Submerged, but not forgotten
TVA asked to relocate grave sites

By Dick Cook, Staff Writer

Driftwood rather than flowers decorates the graves of three members of the Long family, who were buried on the banks of the Tennessee River more than a century ago.

Dennis Lambert, an amateur historian living in Bridgeport, Ala., believes he may be related to the people in the partially submerged cemetery in Mullins Cove, and he wants the Tennessee Valley Authority to relocate the graves. "There are tombstones sticking up out of the lake," Mr. Lambert said. "I think it’s a disgrace. Those graves were supposed to have been moved."

However, TVA officials said the gravesite was under water long before the federal utility built Nickajack Dam in the late 1960s. They said Long Cemetery No. 2, as it is denoted by Marion County historians, was flooded by the construction of Hales Bar Dam in 1913. "It predates TVA," said Gil Francis, a spokesman for the agency. "Having said that, TVA does have grave removal policies."

Graves may be relocated if they will be affected by the construction of a reservoir, officials said. It’s up to descendants to decide whether the graves are moved or flooded. TVA relocated 555 cemeteries while building the reservoir system, Mr. Francis said.

The three tombstones rise from two feet of lake water on a mounded area of submerged river rock about 70 yards from the bank where Dry Creek empties into the lake. They mark the graves of Henry, Moses and Sarah Long. Henry Long died in 1875 and Sarah in 1860. Moses’ birth is noted as Nov. 25, 1880, but the date of death is illegible.

Mr. Lambert said a branch of his family tree is the Longs from Middle Tennessee who moved into Marion County in the 1800s.

Archaeologist Lawrence Alexander of Alexander Archaeological Consultants Inc. said that in such situations "where you’ve got two or three stones, there are probably three or four times as many graves there, as a rule of thumb."

Nick Fielder, the state’s archaeologist, said Long Cemetery No. 2 would be of "archaeological interest."

"I’ve never seen (a graveyard) with tombstones that ended up above the water," Mr. Fielder said. "I will raise the subject with the TVA archaeology group."

Amateur historians in the area said they are aware of the graveyard but know little about the Longs buried there.

Euline Harris, 72, wrote a book listing all the cemeteries in Marion County. Her interest was sparked when she began researching her husband’s family’s genealogy with a group of friends in the 1980s, she said.

"One of the girls in the group contacted TVA some years ago, and they had a list of the graves overrun when Hales Bar was built," Mrs. Harris said. "We were told TVA tried to contact families when they built Nickajack Dam. If they did not reply, there was nothing they could do."

Ida Smith took photos of dozens of cemeteries in Marion County, including the submerged Long Cemetery, which she posted on a genealogy Web site.

Mrs. Smith said she used a boat to get to the three tombstones rising above the waters of Mullins Cove. "When I found it, I didn’t know if it had been recorded," she said. "I thought it was very interesting in the real shallow water there."

TVA officials said utility personnel "probably" knew about the existence of underwater Long Cemetery No. 2 when Nickajack Dam was built.

"It is my understanding that in 1999, because the headstones were tilted down, TVA reset the headstones," Mr. Francis said.

Mr. Lambert wants TVA to do more than straighten the tombstones. If the utility won’t relocate the graves, it should build the area up above the water line, he said.

"When these folks died and were buried, they never thought they would be buried at sea," Mr. Lambert said. "It’s not right."

Historic Will Cummings Home Sells For $360,000
Posted July 23, 2005 Chattanoogan.com

The historic Will Cummings home in Lookout Valley sold for $360,000 at an absolute auction on Saturday afternoon.

Two men who met for the first time at the auction - Greg Vital and Ken Ficken - teamed up to buy it.

Mr. Vital said plans are to preserve and restore the home, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt once visited.

He said the remainder of the property would be developed, but he said no plan is in place.

The house was sold along with 5.14 acres.

A tract of 2.51 acres next to it was put up for auction, but was withdrawn when it only brought $60,000.

