Other

On August 9, Johnson City lost one its crown jewels, 79-year-old Chester “Chet” Willis, who was born in Washington County and moved away for several years before returning to the city. He retired from the City of Johnson City’s Department of Services and Water Department, became a member of the Cemetery Survey Team of Northeast Tennessee and had recently worked for the Oak Hill Cemetery Friends and Volunteers.

Alan Bridwell introduced me to Chet about a year ago. We drove to the cemetery one afternoon and found the kind unassuming gentleman going about his work of maintaining and restoring the historic old graveyard. He faithfully opened the gates each day at sunrise and closed them at sunset. His impressive contributions to Oak Hill can best be noted from an excerpt of comments made by Bridwell at his friend’s funeral:

“I have known Chet Willis for the past three years. I met him while wandering around Oak Hill Cemetery one afternoon looking for a gravesite. I saw a gentleman with a cowboy hat working around a gravestone. I asked him if he had ever seen the grave of Ted Laws, the noted artist who painted railroad scenes. He walked over to a white pickup truck, pulled out a large cemetery registry and took me right to the grave that I had been trying to find for several weeks. This was the beginning of a rewarding friendship.

“Let me describe Oak Hill Cemetery before Chet Willis started working there. It is a very old cemetery in Johnson City with burials starting around 1870, shortly after the town was incorporated. It includes the graves of Henry Johnson and several founders of Johnson City. Over time it was essentially abandoned and frequently vandalized. Weeds and vines had overtaken the perimeter fences and many people likely did not even realize that a large city cemetery was located there.  A small colony of homeless people was actually living in a lower portion of the property. 

“Chet basically adopted the cemetery to clean and restore it. He repaired over 100 gravestones that had either been vandalized or deteriorated with age and cleaned around 2,700 gravesites. In addition, he transcribed and created a detailed registry of all people buried there and developed a grave numbering system complete with stenciled markers denoting each row of graves. This was a tedious and painstaking task to accomplish. 

“One day in October 2007, I found Chet very downhearted after some kids had knocked over and damaged about 20 markers that he had earlier spent days repairing. Later that week, I saw him back at the cemetery quietly repairing the damaged graves.

“I once asked Chet why he worked so hard at Oak Hill, knowing that he had no family member buried there or other obvious connection to the graveyard. He said that his reward was seeing more people visit the cemetery, put flowers on graves and express gratitude for finding an ancestor’s grave with the registry he developed. Chet never sought publicity; he simply saw work that needed to be done and set out to make a difference by getting it done.”

“Chet was a spiritual man. His Bible was evident and close by his chair in his living room. As Chet was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment, he would hold up his hand for prayer and pray for strength to go through the next phase. There is no doubt to me that his work in the cemeteries was an inspired work that gave him a spiritual lift.”

Alan ended his eulogy appropriately with a quote from 2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” The passing of Chester Willis left some very large shoes to fill at Oak Hill Cemetery. 

Read more

Paul Gill, a former resident of Johnson City, sent me a package chocked full of documentation about his family history that has numerous links to the city’s past. One story in particular caught my attention; it deals with the 93rdbirthday of Tenna Sherfey Leighton, Paul’s aunt, on August 17, 1957. She was born on August 17, 1864, eight months before the Civil War ended. 

This was a memorable occasion for the 1410 East Unaka Avenue resident. While opening her many congratulatory cards that arrived in the mailbox that week, she was astonished to find one with a return address of “The White House, Washington.” The sender of the correspondence was Mamie Eisenhower, wife of the 34thpresident of the United States. The First Lady penned the letter just prior to her entering a DC hospital.

Mrs. Eisenhower congratulated the elderly citizen on her milestone: “Dear Mrs. Leighton: It is a pleasure for me to extend warm and cordial congratulations on your approaching birthday on August 17. May peace and happiness be yours in abundance in the years to come.”

