| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 250, 252.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 13 Apr 2015.
Upland Chronicles: Stokely Canning was county’s leading industry
CARROLL MCMAHAN
The Stokely Canning Factory featured several manufacturing buildings and a steel water tower.
The original office and truck scales at Stokely Canning Factory were built in 1926.
In 1917, Dixie Canning Company built two factories in Sevier County. One was on Prince Street in Sevierville, and one was in Pigeon Forge. Farmers who signed contracts with the company were given seeds for beans, berries, pumpkins, apples and tomatoes.
In 1920, the Dixie Canning Company factory in Pigeon Forge was purchased by A.J. Scott, and renamed the Pigeon Forge Canning Company. Employing around 50 area workers, the company canned sauerkraut, blackberries, beans, tomatoes and apples. The Pigeon Forge Canning Factory expanded rapidly and attracted the attention of the massive Stokely Brothers Corporation, which purchased a half-interest in the company in 1922.
In 1925, Stokely Brothers Corporation purchased property to build a new factory along the railroad line between the Little Pigeon River and Old Knoxville Highway. The property is where the Sevier County Fair is currently located.
Anna Rorex Stokely established Stokely Brothers Canning Company, which grew into one of the nation’s major canning operations.
Born in 1852 on a farm along the French Broad River in Cocke County, she married John B. Stokely in 1872 and moved to his farm downstream from her homeplace. When her husband died at 44, Anna Stokely was left with five sons and three daughters.
Although she owned good farmland, Anna faced financial problems. However, she was determined not only that her sons receive a college education, but also that they follow their father’s example of hard work, and they joined hired hands in the fields as soon as they were physically able.
When the second son, James, returned home from college, he suggested the farm try canning the vegetables it grew in order to sell the preserved items in surrounding markets and better support the family. On Jan. 1, 1898, the Stokely Brothers & Company formed with Anna R. Stokely and a neighbor, A.R. Swann, investing $1,300 each, and Stokely’s sons James R. and John M. Stokely putting up $650 each.
In the first season, 4,000 cases of tomatoes were packed in a primitive factory and shipped from the river landing on the family farm to Knoxville and Chattanooga. With this initial success, the family bought out Swann’s interest, brought in another of Stokely’s sons, William, and reorganized the company into a partnership.
Tragically, on Oct. 24, 1916, Anna and her son George died at a railroad crossing when their car stalled before an approaching train. John died three years later at 45, and James died of a heart attack in 1922 at 47. Stokely’s grandsons not only kept the business going but expanded it. Soon, Stokely Brothers became the largest canning operation in the South.
The farmers of Sevier County had been supplying the Newport Canning Factory, owned by Stokely, with fruits and vegetables for many years. In spring 1925, the Stokely Brothers decided to build a factory in Sevier County. The Stokely Canning Factory at Sevierville was equipped with modern equipment and was capable of producing 100,000 cans daily. The Stokely Canning Factory employed over 125 employees, all men, in 1926. At the time, it was the largest industry in Sevier County. By 1930, the factory employed more than 150 men, and the factory complex featured an office, truck scales, several canning sheds, two concrete silos and a massive water tower.
In 1933, Stokely Canning Company merged with Van Camp Packing Company of Indianapolis, Ind., and became Stokely-Van Camp Company.
Throughout the history of the fledgling railroad that ran through the area, one of its main sources of income in Sevierville was the Stokely Brothers Canning Factory. A double-sided siding served the cannery. The factory produced 125,000 cases of canned goods annually in its heyday and employed over 200 people from May to October. Outbound shipments consisted of canned goods, while inbound shipments consisted of empty cans from Baltimore, Md., fertilizer, shipping containers and coal.
The Stokely Canning Factory weathered the loss of precious farmland inundated by Douglas Lake and continued to operate at Sevierville. The county’s lone industrial plant was joined by Cherokee Textile Mills, which relocated from Knoxville, in 1953. Other businesses, such as Vulcan Materials Company and Southern Casting Company, also opened at Sevierville in 1953. The canning factory continued to operate on a smaller, seasonal scale until 1964.
During the last years of the Sevierville operation, the company employed more women than men. Although the assembly-line work was seasonal, at the height of the harvest season the shifts sometimes lasted throughout the night. This was during the hot, humid summer days.
In 1967 Stokely Van Camp acquired the U.S. rights to Gatorade and became the first company to market sports drinks.
In 1971, Stokely Van Camp Inc. donated the 17-acre site in Sevierville to the University of Tennessee.
In keeping with the Stokely family tradition of success, growth and expansion, the family formed operations based in Sevierville in 1975. Owned and operated by the Stokely family, Stokely Hospitality Enterprises continues to manage food related operations, two of which include Applewood Farmhouse Restaurant and Applewood Farmhouse Grill.
Currently, Stokely Hospitably Enterprises manages LeConte Lodge Limited Partnership, an authorized National Park Service concession.
Contributions by the Stokely family to the people of East Tennessee over the past century have been substantial. A tradition of success and philanthropy established by Anna Stokely and her sons has been perpetuated by succeeding generations, and their presence in Sevier County continues.
In the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, author Wilma Dykeman, wife of James R. Stokely Jr., summed up the family’s legacy: “Anna Stokely’s finest product, though, was the sense of family bonding and commitment to community responsibility she instilled in her children.”
Carroll McMahan is special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce and serves as Sevier County historian.
- [S87] Death Certificate, 14 Aug 1950.
Jehu Thomas Stokely death record
- [S112] Census, 1870.
Name: Annie E
Event Type: Census
Event Year: 1870
Event Place: Tennessee, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 16
Race: White
Race (Original): W
Birth Year (Estimated): 1853-1854
Birthplace: Tennessee
Page Number: 9
Household Role Gender Age Birthplace
James A Rorex M 50 Tennessee
Annie E F 16 Tennessee
Burl B M 14 Tennessee
John M M 12 Tennessee
James A M 10 Tennessee
Samuel G M 8 Tennessee
Margaret C D F 6 Tennessee
Margert F 64 Tennessee
- [S87] Death Certificate.
Name: Anna Ronex Stokely
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 24 Oct 1916
Event Place: Newport, Cocke, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Widowed
Race: White
Age: 64
Birth Date: 30 Aug 1852
Birthplace: Blount Co., Tenn.
Father's Name: James Adeson Ronex
Father's Birthplace: Blount Co., Tenn.
Mother's Name: Rebecca Badgett
Mother's Birthplace: Blount Co., Tenn.
Occupation: House Wk.
Cemetery: Union Cemetery
Burial Date: 26 Oct 1916
Additional Relatives: X
"Tennessee, Death Records, 1914-1955," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-267-11614-51106-46?cc=1417505 : accessed 14 April 2015), 004183045 > image 1032 of 2101; State Library and Archives, Nashville.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 53046924).
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