John Walter Oliver was born on October 14, 1878 in Cades Cove, Tennessee to William Howell and Elizabeth Jane (Gregory) Oliver. He attended Maryville College for two terms in 1899 and 1900, and taught school from 1900 to 1904 before attending a year of Massey Business College (Louisville, Kentucky) in 1904. In October 1904 he became the mail carrier for Cades Cove, Tennessee and continued in this role until his retirement 35 years later. Oliver married Nancy Ann Whitehead on September 4, 1901 and they had six children: William Wayne, Florine Lucille, Jonnie Geneva, Henry Clay, John Winston, and Hugh Russell. Oliver’s Christian faith is prominently featured in his research interests and in his autobiography, which describes his conversion, his appointment to moderator and assistant clerk in 1913, and his ordination to ministry in 1916.

John W. Oliver was a passionate researcher of the history of Cades Cove and of his ancestry, and over his life he amassed many documents about both. He traced his paternal lineage through grandparents Elijah and Mary (Lawson) Oliver, great-grandparents John and Lucretia (Frazier) Oliver, and great-grandparents Howell and Mary (Bird) Lawson. His maternal lineage includes grandparents Charles and Celia (Carver) Gregory, great-grandparents Russell and Susan (Hill) Gregory (for whom Gregory Bald was named), and great-grandparents James and Ann (Burchfield) Carver. When the government condemned the land in Cades Cove to create the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, John W. Oliver went to court and fought this appropriation of his land until he was forced out in 1937. He died on July 9, 1966.

Durwood Clay Dunn, John W. Oliver’s grandson, was born on November 30, 1943 in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia to Charles Snyder and Lucille (Oliver) Dunn. He attended the University of Tennessee, graduating in 1976 as a member of Phi Beta Kappa with a PhD in History. Dunn taught briefly at Hiawassee College (Madisonville, Tenn.) and the University of Tennessee before spending the bulk of his long teaching career at Tennessee Wesleyan College (Athens, Tenn.). He published widely in edited volumes and professional journals, and authored several books. Cades Cove: The Life and Death of a Southern Appalachian Community, 1818-1937 is one of the most successful publications of the University of Tennessee Press. Dunn's most recent book, The Civil War in Southern Appalachian Methodism, was published in 2013. Also in 2013, Dunn was awarded the first annual Durwood Dunn Award by The Society of Appalachian Historians. Dunn died on February 15, 2014.

Cades Cove, located in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains, was called Tsiyahi by the Cherokees before John Oliver and his family became the first white settlers in 1818. The land was fertile, and the Cove quickly filled with farms and churches, the population nearing 700 before the Civil War. That war disrupted the community enough that its population did not recover until 1900 and its prosperity not until the 1920s. During the 1920s, plans for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park developed to include Cades Cove in a manner which required condemning the farms and businesses by eminent domain. John W. Oliver, grandson of the first settler, fought this in court battles from 1930 until he was forced to leave in 1937. Today, the buildings of that thriving community were destroyed in order to portray the very early stages of settlement for the many tourists who visit the Park each year.