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Beeler Brush House
This rustic dwelling was once a log cabin in the early twentieth century. The State of Tennessee Real Estate Assessment Data records the house as being built in 1900 but The University of the South's Lease Holder's records state 1913. It was originally occupied by Joseph Riley from 1913 until 1946. Floyd and Madeline Yates were the next owners followed by Jame E. Terrill, H. Rogers and Christie Thomson, Christie Taylor and then Charles Beeler and Paula Hunter Brush. The Brush's purchased this one-story structure in 1985. -
Beeler Brush House
This rustic dwelling was once a log cabin in the early twentieth century. The State of Tennessee Real Estate Assessment Data records the house as being built in 1900 but The University of the South's Lease Holder's records state 1913. It was originally occupied by Joseph Riley from 1913 until 1946. Floyd and Madeline Yates were the next owners followed by Jame E. Terrill, H. Rogers and Christie Thomson, Christie Taylor and then Charles Beeler and Paula Hunter Brush. The Brush's purchased this one-story structure in 1985. -
Patterson House
This house was built in 1900, but the first name on the lease, Mrs. Jane Kane, didn’t buy this house until 1902. Maddie Betts bought the house that same year and lived there for seven years. The Handys bought it from her in 1909. Frank Handy was a professor at the University and was known for his translation of Sapphic verse. They lived in the house for over fifty years, until Mrs. Handy’s death in 1965.
C. Houston and Jessie Beaumont were next to live there. Houston Beaumont was executive vice president of Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company and Jessie was a local artist. She made “Belleek” porcelain and would show her creations at the spring and fall arts and crafts fair in Sewanee. Her specialty was Nativity scenes. Jessie began making Belleek porcelain at the insistence of her late son, known as “Bink,” who studied art at Saint Andrew’s School. Using his molds, she started the hobby and has perfected her craft through trial and error. She built a garage adjacent to this house to have a kiln room. She also has a talent for poetry and her book of poems, “Reflections in Rhyme” has been printed by the University Press. Many of the poems relate to childhood memories, others to seasons, one is on being a grandmother. In the late 1970s the couple moved to Destin, Florida, selling the house to the University. In 1984 Evelyn and William Brown Patterson bought the house. A Rhodes Scholar and professor of history at Davidson, Mr. Patterson became a dean of the University in 1980. Dean Patterson has been honored by the National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship for younger scholars; a first-year graduating fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies; the visiting fellowship at St. Edmund’s House, University of Cambridge; the Folger Shakespeare Library’s short term fellowship; and a fellowship from the University of Wisconsin’s Institute for research in the Humanities. Evelyn Patterson was also a scholar, educated in classics at Smith College and Harvard University.
Drewry, D. (1976, February 12). Around the County, Dot's Diary. The Herald-Chronicle.
Sewanee Office of Public Relations, personal communication, 1980.
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McCrady House
This house was built by Mrs. Sarah McCrady, the widow of Dr. John mcCrady who died in 1881.
She had lived in The Selden house from 1881 to 1885 after the fire in Otey Hall. She was the grandmother of Dr. Edward McCrady, the vice-chancellor.
It was a large frame house on the site of the present McCrady Hall. She took summer boarders like all the other ladies and had various members of her family as visitors. She lived here until her death in 1932, and her daughter, Kathleen, lived here until her death in 1960.
It was pulled down before the present McCrady Hall was built in 1965. -
Fairbanks House
Known as the Fairbanks House for Miss Florida Fairbanks of Sewanee who was the step-daughter of Maj. George R. Fairbanks. This small Folk Victorian on Kentucky Avenue changed hands throughout the years. Frederick Johnson was one of the earlier leaseholders along with Charles Balevre and C.H. Leffler. Other leaseholders included Troy Beatty Girard, W.W. Hampton, George Garner and W.C. Long. Raymond Winn owned the house from 1971-2004 with Michael and Jean Payne as the current owners since 2004. -
Fairbanks House
Known as the Fairbanks House for Miss Florida Fairbanks of Sewanee who was the step-daughter of Maj. George R. Fairbanks. This small Folk Victorian on Kentucky Avenue changed hands throughout the years. Frederick Johnson was one of the earlier leaseholders along with Charles Balevre and C.H. Leffler. Other leaseholders included Troy Beatty Girard, W.W. Hampton, George Garner and W.C. Long. Raymond Winn owned the house from 1971-2004 with Michael and Jean Payne as the current owners since 2004. -
Collins House
Despite being built in 1905, the earliest record of this house is of Dr. Herbert Collins’ buying the lease in 1910. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, he received his medical degree from Sewanee in 1906. It is assumed that he practiced in this area. He died in 1966.
Everett B. Collins, a relative of Dr. Collins, took over the house in 1954. Mr. Collins, a member of the class of 1920 at the Sewanee Military Academy, was also a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Masonic Lodge. He had worked many years for the University of the South as a plumber before his retirement. He died at 79 in 1980. In 1984 his wife, Elizabeth, and son, Charles, took over the house. Today the house is owned by Charles, among other Collins relatives.
