The Mountain News of April 22, 1879 reported, "Miss [Annie] Gibson is to have a residence built on what is known as the ‘Shaller lot’ West End is improving.” Mr. Shaller's name was on the lease in 1875, but evidently he never built on the lot. The Gibson family seems to have had the lease until 1906 when the dean of the Medical School, Dr. John S. Cain, bought the house. At the same time, Dr. Cain purchased the house next door (the Weber house). Dr. Cain’s son-in-law, Dr. Hayden West, had his office in this house and the West family lived in the other. Dr. West died in 1916. When a fire destroyed the Weber house in 1917, Mrs. West moved into the Webb house and lived there until her death in 1944. For a while during the early twenties, this was the chapter house of the Academy's Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Fraternity. The Webb family purchased the house in 1948; P.H. Waring Webb was a professor of botany at the University. The following year Webb died suddenly of polio, just before the birth of their fifth child. His widow, Maria Tucker Webb, continued to live in the house until the children were grown. Maria was Sewanne Military Academy’s nurse for more than 25 years and was also night nurse at Emerald-Hodgson hospital for many years. In 1967 her generous gift to the Woods Laboratories provided its green-house, a memorial to her husband, professor Paul Hamilton Waring Webb. Over the years, the house grew with the family. In 1973 Maria moved into a smaller house and sold this one to Percy Warner Frazer who used it as a summer house for many years.
In 1868 Mrs. Sarah E. Cotten, a relative of Major Fairbanks, took a lease and built this large frame house to run as a boarding house on the site of the present Tuckaway Inn. She had originally come in 1867 to Sewanee to run Otey Hall. The house was called the Cotten House for many years, long after Mrs. Cotten had moved away. It was taken as an annex to the Hotel in 1883. Mrs. Stuart from New Orleans who was Dr. William Norman Guthrie's mother-in-law, had a dancing class there in the dining room. "Miss Queenie" Washington said she went to it as a small girl and Kirby Smith, John Hodgson, Pem Finley, Charlie Holland, Willie Garnett and Gus Boucher were some of the boys. Major Fairbanks bought it later and owned it and the cottage. Dr. Corley also had his dentist's office there at one time and rooms were rented to various people until Miss Johnnie Tucker bought it in 1913. Its name was changed then to Tuckaway for her. In 1926, while Miss Johnnie was on a trip to New York and Miss Dora and Eva Colmore were looking after Tuckaway for her, the house caught fire. It had been a big dance weekend and a girl had left the electric iron on! It was reported to be one of the most exciting Sewanee fires as students in dress suits tried to rescue the furniture before it burnt to the ground. The little white cottage in the yard was built by Mrs. Cotten for her daughter, Mrs. Houston. Major Fairbanks turned it over to Miss Flora Fairbanks and her friend, Miss Llewellyn, who lived there several years. Miss Tucker was forced into retirement at the prime of life, about seventy, by blindness and moved into the cottage. Nicknamed Little Tuckaway, it became a Mecca for returning alumni. At one magic moment, to relieve overcrowding on library walls, the oil portrait of a Sewanee bishop was hung over the fireplace of her dormitory. From Miss Johnnie’s cottage, with its mementoes of Sewanee’s past, came the imperious command, “Take that portrait down!” It came down. No one knew or asked, why. Miss Johnnie is alleged to have expelled one hapless student by the simple expedient of packing his trunk and having it moved to the yard. It was pulled down after the big house was burnt.
This cottage was built in 1871 by Frank Marquet, a local carpenter and leaseholder. A decade later the cottage was bought by Bishop William Mercer Green for his eldest daughter, Sallie Cotten, and he provided improvements required by the 1880 leasehold agreement. Bishop Green was an Episcopal Bishop and fourth Chancellor of the University. His residence was Kendal, directly next door to the cottage. Sallie Cotten managed Cotten House as an inn. The inn is also referred to as Old Tuckaway and is where Tuckaway Hall stands now. Mrs. Cotten also served as manager of Otey Parish and has a memorial dedicated to her work. Her husband, John M. Cotten, a Confederate Army veteran, was part owner of a retail store in Sewanee and was postmaster for a time. Mrs. Cotten sold the cottage to Mrs. Jeremy Grant Johnson in 1910, after which it had various residents. Since 2004, it is owned by John and Julia Gatta
Susan Dabney Smedes built this cottage in 1894. It was named for her admirer and promoter, British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone, who sponsored the publication of Smedes’ book, Memorials of a Southern Planter, in England. A biography of her father, the book was received with almost superlative expressions from the press. It was valued not only as a mirror of life before and during the “war between the States”, but as a valuable addition to the history of the Reconstruction period as well, of which so little had been written. The book had been only meant for her father’s grandchildren, but her brother Virginus, a fellow writer who also tried to capture their father on the page, urged her to give the book to the world. Gladstone had been the one to take Southern Planter overseas (another supporter being Queen Victoria herself). He was reputed to have said, “Let no man say, with this book before him, that the age of chivalry is gone, or that Thomas Dabney was not worthy to sit beside Sir Percival at the round table of King Arthur”. After her novel’s success Susan, who had been a widow since 1890, felt the need of a permanent home among her own kind and was advised by one of her sisters to move to Sewanee. Relying on her father’s meager plantation money and her friendship with Bishop Quintard and Miss Lily Green alone, Susan and her other sister Lelia rented a house up on the hill and hosted student boarders. When the school shifted to student dormitories in 1894 the ladies decided to build. They chose the present site of the Gladstone cottage because it was secluded. When they cleared for the building of the cottage, they left nine special silver maple trees, named for the nine surviving brothers and sisters. It was said that as each one passed on, the tree that bore his or her name also died, except for Lelia and Sarah, which stood side by side as the sisters stood in life. Bishop Quintard was a frequent visitor to the cottage and often came unannounced. Sometimes he came to plant in their garden, other times he brought distinguished visitors to meet the ladies. Susan built a house next door to Gladstone Cottage in which she held classes, the children Sewanee coming to her for daily instruction. Susan lived at Gladstone until her death in 1913. Her charm, wit, and gracious hospitality to the families of Sewanee and distinguished visitors to the Mountain greatly enriched the Sewanee community. Portraits of Susan and William Gladstone have been handed down to each owner of Gladstone, as well as Burleigh (the plantation) dining room furniture. In 1928 the cottage was bought by Bishop William George McDowell. At the time he was Bishop of Alabama. The house is currently owned by Craig and Carol Stubblebine.
In 1866 the Rt. Rev. Charles Todd Quintard, Sewanee's first vice-chancellor, moved into a recently completed two-room log cabin. It was one of only two houses in Sewanee, the other being Rebel's Rest, and the two structures were similar. The original Fulford Hall was destroyed by a fire in 1889 and replaced by a larger frame building in 1890. Although it has undergone several significant renovations over the years, the 1890 structure still stands today. From the 1910s to the 1930s, the building functioned as a dormitory and an infirmary. Fulford Hall has housed seven vice-chancellors, Quintard in the 19th century and five from the tenure of Alexander Guerry through that of Robert Ayres. In 1989, Fulford Hall became home to Office of Admission, Office of Communications, and Office of Financial Aid.
The house is situated on Alabama Ave., which was originally known as St. Chrysostom Place. Allen Gipson moved from Roarks Cove to Sewanee where he ran a general store located directly across from the depot. Later, he and Tom Gipson co-owned a store in the building now home to Shenanigans. Ten years after Allen Gipson’s death, Mrs. Gipson was forced to put up the house for auction as her son had riddled the family with debt. She sold the modest four-room house for $575 to Lafayette O. Myers. In 1912, J.W. McBee, the police chief, bought the house. In 1917, the house was given over to McBee’s wife, Mary McBee Summers, who had remarried . After Mrs. Summers’ death Lawrence Green, owner of the City Café, lived there in the 1960s. Tom Wells and his wife then leased it as Mrs. Wells had an interest in older houses. Today the Gipson House is owned by Will and Becca Arnold who are both graduates of the University. Becca Arnold is the daughter of a former matron at the University, Susan Peek. Makris, P. S. (2006). Sewanee - People, Places, and Times. Ozark, Missouri: Dogwood Printing.
