ADELICIA ACKLEN

Hi Ya'll

Here's a lady from Nashville who had a very full life................

Adelicia Acklen was born in Nashville on March 15, 1817 and became one of the
wealthiest women of the South. She was a cousin of President Rutherford B. Hayes.

At age twenty-two she married Isaac Franklin of Sumner County, a wealthy
cotton planter and slave trader. They had four children, none of whom survived childhood. After seven years of marriage Franklin died, leaving his widow an inheritance valued at approximately $1 million that included seven Louisiana cotton plantations, a two-thousand-acre farm in Middle Tennessee, and 750 slaves.Three years after Franklin's death, Adelicia married Colonel Joseph A. S. Acklen, a lawyer from Huntsville, Alabama, who signed a prenuptial contract giving his wife complete control of all her businesses, property, and assets. The couple began immediate construction of Belmont, a twenty-thousand-square-foot summer villa, now maintained as a house museum. The Acklens lived a sumptuous lifestyle, traveling between Belmont in the summer and their Louisiana plantations in the winter. The couple had six children, two of whom died young. Acklen, a superb businessman and plantation manager, had tripled his wife's fortune by 1860.

After her husband died during the Civil War, Acklen faced financial ruin when the Confederate army threatened to burn 2,800 bales of her cotton to keep it from falling into Union possession. Acklen boldly rushed to Louisiana and secretly negotiated with both sides to save her fortune. She secured Confederate promises not to burn her cotton, while the Union army agreed to help her move the cotton to New Orleans. Acklen ran the Union blockade and sold her cotton to the Rothschilds of London for a reported $960,000 in gold. Three weeks after Robert E. Lee's surrender in 1865, Acklen and her children left for Europe to retrieve the money made from this cotton sale.

In 1867 the fifty-year-old Acklen married Dr. William Archer Cheatham, a respected Nashville physician. Cheatham also signed a prenuptial agreement. The couple was married twenty years, spending most of their time at Belmont in Nashville. In 1886 Acklen sold Belmont, left Nashville and Cheatham, and moved to Washington, D.C., with three of her adult children. The exact cause of her separation from Cheatham is not known. Acklen died on May 4, 1887, while on a shopping trip to New York City. She is buried in Nashville's Mt. Olivet Cemetery in a family mausoleum with her first two husbands and nine of her ten children.

TENNESSEE - THE 14TH FASTEST GROWING STATE

Hi Ya'll,

See if you know any of this............

Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36 by total land area. In 1796, it became the 16th state to join the Union. The capital and second largest city is Nashville, with a 2008 population of 626,144. The Nashville Metropolitan Area is the state’s largest, at 1,521,437 people. Tennessee’s largest city is Memphis, with a 2008 population of 670,902 and 1,280,533 in its metro area.

Many major battles of the American Civil War were fought in Tennessee—most of them were Union victories. Ulysses S. Grant and the U.S. Navy captured control of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers in February 1862. They held off the Confederate counterattack at Shiloh in April. Memphis fell to the Union in June, following a naval battle on the Mississippi River in front of the city. Capture of Memphis and Nashville gave the Union control of the western and middle sections; this control was confirmed at the Battle of Murfreesboro in early January 1863 and by the subsequent Tullahoma Campaign.

See ya' tomorrow. Take care

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN
EUNICE

BESSIE SMITH, JACK MASSEY, ROBERT CHURCH SR.

Hi Ya'll,

Greetings again from Tennessee! Today I have three people I would like to introduce to you. Although not very well known, they were all remarkable individuals.

Often known as the "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith influenced entire generations of blues, jazz, and rock musicians and was the highest-paid black entertainer of her time. Born in 1892 in Chattanooga, she was one of 13 children. To help raise money for her family, she and her brother performed on the streets of Chattanooga. In 1912 she was hired by a group of traveling entertainers known as the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, and the next year she formed her own act in Atlanta. After the release of her 1923 song Down Hearted Blues, Smith became hugely popular as a Columbia recording artist.
Bessie Smith died from injuries incurred in a 1937 automobile accident. By the way, rock singer Janis Joplin later donated money to pay for Bessie's tombstone .


