THE BEGINNING The earliest known European visitor to Tennessee was the Spaniard Hernando De Soto, fewer than fifty years after Christopher Columbus' historic voyage. In 1540, De Soto's party of adventurers raided some Indian villages in the Tennessee River valley. From there they traveled westward to the Mississippi River, and Tennessee did not see another European visitor for more than a hundred and thirty years. In 1673 two English explorers, James Needham and Gabriel Arthur, explored the valley of the Tennessee River. They found the Cherokees amenable to trade, and Needham returned to Virginia to obtain trade goods; on his way back to Tennessee, Needham was killed by his Indian guide from Virginia. Arthur, presumably unaware of Needham's death, remained with the Cherokees for another year before returning to civilization. LaSalle traveled down the Mississippi River in 1682, and --- in his typical fashion --- claimed the entire Mississippi Valley for France. Although there almost certainly would have been some white trappers and adventurers in East Tennessee fairly early in the 1700s, theirs would have been lives full of danger, for this was Cherokee land. There is virtually zero possibility that there were any permanent white settlers in East Tennessee until after the French and Indian War, which began in 1754 and ended nine years later in 1763, with the French ceding all land East of the Mississippi to the British. Ownership of Tennessee ---the name was taken from an Indian village known as Tanoseh--- was passed to the British colony of North Carolina. In the late 1760s, settlers from Virginia and North Carolina began to trickle across the Appalachian Mountains into East Tennessee. Some also came from Pennsylvania; there was a kind of natural geographical pathway from Pennsylvania to East Tennessee, the last leg of which was down the Holston River. The Wilderness Road through Cumberland Gap would not exist until 1775; but a family could cross the mountains on foot, with a few head of stock. These would have been hardy souls. North Carolina may have "owned" East Tennessee, but it was the Cherokees who occupied it. Throughout the 1770s settlers (some from North Carolina, some from Pennsylvania, but the vast majority from Virginia) began to pour into East Tennessee. As the encroachment of white settlers and a series of treaties and land deals with the Indians made more and more land available for settlement in Tennessee and Kentucky, many of the original settlers of East Tennessee moved to Kentucky and to farther west in Tennessee, where the land was more suitable for farming. By the 1780's most of those who remained in East Tennessee were subsistence farmers who knew how to hunt, grow, and build what they needed in the rocky mountains and valleys. They were self-sufficient. Among those settlers was a Harrell couple, names and origins unknown, who had at least one child : Drury P. Harrell. There is a story popular among Harrell researchers that Drury's ancestors came from Scotland to Virginia sometime in the 1700s. The three Harrell brothers are said to have been named John, Drury, and William. As the story goes, Drury remained in Virginia while John and William migrated to North Carolina. John named one of his sons John, and it is this John, Jr., who is purported to be the father of Drury P. Harrell of East Tennessee. This story may be true, all of it or part of it; but I have not been able to find a shred of evidence to support it, so I will continue to call it a story. What is known for certain is that Drury P. Harrell is the earliest ancestor of our Harrell line of whom we can be sure. We know he was born between 1780 and 1790 because the 1830 Census shows him to be 40-49 years old. The census also lists his birthplace as North Carolina, but there are reasons to believe that he actually was born in what is now East Tennessee (it was not until 1789 that North Carolina officially gave the Tennessee - Kentucky area to the U. S. Government, so East Tennessee would have been known as North Carolina until that time). The very earliest references to Drury are to be found in the records of the Big Spring Baptist Church, located in what is now Springdale. They document that Drury spent the winter of 1795-1796 assisting the Reverend Tidence Lane in felling the timber, hewing the logs, and constructing the church. The site of this church in Claiborne County is now deemed a historic location, celebrated as being one of the first churches built in Tennessee. Actually, Tidence Lane had already built as many as eight other churches before this in East Tennessee, in several counties. The earliest one for which there is documentation was at Buffalo Ridge in Washington County in 1779. And there were already at least