2018 ANNUAL MEETING SUMMARY

The Greenback Historical Society Annual Meeting was called to order by President Shirley Hall at noon, January 20, 2018 in the upstairs of the Greenback Community Center. After the pledge to the flag, the invocation was delivered by Larry Skidmore. The 19 in attendance enjoyed a potluck meal.

The program was presented by David Black, retired founding partner of Kizer and Black law firm. With his childhood spent near Greenback, David became an avid historian and wrote the docu-drama Tanasi: 1796, which chronicles the history at that time and the relationship of the Indians to local settlers. David’s presentation described how the actors, music, and visual effects came together for the Clayton Center performance. Popular with local history buffs, the docudrama was presented again the next year. At both performances, the Greenback Historical Society had a presence in the exhibition hall, sharing our scrapbooks and information about the society and Greenback in general.

At the business meeting following the program, minutes of the last quarterly meeting were read by Cindy Benefield for Linda Berry. The Treasurer’s Report was read by Brenda Blair, with a balance of $7,297.56 in the general fund and a balance of $1,002.55 in the preservation fund. Income for 2017 was $1866.78 and expenditures totaled $521.39. Expenditures were for the ration cards from Sparkly Pig and printing and postage costs for mailing The Chronicler.

Shirley Hall gave the President’s Report and updated progress on getting the letter of consent from the Greenback Depot owners so that we can proceed with the installation of the historical marker. Ft. Loudoun Electric has volunteered to do the precise GPS marking required by the state. Money is set aside for the marker, and the text for the sign has formatted to conform to the requirements of the state. Probate must be complete from the Ron Edmonson estate to move forward.

Paul Bailey reported information is being collected for Volume 4 of the scrapbook, but the focus during 2017 has been on the sign and completion of the walking tour map.

Brenda Blair reported on the activities/outings planned by the Society and had a poster display of members at the

NEXT MEETING: Saturday, April 21, 10AM at the Greenback Community Center.

Inside This Issue Page 2 Museum Musings, Norwood Inn

Marker, Announcements Page 3 Joint GHS/BCGHS Meeting, The

Angel in Morganton Page 4 Activities Update, Vonore Museum

Tour Page 5 Englewood Textile Museum Tour Page 6 Upcoming Events

Greenback Historical Society, Inc. 6725 Morganton Road

P.O. Box 165 Greenback, Tennessee 37742

CHRONICLER Preserving Our Past

Issue 43, APRIL 1, 2018 www.gbhistorical.webs.com

Candlelight Tour of Fort Loudoun, the Cookie Exchange, and the Tennessee Theater Mighty Wurlitzer Christmas program.

Colleen Ragain had available handouts for further excursions for the first quarter of 2018 including trips to the Vonore Heritage Museum, The Englewood Textile Museum, Cades Cove Museum, and the Blount County Museum.

Speaker David Black and President Shirley Hall display a DVD copy of a

production of Tanasi 1796 which David donated to the Greenback

Museum. Picture by Paul Bailey.

Continued on Page 3

IN MEMORIAM

Boone, Paul G., 75, October 8, 2016.

MUSEUM MUSINGS The Greenback Heritage Museum Board met the first week in April. Among the items of business was new visiting hours. It was voted to have the Museum open on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday each week from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM except for holidays.

The members also voted that Linda Cabe Berry should take her mother's place as Chairman of the Board. Cindy Benefield has agreed to fill the open board position.

A Memorial Fund has been set up for Betty Carroll and the Greenback Heritage Museum. At present, a total of $2,515.02 in donations have been received. This memorial was created to be used toward the renovation of the building donated to the City by the Ragain family. Betty was very much interested in expanding the museum and it was her wish that any donations made in her memory be used for this project.

A special account has been opened for the memorial fund so that contributions can be made to the Museum in Betty’s memory. Checks should be made out to Greenback Heritage Museum Memorial Fund. They can be mailed to the City of Greenback, P.O. Box 160, Greenback, TN 37742.

Sandra Kerr Tipton

HAPPY SURVIVORS

The Greenback Happy Survivors Committee has planned an Annual Meeting at the Greenback Community Center. All who attended Greenback High School from 1924 to 1966 are invited to attend. Former teachers are also welcome.

The reunion will be on Saturday, April 28, 2018, at 11:30 AM. Reservations may be made payable to Greenback Happy Survivors in the amount of $15 per person.

Mail to: Darlene Kerley

268 Royal Oaks

Maryville, TN 37801

RSVP by April 6, 2018 to

Darlene Kerley at 865-983-7387

APRIL QUARTERLY MEETING

The next regular meeting of the Greenback Historical Society will take place at 10:00AM Saturday, April 21, at the Greenback Community Center. The time was changed to allow those interested to attend an encampment event at the Blount County/Cades Cove Museum later in the day. There will no program for this meeting. Those wishing to go to the Blount County event should gather at the Community Center to arrange transportation.