You may not have ever heard of Jack Massey, but you’ve heard of Colonel Sanders,the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 1964 Sanders sold his restaurant chain to Massey, a Nashville businessman, and a young lawyer named John Y. Brown Jr. Massey and Brown expanded the company, spent huge amounts of money on advertising and shifted the business into stand-alone locations (prior to that time Kentucky Fried Chicken had mainly been a menu item at sit-down restaurants). The chain grew and grew until it was the largest restaurant company in the world – larger, at that time, than McDonald’s. Massey later sold his share of Kentucky Fried Chicken and went on to help start two other large companies – Hospital Corporation of American, which owns hospitals, and Winner’s Corp., which at that time owned Mrs. Winner’s restaurants. Jack Massey, the Tennessean, thus became the only person in American history to ever take three companies to the New York Stock Exchange.

Robert Church Sr. was born a slave but by the end of his life had become the South's first African-American millionaire. Although he was born in Mississippi, after the Civil War, Church settled in Memphis and began buying and renting small apartments, eventually working his way to owning a saloon, restaurant and hotel. In 1899, a time when black citizens weren't allowed to go into most white theaters and parks, he opened "Church's Park and Auditorium." This quickly became the cultural center for Memphis' African-American community, and among the people who appeared at this facility were President Theodore Roosevelt, Booker T. Washington and William C. Handy, the "Father of the Blues." A few years later Church was one of several black leaders who founded the Solvent Savings bank and Trust Co., the first black bank in Memphis in decades.

And now you know about three more notable people who helped to shaped Tennessee.

I hope ya'll have a great weekend and I'll see you back here on Monday!

Take care.

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN

EUNICE

MAXWELL HOUSE COFFEE, DAMN THE TORPEDOES, OCOEE RIVER AND THE OLYMPICS

Hi Ya'll

Thanks for stoppin' by. I guess you'd like to hear a little more about Tennessee.

You’ve probably heard the line “good to the last drop” in advertising but do you know when it was first said, who said it, and what product they were talking about? Did you say it was one of the presidents?
You are exactly right. It was President Theodore Roosevelt. During one of his visits to Nashville, President Roosevelt had a cup of locally produced coffee at the Maxwell House Hotel. After drinking the coffee he coined the phrase “good to the last drop”. That’s all it took. The phrase stuck and it has been identified with Maxwell House Coffee ever since. Although this famous coffee is still enjoyed everywhere, the hotel where it got it name burned to the ground. It was served for the last time at the Maxwell House Hotel on December 25, 1961.

OK, are you familiar with the Ocoee River in Polk County Tennessee? The Ocoee was the FIRST natural river used for Olympic whitewater competition. It was used in July 1996 during the summer Olympics which was held in Atlanta, Georgia. The course designers had to re-channel the riverbed to create an Olympic course one-third the width of the original riverbed. This whitewater competition attracted over 15,000 visitors and more than 1,000 volunteers and staff.

I wonder how many people know the name of the person who is remembered for his famous rally cry "Damn the Torpedoes”? Yes, it was Admiral David Farragut from Knoxville. David Glasgow Farragut was born in 1801 and became an Admiral in the Navy on July 16, 1862....the FIRST Admiral ever in American History.

I bet most people don’t know that Tennessee was the FIRST state created out of federal lands. And that The Statehood Proclamation was signed by President George Washington in 1796 and is now on display in the Museum of Tennessee history.

Take care. See ya' next time!

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN

EUNICE

THE SEEING EYE DOG, WILMA RUDOLPH, BUTTERNUTS & GENERAL EARL VANDORN

Hi Ya'll,

Glad you could drop in! Here's a bit of information I bet you didn't know.

DID YOU KNOW that it was a Nashville man who introduced the Seeing Eye Dog to the U.S.? Morris Frank, who was blinded by two accidents, was a Vanderbilt student when a news vendor told him of a story by Dorothy Eustis which had appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. Dorothy owned an experimental breeding station for German Shepherds in Switzerland. Frank traveled to Europe for training and returned to the states in 1928 with his new guide dog, Buddy. Frank and Buddy proved to a skeptical American public that the blind could regain their independence through trained guide dogs.

In 1929, Eustis, Frank and others established The Seeing Eye, Inc. in Nashville, which later relocated to New Jersey.

Do you remember Wilma Rudolph? She was from Clarksville and following a bout with polio, scarlet fever and pneumonia, she was told she would never walk again. But she didn’t let that stop her. In the 1960 Rome Olympics she broke a world record and won 3 gold medals in track & field. She was amazing. I think this really proves the old saying that you can do whatever you set your mind to.


