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- [S106] The Mountain Press, 1 Aug 2011.
Upland Chronicles: T. Lee Owenby: He walked the walk
by CARROLL McMAHAN
In front from left are Jim, Jack, Bill, Ed and George; back row, T. Lee Owenby and his wife, Nora Belle holding Jerry.
Rev. and Mrs. T. Lee Owenby, right, on their wedding day with Carl and Grace Whaley (left) and Nora Belle’s sister, Maude King (center).
T. Lee Owenby, right, in his park ranger uniform standing beside his brother, Lyle.
T. Lee ”Swede” Owenby and his family were living on a chicken farm in Cumberland County, Va., when his 3-year-old son, Jerry, was scalded with a pot of boiling water.
Jerry was rushed to a hospital where doctors told the family that due to the extent of the burns, Jerry’s chance of survival was extremely slim.
When Owenby was given the gloomy prognosis, he immediately began praying, asking God to spare his young son’s life and promising to answer the Lord’s call to preach the word of God, if his son pulled through. Miraculously, Jerry recovered.
The following year, T. Lee Owenby was ordained at Hatcher Baptist Church in Trents Mill, Va. Subsequently, he was elected pastor of the church.
Within the following year, Owenby received a call from members of Henderson’s Chapel Baptist Church in the Pine Grove Community of Sevier County. Since T. Lee had once been a member there, he immediately accepted an invitation to be their pastor.
Thomas Lee Owenby was born in the Glades Community of Sevier County on Aug. 13, 1913. He was one 10 children born to Columbus M. Ownby and Nettie Maples Ownby.
T. Lee grew up in the Gist’s Creek Community where the family relocated when he was a small boy. Later, they moved again to Sugar Hollow near the Pine Grove Community.
In his youth, T. Lee was known for his outstanding athletic abilities. He was a good boxer, hunter, fisherman and an outstanding baseball player. Those who knew him said T. Lee’s baseball pitching was of such caliber he could have played on a professional team.
While living in Sugar Hollow he met Nora Belle King, a daughter of Lewis M. King. Nora Belle was one of seven children born to Lewis King and his second wife, Frances Whaley King. Lewis King had nine children with his first wife, Luzena Whaley King.
When the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established Nora Belle’s family moved from Greenbrier, the place where she grew up, to a farm on Walden’s Creek Road. By that time, she had graduated from Smoky Mountain Academy.
In 1935, Nora Belle accepted T. Lee’s marriage proposal and the young couple traveled to Knoxville to obtain a marriage license. Upon receiving the necessary document, the pair, along with three witnesses, drove to the home of Nora Belle’s brother, Rev. Robert King in Seymour, and asked him to perform the marriage ceremony.
When Rev. King looked over the of the marriage license, he discovered the document was issued in Knox County. His home was in Sevier County. Therefore, the wedding party loaded up in cars and drove beyond the “Gap of the Mountain” into Knox County where they pulled over, got out of their cars and a roadside wedding ceremony took place.
At the time of their marriage, T. Lee was working at the Sugarlands CCC Camp, which led to a Junior Patrolman position with the National Park Service. The patrolman job included duties such as fire tower watchman and manager of Cosby Campground.
In those days, Cosby was notorious for moonshine stills. T. Lee often said he had an agreement with the illegal still operators stating “We don’t bother them and they won’t kill us.”
Interestingly, the federal government misspelled T. Lee’s surname while he was employed by the CCC. Instead of Ownby, they added an e. He kept the e although most of his relatives retained the traditional spelling.
The way T. Lee received the unusual moniker of Swede in another story. One day while he was providing information to a tourist, he had to abruptly leave for some reason. “Where’s the Swede?” questioned the lady when she couldn’t find him. Bystanders were amused because the lady assumed the 6-foot-4 blonde headed man was from Sweden. Word spread and T. Lee Owenby was often called Swede the rest of his life.
In 1941, T. Lee was appointed first Park Ranger at Elkmont. His growing family moved into the ranger’s residence where they lived for the most of the next decade. While living in Elkmont, the number of children grew to a total of six sons. They were named Jim, Jack, Bill, Ed, George and Jerry.
The Elkmont assignment was interrupted for a couple of years during World War ll, while T. Lee served in the U.S. Navy aboard the famous aircraft carrier Intrepid. Nora Belle and the boys lived with her parents on Walden’s Creek Road until the war was over and they returned to Elkmont.
Numerous stories have been repeated about problems created by the ever present bears in the Elkmont Campground and around the ranger’s residence. One particular bear regularly terrified campers, foraging for food and turning over trash cans. T. Lee finally decided to set a trap, subsequently catching the culprit, which was estimated to weigh around 500 pounds.
