(TENNESSEE) Manuscript account book kept by the commissioner

Sale 2223 - Lot 201

Price Realized: $ 1,080

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(TENNESSEE.) Manuscript account book kept by the commissioners for improving Duck River. 6 pages, 12 x 4 inches, in original paper wrappers; toned, worn at folds with minimal loss of text. Np, May-August 1814

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The Duck River flows through central Tennessee south of Nashville into the Tennessee River. In 1812, it was the site of a massacre of white settlers by the Creeks. During the ensuing Creek War, on 17 November 1813 the Tennessee General Assembly appointed several commissioners to clear the river for navigation. Alexander Gray, Garret Lane, and Robert Hill were among the commissioners for the western portion of the river in Hickman and Humphreys counties, authorized to buy tools and hire laborers as needed.
This account book is signed by Gray, Lane, and Hill. It begins with a page of the advance payments made to these commissioners, and concludes with five pages of their expenses submitted for reimbursement. Most notably, they purchased 55 gallons of whiskey and more than a thousand pounds of bacon to fortify themselves in true frontier style, varying their diet with the occasional purchase of corn meal or a watermelon. For equipment, their purchases included a pair of cross-cut saws, a chisel, and a canoe. The book also names several hired laborers. The project was not notably successful, as efforts to make the Duck River navigable were still being launched in the 1840s. See Brandt, Touring the Middle Tennessee Backroads, page 198.