This house was built in 1889 by the Ecce Quam Bonum Club. They secured the lot back of Thompson Hall, now known as the "Union", and, by assessment on the members, raised the money to build the small wooden house. This house had probably three rooms which were used for meetings, reading, and recreation. A billard and pool table were installed in the back room and in constant use. Founded in 1870, EQB functioned as literary and social club. The club was originally a male society consisting of faculty members, administrators, and “gentlemen resident at Sewanee” who gathered twice monthly for lectures called “leads.” The house was used by the club for about a decade until 1899 when the University offered two rooms over the old Supply Store. This was so that they could build the Sewanee Union Theater on the house’s lot. Rather than tear the house down the University moved it just down the street next to Dr. Torian’s residence. There it became the fraternity house of Alpha Kappa Kappa, a medical fraternity. After 1907 it became the office of Dr. Reynold Kirby-Smith when he was elected Officer of the University and Chief of Staff of the Emerald Hodgson Hospital. Later it became the residence of John and Betty Hodges. The residents preceding them more or less in order were Mrs. Echols and her niece, John and Ellen Webb, Harry and Jean Yeatman, Cruse and Jim Clark, who sold it to Ed and Elizabeth Camp. The Camps added the left wing. The house is currently owned by W. B. Rodgers and Marion Beasley as of 1983.
Miss Mary Miller bought this home in 1887. She was described as having a “strange and lovely Chinese face, romantic birth, and most Victorian outlook” She was born of missionary parents: her father English and her mother Chinese. Orphaned at a young age, she was sent to an uncle in the United States. She later fell in love with a clergyman and they were to be married. However, her uncle said that her parents had not been married, making her illegitimate and unable to marry a clergyman. Unfortunately, it was found out after her uncle died that Miller’s parents had indeed been married and her uncle lied to keep control of her financial affairs. Miss Miller presided over “Crazy Corner” (then the name of Miller Hall) as matron of the boarding house for many years. She left all her property to the University in 1911 and the gates in the cemetery were put up in her name. The next occupants, Mrs. Stewart from New Orleans and her daughters, Minnie and Clara, remodeled the house into two apartments. In 1922, the Rev. Charles Wright bought it for a summer home. Wright, brought from England by Bishop Quintard as a young child, was considered a member of the Bishop’s family. He went to the University and St. Luke’s, and was member of the Board of Regents for 20 years. He was rector of Grace Church, Memphis. He died in 1932. The house has been torn down.
Miss Mary Miller bought the home in 1887. She was described as having a “strange and lovely Chinese face, romantic birth, and most Victorian outlook” (Charlotte Gailor, Purple Sewanee, 1932). She was born of missionary parents: her father English and her mother Chinese. Orphaned at a young age, she was sent to an uncle in the United States. She later fell in love with a clergyman and they were to be married. However, her uncle said that her parents had not been married, making her illegitimate and unable to marry a clergyman. Unfortunately, it was found out after her uncle died that Miller’s parents had indeed been married and her uncle lied to keep control of her financial affairs. Miss Miller presided over “Crazy Corner” (then the name of Miller Hall) as matron of the boarding house for many years. She left all her property to the University in 1911 and the gates in the cemetery were put up in her name. The next occupants, Mrs. Stewart from New Orleans and her daughters, Minnie and Clara, remodeled the house into two apartments. In 1922, the Rev. Charles Wright bought it for a summer home. Wright, brought from England by Bishop Quintard as a young child, was considered a member of the Bishop’s family. He went to the University and St. Luke’s, and was member of the Board of Regents for 20 years. He was rector of Grace Church, Memphis. He died in 1932. The house has been torn down.
This house was first built by Richard Biddle in 1900. When it burst into flames in 1904, Mr. Biddle barred anyone from trying to save the house. It is said that he blocked the entry with his body and, brandishing a chair, threatened to hit anyone who attempted to interfere with the fated destruction of his property, which he deemed “kismet.” Mr. Biddle was considered eccentric and dubbed Sewanee’s man of mystery. After the fire he built a shack in the woods northwest of Sewanee. The house on Oklahoma Avenue was rebuilt in 1912 by Douglass Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn, a member of the fledgling municipal government for the University, later became the University treasurer. In 1914 the house was bought by David A. Shepard. Shepard was the first salaried alumni secretary of the University, serving from 1912-1920. During Bishop Knight’s tenure as vice-chancellor (1914-1922), most of the official entertainment for the University was done in the Shepard home because the bishop’s wife was considered an invalid. The spare room had to be ready for overnight guests or weekend visitors, and when VIPs were expected, the alumni secretary was home to receive them. These weekly visitors were likely the reason for the many additions to the once modest cottage. By the eighth addition the Shepards started to call the house “Topsy” after the famous character in Uncle Tom’s Cabin because the house just grew. For example, although it had been constructed of hand-hewn timber, in 1945 it was encased in stone to prevent future fires. After his time as alumni secretary, Mr. Shepard continued to make Sewanee his base of operations and ran several businesses from an office located in the back of the home. The house was passed on to Mary Waller Shepherd Soper and her husband Rev. Soper when he retired from the Episcopal priesthood in 1962. It was during their time that Topsy reached a total of nineteen additions to the house since its construction. The Sopers fittingly named their addition “Turvey.” The numerous additions have caused some quirks in the house, such as different floor levels and an unusual architectural montage at the back. But the additions are part of its charm. The Sopers hosted many of their own exhibits on the house and it was included in multiple historic house tours. The house is owned by Martin and Katherine Davis as of 2013.
“This was built by Mr. Roberts who had a livery stable in the Village. He kept riding horses to rent, and he owned the first public "hack"- A long ambulance with narrow slanting seats running lengthwise and no springs that were observable," wrote Miss Sada Elliott. In 1886 Mrs. Herndon, sister of Mr. Stanley Bell of Nashville owned it after her house on Alabama Avenue, "Bellewood”, had burned. She was post mistress and had three sons in the college. Her husband had been killed in the Civil War. After that, various people lived in it. Mr. Lebowitz, the shoemaker; Mr. J. B. Hunt, while the present Hunt house was being renovated; Mr. deOvies and Miss Lizzie Wadhams. Mr. William Hamilton finally bought it in 1929. After William’s death, his sister Mary Frances Hamilton took over the house. At one time in her career, she was the UT extension agent for the area and was an expert gardener. She had many exotic plants and flowers in the yard and had a full-time gardener. She never married and had no children, so when she died in 2001, she left it to her nephew,Webster. Webster never lived in it and tried to put it up for sale. Unfortunately September 11 attack happened right around that time and no house sold in Sewanee until the Askews bought it from Webster in August of 2012. The Askews have two outbuildings that they call cabins that they have rented to hundreds of alumni and parents over the years. Many have stayed there on their wedding night, others have proposed marriage in the cabin, celebrated anniversaries, attended the school of letters, and studied for comps. The cabins are not fancy, but people might come visit Sewanee in the future and try to remember where they stayed.
“This was built by Mr. Roberts who had a livery stable in the Village. He kept riding horses to rent, and he owned the first public "hack"--" A long ambulance with narrow slanting seats running lengthwise and no springs that were observable," wrote Miss Sada Elliott. In 1886 Mrs. Herndon, sister of Mr. Stanley Bell of Nashville owned it after her house on Alabama Avenue, "Bellewood”, had burned. She was Post Mistress and had three sons in the College. Her husband had been killed in the Civil War. After that, various people lived in it. Mr. Lebowitz, the shoemaker; Mr. J. B. Hunt, while the present Hunt house was being renovated; Mr. deOvies; Miss Lizzie Wadhams. Mr. William Hamilton finally bought it in 1929. After William’s death, his sister Mary Frances Hamilton took over the house. At one time in her career, she was the UT extension agent for the area and was an expert gardener. She had many exotic plants and flowers in the yard and had a full time gardener. She never married and had no children, so when she died in 2001, she left it to her nephew Webster. Webster never lived in it and tried to put it up for sale. Unfortunately he September 11 attack happened right around that time and no house sold in Sewanee until the Askews bought it from Webster in August of 2012. The couple have two out buildings that they call cabins that they have rented to hundreds of alumni and parents over the years. Many have stayed there on their wedding night, others have proposed marriage in the cabin, celebrated anniversaries, attended the school of letters, and studied for comps. The cabins are not fancy, but people might come visit Sewanee in the future and try to remember where they stayed.