Butternuts was a nickname that was first given to Tennessee soldiers during the Civil War because of the tan color of their uniforms

And here’s something you won’t find in the history books. On May 7, 1863, Confederate General Earl Van Dorn died of a single bullet wound, but not in battle. He was killed in Spring Hill, Tennessee by Maury County Doctor James B. Peters. Van Dorn went down in history as the only general in the Civil War to be killed, in uniform, by a jealous husband. Sounds like General Van Dorn was in the wrong place at the wrong time don’t ya’ think? That’s really amazing that a doctor would do something like that.

Well, that's about all I have for today. I'll be back again tomorrow.

Take care,
YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN
EUNICE

MOVIES AND FAMOUS PEOPLE FROM TENNESSEE

Hi Ya'll,

Monday morning.............back to the old grind. Let's start the day with a few movie facts. Here's a list of a few of the movies that were filmed in Tennessee.

“The Firm”, starring Tom Cruise was filmed in Memphis in 1993.

In 1997, “Wag The Dog”, starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro, was filmed in Nashville.

I loved the movie “Rainman” with Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. It was made in Memphis in 1997.

Also in 1997, the movie “Silence of the Lamb” was filmed in Memphis. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins starred in this thriller.

Nashville was the city where “The Green Mile”, with Tom Hanks, was made in 1998.

Another Tom Hanks movie was “Castaway”. It was filmed in Memphis in 2000.

And who could forget the movie “Walk the Line in 2004”? The movie about Johnnie Cash was made in Memphis.

I don’t think we can stop without mentioning some music trivia about Nashville and some of the famous people associated with Music City USA.

The National Life & Accident Company founded the Grand Ole Opry in 1925 but it was originally called The WSM Barn Dance. WSM stands for “We Shield Millions” and that was the slogan for the National Life & Accident Company.

The longest home of the Grand Ole Opry was the Ryman Auditorium which is also known as the “Mother Church of Country Music.” It was at the Ryman Auditorium from 1925 until 1974 when it moved to the Opry House.

Do you remember what price was on the price tag of Minnie Pearl's hat? It was $1.98.

And check this out………Bill Monroe is known as the "Father of Bluegrass Music”, Roy Acuff was the “King of Country”, and Chet Atkins is known as “Mr. Guitar.”

Do you know who Jimmy Dean is? He rose to fame as a Country music entertainer in 1961 with his song “Big Bad John” which won him a Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Recording. He had several other hits in the ‘60s but then in 1969 he founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage Company with his brother Don.

And Dolly Parton (she is my all time favorite entertainer) first became famous as the featured female singer on Porter Wagoner's show. Today she is one of the most famous celebrities in show business now.

It’s been a long time ago but Randy Travis used to wash dishes at the Nashville Palace.

And lastly, portions of 16th and 17th Avenue South in Nashville are known as Music Row. Music Row is an area just to the southwest of Downtown Nashville that is home to hundreds of businesses related to the country musci, gospel music, and contemporary Christian music industries.

I hope I was able to give you a few facts you didn't already know.

Take care,
YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN
EUNICE

NASHVILLE'S FOUNDERS, MOON PIES, MINIATURE GOLF AND MORE

Hi Ya'll,

Well, it's Saturday and a good day to kick back. I did want to give you a little more information before I take a break.

Listen to these facts. These are all pretty random.......but interesting.

There were more National Guard soldiers deployed from Tennessee for the Gulf War effort than any other state.

Nashville was founded on Christmas Eve in 1779 by James Robertson, John Donelson and a party of Wataugans. It was named after the American Revolutionary hero Francis Nash.

Dr. Myles Vandahurst Lynk was born in Haywood County, Tennessee in 1871 and on Nov. 18, 1895 helped organize and form the National Medical Association,

The only person in American history to be both an Admiral in the Navy and a General in the Army was Samuel Powhatan Carter who was born in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

Here's a list of some of the inventions that have come out of Tennessee. I think some of these will surprise you.

Good ole’ Cotton Candy was invented in Nashville in 1897. Yep, candy makers, William Morrison and John C. Wharton invented a device that heated sugar in a spinning bowl that had tiny holes in it. It formed a treat that they originally called "Fairy Floss." Morrison and Wharton introduced cotton candy to the world at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904.

And there’s the Dumpster. In 1935 a Knoxville inventor, George Roby Dempster, came up with the idea for the Dempster Dumpster. It was designed to aide in the pick up of used construction materials in order to transport them away. This new idea quickly turned into the first garbage collection system in the United States, with Knoxville, TN becoming the first “Dumpster City,” in 1937.

