By RHONDA A. DUNN, Brown County Historical Society
Early in our history, the main means of support was the family farm. When the first settlers came to Brown County, there were immense forests, so they had to cut down trees just to make a spot for their house and their farmland. As the market economy came into bloom, certain trees quickly attained a high market value. The ridges provided the hardwood oak for building. Chestnut oak was valuable for tanbark essential for leather processing. Numerous Brown County residents capitalized on this local resource and established tanneries.
In the early years of our county, the leather tannery business was a major money-making industry. There were eight tanneries in Brown County in the 1840s with an annual income of $50,000 and they employed 25 people. The earliest tannery was opened in 1839 by Jacob McNeeley in Georgetown. After that, a man named Nordyke had one there also. In Van Buren Township, Calvin & Mann operated one in the 1850s. In eastern Washington Township, an immigrant by the name of Rasmus Neilson ran a tannery over by the county line.
In the 1840s in Nashville, Benjamin Huntington opened a tannery southeast of town with four vats, and later with eight vats. It stayed in business until the beginning of the Civil War. Another was Timothy D. Calvin who started a tannery in 1851 with eight vats. It was later bought out by Shotwell & Larkin, followed by Dow Head. The business had increased by 10 vats.
This advertisement was found in the Hickory Withe of 1857: “HARNESS AND LEATHER STORE. Mr. Daniel Marsh, Saddler, keeps constantly on hand all kinds of Harness and Leather for sale CHEAP. They will pay the highest market price, in cash, for TAN-BARK AND HIDES, at their Tan-Yard in Nashville. July 1, 1856.”
The tanning process required 5,000 cords of tanbark from the chestnut oak tree every year. Every spring, a group of men were hired to camp out for several weeks and worked at peeling the bark from the trees. Some of the animal hides were procured from local people, but many were shipped to our tanneries from other states. The hides were then hauled to and from the railroad depots by wagon. The tanneries in Nashville operated steadily for many years.
The most successful was that of James Clark Parmerlee, a Connecticut immigrant, who arrived here early with other entrepreneurs. His family operation lasted from 1840 until his death in 1872. His operation consumed, at its peak, 5,000 cords of tanbark annually. Parmerlee employed 11 workers and processed $100,000 worth of finished leather each year. Their operation initially purchased local hides, but later obtained western hides from Sedalia, Missouri. The hides arrived at the nearest railroad station in Morgantown, from whence his freight wagons carried them to the Brown County tanyard. Once processed, the hides left the community destined for eastern markets.
James Parmerlee and his sons needed Brown County for one reason: its abundant supply of tanbark. Every winter, locals cut and sold tanbark for $2 per cord. The sale of the tanbark supplied immediate cash for the local farmers.
James Parmerlee’s ironic death at the railroad put a slow death upon the family tannery business. His sons continued on under the name Parmerlee Brothers for a few more years, then moved the business to Sedalia, Missouri. They had already invested in a tanning business there.
The old Parmerlee homestead still exists in Hamblen Township and is now run as the Farmhouse Cafe on Bean Blossom Road. Across the road, one can still see the depressions in the ground where the vats used to be. Walking the grounds of the nursery in front of the house, it is hard to imagine this peaceful spot as being such a busy industrial operation at one time.
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The story printed in our last edition about Bramble Stogdill was mistakenly attributed to a story told by Mary Louise Fleetwood. Mrs. Fleetwood told us she didn’t tell that story. We apologize and will find out where this story came from.
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