"My first visit to the town of Columbia was in the month of August 1852...A trip to Columbia then was a trip to be remembered. It was an event in my life. We left home at an early hour of the morning. My mother, an aunt and myself. It was the day of horseback travel. Only two or three buggies, if even that many, were in the county. I rode on the horse behind my mother.

"It was a long ride, and a tiresome ride and most of the way after leaving Renox Creek was in the woods and over a road then very little used until we reached Breeding. After leaving Breeding until we were within four miles of Columbia, we were continuously in the woods with only one house to be seen.

"The Sparksville country now, cleared and in cultivation, was a dense forest of oaks, beech, poplar, etc. When we emerged from the woods, we supposed we were near Columbia. We met three or four men. They told us it was four miles to Columbia. Four miles! Can I ever forget it? My legs went limp at the horse's sides."