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Collins House
Despite being built in 1905, the earliest record of this house is of Dr. Herbert Collins’ buying the lease in 1910. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, he received his medical degree from Sewanee in 1906. It is assumed that he practiced in this area. He died in 1966. -
Riley House
This Folk Victorian cottage has seen many owners over the years. Pat Riley was the first leaseholder in 1895 and was taken over by Ed Riley in 1935. Maggie Riley, wife of Ed Riley, later took over the lease and subsequently sold to Claude Terrill in 1946. Other owners included Jan Green, Roger and Susan LaVoie and Daniel and Marie Ferguson. -
Riley House
This Folk Victorian cottage has seen many owners over the years. Pat Riley was the first leaseholder in 1895 and was taken over by Ed Riley in 1935. Maggie Riley, wife of Ed Riley, later took over the lease and subsequently sold to Claude Terrill in 1946. Other owners included Jan Green, Roger and Susan LaVoie and Daniel and Marie Ferguson. -
Atkins House
Built by a family who had returned from France, this house was known for its elegant appearance and gilded chairs. Unfortunately, the name of this original family is unknown. In 1909, Benjamin L. Coulson purchased the home. Following the death of the next owner, Mrs. Emma Scott Dewey, the house passed to her children, Chauncey Dewey and Emma Dewey (later Mrs.Emma Dewey Lockwood). In 1923 the house was bought by George Washington Ely Atkins for his son, Rev. John Norton Atkins, and his family. The elder Atkins kept a suite with two south bedrooms, bath, and connecting closet for himself. Reverend Atkins was the superintendent and chaplain at Emerald-Hodgson Hospital. He had four children. Sometime prior to April 1932, Maj. Gen. William Ruthven Smith, the superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, visited the Atkins’ to inquire about the house. He wanted to retire there as Superintendent of the Sewanee Military Academy. Depite the Atkins’ disapproval, incoming Vice-Chancellor Guerry granted Smith’s wish when Reverend Atkins resigned from Emerald-Hodgson in 1938. General Smith supposedly lived there until his death in 1941.
Allen Tate was another notable renter. Mr. Tate was editor of the Sewanee Review when he lived here with his then-wife, Caroline Gordon and their daughter Nancy TateWood. After the Tate years, many more families stayed in the home, but for no longer than two years. The arrival of the Camps broke this spell. They ended up living there for 25 years. In the mid-90s the Bordleys bought the house. Mr. Bordley had his eye on the property the very day the Camps bought it. Mrs. Camp thought of it as a happy house and wanted the Bordleys to have it once she and her husband moved out. Virginia and Chip Craighill are the current residents of the house, buying it from the Thonis in 2002.
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Brennecke House
Arthur Ben Chitty, late historiographer at the University of the South, once called the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity House a "little gem of a building." Modern day owners Mishoe Brennecke and Fred Croom have re-vitalized this Victorian structure.
Its history includes it as a one-time, school and later a fraternity house then private residence. The distinction of the house being the "first house to be built by any fraterinty in the South."
"The original structure contained only two rooms and a porch for it was designed as a meeting and recreation site rather than a home for full-time occupancy." ...Care for detail is evidence in the exterior design of the house with its gingerbread shake exterior, decorated carved relief gables and porch railings, bay bow window, and quadrisided south wall with leaded glass windows in each portion."
"The present location on Alabama Avenue is the third such location for the Phi Delta Theta house. At one time it was located on the corner of "Cemetery" or Georgia Avenue" next to McGriff Alumni House or the former Phi Detla House. It then moved across the street to where duPont Library is now in 1948. Later it was moved once again up the street to its present location when John Tansey bought it 1977. -
Brennecke House
Arthur Ben Chitty, late historiographer at the University of the South, once called the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity House a "little gem of a building." Modern day owners Mishoe Brennecke and Fred Croom have re-vitalized this Victorian structure.
Its history includes it as a one-time, school and later a fraternity house then private residence. The distinction of the house being the "first house to be built by any fraterinty in the South."
"The original structure contianed only two rooms and a porch for it was designed as a meeting and recreation site rather than a home for full-time occupancy." ...Care for detail is evidence in the exterior design of the house with its gingerbread shake exterior, decorated carved relief gables and porch railings, bay bow window, and quadrisided south wall with leaded glass windows in each portion."
"The present location on Alabama Avenue is the third such location for the Phi Delta Theta house. At one time it was located on the corner of "Cemetery" or Georgia Avenue" next to McGriff Alumni House or the former Phi Detla House. It then moved across the street to where duPont Library is now in 1948. Later it was moved once again up the street to its present location when John Tansey bought it 1977 -
Brennecke House
Arthur Ben Chitty, late historiographer at the University of the South, once called the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity House a "little gem of a building." Modern day owners Mishoe Brennecke and Fred Croom have re-vitalized this Victorian structure.
Its history includes it as a one-time, school and later a fraternity house then private residence. The distinction of the house being the "first house to be built by any fraterinty in the South."
"The original structure contained only two rooms and a porch for it was designed as a meeting and recreation site rather than a home for full-time occupancy." ...Care for detail is evidence in the exterior design of the house with its gingerbread shake exterior, decorated carved relief gables and porch railings, bay bow window, and quadrisided south wall with leaded glass windows in each portion."
"The present location on Alabama Avenue is the third such location for the Phi Delta Theta house. At one time it was located on the corner of "Cemetery" or Georgia Avenue" next to McGriff Alumni House or the former Phi Detla House. It then moved across the street to where duPont Library is now in 1948. Later it was moved once again up the street to its present location when John Tansey bought it 1977 -
Eggleston School
Children at Mary Eggleston School. Building is part of historic house structure on Tennessee Avenue -
Dunbar-McCrady House
In the very early years of the University there were several instances of Confederate widows who moved to Sewanee in order to afford putting their sons through school at the University. One such case was Mrs. Mary Dunbar. In 1873 she took out a University lease for a property on Tennessee Avenue and built an ell-shaped, three-room house for herself and her sons. Mrs. Dunbar ran an elementary school primarily for young girls in one of the outbuildings of the old Sewanee Inn (present day location of Elliott Hall). Mrs. Dunbar eventually bought the little building, had moved across the street and attached to the back of her house. It is unclear if she continued to run her school there. One can still see these structural connections in both the basement and the attic of the house.
When the Dunbar sons moved away, they sold the house to the University. It then became a fraternity house for the medical school, whose members opened a big double door between the front and back rooms on the left side. In 1909, when the medical school closed, and the house was bought by a dentist, J. P. Corley. The dentist made the original main room (front of the house on the north side) into his office, using the bay window for maximum light around the dental chair. His patients entered by a staircase and small porch on the north side and the room’s old back porch became an entrance hall and waiting room. During WWII Corley’s family decided to leave Sewanee. The house was then a rental property and went into a long, slow decline with occupancy changing constantly until Waring McCrady, son of Vice-Chancellor McCrady, bought it in 1972.