twenty Presbyterian churches in the area by 1789. So the Big Spring church was far from the first church built in Tennessee, although it probably was the last church built there before Tennessee became a state on June 1, 1796. In any case, knowing that Drury helped build the church allows us to hone in more closely on his year of birth. If he was born between 1780 and 1790, there can be little doubt that it was in 1780 or 1781. Had he been born in 1790, he would have been five years old when the church was built. If 1780 were his birthyear, then he would have been fifteen in 1795. People grew up fast in pioneer Tennessee, and probably most strapping fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys would have known the rudiments of building (a fair percentage of fifteen-year-old girls were already married in those days). Drury, by the way, appears not to have been known as "Drew", as some of his later descendants would be. No written records have been found referring to him as other than the many variations of Drury: Drewry, Druey, Drewy, Druery, Dreury, etc. Drury, then, was born during the height of the American Revolutionary War, before Napoleon was Emperor Napoleon, before George Washington was President, before the United States was the United States. He was still a baby when the war officially ended in 1783 and would have had no memories of America under British rule. But he would have remembered later landmark events: Washington becoming President (1789); Tennessee becoming part of the "Territory of the United States South of the River Ohio" (1789); Tennessee gaining statehood (1796). Nothing more of Drury's childhood is known. We know that he married Mary "Polly" Hopson, probably about 1808. As is the case with Drury, Polly's parents are unknown. It has been speculated that Polly may have been a sister to Harrod "Old Hard" Hopson, another early Claiborne County settler, but there is no evidence to prove it. The 1870 Census lists Polly as 82, which would place her birth at about 1788. The census also shows her place of birth as North Carolina; there is no way of knowing whether that was the "Tennessee" part of North Carolina. The year of Drury and Polly's marriage is estimated from knowing that the first of their eleven children was born no later than 1810. Polly, then, would've have been about twenty when she married Drury; he would have been in his late twenties. In the 1810 Census, Drury was listed in the Grainger County census. With him were a female, age 16-26 (Polly), another female under ten years old (Patsy), and a mystery girl age 10-16 who could nat have been Drury and Polly's daughter. He is shown as "Drieury Hearl" in that year's census. Tax records of that year show him as "Harrel, Dewry", owner of one hundred acres of land. There were no other Harrells in Grainger county in that year, per census and tax records. Presumably Drury moved his family to Claiborne County shortly after 1810. He does not appear on the 1815 tax list for Grainger County, and had been appearing as a juror in Tazewell before 1815. What did Drury look like? Probably we will never know. He died before cameras were beyond the experimental stage. But if he fit the profile of his descendants, as seems likely, then he was tall and lean, with the angular nose and cheekbones that we have been accustomed to seeing in the men of this Harrell line. Historian Wilma Dykeman, speaking of the men of East Tennessee in the late eighteenth century, wrote that "...most of the men wore wide-brimmed hats covering their long hair tied in a queue, practical hunting shirts of buckskin, and breeches and gaiters of tan, home-dyed cloth....". There were other Harrell families who lived near Drury in the early part of the nineteenth century. As far as is known, the Drury Harrell household was the first Harrell family to settle in the Claiborne-Grainger area of East Tennessee. Aside from Drury and Polly, there were three Harrell households: William and Dicy Harrell, who migrated from Orange County, North Carolina; Ezekiel Perry Harrell from North Carolina, probably from Orange County, as well; and William Harrell from nearby Wythe County, Virginia. There is no clear proof of blood relationships among any of those four families; but there is more than a little circumstantial evidence to weigh heavily in favor of kinship. Perhaps the evidence will be uncovered in the future. In early 1814 the Claiborne County Court appointed Drury "...overseer of the Jinings road from the top of the River Ridge to Tazewell...". Court minutes record that Sheriff Dennis Condry's deputy, Jeremiah Cloud, "...gave Drury Harrel his orders on the 6th of March...". (As an aside, Jeremiah Cloud was apparently a lawman of long standing; he is listed on the 