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SHELBY, Tennessee in the 1870s: 1 through 3 of 3

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  1. Jefferson Davis Responds to the Gibson County Massacre
    date September 2, 1874map SHELBY, Tennesseetags African-Americans, Crime/Violence, Race-Relations

    On September 2, 1874 former President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, delivered a speech in Memphis, Tennessee denouncing a massacre of sixteen black men a week prior in Trenton, TN. The massacre was committed on August 26, and as the New York Times reported, “About 400 armed, disguised, mounted men,” set upon the jail with the design of kidnapping the sixteen black occupants. Historian Allan...

  2. Fall Semester at Memphis Conference Female Institute
    date September 2, 1878map SHELBY, Tennesseetags Education, Women

    In anticipation of the start of the fall term to begin Monday, September 2, 1878, Mr. A.B. Jones, the President of the Memphis Conference Female Institute in Jackson, Tennessee, placed in advertisement in a Mississippi weekly newspaper. GREAT REDUCTION IN CHARGES the ad announced, continuing with a brief description of the oldest Female College in the Southwest. Favorably located, easy of access and...

  3. After frost falls on the ground on October 24th and 25th the Memphis yellow fever epidemic is officially declared to be at an end.
    date October 24, 1879 to October 25, 1879map SHELBY, Tennesseetags Health/Death, Race-Relations, Urban-Life/Boosterism

    After months of one of the worst yellow fever outbreaks of the 19th century, the Memphis outbreak of 1879 is officially declared to be over after frost kills the germ. While the event had immense national significance, the gravity of the yellow fever outbreak to the city of Memphis cannot be overstated. Although the causes of the outbreak were uncertain at the time, many people pointed out that the...