Members of the Cagle family also opted to keep another tract on the other side of the old home. The Cagles, who are from Jackson County, Ala., bought the property from the Will Cummings estate in 1990.

Judge Cummings was Chattanooga's first city court judge, and he later was a powerful county judge who was well acquainted with FDR. He was county judge from 1912 to 1918 and again from 1926 to 1942. His family once owned much of Lookout Valley, settling there long before the Civil War.

The house dates to the early 1900s and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It sits on a knoll across the the Cummings Cove development that is on another portion of Cummings land. Developer Jimmy Chapin leased the Cummings home for a couple of years as a sales office for Cummings Cove.

Bidding on the house started at $200,000 and slowly edged up until it finally got to $300,000. Until then, auctioneer Pete Horton was saying somebody was about to get a big bargain.

It finally got down to the Vital-Ficken team against a couple who moved to Chattanooga from Chicago about a year ago. Victoria Berghel is an attorney, and her husband, Rob, is a commercial realtor.

"The house has a lot of nice features," said Mr. Berghel, pointing to some of the leaded glass at the front of the spacious living room.

The Berghels said they may be interested in buying the house when it is restored.

The auction was held on the broad front porch of the house. It goes the length of the front and partially around two sides.

Greg Vital has been involved in the restoration of several historic buildings, including the Dome Building in downtown Chattanooga. Mr. Ficken is in the foreclosure business.

The purchasers also had to pay a 5 percent buyer's premium.

Workshop on Saturday 
On Growing a Family Tree

By Jan Galletta Staff Writer

    Jim Holcomb just dabbled in genealogy until the death of an aunt 11 years ago led him to buy a computer program to help with mapping out his family tree.
When he learned Abraham Lincoln’s brother-in-law had died at a Holcomb ancestor’s home place, he was hooked on the roots-researching hobby, he said.     Since then, the Harrison man has charted every grave in more than 200 cemeteries, many in Chattanooga, and has posted their burial rosters on the Hamilton County Genealogy Society’s Web site. He’s also compiled data on roughly 85,000 relatives, connected in some way to his own clan.
    "The more you dig, the more you learn," said Holcomb, 55. "It fascinates me, filling in family names like missing pieces in a crossword puzzle."
    Saturday, he’ll share tips on building a family history at the society’s annual Genealogy Workshop, set for 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 615 Derby Street. Admission is $10 in advance and $15 at the door, with $5 deli-style lunches available by reservation.
    Featuring speakers, vendors and exhibitors from across the tri-state region, the event "offers just about anything a genealogist, from the novice to the expert, needs to further his or her research," said Dennis Wilson, 50, society president. "It promises to be our best workshop ever."
    Wilson said the seminar’s highlights include two presentations on exploring one’s Cherokee ancestry by Lorna Morton Hibbs, former official genealogist of the Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama.
    Other lecturers and topics include Paul K. Graham on land-lottery research, Mary Helms on Internet genealogy, Tracy Knauss on graphics’ role in genealogy and Mary Crawford Tinkler on organizing wall charts.     Terry Silar will speak on the Sons of Confederate Ve terans organization and Rufus Williamson will discuss Scots-Irish ancestry. Rounding out the program are videos on cemetery research by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack and Internet genealogy publishing by Terry McBroom.
    Several history-oriented groups will have displays and various vendors of genealogical wares will be on hand as well. Door prizes will be presented.
    E-mail Jan Galletta at jgalletta@timesfreepress .com

IF YOU GO

    What: Hamilton County Genealogical Society’s Genealogy Workshop.
    When: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.
    Where: 615 Derby St.
    Admission: $10 in advance, $15 at the door; $5 lunch, by reservation.
    Phone: 877-8564.
    Web site: www.HCTGS.org.

The Chattanooga Times Free-Press, Friday, May 13, 2005.

