Hendrix Family Genealogy

Appleton The Town

Appleton is a quiet, peaceful community located on the beautiful shimmering waters of Sugar Creek in south-eastern Lawrence County, Tennessee near the point where Giles and Lawrence Counties join. The people who live there are proud of their past, and pleased with the part their ancestors played in the development of the area in Lawrence County now known as Appleton. Lawrence County was founded in 1817.

James Appleton is listed in the 1820 Lawrence County, Tennessee Census as head of household and being between 26 and 45 years of age with three males between the ages of 10 and 16 {John B. Appleton, Abraham Marshall Appleton, and Robert Wesley Appleton}; two males between the ages of 0 to 10 years {James Rail/Royal Appleton, Hiram Appleton]; one female between the age of 16 and 26 {wife, name unknown}; one female 0 to 10 years of age {Aurora Bora Appleton}. James Appleton's estate settlement is found in Lawrence County Court records in April 1833. Three more children were born to his household after the 1820 census. They were Oliver D. Appleton, Mary Amanda Appleton, and Caroline Appleton. line Appleton.

In 1830, a man from Kentucky, named Pinson Hooks, settled in the area, built a store, and gave the community the name of "Pinhook," or simply "The Hook." The growing community was located on the Pulaski-Florence Turnpike, one of the best and most traveled roads in Middle Tennessee at that time, and this location was instrumental in other settlers moving into the area.

Robert Wesley Appleton established a Post Office in his home. He was made postmaster of Sugar Creek from August 12,1839 until January 16, 1858. Sugar Creek Post Office was then changed to Appleton Post Office with him remaining as postmaster until October 30, 1860; thus, the name of the community was changed to Appleton. The post office was said to have been in his home during this entire time. Robert Wesley Appleton was three times married and the father of six children. He owned around 1200 acre's of land and-was a magistrate. He and his wives are buried in the Old Appleton Cemetery located in the pasture east of the present Dobbins Cemetery. His estate settlement can be found in Lawrence County, Tennessee.

In the early days, education and worship usually took place in the same building, and Appleton was no exception. The first school in the community was called Yellow Point School, a log building on the high hill north of the main road. It was built in the 1830' s when the community was still known as Pinhook. Church services for those early pioneers were held there on Sundays.

A larger log school was built at Appleton in 1868 by a big spring. The name of the teacher was Wood Simmons, and the spring was known as "Wood's Spring," and the spring water is still pure and cold. The Appleton Church of Christ used the spring, but the water line became clogged, and the church members had a well dug in 1972.

In the late 1890's, John Kelton, a civic minded man who helped many poor children get an education, spearheaded a drive that resulted in a frame school building being built by the patrons of the school that soon became one of the most prominent schools in Lawrence County. Under the direction of its new teacher, J. P. Conway, it developed into a teacher's training school. Graduates of the school were in demand throughout Middle Tennessee and North Alabama, and boarding students from many places came to Appleton to take advantage of the expert instruction. One of the big events of the week was a Friday night "Spelling Bee." It brought people into the community from everywhere.

Churches were a very important part of the Appleton community. Services were held at first in the Yellow Point School. A Baptist Church was built at Appleton in 1904, with an Odd Fellows Hall on the second floor. The only church in Appleton today is the Church of Christ. Services are still held in the neat, frame building that was built in 1910, a testimony to the value of loving care. Religion was important to the early settlers of Appleton, and in the years before modem transportation, churches of all faiths dotted the picturesque countryside. Three miles north of Appleton at New Hope, a historic building was used by religious groups from many denominations. Another building near New Hope stated on the deed that any religious group would be free to use the building for worship services at anytime.

The Alex T. Dobbins store was built in 1870 between Dobbins Cemetery and where the pond is now, and an Odd Fellows Lodge was on the second floor of the store building. This building burned in 1924. The Couch home place, where they now make music, was near this store. Jack Couch was able to get Mr. Green's car away from the burning building. Mr. Green owned and lived in the house Alex T. Dobbins built at the Dobbins Cemetery, and the garage was beside the store.

