Englands Cave (Cave Hill Saltpeter pits) in the Late 1850s

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ENGLANDS CAVE (CAVE HILL SALTPETER PITS)
IN THE LATE 1850s

Marion O. Smith

White County, Tennessee, was formed in 1806 and among its earliest settlers was Aaron
England (b. c1760/70) and his kinsmen. England Cove, north of Sparta and east of the
Calfkiller River, was settled by either Aaron or some of his sons. In 1827 Elijah England sold
land near Cave Hill, and just prior to the Civil War Joseph (b. c1802) and James S. England
(b. c1815) and their families lived in the cove.’

Presumably, the England family were the original white owners of the saltpeter cave on
top of Cave Hill since later deeds always referred to the cave as Englands Cave. It is probable
that the cave was first mined during the War of 1812. "FS 1813" scratched on its walls iS
evidence that it had been explored by then.’

John G. Buxman (c1827-c1899) was a German-born civil engineer. In 1855 he was
employed at Walter Mead’s coal business at 98 Broadway in New York City. Later that year
he moved to Middle Tennessee and made his home successively in White, Van Buren, and
Warren counties. During the next few years he "invested in Real Estate and expended a large
amount of money in experimenting and exploring for mining and manufacturing," especially
gaining "considerable knowledge and experience regarding the manufacture of Saltpetre (more
than any other man in the State)." He became involved in developing Englands Cave and in
September 1856 left his name in one of its passages. In 1859 he also acted as an agent for
another German, Jacob Goedel of Kings County, New York, in buying up property near Big
Bone Cave.’

White County deeds, while sometimes confusing, provide most of what has survived
about the various owners or partnership arrangements in mining Englands Cave during the late
ante-bellum period. John Allred (b. c1814), for twenty-five dollars, on November 27, 1855,
sold ten acres and "Englands Salt Peter Cave" to David Williams (b. c1811) of Bon Air,
Tennessee, a native New York "Operator." A few months later, on February 21, 1856,
Williams, for $100, sold the same property and cave to Buxman, Charles Stearns of Washington,
D.C., and Dr. Thomas H. Smith (c1825-f11870) of Holmes County, Ohio. The following April
16 Allred, for $188, sold ninety-four adjacent acres, including Cave Hill, to Buxman and
Stearns.*

By Spring, 1857, Smith had moved to White County and by 1860 to Van Buren County.
Stearns is not again mentioned in the deeds, but may have held on to his interest for a while.
It is unclear what happened to him. On June 8, 1857, Buxman and Smith mortgaged the entire
104 acres and the cave to Robert Thompson of White County for $917. The succeeding
September 24, for $6,000, Buxman sold to John M. Dow ni a ri

ity. J ~ es, and for $1,000, interest in the ten acres
both of New York City, interest in the ninety four ay S Layhabspetbag nine arrnere
and cave. Dow was a broker and Anderson was a deputy

‘the same price of $7,000, Dow and Anderson sold their interest back to Buxman and Smith.

In the spring, on May 18, Buxman for $3,000 bought Thomas H. Smith’s interest in the

: i later, for $5 ‘
ave and the associated property. Six days :
tb 1834) of New York City, a son of the coal dealer Walter nag eas ton ©
including Englands Cave. "" Then on June 26 young Mead, for $2,

He . Not
Peircey, also of New York City, “one eighth part. . - Interest" in Englands Cave

02/79

understood are the August 6 and 10, 1858, transactions whereby Buxman, for $1,000, sold to
Mead "one fourth Interest" in the 104 acres "and Englands Cave Saltpeter Works," and then
Buxman bought the same back. However, on August 7, 1858, Buxman did pay off the $917.
June 8, 1857, mortgage to Robert Thompson.°

On October 26, 1858, Buxman, for $1,000, mortgaged to William L. Peircey, probably
the husband of Elizabeth S. Peircey, “All and any part of his interest in Englands Cave" and
"personal property” including jewelery, buggy, and a claim against a coal and transporting
company. This mortgage was paid off the next month, November 27, and Peircey quit all
claims. Then in two March 1859 transactions Buxman severed his connection with Englands
Cave. On the 8th he sold for $1,500 an eighth interest in the land and cave to E. Gerth of
Tennessee, and on the 10th for $1,250, consisting of a $1,000 mortgage bond of the New York
Richmond Coal Company and a $250 promissory note from Walter Mead, he sold his remaining
eighth interest back to Franklin Mead.’ | |
Soon, on May 4, 1859, young Mead, for an incredible $122,750, if the deed amount is
correct, sold the 104 acres and cave to the Cumberland Saltpeter Manufacturing Company of
New York City headed by Jacob Goedel. The following September 7 Elizabeth S. Peircey sold
her eighth interest to the company, and thirteen days later the last known pre-war transaction
regarding Englands Cave was one whereby Geodel, for $5, sold to the company another eighth
interest.*

