Establishment of Pulaski / Giles County

Establishment of Pulaski, also, Giles County. . , On November 14. 1809, the Tennessee General Assembly passed an Act which brought Giles County, and its County Seat, Pulaski, into being. The new six hundred square mile county was formed from land ceded to the State in 1805 by treaty with the Chickasaw Indians. At the suggestion of General Andrew Jackson, the county was named Giles, in honor of William B. Giles, who had been Governor of Virginia., The Act contained specifications: , . James Ross, Nathaniel Moody, Tyree Rhodes, Gabriel Bumpass and Thomas Whitson were appointed commissioners , . These men were to select a place on Richland Creek, near the center of the county; procure at least 100 acres of land and lay-off a town , . The town was to have necessary streets, at least 80 feet wide , . Two acres were reserved for a Public Square on which a courthouse and stocks were to be erected , . A jail was to be built in a convenient part of town , . The Town shall be “known by the name, Pulaski" , . Town lots were to be sold off by the Commissioners at public auction and use the proceeds to build the courthouse, jail and stocks, a school and a bridge over Richland Creek, Meeting early in 1810, the appointed Commissioners determined that a site known as the “Shoals on Richland Creek” met the legislative requirements. The Federal Government gave assurances of title, and on November 11, 1812, President James Madison made a deed for Pulaski's one square mile to the Commissioners., It is believed that Lewis Kirk, Alexander Black and Robert Black were the first people to settle in Pulaski sometime in 1807, but the land, for the most part, was vacant. The Blacks had settled on a lot on what became South First Street and Kirk built a cabin at the “Shoals on Richland Creek”. His homestead came to be known as “Kirk's Settlement”, and it was the site of the County's first courthouse and jail. In August, 1811, the first town lots were sold at auction and a courthouse and stocks erected on the present-day Town Square. By 1820 the population of Pulaski had grown to 512 inhabitants. This growth was recognized by the Tennessee General Assembly, meeting in Murfreesboro, on July 24, 1820 when the delegates passed legislation authorizing the incorporation and establishment of a Board of Mayor and Alderman for Pulaski., Less than one month later, on August 19, 1820, a meeting of the citizens of Pulaski was held under the oversight of the Sheriff of Giles County, James Perry. The purpose was to elect the first Board of Mayor and Alderman. Those elected were:, . Dr. Elisha Eldridge , . Dr. Shadrack Nye , . J.W. McCracken , . Thomas Smith , . German Lester , . William Rose , . John Keeman - in November of 1820 Mr. Keeman left Pulaski and Aaron Brown, who would become Governor of Tennessee, was elected to fill the vacancy., On the Saturday immediately following the election the Board met at the courthouse and elected Dr. Elridge as Pulaski's first Mayor and Dr. Nye as Recorder. James Lynch was elected Town Constable and Pulaski's first ordinance was written: “That any person who shall shoot at a mark, at bats or any bird on the wing, or otherwise or wantonly or unnecessarily discharge firearms in any part of the town of Pulaski shall pay the fine of five dollars for every offense.”