​The Archives holds personal documents and photographs from the estate of Orlean Brandon Walter (1886-1980) of Dover.  Included are several photographs of her stepfather, Gen. William M. Brandon (1866-1908), who was Adjutant General of the Tennessee National Guard during the 1899-1903 governorship of Benton McMillin.

Orlean Brandon Walter was the daughter of Morris Newton Brandon (1863-1896) of Dover and Corinne (King) Brandon of Meridian, MS. After the death of Morris Newton Brandon, Corinne married his cousin, William Milton Brandon (1866-1908) of Dover.

Orlean Brandon operated a bed-and-breakfast out of her home that she called the Fort Donelson Tourist Home.

​The Thomas J. Brandon Papers contain personal, family and official documents of Thomas Jefferson Brandon (1856-1919) of Stewart County.  He was the son of Nathan Brandon (1820/1891) and Minerva E. Morris (1828-1881), who married in Stewart County in 1853.  He served as Chancery Court Clerk & Master from 1881-1886, Justice of the Peace for District 7 of Stewart County from 1888-1894, and Circuit Court Clerk from 1886-1902.

The T. J. Brandon Papers have always been part of the loose papers of the Circuit Court, given Brandon’s long (and last) tenure as Circuit Court Clerk, and have therefore been located in the courthouse, and for many years at the Stewart County Archives.
 
The personal papers of the collection involve:

• deeds of trust executed to T. J. Brandon and his brother W. M. Brandon;
• the estate papers of his father Nathan Brandon (for whose estate he was the administrator);
• the estate papers of his stepmother Josephine Brandon (died 1896, for whose estate he was the administrator);
• the estate papers of D. H. Gatlin (died 1896, for whose estate he was the administrator);
• the estate papers of J. P. Weaks (died 1899);
• pension correspondence on behalf of Civil War veterans Henry Brake, George W. Hart (his father-in-law) and Jesse Glasgow;

 
Note:  the pension papers of Jesse Glasgow, originally part of the collection, were donated by the Archives to a Glasgow descendant in 2020; only a digital copy of those papers is now in the collection
 
Separate from this collection of loose papers are four (4) Justice of the Peace dockets used by T. J. Brandon during his tenure as JP.  The dockets are stored with other JP dockets housed at the Archives.
 
The T. J. Brandon Collection is arranged in 1 archival box.

FOLDER LIST
 
Brake, Henry

• pension correspondence, 1892

 
Brandon, Josephine

• estate papers, 1897

 
Brandon, Nathan

• estate papers, 1877-1894
• pension correspondence, various dates

 
Brandon, T. J.

• private papers

 
Brandon, W. M.

• private papers

 
Gatlin, D. H.

• estate papers, 1896-1901

 
Hart, George W.

• pension correspondence, 1891-1893

 
Miscellaneous
 
Weaks, John P.

• estate papers, 1899

The Walter F Daniel Collection contains personal documents and ephemera of Walter F. Daniel (1870-1947) of Stewart County.  He was the son of Minerva Ann Bogard (1849/1922) and Richard D. Daniel (c. 1846), who married in Stewart County in 1868.  After Mr. Daniel’s death, Minerva married T. S. Norden in Stewart County in 1876.
 
Walter Franklin Daniel was born in Stewart County in 1870.  In 1912 he married Jennie Lee Rogers.  They were the parents of Kate Maye Daniel (1913) who married Roger Williams without issue, and Frances Ann Daniel (1923) who married John S. Lucas, with one daughter, the donor.

The collection is arranged in 1 archival box.
​
CONTAINER LIST
 
Deeds / Land Records

1. plat of a 257-acre tract
2. plat of a 270 ¾-acre tract
3. November 20, 1903 deed from Ed R. Bogard and wife Zeula D. Bogard to M. A. Norden, their ½ interest in a 118-acre tract in District 3 known as the Silas Stamper place, formerly owned by E. T. Bogard; recorded in Deed Book 53, p. 23.
4. October 25, 1907 deed from M. E. Barnett (wife of J. A. Barnett deceased), daughter Lula May Martin, son William Edwin Barnett, son Festus Cornealus Barnett and son Leonard Albertus Barnett to Nora Weaver, for a 100-acre tract in District 3; recorded in Deed Book 56, p. 383.
5. April 14, 1911 deed from W. B. Hall and wife Alma Hall to W. F. Daniel, part of the Logan Keatts farm in District 3, consisting of 2 ½ acres; recorded in Deed Book 65, p. 92.
6. November 4, 1911 unrecorded deed from D. D. Lowe & wife Nelie to D. C. Edwards, for a 28 ½-acre tract in District 3, being their allotment in the lands of M. G. Taylor.
7. November 13, 1911 deed from D. D. Lowe & wife Nelie to D. C. Edwards, for their 1/5 interest in the 140-acre M. G. Taylor homestead tract, District 3; recorded in Deed Book 65, p. 141.