I have never used a tow truck before but it's interesting to note that it originated in 1916 in the city of Chattanooga, after Ernest Holmes, Sr. helped a friend retrieve his car with three poles, a pulley and a chain hooked to the frame of a 1913 Cadillac. After patenting his invention and he began manufacturing wreckers and towing equipment for sale.

We really don’t use this next item much anymore but the first typewriter ribbon was patented in 1886 by George K. Anderson of Memphis. The patent of the typewriter ribbon took place 13 years after the invention of the typewriter.

You see "Check Into Cash" everywhere nowadays. The first office opened in 1993 in Cleveland, Tennessee which is now Corporate Headquarters for offices located throughout the United States.

I'm sure everyone has played a game of miniatur golf at one time or another. But did you know that it was invented right here in Tennessee. Garnet Carter was the first person to patent a game of miniature golf which he called "Tom Thumb Golf" in 1927. The golf course was built on Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN, to draw traffic to the hotel that Carter owned.

MoonPies have been around ever since I can remember. The Chattanooga Bakery in, of course, Chattanooga was founded in the early 1900's as a subsidiary of the Mountain City Flour Mill. The bakery's original purpose was to use the excess flour produced by the mill. By 1910, the bakery offered over 200 different confectionery items and in 1917, the bakery developed a product which was named the MoonPie. It was originally developed for coal miners to carry in their lunch boxes.

Well, that's all I've got for you today but now don't you feel just a little smarter on this Saturday morning? :)

Have a great weekend and we'll see you again right here........same topic......same blog.

YA'LL COME BACK NOW YA' HEAR?

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN

EUNICE

WORST AMERICAN EARTHQUAKE, 1982 WORLD'S FAIR, TAYLOR BROTHERS WAR OF THE ROSES

Hi Ya'll,

Here I am again with a few more interesting facts about Tennessee. I think these are facts that most people aren't familiar with but they will still capture your interest.

Do you know about the worst earthquake in American history? It’s hard to imagine that the flow of a river could be changed by something like that. Let me tell you about it!

Well, the worst earthquake in American history was actually a series of earthquakes that occurred between December 16, 1811 and February 7, 1812. The earthquakes ranged in magnitude from 7.2 to 8.1 and several states were affected by one or more of these earthquakes. In Tennessee it caused a large land area to drop several feet and this caused tidal waves on the Mississippi River. The river flowed backward into that land depression, creating what is today known as Reelfoot Lake.

And here's another bit of information. We all know that World Fairs are awesome. But did you know that Knoxville was home to the World's Fair in 1982. The theme of the exposition was "Energy Turns the World" and it drew in well over 11 million people. The fair opened in May and closed in October but the Sunsphere, a 266 foot steel tower, which was displayed there, still stands as a symbol in Knoxville today. It was noted for its unique design in several engineering publications.

Most people recognize the name Sam Houston in history. He served as a teacher, soldier, shop keeper, lawyer, Indian Agent, Congressman, General and President of the Texas Republic. He is notably the only man in U.S. history to serve as the 7th Governor of Tennessee and the 7th Governor of Texas.

In the 1886 election, the Taylor brothers ran against each other for the office of governor of Tennessee prompting the "War of The Roses" campaign that gained national attention. Democratic supporters of Robert Taylor wore white roses and Republicans supporting Alfred sported red roses. The farmers' support for Robert Taylor helped win him the election.
Robert Taylor is here on the right and Alfred Taylor is on the left.

I'm running late this morning so that's all for today. Take care and stop by again tomorrow for more from Tennessee.

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN

EUNICE

FUN FACTS ABOUT TENNESSEE

Hi Ya'll,

Today I've got some interesting and fun facts about Tennessee. Here we go.............

How about this OLDEST fact. Did you ever wonder how old Jack Daniels is? Well the Jack Daniel’s Distillery is the OLDEST registered distillery in the United States and is located in Lynchburg, Tennessee. It was founded in 1875 and is still in operation today.

OK, now snakes aren’t my favorite subject but Tennessee is home to 32 species of snakes; 4 of which are venomous. The poisonous snakes are all from the Pit Viper family. They are the Northern and Southern Copperhead, the Western Cottonmouth, the Timber Rattlesnake and the Western Pigmy Rattlesnake.

I bet the kids out there know this one. I'm sure it's taught in every Tennessee school. There are eight states that border Tennessee. They are Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Arkansas. No other state, except Missouri, has that many bordering states.

