| Sources |
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 4 Jul 2013.
Rankin community completely changed by TVA's arrival
Minnie Clark with her son Gordon Clark shortly before her move from Rankin to Morristown
BY DUAY O’NEIL
In the 1920s, the community Rankin was a thriving settlement, complete with school, churches, stores, a post of? ce, and a railroad depot. Named for one of Cocke County’s early families, the area encompassed some of Cocke County’s most fertile farmland. Residents had easy access to Newport and Knoxville by rail.
Thomas and Susannah Clark settled in the area in the early 1800s and quickly established a successful farming operation. By the 1920s, the Clarks, like other families, had already celebrated the centennial of their arrival in Cocke County.
Among Thomas and Susannah’s descendants was John Lafayette Clark (1852-1939). Following the death of his first wife, John married Minnie Cooper, who became stepmother to his oldest two sons and mother of three more boys herself.
As a farmwife and mother, Minnie oversaw the family’s home and garden, the harvesting of fruits and vegetables and their preservation, and the care of numerous chickens, ducks, geese, and guineas.
As the Clark boys reached adulthood, all took their places in the farm’s operations. Eventually they all left Rankin for occupations elsewhere, except for Minnie’s son Gordon.
In 1939, John Lafayette Clark died at the advanced age of 87, just a short time before the young TVA would change the Rankin community forever.
By the early 1940s, Minnie found herself in the same situation facing approximately 15,000 other families - that of having to decide whether to remain in Cocke County or not.
Consideration was given to the possibility of investing the money Minnie received for her property in another farm where she could live out her remaining years and son Gordon could farm. She even traveled to Ft. Madison, Iowa where one of her sons resided to examine property there.
In the end, Minnie put the kibosh on the idea of leaving Tennessee. Her heart remained in East Tennessee where her own ancestors had lived for generations and she insisted on moving to Morristown to live near friends and relatives.
In the summer of 1942, with the help of her sons, Minnie sifted, sorted, and packed generations of furniture, glassware, crocks, quilts and coverlets, photos, and the assorted ephemera in the Clark’s two-story home.
Of moving day, Minnie’s granddaughter, Sally Ann Davis, later recalled, “Grandmother broke down and cried when it came time to get in the car and leave the old homeplace forever.”
By the time Minnie moved, other Rankin families had already departed. Another grandson, Jack, wrote, “It must have been a sad day leaving her home and garden where the family had lived and thrived for over 150 years. The barns, Atchley’s mill, and other outbuildings were already in the process of being demolished and the TVA crews were standing by waiting to get started wrecking the house. I understand that a lot of the lumber from the house (built in 1904) was carted across to Rankin and used to build a house there.”
By this time, America was deeply involved in World War II and the need for hydroelectric power was immense. As the dams were built and lakes formed, thousands of acres of farmland went underwater. Houses, barns, stores, churches, shed, and schools were torn down, leaving only rock foundations and, as we know, concrete silos which we see providing nesting sites for ospreys at Douglas Lake as we travel Hwy. 25-E from Newport to Morristown.
Today the old Rankin School, the old Miller Store, and Rankin Missionary Baptist Church are about all that remain of the Rankin Minnie would have remembered. She resided in Morristown until her death in 1951 at age 73. Her grandson Jack recalls his grandmother actually enjoying her time there in a home featuring modern amenities she didn’t have in Rankin.
Her son Ed died that some year, followed by Ralph in 1970, and Gordon in 1971.
As the Clark family’s removal from their ancestral home moved into the next generation, much of the sadness and bitterness at the forced move eased. “Dad’s attitude was ‘What’s done is done, so let’s move on,’” says grandson Jack Clark, now a resident of Kentucky. “In later years, he opined that the TVA buyout was all for the best, despite the memories and nostalgia left behind.”
- [S112] Census, 1900.
Name: Minnie Clark
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1900
Event Place: ED 162 Civil Districts 5, 16, Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Birth Date: Jan 1879
Birthplace: Tennessee
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Race: White
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Years Married: 1
Marriage Year (Estimated): 1899
Mother of how many children: 1
Number of Living Children: 1
Immigration Year:
Page: 9
Sheet Letter: A
Family Number: 161
Reference ID: 32
GS Film number: 1241562
Digital Folder Number: 004118949
Image Number: 00336
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head John L Clark M 48 Tennessee
Wife Minnie Clark F 21 Tennessee
Son Clifford Clark M 18 Tennessee
Son Howard Clark M 14 Tennessee
Son Ralph Clark M 1 Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1910.
Name: Minnie Clark
Event Place: Civil District 3, Cocke, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household: Wife
Immigration Year:
Birthplace: Tennessee
Father's Birthplace: Tennessee
Mother's Birthplace: Tennessee
Household ID: 110
Page: 7
Household Gender Age Birthplace
SELF John L Clark M 57y Tennessee
WIFE Minnie Clark F 30y Tennessee
SON Ralph Clark M 10y Tennessee
SON Gordon Clark M 6y Tennessee
SON Edward Clark M 4y Tennessee
- [S112] Census, 1940.
Name: Minnie Clark
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Census
Event Date: 1940
Event Place: Civil District 3, Cocke, Tennessee, United States
Gender: Female
Age: 61
Marital Status: Widowed
Race (Original): White
Race: White
Relationship to Head of Household (Original): Mother
Relationship to Head of Household: Mother
Birthplace: Tennessee
Birth Year (Estimated): 1879
Last Place of Residence: Same House
District: 15-7
Family Number: 98
Sheet Number and Letter: 7A
Line Number: 17
Affiliate Publication Number: T627
Affiliate Film Number: 3881
Digital Folder Number: 005461287
Image Number: 00188
Household Gender Age Birthplace
Head Gordon Clark M 37 Tennessee
Mother Minnie Clark F 61 Tennessee
- [S87] Death Certificate.
Name: Minnie Clark
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 07 Jul 1951
Event Place: Morristown, Hamblen, Tennessee
Gender: Female
Marital Status:
Race:
Age: 72
Birth Year (Estimated): 1879
Birth Date:
Birthplace:
Spouse's Name:
Father's Name: John L. Cooper
Father's Birthplace:
Mother's Name: Mary Mcdonald
Mother's Birthplace:
Occupation:
Address:
Residence Place:
Cemetery:
Burial Place:
Burial Date:
Informant's Name:
Additional Relatives:
Digital Folder Number: 004181465
Image Number: 00530
GS Film number: 2372450
Reference ID: cn15450
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 41646988).
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