1788 Militia Payroll of Sullivan County.) The minutes do not explain what tasks or duties accompanied being overseer of a road; my own guess is that it meant seeing that the road was kept cleared of fallen trees, rockslides, washouts, and the like (but that is only a guess). Presumably it would have been sensible of the court to appoint as a road overseer someone who lived on the road, so it is likely that Drury resided on Jennings Road. Anderson Jennings was a neighbor of Drury's; the road probably became known as Jennings Road because Anderson or his ancestors were early residents. It is also likely that Drury's land was situated either by a river or very near a river, since it is a fact that he owned a boat. The river could have been either the Powell River or the Clinch River, most likely the latter. On March 4, 1815, Drury bought fifty acres of land on the Sweetlick Branch in Claiborne County from John Casey and Walter Evans. From the description of the boundaries of the purchased tract, it appears that this was land which adjoined property which he already owned. The county court called Drury to serve as a juror in 1815, 1816, 1817, 1818, and 1819 (and probably in future years; only the court minutes from 1814 to 1819 were researched). It appears that Drury was well respected in his community. In a January 29, 1828, recorded deed Drury bought ten acres of land from Hiram Hurst. Again it appears that the land bordered property Drury already owned. He paid eighty dollars for the land. Drury sold twenty acres to a William Houston on February 20, 1833, for fifty dollars. Drury P. Harrell died in 1839, exact date unknown. Drury was in his late fifties. The Claiborne County Will Book records that Drury died without having left a will. On the first Monday of November, 1839, the county court appointed Drury's son Jacob administrator of Drury's estate. He was ordered to inventory the estate "...and also to render a true and clear account of said administration...". Following is "...A list of sale of the Estate of Drewry Harrell Decd..." It is reproduced as written, with the same spellings and capitalizations that appear on the original list. Polly Harrell 1 Dresser and furniture .50 Polly Harrell 1 oven .06 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 skillett .06 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 skillett and lid .06 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 skillett and lid .25 Polly Harrell 1 loom .25 Polly Harrell 1 crock and Piggins .25 Polly Harrell 2 guns 2 barrels .12 1/2 Anderson Jennings 1 tar buckett .06 1/4 Richard Hopson 2 Augers .25 Polly Harrell 1 Auger .06 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 iron .06 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 Bedstead & furniture .12 1/2 Polly Harrell 1 bedstead & furniture .12 1/2 Polly Harrell 1 chest .12 1/2 Polly Harrell 1 tin trunk .31 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 trunk .06 1/4 Richard Hopson 1 pair steelyard 1.87 1/2 Polly Harrell 1 Lock chain 1.06 1/4 Drury Harrell 2 steel traps 2.00 Drury Harrell 1 steel trap 1.06 1/4 Drury Harrell 1 steel trap 1.06 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 weeding hoe .06 1/4 Ezekiel P Harrell 1 plough & coulter .12 1/2 Richard Hopson 1 mattock .50 Ezekiel P Harrell 1 asce 1 singletree & hoe .12 1/2 Drewry Harrell 1 plough .50 Drewry Harrell 1 heiffer 5.75 Daniel Carter 2 cheep (sheep I suppose) 1.25 Polly Harrell 1 little wheel .12 1/2 Polly Harrell 2 chairs .06 1/4 Daniel Rosenbalm 1 Dressing knife 1.31 1/4 Anderson Jennings 1 compass saw .06 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 siffer & 1 tray .06 1/4 Anderson Jennings 1 pr. shot mols .12 1/2 Polly Harrell 1 pot & hook .50 Polly Harrell 1 Table & chair .06 1/4 Polly Harrell 1 pail .06 1/4 Drewry Harrell 1 Boat 2.06 1/4 Polly Harrell 2 jugs .06 1/4 There is a lot to think about in the material above. Naturally, it's interesting to see the prices of items and compare them with those of today. And it may come as a surprise that quarter-cent and half-cent coins were in common use in Drury's time. The fact that a good knife was considered more valuable than two sheep (by the way, the "...sheep I suppose..." remark is actually on the original document) and two knives would cost you more than a boat in 1839 gives some insight into the cultural values of that day. Beyond that, there are some questions that I have not yet been able to resolve. Why have an estate sale? Why not just distribute the items among family and friends? Why didn't Jacob buy any of his father's things? Was this a public sale (nobody except family and neighbors bought anything)? County tax records show that Drury owned 200 acres of land, valued at two hundred dollars; why was the