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Things to do in Memphis
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Davies Manor Plantation
In 1818, the Chickasaw Treaty was
signed opening up the western territory of Tennessee, for
settlers to come in and homestead the land. In September of
1821, Thomas Henderson was given 640 acres for his service
during the Revolutionary War, and by August of 1830, he was
selling half, 320 acres, to Emmanuel Young. Young couldn't pay
his taxes that year, and had to let the property go, with Joel
Royster, the tax collector, buying the land for back taxes in
January of 1831. The first time the Davies are mentioned in
Shelby County, was in 1838, with a locator's deed showing he'd
purchased some land, but the 1850 census shows that William E.
Davies was living in Fayette County with his family. His two
sons, Logan Early, 14 years old and James Baxter, 12 years old,
were listed as living with him, and it is believed that these
two boys would travel along the Stage Road to check on the farm
and then travel back at the end of the day; still living with
their father. In 1851, James and Logan purchased the land with
log house from Joel Royster, who moved his family into a plank
house elsewhere. More property was purchased during the
following years, with the Davies Plantation growing into some
2000 acres. No evidence can be found as to who built the one
room log house that sat on the property, although between 1831
and 1837, Joel added rooms onto the one room, that included a
dogtrot, two story bedroom on the east side and a full room
above the parlor. The dining room was added in the 1860s, and
the kitchen after 1950. Zachariah Davies, the grandfather of the
two young boys, Logan and James, was in the Virginia militia and
had fought in the Revolutionary War. William Early Davies, the
boys father, had been a Methodist minister and ran a grist mill
as well. Logan was born in Maury County, Tennessee in 1824 and
James came in 1826, in the same county. James married Penelope
Almeda Little in 1854 and they had children Julius Augustus in
1855, and William Little in 1857, and two years later, in 1859,
Penelope Almeda Little Davies passed on at the age of 26. Logan
Early Davies would marry Frances Ina in November of 1860 and
they had children; Gillie Mertis on Christmas day in 1861, and
Linnie Lee in 1863. Two years later, in 1865, Frances Ina Davies
passed away at the young age of 24. James enlisted in the 38th
Tennessee Infantry in 1862 and fought valiantly at many battles
including Perryville, the Second Battle of Atlanta, Lookout
Mountain, Nashville, Jonesboro, New Hope Church and Peach Tree
Creek; and came home in 1865 after the war ended. That same
year, he married Pauline Leake, but she filed for divorce in
1867. James passed on in 1904, and left 596 acres and the Davies
Manor to his sons, Dr. Julius Augustus Davies and Dr. William
Little Davies, both of whom were bachelors. In 1924, Julius
passed on and left his undivided half to his brother, William,
who died in 1931, who left the entire estate to his cousin,
Ellen Davies-Rodgers. Pioneer life was very difficult during
that period, and it is with great credit and perseverance that
these young men did so well. Pioneers were the sturdy folks that
went into new territories and prepared the way for those that
would come later, after the worst hardships had been overcome.
Most people came to these areas to make a home for themselves,
increase their fortunes and also enjoy many freedoms that they
didn't have in the crowded areas back east. They knew the
dangers and hardships that they would face and willingly faced
them with determination and valor. The pioneers that came to the
western Tennessee region were descendants of Irish, French,
German, English and Scots-Irish; mostly hunters and herdsmen
that were soon followed by farmers coming to find a place of
their own and willing to do whatever was necessary to make it
work. Clearing the land of large boulders and trees would be
very hard work, but necessary to get logs to build a house, with
no real roads of any kind, just trails that could accommodate
horses or pack mules. That is how these folks brought their
goods, supplies and equipment needed to hack out a farm to live
on. Usually just the clothes they owned, some blankets, or other
bedclothes, mattresses filled with grass, hay, horsehair or
moss was used, big cooking pot, skillet, frying pan, handmill
for grinding the grains, wooden bowl for making bread, some
pewter plates, cups and other dishes, axes, hoes, iron pieces to
make a plow, broadax, froe, saw and auger. Once settled, seed
would have to be purchased to grow whatever they would eat,
maybe some fruit trees also. Logs would be split with the froe
for the roofing boards and floor boards, and the chimney, where
all the food was cooked in the fireplace, would be made of logs
and split rocks; with the interior of the chimney covered with a
thick coat of clay mud to keep the wood from catching fire. The
finishing touches would be the chink that they used to fill the
gaps in between the logs, usually clay mortar; thus the house or
cabin was done and although it wasn't a great looking place, it
was warm, dry and sturdy. Everything else in the home would be
hand crafted or bartered with a carpenter for his services, to
make the table and chairs or benches, the beds, spinning wheels
and handloom and other necessities that would make it livable
for a family. Pegs to hang things were usually deer antlers or
pegs just driven into the logs. Any livestock would live off the
land during the summer and whatever they could find in the
winter. Clothes weren't finished but roughly sewn pieces of
cloth, with the men and boys usually wearing deerskin pants and
shirts. Stores were usually a day's ride away and things
purchased there had to be bartered or paid with whatever coins
they could muster or save. It was the hardest thing that these
wonderful folks had to do, but once finished, it was well worth
it and the results today are thanks to those magnificent people
that came here and forged a new land, a new country and one of
the best the world has ever seen.
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Sun Studio
Sun Studio was started by
rock pioneer Sam Phillips at Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee,
on January 3, 1950 and initially called the Memphis Recording
Service, sharing the building with the Sun Records label
business. Supposedly, the first rock-and-roll single was "Rocket
88", by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats and it was recorded
here in 1951, with song writer Ike Turner on the keyboards,
helping the studio to claim the status of being the birthplace
of rock & roll. During the years that followed, blues and R&B
artists like Howlin Wolf, Rosco Gordan, Junior Parker, B. B.
King, Little Milton, Rufus Thomas and James Cotton would record
their songs here. Country music, rockabilly and rock-n-roll
artists, that included unknown recording demos and other would
come here to record, like; Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Charlie
Rich, Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Charlie
Feathers, Warren Smith and Ray Harris and eventually sign a
contract with Sun Records. They would continue to record there
all during the 1950s, until the studio finally outgrew its
space. Sam Phillips then opened the bigger Sam C. Phillips
Recording Studio, which was known as Phillips Recording, in
1959. Sam had invested in the Holiday Inn Hotel chain during his
earlier years, and began recording Kemmons Wilson under the
Holiday Inn Records in 1963. Sam sold the label to Shelby
Singleton in 1969, and there wasn't any more recording related
business going on until 1985 when the "Class of 55" recording
sessions with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and Carl
Perkins, produced by Chips Moman. During 1957, Bill Justis would
record his Grammy Hall of Fame song, "Raunchy" for Sam and work
as a musical director at Sun Records. By 1987, the first
building that held Sun Records and the Memphis Recording Service
was reopened as Sun Studio, a recording business and tourist
attraction that brought many prominent artists, including U2,
who came here to record their tracks for Rattle and Hum on newer
equipment that Sun had bought from producer Terry Manning. In
May of 2009, the Canadian blues singer JW-Jones recorded with
blues legend Hubert Sumlin, Richard Innes and Larry Taylor for
his 2010 release at the studio, and in July of the same year,
John Mellencamp would record 9 songs for his new album, No
Better Than This at the studio. This month, May of 2010, Wes
Paul and his group the Wes Paul Band are recording their album
at the studio.
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