Photo Courtesy Bud Phillips: This vest was made by Johnson for one of his Bristol area friends. The dress walking cane was presented by him to this same friend.
President Andrew Johnson Had Ties To Bristol
Sunday, May 04, 2008 - 12:00 AM
BY Bud Phillips Send e-mailBristol Herald Courier |
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Printer FriendlyAndrew Johnson very early formed ties to this area.
In the first place, he developed a far-reaching reputation as a very capable tailor, causing many in this area to seek his services. An early practice of his was to travel an extensive circuit, taking orders and measurements for clothing, especially men’s apparel.
One of his principal stops was at what is now the well-known Deery Inn in Blountville. While stopping there, he became friends with Philip Bushong, who was soon to marry Mary Elizabeth Dryden.
Johnson was engaged to make the wedding suit for this newly-made friend. Not only did he make the wedding suit, he delivered it and attended the wedding. In fact, he delayed that wedding by over an hour because of his being late to deliver that suit.
Not long after this wedding, the Bushongs moved to Stoney Point plantation near what would become Bristol Tennessee. This plantation became one of Johnson’s stopping points on his ever-enlarging circuit. He often spent a day or two with these friends.
This friendship endured for a lifetime. On Philip Bushong’s 50th birthday, he was given an ivory-topped walnut walking cane by Johnson, whose remark at the time was that he thought it might be needed soon. In those days, 50 was thought to be the beginning of old age and decline. As it was, it was never needed; Bushong died within a short time.
However, the treasured gift from Johnson was kept in the family and passed down to later generations. It came into my hands in 1990 and is on display here at Pleasant Hill.
Also kept were dishes from which Johnson ate on at a later visit. They too are preserved to this day.
For a while, Johnson’s son courted Bushong’s only daughter. This courtship reached a point where marriage plans seemed to be in the making. At that point, Bushong discouraged the plans by telling his daughter that alcoholism was in the Johnson family, and he feared the marriage might lead to sorrow for her. Whatever the reason, the marriage did not take place.
At some point, on his visits to Blountville, Johnson became close friends with Joseph R. Anderson. So close were they that Johnson served as groomsman at Anderson’s wedding to Malinda King on June 5, 1845. This wedding took place in the south parlor of the Rev. James King home at what is now 54 King St., Bristol Virginia. That parlor was demolished in 1892 when H.E. McCoy remodeled the house. But the fine mantel before which the wedding was performed was saved and is now in the music room of the former Margaret Mitchell home.
Johnson traveled with the newly married couple to Blountville on his way to Greeneville. They had been given a fine weight clock as a wedding present. Neither of them knew much about such things, so it was Johnson who put the clock together, set it up and started it running. It still runs after 163 years of faithful service.
Another tie that Johnson had to Bristol was his close friendship with the legendary Major Z.L. Burson.
Burson had moved to Bristol because Johnson advised him to do so, saying that he thought prospects were good for a successful future there. He was right. Burson not only became the richest man here, but he was also very influential in local civic and church affairs.
He had received this advice when he went to Johnson seeking a pardon for his connection to the Confederacy. Burson always said that this advice was far more valuable to him than was the pardon.
In a sense, it may be said that Johnson bore the mark of Bristol. He was injured in a stage wreck that happened at the top of the hill directly behind the new Bristol Public Library. He carried the scar of that injury to his grave.
It is noteworthy that even though Johnson was pro-Union while Bristol was largely pro-Confederacy, there was a great celebration here in 1875 when news came that he had been elected to the U.S. Senate.
BUD PHILLIPS is a local historian and author. He can be reached at (276) 466-6435.
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