The following article deals with a frightful time in Southern history. The 1856 Presidential election with Fremont as the first ever Republican presidential candidate was supposed to coincide with a slave insurrection in the South around Christmas Day of 1856. The iron producing area of the lower Cumberland and Tennessee River valleys was the epicenter of the fears of this planned insurrection, which spread terror and fears throughout the neighboring regions with lesser amounts of slaves. EVANSVILLE DAILY JOURNAL Evansville, IN January 17, 1857 ____________________ The Hickman Times says that a flatboat is at this time floating down the Mississippi, having a gunsmith's shop on board, supplying the negroes with firearms. An attempt was made at Columbus, Ky., to mob the boat, but the owners pushed out into the river and escaped.