And I bet that most of us who were born and raised in Tennessee know that Knoxville's Neyland Stadium is the home of the University of Tennessee football team. But do you know that this stadium was named after football coach Robert Reese Neyland? Neyland produced 9 undefeated teams. Seven S.E.C. titles, 1 National Championship and seven bowl games. All of this was accomplished between 1926 and 1952. Neyland and 6 of his players were elected to the Football Hall of Fame.

You know as I do that there is so much talk about energy today. Here’s a quick note. Tennessee is known as The Energy Capital of the World. Oak Ridge, Tennessee is where the atomic bomb, that America used against Japan in World War II, was built. Energy research is still being conducted there today.

A lot of the kids out there will like this one……Tennessee happens to be the "Turtle Capital of the World". This is because of the many species of turtles that inhabit the state. There are literally thousands of turtles in Reelfoot Lake, which include several different varieties such as stinkpots, mud, sliders, and map turtles. Reelfoot Lake is located in northwestern Tennessee in Tiptonville.

Did you ever want to be in the center of things? Well if you go to the city of Murfreesboro (southeast of Nashville) you will be in the center of the state. Murfreesboro lies in the exact geographical center of Tennessee.

So now you have more interesting and useful(?) information about Tennessee. Don't you feel educated now? Hehehehehe :)

Check out the ads in the right margin of my blog. There's some interesting information there too.

See ya next time!

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN

EUNICE

TENNESSEE FIRSTS

Hi Ya'll,

There were a lot of “FIRSTS” that happened in Tennessee. Let’s talk about some of them.

Are you familiar with the Ocoee River in Polk County Tennessee? The Ocoee was the FIRST natural river used for Olympic whitewater competition. It was used in July 1996 during the summer Olympics which was held in Atlanta, Georgia. saw first hand how course designers had to re-channel the riverbed to create an Olympic course one-third the width of the original riverbed. This whitewater competition attracted over 15,000 visitors and more than 1,000 volunteers and staff.

Here's another one............
Did you know that the song “In Perfect Harmony” was originated for Coca-Cola? Yep, and Coca-Cola was FIRST bottled in 1899 at a plant on Patten Parkway in downtown Chattanooga after two local attorneys purchased the bottling rights to the drink for $l.00.

Do you remember actress and singer Polly Bergen?

She was from Knoxville and she was the FIRST woman

to serve on the Board of Directors of the Singer Sewing

Machine Company.

I wonder how many people know the name of the person who is remembered for his famous rally cry "Damn the Torpedoes”? Yes, it was Admiral David Farragut from Knoxville. David Glasgow Farragut was born in 1801 and became an Admiral in the Navy on July 16, 1862....the FIRST Admiral ever in American History.

You know how you remember certain things from

when you were young? I remember learning about

these two things in history class in school. John Sevier

was the FIRST Governor of Tennessee and the FIRST

Constitution of the state of Tennessee was written in

Knoxville during the winter of 1796.

I bet most people don’t know that Tennessee was the FIRST state created out of federal lands. And that The Statehood Proclamation was signed by President George Washington in 1796 and is now on display in the Museum of Tennessee history.

Here are a couple of things that aren’t in the history books.

The Alex Haley home in Henning, TN was the FIRST state-owned historic site devoted to African Americans. And Robert R. Church, Sr. of Memphis is reported to be the South's FIRST African-American millionaire.

I would be surprised if anyone knows this one. A submarine, built by Sumner county native Horace Lawson Hunley, was the FIRST in history to sink an enemy ship, the USS Housatonic, Unfortunately Hunley did not live to see this happen. He died earlier when a submarine he was in sunk.

Knoxville is undoubtedly proud of one of their own.

William Henry Hastie, from Knoxville was the FIRST

Black Federal Judge in U.S. History. He was appointed

by President Franklin D. Roosevelt following his term

as the FIRST Black Governor of the Virgin Islands.

And how about Hattie Caraway. She was born in Bakersville, Tennessee in 1878 and became the FIRST woman United States Senator. Wouldn’t she be proud of what women have accomplished today with so many women in government and a woman who ran for President? She paved the way for other women after her.

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN

EUNICE

TENNESSEE AND THE CIVIL WAR

Hi Ya'll,

I'd like to tell you a little about the Civil War now. There are a lot of facts most people don’t know about Tennessee during the Civil War. I think the Civil War is particularly interesting, especially the battles and people in Tennessee who really played an important part in the War Between the States.

