The collection is a reminder that history is can be found in the things families used, saved, wrote, wore, and passed down.
In 2019, the museum received a collection of objects, photographs, documents, textiles, and personal belongings from the Trotter family of Sevier County. The collection was donated by Nancy Childress, the great-granddaughter of Ashley Wynn Trotter, and offers an intimate look at several generations of an East Tennessee family from the nineteenth century through the twentieth century.
Among the oldest objects in the collection are furnishings and household items that offer a glimpse into everyday life in nineteenth-century Sevier County.
A walnut corner cupboard, dating to the 1850s, retains its original hinges and crown molding and is believed to have been made in Sevier County. Another walnut step-back cupboard, dating to around 1870, features glass-paneled doors and a distinctive French-style foot. Both pieces descended through the Trotter family.
Other objects speak to the work of running a household. Handmade wooden spoons, a nineteenth-century iron bean pot, a large cast-iron wash pot, and a dark olive-green storage crock represent the tools and vessels of everyday domestic life. The objects range from farm tools to a walnut writing desk of Scottish origin, dating from approximately 1875–1900.
The Trotter collection also preserves the creative work of family members through textiles and clothing.
Among the most distinctive pieces is a full-size quilt made by Mary Luttrell Jones, wife of Dr. Jones. The quilt, given to Jess Wynne Trotter in 1934, features appliquéd flowers and stars and is signed and dated by its maker. Family tradition identifies it as a “Christmas Tree Quilt.”
Other textiles include a nineteenth-century blue-and-white handwoven coverlet, a hand-crocheted bureau cloth, a 1920s crocheted tablecloth, and crocheted slip petticoats. The clothing in the collection offers another glimpse into the lives of the women and children of the Trotter family. A large nineteenth-century sun bonnet decorated with lace and crochet, an embroidered child’s gown, an early twentieth-century lacy summer dress, and an ornate engagement dress dating to approximately 1900–1910 demonstrate both changing fashions and the importance of handmade clothing. The engagement dress is especially striking, with sewn pleats and a stylized Greek border—an example of how fashion could reflect both personal milestones and broader cultural influences.
The Trotter family collection also documents the educational and professional pursuits of its members.
A framed photograph of the 1889 graduating class of the Vanderbilt University Dental School includes A. W. Trotter of Tennessee. The collection contains vintage dentistry schoolbooks and religious books associated with Ashley Trotter’s time at Vanderbilt University, along with materials documenting the family’s connections to Murphy College.
These materials help tell the story of education as an avenue for opportunity. Rather than viewing a nineteenth-century or early twentieth-century family solely through the lens of domestic life, the Trotter collection reveals individuals pursuing higher education, professional careers, and new experiences beyond their home community.
Dozens of photographs depict members of the Trotter family, including Ashley Trotter, Julia Belle Wynne, Lucille Trotter Childress, Robert B. Childress, and Jess Trotter. The photographs range from formal studio portraits to candid images of family members and everyday life. Several photo albums are containing images of Maryville College and the Sevierville area between 1903 and 1914.
By the 1920s and 1930s, the Trotter family’s story expands far beyond Sevier County. The collection contains photo albums, letters, and more documenting travels from the Pacific region of the United States to Europe and South America. Among the photographs are images preserved in sleeves from Knoxville’s Kuhlman Drug Store. Other photographs and postcards were developed through Thompson Brothers Photographers, with some materials documenting Jess Trotter’s travels.
These items illustrate how dramatically the world available to one East Tennessee family had changed. Within only a few generations, the collection moves from handmade household implements and farm labor to automobiles, higher education, photography, international travel, and correspondence from around the globe.
The collection includes an 1875 letter from A. W. Trotter to his brother discussing family interests and business, as well as letters exchanged between Dr. A. W. Trotter and Julia Belle Trotter and other family members in the 1880s.
These letters offer glimpses into family relationships, local business, travel, and the aftermath of the Civil War. One particularly intriguing document is an 1865 letter from Samuel Brownlow, Adjutant General in Nashville, authorizing Major Wynn to carry weapons. The Wynn family was connected to the Trotters through marriage.
The collection also includes two 1867 letters relating to the Rogersville Female Academy, along with an act incorporating the academy and a deed.
Even the envelopes tell part of the story. One newspaper preserved in the collection bears an envelope addressed with “A. W. Trotter Dentist Sevierville, Tenn.” as the return address, while the name and artillery rank of Raymond J. Trotter are written on it in ink.
Among them is an 1808 edition of The Married Lady’s Companion, associated with Mitchell and Penelope Porter, who married in 1785. The book, leather-bound by Samuel Jennings, reflects the expectations and advice surrounding marriage and household life in the early nineteenth century.
The collection also contains three Bibles, including a small ornate Bible, a family Bible inscribed to John S. Trotter in 1777, and a large family Bible decorated with gold leaf and bearing the names A. W. Trotter and J. B. Trotter.
Taken together, the Trotter collection is much more than an assortment of family heirlooms. It is a record of change.
It tells the story of a Sevier County family whose lives were rooted in home, farm, family, education, and community. The collection demonstrates why preserving family history matters. Each object carries a piece of a larger story especially when those objects are preserved together and the stories stay with the objects.
The museum is grateful to Nancy Childress, great-granddaughter of Ashley Wynn Trotter, for entrusting this collection to our care. Through her generosity, the stories of this East Tennessee family can continue to be shared with generations to come.
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View more of the Trotter collection below. You can also explore more of the Trotter family collection records through the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection.
Object/Artifact
Matriculation certificate for entrance into the Department of Dentistry at Vanderbilt University, 5 1/8" w x 3 1/8"h Orange cardboard certificate, Signature of A. W. Trotter below with Department of Dentistry of Vanderbilt University dated July __ 1888 with signature of dean at bottom, back is blank
2019.46.9
3-1/4 in
5-3/16 in
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The streetscape here at the Museum of East Tennessee History has undergone some changes and gained a few new additions to showcase. In particular, the three cases to the left of Trolly 416 are now inhabited by artifacts that give a glimpse into the rich history of radio in Tennessee.
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Built in 1925 and once part of the city’s electric streetcar system, Car 416 carried passengers through downtown for over a decade before its retirement in the late 1930s. Unique features like upholstered seats, onboard mail slots, and its single-truck design made it both practical and ahead of its time. After decades as a vacation cabin, the car was rescued and restored, and now stands as a striking reminder of Knoxville’s streetcar era and the everyday lives it once connected.
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Throughout the year, ETHS acquires objects and artifacts that help continue to tell stories of the people of East Tennessee. These objects come by way of gifts, purchases, or transfers. In 2023, ETHS saw 142 “new” objects added to the permanent collection, bringing the total to 16,420 Thank you to generous individuals who gifted items or donated to the Artifact Acquisition Fund.