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| After the defeat of the Cherokee (Chickamaugas)
at Nickajack, near the present site of Chattanooga (Ross' Landing) in 1794,
the country was soon open to settlers. Warren County was erected
from part of White County in 1807, and Brainerd Mission was begun in 1816.
In 1824, William Dugan came from North Carolina to take up several large
tracts of land on top of the Cumberland Mountain. The only road was
the Chickamauga Trace from Rock Island which crossed the mountain near
where Tracy City now stands. Another road going over Peak Mountain
was authorized by the State in 1836.
1833 - Mrs. Beersheba Porter Cain discovered the Chalbeate Springs on the side of the mountain. In the next few years cabins were built on land deeded by William Dugan to various McMinnville men - John Cain, Alfred Pain, Samuel Edmondson, George Smart, and William (Buck) White - "to bring the springs into use." 1839 - The Beersheba Springs Company was organized to operate a tavern located probably where the dining room and the Cross Row now stand. 1844 - Grundy County was created and the county Court met at Beersheba until Altamont could be built. The railroad from Nashville to Chattanooga was begun. 1854 - John Armfield bought the hotel and 1500 acres of land from Dr. R. H. Robards of Memphis and John H. French of McMinnville. The Sewanee Mining Company opened a branch railroad from Cowan to Tracy City. Yellow fever raged in the south. 1857 - The new hotel was completed and several cottages were occupied. Sewanee was selected as the site for the University of the South and Bishops Polk and Otey were given cottages at Beersheba. A site was selected in the middle of the community for a church. 1858-1860 - The hotel was at its best with French cuisine and orchestra from New Orleans. Except for John M. Bass and Dr. Thomas Harding, most of the cottage owners came from Louisana or the far south - Minor Kenner, Oliver Morgan, Charles Dalgren, Mrs. Frisbee Freeland, and a dozen others. 1861 - Beersheba went to war. The 5th (later the 35th) regiment of Tennessee Volunteers, commanded by Col. Ben J. Hill and Captain Albert Hanner, fought at Donelson and Shiloh. Bishop Polk became General Polk, and General Lucius Polk and General Dalgren won distinction. 1863 - General Bragg fell back to fortify Chattanooga leaving Beersheba outside the Confederate lines and undefended. The hotel and cottages were looted by bushwackers. The account of it was written by Mrs. Lucy Virginia French for a Detroit newspaper story. 1865 - Both Polk and Bishop Otey were dead, the remainder of the Louisana men either dead or bankrupt. Armfield repossessed the cottages and Bass became the new owner of the hotel. 1868 - Richard Clark, an Englishman who lived in Cleveland, Ohio, bought the hotel, 3000 acres of land, and the Morgan Cottage. His brother-in-law, W.W. Bierce, acquired the property from him later. 1869 - Gruetli was chosen by Captain E. H. Plumacher as the location for the Swill Colony. The immigrants arrived in 1870. 1871 - The hotel was opened for the first time since the war by Mrs. I. C. Nicholson. John Armfield died and was buried at Beersheba. Cholera epidemics broke out. 1875-1928 - The Beersheba Springs Hotel Company formed and Sam Scott became the proprietor. After Scott, Mrs. Alex Nelson operated the hotel for a number of years. It was she who planted the maples in the court. Mrs. Louise Means and her daughter, Miss Mary Means, were greatly beloved. Mrs. Jeannie Trousdale-Smith and Mrs. Kozort planted the pink spirea bushes. Mr. and Mrs. Means fought a losing battle with changed conditions after World War 1. 1929 - John W. Harton and Associates of Tullahoma formed the Beersheba Hotel Association to operate a hotel, tourist camps, filling stations and garages. This was short lived. 1941 - The report was given and adopted at the 1941 session of the Tennessee Methodist Conference that Beersheba could be bought for the sum of $3,000. The report was signed by Bishop Paul Kern, C. B. Cook, E. L. Crump, Dean Stroud and Herbert Luton. Sometime between 1941 and 1942 Beersheba was bought by the Methodists, for early in 1942 the grounds were opened and taken possession by a group of Intermediates. (Ref. for further information: 1941 Journal pp. 43, 64, 65 and 66.) |
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