First of all, just stop and take a look at the hills and wooded areas all over the state that haven’t been touched by companies developing shopping centers and subdivisions. If you think about those areas, it’s easy to imagine how the confederate and union soldiers must have fought in those hills. They were either on foot or horseback and just imagine them pushing and pulling those old cannons. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

I wonder how many people know that Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union during the Civil War and it was the first state to be readmitted after the war. East Tennesseans were strongly pro-Union, while West and Middle Tennesseans were primarily on the side of the Confederacy. Tennessee ranks number one among other states in the total number of soldiers who fought in the War Between the States.

Listen to this. In 1861, Tennessee Governor Isham Harris signed into law a bill that, and I quote, "allows all men of color" to join the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Within a month, over 1,000 Black Tennesseans joined General Robert E. Lee's Virginia campaign. You know that’s a lot of people in a short period of time considering that back then news spread mostly by word of mouth.

The Battle of Franklin was about the worst battle in the war. Here's a little about what happened there.

The Nashville area, especially Franklin, Tennessee which is just south of Nashville, was in the thick of things during the Civil War. The Battle of Franklin is considered one of the most devastating in the
history of warfare. It has been called "the bloodiest hours of the American Civil War." It only lasted about five hours and it was the smallest battlefield in the war because it was only two miles long and one and a half miles wide. Not only were there 2,500 Union casualties, but Patrick Cleburne and five other

Confederate Generals were among the battle's 7,000 Confederate casualties. More generals were killed at the Battle of Franklin than any other battle in history. There were a total of 9,500 people killed or injured in five hours. It’s really hard to picture just how fierce the fighting must have been in those days. They had primitive weapons, by today’s standards, and there was a lot of hand to hand combat.

Listen to this. The Carter House Farm Office, in Franklin, is recognized as being the most battle-scarred building left standing from the Civil War. The structure is riddled with 1,000 bullet holes from the Battle of Franklin on November 30, 1864. Lieutenant Todd Carter was serving with the Confederate Army of Tennessee when the battle of Franklin took place around his parents’ farm. Todd Carter was mortally wounded just yards from his own home. The Carter House was purchased by the State of Tennessee in 1951 and first opened to the public in 1953. It is a Registered Historic Landmark, and is dedicated to all Americans who fought in that battle.

It’s amazing to think that more Civil War battles were fought in Tennessee than any other state except Virginia. The first major Union victory fought in the Civil War was at Fort Donelson, in Nashville, in 1862 and did you know that there are four national military parks in Tennessee? They are Chickamauga-Chattanooga in Chattanooga, Stones River in Murfreesboro, Shiloh near Savannah, and Fort Donelson near Dover.

MORE TO COME ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR IN TENNESSEE

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN

EUNICE

"DID YOU KNOW" FACTS ABOUT TENNESSEE

Hi Ya'll,

OK, now I want to give everyone some “Did You Know” facts about Tennessee. I love these.

DID YOU KNOW that a man from Nashville gave the American flag its most famous nickname? When Captain William Driver retired after a life on the sea in 1837, he brought home his trusty American flag which he affectionately called "Old Glory."

DID YOU KNOW that Nashville's African-American community was the first in the nation to have a black-owned and operated savings bank in 1904? It was called the One Cent Savings Bank and it is still in operation today. It is now known as Citizen's Savings Bank and Trust.

How about this one?

DID YOU KNOW that a Nashville man was the only American to become president of another country? Yep! William Walker, who is known as the "grey-eyed man of destiny," was from Nashville. He tried to unite all of Central America into one country. He became president of Nicaragua in 1856. He also tried to make himself president of Honduras but he was shot by a firing squad before he could achieve his goal.

DID YOU KNOW that Casey Jones lived in Jackson, Tennessee. He moved from Missouri to Tennessee in 1884 and was killed when his train crashed in Vaughan, Mississippi on April 30, 1900. He was on a run from Memphis, TN to Canton, MS and was trying to make up time. Today there is a museum in his honor located in Vaughan, Mississippi.

I think we all know that the pony express was begun in the “old west”, but DID YOU KNOW airmail originated in Nashville? John Lillard knew people would pay if he could find a way to move the mail faster. He had the first air mail stamp issued in 1877 for balloon service! Although his dream of the balloon didn’t “take off”, the first practical air mail service departed from Nashville on July 29, 1924 in an airplane.

DID YOU KNOW that a Nashville horse was the first American winner of the English Derby? On June 1, 1881, Iroquois, had the honor of being the first American horse to win the English Derby held in Epsom, Surrey, England. Nashville still honors this famous thoroughbred by hosting the annual Iroquois Memorial Steeplechase the second Saturday of May at Percy Warner Park just outside of Nashville.

