ATTRACTS OTHER SETTLERS
It was along about 1810 that the ridge
began to attract other settlers. Uncle
Bill Paradise had blazed the way and
others followed. The Reasonovers and the
Adcocks were among the first families to
follow, and one of the Adcocks, a direct
descendant, is now a member of the jury
which is hearing the case of the state
against Duncan Brown Cooper, Robin Cooper
and John Sharp. In 1816 came James Tigue
and his companion, Peggy, and then a
child was born to the ridge and its
course in civilization was begun.
It must be borne in mind that the
misdeeds on Paradise Ridge, even in its
earliest and wildest days were greatly
deplored by many of its settlers, and
most of this lawlessness was carried on
in the hills above and not in the little
settlement which nestled below the
highest of the hills.
In 1817 came Peter Knight, and it was
Peter Knight who was the father of
Gentleman Bill, who was in the criminal
courtroom last week watching his old
boyhood friend, Judge William Hart, hear
the evidence and expound the law on this
historic Cooper-Sharp trial, and at the
same time look at the five
"Paradisers" who are serving on
the jury which is to pass upon the guilt
or innocence of these three tried men
before them.
Peter Knight was a veteran. He had fought
through the War of 1812 and his son
fought through a later war with equal
distinction. As the years passed and the
Knight family scattered, Gentleman Bill,
as he was commonly called, entered the
fraternal field of the Masonic Order and
has been a credit to it ever since. By
trade he became a cooper and he combined
with his trade his obligations for
honesty as a Master Mason. He adopted the
square and compass as his trademark, and
all barrels made by him bore this brand.
It became a trademark well known, for men
knew that barrels so branded were of the
best make and bought them. He built up a
reputation for square dealing and now
lives on the ridge, after serving his
county for twelve years in office,
respected by all who know him.
GENTLEMAN BILL
Uncle Bill Knight, or Gentleman Bill, as
he was once called, held a record for
miles around in his middle age for his
prowess with the bow and arrow. In the
ridge the gun is little used and even now
the older residents shoot fish in the
fishing season with bow and arrows and
rarely miss a shot. At the age of 77,
William Knight, tall and straight is as
deft with the use of the bow as an
Indian, and in the sucker season he may
be seen walking along the graveled banks
of Sycamore Creek, whose waters are clear
as crystal with his bow and quiver of
arrows, and black bass and suckers never
escape when once the bowstring hums and
the arrow speeds to his mission beneath
the waters. These Paradisers scorn the
use of rod and reel and look upon
newcomers who fish with a line with
distinct disgust. They still cling to the
bows and arrows and are still adept in
the use of this early weapon of Indian
forefathers.
It is related of Gentleman Bill that in
the early eighties he went on a visit to
Oklahoma with the view of inspecting
certain cattle land for a client. While
waiting on the station platform he
noticed a number of young Indians
shooting at a mark. He ventured over and
finally asked if he might join them. They
were shooting at a mark in the fork of a
tree. Giving him a bow and arrow, he
astonished them with the accuracy with
which he used it and he soon scored the
highest mark. The old chief, who had
silently watched came to him. Removing
his hat he ran his hand up the back of
his neck, crying all the while,
"Injin--much Injin." He finally
explained that there was Indian blood
fused with the blood of the Knights for
no white man could be so gifted. He
vested him later with the head right to
share with other Indians in Indian lands,
and a fine farm in the territory was
given to Gentleman Bill, who held it for
quite a number of years. But the call of
the ridge was strong, and he returned to
its shelter and shade and to the black
bass and timid suckers of Sycamore Creek,
and there he lives today in peace and
plenty and in the shadow of the hills
known all his life.
CROCKER SPRING
The best known point on the ridge is
Crocker Spring. This is a picturesque
spot, and one of the health-giving summer
homes about Nashville. It was settled by
Elijah Lancaster Crocker, an old sailor,
before the war, who built himself a
school and began a long service as an
educator. Several southern governors
gained their first knowledge of higher
education under him. Ex-Gov. Murphy J.
Fester of Louisiana, one Mississippi
governor, Judge William Hart, who is
presiding over the Cooper-Sharp trial,
were all pupils of Crocker. Later, and
after the war, the school grew and became
quite an institution, and a big building
took the place of the smaller one. During
the winter the boarding school was
maintained. During the summer the school
building was converted into a summer
hotel for tired Nashville folk to visit
and rest and drink the cool water and air
of Paradise Ridge. The building still
stands, the spring still pours fourth its
life-giving waters, and the scene is just
as it used to be, but Prof. Crocker, the
old sailor of New England, about whose
life so much mystery was interwoven has
passed over the ridge and the mystery and
his good name remain as everlasting
monuments, treasured along with the other
lore of the Paradisers.
With the coming of the foreign element
came also a thrifty epoch on the ridge
and the law began to assert itself. Order
came from chaos. Up to this time the hogs
of the ridge belonged to anyone, but with
the introduction of finer grades of
animals, men began to claim their own
property. The maverick hog was no longer
claimed as such, but it required several
killings and an endless number of
lawsuits before the court of Davidson
County finally established the right of
property in a hog. Toward the last, and
during the administration of Judge
Riddle, whenever a case came into court
from Paradise Ridge relative to a hog, it
was thrown out of the court, the judge
declaring from the bench that Paradisers
must fight it out among themselves, for
in a hog case he wouldn't believe either
side on oath. In the long run the matter
was righted and now there is no longer
any trouble and people who live there
have a profound respect for the property
of each other. But even after the hog war
was settled and the indiscriminate range
was abolished, Paradise Ridge had its
tragedies.
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Reprinted with permission of the Memphis Commercial Appeal
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Carmack-Cooper Shooting: Tennessee Politics Turns
Violent, November 9, 1908
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