I remember a woman who was writing in on her Murphys, siad her James Murphy, who came from Ireland, was a fence builder in Cannon County prior to the War. Kevin --- Jess Lewis <[email protected]> wrote: > Also, in the lower elevation portions of Cannon Co., > rocks are so common, > that if you could sell them, you would probably have > to consider it to be a > top "cash crop" in Cannon and Rutherford Co. > Another plus to using the > rocks for fencing, is that you don't need to dig > postholes in the rocky > ground that you are fencing. A BIG plus, especially > if you are digging holes > by hand. > My Cannon ancestors (Bradyville area) built many of > them. Many will say that > "slaves" built them, but there never really was an > overly large amount of > slaves in Cannon Co. Ordinary folks who needed a few > bucks or needed a > fence, built most of them. A hard way to make a > living, especially by > today's standards. > > Jess > > > > ==== TNCANNON Mailing List ==== > Stop by & visit the Cannon Co. Genealogy and History > website at... > http://www.tngenweb.org/cannon/ > > ============================== > Census images 1901, 1891, 1881 and 1871, plus so > much more. > Ancestry.com's United Kingdom & Ireland Collection. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13968/rd.ashx > >

Kevin, The Scots and Irish were renown for their ability to work with stone. A good many of the chimneys for the older homes were built by such settlers. Stone masonry was a valued craft in their day. Many of the stone masons would travel from town to town engaged in chimney building. They may have done the same with fences as well. A good many of the fences were built also as a coordinated effort to remove the stones from the fields they plowed. The rocks would be carried out of the fields and tossed into stacks at the ends of the rows. Later they would come along and build fences from the rock to protect the fields and establish the boundary lines for their property. There always seemed to be multi purposes behind the endeavors of our ancestors. They were a very wise and industrious people. Danny Nichols ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Morgan" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 17, 2006 11:50 AM Subject: Re: [TNCANNON] Fence >I remember a woman who was writing in on her Murphys, > siad her James Murphy, who came from Ireland, was a > fence builder in Cannon County prior to the War. > Kevin