Our most recent acquisition, this two-story building on Oliver Road previously housed the Palmersville Masonic Lodge and the Palmersville Baptist Church.
The Palmersville Masonic Lodge, chartered in 1869, closed in December 2014 and its remaining members merged with another lodge.
Our priority is the preservation of this historical building and its contents. We recently updated the electrical system and got the water system working again.
Maintaining and preserving the nearly 100 year old building will be costly (roof, for example), but we are hopeful that both present and previous residents of Palmersville who have memories tied to the building will help us out.
The Masonic Lodge requested that the Historical Society preserve the portrait collection of early lodge members. After completion of cleaning and repairing, these portraits will be on permanent display at our building.
What should have been a day of celebration at Minida Normal College near Palmersville became one of the most tragic events recorded in the community’s early history.
On the night of June 1, 1901, as students, families, and visitors gathered for graduation exercises at the college, a shooting erupted near the school grounds. The disturbance shattered the festive atmosphere surrounding commencement and quickly became the subject of newspaper reports across Tennessee.
According to The Nashville American of June 4, 1901, 19-year-old David Vaughan received fatal wounds during the altercation and died the following morning.
Before his death, Vaughan reportedly gave a statement concerning the circumstances that led to the shooting. He claimed Floyd and Jess Stephenson had advanced upon him with pistols and that he fired the first shot in self-defense.
Following Vaughan’s death, warrants charging the Stephenson brothers with first-degree murder were issued by local authorities.
Sheriff Outland arrested the Stephenson brothers and placed them under bond pending a hearing before Justice W. C. Cardwell.
The shooting occurred during one of the most important events of the school year. Founded in the late nineteenth century, Minida Normal College was a respected educational institution in Palmersville that attracted students from Weakley County and neighboring communities.
Graduation day traditionally brought large crowds to the campus, making the tragedy even more shocking to those in attendance.
News of the shooting spread rapidly throughout Weakley County and beyond, transforming what should have been a memorable commencement celebration into a somber chapter in Palmersville’s history.
More than a century later, the incident remains one of the most notable events ever associated with Minida Normal College and serves as a reminder of a tragic day when graduation festivities ended in violence.
Compiled from an article in the Nashville American in 1901.
Palmersville Historical Society 