| Sources |
- [S94] Sevier County, Tennessee Census, 340C, 1880.
- [S27] The Daily Times, http://www.thedailytimes.com/, (Blount County, Tennessee), 23 Sep 2006.
Johnny Johnson and his wife, Jodie McTeer Johnson, are nearing completion of an interesting project in the front yard of their Townsend residence.
They are restoring a 40 by 48-foot single crib (or pen) cantilever barn that they transported from the Middle Creek area of Sevier County near Dollywood. The barn was in the path of a road at Governor"s Crossing.
Approximately 150 years old, it was built by Amos C. F. Trotter, a brother of Jodie's great, great grandmother. Jodie wanted to save it because of the family connection and some fond memories. And Johnny, a senior vice president and co-founder of Engineering International, joined in her enthusiasm for the project.
Because of his business role with the world's largest underwater contractor and one also involved in space, Johnny was interested in the undertaking.
The roof was jacked up and the foundation rocks and logs removed from the bottom up, kept dry, and re-assembled in Townsend. The 9,000-pound log corn crib attached to one end was moved as a single piece.
Cantilever barns apparently originated in East Tennessee. The more common type is a two-pen barn in which there are two log enclosures (rooms) supporting the loft and roof with a wagon drive-through between the pens with the loft and roof overhanging on all four sides. Farm implements and livestock were kept under the overhang, hay in the loft, and farm animals in the log cribs or "pens."
Unique to this region, cantilever barns were built primarily in the 19th century and most common in Blount and Sevier counties. The design may have been inspired by German barn plans from Pennsylvania and the structural design of frontier blockhouses.
At one time the large log single pen of the barn being restored was used for family living.
Cantilever construction describes a situation in which part of a structure hangs unsupported over space or the ground. However, to support that weight, the other end of the structure's support timbers must be weighted heavily enough to balance the overhang.
In addition to the barn in their front yard, the Johnsons have had a diving bell there for some time. It is a "sister" to one Oceaneering used on the salvage of the massive Italian liner, Andrea Doria, that collided July 25, 1956, with the Swedish cruise ship Stockholm and after a struggle to stay afloat sank the following day in 250 feet of water in the Atlantic, off the East Coast. Fifty-one died while 1,600 survived.
Years later the safe of the Andrea Doria was salvaged in an operation in which Oceaneering participated. The Andrea Doria was named for Italy's most famous sea captain beside Christopher Columbus.
The Johnsons live in Franklin, La., where they reside at Arlington, an ante-bellum home that is open for tours. Their daughter, Jennifier, lives in Maryville in the residence of her grandparents, the late Fred and Edith McTeer.
Johnny's parents were the late Emmett and Grace Johnson. His brother, George, a retired college professor, and his wife Judy live in the Anchorage Subdivision at the Knox County line. Judy is an LPGA golf pro at Tellico Village.
Bits of Stone - Dean Stone Column
- [S94] Sevier County, Tennessee Census, 365b, 5 Jul 1870.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tn/sevier/census/1870/0365b.gif
- [S94] Sevier County, Tennessee Census, 376a, 13 Jul 1870.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tn/sevier/census/1870/0376a.gif
- [S94] Sevier County, Tennessee Census, family 497, page 421a, line 28, 18 Sep 1850.
ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/census/tn/sevier/1850/pg0421a.txt
- [S34] In the Shadow of the Smokies, Smoky Mountain Historical Society, (1993), 312.
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