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Thomas Stringfield Letter

 Collection
Identifier: MS-1945

  • Staff Only

Reverend Thomas Stringfield wrote this letter to Reverend J. C. Bingham and Dr. Noah Levings from Bean's Station (Grainger County), Tennessee on April 19, 1846. In it, Stringfield 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

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Conditions Governing Use

The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet (1 folder)

Abstract

Reverend Thomas Stringfield wrote this letter to Reverend J. C. Bingham and Dr. Noah Levings from Bean's Station (Grainger County), Tennessee on April 19, 1846. In it, Stringfield 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 his 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 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

Special Collections purchased this letter in June of 1993.

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480