June 14th Research at the Sherrod Library, East Tennessee State University

Found this genealogy cartoon in the Mary McCown Collection at the Sherrod Library in Joynson City

On my second day in Elizabethton I headed for the East Tennessee State University which is actually in the adjacent town of Johnson City. Why I was going there is an odd story. I remembered from my first trip to Tennessee that Robert Nave had advised me to do research at another nearby institution but I could not recall its name. I had a clear vision of what it looked like though – it was on a hillside, on the left side of the road, and mostly white buildings. As I drove towards the university I looked for those white building but once on the campus everything was red brick. Hum, now what?

Sherrod Library, East Tennessee State University

I drove onto campus, which was lovely, and stopped to ask where the library was. It was very close by so I turned that way and as soon as I saw the name of the building I knew I was in the right place the Sherrod Library. More serendipity. Somehow everything on this trip just keeps falling into place.

The archive room is on the third floor and looks out over
the campus. It is like being in a tree house.

I found a parking place in the shade and got ready to join Jane Lindsey and Sandy Fryer for a conference call meeting. The three of us are doing a capital campaign for the California Genealogy Society. We’ve been meeting monthly for over a year and are continuing to do so even though I’m traveling.

After the meeting I walked the short distance to the nice, air-conditioned library and stopped at the front desk. They directed me to the archives on the fourth floor. The archivist showed me how to use their computer to find what I was interested in. I filled out a few request forms, handed them to the archivist and a few minutes later she wheeled out a metal cart loaded with boxes of files.

This is the most exciting document in the Nave
Collection - a deed dated 1809

Most of the boxes were from the Nave Collection. Robert Nave died about two years ago and he distributed his genealogical collection to a number of institutions. ETSU has 5 boxes of his material. I found several items that interested me but the best by far was a deed between one of Robert’s ancestors Abraham Nave and my fourth great grandfather Daniel Stover. The deed was recorded on October 3, 1809. This just blows me away – I was actually holding a document that my ancestor signed 208 years ago! Genealogy doesn’t get any better!

The Nave Collection included a couple dozen documents
like these written on small scraps of paper.

I also requested files from the Mary McCown collection and there I found two historic photographs of Daniel Stover, Sr.’s home which still exists today but it’s been remodeled a little. Also historic photos of the E-town covered bridge, the first school house and the home/business of Andrew Johnson before he became president. One of my favorite photos is of a Sycamore tree where General Andrew Jackson held the first court session in Tennessee. The reason I like finding these historic photos is to include them in the individual bios I write on my Pattillo-Thornally Family History blog. I try to show what these places and buildings looked like at the time my ancestors lived there – show what they saw as a way of conveying what their lives were like.

One of the two historic photos of Daniel Stover Sr. house from
the McCown collection

The Nave collection included a number of standard genealogy documents like family group sheets and a few family history stories published in the local papers. I spent two days at the Sherrod Library in Johnson City. On the first day I took 101 photos of pages of documents and 88 on the second day. They did not allow me to use my scanner but my iPhone photos all came out well.

The Mary McCown collection included a few personal letters that she had received and saved with information about her ancestors, including a letter from King George, on Windsor Castle letterhead dated April 1918 thanking US soldiers for joining the British forces during WWI.

King George's letter

On my second day at Sherrod I copied a book by Richard Drake (could be a relative) “An Outline History of Appalachia” that should provide good background information. I also copied a few news articles about Stover Hall which was built by Mary Johnson Stover after her husband Daniel Stover died in the Civil War. The original house burned but many Stover artifacts were saved from the burning building and a replacement Stover Hall was rebuilt on the original foundation.

Sinking Creek Baptist Church

One of the last things I found was a 1971 copy of the master plan for Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park. This interested me because it is the sort of thing my landscape architecture firm does today. The next post will be about Sycamore Shoals.

The second photo of Daniel Stover's home. This and the next
few shots all from the McCown Collection

First schoolhouse in Carter County

The covered bridge in E-town

Andrew Johnson's home and business before he was
elected president.