The
History of the
Lookout
Valley
Community
By
Richard
Alexander McKeel
Chapter
Two
“First
White Settlers”
The first
Europeans to enter
Lookout
Valley
were probably the Spaniards
in the mid-1540s led by the Spanish Conquistador, Hornando De Soto. The next
group of Europeans would be in 1783, with the Continental Army led by
Tennessee
’s Future first Governor
Colonel John Sevier who entered
Lookout
Valley
during the American
Revolution. Colonel John Sevier attacked a Native American Village in
Lookout
Valley
in a skirmish with the
Cherokees.
The
Boydston Family
Some
of the first settlers of our community were the Boydston Family. The first
members of the Boydston family to enter
Lookout
Valley
were that of Thomas Boydston.
Thomas and his wife, Elizabeth Newport stayed in this area before pushing on to
Ripley
,
Tennessee
. Thomas and Elizabeth had
three sons, John, Cavanaugh born in 1796, and Thomas Junior. When the parents
moved on to
Ripley
,
Tennessee
, Cavanaugh and his brothers
John and Thomas Junior stayed behind and lived peacefully in
Lookout
Valley
for many years.
1.
Cavanaugh Boydston
Cavanaugh
Boydston and his wife, Polly Slape Boydston, built a log cabin not far from the
Old Post Road (Brown's Ferry), where they had twelve children. Cavanaugh lived
in the area from 1796 until his death in 1871. A very religions man Cavanaugh
was an elder at the
Lookout
Valley
Primitive
Baptist
Church
. Cavanaugh Boydston is
buried in
Boydston
Cemetery
sadly his tombstone has been
destroyed by vandals some time after 1933.
2. John
Boydston
John
Boydston and his wife, Sarah Condray Boydston, were still in
Hamilton
County
at the start of the Civil War. John married Elizabeth
Cummings after his first wife, Sarah, died of tuberculosis.
3.
Thomas Boydston Junior
Thomas
was a land owner and lived in
Lookout
Valley
until his death in 1866. Served as a
member of
Lookout
Valley
Primitive
Baptist
Church
until his death.
4.
Confederate Scout James “Uncle Jimmy” Boydston
One
of Cavanaugh’s sons, Jim Boydston, served as a scout in the Confederacy during
the American Civil War. Jim was caught and sentenced to an Union prison; until
1865. The family still has James’s released papers upon his release. Jimmy
lived in
Lookout
Valley
in his father’s home until
his death in 1911. James Boydston according to the Chattanooga Times the
last twelve years of his life he was blind. The obituary also reads that the
only time that James Boydston left
Hamilton
County
was during the “War
between the States.”
James
Boydston and Family
Sadly
the old Boydston Homestead in which, Cavanaugh Boydston built and lived in till
his death was destroyed by fire in 1970. In
Lookout
Valley
today, many of the direct
descendants of the initial Boydston family still live in
Lookout
Valley
today.
The
Fryar Family
Another,
one of the first settlers to enter in
Lookout
Valley
was the Fryar Family who
crossed the threshold of
Lookout
Valley
in the late 1790s early
1800s. The family consisted of the brothers of John, Joseph, and William Fryar
all died in the Mexican-American War.
1. Jeremiah Fryar Junior
Another,
major Fryar who entered in,
Lookout
Valley
was that of Jeremiah Fryar,
Junior born in 1809, in
Roane County
,
Tennessee
. Jeremiah’s parents were
Jeremiah Fryar, Senior a veteran of the War of 1812 under the command of Captain
William Christian. Jeremiah Fryar, senior past away in 1850, in his native
Roane
County
. Jeremiah Fryar, Junior
started a business of repairing wagons on the present day site of Ross’s
Landing until 1837. Jeremiah Fryar, Junior was married twice the first time
Martha Lovelady and the second time to Ingobo “Engie” Hixson.