This house was built by Dr. Reynold Marvin Kirby-Smith. A widely known physician at Sewanee and a son of Confederate General Edmund Kirby-Smith, Dr. Kirby-Smith was a Sewanee staple. He was educated at the Sewanee Military Academy and the University, where he received his Doctor of Medicine in 1895. Dr. Kirby-Smith served with the U. S. Army Medical Corps in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War and retired from the Army in 1907, but continued in the medical reserve and rose to rank of colonel. During World War I he was a surgeon in charge of two medical units of the Red Cross, establishing a field hospital in France and doing emergency service in Serbia during a typhus epidemic. In 1907 he became associate professor in the medical department of the University and built this house. The next year he became health officer of the University, a post he held for 40 years. He was also the former chief of staff of Emerald Hodgson Hospital. Because of his passion for accuracy, Dr. Kirby-Smith was a treasured source for Sewanee anecdotes. His earliest memory was going through St. Luke’s Hall when it was being built. He would have been four years old. He said his greatest childhood fright was when the McCrady house burned. He had been seven then and had hid in the hedge of the Galleher house. Dr. Kirby-Smith’s wife, Miss Maude, also had a stark impact on the Sewanee community. She was one of the founders of the literary society, the Fortnightly Club, and served as an officer in the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Perhaps her proudest office was as president of the Civic League, a club that ran a tea room and had rummage sales to make money to keep the University Cemetery clean and to see that the University grounds were neat and tidy. Miss Maude also was a member of St. Augustine’s that kept All Saints clean. Maude was noted to being a person most likely to be the first friend to come with aid and comfort to the homes of bereaved friends. At the house she held “Tuesdays at home.” People came to have intelligent talk and to enjoy cheese straws and chocolate cake. This custom mixed people of different ages and professions. Miss Maude will be remembered as a gracious and charming lady to everyone who knew her. The house was passed on to Dr. Kirby-Smith’s daughter, Catherine “Kiffie” Clark, when her father died in 1962. It was recently bought by the University from the Hursts and is intended to become a guesthouse.
This house was built by Dr. Reynold Marvin Kirby-Smith. A widely known physician at Sewanee and a son of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, Dr. Kirby-Smith was a Sewanee staple. He was educated at the Sewanee Military Academy and the University, where he received his Doctor of Medicine in 1895. Dr. Kirby-Smith served with the U. S. Army Medical Corps in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. Although he retired from the Army in 1907, Kirby-Smith continued in the medical reserve and rose to rank of colonel. During World War I he was a surgeon in charge of two medical units of the Red Cross: establishing a field hospital in France and doing emergency service in Serbia during a typhus epidemic. After his active duty retirement in 1907 he became associate professor in the medical department of the University and built this house. The next year he became health officer of the University, a post he held for 40 years. He was also the chief of staff of Emerald Hodgson Hospital. Because of his passion for accuracy, Dr. Kirby-Smith was a treasured source for Sewanee anecdotes. He said his greatest childhood fright was when the McCrady house burned. He was seven then and had hidden in the hedge of the Galleher house. Dr. Kirby-Smith’s wife, “Miss Maude,” also had an impact on the Sewanee community. She was one of the founders of the Fortnightly Club (a literary society), served as an officer in the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and was a member of St. Augustine’s that kept All Saints Chapel clean. She also served as president of the Civic League. That club ran a tea room and had rummage sales to make money to keep the University Cemetery clean and to see that the University grounds were neat and tidy. At the house she held “Tuesdays at home.” This custom mixed people of different ages and professions; people came to have intelligent talk and to enjoy cheese straws and chocolate cake. When Dr. Kirby-Smith died in 1962, the house was passed on to his daughter, Catherine “Kiffie” Clark. It was recently bought by the University from the Hursts and is intended to become a guesthouse.
This house was on Alabama Avenue, the third house from the corner where McCrady Hall is now. This lease was taken in 1870 by a Mrs. Louisa Rowland. Apparently she didn't live here long. In 1873 Mrs. E. M. Anderson had the lease. Mrs. Anderson was related to Jefferson Davis, and his wife and daughter were frequent visitors of hers, according to Miss Queenie Washington who often stayed at Bellewood, just two doors away. In 1885 Mrs. Florence Barnwell took over the house and presided as Matron until her death in October 1922. She was a widow with two sons who both went to the University. There are fourteen Barnwells in the Alumni Directory but only two from Sewanee, Walter in 1891, and Bower in 1907. Mrs. Barnwell always wore black with a little lace cap. She was well known by everybody because she played piano for all the informal dances in Forensic “Frenzy” Hall. Her favorites were "When the leaves begin to turn ...," "The Blue Danube," and "When I was single, my pockets did jingle, I wish I were single again ..." She was remembered by the Sewanee community as having an “essential” spirit. “Old mothers, as they pass with slow-timed steps, Their trembling hands cling gently to youth’s strength; Sweet mothers; as they pass, one sees again, Old garden walks, old roses, and old loves.” –Charles S. Ross (Quoted by the Board of Trustees in her remembrance) This house was pulled down during WWII to make way for Army Barracks. Mr. Douglas Vaughan said his father got some of the lumber from it, unpainted, but solid stuff still. The building has since been turned into University owned apartments and are named Barnwell Apartments after this family.
Cravens-Watkins House, affectionately known as “Arcadia,” first belonged to Miss Sallie Milhado. Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, Miss Sallie operated Arcadia as a boardinghouse. It was also where she raised her sister’s children—who called her “Lallie Miladdie.” She was described as unique, and remembered for her mint juleps, squirrel tail hat, fear of thunderstorms, and her horse Maud. One day when Miss Sallie was riding with Miss Mooney in a carriage drawn by Maud, a thunderstorm developed. In Miss Sallie’s rush to reach safety at home, Miss Mooney fell out and was left by the roadside. Another story about Miss Sallie involved President Woodrow Wilson. One of her boarders, Cary Grayson, arranged for her to meet the President while she was in Washington, DC. Although Grayson cautioned her to be dignified, it is reported that when ushered in, Miss Sallie clapped the President on the back and said, “I’m glad to see you, old top!” Duval and Florence Cravens and their family were the next residents of Arcadia. Duval Cravens was superintendent of the Sewanee Military Academy and had previously lived in seven different houses across the Mountain. Florence Cravens had a talent for gardening and playing hostess so settling in Arcadia was a dream come true as her daughter recalled: “The greatest day was when Mother and Dad bought Arcadia. Everyone else thought that they had lost their minds (possibly even Dad). The house had belonged to Miss Sallie Milhado, and as children we had spent time with her. She rode horseback sidesaddle, smoked, and she also killed rattlesnakes. During storms however she would hide in a closet or under a bed, taking us with her. When we moved to Arcadia, Mother was finally happy with the size of her dining room. Some of our most vivid memories are of the dinner parties that our parents had for friends, both on and off the Mountain. Like all the ladies in Sewanee, she entertained visiting parents, trustees, and regents.” – Virginia “Sis” Cravens Ravenel Paine After Mrs. Cravens’ death in 1978, the Watkins family owned the house until 2016 when an Episcopal priest purchased it.
The oldest part of the Chitty house was built by Bishop Quintard in the 1880s for his son, George, Located on the end of his lot on South Carolina Ave., the house incorporates a small log cabin alleged to be the only surviving antebellum structure in the center of campus. Part of this cabin, an end wall showing crude v-notches cut into smallish logs, is visible to the left of the main house. Before becoming part of the Quintard house in 1880, the cabin was the residence of an elderly African American woman, who was a dependent of Bishop Quintard. Today the house greatly exceeds the original cabin. Major MacKellar (“Major Mac”) lived in this house for many years. He was Vice-Chancellor Hall's brother-in-law and taught at the Sewanee Military Academy and the University until his death. Arthur and Elizabeth (“Betty”) Chitty then lived here for over 50 years (1948-2002). They hosted multiple students in the spacious house. Arthur Chitty was a notable historiographer of Sewanee. The Chitty House has been owned by Marcia Mary Cook since 2004.
This house was approximately on the site of the Sewanee Military Academy Gymnasium. It was built for Mrs. Helen Coley, an English woman, as a summer home. Later, the balcony on the side was extended, with lattice, to the second floor. Mrs. Coley is shown standing on the balcony. Below is her oldest grandson, Harry Easter. The other two grandsons, Charles and Frederic Easter, are in the second floor window. Her granddaughter, Ellen (Nellie), is in the little cart with her Negro nurse beside her. The Reverend John Augustus Harris married Nellie Easter in 1886. He was an alumnus of the College, and St. Luke's in 1885. His son was the Reverend Edward B. Harris and the latter's son was Edward B. Harris, Jr. The Reverend Harry Easter grew up in Sewanee, went to the College, and was rector of Otey Parish. He knew more than anybody about early Sewanee and he wrote a paper, Pre-historic Sewanee, for the E. Q. B. Club (See Purple Sewanee, pages 7-8, 44-45.) After Mrs. Coley’s death in 1887, the house was bought by Robert Colmore. This was one of the various houses he lived in before buying the Guthrie House on North Carolina Avenue in 1905. Various families occupied this house after Mr. Colmore. Mrs. Ivy Perrin Gass and her family lived there when she was matron at SMA in 1899 until she married Bishop Theodore DuBose Bratton, who presided over Missisippi and was ninth chancellor of the University. The house was finally pulled down when the Sewanee Military Academy swimming pool was built.
