Continuing with my thoughts on Tennessee, in 1986, after my son was born, I visited with my Great Aunt Molly.  She was Jasper’s sister.  She, like my grandfather, was a keeper of family memories and stories.  She told me several stories about my grandfather and herself.  One thing she told me was that my grandfather’s paternal ancestors were 2 brothers who came to New York and bought property on Long Island, Wall Street in particular, she said.

After some years of family research, I discovered, much to my surprise, that there was another Long Island and it was located in the middle of the Holston River in Kingsport, Tennessee , not too far from where my grandfather’s ancestors settled.  I think it is highly probable that the stories passed down through the years took a detour from the truth, retaining pieces of fact, and just needed a nudge back in the right direction.  I found my ancestors, the 2 brothers she mentioned, living in a fort on the Long Island in the middle of the Holston River, along with a group of soldiers and families who were trying to establish homes in that area in the late 1790’s and some of those families moved on to the Kentucky territory.  Long Island was a launching point for the settlement of Eastern Tennessee.  Another interesting fact I found was that these two ancestors of mine actually did some traveling with Daniel Boone.   These two brothers were known as “long hunters”, meaning they spent many months traveling through the wilderness on long hunting trips, sometimes hooking up with Daniel Boone on their travels. So, my Great Aunt Molly was correct in saying they lived on Long Island, but it was in Tennessee, not New York.  Alas, I lose the illustrious connection to Long Island, New York (smile) but I think my Tennessee history is just as fascinating, if not more.

Long Island has since lost it’s historic character and been overrun by industrialization.   For those of you who would like to know more of this interesting chapter in Tennessee History, here is a link to Wikipedia’s article:  http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Long_Island_(Tennessee)&oldid=459802299

({{Information |Description=The Holston Valley in Tennessee, looking south from the Veteran’s Overlook on the crest of Clinch Mountain (southeastern United States). |Source=self-made |Date=2/17/2008 |Author= Brian Stansberry|Permission=)