From: The Rockwood Times, Rockwood, TN, Thursday, 2 Jun 1904, Vol. XXIV, No. 12.
Collin ROBERTS, for whom the town of Robertsville was named, had a cousin by the same
name. He was also related to the MARTIN family of Kingston. He left Roane county about
1820 and settled at Clarksville, Tenn., and entered into the mercantile business. There was a
raftsman on the Cumberland river who had landed a raft of Cedar posts at Clarksville and
had sold all except one hundred and seventy. He was anxious to close out and pressed
ROBERTS to buy. Roberts had several barrels of beans in the store and jokingly offered to
exchange beans for them. After some bantering STOKES offered to exchange at 1 bean for
the first post and doubling the amount for each post. The offer was accepted by ROBERTS
and the trade closed in the presence of witnesses. Then began a count to ascertain the
amount of beans due him. ROBERTS was appalled at the result and refused to comply with
terms of the trade. STOKES sued on the contract in the circuit court at Clarksville. As a
court could not render a judgment to be paid in beans, it became necessary to first ascertain
the number of bushels due and the price per bushel that the judgment might be rendered in
dollars and cents. To ascertain the amount, it was submitted to the principal of the school at
Clarksville, and he reported that he had counted, allowing 20,000 beans to the bushel, till the
sum reached due decillions of bushels and was not yet through but could count no father, as
there was no way to numerate a larger sum known to him. But he had gone far enough to
know that it would cover the entire area of the state more that ten feet deep with beans. On
motion of W.L. BROWN, one of the greatest lawyers the state ever produced, suggesting
that the attorney for the defense get an injunction to restrain Stokes from storing the beans in
the State and driving out the inhabitants, and after indulging in the fun for a time, Judge
Haskell ordered the case stricken from the docket a