| Sources |
- [S113] Manes Funeral Home, (http://www.manesfuneralhome.com), 3 Mar 2013.
Lemuel "Lemmy" Wilson obituary
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 30 Jan 2014.
School Days 2!
Maxie Denton Wilson – Tennessee Teacher of the Year
All teachers who fulfill their mission to teach the next generation to “read, write, and cipher” deserve recognition and praise. But many spend their careers quietly imparting knowledge to the next generation, never seeking the spotlight or any sort of accolades.
Over the years several groups, organizations, and individuals have sought the change this tradition, singling out deserving men and women for public honors.
In 1968, local teacher Maxie Denton Wilson was named Tennessee Teacher of the Year, the only Cocke County teacher ever to receive this high honor. At the time, accolades accorded her included phrases such as “dedication to her work and the teaching profession,” “high ethical standards,” “generosity of spirit,” “cheerful outlook,” and “a proper blend of discipline, knowledge, patience, and devotion.”
At her birth, such an outstanding career and pinnacle of success seemed impossible. She was born in 1904 in Cosby, the daughter of an unmarried mother, Della Denton, a servant in a local home. Locals claimed the homeowner was Maxie’s father, but, if so, he never publicly acknowledged her as his child.
She began her own school at Bison School on Wilton Springs Road and later entered Cosby Academy, the newly-established Baptist mission school, as a day student. After graduating from the Academy, she acquired her teaching certificate and taught two years in the county system.
Her first teaching assignment took her to Waterville, just across the TN- NC stateline. To get there, she first had to walk three miles, then ride the T & NC train for fifteen miles, and finally paddle a canoe across the Pigeon River. The next year found her behind the desk at Bluffton School.
During those two years, Wilson saved her money so that she could return to school herself. In 1926, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Carson-Newman College. She then taught for two years in Sylva, North Carolina, continuing to save her salary so that she could further her own education.
She next entered the University of Tennessee to pursue her graduate degree in languages. For many years, she was the only Cocke County teacher to hold a master’s degree. Following her graduation, she spent five years teaching at Springbrook High School in Alcoa.
Upon returning to Cocke County, she first taught at Cosby High School, then did part-time teaching at Cocke County High School, and completed one semester at Newport Grammar School. In 1940, she joined the CCHS faculty full time and spent the remaining 31 years of her career there teaching Latin, English civics, and arithmetic. She even managed the school cafeteria for several years.
Like many gifted teachers, Wilson did not quit teaching upon her retirement. A devoted member of First Baptist Church, she taught the Golden Glow Sunday School Class for many years, became a member of the Cocke County Retired Teachers Association and served as their president, and continued her membership in Delta Kappa Gamma.
One of her greatest gifts to her community during this time came when she appeared before the Cocke County Quarterly Court in the 1970s. The court had reached an apparent impasse over questions regarding a desperately needed building program and the county’s state funding for education was in peril. With dignity and directness, she addressed the court, calling upon them to put aside their sectional differences for the greater good of the county’s schoolchildren.
Wilson outlived her husband, Asa, by several years. Their only son, Lemmy, who earned international acclaim in the livestock business, died suddenly in 2013 after being thrown from a horse. His wife, Edna, resides in Newport. His two children, Jack Wilson and Dr. Jill Wilson Holmes, both alumni of the Cocke County school system, live in Knoxville and Boone, North Carolina respectively.
Maxie Denton Wilson died suddenly in 1982, leaving a legacy as one of Cocke County’s most beloved and respected teachers.
- [S112] Census, 1940.
name: Maxie Beatrice Wilson
titles & terms:
event: Census
event year: 1940
event place: Civil District 6, Cocke, Tennessee, United States
gender: Female
age: 35
marital status: Married
race (original):
race (standardized): White
relationship to head of household (original):
relationship to head of household (standardized): Wife
birthplace: Tennessee
estimated birth year: 1905
residence in 1935: Same House
enumeration district number: 15-15
family number: 25
sheet number and letter: 2A
line number: 37
nara publication number: T627
nara roll number: 3881
digital folder number: 005461287
image number: 00422
Household Gender Age Birthplace
head Asa M Wilson M 39 Tennessee
wife Maxie Beatrice Wilson F 35 Tennessee
son Lemuel Jackson Wilson M 3 Tennessee
- [S87] Death Certificate.
Name Date of Death / Age County of Death County / State of Residence Marital Status Gender Race File #
WILSON MAXIE D 10-30-1982 / 78 COCKE COCKE / TN WIDOW F WHITE 31805
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 50341248).
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