The big bear remained on display in the campground for several days before T. Lee painted an identifying white stripe on the beast, loaded him in a truck, drove 15 miles to Tremont and released the animal high up in the mountains. Much to T. Lee’s chagrin, the bear beat him back to Elkmont.
T. Lee was widely known for his trout fishing exploits. His son, Jack, said, “Daddy could follow directly behind another fisherman upstream and still catch his limit in record time. Always a strict enforcer of the rules, he never caught more than the law allowed and was constantly on the lookout for poachers.”
T. Lee decided to resign his park ranger position in 1951 because he did not feel right about working on Sundays. He moved his family to Cumberland County, Virginia, where several former Sevier County residents, including his parents, resided.
The Owenby family consisted of a total of nine when they returned to Sevier County in 1954. The last child and only daughter, Susan, was born the previous February.
While serving as pastor of Henderson’s Chapel Baptist Church, Rev. T. Lee Owenby became a well-respected minister in Sevier County. He gained notoriety for his rigid fundamentalist beliefs, which he practiced as well as preached.
Due to differing opinions between himself and the Sevier County Baptist Association, Rev. Owenby resigned at Henderson’s Chapel after ten years and established an independent church named Liberty Baptist Church. After meeting in a house for a while, the fledgling congregation raised funds for a new building on Walden’s Creek Road, on property that was part of his wife’s home place.
Renowned for his fishing expertise, Rev. Owenby received a request in 1970 to escort world famous evangelist Dr. Billy Graham on a trout fishing trip while Dr. Graham was conducting a crusade in Knoxville. Rev. Owenby promptly declined the invitation, citing the fact he disagreed with Dr. Graham’s ecumenical practices.
Rev. Owenby was greatly affected in 1973 when his recently married daughter, Susan Owenby Ogle, died of leukemia at the age of 19.
After about 10 years, the resilient preacher left Liberty Baptist Church and established Fellowship Baptist Church. The congregation purchased the existing building on High Street that had recently been vacated when the Church of God moved to Oak Street.
On the last Sunday of March in 1982, Rev. T. Lee Owenby delivered a sermon on Sunday morning at Fellowship Baptist Church and another at the evening worship service. A couple of days later he collapsed and died, minutes after returning home from a fox hunt.
He passed away on March 31, 1982, leaving a legacy as a loving husband, devoted father, dedicated preacher, accomplished sportsman, respected park ranger and loyal friend.
— 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, 1920.
Name: Lee Ownby
Residence: , Sevier, Tennessee
Estimated Birth Year: 1913
Age: 7
Birthplace: Tennessee
Relationship to Head of Household: Son
Gender: Male
Race: White
Marital Status: Single
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Film Number: 1821762
Digital Folder Number: 4390948
Image Number: 00504
Sheet Number: 8
Household Gender Age Birthplace
SELF Columbus M Ownby M 32y Tennessee
WIFE Nettie Ownby F 29y Tennessee
DAU Kate Ownby F 11y Tennessee
DAU Jocie Ownby F 9y Tennessee
SON Lee Ownby M 7y Tennessee
DAU Rubbie Ownby F 3y Tennessee
SON Lile Ownby M 4m Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name: Lee Ownby
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Civil District 5, Sevier, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Marital Status: Married
Race (Original): White
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Head
Relationship to Head of Household: Head
Birthplace: Tennessee
Birth Year (Estimated): 1914
Last Place of Residence: Same Place
District: 78-9
Family Number: 156
Sheet Number and Letter: 9A
Line Number: 4
Affiliate Publication Number: T627
Affiliate Film Number: 3933
Digital Folder Number: 005461375
Image Number: 00259
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Lee Ownby M 26 Tennessee
Wife Nora Bell Ownby F 27 Tennessee
Son Jimmy Lee Ownby M 4 Tennessee
Son Jack Ownby M 2 Tennessee
Son Billie Ownby M 0 Tennessee
- [S76] Atchley Funeral Home Records, Volume III, 1974-1986, Larry D. Fox, (Smoky Mountain Historical Society), 31 Mar 1982.
Owenby, Rev Thomas Lee (Swede) 68 b. 8-13-13 TN d. 3-31-82 DOA SCH f. Columbus M Owenby m. Nettie Maples WW II Navy machinists mate 2nd class 12-30-=43 Chattanooga 9-9-45 New Orleans LA Shiloh Cem Survivors: wife Nora Belle King R11 Sev 6 sons Jim O Bessemer AL Jack Nashville Bill Atlanta GA Eddy Atlanta GA George Sev Jerry Newport News VA 13 gc f. Sev 4 bro Lyle VA Frank VA Kenneth VA Dott Sev 3 sis Mrs Kate Maples Sev Mrs Leonard (Jo) Adcox Knox Mrs Kenneth (Jean) Allen VA.
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