Book Review:
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Nancy and Herman Tester at the Butler Museum :
Herman Tester tells you up front why he wrote this book. When Herman was a boy, his father, Luke Tester, used to take Herman and his friends camping and fishing on the Elk and Watauga Rivers and at one location would say to his son, "Honeycutt’s cabin was right there." After spending an afternoon with Herman and Nancy Tester at the Butler Museum discussing the book, I would guess that much more than a book came from those boyhood experiences. Herman Tester has a contagious interest in the local history of Johnson County Tennessee and, in particular, Butler. He has tenaciously researched maps, census data and the writings and memories of others to tell the story of the settlement and development of what is now known as "Old Butler", the events that led to the TVA decision to build Watauga Dam and the transition to Carderview and "New" Butler. |
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Tester starts with John Honeycutt, the first white settler in the area (1768.) Honeycutt, James Millican and others settled in the flood-prone valleys of the Watauga and Elk River valleys with rich soil for farming and timber for building homes. Along the way Daniel Boone, some of the founders of the Watauga Association (who established Fort Watauga near Sycamore Shoals) and others whose names are found on the maps of the area and the state of Tennessee today came along and either passed through or stayed and joined the developing area. Like many communities in the Appalachian mountains, the Civil War began at home. Many of the people of this area maintained strong ties to the Union and fought or tried to fight for the Union Army. After the war, the area continued to develop despite periodic serious or even devastating floods. In 1940, the die was cast when a particularly devastating flood destroyed many homes, businesses and railroad tracks. The railroads refused to rebuild and the TVA committed to the building of the Watauga Dam, the flooding of the valleys and, for the first time, the purposeful destruction of an entire town, Butler. "Butler; Old, New and Carderview" describes the strong loyalties of the area's citizens to their country through 3 wars, their feelings of betrayal at being forced by their own country (through President Roosevelt's policies and the Tennessee Valley Authority) to leave their ancestral homes and their ability to regroup in a new location. While most do not deny that the TVA projects had positive impacts on many people, this book will make its readers understand that some citizens sacrificed considerably for that cause and were some of the last to reap the benefits. (The relocated citizens of Butler lived without electricity for 2 years while the new hydroelectric generators at the nearby Dam provided electricity for others.) |
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"Butler; Old, New and Carderview" is available at www.lulu.com, a terrific website for self publishers. Sites such as these allow authors such as Tester to get their books to market much more quickly and affordably and, best of all, allow us, the readers, to have access to the writings of a wide variety of writers. You can purchase this book at the link below:
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