The president’s wife learned of Tenna’s accomplishment from Sherfey Hodges, a great-nephew of hers and retired Naval officer. He wrote Mrs. Eisenhower and made the request of her. Mrs. Leighton was so delighted with the letter that she took it to her church, the First Church of the Brethren, and showed it to her pastor, the Rev. B.J. Wampler, who, in turn, read it to his congregation.

Not to overlook this act of kindness by Mrs. Eisenhower, Mrs. Leighton sent a “thank you” note to the White House. When asked what she wrote, she responded: “I thanked her and sent her my best wishes and I enclosed a pretty ‘Get Well’ card too.” Tenna, a stanch Republican, always admired Mrs. Eisenhower, a fact she insisted had nothing to do with her political affiliation. “She is a fine woman,” she said, “and I respect her, regardless of politics.”

The elderly lady lived alone in the home that she had occupied since 1940, cooking her own meals, doing the daily cleaning and washing all but heavy articles. She canned tomatoes, peaches, corn, beans, apples and prunes.

The Sherfey family once lived on a farm along what in now Austin Springs Road. Her father named her “Tennessee” because her mother had the privilege of naming their first child, “Virginia,” the home state of the mother.

The family later moved closer to Johnson City. “Tennessee” had many fascinating memories of the days when the city was a village and the population was sparse. She recalled that it a grand occasion to come to town, riding behind her mother on a horse. They brought butter and eggs with them to sell, after which they would use the money to buy groceries before returning home.

During the 1896-97 school year, a grownup Tenna taught third grade at Martha Wilder School on Myrtle Avenue, then considered to be the newest and finest of educational institutions in the area. She married Charles D. Leighton in 1898 and went with him to live on a farm near Lawrenceburg, TN. In 1919, the family relocated to California. They returned to Johnson City after the death of her husband.

“Tennessee” was an avid reader of newspapers and magazines. She commented that her favorite book was the Bible. She kept records in the back of it that showed where she had read it from cover to cover 24 times.  

The 93-year-old’s special birthday came and went with little fanfare, which is the way she wanted it. Her many well wishes extended from as nearby as her household and as far away as Washington, DC. The hardy Johnson Citian lived another 12 years, departing this life at the age of 105.  

Read more

Johnson City has been blessed over time with a cornucopia of historians, some celebrated and others obscure, but all equally important by preserving valuable facts from the past. A case in point is a Johnson City Press-Chronicle column written by the popular late Tom Hodge containing family information presented to him by Sarah Jackson.

This lady possessed some documented utterances of a former slave known as Uncle Dick Crawford. The notes appear to have been penned in the late 1800s by family members. Sarah’s reason for bringing the papers to Tom was her trepidation that they might be discarded after she was deceased. Ms. Jackson vaguely recalled when Uncle Dick ate a meal in the kitchen of their Main Street residence (no specific address given).

The kids adored and were fascinated by the elderly gentleman and sat around the table listening to him talk as he ate. His hair was described as being as white-as-snow. The written statements were a mixed bag of facts regarding life around the East Tennessee area.

For example: “I went to Johnson City for the doctor for Perry Hunter’s folks when there were only four families living in the town – Tip (Tipton) Jobe, Henry Johnson, John Bowman and Dr. Seehorn.”

The notes mention other residents of the city: “Miss Lizzie Russell was born April 4, 1836, cared for by Uncle Dick Crawford. I was at Brush Creek Campground when lightning killed Miss Mary Taylor and Mr. Miller while William Milhorn was preaching. The old East Tennessee Virginia and Georgia Railroad (eventually known as the Southern Railway) was finished in 1850 with President Cunningham driving the last silver spike. Richard (Uncle Dick) Crawford cooked the last meal for the engineers of this road at Henderson’s Mill, within six miles of Greeneville.”

Three marriages were shown to have occurred in 1878: Mr. J.D. Cox to Miss V.T. Bachman, Miss Suda Cox (no husband listed) and Mr. Harrison Haws to Miss Rosanna People.

