| Sources |
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 25 Feb 2013.
Upland Chronicles: Avent Cabin saved by historical register status
Feb. 25, 2013 @ 12:25 AM
CARROLL McMAHAN
Mayna Avent was a renowned artist who spent most summers in her beloved cabin in the Smoky Mountains.
In anticipation of the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Mayna Avent placed a log book on a desk so visitors could record their memories. Realizing the days in which the family could stay there were numbered, relatives, friends and other visitors began leaving their thoughts.
The log is now over 300 pages long and filled with interesting entries from all over the world. Surprising entries such as one written in Japanese and then translated into English:
“It is raining as if to wash away the dirt of the entire world … {but} how luxurious it is to dine with the light of the lanterns.”
Another note from a couple of Appalachian Trail hikers thanked the owners and included $3 as payment for cutting the screen to get inside to escape a terrible storm one New Year’s Eve.
Acclaimed poet Paul Ramsey wrote a poem in the log titled “Drifted Morning”:
Fog on the ridge becomes mist
In the near trees decades arrange,
Silverberry, hemlock, and oak,
Sleep as entry foregained.
The log is a testament to the enjoyment experienced by the hundreds of visitors to the Avent Cabin located a short hike of about a mile and a half south of the remains of Elkmont.
Although it has been known as the Avent Cabin since Frank and Mayna Avent purchased the rustic log structure in 1918, the building is rich in history dating back to the mid 1800s.
Humphrey Ownby built the house out of hand hewn oak, chestnut and poplar logs cut from trees on the property. The cabin was occupied by Ownby and his family until 1914, when Sam Cook bought it and 50 acres for $500, as a wedding gift for his daughter Eva and her husband Stephen Ownby.
Before they sold it to the Avents, Eva and Steve’s first two children were born there.
Nashville attorney Frank Avent and his wife, artist Mayna Treanor Avent, had built a summer home near the Appalachian Club where they spent time and Mayna enjoyed the setting for her art.
However they jumped at the opportunity to purchase the cabin further up Jake’s Creek and surrounded by local mountain folk.
In 1926 Frank renovated the cabin, constructing a loft, chimney and kitchen shed. By this time he was serving as the Commissioner of railroads for the state of Tennessee and was not able to stay in the cabin as long as his wife and children.
Mayna Avent was 50 when she and her husband purchased the cabin and was already established as a noted artist. She was born on Sept. 17, 1868, in the Tulip Grove Mansion on the grounds of the Hermitage Estate, home of President Andrew Jackson.
She studied art in Nashville and Cincinnati before moving to Paris to study at the esteemed Academie Julian. While there she was pursued by a French count who asked for her hand in marriage. But she had fallen in love with Frank Avent of Murfreesboro before she left and returned home and married him in 1891.
After the birth of her children, a son James and a daughter Mary, Mayna began painting and her art appeared in museums throughout the nation. When they started spending time in the Smokies she knew she had found the perfect spot for inspiration and exploration.
The rustic environs of the Smoky Mountains were a far cry from the urban museums where her work was displayed. She was twice commissioned by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery to paint reproductions of damaged portraits, one of Sarah Polk, wife of President Polk and the other of Emily Donelson, hostess of the White House for Andrew Jackson.
In 1941, Frank Avent died. Mayna continued living in Nashville and returned to the Smokies whenever she could. By this time her children were grown and it was difficult for her to stay alone at the cabin.
In the early 1950s she moved from Nashville to Sewanee to live with her son. Mayna Avent passed away on Jan. 2, 1959. She was 90.
Like the other summer residents of Elkmont, the Avent family was able to keep the cabin after the park was established through a lease agreement.
Mayna’s granddaughter and namesake, Mayna Nance submitted an application for listing the cabin on the National Register of Historic Places. She knew the lease agreement would be ending in 1992 and feared the beloved cabin could be dismantled by the park service once the family vacated the premises.
The detailed 18-page application included floor plans of the cabin, a history of the cabin its self, and the history of Mayna’s life and work. Although there were significant issues including the fact that the Avents had altered the original design, the Tennessee Historical Commission concluded that it is common for log cabins to be modified by their owners.
