Bratton’s Community
Bratton’s Community
Bob Taylor related that during the mid-1960s he rerouted the Bratton Branch behind their home, moving it against the bottom of the hill grade. This eliminated the swampy area that gathered where the Grace Baptist Church is now.
Mr. Taylor further stated that while tending his garden on the top of the hill above their home (666 Brattontown Circle), he would often uncover Native American artifacts. This shows these first indigenous inhabitants lived here and took advantage of these springs’ refreshing, pure water and of the plentiful game of the region.
It was after WWII that this section of Long Creek Road stopped being maintained by the county and was eventually closed and rerouted, as it is today. The old road path, still visible, came out beside the city-owned sewer pumping station, running along the creek. This old Long Creek Road connected with the now Brattontown Circle (being on the east side of Donoho’s Store). Maple Grove Road ‘T’ed’ into the old Long Creek Road.
It wasn’t until 1949 that the first hot mixed paved road in Macon County was finished — Highway 10 South to Highway 25, toward Hartsville, TN. Prior to that, the roads were aggregated or gravel. This was also the time that Highway 10 South was rerouted to how it is today.
During the World War II maneuvers held throughout Macon and many surrounding counties, the flat fields and terrain of this section were utilized for glider and parachuting practice, in readiness for actual battle. One descending glider smashed through a utility pole at the home of Charles Porter and Martha Dona (Gregory) Cothron at 371 Brattontown Circle, which was in the glider’s drop zone. No severe injuries were reported due to this mishap. Commemorating the maneuvers is a Tennessee Historical Commission sign at the Macon County Welcome Center/Chamber of Commerce, 685 Highway 52 West.
Some of what remains of this pioneer community of Bratton’s includes the Bratton Cemetery, the Grace Baptist Church sitting on the near spot of the Donoho General Store at 660 Brattontown Circle, and the home of William Parker at 666 Brattontown Circle (later owned by Bob and Marie (Norman) Taylor).
Brattontown Missionary Baptist Church, 161 Old Highway 52, is nearby and was organized on 9 October 1925. Sullivan’s one-room school, long gone having been torn down probably in the 1950s, sat at 974 Old Highway 52. Still in the front yard of the present home is a concrete trough once used for drinking.
The approximate home place of William Dunn, at 1200 Old Highway 52, served as the first meeting place for the county court. This site is now William Dunn Historic Park, with a commemorative marker for this fact, along with a Civil War Trails marker for Civil War soldier Elvis Brooks Parker, son of Dempsey and Frances (Hargis) Parker. Dempsey was a War of 1812 veteran.
During the war, Elvis was executed by firing squad at General John Hunt Morgan’s Camp at Mill’s Woods, near Hartsville, TN, after having served in the Confederate forces with his brother Isaac Newton Parker and then joining the Union army with another brother, Daniel Webster Parker. He was recognized by his former Confederate comrades while in Gallatin, TN, captured, court-martialed, and executed.
All these mentioned locations attest to the historic significance of this area and are within walking distance of each other.
As long as there is the name Brattontown in the memories of residents, these pre-Macon County Brattons will ever live on.
These early migrants possessed an illustrious history of formidable spirit. Brave and daring, being trailblazers as all the first settlers were, clearing and tending virgin land that previously had been inhabited by Native Americans, who tragically roamed here no more.
The entire county owes its existence to all the pioneers who left the security and safety of their former land and homes to eke out a living in a raw and untamed land for a new emerging existence. They had hopes and dreams, as all do, to secure and provide the best future for themselves and their families.
It was these people that destined the hills and hollows, fields and woods here, to become our thriving Macon County, Tennessee — instilling in their descendants this same fortitude and grit that enabled survival and the overcoming of all obstacles in their pathway.
~ Randy G. East, Macon County HistorianCopyright 2024