In
1851, Jeremiah Fryar, Junior purchased a house at the foot of
Lookout
Mountain
this would later be known as
the “Old Fryar Homestead” that was built in 1802 that was created by Casper
Vaught the same man who designed Brown’s Tavern and the house was first
occupied by Silas Williams. The house can be seen in the James Walker’s
painting “The
Battle
of Lookout Mountain.”
Unfortunately the house was burned sometime in the early 1940s. Jeremiah Fryar,
Junior and Ingobo had ten children. On
September 27, 1860
, Jeremiah Junior died;
however, one of his daughters, Rebecca Fryar married John Cummings in 1862; who
eventually became a great land owner with in the Lookout Valley Community.
Jeremiah Fryar Junior
Tombstone
Found in the
Fryar
Cemetery
2. William “Bill” Fryar, Junior
William “Bill”
Fryar, Junior born in 1857 son of Jeremiah Fryar, Junior and Ingobo Fryar was a
wealth land owner of the
Lookout
Valley
area and was a juryman for
the Fourth District. In September 1897, while riding his buggy his horse was
spooked and Bill was thrown from his horse. He lost consciousness and Bill never
regained conscience and on
November 3, 1897
, he passed away. William
Fryar, Junior is buried at Fryar’s Cemetery in Cumming’s Bottom.
3. Sevier Fryar
One of the sons of Jeremiah Fryar, Junior and Hixson Ingobo Fryar
born in 1849, who lived in Lookout Valley all his life. The only time he
left
Lookout
Valley
was during the American
Civil War where he fought for the Confederacy.
He purchased Brown’s Tavern and sold the tavern in the 1911. He died on
January 14, 1921
, and is buried in the
Fryar
Cemetery
.
Sevier
Fryar Grave Found in the Fryar’s Cemetery
Today, in
Lookout
Valley
the Fryar Family still have
numerous descendents located with-in the
Lookout
Valley
.
The
Jackson Family
The
Jackson Family entered
Lookout
Valley
from sometime in the early
or mid-1800s from the Virginia Area. Rufus Sevier Jackson, came into this area
sometime after
Tennessee
became a State and married
Sara Durham and they had several children. The
Jackson
family owned land around
Cash
Canyon
and
William
Island
where they were farmers. The
Jackson
family descendents still
live in
Lookout
Valley
today.
There
are many other families in the history of Lookout Valley including those of the
Douglasses, Rowdens, Durhams, Covingtons, Cummings, Kelleys, O’Barrs, Parkers,
Thompson's, and Tinkers. These families are important; however, there are not
many records of these families’ early the histories.
When
the first citizens came into
Lookout
Valley
they established many homes,
businesses, and even a post office was built. In fact, the first post office was
under the control of the Rowden Brothers, Isaac C. Rowden and Samuel Rowden, who
serve the post office as its Post Masters to the late 1800s.
The
Mysterious John Brown
John
Brown was a man, who has become a legend in
Lookout
Valley
. There is not much known
about the early life of this half Caucasian and half Cherokee. What is known is
that he is listed as one of the first settlers of the city of
Chattanooga
? He established a tavern off
the
Tennessee River
and later the tavern was
moved to the
Old-Post Road
present day Brown’s
Ferry Road
that was built in 1803, by
Caspar Vaught. The tavern was built on a knoll along an ancient trading path
where cattle an other supplies were brought up to the hinterland from the coast
of Augusta, Savannah, and Charleston The tavern was called either the Brown’s
House or Brown’s Tavern. According to legend John Brown robbed and killed many
of the people who stayed in the tavern and their bodies were dumped in the
Tennessee River
or buried around the tavern.
The
Tavern of John Brown
The
Tavern was built with heavy logs and is two stories tall. The porch across the
front of the front facing the river and in the middle of the porch it has a
“dog trot” in the middle. On both sides the tavern are fire places with a
width of over eight feet wide. The fire places can accommodate logs up to five
feet long. The stair case is boxed in leading to the second floor, which has
three extra-large rooms.
