The Home Of President Johnson.
Rev.
Randall Ross, chaplain of the 15th Ohio regiment, writes an interesting
letter to the United Presbyterian, descriptive of Greenville, East
Tennessee, the home of
President Johnson. The place contains only about
one thousand inhabitants, and consists of four squares, with streets
running through at right angles. The writer mentions the principle
buildings-- churches, taverns, the “old mill”, etc., and also notes the
spot in the garden of Mrs. Williams, where John Morgan was shot and
mortally wounded by a Union soldier. He was shot while crouching under a
grapevine, and the vine has since been cut away by soldiers who have
taken the “cuttings” to plant. Mr. Ross then continues:
But
Greenville is especially noted and honored as being the home of
Andrew
Johnson, present President of the United States. This renders this
village interesting to all, and everything connected with
Andrew
Johnson’s residence in it is of the deepest interest to the American
people.
Many years ago, on a certain evening, a rude,
black-headed, black eyed, good looking boy, said my informant, drove
into town with a poor old horse in a little one horse vehicle, in which
he had his mother and a few household things. They succeeded in
securing an
<sic> humble habitation by rent. This secured, the
next object was to secure labor by which to live. He began to inquire
for tailoring to do. His youthful appearance made it seem to be
somewhat of a risk to put cloth into his hands. His honest appearance,
together with his anxiety to obtain work, however, induced an
influential citizen to give him a coat to make for himself, with the
advice to do his best on it, and if he made a good job of it he then
would have no difficulty in getting work. He did his best, he succeeded
with the job, and he began immediately to gain the confidence of the
public and to get plenty to do.
This was the first
appearance of
Andrew Johnson in Greenville, Tennessee, and this was the
first job of work he did on his own responsibility. The first house he
lived in I am told is now not standing. He was industrious and
attentive to business, and he succeeded well. In process of time he was
married. The marriage ceremony was performed by Mordecai Lincoln,
Esq., said to be a distant relative of the late President Lincoln.
The
house in which he was married has been removed. At this time my
informant told me
Andrew Johnson could not read, and was taught to read
by his wife after their marriage.-- Things prospered with him, and in
due time he became able to own his own house and lot.
Just
down there at the base of the hill stands a small brick building, with a
back porch, and around it the necessary fixtures. It stands on the
corner of the square, near where the mill race passes under the street
on its way down to the little mill.
That is the first
house ever
Andrew Johnson owned. It now belongs to another person. But
down there about due West from where I sit, and almost directly
opposite the mill, whose large wheel is still moving, but whose motion
is scarcely perceptible, you will see a rather humble, old fashioned
looking, two-story, brick house, standing near the South end of Main
street. It has but one entrance from the street. In front of it stand
three or four small shade trees. The fences of the lot and windows of
the house show evident signs of dilapidation, the consequence of
rebellion. Like many other windows in the South, a number of panes of
glass are broken out and their places supplied with paper. Glass could
not be obtained in the Confederacy.
As you pass along
the pavement on Main street, by looking into the lot you see several
young apple trees, and in the spaces between two of them are potatoes
growing. In the rear of the kitchen stands a small aspen shade tree
,and down there in the lower end of the lot is a grapevine, trained upon
a trellis, forming a pleasant bower.
Scattered over
the lot are a number of rose, currant, and gooseberry bushes. At the
lower end of the lot and just outside, stand two large weeping willows,
and under their shade is a very beautiful spring. This is the residence
of
Andrew Johnson, President of the United States. Up the street
stands his former tailor shop, with the old sign still on it. And in an
old store room up street is the remains of his library. At present it
consists principally of law books and public documents, most of his most
valuable books having been destroyed by the rebel soldiery.
~ Abbeville Bulletin, 17-Aug-1865, Page 1, Column 4
You can visit the memorial page for
Andrew Johnson.
