USA > Tennessee > Monroe County > Sweetwater > History of Sweetwater Valley > Part 11
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library owns about 1,800 books and subscribes for four- teen magazines; ten magazines are donated.
The library is open to the public three hours every Saturday afternoon. Different ones serve as librarian, donating their services.
At the fair in 1914 in connection with the "City Beau- tiful League" the members of the library served lunch and realized for the treasury $100.00. We have no in- come excepting membership fees and are compelled to resort to lunches, entertainments, etc., to replenish our bookshelves.
We make an order for new books four times a year and have added new bookcases, rugs and curtains that were badly needed.
When the plans of the building were submitted there was not enough ground for the building contemplated, so Mrs. Clark donated more ground to extend to yard fence of Mrs. Hutcheson and to extend to the wire fence of her (Mrs. Clark's) garden.
1915 officers are Mrs. S. T. Jones, president, Mrs. J. R. Love, vice-president, Clarence E. Young, secretary- treasurer, and Miss Nancy E. Jones, librarian.
CHILDREN OF MRS. H. M. COOKE.
Henry B. Cooke was born at Athens, Tenn., May 8, 1854. He married Fannie S. Meir, of Boulder, Col. She was born in Mitchell, Ind., November 27, 1861. He and she both are members of the Baptist church. After learning his trade, that of brick-mason and plasterer, at Sweetwater under Captain W. L. Clark he went to Boulder, Col .. then to Ash Grove, Mo., then to Coffee- ville, Kan., thence to Cedaredge, Col. At the last named place he died on January 15, 1912. Their children are: Harry D. Cooke, Red Cliff, Col .; C. M. Cooke, Cedar- edge, Col .; Nellie M. Cooke, Cedaredge, Col., and Mrs. Susan McCormick, Red Cliff, Col.
CHARLES MAYNARD COOKE
Was born at Athens, Tenn., July 1, 1856. He got his education from his mother and the public schools of Sweetwater. He studied law and went to Fort Smith, Ark., in 1882. There he married Sarah B. Luce, daugh-
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ter of Rear Admiral John Bleecker Luce on June 2, 1884. He has been city atttorney and mayor of Fort Smith and was assistant United States district attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in Mr. Cleveland's first administration. Since 1908 he has been a Christian Scientist. He moved to Harrison, Ark., in 1912.
The children of C. M. Cooke and wife are:
1. John Bleecker, b. May 17, 1885. In United States Navy at Mare Island.
2. Charles Maynard, b. December 19, 1886. In United States Navy at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Lieutenant in command of Submarine E-2.
3. Helen m., b. November 8, 1888; m. Johnson, Fort Smith, Ark.
4. Cornelia P., b. July 21, 1890. Now at Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia.
5. William Forester, b. July 8, 1892.` 4229 South Ben- ton Boulevard, Kansas City, Mo.
6. Stephen Bland, b. August 23, 1898. Attending school in Philadelphia, preparatory to entering An- napolis Naval Academy to which he has an appoint- ment.
NELLIE COOKE (McLIN)
Was born at Sweetwater May 1, 1859. She married Chas. E. McLin on January 3, 1882. He was born in Blount County, September 3, 1858. Mother and father were George A. and Jane McConnell McLin. C. E. McLin is secretary and treasurer of Anchor Duck Mills at Rome, Ga. Children: Clifton, b. June 23, 1885; d. August 7, 1901. Helen, b. January 6, 1895.
JAMES W. CLARK
Was born in Washington County, Va., December 23, 1825. He came to Monroe County, Tenn., probably early in the forties. He helped to build some of the residences in and around Madisonville. He had re- ceived a common school education and was not afraid of work. He and laziness did not have a speaking acquaint- ance.
He first married Sydney Ann, daughter of Robt. Cannon, who owned a large farm on the stage road one and a half miles northeast of Philadelphia, on Novem-
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ber 20, 1847. They had been married scarcely seven years when death came suddenly. The summer and fall of 1854 there was a great scourge of cholera in this sec- tion of the country. It was very prevalent and very fatal in Sweetwater Valley. The people were panic- stricken and I am told that half or more that took it died.
Mrs. Clark died of this disease July 29, 1854. She was born September 19, 1830. Robt. Cannon, father of Mrs. Clark, died also on the same date as his daughter. Previ- ous to that time there had been no deaths in the family for a great number of years.
The Loudon Free Press, a newspaper then in the town of Loudon, published the fact that in August, 1853, E. P. Clark, and J. W. Clark, and R. T. Wilson after- ward a New York millionaire, were each commencing the erection of a new residence in that town. Mr. J. W. Clark never occupied his.
