Newport TN, Cocke County, Research

Sure there are deeds from 1879 and wills from 1879, there are also tax records, and…? If you are looking for good genealogical resources, good luck! I believe I met with the Newport Historian expert and the man who without a doubt is an endless river of knowledge. I dropped in on Duay O’Neil. He not only writes for the Newport Plain Talk newspaper, he is on the board of Stokley Library. Duay was able to narrow and focus my search, quickly reaching for books and accessing info on his computer in the way only a knowledgeable person can do. Straight to the source, verifying his off the cuff data. Oh, and I must thank Missy at the Tanner Culture Center, for leading me to Duay.

I leafed through pages of newspaper articles filed in a notebook that captured the African American history from slavery to present at the library. The history of the African American Education in Newport and the African American churches were both well documented. But where are the original records of these churches? I’d love to see the Member Lists. What about pupils at the school? I have records that a Franklin K. Bird was a pupil for one year under a Professor William H. McGhee, in the Newport High school in 1871.

This leaves me with a few questions: 1) High school in 1871? Every thing I’ve read said there wasn’t a high school for coloreds until after 1872. 2) Perhaps if I could narrow down the poles, bounds, and trees of the 3 acres of family land, maybe then, I could verify the town this High School was in. 3) FK Bird’s biography was written for the AME Zion Church in 1895, how much of it is accurate, how much is misremembered? This is in consideration of the fact that I haven’t found a William McGhee in any of the educational articles I’ve read.

Believe me, more questions is not what I needed!

Kathleen Brandt

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