The record further stated that the 3C’s engineer corps left Johnson City March 1, 1878 for Big Moccasin Gap. Col. Matson was chief with Johnson, Hagey and Phillips, surveyors.

The notes also said: “I was present at each of the following weddings, having cooked the dinner for each: Robert Thomas, M.L. Peoples, Will DeVault, John Cochran, (?) Burkhart, John Hunter, Will Hunter, James Martin, Robert Martin, Robert Hunter, Rev. W.M. Vines, George Swadley, John Galloway, John D. Cox, H.H. Haws and Jacob Bacon.

“The old courthouse of Jonesborough was burned in the year 1858. The first family grocery story was put up in Jonesborough by John Dunlap, an Irishman. Miss Stuart Slemons was married in Jonesborough. The printing office in Jonesborough stands where it stood 58 years ago.

“The first excursion was run by Henry Salts on the Southern Railroad. I cooked W.E. Maden’s wedding dinner in the year 1885 and was at Thomas Garst’s wedding and cooked the dinner.

“Jacob Naff and John Naff worked in a tailor shop in the cellar of the Mrs. Fain building in 1885. I was present at the marriage of William R. Miller to Miss Nannie Perry and waited on them.” 

Sarah was indeed judicious to share the papers with Tom and preserve important information from that era. Thanks to the combined efforts of Uncle Dick Crawford, Sarah Jackson and Tom Hodge, we have been afforded with another succinct yet invaluable source of local history.  

Read more

Old newspapers are a treasure trove of history ranging from significant unforgettable happenings to interesting trivial tidbits. Such was the case of a Saturday, August 14, 1937 Johnson City Chronicle.

As was common then, the front page was reserved for mostly world news and events. The chief story dealt with U.S. battleships speeding to Shanghai where 4,000 Americans were endangered by fighting between the Japanese and Chinese.

An examination of the newspaper’s “funny page” is a journey back to the golden age of comic strips: “Blondie,” still looking as youthful today in the Johnson City Press as when she was a flapper girl, was married to Dagwood Bumstead, a man with a predilection for overeating, couch sleeping, colliding with the mailman, feuding with his boss and leaping for the moving trolley to catch a ride to work.

Other strips were “Popeye” who could transform himself into a muscleman by chunking down a can of raw spinach; “Moon Mullins,” an interesting character with big eyes and a derby hat who stumbled into countless life confrontations; “Alley Oop,” an odd-looking caveman citizen of Moo who wore fur shorts, rode a dinosaur and often traveled the ages in a time machine; “Tim Tyler’s Luck,” the world of an orphan boy who acquired an older sidekick named Spud and traveled the world; “Tillie the Toiler,” adventures of a young working girl; and “Little Annie Rooney,” a takeoff of “Little Orphan Annie,” a young orphaned girl who journeyed about with her companion dog, Zero. 

A glance over the sports page reveals a story about a crucial Appalachian League series opening between the Elizabethton Red Sox and the Johnson City Soldiers. That was before the city’s affiliation with the Cardinals. The contest was at Keystone Field, an early name for what later became Cardinal Park.

Another article dealt with Carl Hubbell winning his 16th game of the season for the New York Giants and Hank Greenberg pounding a home run for Detroit. The Chicago Cubs were shown to have a 6.5 lead in the National League and the Yankees up by 13.5 in the American.

For those interested in taking in a motion picture, the choices included the Sevier Theatre’s (113 Spring Street’) 15-cent double-feature starring Hugh Herbert in “That Man’s Here Again” and Fred Scott in “Romance Rides the Range.” The latter flick was likely aimed at adult audiences because no self-respecting youngster would waste his or her allowance money to see romance on the range unless, of course, it dealt with an alluring cowboy’s love for his faithful palomino.