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Dunbar-McCrady House
In the very early years of the University there were several instances of Confederate widows who moved to Sewanee in order to afford putting their sons through school at the University. One such case was Mrs. Mary Dunbar. In 1873 she took out a University lease for a property on Tennessee Avenue and built an ell-shaped, three-room house for herself and her sons. Mrs. Dunbar ran an elementary school primarily for young girls in one of the outbuildings of the old Sewanee Inn (present day location of Elliott Hall). Mrs. Dunbar eventually bought the little building, had moved across the street and attached to the back of her house. It is unclear if she continued to run her school there. One can still see these structural connections in both the basement and the attic of the house.
When the Dunbar sons moved away, they sold the house to the University. It then became a fraternity house for the medical school, whose members opened a big double door between the front and back rooms on the left side. In 1909, when the medical school closed, and the house was bought by a dentist, J. P. Corley. The dentist made the original main room (front of the house on the north side) into his office, using the bay window for maximum light around the dental chair. His patients entered by a staircase and small porch on the north side and the room’s old back porch became an entrance hall and waiting room. During WWII Corley’s family decided to leave Sewanee. The house was then a rental property and went into a long, slow decline with occupancy changing constantly until Waring McCrady, son of Vice-Chancellor McCrady, bought it in 1972.
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Dunbar-McCrady House
In the very early years of the University there were several instances of Confederate widows who moved to Sewanee in order to afford putting their sons through school at the University. One such case was Mrs. Mary Dunbar. In 1873 she took out a University lease for a property on Tennessee Avenue and built an ell-shaped, three-room house for herself and her sons. Mrs. Dunbar ran an elementary school primarily for young girls in one of the outbuildings of the old Sewanee Inn (present day location of Elliott Hall). Mrs. Dunbar eventually bought the little building, had moved across the street and attached to the back of her house. It is unclear if she continued to run her school there. One can still see these structural connections in both the basement and the attic of the house.
When the Dunbar sons moved away, they sold the house to the University. It then became a fraternity house for the medical school, whose members opened a big double door between the front and back rooms on the left side. In 1909, when the medical school closed, and the house was bought by a dentist, J. P. Corley. The dentist made the original main room (front of the house on the north side) into his office, using the bay window for maximum light around the dental chair. His patients entered by a staircase and small porch on the north side and the room’s old back porch became an entrance hall and waiting room. During WWII Corley’s family decided to leave Sewanee. The house was then a rental property and went into a long, slow decline with occupancy changing constantly until Waring McCrady, son of Vice-Chancellor McCrady, bought it in 1972.
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Janeway House
This two-story Sears and Roebuck house is one of two on Virginia Avenue. Various people have owned this house over the years. Mrs. Andrew Moore was the original creator of this dwelling followed by A.C. and Lillian Thomspn in the thirties and forties. Mary Lear and Alta Featherston also occupied the home followed by the Janeway family from 1954 until 2016. -
Janeway House
This two-story Sears and Roebuck house is one of two on Virginia Avenue. Various people have owned this house over the years. Mrs. Andrew Moore was the original creator of this dwelling followed by A.C. and Lillian Thomspn in the thirties and forties. Mary Lear and Alta Featherston also occupied the home followed by the Janeway family from 1954 until 2016. -
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Ward House
The one-story Ward House is one of two Sears Roebuck Houses on Virginia Avenue. Mrs. Andrew Moore was initially the creator of the house but owners, Albin Thompson and Lillian Thompson llived in he house in the 1950s and 1960s before selling it to Thomas and Carolyn Ward in 1967. The Wards still are owners of this dwelling as of 2018.. -
Clay House
The Clay House on Baker's Lane is one of the oldest remaining homes in Sewanee. This small bungalow was originally owned by W. H. Clay in 1885. Various people have owned this property throughout the years which includes William Ricketts, Mrs. Jessie Long, Floyd and Madeline Yates, George Green, Thomas Rye and George and Etta Gipson. Chris Colane is the recent owner as of 1995. -
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Sutton House
This house was built in August of 1887 for Mrs. Anna Lull. A couple of years later it was bought by Mrs. Emma C. Sutton. She was the mother of Mrs. Silas McBee, who died very young. Silas McBee was an architect of Walsh-Ellet Hall. Mrs. Sutton’s other daughter Mrs. Carter had also died young and left her daughter, Emma Sutton Carter, in her grandmother’s care. She and her husband were killed in a car accident.
In 1930 the house caught fire and was rebuilt by its owner at the time J.F Gilbert. It is currently owned by the University and rented by various theologians.
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Sutton House (1887)
This house was built in August of 1887 for Mrs. Anna Lull. A couple of years later it was bought by Mrs. Emma C. Sutton. She was the mother of Mrs. Silas McBee, who died very young. Silas McBee was an architect of Walsh-Ellet Hall. Mrs. Sutton’s other daughter Mrs. Carter had also died young and left her daughter, Emma Sutton Carter, in her grandmother’s care. She and her husband were killed in a car accident.
In 1930 the house caught fire and was rebuilt by its owner at the time J.F Gilbert. It is currently owned by the University and rented by various theologians.
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Cooper House
This house was built by Dr. John Haden in 1886. He had two sons at the University. The house was first leased to W.P. Stone in 1890 and to Mrs. S. Bell in 1891 under William Howe. After Mrs. Bell, this was the first house Mary Love Washington Hunt and her husband John Beckinridge Hunt lived in after deciding to settle in Sewanee. Mary Love was a free spirited woman and followed her husband 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. It was only when the children were approaching school age that they decided they must have a permanent home. Her stepmother was Katherine Polk Gale, daughter of Bishop Leonidas Polk and she was a cousin of Queenie Woods Washington, so Sewanee seemed like the perfect fit.