Furthermore, the commission agreed that although the Great Smoky Mountains national park is dotted with historic home sites and cabins, no others were associated with an artist of Mayna Avent’s stature and regional importance.
And so, in 1994, the Avent Cabin was accepted to the National Register of Historic Places, achieving the listing with two historic functions: as both architecturally significant because of the scarcity of buildings from the mid-1800s that still remained in the national park and as a culturally significant place as an artist’s studio.
The Avent Cabin stands today as a reminder of the sturdy pioneers who settled there over a century and a half ago and the famed artist who drew her inspiration from the beautiful mountain setting.
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.
- [S94] Sevier County, Tennessee Census, 449b, 30 Jun 1870.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tn/sevier/census/1870/0449b.gif
- [S94] Sevier County, Tennessee Census, District 2, family 207, 1860.
- [S112] Census, 1900.
name: Humphry Ownby
titles & terms:
event: Census
event date: 1900
event place: ED 146 Civil District 11, Sevier, Tennessee, United States
birth date: Mar 1856
birthplace: Tennessee
relationship to head of household: Head
father's birthplace: Tennessee
mother's birthplace: Tennessee
race or color (standardized): White
gender: Male
marital status: Widowed
years married:
estimated marriage year:
mother how many children:
number living children:
immigration year:
page: 1
sheet letter: A
family number: 7
reference number: 36
film number: 1241596
digital folder number: 004118730
image number: 00153
Household Gender Age Birthplace
head Humphry Ownby M 44 Tennessee
daughter Bettie Mc Carter F 22 Tennessee
son Avrey J Ownby M 19 Tennessee
daughter Ida Ownby F 14 Tennessee
daughter Zellie M Ownby F 7 Tennessee
son Ezra J Ownby M 5 Tennessee
niece Anna Stinnett F 18 Tennessee
nephew William R Stinnett M 16 Tennessee
granddaughter Viola D Mc Carter F 7 Tennessee
granddaughter Bessie A Mc Carter F 4 Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1910.
name: Humphrey Ownby
birthplace: Tennessee
relationship to head of household: Self
residence: Civil District 11, Sevier, Tennessee
marital status: Married
race : White
gender: Male
immigration year:
father's birthplace: Tennessee
mother's birthplace: Tennessee
family number: 12
page number: 1
Household Gender Age Birthplace
self Humphrey Ownby M 54y Tennessee
wife Bessie Ownby F 38y Tennessee
dau Zella M Ownby F 16y Tennessee
son Ezra J Ownby M 14y Tennessee
son Ernest Ownby M 5y Tennessee
dau Louranie Ownby F 3y Tennessee
son Gather Ownby M 2y Tennessee
son Karl Ownby M y 1m Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1920.
name: Umphfrey Ownby
residence: , Sevier, Tennessee
estimated birth year: 1857
age: 63
birthplace: Tennessee
relationship to head of household: Self
gender: Male
race: White
marital status: Married
father's birthplace: Tennessee
mother's birthplace: Tennessee
film number: 1821762
digital folder number: 4390948
image number: 00437
sheet number: 4
Household Gender Age Birthplace
self Umphfrey Ownby M 63y Tennessee
wife Bessie Ownby F 48y Tennessee
son Earnest Ownby M 15y Tennessee
dau Francie Ownby F 13y Tennessee
son Gather Ownby M 12y Tennessee
son Carl Ownby M 9y Tennessee
son Wade Ownby M 8y Tennessee
Susie Stinnett F 62y Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1930.
name: Humphrey Ownby
event: Census
event date: 1930
event place: Bales, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma
gender: Male
age: 74
marital status: Widowed
race: White
birthplace: Tennessee
estimated birth year: 1856
immigration year:
relationship to head of household: Father
father's birthplace: United States
mother's birthplace: United States
enumeration district number: 0006
family number: 53
sheet number and letter: 3A
line number: 44
nara publication: T626, roll 1928
film number: 2341662
digital folder number: 4661244
image number: 00078
Household Gender Age Birthplace
head John E Ownby M 34 Tennessee
wife Lewallen Ownby F 29 Oklahoma
father Humphrey Ownby M 74 Tennessee
half brother Carl D Ownby M 18 Tennessee
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 100818172).
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