Three other downtown theatres provided definite juvenile fare with real shoot-em-up action: Buck Jones in “Empty Saddles” at the State (248 E. Main), Hoot Gibson in “The Painted Stallion” at the Tennessee (146 W. Main) and Bob Steele in “Brand of the Outlaws” at the Liberty  (221 E. Main). Johnson City’s fourth movie house, the Majestic (239 E. Main), never catered to low budget westerns, showing instead Alice Faye and Don Ameche in the musical comedy “You Can’t Have Everything.”

Another entertainment attraction was the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus appearing on Aug. 17 at the Main Street Circus Grounds, the current location of the Municipal Building. The major live attraction was Hoot Gibson.

One advertisement was for a 9.5-hour Sunday excursion on the Tweetsie Railroad to Boone, Linville Gap, Roan Mountain, and Linville at a cost of one dollar. Light refreshments were sold on board “at nominal city prices.”

A glance back to life 71 years ago shows how much the city has changed and how much it has remained the same. 

Read more

Press readers regularly tell me that they save Monday’s History/Heritage page. That is encouraging to those of us who inscribe these weekly articles because it indicates people’s love of olden times and their desire to personally archive it.

I saved an article written in 1986 by the late Tom Hodge concerning a 1921 Chamber of Commerce booklet, “Membership and Classified Directory.” Ted Thomas brought him the publication, which reads like a “Who’s Who of the city’s historied past.” In it, Johnson City was known as “The Switzerland of America.”

Chamber officers that year were S.R. Jennings, president; C.L. Marshall, vice president; and William G. Mathes, secretary-manager. Club directors were George T. Wofford, James A. Summers, H.D. Gump, Allen Harris, J.E. Brading, E.C. Lockett, Lee F. Miller, L.H. Shumate, J.W. Ring and B.W. Horner.

Members were assigned a job classification from a list of 150 groups. Oddly enough, only seven doctors were shown: Dr. H.M. Cass, Dr. Elmore Estes, Dr. Lee K. Gibson, Dr. E.M. Loyd, Dr. W.J. Matthews, Dr. John Gaines Moss and Dr. E.T. West. Other members included such names as A.H. Abernathy, W.A. Allison, T.F. Beckner, D.R. Beeson, C.L. Bolton, John P. Rhea, Guy L. Smith, Thad A. Cox, R.N. Dosser, W.T. Swoyer, George W. Hardin, Dan B. Wexler, Harry Faw, Bert Gump, L.D. Gump and George W. Keys.

The city limits encompassed 7.2 square miles containing a population of 12,442 residents. There were 22 miles of asphalt-paved roads, 50 miles of graded and macadamized streets, 60 miles of cement sidewalks and 22 miles of sewer line.

An impressive municipal building referred to as City Hall contained a large auditorium and a well-kept market house at the corner of Boone and W. Main streets. Two newspapers, the Chronicle (Guy Smith) and the Staff (Clyde Hodge and Munsey Slack) served as the city’s news media.

The booklet provided a colorful description of Johnson City and its environs: “Situated in Washington County, the third county from the extreme northeast corner of the state; at the head of the fertile Valley of East Tennessee; the Switzerland of America; among the foothills of, and in fact the gateway to, the Appalachians and almost midway between the Cumberland Mountains and the wonderful Blue Ridge …” Two highways were under construction that year: Memphis to Bristol (State Route 1) and Asheville-Moccasin Gap (U.S. 11E and 23).

The booklet declared Johnson City’s environment to be superior to that of nearby Asheville by having an equable climate without temperature extremes, yielding a mean summer temperature of 72 degrees and a mean winter one of 39. The city was described as “delightful, healthful and conducive to longevity and the joy of living.”

Johnson City also boasted of “a well-organized and splendid system of elementary and high schools with one superintendent, nine principals and 79 teachers.” It also bragged about its Normal School with a staff of 35 officers, teachers and assistants, an annual enrollment of 1300 students and an administrative cost of $490,000. Milligan College had a faculty of 14 and a student body of 142 at an investment of about $350,000.

