Murphy College News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

SEVIERVILLE

One of seven children of Francis Calhoun “Cal’ Matthews and Mary Jane Tarwater Matthews, Fred Decatur Matthews was born on August 1, 1898, in the Whites Community of Sevier County.

A large white clapboard home once stood at the southeast corner of Main Street and Park Road (the Parkway) in Sevierville.

Much has changed in Sevier County since 1893 when William Campbell Murphy, a Sevierville merchant, gave the land for Luretta United Methodist Church. But the panoramic view of the west

Born March 30, 1901, Buford Alvin Townsend was a son of Reverend Wilson E. Townsend and Margaret M. Dixon. His father died at age 30 when Buford was five months old, leaving his 25-year-old mother to raise him and his two older brothers. They resided on a farm in the East Fork community and he received his early education in one-room rural schools, before he attended high school at Smoky Mountain Academy. Townsend always worked to pay his expenses while attending high school. He obtained a teaching certificate and taught his first class when he was 17. Later, Townsend enrolled in two-year acc...