Mrs. Hunt liked to tell this story of her introduction to Sewanee: Arriving at the Bell House, one of her first requirements was a cow to provide milk for the family. In those days cows, horses, pigs, and chickens were allowed in the back lot, and most families kept some of each. The next door neighbor at Ambler Hall was Dr. Thomas Allen Tidball, professor of homiletics and an FFV (First Family of Virginia). The Hunts had arrived without their servants, who were to follow from Nashville. The cow needed milking and so in characteristic fashion, Mary Love tackled the task. Dr. Tidball asked his servant to describe the new neighbors, whereupon the servant reported that the lady of the house was milking the cow. Perhaps Dr. Tidball waited for more information before paying a call. At any rate, by the servant grapevine he soon learned that the lady of the house had two visitors, Mrs. Thomas Washington, her mother, and Mrs. William Dudley Gale, her step grandmother. Both these ladies accompanied her to the barn to supervise the milking. This was duly reported to Dr. Tidball, but with the added comment, “They’s quality.” The professor soon paid his call.
The Farishes bought the house in 1913. They had two sons that went to the University. Judge Cooper took over the house in 1919. After Judge Cooper sold the house it was rented to various owners before being pulled down in 1951.
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Selden House
The Selden house was built by Mr. Hayes. It was located on the east side of Alabama Avenue where the Van Ness Music Building is now. (This Building was the U. S. Forestry building. It was built by the U.S. government for _____(?). There needs to be a section on this building.) Various families lived in Selden. [See hand-written note. Unclear.] There was a World War II barracks built next to the Van Ness Music Building that was named Selden because the Selden family once lived on the lot. Colonel Arthur Middleton Rutledge lived there for some time from 1875, and his son went to the University. (He had been the marshall of the procession to the Cornerstone in 1860. Not true? According to ENC.) He had been the donor of 410 acres to the University. He was a trustee from the beginning and a resident of Franklin County before the War. For a while the street [now known as Alabama Avenue] was called Rutledge Avenue. The Tablet in the Chapel is in memory of his son, Arthur, Jr., Valedictorian in 1875.Mrs. Fairbanks wrote in a letter the winter of 1874, "The old Major is marrying a Boston widow", and apparently they moved away soon after. (Who?)The Carruthers in 1877, the Richardsons, and the P. S. Brooks lived here at various times. One of Mrs. Brooks' sons was born here. Mrs. John McCradys lived here from 1883-1885. Professor (was he a Doctor?) John McCrady had died in 1881, four years after he and his family moved into Otey Hall and a month after it burned. The students asked Mrs. McCrady to let them call the hall Pocahontas, as the Kirby-Smith house was Powhatan. She agreed and later the head proctor (a West Pointer) found the reason. They were playing poker in their rooms which was against the rules. Punishment soon followed and the name, Pokerhontas died a natural death. (From Miss Kathleen McCrady).Mrs. Selden, a widow with three sons, took the house in 1890 and all three sons went to college here. Jose (called Joe), a doctor, went to Medical School here and was the town doctor for a few years. He and his brother, Jack, were famous athletes. For many years "Mrs. Selden's" was a popular boarding house for summer visitors. She died in(???) and the University took it over making it the residence of the Dean of St. Luke's (School of Theology) for some time. Dean James lived here, also Dean Brown, and for his one year, Dean Gibson lived here. [ENC says check Gibson's tenure. He was elected Bishop Co? (see hand-written note unclear) in VA] It fell down while it was being moved in 1965 and had to be pulled down the rest of the way. -
Kennedy House
This one story Folk Victorian is similiar to the Collin's cottage also situated on Bob Stewman Road. The Kennedy family once owned but since 1969 Eugene and Catherine Norwood, Annie Armour and Jim Jones, Don and Mimi DuPree, Phillip and Hunt Gazzola John and Rachel Bradbury had occupied the lease. -
Collins House
Despite being built in 1905, the earliest record of this house is of Dr. Herbert Collins’ buying the lease in 1910. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, he received his medical degree from Sewanee in 1906. It is assumed that he practiced in this area. He died in 1966. -
David McBee's House
This house was built by Otto Fischer in 1890. The house was passed on to the University until 1900 when it was bought by Frank Lautzenheiser. He was the University gardener. He sold the house to an A. Mansfield in 1917. In 1927 Henry and Lola Hoskins bought the house and lived there for fifteen years. Known as the “Old Sewanee Hackman,” Mr. Hoskins was a familiar figure at the University, maintaining his hack stand at the University Supply Store. To owe him for hack service was almost a prerequisite to graduation. His hacks, drawn by two horses and rented with or without a driver, were in special demand during the Easter and commencement dances. In later years he was engaged in the ice business.
Lee and Ethel Porter bought the house in 1948 and lived there until 1970, selling the house to Mr. Joe David McBee. A Sewanee staple since birth, Mr. McBee has served as Road Commissioner for Franklin County, Secretary and Chairman to the Franklin County Highway Commission, and is member of the Franklin Democratic Party, Friends of the duPont Library, Franklin County Historical Society, Sewanee Civic Association, Sewanee Leaseholders, Inc.—to name a few. In 1980 the Franklin County Jaycees named Joe David as the “Outstanding Young Man of the Year” and in 1982 the Tenessee Senate passed resolution No. 192 in honor of Mr. McBee. In March of this year he was recognized for 50 years of service working in duPont Library. He has contributed greatly to the welfare of the residents of Sewanee and the business of the downtown area—a true member of the community. He sold the house to Robert and Joan Berndt in 2017 and David and Edith Johnson are the current residents.
