently by the surveyors previously appointed to do so.  The Surveyor must furnish to the Sheriff of each County a plat showing the area involved in Cumberland County.  The Sheriff would hold an election in each precinct therein on March 10, next, except that on the southside of the Cumberland River the election would be at the house of James Lovell instead of James Hooper.  The officials of the election would report the results to the Governor.
  16. Acts of 1843-44, Chapter 59, set up the new county of Cumberland again which action was also subject to approval by the people in a referendum election.  Courts would be at home of Lyttleton J. Perdue until the Court-house was built.  The act named Samuel B. Davidson, of Davidson County, James Darden and Henry Frey, of Robertson County, Pleasant Bagwell, of Montgomery County, and Benjamin C. Robertson, of Dickson County, as Commissioners to select and establish the county seat.  William S. Perry was directed to run and mark the lines.  This Act was repealed in Item 18 below.
  17. Acts of 1843-44, Chapter 193, instructed the Surveyors of Dickson County and Montgomery County to complete the unfinished line between the said counties.  The Surveyors were to meet at the point where the line now ends and each one would project the line and mark the relevant parts.  A plat would be made and filed with the County Courts of the respective counties.  The Surveyors were to be paid $3.00 a day for each day spent on the job.
  18. Acts of 1855-56, Chapter 122, formed the new County of Cheatham out of portions of the Counties of Robertson, Montgomery, Davidson, and Dickson.  Portions of this Act are printed herein.
  19. Acts of 1859-60, Chapter 100, moved the residence and farm of Joseph Weems out of Montgomery County and placed the same wholly within Dickson County.
  20. Acts of 1867-68, Chapter 82, Section 7, changed the boundaries between Cheatham County and Dickson County to begin at the three-forked chestnut tree on the Dickson County line; thence down Bethaning's Creek to the Big Harpeth River; thence down the said River to the mouth of the Harpeth; thence up the Cumberland River to the Cheatham County line.
  21. Acts of 1870, Chapter 72, stated that the citizens of Dickson County would hold an election on the second Tuesday in November to vote on a change of the county seat from Charlotte to either Burns, Sneedville, or White Bluff Station on the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad.  The ballot would be "for" or "against" removal.  The results would be reported to the County Judge, or Chairman.  If none received a majority the one with the lowest votes would be dropped and the election continued among the other two.
  22. Acts of 1870-71, Chapter 46, created Houston County out of portions of Stewart County, Humphreys County, Montgomery County, and Dickson County.  Pertinent portions of this act are published herein.
  23. Acts of 1873, Chapter 55, provided that the citizens of Dickson County could hold an election on the second Tuesday in June, 1873, at the different voting precincts in the county on whether or not to move the county town from the city of Charlotte to the town of White Bluff, Burns, Dickson, or to the point where the dirt road crosses the Nashville and Northwestern Railroad.  A majority of two-thirds must approve before the change would be made.
  24. Acts of 1873, Chapter 69, Section 2, provided that all of that part of Dickson County east of the Harpeth River was attached to Cheatham County.
  25. Acts of 1877, Chapter 60, amended Section 2 of an 1875 act.  This act is published herein.
  26. Acts of 1879, Chapter 13, rearranged the boundaries between Dickson County and Cheatham County so as to include the residence and lands of J. W. Simpkins, wholly within Cheatham County.
  27. Acts of 1881, Chapter 143, Sections One and Two, changed the boundaries between Dickson County and Cheatham County beginning at a hickory south of the Northwestern Railroad, running thence south 78 degrees east with the said Railroad 130 poles to a black oak, thence south 200 poles to a white hickory, thence north 87 degrees 70 poles to the bluff on Turnbill Creek, thence up the Creek with the Bluff to the county line so as to include W. G. McMillan's properties in Dickson County, and Section 2 moved that part of the land of L. D. Pack lying east of the Harpeth River into Dickson County as the same was described.  (This Act was declared unconstitutional in McMillan v. Hannah, 106 Tenn 689, 61 SW 1020 (1901).
  28. Acts of 1883, Chapter 87, moved the house and farm belonging to N. E. Andrews, and Clay Andrews, on Plumber's Creek in the Sixth Civil District of Hickman County out of Hickman County and into Dickson County.
  29. Acts of 1883, Chapter 92, abolished the corporation of the town of Dickson on the Northwestern Railroad in Dickson County which had been incorporated under the general laws of the state by a decree of the Chancery Court at its December term in 1873.