This large frame house was one of the early licensed boarding houses for students. Boarding houses like this precluded the need for University dormitories initially. The house was built by Dr. DuBose for his sister-in-law Mrs. McNeely (Mattice) DuBose and named “Palmetto” to commemorate South Carolina. It housed 30 students which was a significant amount as Otey, the next largest boarding house, held only 26. In 1874, a student wrote of Palmetto, "We have splendid fare, turkey twice a week and dessert three times." Mrs. Sessums, mother of Bishop Sessums, and her sister, Mrs. Tucker, acquired Palmetto in 1880. For many years Mrs. Tucker ran it as a combined boarding house for summer visitors and dormitory for students. When Mrs. Tucker died in 1909, Palmetto was obtained by the University. It then had a wild life. Reportedly, the matron had very little control and students used to shoot through the ceiling, playing a game called “Corners.” Freshmen were expected to dash towards the walls of the second floor while upperclassmen would shoot the center of the ceiling. However, Arthur Ben Chitty noted this was probably an exaggeration as other sources only go as far as saying a student would shoot the ceiling to wake up the house. It was likely this happened only once or twice. Palmetto was razed in 1931. When it was being demolished, a championship ball marked "C.B. Ames, 1884" won by the Hardee Second Nine (baseball team) was found in the wall.
This house and a studio in the yard were built by the photographer Mr. Spencer Judd right around the time he started his photography studio. The Judd family was associated with both Sewanee and Winchester from the earliest days of the University, H. O. Judd operated a laundry at the Depot. Spencer Judd’s father, the Rev. B. S. Judd, was a former missionary to native Americans who came to assist the Rev. Thomas Morris in establishing a church at Winchester. Very soon, however, the Rev. Judd moved from Winchester to Sewanee, probably sometime in the summer or early fall of 1859 and began to hold services in his Sewanee house. Spencer Judd lovingly recalled his father taking him to the laying of the University cornerstone in 1860 when he was five years old. Spencer Judd lived with his father (in the house later known as the Weber House) until he went in business for himself. He first worked with his older brother, H. 0. Judd Jr., who was also a photographer, however when his brother left Sewanee for Chattanooga Spencer Judd started his own studio. The University News (1876) reported, “C. S. Judd will open a Gallery at Sewanee about the middle of May.” Judd would have been about 20 years old at the time. At one point there were apparently two Judd studios in Sewanee. One was located next to the Barbot and Pillet tailor establishment (Cocke House) and the other behind Spencer’s house. He was an artist in portraiture (often set in an “outdoor” garden) especially of children, and took beautiful photographs of Sewanee scenery: waterfalls, views, cliffs, and laurel. For more than 30 years, Judd’s studio was a fixture in Sewanee and numerous children on the Mountain were photographed by him. Many of Judd’s photographs are found in the University Archives but others are in collections across the southeast. After Judd’s death, his wife continued to live in the house until renting it out for a few years before her death in 1949. Mrs. Bertha Graves, a beloved figure at the Sewanee Military Academy, bought the house in 1950. She served as dietitian and stenographer for the school. She was known to manage the dining hall with brute strength, never letting a boy go disciplined or worse of all, hungry. Mr. and Mrs. E.P. Govan were the next owners from 1962 until approximately 1969. Other individuals who also owned the house include the Napiers and Jane Burson along with Tupper and Frederica Saussy. The Saussy's lived there from 1978 until 1997. Archie and Helen Stapleton are the current owners of this house.
This house and a studio in the yard were built by the photographer Mr. Spencer Judd right around the time he started his photography studio. The Judd family was associated with both Sewanee and Winchester from the earliest days of the University, H. O. Judd operated a laundry at the Depot. Spencer Judd’s father, the Rev. B. S. Judd, was a former missionary to native Americans who came to assist the Rev. Thomas Morris in establishing a church at Winchester. Very soon, however, the Rev. Judd moved from Winchester to Sewanee, probably sometime in the summer or early fall of 1859 and began to hold services in his Sewanee house. Spencer Judd lovingly recalled his father taking him to the laying of the University cornerstone in 1860 when he was five years old. Spencer Judd lived with his father (in the house later known as the Weber House) until he went in business for himself. He first worked with his older brother, H. 0. Judd Jr., who was also a photographer, however when his brother left Sewanee for Chattanooga Spencer Judd started his own studio. The University News (1876) reported, “C. S. Judd will open a Gallery at Sewanee about the middle of May.” Judd would have been about 20 years old at the time. At one point there were apparently two Judd studios in Sewanee. One was located next to the Barbot and Pillet tailor establishment (Cocke House) and the other behind Spencer’s house. He was an artist in portraiture (often set in an “outdoor” garden) especially of children, and took beautiful photographs of Sewanee scenery: waterfalls, views, cliffs, and laurel. For more than 30 years, Judd’s studio was a fixture in Sewanee and numerous children on the Mountain were photographed by him. Many of Judd’s photographs are found in the University Archives but others are in collections across the southeast. After Judd’s death, his wife continued to live in the house until renting it out for a few years before her death in 1949. Mrs. Bertha Graves, a beloved figure at the Sewanee Military Academy, bought the house in 1950. She served as dietitian and stenographer for the school. She was known to manage the dining hall with brute strength, never letting a boy go disciplined or worse of all, hungry. Mr. and Mrs. E.P. Govan were the next owners from 1962 until approximately 1969. Other individuals who also owned the house include the Napiers and Jane Burson along with Tupper and Frederica Saussy. The Saussy's lived there from 1978 until 1997.Archie and Helen Stapleton are the current owners of this house.
This house was built by the University in 1887 for Mrs. Frances Sylva D’Arusmont Guthrie. She lived there with her two sons, Kenneth and William Norman. Both became clergymen and William Norman was the well know rector of St. Mark's-in-the-Bowerie in New York. The builder was Mr. C.W. Scofield who also built the Truslow-Elliott house that same year. Madame Guthrie was the daughter of the famous Fannie Wright, a feminist abolitionist who built a commune in a tract of land south of Memphis (modern day Germantown) called Nashoba to emancipate and educate slaves. The Guthries had lived abroad in Dundee, Scotland until they came here. Both sons had been to school in Germany and France. Madame Guthrie only stayed a year in Sewanee. She spent the rest of her life in Memphis trying vainly to recover her mother's land and importuning all the lawyers and clergy she knew to help her. Bishop Robert Elliott, the first bishop of West Texas died in 1887 at the age of 47. His widow came to live in Sewanee and bought this house in 1888. She came with her family of three daughters and two sons. The house easily became a center of social life and activity. Mrs. Elliott died in 1894. Lionel Colmore, an Englishman, had been "Commissioner" of the University in 1895. He lived in several other houses before he bought this one in 1905. He was then Commissary of the University. His three sons had finished college and never lived in this house. Harry had been killed in an accident, Charles was later bishop of Puerto Rico, and Rupert a physician in Chattanooga. Colmore was very popular with the students, who called him General. He died in 1922, leaving the house to his daughter Dora. Both she and her sister Eva lived here. Dora, a famous cook, built a flourishing catering business during the Guerry regime. Eva died in 1948 and Dora lived on, an invalid for several years until her death in 1963. The house was rented in the summer for several years and was bought by Mrs. Jean Tallec in 1966. Mrs. Tallec, her daughter, Christi Ormsby, and the two Ormsby boys lived there until the home was burned down on December 16, 1971. A modern home has since been built on the site by the Rev. Herbert Wentz, called the Wentz House. Gailor, C. (195-?). Old Sewanee Houses; The First Fifty-Years, 1860-1910. Unpublished manuscript, Sewanee: The University of the South, Sewanee.
Symbolically, this house is one of the most important of Sewanee’s early buildings. The building was named for the Rev. Francis Tremlett, an English clergyman, who hosted and assisted Bishop Quintard on his trip to England in 1867 to raise money to open the University. With the funds raised on that trip, Bishop Quintard was able to construct this building—the first boardinghouse for students at University Place. Built on the site of Mrs. Gass’ house, Tremlett Hall was a small dormitory holding 42 students. Constructed in the summer of 1868 at Rowe (Polk) spring—the spring itself was also renamed Tremlett Spring in honor of the Rev. Tremlett. The hall was described as a sturdy, blockish building of massed plan and two stories tall. In 1870, a four-room and a two-room cottage added to the yard. In 1897, Tremlett was remodeled and opened as a boarding house for the medical students. The charge for board was 12 dollars per month. It functioned for two seasons. Tremlett Hall was for many years the domain of Miss Fannie M. Preston, the most famous of all Sewanee's matrons. She was known for her regal and quiet demeanor. She left Tremlett to look after old Hoffman when it was built in 1899. Tremlett Hall was razed in 1916 by the University.