HERE ARE A COUPLE OF FUN FACTS:
I wonder how many people know that Mountain Dew is the citrus soft drink that was invented in Tennessee and derived its name from moonshine. The name Mountain Dew was first trademarked in the 1940s by two brothers, Barney and Ally Hartman, who ran a bottling plant in Knoxville.

MoonPies have been around ever since I can remember. The Chattanooga Bakery in, of course, Chattanooga was founded in the early 1900's as a subsidiary of the Mountain City Flour Mill. The bakery's original purpose was to use the excess flour produced by the mill. By 1910, the bakery offered over 200 different confectionery items and in 1917, the bakery developed a product which was named the MoonPie. It was originally developed for coal miners to carry in their lunch boxes.

Check out the ads on my blog.

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN
EUNICE

JULY 4TH, 2009 IN TENNESSEE

Hey Ya'll,

Happy 4th of July to EVERYONE. I hope you are having a wonderful and safe day today.

I know many people are familiar with the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store but I wonder if you know that it was founded here in Tennessee. A local contractor and Dan Evins, Cracker Barrel’s Founder, scratched the plans for the first store in some dirt on land on Highway 109 in Lebanon,
Tennessee, and the first Cracker Barrel Old Country Store was opened in
1969. As of today, that one store has grown to over 575 locations in 41
states, but the Cracker Barrel Offices are still located in Lebanon. I love
the good country cookin’ with the homey atmosphere. Each store also has a retail area with a whole variety of gifts and fun items to choose from. It’s obvious that their Mission Statement which is “Pleasing People” is very important to Cracker Barrel.

I’ve got some fun facts about Cracker Barrel if you’d like to hear them. I think they might be of interest to everyone.

In a typical year, Cracker Barrel serves……
- 35 million bottles of maple syrup (that’s 6% of the world’s pure
maple syrup supply!)
- 124 million slices of bacon
- 145 million eggs
- and 18 million orders of Chicken N’ Dumplins

They also use 70,000 pounds of flour every day to produce their made-
from-scratch biscuits and dumplins.

I know that’s probably for all the stores together, but I think those numbers are
mind boggling. That is really a whole lot of food.

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN

EUNICE

A LESSON ON PRESIDENTS FROM TENNESSEE

Hi Ya’ll,

Well, today I have some information about the presidents who were from Tennessee. There have been three U.S. Presidents from Tennessee. Do you know who they were?

The first one was Andrew Jackson, also known as “Old Hickory”. He
was the 7th president from 1829 to 1837 and lived in the Nashville area.
Jackson experienced the first known case of a President being handed a
baby to kiss; however, Jackson declined, and handed the baby to Secretary
of War John H. Eaton to do the honors.

Andrew Jackson’s home is in Hermitage and the driveway is in the shape of a guitar.

The second president from Tennessee was James K. Polk who served as
our 11th president from 1845 to1849. He was born in Columbia, Tennessee
and was the first "dark-horse candidate" in U.S. history to win the
Presidency. During his term, he helped form the U.S. Naval Academy and
the Smithsonian Institute. Polk was the first Governor of Tennessee
to have a college education.

President Polk also called for American volunteers to fight in the Mexican War from 1846 to 1848. He gave each state a quota of men and although Tennessee Governor Aaron Brown's quota was 2,600 men, 30,000 Tennesseans responded to his request and forever earned the state the "Volunteer" nickname. Both Polk and his wife Sarah are buried on the grounds of the state capitol.

The third president from Tennessee was Andrew Johnson who was our 17th president serving from 1865 to 1869. What I find interesting about Andrew Johnson is that he held every elective office at the local, state, and federal levels. He was elected alderman, mayor, state representative, and state senator from Greeneville Tennessee. He served as governor and military governor of Tennessee and United States congressman, senator, and vice president, becoming President following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. President Johnson also oversaw the purchase of the State of Alaska for $7,200,000.00.

He really accomplished quite a bit but during his presidency, the House of
Representatives voted in 1868 to impeach him. They wanted him
impeached because he refused to cooperate or compromise over black
rights and the reconstruction of Southern state governments. They held a trial but the Senate failed by one vote to convict Johnson and remove him from the presidency. Following his term, Andrew Johnson became the only U.S. President in history to be re-elected to the U.S. Senate.

