The Nolachuckey Chapter, NSDAR, was formally organized on February 22, 1921, at the home of Mrs. T. S. Rankin, under the leadership of Carrie McGaughey Clemens, Organizing Regent, and sixteen other organizing members. Twenty-seven additional ladies became charter members, totaling a membership of forty-five Daughters in the chapter’s inaugural year.
One charter member was Martha Barkley Patterson, granddaughter-in-law of President Andrew Johnson. In the initial years of the chapter, guided by Mrs. Patterson and her daughter, Mrs. Margaret Patterson Bartlett, Nolachuckey Daughters worked to preserve President Andrew Johnson’s Tailor Shop and encouraged the government to create the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site. Today the site includes President Andrew Johnson’s Early Home, Tailor Shop, Homestead, and National Cemetery. Early chapter work also included the placement of several historic markers around Greene County.
In 1929, the chapter began contributing to a scholarship fund at what was then Tusculum College. The scholarship is still awarded to this day. In 1994, Nolachuckey Daughter Mary Hurley Wells willed $66,000 to ensure the continuation of this and other scholarships. The Mary Hurley Wells Scholarship is awarded yearly to students pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree. The Carrie McGaughey Clemens Scholarship is awarded yearly to a young woman attending Tusculum University.
Historic preservation continued to be a central focus of the chapter in the 1950s. Nolachuckey Daughters began raising money to restore and maintain Greeneville’s oldest cemetery, Old Harmony. The chapter held a fashion show for one of these fundraising ventures. In the following decades, the chapter has restored Old Harmony, mapped it, built and maintained a brick wall around it, and placed several markers to honor the Patriots buried there. The chapter continues this preservation work today.
The 1970s marked the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Nolachuckey Chapter, NSDAR. During the same decade, Nolachuckey Daughter Goldene Fillers Burgner researched and marked twenty-four graves of American Revolutionary War servicemen. She, along with other Daughters, began a tradition of research, documentation, and writing that continues. Several Nolachuckey Daughters have undertaken research and authored books about the history of the area and its people.
Book
Almost Forgotten and Other Stories of Greene County
Almost Forgotten II
Blue Springs Church, Community, and Colleges
Brief Biographies of Men and Women from the History of Greene County, Tennessee
Civil War Soldiers of Greene County, Tennessee
Compiled Greene County Marriage, Wills, Land Grants, and Court Records
Faces from the Past
Faces of the Civil War
Greene County Tennessee Power of Attorney Books (1866 – 1904)
Harden Community in North Carolina, Volumes I – VII
Lutherans in Greene County
Mt. Pleasant Community and (United) Methodist Church
Mt. Pleasant History of a Church and Community
Old Kingsport Presbyterian Church and Its People
Pleasant Vale Cumberland Presbyterian Church (1842 – 2002)
Reflections From the Past in Tusculum, Afton, Chuckey, and Eastern Greene County
Remembering Greene County Mills
Research and Compiled Books for 17 Ancestors
Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church and Its Families (1859 – 2009)
Stories from the Civil War
Stories From the South of Greene County
Tales of the Rails
The Daddy Haynes Story: The Life of Professor Carter Landon Haynes
The History of Asbury United Methodist Church
The History of Blue Springs Lutheran Church
The History of Nolachuckey Chapter, NSDAR
The History of St. James Lutheran Church
The Southside
Translation of the German Records for St. James Lutheran Church (1811 – 1830s)
Author
Linda Townsend
Linda Townsend
Carolyn Gregg
Linda Townsend
Stevie Hughes
Goldene Fillers Burgner
Linda Townsend
Stevie Hughes
Jan Maddux, Carolyn Gregg, & Madge Walker
Carolyn Gregg
Goldene Fillers Burgner (contributor)
Linda Townsend
Linda Townsend
Carolyn Gregg
Sherry Britton
Carolyn Gregg
Carolyn Gregg
Katherine Harmon
Charline Bird Needham
Stevie Hughes
Carolyn Gregg
Carolyn Gregg
Grace Haynes
Carolyn Gregg
Carolyn Gregg
Carolyn Gregg
Carolyn Gregg
Goldene Fillers Burgner
Goldene Fillers Burgner
In recent years, the chapter has continued the rich traditions and service of the remarkable Nolachuckey Daughters that have come before us. The chapter plays an active role in the greater Greeneville community. We continue our mission of:
- HISTORIC PRESERVATION — our chapter continues to maintain and improve local historic sites, such as Old Harmony Cemetery, earning recognition and awards for this work.
- EDUCATION — our chapter sponsors contests, scholarships, and grants for local students and educators every year.
- PATRIOTISM — our chapter continues the work of memorializing our patriot ancestors as well as honoring the patriotic acts of those in our community, including the naturalization of new American citizens.
As current Nolachuckey Daughters, we are excited to continue these efforts and further our mission. We would love to have you join us in this work.