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David McBee's House
This house was built by Otto Fischer in 1890. The house was passed on to the University until 1900 when it was bought by Frank Lautzenheiser. He was the University gardener. He sold the house to an A. Mansfield in 1917. In 1927 Henry and Lola Hoskins bought the house and lived there for fifteen years. Known as the “Old Sewanee Hackman,” Mr. Hoskins was a familiar figure at the University, maintaining his hack stand at the University Supply Store. To owe him for hack service was almost a prerequisite to graduation. His hacks, drawn by two horses and rented with or without a driver, were in special demand during the Easter and commencement dances. In later years he was engaged in the ice business.
Lee and Ethel Porter bought the house in 1948 and lived there until 1970, selling the house to Mr. Joe David McBee. A Sewanee staple since birth, Mr. McBee has served as Road Commissioner for Franklin County, Secretary and Chairman to the Franklin County Highway Commission, and is member of the Franklin Democratic Party, Friends of the duPont Library, Franklin County Historical Society, Sewanee Civic Association, Sewanee Leaseholders, Inc.—to name a few. In 1980 the Franklin County Jaycees named Joe David as the “Outstanding Young Man of the Year” and in 1982 the Tennessee Senate passed resolution No. 192 in honor of Mr. McBee. In March of this year he was recognized for 50 years of service working in duPont Library. He has contributed greatly to the welfare of the residents of Sewanee and the business of the downtown area—a true member of the community. He sold the house to Robert and Joan Berndt in 2017 and David and Edith Johnson are the current residents.
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Patterson House
This house was built in 1900, but the first name on the lease, Mrs. Jane Kane, didn’t buy this house until 1902. Maddie Betts bought the house that same year and lived there for seven years. The Handys bought it from her in 1909. Frank Handy was a professor at the University and was known for his translation of Sapphic verse. They lived in the house for over fifty years, until Mrs. Handy’s death in 1965.
C. Houston and Jessie Beaumont were next to live there. Houston Beaumont was executive vice president of Tennessee Consolidated Coal Company and Jessie was a local artist. She made “Belleek” porcelain and would show her creations at the spring and fall arts and crafts fair in Sewanee. Her specialty was Nativity scenes. Jessie began making Belleek porcelain at the insistence of her late son, known as “Bink,” who studied art at Saint Andrew’s School. Using his molds, she started the hobby and has perfected her craft through trial and error. She built a garage adjacent to this house to have a kiln room. She also has a talent for poetry and her book of poems, “Reflections in Rhyme” has been printed by the University Press. Many of the poems relate to childhood memories, others to seasons, one is on being a grandmother. In the late 1970s the couple moved to Destin, Florida, selling the house to the University. In 1984 Evelyn and William Brown Patterson bought the house. A Rhodes Scholar and professor of history at Davidson, Mr. Patterson became a dean of the University in 1980. Dean Patterson has been honored by the National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship for younger scholars; a first-year graduating fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies; the visiting fellowship at St. Edmund’s House, University of Cambridge; the Folger Shakespeare Library’s short term fellowship; and a fellowship from the University of Wisconsin’s Institute for research in the Humanities. Evelyn Patterson was also a scholar, educated in classics at Smith College and Harvard University.
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Hawkins House
Tom and Ethel Hawkins bought this house in 1939. Tom was a member of the enormous Hawkins family who were among the first settlers of Sewanee. The cove below the Memorial Cross, known as Hawkins Cove, was where the family first settled. Tom was a son of Wallis and Marguerite “Maggie” Luchsinger Hawkins who were noted for their work at the University Supply Store. Tom himself worked there for 47 years and handled the stationary department. It included textbooks, shoes, caps, and gowns. Tom’s son Hub and his nephew, Jack, came aboard during World War II. After the deaths of Tom and later Ethel, George and Mary Louise Gilliam bought the house in 1967.
In 1973 the house was bought by William R. Irwin and his wife Helen Louise Prince Irwin. Louise’s mother was a Hawkins, Irene Hawkins Prince.
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Hawkins House
Tom and Ethel Hawkins bought this house in 1939. Tom was a member of the vast Hawkins family who were among the first settlers of Sewanee. The cove below the Memorial Cross known as Hawkins Cove is where the family first settled. Tom was a son of Wallis and Marguerite “Maggie” Luchsinger Hawkins who were noted for their work at the University Supply Store. Tom himself worked there for 47 years and handled the stationary department. It included textbooks, shoes, caps, and gowns. Tom’s son Hub and his nephew Jack came aboard during World War II. After the death of Tom and later Ethel, George and Mary Louise Gilliam bought the house in 1967.
In 1973 the house was bought by William R. Irwin and his wife Helen Louise Prince Irwin. Louise’s mother was a Hawkins, Irene Hawkins Prince.
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Hawkins House
Tom and Ethel Hawkins bought this house in 1939. Tom was a member of the enormous Hawkins family who were among the first settlers of Sewanee. The cove below the Memorial Cross, known as Hawkins Cove, was where the family first settled. Tom was a son of Wallis and Marguerite “Maggie” Luchsinger Hawkins who were noted for their work at the University Supply Store. Tom himself worked there for 47 years and handled the stationary department. It included textbooks, shoes, caps, and gowns. Tom’s son Hub and his nephew, Jack, came aboard during World War II. After the deaths of Tom and later Ethel, George and Mary Louise Gilliam bought the house in 1967.
In 1973 the house was bought by William R. Irwin and his wife Helen Louise Prince Irwin. Louise’s mother was a Hawkins, Irene Hawkins Prince. -
Galleher Hall
This house occupied the lot where Johnson Hall now stands. Originally an eight room cottage built in 1870 as a dormitory, after signing the lease in 1879 Bishop Galleher had the house enlarged. Bishop Galleher, a successor to Bishop Polk as Bishop of Louisiana, was a Confederate Veteran and said to be a charming man. Galleher and his wife had five children. One daughter, Alice, married Bishop Sessums, Galleher’s successor as Bishop of Louisiana. Sessums was the first Sewanee alumnus to be elected Bishop. The other daughter, Charlotte (Miss Dot), married Alex Blacklock, Sewanee alumnus, famous athlete, and later a Trustee. Bishop Galleher’s three sons (John, Paul, and Clarkson) went to the Sewanee Grammar School, the University and its law school, and all three went into the Army.