This house was built by John W. Elam in 1872 on the west side of University Avenue across from Kendal. In 1886 the lease was still held by Mrs. Mary Elam. For several years beginning in 1897, it was the residence of Dr. W.F. Shine. In 1900, the Rev. Frederick Ancrum deRosset purchased the house for his mother-in-law, Mrs. Ella Green. Mrs. Green, the widow of Dr. James Green who had practiced medicine in Monteagle, took in boarders and lived in this house until her death in 1925. The deRosset family still owns this house. Colonel William G. deRosset made it into a two-family house with two furnaces and rented it for many years. When deRosset's brother Armand deRosset and his wife retired and moved to Sewanee they lived in the house. Susan Holmes and Greg Maynard have owned the house since 1996.
This was one of the first residences built in Sewanee. The house is reminiscent of Andrew Jackson Downing’s architecture styles from his book The Architecture of Country Houses and was described as variegated in color. Bishop William Mercer Green of Mississippi, the fourth chancellor of the University, built this house for his family in January 1867, and they moved into Kendal that spring. The name “Kendal” was derived from the Green family’s ancestral home in Westmoreland, England. Bishop Green was chancellor until his death in 1887 at the age of 89, and made his home at Kendal most of the time, between trips to his diocese. During this time, Miss Elizabeth “Lily” Green, the Bishop’s daughter, began to host guests at Kendal. The most notable of these guests was Jefferson Davis, a friend of Bishop Green’s and said to be a champion at backgammon. There were at least three cottages surrounding the main house and it is believed the Jack Carter House and the house next door may have comprised some of these cottages. After her father’s death, Miss Lily ran Kendal as a boarding house for summer visitors and students until her death in 1917. She was hailed as someone who never treated the townspeople differently than the University community. “Her charity, her generosity, her noble life; no story of Sewanee's early days can be complete without some mention of her.” (Purple Sewanee, page 135.) Following Miss Lily’s death, Kendal was owned by Bishop Green's granddaughter Miss Mamie Cotten and her sister-in-law, Mrs. Arthur Cotten, until it was torn down in 1965. Although the main house was razed, a stone engraved “Green” still stands near a house that was once one of the cottages surrounding Kendal.
Rev. Arthur Gray’s residence was located east of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in the Alabama-Mississippi Ave. area. In 1911, Gray gave his home to the University for use as the vice-chancellor’s residence. The University sold it to Bishop Albion Knight, who would become vice-chancellor in 1914. Vice-Chancellor Knight led the University during the trying times of World War I and its effects. However, the Bishop made at least three significant contributions to the University: he paid off an accumulated debt of $300,000; launched and substantially completely a drive for a $1,000,000 endowment; and greatly improved the physical plant. Knight also oversaw the construction of Sewanee staples such as Convocation Hall and Elliot Hall, and brought electricity to the mountain. Vice-Chancellor Knight lived in the Gray mansion until it burned in 1921. Despite the loss of the house, a few good anecdotes came out of this fire. While the house was burning Dr. John Nottingham Ware, professor of French, rushed over to help. He had heard there were valuable papers in the attic. Resourcefully, and at great danger, he made his way to the master bedroom where there was a trap door to the attic. However, with no ladder it appeared hopeless until he thought of bouncing on the bed, trampoline style. He made a couple of good jumps when Mrs. Knight called out, “John Ware, get your dirty feet off my bed.” Another story is that the students knew Bishop Knight had a supply of wine in his cellar. The more energetic of them were able to salvage the entire contents of the wine cellar, though some of his fine books were lost to the flames. It was reported that not all of the wine found its way back to the Bishop after the fire.
This house was built by Mr. Hayes for Mrs. M.R. DeSaussure. She came to Sewanee to educate her four sons. There were four DeSaussures in the Grammar School in 1873 but only one of them went on to the University. In 1874 Dr. George T. Wilmer came to teach and owned the house until he left in 1887. He taught metaphysics, political science, history, and commercial law and banking. In 1877, the lease was taken by M.J. Carruthers and after that again by Mr. Hayes. In 1888, Dr. Cameron Piggott bought the house and lived there for more than 20 years. During his ownership the house became the first building on the plateau to have running water. Piggott, a graduate of Johns Hopkins, taught chemistry, geology, and mineralogy at the University. However, he was best remembered as a dedicated doctor. He delivered all the babies, came to houses on call, and sat up and stayed with the dying. For many years he served as the health officer. Piggott was also famous for being the only person who had fallen 60 feet off Clara's Point and lived to tell the tale. He died in 1911. In 1926, Cotesworth Pickney bought the house for his brother-in-law, Bishop Craik Morris, to use when he retired. However, Mrs. Morris did not want to live here so they sold it to John Luke in 1929. Luke, a major in World War I, was ordained a clergyman in 1924. He used the house as a summer home and kept it until his death in 1951. Mrs. Luke stayed in it for some years after his death. She sold part of the lot with a small chapel to John Hodges. Dr. and Mrs. Keppler bought the house in September 1956, and lived there until around 2010. The house is currently owned by Martin and Marion Knoll.
This cottage was the location of the first drug store in Sewanee. H. N. Caldwell built it in 1872 and ran a combined “Book Store and Pharmacy” for the University, reported The Sewanee Record in 1872. In 1875 Col. Lovell bought both Mr. Caldwell’s house and this cottage. Lovell used the house as his summer home and gave the cottage to his brother-in-law, Dr. E. W. Johns ,who succeeded Caldwell as the town druggist. He 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). Johns’ newspaper advertisement read: “Books, stationary, drugs, medicines, perfumery, coal oil, putty, glass, and all other articles demanded by the Sewanee Trade…” In the early 1900s the house was home to Miss Harvey's School and in 1922 the Rev. Charles Wright purchased it to use as a summer home. Wright was a graduate of both the college and the seminary. A close friend of Bishop Quintard’s family, he maintained his Sewanee connections as a member of the Board of Regents for 20 years. Wright died in 1932. Mrs. Thaddeus Miller bought the house in 1938. In 1940 she was employed by the University as a dietitian at Emerald-Hodgson Hospital. She also worked simultaneously at Magnolia Hall as their dietitian for periods at a time. A student hospitalized for any period of time usually ended up with his favorite dish before he was released. Mrs. Miller died in 1967 and the house was acquired by the University. It is now the Leaseholder’s Office.
This house was built in October 1874, by Mrs. T.K. Sharkey of Mississippi. The University Record of October 1874 noted, “The cottages of Dr. Bickham, of New Orleans, and Mrs. Sharkey, of Mississippi, ...will add very much to the beauty of the street leading from the village.” After living in the house for a brief time Mrs. Sharkey sold it in May 1875 to Mrs. Joseph Q. Lovell, sister of Antonia Quitman Lovell (whose Sewanee home was Sunnyside). Mrs. Joseph Lovell, a widow with two daughters, lived in Natchez and used this house as a summer home. When she died, the house was taken by the Cocke family. The Cockes had three sons in the University including son Charles who gave the Latin Salutatory in 1892. Following the Cocke family, the house had several different residents. In 1907, Mr. Hardy the druggist lived there. Then, Miss Lizzie Wadhams lived in the house for a while. Preston Brooks, Jr. bought the house in 1921 and the Brooks family lived there for nearly fifty years. In 1970, his widow sold it to Mrs. Kathryn Raulston, who later sold it to Dr. Kenneth Wilson Jones. The only major change to the exterior of this house has been the removal of a narrow porch from each side of the larger, center porch.
This house was built in October 1874, by Mrs. T.K. Sharkey of Mississippi. The University Record of October 1874 noted, “The cottages of Dr. Bickham, of New Orleans, and Mrs. Sharkey, of Mississippi, ...will add very much to the beauty of the street leading from the village.” After living in the house for a brief time Mrs. Sharkey sold it in May 1875 to Mrs. Joseph Q. Lovell, sister of Antonia Quitman Lovell (whose Sewanee home was Sunnyside). Mrs. Joseph Lovell, a widow with two daughters, lived in Natchez and used this house as a summer home. When she died, the house was taken by the Cocke family. The Cockes had three sons in the University including son Charles who gave the Latin Salutatory in 1892. Following the Cocke family, the house had several different residents. In 1907, Mr. Hardy the druggist lived there. Then, Miss Lizzie Wadhams lived in the house for a while. Preston Brooks Jr. bought the house in 1921 and the Brooks family lived there for nearly fifty years. In 1970, his widow sold it to Mrs. Kathryn Raulston, who later sold it to Dr. Kenneth Wilson Jones. The only major change to the exterior of this house has been the removal of a narrow porch from each side of the larger, center porch.