Cuts threaten library resources
Officials appeal to public for help with funding

By Susan Pierce Staff Writer

Budget cuts will force the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library to drop magazine subscriptions, reference sources and a popular Web-based genealogy resource, the director said Wednesday.
   "All of our subscriptions to databases, reference books and magazines will be drastically cut back in the next few months without help," said David Clapp, library executive director. Heritage Quest, a Web-based genealogy resource that costs $5,390 a year, is among the databases that would be discontinued, he said.
   "It has federal census records online for the public to access from home," Mr. Clapp said. "We get about a million hits on the library’s Web site each month, and Heritage Quest is by far the most popular link."
   He and other library officials are asking the public for contributions to continue providing the research and reference materials.
   "If every individual who uses Heritage Quest contributed a dollar, we could pay for it and add other databases and materials, as well," Mr. Clapp said. Hamilton County commissioners in June approved a budget that included reductions to the library’s budget request. Commissioners made cuts to many requests from agencies jointly funded with the city.
   Mr. Clapp said about $200,000 is needed to continue the resource materials when current subscriptions expire.
   Library visitors may see the result of these budget cuts as soon as January, he said.
   "Periodical subscriptions expire in December," he said. "So in January as much as half of our shelves will be empty of new editions of periodicals. We’ve already closed 30 percent of our subscriptions to reference editions."
   Database subscriptions are on a July to June timetable. Mr. Clapp said he wants to make the public aware now that these services will not be accessible this summer without financial assistance.
   Marian Riggar and her mother, Mrs. J. Inman Kidd, made a $1,000 donation for the purchase of new children’s books in honor of the grandchildren of the late Mr. Kidd.
   " Reading and using the public library has been very important to the Kidd family," Mrs. Riggar said.
   Mr. Clapp said children’s books and school support materials are a critical need for the library.
   Jeff Atherton, vice president of the Chattanooga Southeast Tennessee Home Education Association, said homeschoolers are heavy users of the library.
   "I had not heard that they were looking at such a significant shortfall," he said. "Our homeschool board will be meeting in the next week, and I’m sure this is one of the topics we will be discussing."
  TOP LIBRARY NEEDS Heritage Quest genealogy database, $5,390 American Business Disk, $5,000 Replacing missing Spanish cassettes, $500 "Encyclopedia of Medical Organizations and Agencies," $360 "Acronyms, Initialism & Abbreviations," $895 Value Line Investment Survey, $798 A complete list of library requests can be found on the Internet at: www.lib.chattanooga.gov Source: Chattanooga-Hamilton County Bicentennial Library

This story was published Thursday, December 09, 2004
 

Charges dismissed in cemetery case.

Hamilton County General Sessions Court Judge Mike Carter dismissed charges Monday against two men each facing 54 counts of destruction to cemetery monuments.

The judge said both Miles C. Koger, 72, of Lookout Valley, and John D. Jackson, 58, of St. Elmo, were not at fault in damage at the Parker Cemetery when bulldozers damaged several headstones.

According to court records, Chattanooga police responded after receiving a call that someone was using a bulldozer to destroy a cemetery in Lookout Valley. Officers stated they arrived to find Mr. Jackson operating a bulldozer in Parker Cemetery in the 100 block of Drew Road.

Mr. Jackson told police that Mr. Koger, the property owner, had hired him to clear the land.

Police reported finding a large pile of dirt with monuments that had been pushed by the bulldozer and ruts the machine had caused over several gravesites.

Judge Carter said he would go to the cemetery today at 4 p.m. in an attempt to work out a solution to provide permanent upkeep.

