Appalachia---November 24, 2007

I don't have very much to report. I have been here in Johnson City, Tennessee, since the first week in November. Mother, Cheryl, and the kids made the trip out here for Thanksgiving and are on their way home as I write this. I will be returning to Des Moines next Saturday and will be taking the month of December off. However, the interviews for residency are being held the second weekend in December in Chicago. Cheryl and I are flying to Chicago for that and will be there the entire weekend.

I am learning quite a lot about my ancestory while I am here. The cabin in the picture is known as the Earnest Fort House and was built my grandfather (10 generations ago), Henry Earnest. Defininitive research is under way, but this is quite possibly the oldest existing structure in the state of Tennessee. It is located in Chuckey, Tennessee, which is about 20 miles west of Johnson City on the Nolichucky River. It is not far from the birthplace of Davy Crockett. Henry came over to America as a young boy from Switzerland. His parents died on the ship and were buried at sea. When Henry arrived to Jamestown, Virginia, he was endentured to the Stephens family. When Henry was 10 years old, Mr. and Mrs. Stephens were expecting the birth of there first child. As Mrs. Stephens went into labor, Mr. Stephens sent Henry to find a midwife. Mr. Stephens told Henry that if he found a midwife and if the baby was a girl, then he could take the baby to be his wife some day. That is exactly what happened. Henry Earnest and Mary Stephens were married 18 years later.

I am descended from Henry's oldest son, Felix. Felix was a Revolutionary War veteran and fought in the Battle of King's Mountain. He was also a Methodist minister and started the Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal Church in the picture below. Services are conducted in this church even to this day. Interesting.