Goodspeed Sketch of S.B. Prichard

Goodspeed Sketch of S.B. Prichard
submitted by Virginia Freeman Taylor


From the History of Tennessee - The Goodspeed Publishing Co., Nashville, 1887 p. 975

S. B. Prichard (brother to my great grandfather, James Brantley Prichard.

"S. B. Prichard (Sterling Brown), a respected agriculturist of the Nineteenth District, was born in Wilson County in 1820. He is the third of eight children of Benjamin and Mary A. (Campbell) Prichard. The father was born April 16, 1792, in Virginia, and came to the portion of Tennessee now known as De Kalb County in 1808. He was in Col. James Tubb's regiment, under the command of Gen. Andrew Jackson, at New Orleans. His death was caused by rheumatism, which he contracted during the war. The exposure was very great. He made his way home from New Orleans on foot, his only provision until he reached the first settlement being one quart of parched meal; after that was consumed he happened to come across a squirrel, which he brought down with his gun. He and his companion endured all sorts of hardships and privations. He died August 3, 1872.

From the History of De Kalb County Tennessee by Will T. Hale (Reprint of 1918 edition) 1969 p. 152 ?..

"As Col. James Tubb made up a company for the War of 1812, no doubt a majority of his men were from this county, but it has been impossible to secure the roster. These, however, are recalled: Benjamin Garrison, of Alexandria; Mose Spencer, of Liberty; Benjamin Prichard, father of the late Brown Prichard, near Liberty; Jacob Hearn, George Thomason, Lewis Washburn, and Silas Cooper, the last four going from Alexandria.

(skipping through the next few paragraphs, we find a description of the military history of Col. Tubb.)

Colonel Tubb was captain in the Second Tennessee Regiment from September 20, 1814, to April 10, 1815, and was at Pensacola or Mobile when the battle of New Orleans was fought. On account of inadequate transportation facilities he had to pay his own expenses for baggage and transportation. Shortly after his return he filed a claim against the government (July 14, 1816). It was made out before W. Tannehill, J. P., being for four hundred pounds of baggage from Fayetteville, Tenn., where the volunteers rendezvoused, to Fort Montgomery, thence to Pensacola and back to Fort Montgomery, thence to Fayetteville from Mobile-six hundred and thirteen miles at eight cents per mile."

 

"His grandfather Prichard came from England to Virginia at an early day. Mrs. Mary (Campbell) Prichard was born March 10, 1796 in Wilson County, and died December 5, 1867. Her grandfather was a native of Ireland; he settled in Wilson County not far from Statesville when the country was an unbroken canebrake. Mr. Campbell ran away from Ireland, agreeing to let the captain hire him out when he reached America, to pay for his passage, and accordingly he was engaged by a Mr. Campbell. The young Irishman had never seen a Negro. One evening he was sent to a room by himself; soon afterwards a colored female servant was sent in with a small bellows to start the fire and scare the boy. With many grimaces and gestures she began her work. The lad, thinking she was his satanic majesty in female form, seized the bellows and dealt her a severe blow on the head. Mr. Campbell died about 1826, and Mr. Prichard's grandfather died about 1830, both of whom our subject, Sterling Brown Prichard remembers.

"S. B. Prichard received a somewhat limited education in Wilson and De Kalb Counties. July 10, 1845, he married Miss Matilda Robinson, who died December 31, 1876. They had six children: Columbus, James, Thomas J., Jorden Lee, Nancy J. (now Mrs. Bass), Elizabeth (now Mrs. Fite). March 5, 1878, He married Miss Malissa Ann Dunnaway, who was born August 4, 1845. Three children have blessed this union: Lucretia Eller, Lucinda Della, and Martha Jane.

"Mr. Prichard commenced life with no capital, but by energy and good management, has accumulated considerable means and property. He first worked at the carpenter trade, and was soon able to buy his present place of residence. His farm consists of 225 acres, all productive and cultivated, located on Disma Branch, eleven miles from Smithville and seven miles southeast of Alexandria. He was a Whig, but since the war has been a Democrat. For many years he has been an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, having professed religion when only fourteen years of age.

 

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