Outside
the tavern had a hewed-logged kitchen, a smokehouse, log stables, a log barn, a
mild house, stables and a hen house. Sadly only the outdoor kitchen remains. The
orchards that John Brown had consisted of pear trees, apple trees, and peach
trees; furthermore he also had a huge open field used to plant corn for grazing
many other foods. According to legend Chief John Ross and his wife Quatie who
was a relative of John Brown spent their honeymoon at the Tavern.
During the 1830’s one of the saddest part of our nation’s history
took place when President Andrew Jackson removed most of the Native Americans
tribes from their ancestral homes. On this forced march more then five thousand
men, women, and children were to die. This happen because many white settlers
wanted the land because gold was discovered in Dahlonega,
Georgia
, and nothing else cause of
greed. Brown’s Tavern was an
important place because many Cherokee were placed here and it was a location
where many Cherokees last place they stayed before the march began.
John
Brown is supposedly buried on his 347 acre farm, which was land that surrounded
the tavern. When John Brown passed away sometime in the 1840s; his second wife
Elizabeth Brown sold the 347 acres of land and the tavern to William Cummings
the father of John Cummings in 1847. In 1857, Jeremiah Fryar, Junior purchased
the house and his family owned the house until the American Civil War.
In
1903, Edger Boydston purchased the house from the Sevier Fryar Family. In 1911,
127 acres and the tavern were sold to the West Chattanooga Land Company. The
house was occupied by the family of Daniel Monroe Jackson, his wife Lula
Caledonia Brown Jackson, and there ten children in the 1920s . The property was
bought in 1952 by Dr. and Mrs. S. S. Marchbanks and they began its restoration.
In 1960, much of the land that was designated as the farm
land
of
John Brown
was purchased by
Hamilton
County
to build
Valley
View
Elementary School
.
Today,
the tavern is owned by Mrs. Joan Franks who keeps the tavern up and restored to
its original condition. Also, the tavern has the distinction of being the oldest
house in
Hamilton
County
, in which in 2003 it
celebrated its bicentennial. On
September 25, 2004
, a marker was dedicated at
Brown’s Ferry Tavern establishing it as a part of the Historic Trial of the
Trail of Tears. Mrs. Franks, owner noted, "I am elated to finally
realize that the significance of 200 year old house is being recognized as a
historical site on the National Historic Trail of Tears."
John Brown’s Tavern
Christopher
F. Ruolf
Franz’s
father left for American in 1848, from
Munich
,
Germany
, and came to settle in
Kingston
,
Tennessee
. In 1859, he married he
married a young lady from there all is know her name was Amanda. Franz founded
the Lookout Flouring Mill in 1871, that operated by a 100 horsepower engine. The
niece of Franz Ruolf, Mrs. John L Divine, and Frank A. James owners of the
Smartt and Oenmig Shoe Firm lived in
Lookout
Valley
in 1869.
The
Iron Horse Comes to the Valley
Of course one of the earlier forms of transportation into the community
of
Lookout
Valley
was the railroad. The old
Chattanooga- St Louis Railroad Line used to go right through the middle of
Lookout
Valley
. Also, legend has it that
former President, Franklyn D. Roosevelt and friend of Judge Will Cummings
entered
Lookout
Valley
by Presidential Train.
Today, the railroad is used by Northfork Southern and the CSX railroad company.
In fact, CSX now uses the old Wauhatchie Station House currently to this day.
A
Steam Locomotive like one that maybe had gone through the valley and a present
day CSX Diesel Locomotive that runs along Wauhatchie Pike.
The Old Wauhatchie
Station currently used by the CSX Railroad
The
old Railroad Tunnel of the Chattanooga & Nashville-St Louis Railroad Line
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER THREE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Richard Alexander McKeel
___________________________________
Copyright
©
2004
mailto:richardamckeel@bellsouth.net