Mrs. S. A. Clark left an infant daughter, Ida, who was born January 20, 1853; she married C. H. Hutcheson on December 30, 1887; she died at her residence in Sweetwater, January 28, 1915.
Mrs. Hutcheson was a faithful member of the M. E. Church, South, and one of the church's strongest sup- porters. She devoted a great deal of her time in later years to the church and its various organizations-the Sunday-school, missionary societies, etc. She also took great interest in the schools of the town and in the H. M. C. Library Association.
Mr. J. W. Clark married a second time, this time to Miss Bland Elizabeth Smith at Weston Mills, Catta- raugus County, New York, at the residence of her brother-in-law, H. P. Weston. She was born in King- ston, Canada, February 6, 1834. In 1855 she came south with Robt. McEwen, a merchant then of Athens, Tenn., who had gone to New York to purchase his stock of goods. The trip then was a toilsome one, and a young lady needed an escort. Miss Bland, came to Athens on a visit to her sister, Mrs. Helen M. Cooke, who was prin- cipal at a school for females at that place.
When Mrs. Cooke came to Sweetwater in 1857 Miss Bland came with her and here she met Mr. Clark and as stated they were afterward married.
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Mr. Clark was a contractor and builder. He and his brother, W. L. Clark, built many houses in Sweetwater, both business and residence.
He was a zealous member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, South. He superintended the construction of the new church here and he was the largest contrib- utor in money possibly with one exception, the Hon. Jno. K. Brown. He (Clark) spared no time or means to make the church and the parsonage adjoining such as would be an honor and a credit to the denomination and the town. The church stands on the site of the old Ma- sonic lodge, afterwards Victoria College, under charge of the Athens District Conference. He was a consid- erable stockholder in the bank of Sweetwater. The Sweetwater Flour Mill and the Sweetwater Woolen Mills. He was one of the town's most honored and respected citizens.
From the time Sweetwater was incorporated he was either mayor or an alderman, so long as he would con- sent to accept the position. He died at his residence in Sweetwater on October 13, 1897, and was interred in West View Cemetery.
Mrs. B. E. Clark survived her husband almost nine- teen years. She died at her residence in Sweetwater on Sunday, July 23, 1916, at 4:20 p. m. One of her last acts a short while before death was to donate $1,000.00 to build a Sunday-school annex to the Methodist Church, South.
CAPTAIN W. LEONIDAS CLARK
Was born near Abingdon in Washington County, Va., October 19, 1829. Mr. J. W. Clark was an older brother.
He took the gold fever and went to California in 1857. He went by the Panama route I think. The tribulations were not so great as in 1850 when General Vaughn went by that route, but it was still far from being a Sunday- school picnic excursion. I do not know exactly in what part of California he sought his fortune, but I have heard him speak of being with J. F. Owen and others. They were successful enough in their search for gold to get money enough to get back on, which was by no means always the case. Mr. Clark returned to this valley in 1860, as I am informed, as did also Mr. Owen. He
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(Clark), after his return to Sweetwater commenced the ยท study of medicine under Dr. M. C. Parker to learn how to cure people and ameliorate the ills of humanity ; how- ever, before being fully equipped for "curing" he was called on in 1861 to go and help kill the hated "invad- ers of our sacred southern soil." He joined Co. of - Regiment, Tennessee Vol. Cav., C. S. A. (I have not his army record at hand but it is in the archives of Jno. A. Rowan Camp at Sweetwater.) He came out of the war a captain. He did not resume the study of med- icine but was a mason, plasterer and contractor and builder. He wrought at these with the same energy and determination with which he had fought the "yankees" and with much more satisfactory results. He soon ac- quired a competence.
On November 12, 1870, he married Mrs. Mary E., widow of Mr. J. J. Sheldon (of whom a sketch has been given in these columns), and thereby hangs a tale if not a romance.
