Extracted from Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research in Jefferson County, Tennessee, copyright ©1995 Billie R. McNamara.  All rights reserved.  This page will be supplemented periodically as new information is located.  Additions and corrections are welcome via the Contact Us link on this Web site.

An important industrial activity in Jefferson County was production of gunpowder.  A powder mill was in operation by 1810 in Mossy Creek and Samuel McSpadden's powder mill in the Shady Grove community (opened 1812).  McSpadden's mill operation provided gunpowder for Andrew Jackson's troops in the War of 1812.