The Life and Times of David Crockett in East Tennessee | Brown Bag Lecture with Joe Swann

A tavern in Rogersville, a courthouse in Jefferson County, a shop in Rogersville—these are among the sites that mark the presence of David Crockett in East Tennessee. Was Crockett really born on a mountain top in Tennessee? Who was Margaret Elder, and is it true that she jilted him before the wedding? Joe Swann, the pre-eminent historian of Crockett’s life in the region, has spent decades tracking the famous frontiersman through his years in East Tennessee. In a Brown Bag Lecture on Wednesday, May 17, he will discuss Crockett’s time in East Tennessee, the people and the places important in his life, and the influences of the region and its culture, especially that of the Quaker community, on his life and character, and will follow his career into Middle and West Tennessee, and finally to Texas. Swann, a former president of the East Tennessee Historical Society Board of Directors and now an honorary lifetime board member, is currently involved in writing a book about Crockett in East Tennessee.

The program is sponsored by the Gentry Griffey Funeral Chapel & Crematory and is free and open to the public. The lecture will begin at noon at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. Guests are invited to bring a “Brown Bag” lunch and enjoy the lecture. Soft drinks will be available. For more information on the lecture, exhibitions, or museum hours, call 865-215-8824 or visit the website at www.EastTNHistory.org.