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The Story of a River, Its History, Features, Moods, People and Places with Particular Reference to Rock Island and the Area Above Great Falls Brought Together
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| It is through the generosity of and sense of history that his son and heir, Ed Crouch has given his permission to reproduce here excerpts from his Father's book. We thank him. |
| FERRIES | Relatively few ferry-boats were
ever operated on the upper Caney Fork and it's tributaries, yet those that
did rendered a great service to the early settlers and the general public
traveling from East to West across Tennessee.
Bridges were built at a few locations, but they usually had a short life because of the high floods that came down the river. After bridges were washed out ferry service was resumed. See section on Bridges for further details. |
| BLACK'S | On Collins River where the McMinnville-Sparta Highway crosses. See Reed's Ferry. |
| DENNY | On Caney Fork at the mouth of Dry Creek. According to Will Slatton, it was not run regularly and was really a local convenience. There was no through traffic because there was no place to go. |
| DILLON | On Caney Fork about 2 miles above mouth of Rocky River
and more than a mile downstream from McElroy Ferry. The ferry
was above the Dillon and the Dillon Ford below the bridge. Dillon
Ferry Road mentioned in a grant to Larkin Baker entered 1826. John
B. Rodgers bought the land in 1841 at a sale and sold it to Carter Dillon,
reserving ferry privileges in 1857. In 1851 James Dillon sold some
land to John Dillon including ferry and ferry-boat.
There was a very fine well on the White County side. One winter the river froze over and Mount Dillon walked across the ice. Helm Slatton was one of the ferrymen. He always made the school boys crossing to Antioch School sit down saying, "Toot-toot, sit down there boys." They all liked him very much. He was a man who never ate very much. Business dropped off at Dillon Ferry at the end of the Civil War. |
| MCELROY | On Caney Fork River a short distance below where the
Tosh Mill and later the Tosh Bridge. It was know in later years as
the Tosh Ferry.
According to Wiley Slatton it was a very old ferry crossing and operated till the Tosh Bridge was built. Florence Woods told the writer that the Stage Line used this crossing at one time. Before the War it was hard to get over the roads dow to the ferry but after the War the roads improved and there was a big increase in traffic Rube David was one of the last men to operate the ferry. It appears that Tosh owned the ferry before the War and that Ed Blankenship also had an interest in it. Joe Slatton used to tell about the time Tosh was crossing the river with a Baptist preacher. The cable across the river which kept the boat from going down stream broke. The river was up and the ferry-boat started downstream. Tosh grabbed the long sweep and tried to guide the boat to shore. The preacher dropped to his knees and Tosh said, "What are you doing?" The Preacher replied, "I'm praying to the Lord to get this boat to the shore and keep us from going down the river and over the Great Falls." Tosh hollered, "You've got your religion mixed up. My Bible says the Lord helps them as helps themselves. You better grab that other oar and help me and the Lord." He did. Land on the Van Buren side of the river is mentioned in a survey in 1808. In 1818 a deed from Cook to wife mentions the ferry. Daniel A. Tosh got the land in 1884. The boat landing on the Van Buren side is mentioned in a deed from A.J. McElroy in 1888 and in another deed in 1907 the ferry is mentioned. |
| REED'S | On Collins River. Deed of 1833 from Thos. Hopkins to Peter Buram refers to "where stage road from Sparta to McMinnville crosses Collins River known as Reed's Old Ferry." This tract was granted to John Read in 1809 and entered in 1807. Another deed in 1873 refers to Reed's Ferry tract and Reed's or Black's ferry. In 1883 another deed refers to Black's Ferry Road and Stage Road. |
| RIVER HILL | On Caney Fork River at the mouth of Cane Creek. This ferry was probably a three-way affair. Served those crossing Caney Fork from River Hill on right bank to left bank above mouth of Can Creek and then took care of those who wanted to cross Cane Creek but not Caney Fork. A deed covering the Parker Still house in 1841 refers to 'ferry road." |
| ROCK ISLAND | On Caney Fork River at the mouth of Rocky River.
Ferry crossed by way of the Island. Joseph Terry was the first settler
and built a one room log house without windows and with a rough stone fireplace
on the main shore opposite the Island. He was definitely living there
September 11, 1806 when the General Assembly designated his house as the
place to hold Court for White County. He is said to have settled
there about 1796. There is some question whether he ever had any
land title. In October 1813, William Rock Martin, who was already
living there bought the property at a sale to satisfy a debt John Armstrong,
who owned the property, owed John Carter. Sold by Sheriff Smartt
for $100. The deed was dated July 14, 1814 and refers to the ferry.
Rock Martin was running the ferry during the War of 1812 according to Mrs.
Jennie Hash Rucker. One day the ferry took in $40.00. This
came from men living in the Cane Creek area who had been called out and
were on their way to Nashville to join Jackson and go to New Orleans with
him. Mr. Lamb, who drove the Stage, drove in and through the river
one day when no ferryman was present - a very risky thing to do.
Later a bridge was built and used till it was washed out and the ferry was put back in operation. It had stiff competition with the Dillon and McElroy ferries. The last regular operator was Mr. C. Arnold till about 1908. He died at Rock Island village in 1910. The Odle boys ran it for a few years and then gave it up. The Bosson Ford was being used at that time. |
| ROSS | On Caney Fork. "Old Ferry and Mill" mentioned in a deed of 1848. This probably had reference to the Underwood property which was later owned by the Ross family. It must have been a local ferry for the convenience of local people. |
| TOSH | On Caney Fork River. See McElroy Ferry. |
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