Chattanooga Times-Free Press, November 17, 2004

Small grave site disturbed
Owner says tried to improve 1.4-acre Lookout Valley cemetery
By Duane W. Gang Staff Writer

As a child, Nina Gossett Baughn remembers attending funerals at Parker Cemetery in Lookout Valley .
   So the 77-year-old Chattanoogan was angry and dismayed this week when she learned a backhoe cleared the site and that headstones there have been destroyed and damaged.
   Her great-grandparents and a great uncle are buried in the 1.4-acre cemetery, which dates back more than 100 years. It contains the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers, relatives of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.,R - Tenn RTenn., and former slaves.
   "We are very upset about it," said Mrs. Baughn, who said she saw only one headstone standing when she visited the site this week. "(The property owner) has desecrated graves we will never locate. He has ruined it. I do hope that we can push and make him do something about it."
   But owner Miles Koger said he set out from the beginning to improve the cemetery and make it something relatives could be proud to visit.
   "We didn’t knock down any headstones," Mr. Koger said. "This year I decided to clear it, seed and fix it so a riding lawnmower could keep it trimmed."
   Mr. Koger, 72, and John Jackson, 58, the backhoe operator, each have been charged with one count of destruction of cemetery property, a felony. The two are due in court June 3. The cemetery has been neglected for years and an association charged with keeping it maintained has done nothing, Mr. Koger said. He said he bought the land, adjacent to his property at 113 Drew Road , in 1984 for $500. A tornado heavily damaged the cemetery in 1998, he said.
   Mr. Koger said he hired Mr. Jackson to remove logs and debris. Mr. Jackson, who owns Jackson Backhoe, digs graves and does cemetery maintenance.
   "I know John Jackson is aware of cemeteries," Mr. Koger said. "That’s what he does."
   Mr. Jackson could not be reached for comment.
   At the very least, Mr. Koger should put a memorial at the site, said Mrs. Baughn, who was born and raised in Lookout Valley . Her great-grandfather, Richard Gossett, died in 1892. Her great-grandmother,  Hannah Gossett, died 23 years later. Mrs. Baughn said she is not sure when her great uncle, Faith Gossett, was buried at the cemetery.
   Mrs. Baughn said she and other relatives believe the last person buried in the cemetery was Pearl Sharp, who died at age 40 in 1936. Mrs. Baughn said she remembers her.
   City Councilman John Lively said he has relatives buried in the cemetery. He said he contacted Mike Compton, the mayor’s chief of staff, as soon as he heard about work at the cemetery. Mr. Compton then contacted city inspectors who issued a stop-work order to the property owner, officials said. Mr. Lively said he doesn’t like what was done.
   "I just can’t believe a person would have the gall to go in there and doze up a cemetery," he said.
   Sen. Frist’s great uncle, James B. Frist and his wife are buried there. Spokesman Nick Smith said the senator is aware of the situation but could not comment.
   Alex McKeel, 28, who researched the cemetery for the Lookout Valley Neighborhood Association, said he has confirmed that Revolutionary War soldiers and former slaves are buried there.
   "There could be 10, 20 or 50," he said. "Former slaves, unfortunately, people didn’t care about."
   Mr. McKeel said most of the graves in the cemetery are unmarked. "A few more now, unfortunately," he said.
   The Native American Reserve Force of the Hamilton County Sheriff ’s Department also is investigating to see whether any American Indians are buried in the cemetery, authorities said.
   Raymond Evans, who consults for the Chattanooga African-American Museum , said what has happened at the Parker Cemetery is all too common.
   "It is an example of an unfortunate situation throughout the Chattanooga area," he said. "There are dozens of small private cemeteries around that are like that, that have no maintenance. Some you can drive by the road and not know they are there."
   Mr. Evans said Tennessee law prohibits someone from disturbing a grave. But the state has no legislation protecting cemeteries in terms of upkeep, he said. In Georgia , each county is responsible, he said.
   "That is something Tennessee would do well to emulate," Mr. Evans said. "There should be some systematic way of recording these cemeteries and providing some kind of upkeep."
   Staff writers Mike O’Neal and Andy Sher contributed to this story.
   E-mail Duane W. Gang at dgang@timesfreepress.com Fast facts Parker Cemetery , on Drew Road in Lookout Valley , covers 1.4 acres and dates back more than 100 years. Revolutionary War soldiers, relatives of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,, R-Tenn.,R - Tenn RTenn., and former slaves are among those buried there. 
This story was published Saturday, May 15, 2004

