Morristown Gazette - Wednesday July 12th 1916

NEW SITE PROPOSED FOR CITY HALL

Amendment to the Original Report Submitted by Building Committee

    We, the building committee, appointed by your Board on the building of a city hall and auditorium, beg leave to file this amendment to our report made on June 26th, 1916. Since said original report was made, our attention has been called to a lot situated on Main Street, bounded on the east by the lot of S.M. Willis, on the South by Trent heirs, and on the West by Hill Street, fronting on Main Street 85 feet, an running back equal width 150 feet, which lot is owned by Mr. Theo Brown and upon which we have taken an option to purchase at said price of $4,000, which option expires on the 21

    We have carefully considered this lot and its adoptability to the purpose and uses of the city for the city hall and auditorium, and we find that we can build a city hall with as many as five large office rooms 18 X 25 feet, which will be large enough to accommodate all the city departments, and also build a connection therewith a large auditorium 74 feet wide by 102 in length, with a seating capacity of 2,000 or more people, with ample space below fro the fir department and city Jail. This building by our plan, which is of course tentative and subject to change, will have an open court entering from Main Street 24 feet wide and another open court entering from Hill Street 10 feet wide, extending to an alley on the east side. There will be an alley on the East side of the building 11 feet wide, and an alley on the South side 20 feet wide. The auditorium will be on the ground floor, having its main entrance from the open court. All the office rooms will also be above ground, which was regard as very important, and which we would be unable to do on the old city lot at the corner of First North and Henry Streets. We will also, in this building, be able to have not less than six separate exits of fire escapes.

     We are advised that the city now has a bona fide offer of $4,000 on the lot now owned by it at the corner of First North Street and Henry Streets, so that a sale of said lot will produce enough money to purchase the Brown lot. The Brown lot is ample in size without the purchase of any additional ground. It is central in location on Main Street, and convenient to all.

      In view of these facts, which have all developed since our original report was made, we desire to amend said report, and we do hereby withdraw our recommendations contained in said report that the city hall and auditorium be built on said lot situated at he corner of First North Street and Henry Street and that 20 feet of additional ground be purchased or condemned on East side of said lot and 17 feet additional ground be purchased or condemned on the North side of same.

    We earnestly recommend that the Brown lot be purchased, and that the new city hall and auditorium be built on said lot. We are guided in our conclusions solely by our interest in Morristown and what we believe to be the best interest of the whole town and of the whole people of the town. Viewed from a standpoint of economy, the Brown lot cost $4,000, the present city lot can be sold for $4,000, and is probably worth more. It is not large enough and, at the prices asked for the necessary additional fund on the East and North sides of same, there will have to be an additional investment in ground of about $5, 000. The additional investment will cost more than alone than the Brown lot. Viewed from other standpoints the Brown lot has the advantage. One is, all the offices will lie above ground, whereas, on the old lot all of them will be below ground, with basement floors. The Brown lot is on Main Street, which is an advantage. it is equally as central in location if not more so than the lot, and is as convenient to all the people.

Morristown’s' First Motorized Fire Truck

Morristown Gazette - Wednesday, June 21st 1916

Morristown Board Spent Day in the City

    In company with Mr. L. M. Coaney, a representative of American-LaFrance Auto Fire Truck Company of Detroit, members of the Morristown fire company, and the mayor and members of the board of alderman spent today in Johnson City witnessing demonstrations given by the local fire company with the new American-LaFrance auto fire truck.
    The Morristown party arrived here on train No. 4 and were met at the station by members of the fire company and citizens. The party consisted of Mayor W.B. Whittaker, Alderman J.E. Burke and C.D. Barger, H.F. Mims and J.R. Neil, fire commissioners; W.R. Toney, captain of the Morristown fire company, J.F. Mathes and S.J. Felknor, assistant fire captains.
    The Morristown board of Mayor and Aldermen are preparing to purchase fire fighting equipment and have visited a number of cities in order to get a chance of seeing the machines used and methods employed for fighting fires.

The party returned to Morristown this afternoon - Johnson City Staff

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Morristown Gazette - Wednesday, June 21st 1916

Morristown Board Spent Day in the City

Last week the city closed a deal for a new automobile fire truck which is to be one of the most modern makes. It was bought from the American-LaFrance Fire Engine Co., and the price paid was $9,000. The truck has a six cylinder, four cycle motor with a 5 1/2 inch bore and a six inch stroke furnishing 100 horse power, which is one of the most powerful engines made.It is sold as a type 75, triple combination pumper, chemical engine and hose car. The company from which it was bought is to take the old three horse chemical and ladder wagon in on the new one at $1,000, and the balance of the amount is to be made in yearly installments of $1,000 each, the first payment to be made the first of next November and the last will be taken up the first of November, 1920.  The truck is to be delivered in about 60 days and will be one less of a long list of necessities that the city has needed for a good while.

Morristown General Hospital

Morristown Gazette - February 2nd 1916

$18,000 Hospital Now Completed

A modern Building Well-Equipped - Valuable Asset to Town

     The new $18,000 building for the Morristown General Hospital has been completed and now is ready to be occupied. It is located on a desirable plot of ground on West Fourth North Street. The building is veneered brick with granite facings, three stories, and of beautiful architectural design. It is modern in all of its details and no essential has been been overlooked in its construction. Its equipment has been carefully looked ofter and includes the most improved furnishings and facilities for hospital purposes. The building is thoroughly up-to-date inside and out, and is a great credit to its promoters and the city of Morristown. Outside of Knoxville and Chattanooga the Morristown General Hospital will rank as the best, most complete and commodious in East Tennessee.
 

Hamblen County Courthouse

The Construction

   The commissioners of the newly formed county that were appointed to superintend the erection of the courthouse were R. M. Barton, J. C. Tate, J. C. Hodges, John Murphy and Joseph Eckle. The Hamblen County building committee commissioned architect Alexander C. Bruce to draw up and present three plans to the committee. Alexander C. Bruce (1835-1927) was Atlanta’s first member of the American Institute of Architects. Bruce trained in the Nashville, Tennessee office of English architect H. M. Akeroid. He practiced in Knoxville, TN, where he was elected an associate in the A.I.A.
    Bruce drew up plans in the architectural style of Italianate, Second Empire. One plans cost was $10,000, another $15,000, and the last to cost $18,000. The commissioners choose the most expensive plan, but accepted a bid by G.W. Barrett and George W. Folsom, under the name of Lyle & Folsom, for $21,750. The building was completed in 1874. George W. Folsom, Drury Morris, G.W. Barrett, and John Murphy donated funds and the land in which the courthouse still stands. There were additions added in 1955, 1956 and 1999. This building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Please click to enlarge

The Copula

   In the original plans drawn up by architect Alexander C. Bruce of Knoxville, there were clock faces on the four faces of the copula. For unknown reasons the clocks were omitted from the building during construction, probably because of overruns on the actual construction.

   There was another plan that commission proposed in 1874. It ordered that a bell and a clock be added to the copula and proposed that the county would assign $400 dollars to buy a brass bell but only if the citizens paid to have the clock faces installed. Neither were added at that time. The county was already paying for such things as a new courthouse, jail, and a poor-asylum, they may have thought this was something that they could add in the near future. As it turns out, it took many years to install a working clock face. In 1999, some 125 years later architects at Adams Architectural Associates in Knoxville designed a complete new copula to replace the original that was dilapidated and was in need of replacement. Even thought a bell wasn’t included in these plans, I’m sure the clocks would have would have put a smile on the faces of those that envisioned it so many years before.

The original chosen plan is located in the Hamblen County Archives in the basement of the Hamblen County Courthouse in Morristown, TN.

The Hanging of Anthony Blair

    This was an event that attracted crowds of record proportion. People traveled from all over the area to witness Hamblen County's first public hanging. It is a story that few people know today, but the things witnessed on September 26th 1879 had such a lasting effect on the community, that this also be the last public execution in Hamblen County. What follows is the story of Anthony Blair.
    Maggie Blair, the step daughter of Anthony Blair left his house near Jonesboro, about the 1st of May, and was in the employment of William Donaldson. Blair, having become aware of her location, came to Russellville on the 29th of July. He headed to the residence of Mr. Donaldson, and entered the kitchen where Maggie and Mrs. Donaldson were preparing dinner. Anthony told her in a domineering voice to come out of the house as he wished to speak with her. The girl, who appeared very afraid of him, refused to leave the home. Mr. William Donaldson came up at this moment, and Anthony left and nothing more was seen out of him until the night which the murder occurred
    That night Maggie went to Russellville to attend a prayer meeting. After the service, she and some of her friends were met by Blair, who pulled Maggie from her escort, Henry Taylor. Anthony grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her along the road a hundred yards or so, saying, “You must come home with me on the train tonight to your grand-papa”. She struggled to get away, screaming that she would rather die than go back with him. This seems to have enraged Anthony and he drew his revolver and fired two shots at point-blank range. Maggie only lived until Saturday morning.
    Blair was arrested on Thursday, tried before a justice and held for tail. On Monday, August 4th, the Grand Jury of the Circuit Court of Hamblen County found an indictment for murder. On Thursday of the same week he was tried and found guilty, and one day later day was sentenced - only eight days having between the murder and the sentence. The Judge addressed the prisoner on the magnitude of his crime and its terrible results to him, and concluded by ordering that he should be remanded to jail until Friday, the 26th day of September, where between 10 am and 9 pm he should be taken there from by the Sheriff to some point within one mile of the Court House and there be hanged by the neck until he is dead. It was written by a reporter of the Morristown Gazette that, "during the delivery of the sentence the condemned man - the most hideous, repulsive, semi-gorilla looking mortal in appearance, we ever saw kept his eyes steadily fixed on the Judge but not a muscle moved nor tear come. Apparently he was the most unaffected man in the room." As he was being escorted back to jail, he told Sheriff Loop that the sentence was a just one and that he "only regretted its execution did not come off today or tomorrow."

Above is the cover of the pamphlet issued just prior to Blair's hanging

Price: 10 cents per copy

    By as early as seven o'clock on execution day there were hundreds on the streets. A gentleman, who saw the scene, said that every road presented an unbroken line of dust, as far as the eye could see, from early morn till noon. Another gentleman who sat near the road just out of town, stated that from about 10 am till 12 am, that he counted no less 1200 people passing into town. There were people of all economic classes, all races, all ages. People with a morbid curiosity of the events they would witness by the days end. It was estimated that by noon there were not less than 8,000 to 10,000 spectators. The scaffold was built in what was called Luttrell's Flats, on the west side of Henry Street at the foot of Lulu Street. This was also known as the bottom of "Reservoir Hill"
    At 12 o’clock am, Sheriff Loop,his deputies,and 28 guards, plus the Sheriff’s of Cock and Grainger County counties proceeded to the jail, and after shackling the condemned man, place him on his coffin, with the noose around his neck in a wagon and drove him slowly through the masses to the gallows. A short prayer meeting was held by Rev Geo. Branner. Blair was then permitted to sing a song and afterwords address the crowd. His opening words were “It seems this is a solemn day”. “Thank God I am born to die”. This was but a small amount of the 35 minutes that he rambled on. He confessed to being guilty of the murder; and as freely stated facts which showed that prior to the murder he had been guilty, in another ways. At 1:35 the black hood was drawn over his face, the rope adjusted and the wagon moved from under him. In 9 minutes, his heart had stopped, in 10 minutes there was no pulse, in 15 minutes he was pronounced dead, and in just 20 minutes he was lowered into his coffin.
    At this point, Mr. Blair was as even with society as one could wish. He had paid the ultimate price for his crimes. I wish I could tell you that the story ended here, but the truth is peoples' morbid curiosity with this man was just getting started. Blair had previously willed local doctors his body after they paid him $15.00, with which he was able keep a supply of tobacco and little sweets while he was incarcerated.
    After his death, his body was moved to the courthouse where a group of medical students including Doctors D.E. Shields, Ben Richardson, Gass, Crawford and others who were studying medicine under Dr. John L. Howell, embalmed the body for preservation. Blair's heart and brain were removed and kept in glass jars and on display for many years.     The doctors dissected and studied the body for almost a year and then in about May 1880, the wife of Dr. John Howell boiled Blair's bones in a large kettle in the back yard at 523 West Main St. The skeleton was assembled and hung in a back room at Pinky Carigers Drug Store. There must have many people who wanted to view the remains and must have drawn people to the store for some time. The skeleton hung there until a fire destroyed the building. To date, it is not known what ever happened to the remains. We know this whole event must have been disturbing to many people.
    We know this not because of this being the only public hanging in the county but because of comments written in the Morristown Gazette. It stated that in conclusion, that the people would be glad if they knew this was the last public execution that would ever occur in Tennessee. They said the scene was demoralizing and in no aspect did it bring a good result. It stated they favored hanging for deliberate murder, but they would hope for a law requiring them to be private.

2010 Larry Hobby

Old Advertisment Examples

Advertisment for R&G Corsets sold at the Dosser Brothers Store

Advertisment from April 1895 - The Morristown Republician

Advertisment for Farm Wagons and Buggies at Curtis, Hull and Witt

Advertisment from 1882- The Morristown Republician

Advertisment for Dress and Millinery Goods

sold at Goddsons and Legg's Store

 Advertisment for D.A. Pless
Jeweler and Optician - Morristown Gazette

Advertisment for Oliver Chilled Plows
sold at W.N. Doggett and Co.
August 1909 Morristown Gazette

The Bell Directory

May 13th 1916

The Morristown Gazette

Crossroads of Dixie

     
      This area was able to develop and prosper because it was strategically situated at the crossroads of two major paths. One of the roads  was an old Indian Path that ran from East to West that Charles McClung helped survey in 1782. At the time is was known as the "Big Road", later known as "Dixie Highway", it linked Baltimore and Knoxville.Today it is the basic path of 11E. The other road was the "Buffalo Trail", which according to stories, was created by the buffalos seeking the salt licks near Powell's Valley. This road connected Detroit and Miami.  Today it is the basic path Highway 25E. The "Crossroads of Dixie" as it would later become to be know as, was the path where these two road intersected. Today it is better known as the intersection of Cumberland and Main Streets.
      Over the years their must have been many travelers to pass through on foot, horseback, and carriage. Men of great importance walked this ground long before they were condemned to the pages of a history book. Names like John Sevier, Daniel Boon, Davy Crockett, Sam Huston, and possibly even U.S. Presidents like Andrew Johnson who lived nearby and possibly others who were known to visit in neighboring towns.
     Before Hamblen County was formed,  before Morristown was incorporated, and even before the State of Tennessee was formed, there were two paths that crossed. The importance of the meeting of these two roads is almost unknown, the names of the people who traveled this way before us, have been lost to time and to most people, the importance of this land has faded. The people who love this area should thank that people whom they walk in the footsteps of.
    

The Naming of A County

      Hamblen County is the 20th largest county in Tennessee, and is nestled in the lush, fertile valley between the Great Smoky Mountains and the rugged Clinch Mountains. Like most of Tennessee Counties, the creation of Hamblen County was a necessity.  The creation of Hamblen County came as the answer to a the need of the people. In this day day and time,  both  transportation and communications were limited, and the geography of the county seats of Jefferson and Grainger Counties presented problems for those who had a need to attend court in their respective counties. Morristown, at this time, was divided by Main Street. Jefferson County was on the South side of Main Street and Grainger County laid to the North side of the road.
      The county was formed in 1870 from parts of Jefferson, Grainger, and later Hawkins Counties. The act creating a new county to be named Hamblen was passed May 31, 1870, with 1,057 local residence signing the petition. William Courtney, W. S. Reese, W. C. Witt, and James C. Davis, of Jefferson County, and John C. Tate, C. J. Burnett and Rufus E. Rice of Grainger County, were appointed to organize the county. After much controversy, the county was named in honor of Hezekiah Hamblen (1775 - 1854), an early settler, landowner, attorney, and member of the Hawkins County Court for many years. To secure the vote of Senator William Green of Hawkins County and, in turn the passage of the bill that would create the new county, he was given the privilege of naming the new county after his grandfather.