A gavel made from the tree where Daniel Boone carved that he killed a bear in the year 1760 is on display in the reading room of the Washington County Archives in downtown Jonesborough.
Washington County archivists Ned Irwin and Donna Briggs hold a wooden gavel made from the famous "Daniel Boone Tree." The donated gavel was one of many commissioned by the John Sevier Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution with the inscription: "D. Boon Cilled A Bar on the tree in year 1760."
A gavel made from the tree where Daniel Boone carved that he killed a bear in the year 1760 is on display in the reading room of the Washington County Archives in downtown Jonesborough.
By ROBERT HOUK
rhouk@johnsoncitypress.com
Washington County archivists Ned Irwin and Donna Briggs hold a wooden gavel made from the famous "Daniel Boone Tree." The donated gavel was one of many commissioned by the John Sevier Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution with the inscription: "D. Boon Cilled A Bar on the tree in year 1760."
An important part of Northeast Tennessee’s early frontier history can now be seen at the Washington County Department of Records Management and Archives.
A gavel made from the beech tree where Daniel Boone famously killed a bear and left his mark to tell the tale is on display in the reading room of the archives, located at 103 W. Main St., Jonesborough.
“D. Boon Cilled A Bar”
The donated gavel was one of many commissioned by the John Sevier Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution with the same inscription that Boone carved onto a tree on a site that is today part of Boones Creek: "D. Boon Cilled A Bar on the tree in year 1760."
Ned Irwin, Washington County’s archivist, said the gavel was donated anonymously by someone who had kept the prized item in a safe deposit box.
A limited number of gavels, letter openers and other souvenirs made from the wood of the “Daniel Boone Tree” were given out by members of the John Sevier DAR to local dignitaries, guest speakers and others of notoriety.
Irwin said each was also inscribed with a number. The gavel given to the county is numbered 472.
Donna Briggs, the county’s assistant archivist, said Congressman B. Carroll Reece, President Richard M. Nixon and Fess Parker, the actor who portrayed Daniel Boone in a TV show in the 1960s, were among those to receive a gavel.
The Real Daniel Boone
Boone is considered by historians to be an early leader of this country’s westward migration. He opened the way through the Cumberland Gap for settlers to populate the frontier areas of Kentucky and beyond.
But before carving out the Wilderness Road, Boone carved his name on a beech tree in a part of Washington County that bears his name.
Briggs said the site of the famous bear killing and wood carving is located just off what is now Old Gray Station Road. The carving on the beech tree became quite an attraction in the years following Boone’s death in September 1820.
Tourists came to the tree to read the inscription and to picnic underneath its shade.
Boone had become somewhat of a legend, thanks to his own exploits and those of fictional characters found in James Fenimore Cooper’s “Leatherstocking Tales,” which were based on Boone’s life.
Local residents were outraged in 1897 to hear state officials were planning to cut down the tree and take it to Nashville to be displayed at the Centennial Exposition. That plan was abandoned after numerous letters and articles were published by newspapers across Tennessee denouncing the idea.
Remembering The Famous Tree
The John Sevier Chapter of the DAR placed a Boone Trail Marker at the Boones Creek site in 1914. At the time of its dedication, it was estimated the beech tree was about 100 feet tall and 3 feet in diameter.
The historic tree was toppled by a strong storm in May 1916. The owner of the property, Lafayette Isley, was uncertain of what to do with the fallen tree and decided to leave it untouched before selling the site to Z. A. Robertson in 1922.
Robertson proceeded to remove every part of the tree, including its twigs, limbs and even the roots. The carved inscription was also removed, possibly with the intention to be donated to a national museum.
Historians say it’s a mystery where the inscription is today.
Most of the wood from the beech tree was stored until 1937. That was when the John Sevier Chapter purchased what was left of the wood to make its gavels and other souvenirs from the Boone Tree.
The DAR gavel can be seen during the regular business hours for the archives Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The archives are closed weekends and on holidays observed by Washington County government.
Call (423) 753-1777 for more details.
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