New charges filed in cemetery destruction case
By Mike O’Neal Staff Writer

More charges were filed Monday against two men arrested last week in connection with reported damage at a Lookout Valley cemetery.
   Both Miles C. Koger, 72, of Lookout Valley, and John D. Jackson, 58, of St. Elmo, were charged Wednesday with a single count of destruction of cemetery monuments. On Monday, each was charged with an additional 53 counts of destruction, Chattanooga Police Department spokesman Sgt. Tom Layne said.
   Sgt. Layne said the officers who made the arrests found that 54 monuments either were damaged or destroyed.
   Each count is a felony under state law, officials said. Mr. Jackson and Mr. Koger could not be reached for comment Monday.
   According to the original affidavit of complaint, Chattanooga police responded to the 100 block of Drew Road after receiving a call that someone was using a bulldozer to destroy a cemetery.
   Officers stated they arrived to find Mr. Jackson operating a bulldozer in what is known as Parker Cemetery . Mr. Jackson told police that Mr. Koger, the property owner, had hired him to clear the land.
   Police reported finding a large pile of dirt with monuments that had been pushed by the bulldozer and ruts that the machine had caused over several gravesites.
   In his complaint, Officer Joe Kearns stated he asked if Mr. Koger "had obtained permits for the demolition of the cemetery," and Mr. Koger said "no."
   Both Mr. Koger and Mr. Jackson were arrested, charged and released on $10,000 bond. They are scheduled to appear June 3 in Hamilton County General Sessions Court .
   Court records show the head of the Parker Cemetery Association, Steve Daughtry, of Hixson, has been subpoenaed in the case.
   Mr. Daughtry could not be reached for comment.
   To m Bodkin of the Hamilton County medical examiner’s officer said he visited the scene to represent the interests of his office, which involved the possibility of disturbed graves or exposed human remains.
   He said he did not find any disturbed graves or exposed remains.
   Mr. Bodkin said that, after noting a debris pile containing gravestones and depressions that indicated graves, he called state archaeologist Nick Fielder.
   "Locating the graves is not a problem," Mr. Fielder said. "Restoring the proper tombstone to the right grave is the problem."
   The 1.4-acre cemetery dates back more than 100 years. It contains the graves of Revolutionary War soldiers, relatives of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, RTenn., and former slaves.
   E-mail Mike O’Neal at moneal@timesfreepress.com 
May 18, 2004

Buried veterans records on Web
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Sally Naporlee turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs to find out more about her grandfather, who served during World War I.
   After a few weeks wait for a response, Naporlee learned from the VA that Carmelo Castorina is buried at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, N.Y. Unexpectedly, she also learned from VA that her grandmother is buried with him, a privilege extended to veterans’ spouses.
   VA has made it easier and faster for the public to get answers about family history, old war buddies or famous war heroes. The agency put on the Web 3.2 million records for veterans buried at 120 national cemeteries since the Civil War.
   The VA’s Nationwide Gravesite Locator, at http://www.cem.va.gov, also has records for some state veterans cemeteries and burials in Arlington National Cemetery since 1999. Joe Nosari, VA’s deputy chief information officer for Memorial Affairs, said the records used to be on paper and microfilm. Private companies have put some of the information online and charged for it, but the VA information is free, he said.
   Naporlee, of Spokane , Wash. , also learned her grandfather served with the Army’s 161 DB unit, enlisting June 24, 1918 . He was honorably discharged December 17, 1918 . The VA’s gravesite navigator includes names, dates of birth and death, military service dates, service branch and rank if known, cemetery information and grave location in the cemetery. The VA will withhold some information, such as next of kin, for privacy purposes.
   The site will be updated daily. Annually, about 80,000 veterans are buried at national cemeteries.
   The VA also hopes to add records for veterans whose families requested grave markers from the VA. Those markers may go to private cemeteries. 

The Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tuesday, April 13, 2004.