When Jim Crowder served as postmaster, he lived where the Buffalo family had a store and the post office was located in his home. One day in 1915, when Jack Couch and Brown Crowder, were playing on the hillside, Mr. Crowder walked to the door and hollered to his son, "Brown, take care of little Jewel." He then went inside and killed himself by drinking carbolic acid. Brown and Jewel were the children of Jim and Etta Brown Crowder. Etta became postmistress after his death. The post office was later moved to Hobe Warren's store.

Perhaps, the most famous store in the entire North Alabama and Middle Tennessee area was the huge 300 by 60 foot Appleton Department Store. This fabulous, three story store, built by Hall, Kelton and Company, opened with considerable fanfare on July 15, 1902. The feature on opening day was a free soda pop from the fanciest soda fountain in the entire south. A crowd estimated at between 500 and 600 people gathered on opening day to partake of the free soda pop and to browse among the many bargains available. Horses, buggies, wagons and ox-carts were hitched allover Appleton. These were the modes of transportation used by the crowd at the store on that historic day.

Two fashionable hotels were operated near the store for the benefit of out-of-town visitors who wanted to spend the night and shop at the store. The store was a "one stop shopping center," with practically every imaginable item available. Groceries, hens, stoves, buggies, kerosene, hardware, even caskets were available to customers from Lawrenceburg, Pulaski, Florence and many other places in Tennessee and Alabama. In 1911, all the furniture needed to set up housekeeping could be purchased for $40.00.

The fantastic mini-shopping center in Appleton had a complete milliner shop and a tailor. Fashionable, wealthy and sophisticated people came from miles away to be outfitted in the most stylish clothes in the entire south. Soon after the opening of the store, John Kelton became post master at Appleton and the Post Office was moved into the store. It remained there until 1948 when the post office was closed and mail service moved to Five Points.

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The "Big Red Store" at Appleton remained the heart beat of the community for over a century. During that period, several people owned and operated the store. After the death of John Kelton, it was owned by the Butler brothers and Jim Warren. The decline of the Pulaski-Florence Turnpike as a major highway and steady loss of population at Appleton, hastened the end of the big department store. It was closed in the mid 1950' s and holds a special place in the memories and history of Appleton. The building is still there. It looks worn and lonesome, but it served the Appleton community well in its' hey day.

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For almost a century, Appleton was one of the main centers in Lawrence County for ginning cotton. The community was strategically located near the large cotton raising areas of Giles County and North Alabama, and farmers hauled their raw cotton to Appleton from many miles around. At its peak, the gin operated night and day and would have over 500 bales of cotton waiting their turn to be ginned.

The first cotton gin in Appleton was built by Alex Dobbins in 1870. It was operated by six mules and the lint was pressed with a hand lever. Hall, Kelton and Company built one of the first steam gins in Lawrence County at Appleton in 1892. By 1905, Butler Mercantile Company built an even better and more efficient gin, which was in operation until 1951 when H. H. Warren built a modern gin. This gin burned the next year and brought to an end the cotton ginning activities in the community.

When H. H. Warren owned the store, gin, and etc., he built several small houses in which his work hands lived. These small structures had one square room with side room for the kitchen. They were built high off the ground on rock column foundations. Each house had a porch across the front. The workers did not pay rent and the only requirement was the families had to move once each year to the house just ahead of them or beyond them, and they had to keep the yard neat and clean up around the houses. If the family that vacated the house left it in a mess, the family moving into the house had to clean after the family that had moved.

There was a slave house located on the road between the Dobbins Cemetery and the Claude Couch house. This building was made of logs and is still standing in 2003. There are two cemeteries in Appleton where past citizens of the community had been laid to rest. The cemeteries are about 50 yards apart. One is abandoned with an overgrowth of weeds and vines covering those resting there. A chain link fence encloses it to keep the cattle from destroying the few remaining tombstones. This is where the earliest settlers, including the Appleton family, are buried. The other, known as the Dobbins Cemetery, is neatly manicured and is still being used. There are many unmarked graves in both cemeteries.