land not listed as part of the estate? Maybe some of these questions will never be answered. Some notes about the estate sale participants: The Drury Harrell and Drewry Harrell mentioned are the same person: Drury Peter Harrell (known as Peter), son of Drury and Polly. It is particularly interesting that his name was spelled two different ways on the list, since it was his brother Jacob who prepared the document. Peter was about eighteen when his father died, and he would have been the oldest son still living at home. If Peter was a true junior, as seems likely, then his father would've been Drury Peter Harrell, Sr.; but no records have been located which give more detail than Drury P. for the elder Drury. Ezekiel P. Harrell: interestingly, there were two Ezekiel Perry Harrells living in the area at that time, and researchers have been unable to find a blood connection between them. The older Ezekiel was about Drury and Polly's age and lived in Claiborne County. The younger Ezekiel would've been about twenty-one years old at the time of Drury's death; he was the son of William Nelson Harrell of Grainger County. Regardless of which of the two Ezekiels was at the estate sale (in fact, both could have been there--- the list would look the same), it adds more fuel to the probability that Ezekiel, William Nelson, and Drury were closely related in some yet-undiscovered way. Anderson Jennings was a neighbor of Drury and Polly. Anderson was a well-regarded member of the community and a person of some local influence. Richard Hopson was the son of neighbor Harrod Hopson. Richard's daughter Emily married Peter Harrell ten years after Drury's death. Daniel Carter is an unknown. Before Peter married Richard Hopson's daughter, he married one of Thornton Carter's daughters. But there appears to have been no Daniel in Thornton's household. Daniel Rosenbalm. The Rosenbalms and Harrells were close. Drury and Polly's two oldest daughters married children of George and Catherine Rosenbalm. It would have been surprising if some of the Rosenbalms had not attended the estate sale. Drury is buried behind the Springdale Primitive Baptist Church, the site of the Big Spring Primitive Baptist Church which he helped to build. The headstones are, for the most part, so weathered as to be unreadable; there is no grave marker which can be identified as Drury's. There is a commemorative marker--- a large one, about six feet tall--- which was erected in the 1940s and tells of the construction of the church by Drury and the Rev. Tidence Lane. Drury's date of death on the marker is given as 1840. Obviously the date is in error, since we have court documents proving that Drury died before the first Monday in November, 1839. There is a story that is told about Drury's burial. Most times, anecdotal events cannot be verified; but they do offer color to the telling of events. As this story goes, Drury's family was refused permission to bury him at the Big Spring churchyard because Drury had been excommunicated from the church. It was not uncommon for a church member to be excommunicated from this church; in fact, it appears to have been almost a weekly occurrence that someone would be "cast out" of the church for such sins as dancing or (more usually) speaking ill of other members, and so forth. We don't know what Drury may have done to invoke the displeasure of the congregation. Supposedly the Harrell family went by night to the churchyard. Some stood watch with their rifles and shotguns in hand while others dug the grave and buried Drury. This could be a true event; certainly there is no element of the story which is so far-fetched as to make it out-of-character with what we know of the people in that time and place. True or not, it is a good story. Polly lived on for many more years. In the 1840 census, she was still living in the same place, with several of her children still at home (some were quite young). We don't know where she was living when the 1850 and 1860 censuses were taken, for she does not appear to be listed in the Tennessee census. Perhaps she was living in Alabama, where some of her sons relocated. In 1870, however, census records show her in the household of her son Peter; her age is listed as eighty-two. Polly's date of death is unknown. The photograph of her (cover page) probably was taken sometime in the late 1870s, but could have been later. The two women behind her in the picture are granddaughters, one born in 1856 and the other in 1859. If you consider yourself a good hand at judging age by appearance, feel free to make your own guess; it will be as good as anybody else's. Estimates have ranged up to 1885 for the time the photograph was taken; if so, in this picture Polly would have been almost a hundred years old.