Mrs. Galleher was known for her beauty and personality; she was also known for her famous pet, Pierce Galleher. Pierce could predict precisely when the chapel bell going to ring, and five or ten seconds before it sounded, he left home and made a beeline for old St. Augustine’s, racing to get to his place on the chancel. After Bishop Galleher died in 1891, Mrs. Galleher ran the house as a boarding house for summer visitors until she was 85. The day before Thanksgiving 1924, the yardman was burning leaves, some were caught by the wind and set ablaze the leaves in the gutters of the house. The house was vacant because Mrs. Galleher was wintering in New Orleans. There was no effort made to save the house since the fire was too far advanced when discovered. The Kirby-Smith house next door was saved by the use of wet blankets placed on the roof where sparks landed. When told the news Mrs. Galleher calmly said, "I had the house when I needed it most and now it doesn't matter."
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Guerry House
Bishop William Alexander Guerry (1909-1928) was its first notable owner. Guerry, a graduate from the University and School of Theology in the 1880s, served as University chaplain from 1893 to 1907. Upon his election as bishop coadjutor and then as Bishop of South Carolina, Bishop Guerry became a trustee of the University and shortly after bought this house. He served as a regent from 1917 until he was shot in 1928. On June 5, 1928, an irate priest walked into Bishop Guerry’s office in Charleston and shot him. The priest, also a Sewanee seminary graduate, then killed himself. The bishop died on June 9, 1928. It was thought he likely he would have been Chancellor of the University someday, if he had lived.
After Guerry’s death, the house was bought by Martin Johnson, nephew of Vice-Chancellor Benjamin Finney. Johnson first worked as an administrative assistant to his uncle during Finney’s vice-chancellorship (1922-1938). In the mid-1930s Johnson leased the university farm for approximately ten years before handing it over to the University. During that time he leased the Guerry House (1941). The house was then leased by Solace Freeman, Bishop Juhan’s son-in-law and commissioner of buildings and lands under Vice-Chancellor Green. The current owners of the house are Dale and Leslie Richardson
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Guerry House
Bishop William Alexander Guerry (1909-1928) was its first notable owner. Guerry, a graduate from the University and School of Theology in the 1880s, served as University chaplain from 1893 to 1907. Upon his election as bishop coadjutor and then as Bishop of South Carolina, Bishop Guerry became a trustee of the University and shortly after bought this house. He served as a regent from 1917 until he was shot in 1928. On June 5, 1928, an irate priest walked into Bishop Guerry’s office in Charleston and shot him. The priest, also a Sewanee seminary graduate, then killed himself. The bishop died on June 9, 1928. It was thought he likely he would have been Chancellor of the University someday, if he had lived.
After Guerry’s death, the house was bought by Martin Johnson, nephew of Vice-Chancellor Benjamin Finney. Johnson first worked as an administrative assistant to his uncle during Finney’s vice-chancellorship (1922-1938). In the mid-1930s Johnson leased the university farm for approximately 10 years before handing it over to the University. During that time he leased the Guerry House (1941). The house was then leased by Solace Freeman, Bishop Juhan’s son-in-law and commissioner of buildings and lands under Vice-Chancellor Green. The current owners of the house are Dale and Leslie Richardson.
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Allen Gipson House
The Allen Gipson House was given by the University of the South to Allen and Manerva Garner Gipson. 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
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Allen Gipson House
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. -
Barnwell House
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.
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Wick's Hall
This house stood opposite Palmetto on the hill and was a large frame house, one of many built originally by Mr. Hayes. It was east of the present Gailor Hall and situated facing west. Dr. C. L. C. Minor, who was master of Grammar School and professor of Latin, was the first resident, however he left in 1873 to become president of Virginia Agricultural College. In 1876 Col. A. S. Jones acquired the house and lived there for about ten years. He held various offices in the University including Treasurer.
In 1886 Mrs. M.C. Wicks obtained the lease and for many years ran a boarding house for students and summer visitors. She had two sons and two daughters. One daughter, Miss Celeste, continued to live in the house, even during its time as the Mary Dabney School. Miss Celeste moved to small cottage nearby a few years before her death in 1947. Wick’s Hall was razed in 1945.
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Bairnwick Women's Center
Once was residence of Reverend Doctor George Myers and wife Margaret. They operated the Bairnwick School her from 1928 to 1948. In 1970, they donated the house to the university. It later was used as the French House and held the Education for Ministry offices. Barinwick later became the Women's Center in 1986 where lectures, meetings and the Sewanee Writer's Conference readings are held. -
Colmore House
This house was constructed by Mr. C.W. Scofield in 1887, the same year he built the Truslow-Elliott house. The first residents, Mrs. Frances Sylva D’Arusmont Guthrie and her two sons, Kenneth and William Norman, lived in the house for one year. Mrs. Guthrie was the daughter of the famous feminist abolitionist Fannie Wright. The Guthries had lived abroad in Scotland until they came to Sewanee. Both sons, educated in Germany and France, became clergymen; in fact William Norman was a well-known rector of St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery in New York.
The next residents were Mrs. Elliott, her three daughters and two sons. Mrs. Elliott was the widow of Bishop Robert Elliott, the first bishop of West Texas. She and the children came to live in Sewanee and bought this house in 1888. Their house was a center of social life and activity until Mrs. Elliott’s death in 1894.
