This was the first Drug Store in Sewanee. H. N. Caldwell built it in 1872 and ran a combined “Book Store and Pharmacy” for the University. In 1875 Colonel Lovell bought both Mr. Caldwell’s house and the adjacent cottage that had been the Drug Store. Colonel Lovell took the house as his summer home while giving the cottage to his brother-in-law, Dr. E. W. Johns. Mr. Johns succeeded Mr. Caldwell as the town druggist and continued to operate the Drug Store in the Cottage, renaming it “E. W. Johns and Company, Druggists and Stationers. He also “refitted the cottage and added several buildings” (University Record, 1875). He was described as having a kind and genial face. His advertisement says: “Books, stationary, drugs, medicines, perfumery, coal oil, putty, glass, and all other articles demanded by the Sewanee Trade…”
The house was home to Miss Harvey's School in the early 1900s. Mrs. Mary Statum Hamilton attended at age 5 (about 1903). The Reverend Charles Wright bought it for a summer home in 1922. He was brought from England by Bishop Quintard when quite young and was almost a member of the Bishop's family. He went to the College and St. Luke's Seminary. After he graduated, he maintained his Sewanee connections through his membership of the Board of Regents for 20 years and was a faithful attendant. He was rector of Grace Church, Memphis, for 7 years. He died in 1932. Mrs. Thaddeus Miller bought the house in 1938. In 1940 she was employed by the University as a dietitian at Emerald Hospital. She occasionally worked at Magnolia Hall as their dietitian as well. She was known to be a gentle person and seldom lost her temper. When a job needed to be done, she did it, cooking, washing dishes, carrying trays.
A student hospitalized for any period of time usually ended up with his favorite dish before he was released. She died in 1967 and the house was then purchased by the University. It is now the Leases, Community Relations and Village Development Office.
Carpenter, J. (Ed.). (2007). Sewanee Ladies. Sewanee, Tennessee: Proctor's Hall Press.
Gailor, C. (1970). Old Sewanee Houses; The First Fifty-Years, 1860-1910. Unpublished manuscript, Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee.