David Crockett_ The Lion of the West - Michael Wallis [77]
The assortment of civic duties and community obligations thrust upon Crockett broadened his general knowledge and gave him a sense of fulfillment but brought him little income. These activities also took a great deal of time away from the farming he found so tedious and the hunting treks he so adored. The added pressures of a concerned wife and inadequate finances led to Crockett’s resignation as justice of the peace on November 1, 1819. A short time later he resigned his commission as lieutenant colonel in the militia and was replaced by his former first major, Josephus Irvine, from the faction opposing Crockett in the Lawrenceburg site selection.3
Since moving to the area, Crockett had acquired several hundred acres of land. He also co-owned a large tract of property with his fellow town commissioner and ally, Enoch Tucker, that eventually became an iron mining operation after the Crockett family moved away.4 But it was on another parcel of land, on the middle fork of Shoal Creek at Lawrenceburg, that Crockett launched his latest strategy for making money. On that site in late 1819, Crockett established a substantial complex that included a gristmill, a gunpowder factory, and a whiskey distillery. Crockett reported in his autobiography that he paid $3,000 for construction, “more than I was worth in the world.”5 Without hesitation, Elizabeth put money into the venture in an effort to force her wandering husband to settle down in one place. For a while her strategy worked. David stayed put, devoting long hours to his diversified business interests on the creekbanks near the family home.
Yet even with Elizabeth’s financial contribution, the Crocketts fell short and had to borrow money just to complete the buildings and give them a cushion until everything was operational and producing an income. Crockett’s solid reputation for honesty and fairness helped procure the badly needed loans, but soon he was falling far behind on other loans taken out earlier to buy land, including a 60-acre plot and a sizable 320-acre parcel. In late October 1820, he sent an urgent letter to John Christmas McLemore, one of his creditors, in which he explained that he had been “detained longer than expected my powder factory have not been pushed as it ought and I will not be able to meet my contract with you…. I will pay you interest for the money until paid. I do not wish to disappoint you—I don’t expect I can pay you the hole [sic] amount until next spring.”6
McLemore was a major land speculator with sharp business acumen who invested heavily in West Tennessee’s development and was one of the founders of the city of Memphis. Through his marriage to Rachel Jackson’s niece, McLemore had the ear of Andrew Jackson and other power brokers in the state.7 Lending money to a man of Crockett’s position at that time was not one of McLemore’s major deals. Besides, he liked speculating in risky ventures, and in this instance he knew that Crockett was good for the loan, which apparently was the case. Crockett sold a bit of land, paid off some outstanding debts, and by New Year’s Day 1821 reached another milestone.8 He resigned as town commissioner on that date and over the next month pondered a run for higher political office.
Crockett’s decision to run for political office marked a dramatic new period in his life. In February 1821, he announced his candidacy for state representative for Lawrence and Hickman counties in the Tennessee State Legislature. “I just now began to take a rise,”9 Crockett later mused about his decision.
Some of Crockett’s associates—mostly neighbors, hunting companions, and local merchants—were taken aback by the announcement. Running for state elective office seemed to be in direct conflict with the kind of man they knew Crockett to be. He loved being in the outdoors and alone in the wilderness, and yet he was seeking the votes of citizens to send him to the state capital in Murfreesboro, the place that stood for everything he wished to escape. On the other hand, many other friends thought his chances of