1888: James McMillin, b. 1776, Botetourt Co. VA; companion of Davy Crockett
Hunted With Davy Crockett.
The subject of this sketch is Mr. James McMillin, of Ballard county, who was born Oct. 12 (12 o’clock), 1776, in Botetourt county, Virginia. At the age of 17 years he joined a colony for East Tennessee, and endured great hardship, and was in many battles with the hostile Indians. Mr. McMillin was the companion of the celebrated Davy Crockett for many years, and he said to-”Did I ever hunt b’ars with Crockett? Well, Sir, yes, and thousands of ‘em have our old flint locks fetched to the ground. Davy Crockett was my faithful friend, and, none mourned his death more than McMillan.”
“Do you have any recollection as to the cause of the formation of Reelfoot Lake?” we asked Mr. McMillin, and he said:
“Yes, sir. It occurred at daylight, on Oct. 8, 1811, and I was leaning against a small popular tree at the time, about twenty yards from my log cabin. The earth began to tremble, and the tree began to sway, and I could not keep my balance. The roof on my cabin fell off, and the dobbin fell out between the logs. Oh! yes, that was a frightful time, and the folks in our settlement were badly excited, and women were running here and there in their night clothes, some, with their babies in their arms.”
About how long, Mr. McMillin, did the seem to quake?
“Well, Sir, I was badly scared, but I expect the first shock lasted two minutes which was followed by light ones, lasting in all about eight minutes. The water came into the sunken ground, now known as Reelfoot Lake, from the Mississippi river at a rapid rate, and in a few minutes, what before had been a high body of land was submerged in water.”
Mr. McMillin inquired the distance to Mills Point but no one in the crowd knew of any such place, until Mr. Dev. Pierce informed us Hickman was once called Mills Point. This aged gentleman said that he was at Mills Point in 1832, and that the cholera was so bad there at the time that the people died rapidly. For seven years Mr. McMillin has lived with a son in law in Ballard county, but previous to that time he had lived near Delta, Miss., and resided fifty-five years on the same place. He says he walked from his son’s in law to Bardwell, a distance of six miles, last Monday, and that one year ago he could walk twelve miles and not feel fatigued. He was at the Fleming House Tuesday night, on his way to see a daughter at Delta, Miss., and was unaccompanied. His eyesight is not good, but his tread is as light as that of the majority of men at 80 years of age. In bidding this venerable gentleman goodby we said: “I hope you may live many years longer,” to which he replied:
“I hope not, for I have already lived long enough, and longer than I have ever known any man to live.”
-Fulton Boomerang.
Source: Cuthbert Enterprise and Appeal, Cuthbert, Georgia, Thursday, June 21, 1888; Pg. 4, Column 3