Lionel Colmore, an Englishman, was Commissary of the University when he bought this house in 1905. Although he and his family arrived in the area in 1895, they lived in other houses while his three sons went to Sewanee. Colmore was very popular with the students, who called him “General.” When he died in 1922, he left the house to his daughter Dora; both she and her sister Eva lived there. Dora, a well-known cook, built a flourishing catering business during the Guerry regime. Eva died in 1948 and Dora, an invalid for several years, died in 1963. The house was a summer rental for several years and was then purchased by Mrs. Jean Tallec in 1966. Mrs. Tallec, her daughter, Christi Ormsby, and the two Ormsby boys lived there until the home burned down on Dec. 16, 1971.
A modern home has since been built on the site by the Rev. Herbert Wentz.
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Barton House (burnt)
Bishop Wilmer had the first lease on this lot which ran from University Avenue where Cleveland Hall is, to Oklahoma Avenue. Apparently, he never built on it. In 1872 Mr. Hayes built the house for Dr. H.M. Anderson of Rome, Georgia, who had married Mrs. Quintard's sister and was the Treasurer of the University in 1869 and the first Health Officer. He had been a Trustee.
It was said that he would sharpen his pen knife on his shoe and then open a boil with it. He and his family lived here for a good many years. One of his daughters, Mrs. King, was matron for many years in the time of Mrs. Preston. Dr. Anderson resigned in 1876 and the lease was in the name of his wife, Mrs. Julia Anderson, in 1878. But they must have kept it as a summer home.
He was still here when Bishop Gailor took the next lot in 1884 as he gave one-half from his lot and Bishop Gailor the other half from his, to make the road which is now called North Carolina Avenue.
After the Andersons left, the house was rented to various people for a few years and then in 1895 it was bought by Dr. Barton and he and his family lived in it until his death in 1926...
After that it was rented again to various people but was standing vacant when it caught fire and burnt in 1943. It was said that it caught fire from soldiers from Camp Forrest who hung out on the back porch smoking after the movie. This was the big fire after Dr. Guerry's fire engines and they saved the front arcade of the house which stood for several months, looking just as usual. Visitors got a shock when they drove down North Carolina Avenue and saw nothing behind it. This was when the fire engine was an old limousine bequeathed to the University which would not turn left. So fires had to be approached carefully.
The Barton Barracks were built with war salvage material from Camp Forrest. They were renovated by a gift from Edmund Orgill, a Regent from 1947 to 1953, and they were pulled down in 1965. They were very popular with the students as dogs could be kept there and one student even kept snakes-a barrel full. -
Lovell House (1870)
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.
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Hospitality Shop/Crockett House
The home on University Avenue, Sewanee, now occupied by the Hospitality shop is one of the older homes on the domain. The Rev. Mr. Philip Werlein has many happy memoiries of visits to his Grand-Mother in this home, built in 1891? "IDLEWILD" was the name given to the Sewanee home of Dr. and Mrs. Fayette Clay Ewing. Dr. Ewing (1824-1872) was born in Logan County, Kentucky, educated in Kentucky and went to Thibodaux, Louisiana, Lafourche Parish to practice medicine. He was an army surgeon of recognized superior capacity in the Civil War. He married in Assumption Parish, Louisiana, February 3, 1852, Eliza Josephine Kittredge (1833-1914) at "Elm Hill", home of her parents (Dr. Ebenzer Eaton Kittredge and Martha Wills Green). At this wedding, which was a brilliant function, the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk, then Bishop of Louisiana officiated. Eliza Kittredge Weing was the mother of six children: three daughters, Leila Wills Ewing Werlein; Ida May Ewing Dabney; Jessie Aline Ewing Gillis and three sons-Judge Presley Kittredge Ewing; Dr. Fayette Clay Ewing-educated at the University of the South, his son Fayette Clay was a Professor at the University of the South and died of a heart attack in December 1914; Quincy Ewing, Episcopal Minister, writer of renown, education in the academic and theological courses at the University of the South. It was a leading thought with her to have each son in a profession and was very proud that each was distinguished enough in his profession to be in "Who's Who of America: among the leading men of the Nation.
Mrs. Ewing was a confirmed member of the Episcopal Church. After the death of her husband in 1872, she managed the estate and completed the education of her children; later she lived at her home "IDLEWILD", an attractive cottage banked with flowers at Sewanee. She was an accomplised musician and a great favorite of the students-she played for so many of their parties.
Mrs. Ewing died in Louisiania while visiting her daughters, March 29, 1914 and is buried by her husband in st. John's Episcopal Cemetery, Thibodaux, Louisania. The cottage, Idlewild, Sewanee, remained in the family, being the summer home of her son, Presley Kittredge Ewing....
Note: the Floor plan of IDLEWILD is the same as several other Sewanee homes of the period-front hall entrance and the stairway to the second floor goes from the back hall. (EAL 9/78)
IDLEWILD had a new owner in 1924 when Dr. William James Crockett, Dentist, came to Sewanee to practice. Dr. Crockett was born in 1880 in Franklin, Tennessee and educated at the University of Kentucky. He married Miss Laura Shackelford (1886-November 26, 1977) and they had one son. When the Crocketts moved Sewanee they remodeled IDLEWILD to meet their needs, a front wing with anew door was added for his Dental Office. During the summer months, 1924-1947, the Crockett family moved to the Monteagle Assembly and he practiced Dentistry there. Dr. Crockett was a member of the Emerald-Hodgson Hospital staff from 1943 to 1946. In 1947 IDLEWILD was sold to the University of the South and Dr. and Mrs. Crockett moved to Newman, Georgia. Dr. Crockett died in Columbus, Georgia in 1961. W.J. Crockett Jr. was a member of the Sewanee Academy Class of 1938 and graduated from the University of the South in 1942.
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DuBose Rectory
"This cottage was built on a location south of the Chapel. Dr. DuBose was made Chaplain the summer of 1871. He spent the rest of the year rounding up students in South Carolina dn bringing them back with him to Sewanee. In March, 1872, he built the Rectory and a large boarding house next door for his sister-in-law to run.