In 1887 the Kappa Sigmas built the first phase of this house, which had only two large rooms and a kitchen. The Cheapes purchased the house around 1900. They added a bathroom and a second level accessed by a set of exterior stairs at the rear of the house. They also created a new kitchen area by constructing a wall in the rear room. Beginning in 1916 it was used as a Sewanee Military Academy fraternity house for two years. About this time, it was owned by Ina Mae Myers' grandfather, but he never lived in it. Sheriff Jackson bought it in the early 1920s and his widow still resided there when she died more than 50 years later. Jackson made many changes to the house. He had his sons build the sun porch in the front and dig and pick out the stone to make a cellar for the furnace. He also had the fireplace and the front porch stoned. Jackson then made the small porch on the side a “blind” porch. He also had Mr. Castleberry construct an unusual unsupported stairway in the front entranceway and a bay window. Phil and Jerry White purchased the house in 1975 from Dr. Harold Jackson, a son of Sheriff Jackson’s. An unusual modification made by Jackson was the installation of what he called a “rectifier” in the ground outside the living room. It was still there in 1975 and White noted, “It held and aged the moonshine he took in raids. He used it, in part, as currency to pay Arthur Terrill and others for odds jobs around the house. The pipe from which he drew the whiskey was still sticking out of the ground when I bought the house, but I did not have gumption enough to see if I could recover some mellow shine.”
In 1870, soon after she built Saint’s Rest, Mrs. Stephen Elliott had this cottage built to "accommodate 10 students." When her older daughter, Esther (“Hessie”), married Dr. Francis Shoup a year or so later, it became their home and has been called Shoup Lodge most of the time since. Dr. Shoup, a graduate of West Point, was a Brigadier General of the Confederacy who became a clergyman after the Civil War. He fought alongside Bishop Leonidas Polk and was baptized on the battlefield by Bishop Elliott. He taught mathematics at the University of Mississippi for a while after the war and came to Sewanee as a mathematics instructor and acting chaplain in 1870. He was described by one of his students as "Handsome as Plato, indolent until aroused to mental coruscation; mathematician, engineer, Confederate General and, last, metaphysician." For a time, Dr. Shoup had a parish in Waterford, New York where he inspired an Episcopal family in giving Sewanee’s famous Breslin Tower. However, the Shoups returned to Sewanee and he returned to the University faculty in 1883. After Dr. Shoup died in 1896, Mrs. Shoup was the mistress of Shoup Lodge. After the Shoups, the house was rented to various people but has been owned always by Elliott family ancestors. When Bishop Craik Morris of Louisiana retired he lived in the house for some years until his death in 1944. It was inherited from Mr. Robert W.B. Elliott by Mrs. Charles McD. Puckette, wife of a grandson of Bishop Stephen Elliott. The house was passed on to Mrs. Puckette’s daughter Isabelle Howe in 1979. In 2001, it was bought by a different Puckette, Emily, and her husband John Benson.
This house was built in the fall of 1870 for General Gorgas. He and his family first stayed in the Gailor cottage while Brierfield was being built. Gorgas named it Brierfield for the town in Alabama where he had had iron works. General Gorgas came to be Headmaster of the Junior Department in March 1869, and was made Vice-Chancellor in 1872. General Gorgas' son, "Willie," lived here while he attended the University from 1869 until he graduated in 1875. He was the Director and Captain of the Hardee Baseball Team and President of the Football Club. He, of course, was the famous Major General William Crawford Gorgas of Yellow Fever fame at Panama. He was Surgeon General of World War I, and was made a Knight of the British Order of St. Michael and St. George by King George of England, in June, 1920, shortly before he died. General Gorgas sold Brierfield to Dr. Telfair Hodgson when he came to Sewanee in 1878. Dr. Hodgson was first made Dean of the Theological School. As finances were very low in 1878, it was thought best not to elect a Vice-Chancellor and thereby avoid paying that salary. He did become Vice-Chancellor in 1879. Dr. Hodgson built the tower on the north of the house and had his office in the room on the first floor under it. He is suspect to have added the bay windows, the porch on the south, and the servants' house at the same time. His widow lived in the house until her death in 1907. His son, Telfair, Jr. was Treasurer of the University from 1907 until 1949 when he retired. He made extensive additions on the south side and changes inside. The house was never a dormitory for students, but Mr. Telfair Hodgson kept a bachelor hall in it until he married in 1917. His widow, Mrs. Medora Cheatham Hodgson, did live there after his death in 1952 and the house continued to be a center of Sewanee life. Mrs. Hodgeson, daughter of Brigadier General B. Frank Cheatham, C.S.A., died on March 14, 1969 at the age of 92. The home is now owned by her daughter, Mrs. Edward F. Parker. Brierfield has been in the Hodgeson family for 115 years.
The Lovell home, “Sunnyside,” was built in 1870 by H. N. Caldwell, the town druggist. The house served as his primary residence while the cottage next door (Miller Hall) was where he operated the “Book Store and Pharmacy.” In August of 1873 the lease was sold and transferred for use as a summer home to Col. William Storrow Lovell from Natchez, Mississippi. Col. and Mrs. Lovell had three sons and two daughters. Prior to the Civil War Lovell was in the U.S. Navy and was part of Dr. Kane's expedition in 1853 to find Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer who disappeared in search of the Northwest Passage in 1845. Lovell brought back an enormous polar bear skin from the expedition. The polar bear skin was mounted and placed in the hall; it was reported that the children were terrified of it. The house was also full of items from Monmouth, Mrs. Lovell’s family estate in Natchez, and collections from a year the family spent travelling abroad. Until about 1907, students lived in a wing at the back of the house. After Mrs. Lovell’s death in 1916, her daughter Rosalie Duncan Lovell or “Miss Rose,” took over Sunnyside. Miss Rose remembered many of the early characters in Sewanee and wrote vividly about them in Purple Sewanee. After the rest of the family died, a friend from Virginia, Miss Lily Baker, lived with Miss Rose. The garden toward the west of the house was said to be one of the most charming on the Mountain and was kept up until Miss Rose's death in 1936. After Miss Rose’s death, the Lovell Home was rented to families of University staff. The widow of the last renters, Mrs. Raymond Hall, remained in the home after her husband’s death and took in student boarders. The house was razed in 1953 when Hunter Hall was built.
The Lovell home, “Sunnyside,” was built in 1870 by H.N. Caldwell, the town druggist. The house served as his primary residence while the cottage next door (Miller House) was where he operated the “Book Store and Pharmacy.” In August of 1873 the lease was sold and transferred for use as a summer home to Col. William Storrow Lovell from Natchez. Col. and Mrs. Lovell had three sons and two daughters. Prior to the Civil War Lovell was in the US Navy and was part of Dr. Kane's 1853 expedition to find Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer who disappeared in search of the Northwest Passage in 1845. Lovell brought back an enormous polar bear skin from the expedition. The polar bear skin was mounted and placed in the hall; it was reported that the children were terrified of it. The house was also full of items from Monmouth, Mrs. Lovell’s family estate in Natchez, and collections from a year the family spent travelling abroad. Until about 1907, students lived in a wing at the back of the house. After Mrs. Lovell’s death in 1916, her daughter Rosalie Duncan Lovell or “Miss Rose,” took over Sunnyside. Miss Rose remembered many of the early characters in Sewanee and wrote vividly about them in Purple Sewanee. After the rest of the family died, a friend from Virginia, Miss Lily Baker, lived with Miss Rose. The garden toward the west of the house was said to be one of the most charming on the Mountain and was kept up until Miss Rose's death in 1936. After Miss Rose’s death, the Lovell Home was rented to families of University staff. The widow of the last renters, Mrs. Raymond Hall, remained in the home after her husband’s death and took in student boarders. The house was razed in 1953 when Hunter Hall was built.
In 1871 Pierre Barbot took a lease on this lot and presumably built the house soon after. We are fortunate to have an early picture of how it looked before various changes were made. Barbot, Sewanee’s first tailor, was from Paris via Winchester, Tennessee. He soon had a business partner, also French, Lazare Pillet. Barbot and Pillet lived in the house and ran their business from there as well. All the students—Grammar School and College—wore military uniforms made by them. They also made elegant dress suits, ladies' riding habits and children's suits. Barbot soon left, but Pillet remained in Sewanee for many years and was joined by Mr. Fabard as his business partner. Pillet was known for his "dapper figure, back straight as a line, well-dressed always in perfect style (his own wonderful creations), tight of fit, and so curved in at the waist as to suggest the use of stays….with his floriated French manner and black mustache, he was the Parisian through and through." (Purple Sewanee, 39-42) He was an enthusiastic gardener and it was he who planted the boxwood on each side of the front walk. When Fabard died, Pillet decided to retire and return to France. Unfortunately, he died while on a visit to Kentucky and is buried in Sewanee. The house then became a dormitory for the Medical School before being bought in 1892 by Mrs. J. C. Bradford of Nashville. She used it as a summer home. Mr. John Breckenridge Hunt bought the house from her in 1911 and the house has remained in the Hunt family ever since. Mr. and Mrs. Hunt both loved the woods and the outdoors and she planted many trees and shrubs at the house that are still visible today. After Mrs. Hunt’s death in 1934, her daughter Mary Crockett Hunt, took over the house. For forty years, she served as a secretary at the Sewanee Military Academy. Similar to her parents, she was a lover of the outdoors and became an ardent conservationist and preservationist. When she owned the Hunt House she took in University student boarders who then became her loyal fans. After her death in 1978 the house was bought by Willie Cocke and Lily Hunt.
