Happy New Year! Welcome back to The Hogue Connection! In today’s post, we look at BGT Stop #5 on our Braves and Graves Tour we took back in August of this year. BGT Stop #5 was actually more of a drive-by. We stopped and took a few photos at Brick Mill Road as we headed back to the airport. The date was Sunday, August 20. A quick trip, indeed.
Brick Mill and Coytee were important places in the history of our branch of the Hogue family. As mentioned before, William M. Hogue and his second family, moved around in this neck of the woods for several years. Stecoah, Murray County, GA, and Blount County, TN, which I call the Smokey Mountain Triangle in my Red River Trails article here. Let’s start with a quick look at the 1870 U.S. Census of Blount County, TN.
The 1870 Census
This is the title page to the census, showing the county and nearest post office in the district. There is no online information about Coytee. It’s possible it was flooded when they dammed up the Little Tennessee River. A boat ride reveals the tops of silos that remain to this day. Oddly, Loudon County was officially created on 27 May 1870, before this census was taken, and now contains this specific area.
This was the first census I found that had my great grandfather Charley listed. William’s age is incorrect (should be 47), but you can tell they moved around a lot by the birthplaces indicated here. We know from Josephine’s death certificate that she was born in Ducktown, TN.
What about Brick Mill?
We have learned from William’s pension application he filed in 1882, that he was treated by Dr. Ross Laine in Brick Mill, TN for injuries sustained in a skirmish during the Civil War. I have always believed that Charley was born in Brick Mill, although he could have been born anywhere in Blount County, I guess. Looking at the maps below, you can see that Coytee Road (the heart in map #3) is only about 15 miles from Brick Mill Road.
There were quite a few older homes in the area of Brick Mill Road, but none that stretched back to 1870. It looked like a primarily agricultural area, and quite beautiful as you can see from the pics below:
As We Bid Farewell…
It was great seeing my great grandfather Charley’s birthplace in Tennessee. Well, the approximate area, anyway. I hope you enjoyed riding along with me and checking out BGT Stop #5. I have one more story I’m working on that came out of this trip. It involves the grave of a cousin in Stecoah. More research needs to be done on it, though, so it’ll have to wait.
Thanks for reading my blog at The Hogue Connection. I look forward to more posts in 2024, which will undoubtedly be an interesting year. Take care and stay tuned! By the way, I know they are more popular than ever right now, but that is not a UFO in the top picture, just a reflection off of the windshield! I actually got out of the car on the other two photos. If you want more on the history of Blount County, TN, check out this site. You can return to the Home page here.