 
Estate of Mrs. Minerva A. Norden

1. check to Big Rock Bank for $100 by W. F. Daniel, administrator, dated August 21, 1926.
2. check to Big Rock Bank for $277.50 by W. F. Daniel, administrator, dated February 21, 1927.
3. unsigned appeal bond, sent by attorney S. C. Lewis to W. F. Daniel, and correspondence dated May 21, 1927.
4. cover letter from attorney W. C. Howell to W. F. Daniel, dated November 4, 1927, mentioning a deed to Daniel (not present in the collection) that had been executed in the division of his mother’s estate.
5. letter from White & Clark, attorneys at law of Hopkinsville, Ky., to Walter Daniel, instructing him to send an affidavit stating his relationship to R. S. Wootton, who mentioned Daniel in his will; dated March 5, 1928.

 
Insurance

1. The Employers’ Liability Assurance Corporation, Limited, of London England, loan correspondence, 1927.
2. Hartford Fire Insurance Company receipt, 1927.
3. Union Central Life Insurance Co., receipts and correspondence, 1929-1932
4. brochure for The Health Test from Union Central Life Insurance Co., Cincinnati, OH, undated.

 
Miscellaneous

1. flyer for DeWitt’s Compound Iron Tonic Pills, undated.
2. note and deed of trust from C. N. Weaver & Nora Weaver to Ethleen Taylor, May 29, 1917.
3. bill of cost from Charles Cherry, Stewart Circuit Court Clerk, July 21, 1919.
4. real estate mortgage from C. N. Weaver & Nora Weaver to I. J. Taylor, to secure a $830 note, July 30, 1920.

 
Notes by W. F. Daniel

1. miscellaneous notes and Deeds of Trust signed by W. F. Daniel, 1926-1929:
   • W. E. Barnett
   • Fox Chemical Co.
   • First National Bank of Clarksville
   • Big Rock Bank
   • First Trust & Savings Bank
   • Union Central Life Insurance Company

 
Notes / Deeds of Trust to W. F. Daniel

1. miscellaneous notes and/or Deeds of Trust to W. F. Daniel:
   • Tom Broadie, April 30, 1921; August 26, 1922; August 16, 1924; July 27, 1927
   • Eddie Cayce, April 22, 1926
   • J. W. Clinard, April 14, 1914
   • Walter Dinkins, August 10, 1925
   • J. L. Guinn, May 14, 1923
   • O. E. Hysmith, December 21, 1915
   • Jim Rogers, November 16, 1926; October 3, 1928
   • Wesley Rogers & Willie Rogers, February 7, 1924
   • Ed Williams, June 24, 1919; June 27, 1922; August 20, 1922; October 9, 1922

 
Receipts

1. 1924 Stewart County tax receipt to Mrs. M. A. Norden for 658 acres in District 3, valued at $12,000.
2. 1924 Stewart County tax receipt to W. F. Daniel for 50 acres in District 3, valued at $534.
3. Big Rock Bank deposit receipts, 1923, 1927, 1928.
4. Franklin Street Warehouse receipt for tobacco, April 23, 1928.
5. Southern Trust Company receipts for insurance(?), 1928-1929.
6. various merchant receipts, 1920s-1930s.

 

Dr. John Marastus Theodore Ralls was born December 16, 1847 in Stewart County.  He was the son of Jane Ralls (unmarried) and the grandson of James Ralls Jr. and Sarah (Whitehurst) Ralls.  John's biological father's last name was Cooley.  On the 1860 census, John is listed as "John Cooley," age 13, living with his mother and his Ralls grandparents.

Family lore states that when John grew up and married Sarah Frances Akin on October 30, 1863, he took his mother's maiden name of Ralls for his family name.

Shown here is a copy of the diploma that John M. T. Ralls received on graduation from Vanderbilt University's School of Medicine in 1881.  Also shown is the list of the graduating class for that year.

