Thomas Stringfield Letter
Reverend Thomas Stringfield wrote this letter to the Reverend J. C. Bingham and Dr. Noah Levings from Bean's Station (Grainger County) Tennessee on April 19, 1846. In it, he reports on his activities as an itinerant Methodist preacher in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, including the sermons he has preached, the Bible Societies he has founded, and the Bibles he has distributed in such places as Bean's Station (Tennessee), Asheville (North Carolina), and Jonesboro (Tennessee).
Dates
- 1846 April 19
Conditions Governing Access
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Conditions Governing Use
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Extent
0.1 Linear Feet
Abstract
Reverend Thomas Stringfield wrote this letter to the Reverend J. C. Bingham and Dr. Noah Levings from Bean's Station (Grainger County) Tennessee on April 19, 1846. In it, he reports on his activities as an itinerant Methodist preacher in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, including the sermons he has preached, the Bible Societies he has founded, and the Bibles he has distributed in such places as Bean's Station (Tennessee), Asheville (North Carolina), and Jonesboro (Tennessee).
Biographical/Historical Note
Thomas Stringfield was born in Kentucky to John and Sarah (Boydstun) Stringfield on February 12, 1797. He married Sarah King Williams (1812-1842) in 1826, and the couple had eight children: John Soule, Sarah Frances, Melinda Williams, Mary, William Williams, James King, Fannie Erwin, and Alford McFadden. After Sarah Stringfield's death, Thomas Stringfield married Mary Hill (Burns) Cockrill (1795-1867).
Stringfield participated in the formation of the Holston Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1824 and devoted his life to spreading the faith in East Tennessee and North Carolina. As part of this work, he published several newspapers, including the The Western Armenian and Christian Instructor and The Holston Messenger. He was also very active in education, and donated the land for and served as the first principal of Strawberry Plains College, which opened in 1848. Thomas Stringfield died on June 12, 1858 and is buried in his family's graveyard on the Hamilton Fort overlooking the Holston River.
Arrangement
Collection consists of a single folder.
Acquisition Note
The University of Tennessee Libraries, Knoxville, Special Collections purchased this letter in June of 1993.
Digitized Materials
This collection was digitized as part of the Tennessee Documentary History project. These digital materials can be accessed through the project’s webpage located at http://diglib.lib.utk.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=tdh;cc=tdh;tpl=home.tpl
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository