FORT DONELSON NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD Ethnographic Overview and Assessment Final Report By Dayna Bowker Lee, Donna Greer, and Aubra L. Lee Report Submitted by Earth Search, Inc. P.O. Box 770336 New Orleans, LA 70177-0336 Prepared for Fort Donelson National Battlefield and Fort Donelson National Cemetery National Park Service PO Box 434 174 National Cemetery Drive Dover, TN 37058 September 2013 FORT DONELSON NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD Ethnographic Overview and Assessment Order No. P12PX10042 Final Phase I Report By Dayna Bowker Lee, Donna Greer, and Aubra L. Lee Report Submitted by Dayna Bowker Lee, Ph.D., Principal Investigator Earth Search, Inc. P.O. Box 770336 New Orleans, LA 70177-0336 Prepared for Fort Donelson National Battlefield and Fort Donelson National Cemetery National Park Service PO Box 434 174 National Cemetery Drive Dover, TN 37058 September 2013 Cover montage: Background: Figure 13; photos, clockwise from top left: Figure 21; mussel fishing, TSLA; Figure 17; looking east from park boundaries at log house and smoking tobacco barn, n.d., FODO Archives; unknown Stewart County family, n.d., Feltner Photographic Collection; (center) Figure 14. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to extend appreciation to the National Park Service and the people of Dover who contributed to this project. In the National Park Service Southeast Region, Dr. Antoinette Jackson, Southeast Region Ethnographer, and Allison Peña, Jean Lafitte National Park Ethnographer, provided guidance, counsel, and assistance throughout the project. The personnel at Fort Donelson National Battlefield shared their time, knowledge, and insights throughout the course of the research. Superintendent Brian McCutcheon; Integrated Resource Program Manager Bill Barley; and Facility Manager Scott Mapes monitored the project, made park resources available, and responded to every question or request. The assistance of facility worker Mitchell Earhart and Rangers Susan Hawkins and Deborah Austin was invaluable. Their local knowledge, introductions, contacts, and willingness to assist in this research are greatly appreciated. Mrs. Norma Dortch and all the personnel at the Stewart County Library, as well as Mrs. Nelda Saunders, Mrs. Linda Long, and Mr. Lawrence Saunders of the Stewart County Archives provided guidance, recommended resources, and made suggestions that greatly contributed to a deeper understanding of the people and history of Dover and Stewart County. Thanks also go to Mrs. Judy Cherry and Mrs. Allie Charlton who helped facilitate interviews. We also extend our heartfelt appreciation to those who participated in interviews and discussions and shared their memories of the places and people associated with the National Battlefield properties and the heritage of Dover and Stewart County: Don Cherry, Louise Williams Dean, Mitchell Earhart, Pam Sykes Ford, Earline Wilson Lavester, Polly Garner Mockabee, Mary Mockabee Newsome, David Nolin, Marvin Nolin, Noel Nolin, Sydney Sykes, Percy Williams, and Donnie Wilson. i fffffff TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... i INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 Maps and Primary Source Data .......................................................................................................1 REGIONAL PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW ..............................................3 Paleoindian Period (13,000-8000 B.C.) ...........................................................................................3 The Archaic Period ..........................................................................................................................4 Woodland Period (1,000 B.C.-A.D. 900 ..........................................................................................7 Mississippi Period (A.D. 1200-1550) ..............................................................................................9 Summary ........................................................................................................................................11 THE FORT DONELSON NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD STUDY AREA ..................................13 Natural Setting ...............................................................................................................................13 Protohistoric through the Indian Removal Era ..............................................................................13 North Carolina Revolutionary War Land Grants ...........................................................................18 Antebellum Growth and Development ..........................................................................................21 Calloway County, Kentucky ..........................................................................................................28 Antebellum Slavery .......................................................................................................................28 Slaves in the Middle Tennessee Iron Industry ...............................................................................34 The Civil War Years ......................................................................................................................34 African Americans at Forts Henry, Heiman, and Donelson ..........................................................41 African American Troops in Tennessee ........................................................................................41 Free State/Freedmen’s Camp at Fort Donelson .............................................................................41 After the War .................................................................................................................................42 The Late Nineteenth Century to the Present ..................................................................................46 Population, Economy, and Land ....................................................................................................46 Religion ..........................................................................................................................................57 Education .......................................................................................................................................59 Fort Donelson National Military Park Land Acquisitions .............................................................63 Traditionally Associated Contemporary Populations ....................................................................69 The African American Community ...............................................................................................71 Postbellum......................................................................................................................................71 African American Landowners ......................................................................................................73 Twentieth Century .........................................................................................................................77 Families..........................................................................................................................................77 Mockabee Family ...............................................................................................................77 Gentry Family ....................................................................................................................79 Skinner Family ...................................................................................................................84 Subsistence .....................................................................................................................................84 Recreation/Entertainment ..............................................................................................................86 Commercial Endeavors ..................................................................................................................87 The Anglo-American Community .................................................................................................87 Families in the Fort Donelson Proper Settlement Area ................................................................95 Lancaster/Byrd ...................................................................................................................95 Roeder ................................................................................................................................96 Earhart ...............................................................................................................................97 Cherry ................................................................................................................................98 Nolin ...................................................................................................................................99 The Fort Donelson Proper/Triangle Settlement Areas Remembered ..........................................102 Cultural Interaction and the Present Communities ......................................................................102 iii Table of Contents, Continued Problems Encountered During the Course of the Research .........................................................103 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................103