These copies were donated to the County Archives by the late Randy Wallace.
​
The original diploma is in the care of descendant Earl Ralls Lewis.

The Jarrett O. Lewis Family Collection contains dozens of photographs and a few family documents and ephemera of a Stewart County Lewis family.  Jarrett O. Lewis (1877-1954) was the son of George Rufus Lewis (1844/1920) and Martha Oneal (1844) of Stewart County.  

Jarrett Oneal Lewis and Ella Esterlee Walker married in Stewart County in 1904.  They had 6 children, 2 of whom survived to adulthood, Virginia (Lewis) Honeyman (1912-1958) and Jesse Lahiff Lewis (1920-1962).  Esterlee Walker had a brother who lived in Miami, Florida, and some of the photos are of that Walker family.
 
In 1957, Fannie (Hembree) Patterson, a widow with two young daughters, married Jesse Lahiff Lewis.  They had no children together.  After Jesse died, in 1966 Fannie married W. Cecil Richardson (1918-2000), son of Benjamin F. Richardson of Stewart Co.
 
In 2022, the collection was donated by Jane (Smith) Bagwell of Stewart County.  The collection was given to her by a ‘Lewis family member’ a number of years ago, consisting mostly of Lewis family photos – mostly unlabeled – and a few documents.  Some Patterson and Richardson photos appear in the collection as well.

The collection includes the family Bible of Jarrett and Esterlee Lewis, the funeral register of Jarrett O. Lewis, and the Naval training manual of their son Jesse L. Lewis.
 
Individuals identified in the photos include:
 
Crawford, Frank - unknown, but sent from the Presidio, San Francisco, CA
Hembree, Fannie (1927-2017) – wife of Jesse L. Lewis, James W. Patterson & W. Cecil Richardson
Honeyman, Russell F. (1919) – husband of Virginia Lewis
Honeyman, Russell O. (1950) – son of Russell & Virginia (Lewis) Honeyman
Ledford, Tommie
Lewis, Jarrett C. (1920-1921) – infant son of Jarrett & Esterlee Lewis
Lewis, Jarrett O. (1877-1954) – husband of Ella Esterlee Walker
Lewis, Jesse Lahiff (1920-1962) – son of Jarrett & Esterlee (Walker) Lewis
Lewis, Virginia (1912-1958) – dau. of Jarrett & Esterlee (Walker) Lewis; wife of Russell F. Honeyman
Patterson, James W. (1925-1950) – husband of Fannie Hembree
Patterson, John Wesley (1892-1980) – father of James W. Patterson
Patterson, Annie (Darnell) (1896-1962) – mother of James W. Patterson
Walker, Flora (Sharp) – wife of M. Clinton Walker
Walker, M. Clinton – brother of Esterlee (Walker) Lewis
Walker, Ella Esterlee (1878-1968) – wife of Jarrett O. Lewis
Walker, Nancy - niece of Esterlee (Walker) Lewis
​Walker, Ruth - niece of Esterlee (Walker) Lewis

Immigrants who wished to obtain American citizenship could file a declaration in any court of record, stating their intention to become naturalized citizens.  Their petitions typically included their year and place of birth, date of immigration, and residency since immigration.

A declaration of intention had to be filed first, and after 2 years' time a final petition could be filed.

Thirty-two such petitions filed in Stewart Circuit Court have survived.  The petitions are part of the loose records of the Circuit Court, and are viewable online on our Google Drive.

The petitioners, countries of origin and petition dates are:

Atkins, William (Great Britain) - 1837
Baltz, Philip (France) - 1854
Bloch, Leopold (Hohenzollen, Prussia) - 1855
Bloch, Simon (Hohenzollen, Prussia) - 1855
Bodener, John Jacob (Nußdorf, Germany) - 1843
Buhler, Ulrich, John & Frederick (Switzerland) - 1871
Catois, Belrus Louie (France) - 1845
Devers, Anthony (Ireland) - 1872
Fach, Charles Christian (Hofheim, Nassau, Germany) - 1848
Forman, M. J. (Russia) - 1891
Gansner, George (Seewaas, Switzerland) - 1856
Graham, Samuel (Scotland) - 1841
Green, Henry - 1858
Hartoch, Eugene (Prussia) - 1873
Hartoch, Oscar (Prussia) - 1873
Hogg, James (Scotland) - 1840
Holliday, Alexander (Scotland) - 1841
Howell, Evan (South Wales, England) - 1856
Jones, Thomas (Breconshire, Wales) - 1856
Kane, Edward Dunlap (Londonderry, Ireland) - 1849
Klein, Victor (France) - 1854
Lyddy, Timothy (Great Britain/Ireland) - 1867
Lory, J. H. (Cornwall, England) - 1891
Mantha, Henry (Switzerland) - 1853
Martin, Thomas (Great Britain/Ireland) - 1847
McGovern, Thomas (Great Britain/Ireland) - 1894
McIntire, James (Great Britain/Ireland) - 1841
Osbourne, Francis H. (England) - 1896
Patterson, John (Scotland) - 1846
Price, Joshua (England) - 1852
Röder (Roeder), Albert (Memmingen, Kingdom of Bavaria) - 1849
Rougemont, Albert (Neuchatel, Switzerland) - 1857
Sanders, Isaiah & Samuel (Great Britain) - 1837
Thomas, Ellis (Syria) - 1906
Walder (Walter), Bernard (Austria) - 1843
Wetton, J. D. - 1909
Williams, David (Glamorganshire, Wales) - 1856

The Archives has a growing collection of local school yearbooks.  Stop by and take a stroll down Memory Lane:

​Austin Peay State University - 1953-1955, 1958-1960, 1963, 1970-1971

Big Rock School - 1956, 1958, 1959

Bumpus Mills School - 1954

Center Point School - 1951, 1952, 1956

Dover Elementary School - 1963-1965, 1976-1977, 1979-1982, 1984-1985, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017

New Haven School - 1954

North Stewart Elementary - 1975, 1976, 1980, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019

Stewart County High School - 1946, 1951-1956, 1958, 1966-1968, 1970, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017

Stewart County Middle School - 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019
​
W. T. Thomas School - 1956, 1987

The Mary Ann Scurlock Collection contains documents, photographs and ephemera belonging to late Dover resident Mary Ann Scurlock.  The collection is arranged in 1 box, with some loaned items available as digital scans only.  The collection was donated to the Archives in 2020.

Mary Ann (Bruton) Scurlock (1927-2020) was the daughter of Harvey and Lora Seay (Brandon) Bruton.  She founded Mary Ann’s Flower Shop in Dover and was a member of the Ft. Donelson Memorial United Methodist Church.  She was the widow of James T. Scurlock.
 
The collection includes several 1930s issues of the Stewart County Times newspaper, various family and Dover photographs, souvenir scarves, the 1963 Dover Grade School yearbook, and an interesting compilation of Civil War research material.  A 48-star U. S. Flag is also in the collection (proudly hanging on the wall at the Archives).

Digital-only items include Bruton family research and photos, letters from William Henry Oliver, and funeral cards of Nancy Bufford Webb (1897-1915).

The Finding Aid of this collection is here:

The Ella Lee Keatts Hilliard Collection contains 6 store ledgers from the Cumberland Valley Drug Company, a pharmacy / drug store at Indian Mound, Tennessee, and covers the years 1926 through 1948.  Also included is a circa-1953 Army regulation manual and a savings book from the First Trust and Savings Bank, Clarksville, TN.  The items were found in a shed behind Mrs. Hilliard's former home by the current owner, who donated them to the Archives.

The Cumberland Valley Drug Company began operations about 1921.  Its President was Dr. Cyrus Nathan Keatts, MD, and the Secretary/Treasurer was his brother, Clarence Kincaid Keatts.
 
Dr. Cyrus Nathan Keatts was born in 1876, a native of Montgomery County who moved to Stewart County at age 14.  He died in 1963, having been a physician at Indian Mound for 61 years.
 
Clarence Kincaid Keatts, a native of Montgomery County, was born July 5, 1874 and died February 10, 1942.  His obituary stated that he had been in the drug business in Indian Mound for 21 years.
 
The 1913-14 edition of the Era Druggists Directory lists Keatts & Co., Smith and Stewart, and H. B. Smith as retail druggists in Indian Mound, Tenn.
 
Ella Lee (Legate) Keatts Hilliard was born January 2, 1909 in Stewart County, the daughter of Morris and Minerva (Byrd) Legate. She was married about 1925 to Clarence Kincaid Keatts, and in 1948 to Freeman J. Hilliard, who died in 1956.  Mrs. Hilliard died May 16, 1990 at Memorial Hospital, Clarksville, TN.

The store ledgers contain accounts due from customers of the drug company, and are indexed.