The Chamber’s publication lastly identified four city hotels with a total of 185 rooms, said to be inadequate to meet the present requirements of the traveling public. Thanks to Ted and Tom’s efforts 22 years ago, we are privileged to again steal a look at the “Switzerland of America” of 1921. 

Read more

Mildred Kozsuch, local author of “Historical Reminiscences of Carter County Tennessee,” The Overmountain Press, sent me an informative clipping from the July 9, 1937 edition of the Johnson City Beacon titled “Only One Building Linking City with Stage-Road Days.”

The article lamented the fact that only one downtown building remained as a reminder of the old Civil War era Stage Road (now Market Street) that loped through the city. The two-story building was located at 144 E. Market Street (southwest corner at Roan) made of hand-made brick that had been formed and burned locally. Sadly, it was demolished several years ago. In 1937, it was the site of a barbershop; today, it houses the popular Taste Buds restaurant.

Some early store owners at that spot were Bob and John Rankin; John W. Hunter; Selden Nelson; Christian and Crockett; Christian, Hoss and Hodge; and Hoss, Hodge and Company. In later years, it served as a grocery store, barbershop and bookshop. The upstairs ranged from a storage facility to a beauty parlor.

John Rankin and his descendents lived in a hand-made brick home, built shortly after the Civil War, in the southeast corner of the intersection. Dr. J.C. King whose wife was a daughter of Rankin later occupied the home. The site eventually became a music studio operated by teachers Hunter L. Rhea and Mary L. Lyle. Afterward, it became the Spinning Wheel Tea Room.

The dirt Stage Road became a popular travel route of covered wagons, horsemen and even troupes and artillery that passed through the diminutive Johnson City, referred to then as “Brush Creek Flats.” The Tipton Jobe home (at Tipton and Jobe streets) was alleged to be the first one in Johnson City. City founder, Henry Johnson, built a store on the old Stage Road. In 1937, the Square Drug Company (101 W. Market) occupied the site. Older residents will remember that location as being on the east side of the Skippers Shop.

The next store, that of T.A. Faw, was on the artery at the railroad where the Southern Café (101 E. Market, later Byrd’s Restaurant) was located. Eventually, a newsstand and an upstairs rooming hotel opened there. The Faw home and spring was situated at Market and Roan where the John Sevier Hotel would be built.

Those establishments were about the only ones on the old highway at that time. Farther “out in the country” on the northwest side of Watauga Avenue and Market Street was “the old Methodist camp meeting ground, beside the Harrington Spring, then marked by a filling station and the swimming pool, plus a few residences.” Locals will remember the station as becoming Collins’ ESSO Service Center and the pool having multiple names – Watauga, Sur Joi and Carver.

Businesses flourished along old Stage Road with its nucleus on Fountain Square. The thoroughfare became the principal business street of the village for many years north of Johnson’s railroad depot (between Main and Market streets).

The article concluded by saying that the pedestrian foot log across Brush Creek at about the present location of McClure Street was replaced by a footbridge. However, passing vehicles had to ford the creek.

On one side of the road, a Hale family ran a large handsome livery stable. Opposite it was Eli McNees Blacksmith Shop (future site of the Arcade Building). Their residence was near the rear of the old Tennessee Theatre. A loom house was said to be close to it.

I wish to thank Mildred Kozsuch for sharing such an interesting article with Press readers. 

Read more

In early 2005, I wrote two articles concerning Johnson City’s charming “Lady of the Fountain.” This bronze statue stood in Fountain Square atop a water fountain between 1909 and 1937 and at Roosevelt (Memorial) Stadium for about six additional years.

In 1943, the Lady began a 40-year residency in a garden at the Zollicoffer family home in Henderson, NC. On Sept. 20, 1983, it made a heralded return to the city. I recently received correspondence from Carol Grissom, Senior Objects Conservator of the Smithsonian Institute, who shed new light on our prized artifact that represents a large chunk of Johnson City’s history.