Residents struggle to save historic Johnson Cemetery

By Kimberly Starkes – Times Staff Writer

            Hidden behind high briar patches and large trees on Old Champion Road is a cemetery dating to the 19^th century. The tombstones, tilted by trees and covered with moss, tell a story known only to a few Washington Hills residents whose ancestors reside there.

            “This cemetery sort of fell into my hands,” said owner Charles McKenzie, 67, a direct descendant of Willis Johnson, the first owner of the community cemetery started just before slavery ended in 1865. Known as Johnson Cemetery , it is where newly freed slaves were buried. It later became a resting place of other residents of the community, and the last burial there occurred in the early 1990s.

            The cemetery is the neighborhood’s secret gem, but it is unkempt, Mr. McKenzie said.

            “I can’t answer what happens way down the road, but it is a historical place,” he said.

            Serving the area once known as Magsby’s Pond and Turkey Foot, Mr. Johnson’s vision was to establish a church and a school in the area along with the cemetery, Mr. McKenzie said.

            People who lived in the area were buried free of charge, and members of Mount Calvary Baptist Church would donate money to keep the cemetery clean. As older residents began dying, Mr. McKenzie charged $100 for each burial, which he said some simply refused to pay. Anyone living in the community was eligible to be buried at the cemetery, but no long-term arrangements were made, he said.

            “At other cemeteries it costs between $600 and $2, 000,” Mr. McKenzie said. “We’ve depleted our funds, and we don’t have any money to clean parts of the cemetery on top of the hill.

            “People coming along now don’t know anything about these folks, so they don’t take an interest,” he said.

            Russell Gilbert, a Washington Hills resident whose great-great-grandfather Samuel Shepherd is buried on the property, said he wants to preserve the graveyard and make it a historic site to honor his ancestors and educate his children.

            “If he came from slavery until now, I believe that any goals can be achievable, and the goal set now is to preserve that,” Mr. Gilbert said.

            Mr. Shepherd was given the property upon which his descendants now live in Washington Hills.

            “This cemetery should be a historical site through things he did in his life, coming out of slavery to become an herb doctor and minister to serve different people in Washington Hills community and surrounding areas,” Mr. Gilbert said.

            Along with tombstones, there are unmarked, sunken graves adorned only with rocks.

            Lawrence Reger, president of Washington D. C.-based Heritage Preservation, said spring would be a good time to clean up the cemetery.

            “Sometimes a youth group or a church will adopt a cemetery and make it into their project,” Mr. Reger said. “They can start by doing some research and find out what their cemetery meant and still means, then they’ll be more likely to take responsibility for it.”

            Washington Hills resident Frances Wilkins-Hudson, 87, said Johnson Cemetery is where some of her family members were put to rest.

            “Now, when I pass, I doubt there are any relatives in the area left to look after those graves,” Mrs. Hudson said. “For the last two years I have had a gentleman clean the Wilkins’ plot off. Any burying place is important, and as long as I live, it will be cleaned off.”

            Lacking funds to clean the cemetery and uncertain about the graveyard’s future, Mr. McKenzie said he’s made arrangements to be buried somewhere else.

            “I’ll be at Hamilton Memorial Gardens , because I know they’ll keep it up,” he said. “But hopefully we’ll get the entire cemetery cleaned up and have the funds to keep it clean.”

            Mr. Gilbert said he will find youths and other people interested in preserving the cemetery.

            “We’ve preserved the Booker T. Washington football field; now we’re looking towards the cemetery,” he said. “From my great-great grandfather’s legacy we’ve had professors teaching at Tuskegee , Yale and Emory, ambassadors and authors. Samuel Shepherd is one of many that has accomplished things in this Hamilton County area.”