FUN TIDBITS:
MOVIE FILMED IN TENNESSEE: “The Firm”, starring Tom Cruise was filmed in Memphis in 1993.

Randy Travis used to wash dishes at the Nashville Palace.

YOUR FAVORITE TENNESSEAN
EUNICE

TENNESSEE STATE CAPITOL, STATE FLAG, DAVY CROCKETT

The capitol building was designed by noted architect William Strickland. It was begun in 1845 and completed in 1859. Marble quarried in Tennessee was used for the primary building material. As a matter of fact, in some reading I've done about the state capitol, I found it fascinating that the architect, William Strickland, died during its construction and is buried within the walls of the capitol.

I also read about the symbolism of the stars and white band on Tennessee's State Flag. The State Flag was adopted in 1905 and the three stars on the flag represent the grand divisions of the state: East, Middle and West. The white band binds the stars together in unity. This, in a way, symbolizes the unity of the people of the state of Tennessee.

OK, now let me change my direction a little. Let's see...................

Did you know that Davy Crockett was born in Tennessee? I think everyone knows about Davy Crockett. He was that fella that was born on a mountain top in Tennessee like the songs says, right? WRONG! Well, the part about being born in Tennessee is right. But he was actually born Colonel David Stern Crockett on August 17, 1786 and was raised in eastern Tennessee in Green County. He was known as an expert shot, and a humble and witty speaker, and he became a national celebrity, but we all know him as the famous Davy Crockett, "King of the Wild Frontier". Gee, he was awesome, quite a man. He also represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the age of 49 at the Battle of the Alamo which took place in San Antonio, Texas in 1835. A total of 32 Tennesseans (including Davy) died at the Alamo. I wonder if Davy Crockett would have lived longer what he could have achieved? Do you think he could have become president? We'll never know.

ANOTHER DUMB LAW IN TENNESSEE: Hollow logs may not be sold.

TENNESSEE INVENTION: The Barrett .50-Caliber Rifle was invented in Murfreesboro , Tennessee in 1982 by Ronnie G. Barrett, a former professional photographer and lifelong gun enthusiast. Still headquartered in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Barrett Firearms Manufacturing is the world's leader in large-caliber rifle design and manufacturing.

Your Favorite Tennessean

Eunice

TENNESSEE IS THE PLACE TO BE

Hi Ya'll,

GREETINGS AND WELCOME TO THE STATE OF TENNESSEE. EUNICE HERE!

I’m glad ya’ll could join me and I hope you’re havin’ a good day! My roots are in Tennessee and I’m proud of the state I have always called home. Course I learned a lot about my great state in school but one day I decided I wanted to know more so I began searchin’. I found that knowin’ more about my state and the people that helped shape it both today and in the past is very fascinatin’. I want to share with ya’ll some funny, some serious and all interesting information about Tennessee. I hope I can bring a smile to your face and love to your heart for my home state……….TENNESSEE.

First, let me start off by asking…… How much do you know about Tennessee? Do ya know where Tennessee got its name? No? Well let me tell ya. It’s been said that the name "Tennessee" comes from an old Indian word, "Tana-see," which means "The Meeting Place." Isn’t that cool? Just think about it…………. The Cherokee Indians lived in Tennessee long before it was ever settled by the white man. As a matter of fact, the Cherokee Indians called themselves "The Principal People." They were some of Tennessee's original citizens. Tennessee has a long and rich history of Native Americans. By 1700 the Cherokee claimed lands in Tennessee and several other states. The history and culture of the Cherokee are, and always will be, an important part of Tennessee’s history. Much of their land ultimately became the state of Tennessee.

Hey, changin’ gears a little, did you know that, in Tennessee's early history, four different towns served as the seat of government or capitol? They were Knoxville, Kingston, Murfreesboro and Nashville. The city of Kingston served as Tennessee's state capital for just one day (September 21, 1807) as a result of treaties negotiated with the Cherokee Indians. The two-hour legislative session passed two resolutions and adjourned back to Knoxville. Nashville was chosen as the permanent capital city in 1843. Do you know who the architect of the state capitol in Nashville was, how long it took to build it, and where his bones are? I’ll tell you all about that next time.

ONE OF TENNESSEE’S CRAZY LAWS: You can’t shoot any game other than whales from a moving automobile.

My all-time favorite famous person from Tennessee is Dolly Parton

YA’LL COME BACK NOW, YA HEAR?

What would you like to know about Tennessee? Let me know and I’ll find it and post it for you.

Your Favorite Tennessean
EUNICE