He was Chaplain for eleven years, and the "Rectory" was a center for the students, especially the ones from South Carolina. "Ice cream, games, and fireside conversations were the attractions." The Choir dance was held in the big west dining room. New students stayed there until they could be placed. Sick students were often moved there, and musical ones often used the piano,
The Rev. William A. Guerry became Chaplain in 1893, and he and his family lived in the Rectory until he became Bihsop Coadjustor of South Caolina in 1907. Alexander Guerry, his son and later Vice-Chancellor of the University, grew up there.
Dr. DuBose helped found Fairmount School at Monteagle in 1893 and married one of its principals as his second wife. His two daughters later ran the school and continued to use this house during their summer vacation renting it to various people the rest of the year. After their retirement they lived in the DuBose Rectory he year rund until it burned in November, 1939." -
DuBose Rectory
"This cottage was built on a location south of the Chapel. Dr. DuBose was made Chaplain the summer of 1871. He spent the rest of the year rounding up students in South Carolina dn bringing them back with him to Sewanee. In March, 1872, he built the Rectory and a large boarding house next door for his sister-in-law to run.
He was Chaplain for eleven years, and the "Rectory" was a center for the students, especially the ones from South Carolina. "Ice cream, games, and fireside conversations were the attractions." The Choir dance was held in the big west dining room. New students stayed there until they could be placed. Sick students were often moved there, and musical ones often used the piano,
The Rev. William A. Guerry became Chaplain in 1893, and he and his family lived in the Rectory until he became Bihsop Coadjustor of South Caolina in 1907. Alexander Guerry, his son and later Vice-Chancellor of the University, grew up there.
Dr. DuBose helped found Fairmount School at Monteagle in 1893 and married one of its principals as his second wife. His two daughters later ran the school and continued to use this house during their summer vacation renting it to various people the rest of the year. After their retirement they lived in the DuBose Rectory he year rund until it burned in November, 1939." -
DuBose Rectory (burnt)
"This cottage was built on a location south of the Chapel. Dr. DuBose was made Chaplain the summer of 1871. He spent the rest of the year rounding up students in South Carolina dn bringing them back with him to Sewanee. In March, 1872, he built the Rectory and a large boarding house next door for his sister-in-law to run.
He was Chaplain for eleven years, and the "Rectory" was a center for the students, especially the ones from South Carolina. "Ice cream, games, and fireside conversations were the attractions." The Choir dance was held in the big west dining room. New students stayed there until they could be placed. Sick students were often moved there, and musical ones often used the piano,
The Rev. William A. Guerry became Chaplain in 1893, and he and his family lived in the Rectory until he became Bihsop Coadjustor of South Caolina in 1907. Alexander Guerry, his son and later Vice-Chancellor of the University, grew up there.
Dr. DuBose helped found Fairmount School at Monteagle in 1893 and married one of its principals as his second wife. His two daughters later ran the school and continued to use this house during their summer vacation renting it to various people the rest of the year. After their retirement they lived in the DuBose Rectory he year rund until it burned in November, 1939." -
Alabama Hall
Mrs. Elizabeth Polk, a relative of Bishop Polk, built this large house in 1871 as a boarding house for students. It stood to the south of the present McCrady Hall on the west side, of Alabama Avenue.
“Next comes widow Polk, a distant cousin of our friends. She is a very nice, common sense, proper, dignified, kindhearted woman and never meddles in other people’s business. She lives in a melancholy, mulatto-colored, wooden house with pink blinds… The front yard is trampled into a desert, only redeemed by the shade trees, a dilapidated rail fence and no gate. She has three little children and keeps house for 26 boys.” – Sarah Barnwell Elliot to her brother.
After Mrs. Polk, Mrs. Sophie L. Eggleston in 1887 bought it, with Mrs. C.M. Lyon managing it. During the Medical School’s time the house was largely occupied by "Meds" and in 1902 Dr. Lees owned it. He was a dentist and lived on here after the Medical Department was closed. W. J. Prince bought it from Dr. Lees. It burned down during World War I. Some of the students who lived there were; David Stanton, Abner Green, Archie Butt, Lewis Butt, Reed Pearson, James Fleming, Louis Tucker, Gardiner Tucker, Dan Hamilton, Roulac Hamilton, Wilber Brown, Ernest Johnston.
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Virginia Cottage
This house stood on the west side of University Avenue where the Corley house is now, next to Tuckaway. It was built by Mrs. Field Dunbar. The September 1873, University Record noted, "Mrs. Dunbar's handsome cottage home has been completed." It was called "Sleepy Hollow" at one time. The next year she opened a school, the first one for the children of the University families. "All branches of a female education carefully taught with French and Music; for girls with a few small boys," says her advertisement in the University Record in June 1873.
“Through the mists of memory come glimpses of Mrs. Dunbar and her school: glimpses only, for the writer was one of a row of tiny girls (amid a small sprinkling of boys) who, in white, ruffled aprons, and high buttoned boots, sat on the bench in that awful spelling class, a special bane!... Mrs. Dunbar herself was a very vivid personality; a plump and pretty little woman, with grey hair, very rosy cheeks, and a very determined manner. Everything about her spoke of law and order, from her sheet white collar and cuffs, over her black widow's dress, to the piano legs (very large legs) which were encased in brown Holland bloomers, so that small feet, in practicing, would not scratch of deface them. Her schoolroom was kept in perfect order--and when she wrote on the blackboard she wore deep cuffs of brown paper to protect her sleeves." (Purple Sewanee, page 51)
The Lovells, DuBoses, and Fairbanks all sent their daughters to Mrs. Dunbar’s school. Her own daughter, Miss Virgie, married the Reverend Stewart McQueen who went to St. Luke's and was a Trustee for many years. Her son, Richard Field Dunbar entered college in 1870.