  30. Acts of 1883, Chapter 93, changed the lines between Dickson County and Humphreys County commencing at the northwest corner of A. Vetter's farm running north across the Northwestern Railroad to the county line on the top of Tennessee Ridge so that the lands of W. Beckman and the tenants of W. A. Moody were included wholly within Dickson County.
  31. Acts of 1885, Chapter 69, detached the home and farm belonging to Joel N. Boze from Dickson County and attached the same entirely to Houston County.
  32. Acts of 1887, Chapter 50, transferred all the properties belonging to G. W. Daniel out of Montgomery County and placed them into Dickson County.
  33. Acts of 1887, Chapter 105, altered the lines between Dickson County and Cheatham County starting at Paint Rock Bluff where the Dickson County line leaves the river; thence up the river with its meanders to the mouth of Trace Creek; thence up the said Creek to the Dickson and Cheatham County line so as to include what is known as the Horseshoe in Dickson County and all that part of Dickson County east of the Harpeth River above Paint Rock Bluff was attached solely to Cheatham County.  This Act was repealed by Acts of 1891, Chapter 251, below.
  34. Acts of 1887, Chapter 116, made it the duty of the County Surveyors of Cheatham County, Montgomery County, and Dickson County, jointly to survey the boundary line between the said counties south of the Cumberland River.  The Surveyors were to meet at a point on the south bank of the Cumberland river near the mouth of Barton's Creek where the line between Montgomery County and Cheatham County strikes the River and run the line to the intersection of Dickson County, the run the line between Dickson County and Montgomery County to the southwest corner of the 10th Civil District of Montgomery County.  A map of each section must be prepared and deposited with the County Court Clerk of each County involved who would be obligated to pay its own surveyor his reasonable compensation.
  35. Acts of 1891, Chapter 251, repealed Acts of 1887, Chapter 105, above, and described the line between Cheatham County and Dickson County as beginning at Paint Rock Bluff on the Harpeth River to run with the old county line between Cheatham County and Dickson County to Tract Creek, thence down the said creek to its mouth to the Cheatham County line so as to include in Cheatham County what is known as Horseshoe.
  36. Acts of 1893, Chapter 119, transferred the property known as the Horseshoe out of Cheatham County and back into Dickson County using the same property description mentioned in the preceding acts.  This Act was rendered unconstitutional by the Court in Cheatham County v. Dickson County, 39 S.W. 734 (1896).
  37. Acts of 1897, Chapter 199, which was cited as Chapter 200 in the earlier volume of Private Acts, moved all the possessions of Henderson Proctor, and E. T. Williams, out of Montgomery County and into Dickson County, as the same was legally described in the Act.
  38. Acts of 1899, Chapter 353, incorporated the town of Dickson under the Mayor-Aldermen type of Charter, embracing the physical area described in the Act.  Seven Aldermen would be elected to one year terms and the council would appoint a Recorded, Marshal, and other officers, who would exercise the powers named therein for the Mayor and Council in 32 separate paragraphs.  The first election would occur on the second Monday in May, 1899.  The Charter was a blueprint of most of those being enacted at that particular historical area.  It is so lengthy, it is difficult to reduce it sensibly. 
  39. Private Acts of 1901, Chapter 300, rearranged the boundary lines between Dickson County and Hickman County so that the lands of Moses Tidwell and J. L. Brown would be excluded from Hickman County and included within Dickson County.
  40. Private Acts of 1905, Chapter 525, moved the residence and farm of L.  W. Sullivan out of Dickson County and into Williamson County.
  41. Private Acts of 1909, Chapter 57, detached the lands of L. J. Browning, as the same were described in the Act, out of Houston County and into Dickson County.  A legal description of the new line between the counties was contained in the Act.
  42. Private Acts of 1909, Chapter 558, transferred the lands of J. E. Lampley and G. C. Lampley, out of Williamson County and put them into Dickson County altogether.
  43. Private Acts of 1915, Chapter 526, is published herein.  This Act concerned the boundary between Dickson County altogether.
  44. Private Acts of 1921, Chapter 643, changed the lines between Dickson County and Williamson County so that all the lands belonging to M. C. Lampley would be included in Williamson County.
  45. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 255, effectuated a boundary change between Montgomery County and Dickson County as the same was more particularly described in the Act.  This Act is printed herein.
  46. Private Acts of 1937, Chapter 403, moved two tracts of land out of Houston County and into Dickson County as the same were described legally in the Act which is published in this Volume.
  47. Private Acts of 1945, Chapter 436, took four tracts of land, known as Trust Number 2, 3, 4 and 5, of the Gleaves land, which are now owned by J. K. Simpkins out of Dickson County and placed them in Cheatham County, as the same were generally described in this statute.