In 1871 Pierre Barbot took a lease on this lot and presumably built the house soon after. We are fortunate to have an early picture of how it looked before various changes were made. Monsieur Barbot, the first tailor, was from Paris via Winchester, Tennessee. He soon had a partner, also French, Lazare Pillet, and their business grew and flourished, carried on from this house in which they also lived. All the students, Grammar School and College, wore military uniforms with elaborate braiding and brass buttons made by them. They also made elegant dress suits, ladies' riding habits and children's suits. Monsieur Barbot soon left, but Pillet was an important figure in Sewanee life for many years. He also had a partner, Monsieur Fabard. "The older residents remember his (Pillet's) erect, dapper figure, back straigt as a line, well-dressed always in perfect style (his own wonderful creations), tight of fit, and so curved in at the waist as to suggest the use of stays. On special occasions he wore, a frock coat and silk hat. Courteous always, with his floriated French manner and black mustache, he was the Parisian through and through." (Purple Sewanee, 39-42) He was an enthusiastic gardener and it was he who planted the boxwood on each side of the front walk. His flowers were sought by the beaux who sent his stiff little bouquets to the girls at the dances. His wife died and is buried in the Sewanee Cemetery with her infant daughter. When Fabard died, Pillet decided to return to France and retire. He married Madame Fabard and was on a visit in Kentucky when he died and was brought to Sewanee and buried beside his first wife. The house became a dormitory for the Medical School before being bought by Mrs. J. C. Bradford of Nashville in 1892 as a summer home. Mr. John Breckenridge Hunt bought it from her in 1911. The house has been occupied by members of his family ever since. His wife, Mary Love Washington was a free spirited woman and followed Mr. Hunt to his various lumber camps, living in mountain cabins or townhouses—wherever he happened to have a mill. They both truly loved the woods and the freedom of country living. This love was expressed in the many trees and shrubs Mrs. Hunt planted during their time there. They are still visible today. After Mrs. Hunt’s death in 1934, her daughter, Mary Crockett Hunt, took over the house. For forty years, she served as a secretary to the superintendent, paymaster, registrar, and anything else that came along at the Sewanee Military Academy. She worked with five superintendents. Similar to her parents, she was a lover of the outdoors and became an ardent conservationist and preservationist. She was a charter member of the Sewanee branch of the Sewanee branch of the Association for preservation of Tennessee Antiquities. When she owned the Hunt House she took in University student boarders who then became her loyal fans. She may have live quietly, but she left her mark as “a devoted daughter of Sewanee”. After her death in 1978 the house was bought by Willie Cocke and Lily Hunt.
This house was built by the "Smith Brothers" from Natchez who built the Brooks' house next door at the same time. The houses were identical at first, but many additions and changes have created very different looking houses. "Widow Smith," who had two sons in the University, was the first occupant. Then the druggist Iliff Conger owned it for several years, followed by a variety of renters. It was next purchased by Frank Lautzenhauser, a University employee from Gruetli. In 1929, Mrs. Logan, the widow of Reverend Dr. Mercer Logan and mother of Mrs. Preston Brooks Jr., acquired the house. Mrs. Little purchased the house after the death of Mrs. Logan in 1940; it was later inherited by Mrs. Little’s daughter, Mrs. Laura Wyatt-Brown. Mrs. Wyatt-Brown and her husband, the Bishop of Harrisburg and Sewanee alumni, lived here after his retirement. While living in Sewanee the couple established and aided the Independents fraternity for students who did not join Greek letter fraternities. It was said that Mrs. Wyatt-Brown was loved by all of Sewanee’s inhabitants. She regularly scheduled a cleanup of Sewanee’s cemetery and once wrote a letter inviting people to attend and work, or if too old to work, just sit and watch. The New Yorker apparently found this funny as it was commented in an issue, “Just don’t lie down, you may get buried.” Most recently it was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Engsberg. Around the time of WWI , the windows were changed from the large Victorian windows to the more colonial style that are present today.
This house and the one next door, Mrs. Wyatt-Brown's, on University Avenue were built by the Smith brothers from Natchez, Mississippi in 1871. They were built just alike­ which is hard to believe when you look at them now. After Mr. Smith left, Charles S. Dwight was the next resident. He and W. A. Gibson had a dry goods store in the village for some time. The next lease holder, in 1881, was a family named Williamson. In 1884, Mr. Preston Brooks purchased the house. Brooks, an alumnus of 1876, married a Sewanee girl, Maria Gaillard, who was brought up by Miss Maria Porcher at Magnolia. When Preston and Maria Brooks returned to Sewanee after living in South Carolina for six years, they first lived in the Selden house before buying this house, The large family of three sons and four daughters grew up there. The Brooks family owned the house for 85 years; Miss Catherine Brooks lived in the house until she died in 1969. Here Preston Brooks established his well-known village store, at first in partnership with Harlow, later with various partners, and then alone. "Uncle Pres," as he was known to all of Sewanee, died July 6, 1928. After his death his sons, Robert ("Bert") and Preston, ran the store until they died. Their widows inherited the store and operated it for a few years. They sold the business to William Hamilton in August 1963; the store is now operated by Ken Taylor. Mr. Peter Taylor owned it briefly. It was later owned by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Dodd. Mr. Dodd was the former Treasurer of the University. It is currently owned by Patrick and Susan Dean as a bed and breakfast establishment.
In the late 1850's Bishop Stephen Elliott was a leader in the movement to found the University of the South. However, in December 1866, just two months after presiding as chancellor at the first meeting of the trustees after the Civil War, Elliott died suddenly in Savannah, Georgia. His house near the Alpha Tau Omega House was burned in April 1961. In 1870 his widow, Charlotte Barnwell returned to Sewanee with four of her children and built a home on what was then University Avenue. The move into this new home is described by her second daughter in a letter of April 28, 1871 to her brother Habersham. The 22-year old "Sada" Elliott writes: "... We have begun our move into the new house, and for a wonder are not in a rush, as we usually are when there is anything to be done ... The blessed old books have been unpacked, and are very neatly arranged in their proper order. The old book cases are up, just like home, and I can almost imagine I can see Papa walking up and down, stopping every now and then to look at or feel some pet book. I handle them just as if I was shaking hands with some old friends, whom I have not seen for some time. We will all be ready when you come, and you will find it home, home as you remember it, the same old kernel, only in a pretty new shell ... The style is Gothic, color pale lemon, trimming white, the lot is quite a nice one though not fixed up yet. The place is named "Saints Rest"... On the South side of the big yellow house is a little yellow house occupied by ten youths...." Miss Sada went on to become one of Sewanee's well-known personalities. Educated at Johns Hopkins University, she traveled abroad writing for Scribner’s and Harper’s magazines. However, after the death of her sister Charlotte in 1902 she returned to Sewanee to rear her three nephews, Stephen, Charles, and John Puckette. She was active in the suffrage movement and served as the president of Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association in 1912 and 1913. Miss Sada lived at Saints Rest until her death in 1928. On her tombstone in the University Cemetery is the inscription "Doctor of Civil Law,” denoting the honorary degree conferred upon her by the University of the South, an honor she greatly valued. In 1940, Miss Sada’s nephew, Dr. Robert Woodward Barnwell Elliott, retired from his law practice in New York City and came to live in the family home. Dr. Elliott gave valuable services as a lawyer to the University. The Elliotts did a great deal of alterations inside the house, adding rooms upstairs and several bathrooms; and they renovated the outside of the house, changing its entire aspect. Dr. Elliott is seen standing in the yard in the large photograph. At his death, he left the house to Mrs. Charles McDonald Puckette, the widow of a grandson of Bishop Elliott. This house is now occupied by Isabelle Puckette Howe, a descendent of the Elliott family that built it. Mrs. Howe calls the house "Sinner's Hope." For some time the house was called "Shoup Lodge" and was the residence of Brigadier Gen. Francis A. Shoup and his wife Esther Elliott Shoup.
