June 13th Research in Elizabethton, Tennessee

War Memorial in downtown Elizabethton, TN

After my success at the Stover Cemetery I headed for the Carter County Courthouse. The white obelisk war memorial was surrounded by American flags and a vibrant blue sky, so I stopped and took new photos as I walked to the courthouse. I found and got copies of six Drake ancestor deeds from the time period I’d skipped while at the State Archives, and I asked about several wills. Unfortunately, they only had one on my list and that one had been written on such shear paper that when it was microfilmed what was written on the back read through and obliterated most of the text.

Next I headed to the library in town where I met a new, young and very enthusiastic archivist Joseph Penza who was very helpful. I knew that my Stover ancestors had been farmers but I had no idea what they farmed – that detail is omitted on US census forms. So, I asked Joseph and he asked, “where in Carter County did they live?” When I answered, “that they lived in the area between the Doe and Watauga Rivers” he immediately said, “they most likely grew tobacco because they had the water needed for the crop and it had a high cash value. The farms in Carter were comparatively small so farmers would need to grow things like tobacco to earn enough money to support their families.”

Carter County Courthouse where I found 6 deeds and one
illegible will

I hadn’t expected his answer. I’ve known for years that my Pattillo ancestors, who lived in Virginia, were tobacco growers but it had not occurred to me that the Stovers did the same. Joseph explained that it was not uncommon for couples to share a common background like that.

I love this sign on the courthouse ....
but don't tell my ancestors

While at the library I also found another Arcadia book “Images of Elizabethton”, a Tipton Genealogy – we’re related by marriage, a DAR publication “Legacies of our Grandmothers” that included a write up on Eliza McCordle Johnson (wife of President Andrew Johnson and mother of Mary Johnson who married Colonel Daniel Stover), and an Architectural Assessment portion of an EIR for widening SR-91 through Elizabethton that had been prepared by Parsons Brinkerhoff – an engineering company that my firm worked for on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Replacement project.

The now pale pink jail in Elizabethton

So, I had another successful day. Then I headed off to the TVA Wilbur Dam campground for the night which is a magical place.

The famous historic covered bridge in E-town

My view downstream of the Wilber Dam Tailwater in the
evening

Same view when the fog rolls in

View looking upstream

Upstream with 2 layers of fog