Perry County, Tennessee: History
=== Prehistory and early settlement ===
Archaeological evidence suggests a significant population of mound building Native Americans in the county, with several mounds located near the Tennessee River at Lady's Bluff. One of the largest mounds in the state was built between 1000 and 1300 CE in the county on Cedar Creek. Though it has been reduced in size due to erosion and agricultural activity, it still measures approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) high and 120 feet (37 m) in circumference. Archaeological surveys conducted in the 1970s and 1980s discovered evidence of early Archaic through late Woodland settlement concentrated in bottomland (low-lying alluvial land) in the Tennessee River basin near Mousetail Landing State Park, with evidence of Paleoindian occupation in one site. More recently, shore erosion associated with increased traffic on the river has exposed burial sites and middens associated with pre-European settlement in the park. Arrowheads and spear tips associated the Mississippian, Woodland, and Copena cultures have been found along the Tennessee River tributaries in the western half of the county. One example of ancient Native American statuary, an 8 inches (20 cm) tall female figure unearthed prior to 1868 near a mound in the county, is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
On January 7, 1806, with the signing of the Treaty of Washington, the Cherokee ceded to the United States a large tract of territory in the south-central portion of Tennessee that included the area that would become Perry County. Permanent settlement by people of European descent along with enslaved people of African descent began shortly after this treaty was ratified. The area was found to have very productive bottomland with an abundance of water, timber, and wild game. The earliest settlers likely arrived from nearby counties in Middle Tennessee, although some immigrated to the area from North Carolina, Alabama, and Kentucky.
Between 1810 and 1812, the first gristmill in the area was established on Cane Creek. The first known birth of a person of European descent in the area occurred in 1818 along Toms Creek. Some of the early settlers were veterans of the War of 1812, and some had probably received land grants in the area from the state of North Carolina for service in the American Revolution. It is likely the first settlers arrived via the Tennessee River based on the location of the first settlements being located near natural river landings.
In 1819, the Tennessee General Assembly passed an act providing: ... that a new county be established north of Wayne, west of Hickman, and south of Humphreys, by the name of Perry County, beginning at the southeast corner of Humphreys, running west, thence south, thence east, thence north to place of beginning, and to include all the territory lying between Humphreys, Hardin, Wayne and Hickman Counties. The county, named in honor of Oliver Hazard Perry, was officially organized that same year. …