During the Civil War, the last battle in Tennessee was fought on Sugar Creek, north of Appleton. This was the only battle of any significance fought in Lawrence County during the bloody four years of war. * In 1887, George Washington Hendrix, my great-great-grandfather, bought and moved to a farm north of Dobbins Cemetery just before you cross Sugar Creek. I have been told part of the battle occurred on this farm. {LJHD}

After the Civil War, Appleton's location on the Turnpike caused a flurry of business activity. In 1870, Alex Dobbins put in a cotton gin that was operated by six mules and had a hand lever to press the lint. One of the first steam gins in the entire area was opened at Appleton in 1892. In 1904, Hall Kelton & Company built a 60 by 100 feet, two story store in Appleton. This store soon became one of the best department stores in Middle Tennessee or North Alabama. There were such crowds of people from Lawrenceburg, Pulaski, and Florence that it sometimes took all day to be waited on. The store was one of the most complete stores of its kind anywhere and did a tremendous business. Many amusing incidents are told about the trading that took place in the big Appleton Department Store. One such story tells of a little girl with a pet chicken, but she loved it and had decided not to trade. One of the clerks persuaded her to trade her pet by tempting her with a red sailor hat. Appleton was a very up-to-date town and even had a milliner and a tailor at the store. People came from miles around to be fitted in the best and most fashionable clothes. The store building still stands as a monument to Appleton's past greatness as a fashion center of the south.

The decline of the Pulaski-Florence Turnpike caused the multiple business enterprises of Appleton to fade into its past. Today Appleton is a small rural community filled with some of the happiest people in the world. On Sunday afternoons, the citizens of Appleton enjoy the fellowship of a hotly contested baseball game, or the happy picking of a banjo in the hall or on the front porch of the community music house near historic Sugar Creek.

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Post Masters

In Lawrence County, Tennessee, from its establishment to the year 1930 The General Services Administration, National Archives and Records Services in Washington, D. C., prepared a record of appointment of Postmasters in Lawrence County, Tennessee prior to 1930. The names of the post offices are in capital letters.

Est.	stands for the date of establishment;
Dis.	indicates the date of discontinuance;
Re-est.	is for re-establishment;
MO.	indicated the post office became a money order office;
PMG.	shows the post master was appointed by the Post Master General;
P & S	shows the appointment of post masters was by the President and approved by the Senate;
Pres.	means filled by Presidential appointment;
Poss.	indicates the postmaster was serving in a possession capacity and acting meant serving in an acting capacity.

Post Masters from the time of its establishment to the year 1930

SUGAR CREEK POST OFFICE	Located in Giles County
John A. Jones, PMG,	July 20, 1838
Robert W. Appleton, PMG,	August 12, 1839
	Moved to Lawrence County
	Changed January 16, 1858 to Appleton

APPLETON POST OFFICE:
Robert W. Appleton, PMG,	January 16, 1858
	Discontinued August 16, 1860
	Re-established October 30, 1860
Andrew M. Porter, PMG,	October 30, 1860
	Discontinued July 18, 1866
	Re-established December 11, 1866
Pleasant A. O. Hankins, PMG,	December 11, 1866
James P. Dobbins, PMG,	December 28, 1874
Robert C. Hall, PMG,	July 30, 1883
Wm. J. Dabbs, PMG,	July 12, 1889
Mrs. Melissa J. Couch, PMG	March 4, 1890
John J. Kelton, PMG	August 3, 1895
Tabner B. Hendrix, PMG	June 17, 1907
James A. Crowder, PMG	August 22, 1912
Mary Etta Crowder, PMG,	June 8, 1915
Mrs. F. L. Short, PMG,	Poss. December 11, 1923
Mrs. F. L. Short, PMG,	Acting, December 20, 1923
Hobert H. Warren, PMG,	August 14, 1924

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Democrat Union

Kiwanis Historical Edition 12-3-1954
Communities - Appleton

Here are some interesting notes about the community of Appleton, which were brought to us by one of the communities oldest residents, and to whom we are indebted.