He was both an operative and a speculative mason. He was W. M. many times of Sweetwater Lodge No. 292, F. & A. M. The Grand Lodge formerly held its sessions in Nashville in November instead of January. Captain Clark and Mrs. Sheldon planned to get married just previous to the session of the Grand Lodge but kept their intentions secret. They went to Nashville on their bridal tour. The captain was considerable of a practi- cal joker and therefore sometimes became the victim of one himself. However he was always good humored about it and would "acknowledge the corn" which would mean in later phrase ""'the treats are on me." Some of his Masonic brethren in Sweetwater thought he should have given some inkling of his intentions so that they could have given him a good send-off. As that pleasure was not afforded them they sent a dispatch to the chief of police at Nashville somewhat as follows: "Arrest W. L. Clark, of Sweetwater, who has absconded with another man's wife." Word was sent. The ar- rest was made according to schedule. But when the brethren tried to explain to the chief that it was all a practical joke he refused to listen and said it was no joke with him, that he was simply doing his official duty. The matter was becoming serious and it took the Grand
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Lodge and the remnant of the Southern Confederacy to get his quick release. As the Captain laughingly said when he got back home: "I Scotts, boys, you like to have got me in the jug, sure enough." Which goes to show that practical jokers sometimes go farther than they intend with their jokes and you can't always tell whom the joke is on. The senders of the telegram might have gotten into trouble.
In 1878, Captain Clark bought 20 acres off of the Lenoir farm southwest of the town. He built a resi- dence on the hill on the Athens road where he resided at the time of his death. He died April 20, 1889. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
He possesed a good library and read much. He con- versed intelligently and interestingly on a variety of subjects. He had a contempt for shams and superficial knowledge. He said it was far better not to know any- thing at all than to "know" it wrong; for then you would not have to unlearn what you thought you knew. En- tire ignorance was better than action on wrong assump- tions, which subjected you to loss and ridicule.
The children of W. L. and M. E. Clark were:
1. Charles L., b. October 11, 1873.
2. Mabel E., b. January 18, 1875.
3. Frances J., b. October 14, 1879 ..
1. Charles L. m. Annie Rhea, daughter of Jno. R. Gaines, of Sweetwater on January 12, 1905. She was b. September 4, 1880. Their children are: James W., b. March 31, 1906, and John Craig, b. November 3, 1910. Charles Clark resides at the W. L. Clark residence in Sweetwater. He was educated in Sweetwater and is secretary and treasurer of The American Textile Com- pany.
.. 2. Mabel E., m. Wesley Dickey, January 17, 1907. (For his history see Browder family.) She died August 1, 1908. There was one child, Mabel, b. August 1, 1908. 3. Frances J., m. Robt. C. Copenhaver, of Abingdon, Va., May 10, 1906. He is a manufacturer of iron and lives at Abingdon. She died there Nov. 16, 1908. She was buried in West View Cemetery at Sweetwater. They had two children: Robert C., b. June 10, 1907, and Frances Clark, b. October 28, 1908.
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THE CUNNINGHAMS.
The above is the way the family have commonly spelled the name in this country. The English use "i" instead of "y." I am inclined to think, however, without a thorough investigation, that the Scotch orthography was "Conyngham," meaning the home of the Conyngs. The Scotch word "hame" means home. From the song "Comin' thro' the Rye" we quote :
"What's his name or where's his hame I dinna care to tell."
James Cunnyngham was Scotch-Irish. He was an Episcopalian. He lived in Ulster, North Ireland. He married Arabella Good. They emigrated to this country in 1769. They came through Philadelphia, Pa., and set- tled in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. He died there sixteen or seventeens years later. (Holston Methodism, Vol. 2.)
Their children were six in number: James, William (Henry), Arabella, Charlotte, Magdalen, and the name of the other not known.
Shortly after the death of her husband, Mrs. Arabella Cunnyngham moved with her family and some others to Tennessee, to what was known afterwards as "Tay- lor's Bend" of the French Broad River. The year is given as 1786. James and William were born in Ire- land, the others in Shenandoah Valley. James was killed by the Cherokee Indians. Charlotte married George Turnley of Botetourt County, Va. Arabella married John Winton and they were the ancestor and ancestress of the Roane County Wintons.
William was born in Ireland July 3; 1765 He died in Sevier County, February 11, 1845. He married a Miss Lewis, a daughter of Amos Lewis. He was converted under the preaching of the Rev. Thos. Wilkerson and be- came a minister of the M. E. Church. Their children were Jesse, John, Wiley, Wilkerson, Polly, Betsey, Jane and Charlotte.
Jesse was born in Jefferson County on the French Broad River ten miles above Knoxville, October 25, 1789. His M. E. Church history is as follows: He was con- verted in 1805; admitted to Holston Conference in 1811; was Presiding Elder in 1816; located in 1826; read-
-
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mitted in 1849 and superannuated. He died in 1857. He was married to Mary Etter on December 16, 1819. She was born in Fincastle, Va. She was quite a noted wo- man. (See Holston Methodism.) She died at the resi- dence of her son-in-law, Robert Craven, on May 28, 1868. Mr. Craven lived near Chattanooga on the side of Look- out Mountain. They both were buried in the cemetery near Athens, Tenn.