CHRONICLER, Issue 43 Page 2

NORWOOD INN MARKER Highway 411 travelers perhaps have noticed the long-awaited appearance of the Norwood Inn Historical marker. It is a replacement for the original marker that disappeared in 1989. We owe a debt of gratitude to Oscar Lidstrom for taking on the mission of getting it restored along with the one for Militia Springs a couple of miles further to the southwest. Oscar began this quest in the summer of 2015 and did a lot of legwork coordinating with the state and property owners to get the necessary paperwork filed. He then followed up with countless calls to make sure the effort stayed on track.

So, thanks to DOT, we now have our marker back and it’s even sort of in the neighborhood of where the Norwood Inn actually stood. If one wants to be picky, Oscar’s research places the true site about a quarter mile to the northeast. On the plus side, it is in a very visible location which can be easily mowed and is hopefully less prone to marker thieves. We’ll take it.

Paul Bailey

The Norwood Inn marker along Highway 411 located about 1.5 miles southwest of the intersection with Highway 95. Photo by Oscar Lidstrom.

FROM THE MANAGEMENT

Please Pay Your Dues

Don’t make us have to do this again. We don’t like having to use the sad-eyed puppy bludgeon any more than you. Thank you for your support.

ANNUAL MEETING (Continued from Page 1) Cindy Benefield read the slate of nominations for 2018 officers. The slate reflected the board decision to reduce the number of directors from nine to six, thus establishing an easier quorum and not taxing the limited number of interested parties. All Board of Directors terms are three years. The nominations for Directors, (Start of Term, January 2018), were Paul Bailey and Tim Grindstaff. They join Kitty Ragain (2016), LaVonne Spires (2016), Larry Benson (2017) and Barbara Davis (2017) on the Board.

Officers nominated for 2018 were: President, Shirley Hall; Vice President, Colleen Ragain; Secretary, Cindy Benefield and Treasurer, Brenda Blair.

The slate of officers was unanimously accepted by acclamation and there being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

Cindy Benefield

JOINT GREENBACK AND BLOUNT COUNTY EVENT

A joint meeting of the Greenback Historical Society and the Blount County Genealogical and Historical Society will take place at Baker’s Creek Presbyterian Church on April 28. The event will begin with a potluck lunch at noon and will be followed by a program presented by Shirley Hall and Charlotte Miller. The topic of the program will be the history of the church and cemetery.

THE ANGEL IN MORGANTON

As you may or may not know, one of the things I do is keep the Greenback Historical Society and Museum websites running (sort of). Since I am listed as the responsible party for them with the web provider, any questions that get submitted are sent to me. Most often, these are from people trying to sell something that we don’t want and that’s the end of that. A few times a month we do get legitimate questions from individuals who have stumbled across our websites or searched for Greenback on Google. Usually these are questions about history or where something is located and they can be handled with a simple email reply. When I don’t know the answer immediately, I forward it to the GHS “Brain Trust” to see if someone there can help. (You probably didn’t know we have a Brain Trust but you get to be part of it immediately when you become an officer or director and I find out what your email address is). On rare occasions we get a question for which we can’t find an answer and that’s where we find ourselves today.

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A couple of weeks ago I received the following query from a web visitor. I have withheld their identity for privacy.

Message: Good morning! Does anyone in your Society know if there is a story behind the large statue of the Angel with the small child in Morganton Cemetery? I did not see any plaque or inscription. Thank you.

After an email exchange, the questioner provided the picture below.

Obviously, someone went to considerable trouble and probably expense to erect the memorial. It meant a lot to them so it’s likely that it does have an interesting story. If any of our readers have information they can provide, please let me know at greenback.history@gmail.com. As a reward, you will get to become part of the “Brain Trust” and receive future questions that I don’t know the answer to. What a deal!

I will forward your answers to our curious visitor. If there is an interesting story involved, we will want to share it here in the newsletter.

Paul Bailey

CHRONICLER, Issue 43 Page 4

I snapped several pictures, some of which are included here. We spent an hour and a half looking and talking, and I admit, I could have stayed longer. I highly recommend that you give them a visit!

Colleen Ragain

ACTIVITIES UPDATE

The program of “Just for Fun” activities was introduced in the January newsletter along with attendee experiences from some of the first events. Since then, several more excursions have taken place and additional activities have been added to the list of future venues. You can keep up to date about those opportunities by checking the calendar on the Greenback Historical Society website www.gbhistorical.com and by clicking on the “Just For Fun” page to get location information. Also see UPCOMING EVENTS on the back page of this newsletter for near-term events. We would like to hear about your experiences on these visits and look at any photos you might wish to share.

To whet your appetite, some of the proposed future sites on the “To-Do List” are the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum near Vonore; the Tellico Blockhouse State Historic Site also near Vonore; the Sweetwater Heritage Museum in Sweetwater; the Swift Aircraft Museum at the airport in Athens and the Etowah Railroad Depot Museum in Etowah. If readers know of other opportunities of historical interest in the general area, contact Colleen at 865-740-5429 and share with her. If members need help with transportation to scheduled events, contact Colleen, Brenda or Cindy and see if something can be worked out. Descriptions of visits to the Vonore Museum and the Englewood Textile Museum are presented below.

