Busby is a community in south central Lawrence County, Tennessee, that was named after my family.
This is the information I found in the booklet, "Places in Lawrence County, Then and Now", by Estha Cole (1907-2005). It was written after 1986. The book can be found at the Lawrence County, TN Archives.
"Busby was named for Stephanus Busby, a large landowner in the county. It is located 3 miles north of Loretto where Highway 43 and the West Point Road intersect. In the early days it was called 'Busby Switch' because the railroad switched empty cars on the siding to be loaded with timber products and picked up on the return trip from Florence [Alabama]. Today [unknown year], the local industries are Granny's Restaurant, filling stations, stores, including two flourishing 'dig' stores. There is also a church and a cemetery. Dick Landtroop is the community mayor."
I have written several articles about Stephanes Busby, my 3rd great grandfather, and one of them is here: Unusual Name - Stephanes Busby.
One of the brothers of Stephanes was William M. Busby. There is an article about him in Goodspeed's "History of Tennessee", Lawrence County segment from Goodspeed's Historical and Biographical, published in 1886. Here is what Goodspeed says about William M. Busby.
"William M. Busby may be mentioned as a prominent and successful planter of Lawrence County, Tenn. He was born near Lawrenceburg October 15, 1827, the youngest of five children. His father was born and reared in North Carolina, and after his marriage to a Miss Hale moved to Tennessee. After her death he wedded Verlinda Thomas, daughter of Samuel Thomas, who was born near London, England, about 1758, and came to the United States prior to the Revolutionary war. He served in that conflict and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill.
Our subject's mother, Miss (Thomas) Busby, was born in the Bluegrass State March 30, 1797, and is still living at the advanced age of ninety years. William M. was married in Lawrence County July 27, 1854, to N[ancy] C[aroline] Springer, daughter of Jacob and granddaughter of Aaron Springer. Mr. and Mrs. Busby's children are as follows: Sallie J. (Mrs. W. C. Smith), James F., Stephen J., Samuel T., William A., Paul Jones, John S. and George H. Their mother was born in Lawrence County May 25, 1833, and died at her home July 28, 1882. Mr. Busby is a tiller of the soil, and is the owner of 319 acres of land. He gives considerable attention to stock raising, and is an extensive raiser of the cereals. He is a Democrat in politics, and, although not a member of any church, is prominently identified with all enterprises for the public good."
In this article it indicates that in addition to Stephanes Busby being well known, William M. Busby was also a very prominent resident of Lawrence County. William is the main beneficiary of his father, Stephen's Last Will and Testament. They are apparently living together at the time of Stephen's life, along with William's mother, Verlinda (Thomas) Busby.
William M. Busby was married to Nancy Caroline Springer, the daughter of Jacob and Malinda Caldonia (Todd) Springer. Nancy was the sister of Aaron Franklin Springer, the man who owned and ran Springer Station, right up the railroad track from Busby Switch. In light of these facts, I would presume that Busby Switch was named for William M. Busbycor, instead of Stephanes, his brother or perhaps even their father, Stephen.
In another article from the Lawrence County, TN Archives, is a history paper written in 1955 by Roy Harlan, a high school student. In this article, "History of Pleasant Point", Roy states:
"The Busby family lived down near the creek behind the house where Jim Bisby now lives. Mr. Busby died and Mrs. Busby lived there the rest of her life. She lived to be l05 years old and she was buried 73 years ago in the graveyard at the place where the Bethana Baptist Church stood during the Civil War. Mrs. Busby lived in this area all her life, so this shows that she was living here 178 years ago.
One night while Mrs. Busby was living alone someone tried to steal some corn from her crib. She got her gun, saddled her horse, and marched the man in front of her horse to Lawrenceburg where she turned him over to the Sheriff."
I hope Roy got a good grade for his report. Some of the facts do not seem to fit the extant records, but it is a great report and I am certainly grateful that it has been preserved.
The Busby family that Roy was discussing is none other than my 4th great grandfather, Stephen Busby and his second wife, Verlinda (Thomas) Busby. Stephen died in the last half of 1861 and Verlinda died August 13, 1892. She was 94 years old, having been born November 30, 1797. This information is from the Family Bible of Stephanes Busby, son of Stephen and his first wife, Sarah Hail.
The location of Busby Switch is very near Pleasant Point, so I feel confident that this is the same Busby family that it was named for. I was also able to find a Deed showing that Stephen Busby purchased 189 1/2 acres on April 27, 1846 in this area.
In the description of this acreage is the border with land belonging to William B. Hall. This William Hall, I believe, was the owner of Hall's Stand mentioned in the book, "History of Pleasant Point and Springer's Station" by Hattie Shackelford Sims, written in 1982. According to Ms. Sims, Hall's Stand was a stage coach stop "where horses could be changed and travelers would spend the night." It was on the Military Road, also known as the Jackson Highway and it's location is well described in this article. This book can also be found at the Lawrence County, TN Archives. This Springer's Station will be the subject of a future blog - when I can find time to research it more!
This is a map of the original land owners in this area that I received from Ashley at the Lawrence County, TN Archives today. It shows 2 large plots of land owned by Stephen Busby and they are exactly where Busby Switch was located. The red box is the 1846 purchase shown in the deed above, number 27915, and the orange box is from a September 28, 1836 grant number 28304.
Here is the Grant Number 28304
So, this area around Pleasant Point, Busby Switch and Springer's Station was all on or very near the property that was owned by Stephen and Verlinda (Thomas) Busby, my ancestors.
'Til Next Time!
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