The Legend of Spike…

Early in the spring of 1850, an aspiring young farmer, Steven S. Pike, and his burgeoning family had just acquired a prime parcel of land in the vicinity of the thriving community of Ramer, Tennessee. As commerce began budding and the engines of progress moved forward that spring, the executives from an enterprising new railroad line had their eye on the property owned by Mr. Pike.

Unwilling to yield to the paltry offers from the railroad barons, Mr. Pike stood firmly, securing his rich farmland from the avarice of the ever-advancing rail line. Mr. Pike could see the greed in the eyes of the railroad agents each time they made a meager proposal for his land. Additionally, he knew the farm held the key for the survival of his family. With seven children under the age of ten, twins to be born any day, and his wife growing weaker daily from some mysterious malady, he could not part with the home and land he now owned.