| Sources |
- [S25] Smith Mortuary Company, www.smithmortuary.com, 19 Jan 2010.
Katherine Sue (Gregory) Shultz obituary
- [S27] The Daily Times, http://www.thedailytimes.com/, (Blount County, Tennessee), 5 Mar 2011.
Hometown ‘treasure’: Lendel Abbott featured on Discovery Channel
By Linda Braden Albert lindaba@thedailytimes.com
A time-worn box holds a treasure for Lendel Abbott, and thanks to a new series on the Discovery Channel, some of the mysteries of the box will be revealed.
According to a news release from Discovery, American Treasures, which premiered Feb. 22, investigates the history behind everyday Americans’ unique artifacts. Hosts are Dr. Jason De Leon and Dr. Kirk French, archaeology professors and friends who met during graduate school.
The two often receive inquiries from people who think they possess items that may have historical significance. Again from the news release, “French and De Leon travel across the country in their trusty pickup truck to conduct hands-on research into each item, consulting with experts and historians to learn more about not only the item itself, but its historical and cultural context: What it is, where it came from, who made it, and why. On occasion, they also meet up with fellow archaeologists to learn more about important scientific research going on across America.”
Blount ‘treasure’
Lendel Abbott, author of “Cades Cove, Tennessee: My Stories and Our Heritage,” shared information about his own treasure box in a story published Nov. 7, 2010, in The Daily Times. Discovery became aware of the box through this story and contacted Abbott about being featured on an upcoming American Treasures episode which will likely air in mid- to late-March. Filming took place in December.
Abbott and his wife Helen said being filmed for the series was an “experience.”
“They was a long way from being East Tennessee hillbillies, to begin with,” Abbott said with a laugh. “I guess it was a new experience for them, too.
“They didn’t ask a whole lot of questions. They brought an appraiser with them from West Tennessee. She was like myself, just a country, hillbilly woman. She talked my language, and me and her could understand each other.”
The main subject of Abbott’s segment on the upcoming episode is, of course, the box. Abbott had speculated in the earlier story that the box, made of poplar wood and held together with tiny, hand-hewn pegs and handmade nails, could have been in the possession of his immigrant ancestors who arrived in this country from Ireland and Scotland two centuries ago. He noted the hinges, which were not factory-made, but “beat out in a shop.”
Abbott said he, the appraiser and the two archeologists talked for a short time before filming began. “(The appraiser) asked me what I knowed about the box,” he said. “I told her what I knowed and what I’d heared, then she told me what she had found out about the box.”
Abbott also surprised the experts with additional artifacts: a pistol belonging to his ancestor, Noah Abbott, a Civil War veteran, that has nine notches cut into the handle; a pipe mold; and three “men’s pocketbooks,” which Abbott said probably belonged to Cades Cove residents Dan Lawson and Noah Abbott around the time of the Civil War. A $5 Civil War note was folded up in the one he believes was Lawson’s.
Helen Abbott said she had cooked a meal for the crew members ?1/2" three women and four or five men ?1/2" including a big pot of chicken and dumplings, taco soup, a skillet of crackling corn bread, cole slaw, two pecan pies and two cakes. The Abbotts estimated they had enough food for 20 people, but the good country cooking soon disappeared.
“That was the eatingest people,” Helen said. For her, the most difficult part of the filming was having to stay quiet because the microphones would pick up every tiny sound.
Lendel Abbott said the archaeologists asked him what he thought his father, Slick Abbott, would have thought about the results of their investigation.
“I said he wouldn’t have been excited about it,” Abbott said. “He already knowed it.”
To learn the results, watch for the upcoming episode at dsc.discovery.com/tv/american-treasures/episodes.html.
More about American Treasures
The news release from Discovery includes additional information about American Treasures:
Artifacts investigated for American Treasures include a Colt revolver claimed to have belonged to famed outlaw John Wesley Hardin, a steam whistle claimed to have been salvaged from Pearl Harbor, a brass trumpet thought to be Louis Armstrong’s and a safe thought to hold business papers of Al Capone. Locations include Houston, Texas; Los Alamos, N.M.; Boston; Nashville; New Orleans; and St. Petersburg and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Kirk French, Ph.D. Anthropology (Penn State 2009), is a professor at Penn State whose specialty is Mesoamerican history and culture. His research focuses on Maya water management and developing a better understanding of the interplay between humans and their environments. Jason De Leon, Ph.D. Anthropology (Penn State 2008), is a professor at the University of Michigan who teaches classes on cultural anthropology, the anthropology of Americana and the anthropology of rock and roll. He has conducted archaeological and ethnographic research in Mesoamerica and his work now focuses on globalization and human migration.
“As a professor, I constantly remind my students that ‘culture’ isn’t just something that you read about in textbooks or have to travel to distant lands to find,” said De Leon. “American Treasures is about exploring and understanding different aspects of American culture through people, their stories and through artifacts.”
French said, “A common misconception the public has of archaeologists is that we look for treasure; that someday, if we’re lucky, we’ll strike it rich. Archaeologists do not look for treasure and we do not place monetary value on artifacts. American Treasures gives us the opportunity to set the record straight and to say, ‘No one owns history, it belongs to all of us; it’s our American past.’”
American Treasures is produced by Engel Entertainment for Discovery Channel. Bill Howard is executive producer for Discovery Channel; Steven Engel is executive producer and Anna Geddes is co-executive producer for Engel Entertainment.
- [S25] Smith Mortuary Company, www.smithmortuary.com, 15 Jul 2012.
Tommie Darrell Abbott obituary
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Groom's Name: S. E. Abbott
Groom's Birth Date:
Groom's Birthplace:
Groom's Age:
Bride's Name: Bertha Cable
Bride's Birth Date:
Bride's Birthplace:
Bride's Age:
Marriage Date: 16 Sep 1935
Marriage Place: Blount, Tennessee
Groom's Father's Name:
Groom's Mother's Name:
Bride's Father's Name:
Bride's Mother's Name:
Groom's Race:
Groom's Marital Status:
Groom's Previous Wife's Name:
Bride's Race:
Bride's Marital Status:
Bride's Previous Husband's Name:
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: M00566-0
System Origin: Tennessee-EASy
Source Film Number: 2073517
Reference Number: A
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Groom's Name Bride's First Name Bride's Maiden Name County Date of Marriage File #
ABBOTT LENDEL D HELEN S [NOT GIVEN] BLOUNT 04-05-1980 11693
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