Ms. Grissom stated that while writing a book, Zinc Sculpture in America: 1850-1950, she located the two Johnson City Press articles on my website: “I immediately recognized it as a statue sold as the ‘Greek Water Carrier.’ The Lenoir City foundry mentioned in your article may have made the cast iron fountain base, but I can guarantee that the statue was made in New York.”

Carol was delighted to learn that Johnson City possesses a rare essentially intact statue. She hopes to make a trip here soon to examine it. Ms. Grissom’s forthcoming publication contains this entry: “Greek Water Carrier with an urn held in both hands above her head and drapery flaring outward from her shoulders on each side. Water issued from the mouth of the urn and ran down the figure. This elegant figure was sculptured by Alan George Newman (1875–1940) and copyrighted in 1905 by the J.L. Mott Iron Works (118-120 Fifth Avenue, NY).”

According to Carol: “This company was known mostly for bathroom fixtures, but had a fairly active production of ornamental cast-iron fountains during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.” She attached a Mott advertisement from a 1909 edition of “The Monumental News,” a sculpture journal that operated between 1889 and 1938. The publication carries a picture of a “Greek Water Carrier,” which appears to be identical to our “Lady.”

Ms. Grissom further avowed: “The firm probably did not actually make the zinc statues, but instead subcontracted them to M.J. Seelig & Co., a zinc foundry in Williamsburg, New York, an area now part of Brooklyn and fashionable among young people and artists. Mr. Newman was probably best known for his statue of a Spanish-American Soldier, available from several foundries in bronze but also sold by Mott in zinc. The ‘Greek Water Carrier’ is one of the few statues introduced in the twentieth century, as generally the company sold replicas of the same statues from about 1875 onward.”

Only three “Carrier” statues, including the one in Johnson City, are believed to be in existence today. Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey chocolate empire, purchased one in 1913 for the front of his home. It was subsequently moved from Hershey, PA to nearby Harrisburg. The magnate also procured a Spanish-American Soldier statue. The cast zinc sculpture, known as “Rebecca Fountain,” was painted gray and installed on a concrete pedestal. Today, it sits on a concrete block with the portion below the knees missing.

A second statue once stood at the National Park Seminary, a school for young women established in 1894 in Silver Spring, MD. It stood atop a low pedestal in a garden between a sorority house known as Chiopi and the Chapel.  It was stolen in 1996, prompting a reward for its return.

Ms. Grissom offered some concluding comments: “As far as I know, your city’s statue is the only one of its kind that remains in public hands intact, discounting the damaged one in Hershey Park. Your ‘Lady’ is also important from an art historical standpoint because a known artist modeled it. In many ways, your copy is unique. Personally, I find it a rather charming statue and something of a period piece, evocative of the early 20th century.”

Let me extend a heartfelt “thank you” from Johnson Citians to Ms. Grissom for sharing the Lady of the Fountain’s birthright with us. 

Read more

Mrs. Joann Conner believes her 104-year-old mother, Pansy Oliver Torbett, may be the oldest living person in Sullivan County. 

“My mother,” said Joann, “was born in 1903 in a log house that stood along (old) Jonesboro (Jonesborough) Road in Piney Flats. This old stagecoach road stretched between Abingdon and Jonesboro, passing through the Rocky Mount estate. “Between 1910 and 1915, the David and Cordelia Smalling Oliver family rode to Johnson City on a farm wagon to attend the carnival. Chairs were placed on the wagon for adults; kids sat on the floor. 

“On the way back most all the kids slept, while the adults talked softly. Mom remembers fording the river and how the moon shimmered in the water as the horses splashed across it. “Sometimes while traveling to Johnson City, they crossed over on a ferry that was located near the current Austin Springs Bridge. People drove their horses up to the riverbank and rang a bell for service. A lady came out of a shed and skillfully operated the ferry; this always impressed my mother.”