It is not known how much saltpeter was obtained from Englands Cave during the 1856-61
period, but undoubtedly there was some production. It is probable that many of the artifacts
remaining in the cave today date from this effort. Both Goedel and Buxman did not sympathize
with the Confederacy and they returned north. Virtually nothing is known about Goedel, but
Buxman went first to New York City then soon became a clerk in the second auditor’s office
in Washington, D.C., which office he held until the early 1890s when he became an auditor in
the war department. Thomas H. Smith remained in Tennessee, living near the Bone Cave
community, and for a time became a saltpeter contractor to the Confederate ordnance
department. It is not known which cave he then mined, but he wanted to open a cave on the
Bone Cave tract of land. The initials "T.H.S." on the walls of Cave Hill Saltpeter Pit #1 most
likely were scratched by Smith sometime during the years 1856-58.”

In early 1864 Walter Mead (b. c1801) of New York City wrote Tennessee’s Union
Military Governor Andrew Johnson that "before the Rebellion broke out I was with my son
Engaged in putting up works for the purpose of manufacturing salt-peter on rather a large scale."
They "had invested a vary considerable Capital and was progressing verry well" before secession
"was fully developed after which we concluded it would be rather safer to retire." It is not clear
whether the Meads bought out Goedel and his company between 1859 and 1861, or if the senior
Mead’s reference is to their selling out to Goedel in 1859, as the Tennessee deeds reflect. Mead
admitted their "works was incomplete" but he wanted to return to complete them. He asked
Johnson for protection "from raiders" and “others that would be Enclined to do us mischief."
The senior Mead explained that "when our works are completed it will be at a cost of many
thousands it being of Engines and Expensive steam apperatus." The works were "Situated about
twelve miles East of Sparta in White County the property known as Englands Cave." But, so
far as known, the grand plan of the Meads was never fulfilled."
SOURCES

1. Goodspeed, History of Tennessee (McMinnville, Tenn., 1972 [1887]), 801; Byron Sistler, trans., 1830 Census
Middle Tennessee (Evanston, Ill., 1971), 178; White County Deeds, Book G, 595-96; 1860 Census, Tenn., White,
11th Dist., 173.

2. Notes from Cave Hill Saltpeter Pit #1, March 3, 1974.
3. New York City directories (1855-57); LeRoy P. Graf, Ralph W. Haskins, and Paul H. Bergeron, eds., The

Papers of Andrew Johnson (15 vols. to date, Knoxville, Tenn., 1967-99), 5: 176-77n; John G. Buxman to Andrew
Johnson, August 1, 1861, Andrew Johnson Papers, Library of Congress; Washington, D.C., directories (1897-
1900); White County Deeds, Book T, 591-93; Van Buren County Deeds, Book B, 592-94.

4. White County Deeds, Book T, 12-13, 28-29, 41; 1860 Census, Tenn., White, 11th Dist., 174; 12th Dist., 201;
Van Buren, Spencer P.O., 59; (1870), Van Buren, 8th Dist., Bone Cave P.O., 10.

5. White County Deeds, Book T, 205-6, 259-61, 262-63, 406-7; New York City directories (1858-60); Graf et
al., The Papers of Andrew Johnson, 13: 704n.

6. White County Deeds, Book T, 404-6, 409-10, 416, 418-19, 442-43, 524-25; 1860 Census, New York, New
York, New York City, 2nd Dist., 18th Ward, 84.

7. White County Deeds, Book T, 441-42, 523-24, 527, 614.

8. Ibid., 590-95. The figure Mead received is in doubt. It could be read as $222,750! Surely any amount over
$100,000 is a mistake. $22,750 would be more believable.

9. Buxman to Johnson, August 1, 1861, Andrew Johnson Papers; Graf et al., The Papers of Andrew Johnson,
5: 177n; Confederate Papers Relating to Citizens or Business Firms, Record Group0 109 (Microcopy 346, Roll
956), National Archives, T. H. Smith File; Marion O. Smith, "In Quest of a Supply of Saltpeter and Gunpowder
in Early Civil War Tennessee," Tennessee Historical Quarterly, 56 (Summer, 1997), 104; Notes from Cave Hill
Saltpeter Pit #1, March 3, 1974.

10. 1860 Census, New York, New York, New York City, 2nd Dist., 18th Ward, 84; Walter Mead to Johnson,
March 9, 1864, in Graf et al., The Papers of Andrew Johnson, 6: 641-42.