Jesse Cunnyngham's home from probably about 1826 till the time of his death was in Monroe County not far from the head of Eastanallee Creek. This was after- ward known as the Edwards, now the W. F. Orr place. He was a noted revivalist. I heard a darkey talking about his preaching once. He was telling some other negroes : "He shore is a skeery preacher. I don't like to listen to him; he makes me dream of the devil and the bad place."
Jesse Cunnyngham was one of the four commission- ers appointed by the county court in 1835 to lay off Monroe County into districts; the other commissioners being William Bayless, John Callaway, Senior and Thomas L. Toomy. They divided the county into seven- teen districts; the number was afterward increased to twenty.
Dr. Price in speaking of Jesse Cunnyngham and his wife says : "They reared a large family of children, brought them up in the fear of God, and they became or- naments to society and an honor to their parents. The Rev. W. G. E. Cunnyngham, one of his sons, came to eminence. He was for a number of years missionary to China and for a long time afterward was the Sunday- school secretary and an editor of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, South."
JAMES R. CUNNINGHAM,
son of Jesse Cunnyngham, was born January 28, 1828. He married Caroline S. Weathers, June 18, 1857. He died at his home on Eastanalla, October 3, 1898. Caroline S. Cunnyngham died at her home on Eastanalla Decem- ber 16, 1901. Children of J. R. and Caroline Cunnyng- ham :
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(1) Virginia M., b. March 9, 1858. She married Thos. Hunnycutt January 11, 1888. She died April 26, 1888. He married (second),
Live in Choctaw nation, Oklahoma.
(2) Sarah, b. October 27, 1859. She died November 10, 1861.
(3) Charles W., b. February 12, 1863. He married Catharine Carter, March, 1893. He lives at Sweetwater, R. F. D. No. 1.
(4) Mary C., b. May 6, 1865. She married J. A. Mc- Campbell April 15, 1899. They live at Knoxville, Tenn., R. F. D. No. 6.
(5) Elizabeth C., b. November 22, 1867. She married C. B. Tansy, January 22, 1890. They live at Chatta- nooga.
The children of Elizabeth Cunnyngham and C. B. Tansy are:
a Hoyt, b. April 20, 1893.
b Nita B., b. November 8, 1895.
(6) Hattie, b. September 9, 1870. She married J. W. McBroom August 14, 1912. They live at Leon, Okla.
(7) Jessie, b. May 30, 1877. She married Geo. C. Bout- well June 18, 1905. Mr. Boutwell died February, 1913. Mrs. Boutwell lives at Leon, Okla.
We have no history of John, Wiley and Wilkerson, brothers of Jesse. The four sisters were Polly, Jane, Betsey and Charlotte. They all married and settled in this section. Polly married Thornton C. Goddard in Knox County on February 3, 1817. Betsey married Johnathan Pickel, of Pond Creek Valley, 1821. Jane married William Patton, of Sweetwater Valley, June, 1823. Charlotte was the third wife of Samuel McSpad- den. They lived on Dancing Branch seven miles south of Sweetwater.
The descendants of the Cunnynghams, wherever you trace them, are numerous. Those in McMinn, Monroe, Loudon and Roane counties are not exceptions to this rule. They are long-lived and retain their mental and physical vigor to ripe old age.
THE CUNNYNGHAMS.
It is a characteristic of the Cunnyngham posterity, wherever they have lived or whatever name known by,
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to be independent, free and untrammeled in politics, re- ligion and personal habits. However there is little or nothing of the puritan in their make-up. There was never any disposition to persecute others for opinions sake. Their attitude to the outside world was: "You let me and my family alone and what does not concern you and I'll let you alone." They do not insist that others shall adopt their opinions and habits; which con- sidering their number and influence is a "God's bless- ing." Not that what they do and the manner in which they do it may be wrong in itself, but some of them are idiosyncratic; have queer ways peculiar to themselves. One of these descendants I knew years ago said to a friend, who had criticised his actions: "I do and say what I please, when I please and where I please." This notwithstanding Solomon asserted: "There is a time for all things." So he proceeded in summer to go bare- foot almost everywhere he went, except sometimes to church. This he did, not on account of the expense of boots and shoes, but he contended that it was more healthful and saved much time He lived, as we would now say, according to eugenics. He did not try to make others go barefoot but said that was his way and that was the way he was going to do as long as it violated no law of God or man. In simple matters of taste we should not dispute. No doubt it was just as uncom- fortable for him to wear shoes in hot weather as it would be for a tenderfoot to walk over gravels without them. As to church predilections the Cunnynghams were near- ly all Methodists, a few have been Presbyterians.