The Chattanooga Times Free Press, Monday, March 8, 2004

First Presbyterian Church of Soddy-Daisy to Celebrate 175th Anniversary

By Clint Cooper, Chattanooga Times Free Press Staff Writer

Two miles east of the town of Soddy and under the branches of a spreading oak tree, First Presbyterian Church of Soddy-Daisy was established in 1828, according to a church history.
   It was 10 years before the first church in Chattanooga was organized.
   "It’s the oldest existing organized church of any denomination in Hamilton County , and we still think it’s special," said Dorothy Dean Shelton, whose family roots go back to one of the men who gave land for the start of the congregation.
   First Presbyterian will celebrate its 175th anniversary on Sept. 7. Activities include a fellowship hour at 9:30 a.m., an expanded worship service at 10:30 a.m., lunch served by the Presbyterian Women’s Association around noon and a praise service at 2 p.m.
   The Rev. Jim Hayes, the church’s pastor, said he applied to become pastor of the congregation less than two years ago, in part because of the church’s reputation for evangelism and outreach.
   "It’s tremendous for a small church," he said.
   First named Mount Bethel Presbyterian, the church began on property donated by Col. William Clift and Robert McRee on a knoll overlooking Soddy Lake , Miss Shelton said. The church cemetery adjoining the property still exists but is now run by a cemetery association, she said.
   A delegation of elders from the church helped start Chattanooga ’s First Presbyterian in 1838, according to church history.
   First Presbyterian of Soddy-Daisy moved to a wooden structure in the town of Soddy in 1892. "It was a typical country church," said Miss Shelton, a descendant of Col. Clift. "My grandmother used to play the organ. It was the old, pump kind. My grandfather was an elder, and my mother sang in the choir. We were involved from the word ‘go.’" In 1966, First Presbyterian relocated to its current Highway 27 site, midway between the then-separate towns of Soddy and Daisy, where it first built only a fellowship hall.
   "For years, a door on one end of the hall had a sign over it that said ‘sanctuary,’" Miss Shelton said, "but there was nothing there."
   A manse was completed in 1968 and a sanctuary and additional classrooms finished in 1975. Dr. James L. Fowle, the longtime pastor at Chattanooga ’s First Presbyterian Church, spoke at the opening of the sanctuary.
   "It did not have pews yet," Miss Shelton said. "He said he was glad the pews didn’t get there because next week a lot of people would come see the pews."
   A relic spanning almost its entire history remains at First Presbyterian, members said. A bell from the Blackhawk, a steamship owned by Col. Clift and Mr. McRee and once used to transport American Indians on an early leg of the Trail of Tears, was given to the church and today hangs in the bell tower. Recently repaired, it was rung last Sunday for the first time in a long time.
   "The clapper got old and tired and fell off," said Miss Shelton. Nancy Curvin, a member for 30 years, said she appreciates the way First Presbyterian has reached out to her and to others. Her fellow members were there for her, she said, both when her husband died and when her son, Danny, broke his neck.
   "I could not have made it without my church fellowship and Christian friends," she said. "A l o t of them have meant a lot of things to me."
   First Presbyterian also has reached out within the broader church community. It has shared space with newly established Holy Spirit Catholic Church for the last four years. The Catholic parish is expected to complete its first building sometime next summer, but the cooperation in the meantime has been unprecedented, Mr. Hayes said.
   "It’s highly unusual for a church to share space with another congregation," he said. "It’s a tremendous ecumenical outreach for both sides. It’s showed me a tremendous amount of openness."
   "We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it," said Mrs. Curvin. "We’ve made good friends and been a witness to the community in what we’ve done. It’s a blessing to reach out to other people."
   First Presbyterian, Mr. Hayes said, has remained relatively constant in membership over the years.
   "I don’t think it ever had over 125 or 130 members," he said. "Now we have a little less than 100."
   Through its history, Mr. Hayes said, the church has had 24 people enter the ministry.
   "That’s outstanding — highly unusual for a small church," he said.
   Among those is Dr. Chris Curvin, Mrs. Curvin’s son and a Presbyterian USA minister in Florida .
   "There are a lot of faithful people here, a faithful group that works hard," said Miss Shelton. "I hope it will continue for many more years to come."
 The Chattanooga Times Free Press, Saturday, August 30, 2003 .