Pansy started school at the nearby small two-room Locust Grove School. The Oliver sisters were fortunate to have ponies to ride to school. On rainy, snowy or very cold days, they rode a covered buggy harnessed to a pony. After graduating from Mary Hughes Institute in 1920, Pansy attended the Normal School in Johnson City and boarded at a house at Unaka and Boone. She rode the train to and from Johnson City on weekends and the streetcar to and from the campus each weekday. After obtaining a teaching certificate, Pansy taught at Chinquapin Grove (grammar) School, often walking to and from work.

When the Oliver family moved to a new brick house in 1923, they were fearful that their furniture might get damaged during the move on the old horse-drawn farm wagon, resulting in family members carrying some items on foot. Joann said that the nine-room dwelling was built at a cost of $5000 using lumber harvested from trees on the farm. Telephone service was added about 1930, electricity in 1939 and an indoor bathroom in 1940 using water that gravity flowed from a cistern located on a hill next to the barn.

An event occurred around 1914 that Pansy’s mother attributes to bringing her daughter and her future husband together. The family was on their way to Piney Flats to sell eggs and shop. Pansy held a basket of eggs on her lap. Clifford Torbett and his father were riding with them. Suddenly, a motorcycle came over the hill making a loud noise. It scared the horses and caused them to run frantically off the dirt road until the wagon eventually hit a stump. The only damage was a broken harness; even the eggs survived the mishap. Mr. Oliver repaired the harness with his belt and they continued their journey.

Pansy and Clifford eventually began “courting.” When the lad visited his sweetheart, he sat on one side of the parlor while she sat on the other. When they walked to church, they were always on opposite sides of the road. The couple married in 1925. “Church was always the center of mother’s life,” said Mrs. Conner. “After serving in Popular Ridge Christian Church, Union Church and Dunkard Church, she joined Edgefield United Methodist Church where she played piano and organ.”

The good-natured Mrs. Torbett was asked to what she attributes her longevity. Her quick and witty reply was “staying out of doctors’ offices.” She continued by saying to “work hard, stay active and take care of yourself.”  

Read more

I received a beautifully written and moving narrative of a beloved horse named Kumpthing that etched out its place in the hearts of one area family.

Bill and Ginny Adams, former city residents and graduates of Science Hill High School, own the family farm in Jonesborough where they soon plan to retire. Bill related this touching story that began on April 17, 1965: “The first time we saw the big chestnut colt with the partially white tail, we knew right away that he was going to become ours and something told us that he knew even before we did that we were going to become his.”

While living in Illinois, the family purchased Kumpthing for their young daughters – Dawn, Dian, and Denice. The steed, officially registered as “Something Chief,” was foaled on a farm that gave common names to their horses that began with a “K.”

In the spring of 1974, the family took Kumpthing on a visit to the family’s East Tennessee farm. According to Bill: “It had lush green pastures, groves of trees all around and water flowing from natural springs. The view is southward toward the Smoky Mountains, near the Nolichucky River, and not far from the Appalachian Trail.”

The gentle horse was allowed to run free with numerous other pasturing inhabitants that included a 1200-pound Charlois bull named “Buck.” The new guest immediately began to fit in with the other grazers. Each evening, he would lead the herd to the barn, where he had his own private stall and would be fed grain by Grandpa “Major” Adams, referring to Ward Bond’s portrayal of Major Seth Adams on TV’s “Wagon Train.”

Bill and family soon returned to their Illinois home without their horse. In 1976, they relocated to Chesterfield, MO.To appease his girls, Bill traveled to his farm and brought the horse back to a nice well-equipped stable near their new residence.  The family returned to their East Tennessee residence in early summer of the following year and again brought Kumpthing with them.

“Upon arrival and his release from the trailer,” said Bill, “he took off at full gallop, kicking up his heels, as he raced up the lane and across the meadow toward a grove where the cattle were laying.” When the time came for the family to return to Missouri, the horse balked and resisted efforts to put him in the trailer. They reluctantly decided to let him stay at the farm.