Paul Bailey

VONORE MUSEUM

On Saturday, January 27, 2018 some members of the Greenback Historical Society went to see the Vonore Heritage Museum at 619 Church Street in Vonore. We met Barbara Wolfe Barnby and Violet K. Wolfe, who opened the Museum, just for us, on a Saturday. Their usual hours of operation are Mondays through Thursdays 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. They will open on Saturdays by appointment.

According to our hosts, the museum used to be in a smaller white building across the street from the current, larger, bright blue building that now houses them.

It is a very well organized museum, with lots to look at, and the two ladies hosting us were fun and interesting to talk to.

They have a well-developed research section in the museum, with things like Census Records, Cemetery Records, Marriage Records, and Family Records. Apparently, a Mr. Claybough (I apologize if I mis-spelled this name) went through the effort of typing up an exhaustive index of the family records they have on hand, simply to aid researchers.

The new Vonore Heritage Museum building located at 619 Church Street, Vonore. Picture by Colleen Ragain.

The research section of the Vonore Museum. Docent Barbara Wolfe Barnby shows Barbara Davis some of the shelved records. Picture by Paul Bailey.

The Vonore Museum has several scale models of early buildings and dioramas of Indians villages. Picture by Colleen Ragain.

CHRONICLER, Issue 43 Page 5

ENGLEWOOD TEXTILE MUSEUM

Three of us bearded the rain and went to the Englewood Textile Museum on Saturday, February 10th. The museum has more open hours than most local museums, due to the fact it adjoins an antique store/gift shop. Their hours are Monday through Saturday, 10:00 to 5:00.

We were met by Virginia Key and Gail Anderson. They gave us an excellent tour of the museum and the "little white house" out back.

The textile industry was a big deal here, and it mostly started around 1907. There is quite the quantity of artifacts and articles and photos available to look at. There is a machine that a person would mash the top of a sock into, and the toe would be closed up, and the excess at the top of the sock would be cut off. (There were a few neat-o machines to look at.) The little circular bit from the top of the sock would be woven into something like the pot holders kids still like to make today. But then they could be stitched together into a blanket. There is a really nice example in the museum, and I sure wouldn't mind having one!

A good portion of the artifacts in the museum are pieces of clothing, accessories, blankets, and such, and a lot of it is for or about women, since women were the main workers in the industry here, but not all of it.

There are Civil War artifacts, and towards the end of the year, there is a “Dining with the Dead” event where they gather at Cochran Cemetery and have supper. They tell about the Union, Confederate, and Revolutionary war soldiers buried there. There are more Union soldiers there than Confederate (since the area at that time had mostly favored the Union), and only one Revolutionary War soldier. This sounds like fun, and I will try to give an update when I know the exact date/time.

If you ever are in the area, you should definitely stop in! It is located at 109 South Niota Road, Englewood.

Colleen Ragain

To the left is the mural of early Englewood painted on the wall of the museum. In the far ground is the “Little White House” annex to the museum. Picture by Colleen Ragain.

In a reconstruction of a scene from the floor of a textile mill, a mannequin operates a sock making machine. Picture by Colleen Ragain.

At the start of the tour, museum docent Virginia Key addresses the group.

Picture by Colleen Ragain.

Due to communication problems, IN MEMORIAM and CAROLYN’S CORNER did not appear in this issue. They will return next time.

UPCOMING EVENTS April 21, 2018. Quarterly Meeting, 10AM upstairs

Greenback Community Center. Public is invited.

April 28, 2018. 11:30AM Greenback Happy Survivors. Students & Teachers of Greenback High School 1924-1966. Greenback Community Center. Reservations necessary. Darlene Kerley, 865-983-7387.

April 28, 2018. Joint Greenback and Blount County Historical Societies event at Baker’s Creek Presbyterian Church. Noon potluck. Charlotte Miller and Shirley Hall will present a program on the history of Baker’s Creek Cemetery.

May 12, Just For Fun Trip to the Charles Hall Museum in Tellico Plains. Meet there at 10AM. See website for details.

June 30, Annual Ice Cream Contest. Setup at noon at the Greenback Community Center Pavilion. Contest at 1:00PM.

July 14, Quarterly Meeting. 2PM upstairs Greenback Community Center. Public is invited.

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Stamp Greenback Historical Society, Inc. P.O. Box 165 Greenback, Tennessee 37742

Officers and Directors Shirley Ridings Hall, President 865-856-3419 Colleen Ragain, Vice President 865-740-5429 Cindy Benefield, Secretary Brenda Tarwater Blair, Treas. 865-856-2394 Paul Bailey Larry Benson Barbara Davis Tim Grindstaff Kitty Ragain Lavonne Spires Supporters City of Greenback Kizer-Black Attys. T.C. Dixon, Printers C. Peck, Inc.