Mr. Bork, proprietor of a tin shop in the village, built this house. Along with other his other wares, he made torches for celebratory processions. The News in November 1876, stated that torchlight processions were the favorite way to celebrate. A letter, from June 11, 1874 reads, “They are making grand preparations for the coming meeting of Trustees in August. The Chapel is being enlarged 20 feet. They are getting torchlight processions and fireworks ready.” Mr. J.A. Van Hoose, the next leaseholder, was here from 1877-1879. He was a graduate of the College and was a deacon, proctor and also became headmaster of the Grammar School. Van Hoose later became mayor of Birmingham. He also served as president of the Associated Alumni and a trustee. In 1879, Mrs. Mary Esther Huger of Charleston, bought the house. Mrs. Huger had twelve children. One daughter, Harriott Lucas Huger, married Dr. John B. Elliott, the University’s first health officer. Another married the Rev. Theodore Porcher. Mrs. Huger ran a school for young children and had a cottage in the yard for students. The Mountain News reported in April 1879 that Mrs. Huger was to open her “infant school.” Mr. and Mrs. Huger supposedly did not talk for 20 years. However, when Mr. Huger died, his long-separated widow still dutifully followed the rigid Southern custom of going into mourning, wearing black “down to her heels,” and made no social calls all summer. Mrs. Huger died in 1898. Mrs. Blanche Hindman Cox bought the house and the cottage in 1925. She made numerous changes to the two buildings and moved to the cottage in 1927. In 1927 the lease of this house was taken over by S.D. and M.H. Cole. Mrs. Jane Sidney Robison, the wife of a retired minister, bought the house in 1940 and lived there several years after her husband died in 1947. Remington and Ramona Rose-Crosley are the current owners of the house as of 2001.
'Purple Torch' Levels Magnolia, Auditorium 'Arsonist In Our Midst, ' McCrady Tells Chapel Magnolia Hall and Swayback Auditorium burned to the ground in two spectacular and simultaneous fires early Tuesday morning, May 17. Detected shortly before 2:00 a.m., the fires quickly drew hundreds of spectatois who shifted restlessly between blazes. It seems very apparent that we have arsonist in our midst, someone with really diseased mind," University e-Cbancellor Edward McCrady staat Tuesday's noon chapel service. McCrady was giving the general npus opinion. Magnolia's fire March 15, the blazes' simultaneous nature, the fact that the under-construction Guery building is to take over the funcions of each, and the thoroughness of ioth fires were factors contributing to the opinion. Officials are conducting interviews this week to determine the fires' origins. W. L. Goostree, chief inspector for the slate fire marshall, Gray Ragsdale, Jr, deputy state fire marshall, and Morris Best of the National Board of Fire Underwriters are heading the investigation. No suspects had been named Wednesday ;iflemoon. Speaking of the supposed arsonist, Dr. McCrady warned the University that, "There is no telling what conse- quences can result from this, if we don't find him." Rick Thames and Tony Veal, Gailor residents sensed smoke at 1:45, r.nd on finding the source to be Magnolia, spread word to Gailor. A group of Gailor students turned in the alarm 1:50. The fire truck was moved to e site immediately. As firefighters and students gathered, thick clouds of choking smoke billowed from the building. One fireman investigated the interior and prophetilly announced, "Well never get it this time." Five minutes after the alarm, flames emed to shoot from all parts of the old dining hall, which quickly became a roaring pyre. Salvage of books and band instruments was impossible, except for one bass clarinet and one At 2:00, student fire chief Fred McNeil received word of the Swayback fire. Upon immediate investigation he found the auditorium's blaze completely out of control. "We stayed on Mag because of the exposure problem," explained McNeil. In the early stages of the fire, ViceChancellor McCrady organized guards to prevent break-ins and looting such as occurred during the earlier Mag- Cowan fire chief C. M. Abbott, with (en men, answered a request for aid, adding his equipment and forces to the local departments'.
Miss Maria Louisa “Ria” Porcher built this house in 1872. She came from Charleston, South Carolina, following her cousin Reverend William Porcher Dubose. With her she brought the three children of her deceased sister and son in law. By the time Magnolia Hall was built she had eleven motherless and Civil War-orphaned relatives in her care. She educated them and put them through college. Magnolia was so large that Miss Ria was able to house both her family and students. Mr. Robert DuBose, the doctor's brother, and his family lived with her and took over the house when she died about 1890. "No one will ever know how many boys were taken in Magnolia for half pay, or not at all, and given their chance for an education. In addition to the boys, there was a large family connection to be considered at Magnolia, and many sorrows, joys, and needs were sheltered in this home. Probably no house in Sewanee has known so many births, marriages, and deaths. How many tales its old rooms could tell of the love making and heart-break with which they are haunted." (Purple Sewanee, page 101). The fourth school for children in Sewanee, taught by Miss Louise Finley who was later the Librarian of the University, flourished here in the basement for many years. Some of her pupils were John and Henry Gass, John Puckette, Frank Hoyt Gailor, Mary, Martha and Tom Hunt. After Mrs. DuBose's death in 1918, the University converted Magnolia into the University Dining Hall. Additions were made to the kitchen and they built a wing on the west side. Mrs. Eggleston presided over the dining hall from 1922 until her death in January 1936. "Mrs. E" was a favorite among the students and was known to handle every weather hindrance, arrival of trustees, and request of special meals with grace. Praise for her food was long, loud, and frequent. When the Navy V-12 program came to Sewanee in 1941, the University added to the building again. It continued to be the University Dining Hall until Gailor was built in 1952. Magnolia was then used for language faculty offices, a costume storeroom for the Purple Masque, and offices for student activities until it burned in 1956.
Miss Maria Louisa “Ria” Porcher built this house in 1872. She came from Charleston, South Carolina, following her cousin, William Porcher Dubose. With her she brought the three children of her deceased sister and son-in-law. By the time Magnolia Hall was built she had 11 motherless and Civil War-orphaned relatives in her care. She educated them and put them through college. Magnolia was so large that Miss Ria was able to house both her family and students. Mr. Robert DuBose, the doctor's brother, and his family lived with her and took over the house when she died about 1890. "No one will ever know how many boys were taken in Magnolia for half pay, or not at all, and given their chance for an education. In addition to the boys, there was a large family connection to be considered at Magnolia, and many sorrows, joys, and needs were sheltered in this home. Probably no house in Sewanee has known so many births, marriages, and deaths. How many tales its old rooms could tell of the love making and heart-break with which they are haunted." (Purple Sewanee, page 101). The fourth school for children in Sewanee, taught by Miss Louise Finley who was later the librarian of the University, flourished here in the basement for many years. Some of her pupils were: John and Henry Gass, John Puckette, Frank Hoyt Gailor, and Mary, Martha and Tom Hunt. After Mrs. DuBose's death in 1918, the University converted Magnolia into the University Dining Hall. Additions were made to the kitchen and they built a wing on the west side. Mrs. Eggleston presided over the dining hall from 1922 until her death in January 1936. "Mrs. E," was a favorite among the students and was known to handle every weather hindrance, arrival of trustees, and request of special meals with grace. Praise for her food was long, loud, and frequent. When the Navy V-12 program came to Sewanee in 1941, the University added to the building again. It continued to be the University Dining Hall until Gailor was built in 1952. Magnolia was then used for language faculty offices, a costume storeroom for the Purple Masque, and offices for student activities until it burned in 1956.
This house, opposite the former Sewanee Military Academy, has had so many residents it is hard to know what to call it. W.A. Gibson, who had a grocery store in the village, built the house in 1869 for his sister, Miss Annie Gibson. However, Miss Gibson didn’t live there until the mid-1870s. The house was first leased to Mrs. Mary McFarlane Duncan in 1871 by the University and then to G.B. Green in 1872. After Miss Gibson moved in, she also took in boarders such as Col. and Mrs. Arthur Middleton Rutledge who stayed with her in May 1875. W.A. Gibson built a large addition in 1874 and for several years he advertised the house for sale with the description “Fourteen rooms, fine well, seven acres.” Col. Schaller, professor of modern languages, lived in the house from October 1875 until 1879 before Miss Gibson was the main occupant again for a few years. It was then rented for 10 years until 1881 when Dr. Benjamin Wells bought it. Wells lived there until 1899, during the years he taught at the University. A noted wit, the Purple said of him, “He lays about him with such keen wit and stabs so deftly that the victim only finds he is hurt when the undertaker comes to measure him for his coffin.” In 1893, Burr Ramage became dean of the law school and lived here until he left Sewanee in 1901. Beginning in 1905, the next owner was Samuel Sharpe, an Englishman from Natchez. He had three sons who went to the Sewanee Military Academy and two daughters who married students. In fact, one son-in-law, Newton Middleton, wrote the Alma Mater. The next owner was Mrs. Echols from Huntsville, Alabama, who lived there until 1943 when it was bought by the University. The University rented the house to Col. Alderman, then the Robert P. Moore family, and then others connected with the Sewanee Military Academy. For a few years it was used to store furniture. Frank Thomas, who was an English and dramatics teacher at the Sewanee Military Academy, purchased it in August 1969. The house is currently owned by Nate Parrish.