| Sources |
- [S52] Miller Funeral Home, (http://www.millerfuneralhome.org), 9 Nov 1976.
Alice Lucretia Crawley obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 18 Jul 2011.
Upland Chronicles: Sunset Gap Mission School served area children
by CARROLL McMAHAN
Sunset Gap Mission on dedication day in 1925.
A recent photograph of Sunset Gap Community Center.
Betty Williams (pictured) and her husband, Anderson Williams, donated 10 acres to build a school so their large family could receive an education.
While watching the sun fade from the front porch of Glenwood Mission School in the mid-1920s, a visitor from the Presbyterian Board of Missions first used the name Sunset Gap.
Shortly after that evening, the name was officially changed to Sunset Gap Mission. Located on the Sevier/Cocke county line, the historic mission has served communities in both counties for almost a century.
In 1900, Juniper Mission School was founded by a Miss Hadden from the Women’s Board of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. The school was located four miles from the county line on Wilhite Road in Sevier County. Miss Hadden operated the school for over a decade before she was called home due to the death of her sister.
The Board of Missions sent Sarah Cochrane to close Juniper School in 1916. She was soon convinced that a few families wanted to keep the school operating because there were no other alternatives available for children of the community to receive an education. However, after six years of only partial community support she announced that Juniper School was closing.
Betty Jane Hicks Williams, wife of Anderson “Ance” Williams, had 10 sons and one daughter who had received an education at Juniper School, and she was determined her grandchildren would have the same opportunity. In 1923, Betty and Anderson Williams offered Sara Cochrane and the Presbyterian Church 10 acres near the county line, on which to build a school.
J.D. Templin and J.D. Williams from Cocke County donated property on their side of the line. Therefore the school could have advantage of resources from both counties.
Sara Cochrane moved to the new property immediately and lived in a tent while a teacher cottage was built. Classes were held in the cottage until the schoolhouse was completed.
In addition to reading and writing, Miss Cochrane emphasized health, sanitation and nutrition. Some residents in the Wilhite and Bogart communities felt she was an outsider introducing unwanted ways to their children. Although some families never agreed with her methods, she earned the respect from most residents as a dedicated teacher.
Within the first year, Miss Cochrane learned that over half of the children were tubercular. By 1928, she had a clinic built to combat tuberculosis and other diseases. Also, she adopted a yearly calendar to best affect the health and welfare of the community.
The older children attended classes from July, after crops were planted, until the following spring while the first three grades met from late March until November.
The daily ritual included a bath, a dose of cod-liver oil, a hot lunch and a nap. Beginning with typhoid and diphtheria inoculations, Miss Cochrane enlisted the help of Sevier County Public Health Department in establishing special means to combat particular diseases.
Skills were taught through organizations such as forestry, sewing and 4-H clubs. A weaving industry began in the late 1920s which enabled the older girls to earn money for continuing their education at Warren Wilson School in Swannanoa, N.C.
Also, Miss Cochrane started a PTA which included both educational and social activities. Dues collected were used to pay for the students’ dental work and canning supplemented the hot lunch program.
After more than three decades, Miss Cochrane retired as director of Sunset Gap in 1948. Known as a strict disciplinarian, she made a lasting impact on the surrounding communities.
Elizabeth Wright was appointed director after serving 28 years with the Presbyterian Church as a teacher in Peking, China. A communist takeover had forced her to return home with only a few years left before retirement. She held the position four years.
A faculty member served as acting director until Rev. Roe Clark, a retired Warren Wilson College agriculture teacher, was appointed the following year. Also, Mrs. Clark had been a teacher with two years of nurse training. As the first male director, Rev. Clark made the men in the community feel there was a place for them in activities held at the center and organized hunting, camping and fishing trips to increase their interest.
In 1955, the men and boys of the community built a ballfield and formed organized, inter-community baseball teams that competed against Newport teams.
Rev. Clark’s training in agriculture was an important asset to the community as well. He began an effort to check soil erosion on the small subsistence farms and numerous ideas to improve farming practices.
Mrs. Clark put her nursing skills to good use by acting as a bedside nurse during home visits. The clinic resumed its original use when several patients recuperated there under her care.
Bob and Kaye Davis followed the Clarks. In 1969 Kaye began working with the federally financed Head Start program; developing the program in seven East Tennessee counties Bob Davis began summer programs involving local children. He created a camp with emphasis on the teaching of art, crafts and music ran by volunteers from the United Presbyterian Church from all over the country. Eventually, a year-around volunteer community center program was developed.
Another mission school operated by the Presbyterian Church was located four miles from downtown Sevierville, on Ridge Road where the Sevier County Solid Waste facility is located. Roseville School was established by Rev. John H. Wright, a Sunday school missionary with the National Board of Missions of the Presbyterian Church, and named for his wife, Rose. At one time, Sara Cochrane was in charge of both schools.
Catherine Marshall visited Sunset Gap Mission while collecting information for her bestselling book titled “Christy.” The novel was a part fictional, part true account based on the experiences of her mother, Lenora Whitaker Wood, who moved to Del Rio, Tenn., in 1909 to teach at Ebenezer Mission which was similar to Sunset Gap and the closest such establishment still in operation at the time.
Today, Sunset Gap continues to serve the community applying the following mission statement: “Sunset Gap Community Center is a Christian based organization uniting people of all faiths and providing programs that contribute to the physical, social, economic and spiritual growth of the people of both Cocke and Sevier Counties.”
— Carroll McMahan is the special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce. The Upland Chronicles series celebrates the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics, would like to submit a column or have comments; please contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or email to cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or email to ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S112] Census, 1900.
Name: Lizebeath Williams
Titles:
Residence: Jones Cove, Sevier, Tennessee
Birth Date: Feb 1860
Birthplace: Tennessee
Relationship to Head-of-Household: Wife
Spouse Name: Anderson Williams
Spouse Titles:
Spouse Birth Place: Tennessee
Father Name:
Father Titles:
Father Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother Name:
Mother Titles:
Mother Birthplace: Tennessee
Race or Color (expanded): White
Head-of-household Name: Anderson Williams
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 19
Estimated Marriage Year: 1881
Mother How Many Children: 10
Number Living Children: 10
Immigration Year:
Enumeration District: 0135
Sheet Number and Letter: 2B
Household ID: 36
Reference Number: 97
GSU Film Number: 1241595
Image Number: 00319
Household Gender Age
Spouse Anderson Williams M
Lizebeath Williams F
Child Luther Williams M
Child Deadric Williams M
Child Rosco Williams M
Child Ernis Williams M
Child Alice L Williams F
Child Walter Williams M
Child Thurman Williams M
Child Warden Williams M
Child Gaither M Williams M
Child Dewey Williams M
- [S34] In the Shadow of the Smokies, Smoky Mountain Historical Society, (1993), 517.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 146846087).
- [S58] Marriage Certificate.
Name: E J Hicks
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 22 Dec 1880
Event Place: Sevier, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Female
Spouse's Name: A A Williams
Page: 180
|
Search | Advanced Search
1860 - 1938 (78 years)
: Address
: Location
: City/Town
: County/Shire
: State/Province
: Country
: Not Set
= Link to Google Maps