About 66 years ago, Jim Appleton, with two small children, drove a pair of mules hitched to a wagon into swollen Sugar Creek. The wagon bed floated off with both children in it. Mr. Appleton rescued one child. The other child drowned. The team with the wagon went on into Appleton.

George Dobbins, seeing the tragedy, rushed to the creek, dived in and brought out the dead child.

Dr. Bill Harris was the physician in the community for a quarter of a century. His sons, Leo and Claude Harris, also were practicing physicians. Claude was killed at Summertown. Dr. Leo Harris is now practicing in Lawrenceburg.

In 1908, Butler Mercantile Co., bought a horse drawn hearse, with the drivers seat high up. Later on L. D. Chapman, who served fifteen years as undertaker, used his team and the hearse for burial services in more than twenty cemeteries.

The hearse, a modem and up to date piece of equipment in those days, had oil lamps on each side. It is still in existence, stored in the warehouse ofH. H. Warren in Appleton. *The year is 2003, and the hearse is now in a museum. {LJHD}

At one time, several families of Negroes lived in or near Appleton. Some were buried in a cemetery near the Dobbins Cemetery, which was called Appleton Cemetery. Some white people were buried there too. No Negro families reside nearer than seven miles from Appleton at the present time. In the early days, Appleton was named "Pin Hook", which was changed when the post office was established there. Old settlers refer to the Appleton community as Pin Hook, even now.

Appleton has been called the mother of preachers. Here are the names of many who were reared there: E. O. Coffinan, E. C. Coffinan, Claude Thomas, R. C. Abernathy, Alden Hendrix, Robert Hendrix, M. F. Norwood. All are ministers of the Church of Christ.

The Hood Branch, on which Appleton is located, was named after David Hood, who was one of the first settlers on that branch near Sugar Creek.

The Masonic Lodge was located over Dobbins Store in 1870. The store burned in 1924. Lodge headquarters were moved to the third story of the Butler Warren Store. After the death of Jim Warren, the Lodge rooms ceased to be used. Some of the older members were: J. P. Dobbins, M. P. Prince, E. G. Prince, Sam Todd, H. T. Zigler, T. J. Dendy, J. G. Norwood, A. A. Hagan, Billie Moore, Jim Warren, Leonard McMasters, Polk Jones and Charles McMasters.

Dr. R. E. Warren and Dr. Crowder practiced medicine in Appleton.

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Blacksmiths of Appleton

In 1890, W. A Boston operated a blacksmith shop and for years after with T. H. Hood as his assistant.

In 1904, J. T. Morrison and Leonard Coffinan ran a shop for several years.

Then came E. L. Buffalo and last Jess Forsyth.

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Store

About 1895, John White, father of J. A, Looney, Noah and Add, operated a store where Mrs. E. L. Buffalo now lives.Mr. Buffalo ran a store in one side of his dwelling a while.

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Officials and Educators

In the last fifty years, Appleton has contributed her share of officials and educators.

Among these are:

Bill Glass,
J. L. Hendrix,
H. C. Ezell, and
V. D. Rosson as Deputy Sheriffs;

Tom J. Dendy and W. C. Jones as Constables;

A. Bud Conway as Justice of Peace from 1906 to 1910,

L. D. Chapman as Justice of Peace from 1910 to 1924;

L. D. Chapman as member of the Board of Education from 1926 to 1940;

Wood Simmons,
Frank James,
J. P. Conway,
Looney White,
Noah White,
Ivan Dobbins,
Clint Sills,
Virginia Conway,
A. D. Chapman,
A. L. Freeman,
John Hendrix,
Felix Hendrix,
Jim Crowder,
E. O. Coffman and
E. C. Coffman served the county as leading educators.

E. O. Coffinan recently retired after 38 years as principal of
Lawrence County High School.

A. D. Chapman is principal of the Loretto High School, having served in
this same capacity at the Summertown School for several years.

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