First, a little background information. The 1850 U.S. Census was the first census taken with names of the head of household plus names of all family members. Earlier census records gave only the names of the head of the household and a count of how many males and females in each household. Census records are taken every ten years and are now available to the public through 1940, with the exception of 1890. The 1890 census was partially destroyed by fire; the remaining portions were deemed insufficient and apparently discarded.

When looking at the U. S. Census records, you will fine the information given at the top of each page includes the date, the state, the county, the town or district, and the name of the census taker. In rural areas where there was not a recognized town, sometimes the “town” would be listed as a store, a post office or a place where voting took place. In 1860, 1870, and 1880 some of the locations listed in our neck of the woods were Black Oak, Elm Tree, and Abernathys. At the time of the census taking, everyone would have known exactly where these places were, but decades later historians and genealogists are left wondering.

That brings us to Elm Tree. Where was it? We know that Elm Tree was in the First District of Weakley County. Elm Tree had a post office from March of 1852 until August 31,1905 when service was discontinued and moved to Palmersville. Following is a list of Elm Tree Postmasters and the date of their appointment.

• Neander Y. Cavitt 29 Mar. 1852
• John Y. Cavitt 11 June 1855
• Neander Y. Cavittt 8 Aug. 1855
• James T. R. Legate 9 Oct. 1866
• Gilbert W. Hendrix 15 Dec. 1870
• Andrew Williams 9 Dec. 1874
• Amphion Williams 9 Dec. 1899
• Will Williams 23 Mar. 1904
• Sidney J. Roberts 31 Mar. 1905

Elm Tree is shown on a 1877 Postal Route Map approximately five or six miles due north of Palmersville and between Palmersville and Lynville, KY on the north side of the North Fork of the Obion River. In 1889, when the citizens of Austin Springs applied for a Post Office, the Elm Tree Post Office was noted to be approximately seven miles southeast of Austin Springs.

From these examples we can determine the location of Elm Tree was north of the river and south of the KY/TN state line!

Ruth Elaine McClain who resides in Memphis, recently shared some of her memories of the store at Elm Tree. She recalls that her grand-father Will Williams (1871-1936) ran a general store where the Elm Tree post office was located. There was also a saw mill powered by a water wheel nearby on the North Fork of the Obion River.  She remembers seeing relics of the bridge that spanned the river and states that after the Elm Tree post office closed, the place was known as “Williams Mill.”

Miss McClain remembers going to her grandfather’s store as a young child and also riding in a buggy to visit him on his sick bed. She recalls there were show cases in the store eight to ten feet long, about waist high, with glass tops and fronts so you could view the men’s and women’s hats, purses, neckties, and all kinds of things inside. There was also a great big wood barrel that had loose crackers inside.

Miss McClain’s parents, Chiron (Williams) and Roy McClain, later told their children stories about going to Hickman, KY in a wagon to get supplies for the store off the River Boats on the Mississippi River.

On a current map of Weakley County, Elm Tree would be located in the northeast corner of the county between Courtney Road and the river. ( Imagine crossing the bridge to a now abandoned road which would have connected to Webb Road.) Generally, the whole community would have been referred to as Elm Tree.

We sincerely thank Miss McClain for making Elm Tree more realistic for us.

Now, if we could just determine-where was Black Oak?