THE CUNNINGHAMS-PATTONS.
We have already given the history of those branches of the Cunnyngham family which intermarried with Jonathan Pickel, T. C. Goddard and William Patton, of Sweetwater Valley. We now take up that branch of the Pattons, using largely as to remote ancestry infor- mation obtained from the late Wiley Patton, a former resident of Sweetwater but dying in Texas.
Hans Patton, evidently of German origin, settled in what is now Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, between
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the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers near the site of Pittsburgh. Fort Duquesne, located in the forks of above rivers, was in possession of the French and Indians until 1738. It is presumed from what is narrated here- after, that he went there subsequent to that time and previous to 1776. Little is known of his history; when he died or what his wife's name was. He was the father of three sons, Robert, Frances and Jacob, and two daugh- ters, Jane and Phoebe.
Robert was a Revolutionary soldier. His record is on file in the United States Pension Office, Washington, D. C. He was first a lieutenant and then a captain be- fore the close of the war. His son, William Patton, was born in Allegheny County, Pa., April 22, 1792. After that time "he (Robert)," Wiley Patton wrote, "moving from there (Allegheny County, Pa.) to Kentucky, thence to Knox County, Tennessee, staying a few years in each state, and died in Knox County on the 4th day of Sep- tember, 1815. He was about 65 years old." This would make the year of his birth 1750.
The maiden name of Robert's wife was Isabella Fraaser. From the use of the "aa" in the spelling of the name I would take it that she was a Hollander. She died in Knox County, October 18, 1822, at about the age of 59, making the year of her birth 1763.
William Patton was the son of Robert and Isabella Patton. If there were other children we are not in- formed.
WILLIAM PATTON.
William P. married Jane Cunnyngham, as has been stated, in Knox County, in June, 1823. Soon afterward they settled in Sweetwater Valley four miles south of where the town of Sweetwater now is, and one mile north of the low gap in Sweetwater ridge. He was a farmer and a mechanic. He paid considerable attention to stock raising. He was the first man if not the only man to have a track in the valley for the training of horses. It was on the quarter section on which he resided. It was a straight half-mile track and ran along near the pub- lic road. It was not inclosed and sometimes young bloods in this section who wanted to know who had the
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fastest horse went there to find out. The amount in- volved in the result was usually small and no great at- tention was attracted.
William Patton did everything with conscientious thoroughness. To illustrate. He was a fine mechanic. During the Civil War here in the south iron furnaces and foundries either were not running, or if they were they were engaged in the manufacture of arms and mu- nitions of war for the Confederacy. Wood in many in- stances had to take the place of iron. At that time near- ly every one who farmed at all raised a patch of sor- ghum. The cane was used for the manufacture of mo- lasses and sugar, more largely the former. When sugar could not be obtained molasses was substituted for it; one was called "long sweetening" the other "short sweetening." In serving coffee or parched rye water (postum) it was sometimes asked which you preferred "long or short sweetening."
Cane mills were scarce in those days and very much needed. They were also considered difficult to make. My father, I. T. Lenoir, had tried several which had proved very unsatisfactory. It was a problem to find some one to make a good one. Mr. Patton learning of it told my father if he would furnish him a strong hand to turn the lathe and do whatever he wanted him to do that he would make him one that would work. My father told him that he would gladly do so and furnish any ma- terial that could be obtained. This I think was in the summer of 1861 or 1862. For a shop Mr. Patton had only a hand lathe under a shed in front of the house near the road. He had only a few tools.
True the machinery you might say was simple-two hard wood rollers with wooden cogs-the rollers placed upright in a frame and attached to a sweep or lever so a horse could turn them. The horse went in a circle and led himself around after he was started.
It was a very much mooted question in the neighbor- hood with the appliances at hand whether or not Mr. Patton could make a satisfactory machine. It was next in importance to whether the ".yanks" or "rebs" would whip in the fight. It became a matter of neighborhood pride that he should be successful. I, a boy then, took great interest in the work, went along with the hand
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and closely watched its progress. Mr. Patton took much pains and was very deliberate in his work. When the mill was finished we hauled it home with as much pride as if it had been the ark of the covenant. It worked like a charm; I would have been sorely disappointed if it had not. It lasted many years and proved a blessing also to the neighbors, who were free to use it. He was importuned to make other mills but refused; said that he made that one merely as a model to show what could be done; that he was getting too old for such work: He was then about 70. He had no idea then that his sor- ghum mill would be written of more than fifty years afterward or become historical.
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