Prior to the death of “Major” Adams in later years, the family leased the farm’s pasture to a good friend and neighbor known as “Preacher,” who allowed Kumpthing to continue his relaxed and carefree lifestyle. While in East Tennessee, the steed developed a lot of “Cow,” meaning a horse with the ability to work calves that are being cut from herds in competition. He eventually became known as the “King of the Cows.”

Sad news arrived at the Adams household in the spring of 2000, about the time of the animal’s 35thbirthday. Bill recalls that awful day: “We received a call from ‘Preacher’ telling us that he had found Kumpthing dead that morning, lying peacefully under one of the white pine trees that he loved, with the cattle standing close around. After regaining our composure and drying our eyes, we asked him to select a spot at the top of the highest point on the hill overlooking the Smoky Mountains to the south and to lay him to rest there.”

The family came back to their farm with a specially prepared marker for their favorite pet’s grave and to say goodbyes to an extraordinary friend that preferred living and dying in the foothills of East Tennessee.  

Read more

My Gump businesses column evoked some pleasurable memories for Lewis Brown, a classmate of mine at Science Hill High School, from which we graduated in 1961.

Lewis wrote: “I never knew until this day that the Gump Addition was actually the Hillrise Subdivision. Growing up a ‘Gump Addition Gangster,’ we just thought the place was the Gump Addition. I was raised in the 400 block of East Chilhowie. The street was once called Seventh Avenue (from the 1890 Carnegie Land Company plat designation). I, along with many kids who grew up in the old neighborhood, played baseball and football on Hillrise Boulevard. We also played in the creek, the Gump’s backyard and the woods. Having been born in 1942, I was fortunate enough to see many of the houses on the boulevard and on Forest and Woodland Avenues being built.”

Lewis said that the area between the Baxter and Holston intersection north to Cox's Lake was an area of fun and adventure to about a hundred youngsters who resided in that part of town. “I have a copy of the surveyor’s plat,” said Brown, “ that shows the street names and lot locations of the old “Hunter-Brown” addition that my great grandfather and Dr. Hunter started. “I cannot remember the names of the Gump family, but I can tell you they were very tolerant of the kids who lived in the area. No one in that family ever fussed at us for playing in their yard or in the creek.”

Lewis said he learned to ride a small bike at the Gump home on Hillrise Boulevard.  The driveway fronted Holston Avenue. He said he routinely rode a bike until he joined the service after graduation. “My aunt, Alma Ruth Brown, lived in the old home place on Chilhowie until she died several years ago. I have a picture of my grandfather, E.W. Brown standing along with some unidentified men and boys in front of his first grocery store at the corner of Roan and (144 E.) Market.”

The “Hillrise Hoodlum” then asked me if I remember George's Men’s Shop: “It was owned by George Eiche,” he said. “The family lived on the corner of Chilhowie and Baxter. One of the radio stations, probably WJHL, did a 60-minute live cut-in, which I am sure was pre-recorded for the store. I believe there was a piano in the store because George would play a tune and talk about his store. He had two sons, George and Jon.”

George’s Men’s Shop was located in the early 1950s at 234 E. Main between Beckner’s Jewelers on the west side and the Keys Building (Tunnell’s Studio) on the east. Jo-Ann’s Shop was adjacent to the Keys Building.

Lewis further asked me if I knew the name of the barbeque restaurant that was situated in a ravine on South Roan next to the old Southern Maid Ice Cream plant. Brown added: “The owner of the restaurant also owned a boat dock on Watauga Lake and kept several “Aluma-Craft” boats displayed for sale at the restaurant.” The restaurant in question was Central Barbeque owned by Albert Bosbury. He also operated Central Drive-In and Albermar Marines Sales at that some location.

Lewis ended his note with some reflective words about his growing-up years: “Some of the boys in the old neighborhood that I remember were Rick Jackson, Tommy Hord, Mike Kitts, Mark McCowen, Harmon Duncan, Charles Ellis, Ronny and Freddy Moore and Joe, Tim and Jerry Persinger. What a wonderful time to grow up in a little place like Johnson City!”  

Read more