Mabry-Hazen House, Knoxville
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| Joseph Alexander Mabry, Jr. House | |
|---|---|
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Location: | 1711 Dandridge Ave. Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Architectural style(s): | Greek Revival |
| Added to NRHP: | November 13, 1989 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 89001974 |
The Mabry-Hazen House is an historic home located at 1711 Dandridge Avenue in Knoxville, Tennessee. Also sometimes known as the Evelyn Hazen House or the Joseph Alexander Mabry, Jr. House, when constructed in 1858 for Joseph Alexander Mabry, Jr. it was named Pine Hill Cottage. The house was in what was then the separate town of East Knoxville. Stylistically, the house exhibits both Italianate and Greek Revival elements. Having operated as a museum since the death of Evelyn Hazen, it has the good fortune of containing its original furniture, as well as a collection of antique china and crystal. The present site consists of eight acres on top of Mabry Hill. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
At the outset of the American Civil War, Joseph Mabry, Jr., a wealthy Knoxville merchant and importer, outfitted a entire regiment of Confederate soldiers at an estimated personal cost of $100,000.00. He was given the honorary title of General in the Confederate army due to this philanthropic assistance. During the course of the war, both Union and Confederate forces occupied the strategic site adjacent to Fort Hill. Confederate General Felix Zollicoffer set up his headquarters in the house in 1861, but it was Union forces who had the greatest impact when they fortified the grounds as part of their Knoxville defenses after later taking control of Mabry Hill.
Three generations of the house occupants have been referenced in literature. Mark Twain wrote about a gunfight involving Joseph Mabry, Jr., in "Life on the Mississippi". Mabry's daughter married Rush Hazen, a benefactor to Leonora Whitaker Wood, whose life was fictionalized in "Christy (novel)". More recently, Jane Van Ryan wrote "The Seduction of Miss Evelyn Hazen," a book chronicling the sensational lawsuit between Knoxville socialite Evelyn Hazen, granddaughter of General Mabry, and Ralph Scharringhaus, to whom she was once engaged.
Evelyn Hazen occupied the house alone for many years before her death in 1987. Her will stipulated that the house had either to become a museum or be razed to the ground.
Knoxville's Confederate National Cemetery, also known as Bethel Cemetery, located at 1917 Bethel Avenue, is on the grounds adjacent to the house. It contains the graves of approximately 1,600 Confederate soldiers, 50-60 Union men (prisoners) and 20 veterans. The cemetery also contains a 48 foot high monument, consisting of a granite base topped by a Confederate soldier facing north. The cemetery property also includes a white frame house, built in 1886.
Mabry-Hazen House is now a museum, and is open to the public. Bethel Cemetery is open by appointment by contacting the Mabry-Hazen House.
[edit] References
- Knoxville: Fifty Landmarks. (Knoxville: The Knoxville Heritage Committee of the Junior League of Knoxville, 1976), page 19.
- Marshall, Catherine. Christy. (Chosen Books, 1967).
- The Future of Knoxville's Past: Historic and Architectural Resources in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission, October, 2006), page 19.
- Twain, Mark. Life on the Mississippi. (Oxford Press, 1996), Chapter 40.
- Van Ryan, Jane. The Seduction of Miss Evelyn Hazen. (Glen Echo Publishers, 2006)
