LESTER MOORE COLLECTION
1930-1978

East Tennessee State University
Archives of Appalachia
Box 70295
Johnson City, Tennessee 37614

E-mail: archives@etsu.edu
Telephone: (423) 439-4338

INTRODUCTION

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Provenance: On March 22, 1989 a small collection of newsclippings was loaned to the Archives of Appalachia by Jean Hagen to be photocopied. The originals were retained by Hagen, and the duplicated copies were placed in the archives as the Lester Moore Collection. The newsclippings were compiled by Jean Hagen's father, Lester Moore, great-grandson of Henry Johnson.

Access: The collection is open for research.

Processing Information: Becky Tuthill, Melissa Garant and Scott Schwartz completed processing, and the collection was opened to researchers on November 7, 1990.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Lester Moore was born in 1903 and was raised in Jonesborough, Tennessee, where he attended the public schools. He attended East Tennessee State Normal School during the 1920s and married Nelle Lucille Zimmerman on August 4, 1928. During the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s Lester Moore was active within the Johnson City business community working as an accountant for Harris Manufacturing Company, salesman for Johnson City Paint and Furniture Company, and acting partner for Zimmerman and Moore News Agency, as well as vice-president of the Monte Vista Burial Park. In addition to his business commitments, Moore was active in numerous community organizations including the Johnson City Rotary Club, Jonesborough Masonic Temple, and the Board of Stewards for the Jonesborough First Methodist Church, where he served as a Sunday school superintendent. Moore died on April 27, 1984.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The Lester Moore Collection consists of a single file folder of photocopies of the following: newsclippings; genealogy of the Henry Johnson family; poem by Landon Smalling, Lester Moore's uncle; and an event program. The records document the activities of Henry Johnson and his relationship with the founding of Johnson City. The material dates between 1930 and 1978.

Organization: The records are arranged chronologically by date of publication. Undated records have been placed at the end of this collection.

Important subjects include:

East Tennessee State Normal School
Henry Johnson Threshing Machine
Jobe, Abram Tipton, 1826-1890
Johnson, Henry, 1809-1874
Johnson, Mary Hoss, 1811-1888
Johnson City (Tenn.)--History
Jonesborough (Tenn.)
Moore, Lester, 1903-1984
Moore, Sallie Smalling
Science Hill Male and Female Institute (Johnson City, Tenn.)
Southern Railway (U.S.)
Threshing machines--Tennessee

DOCUMENT INVENTORY

Folder 1:

1. "Johnson City's Only Churches of About Forty Years Ago," Johnson City Chronicle and Staff News,

April 20, 1930.

2. "Easter Services in Churches to Tell Story of the Resurrection of Christ in Sermon and Music,"

April 20, 1930.

3. "Four Birthday Residents of Johnson City Born Here in 1885, Have Lived Here All Their Lives,"

Johnson City Chronicle and Staff News, April 20, 1930.

4. "45 years of Johnson City as a City Recalls Earlier History of  Community Which Henry Johnson Started,

" Johnson City Chronicle and Staff News, April 20, 1930.

5. Sidelights, Johnson City Chronicle and Staff News, June 24, 1934.
6. "Apostrophe to the Pinnacle" poem by Landon Smalling, March 1935.
7. "Granddaughter of Henry Johnson, Founder of City, Believes He Came Here Before 1834,"

Johnson City Press-Chronicle, 1940.

8. "Johnson City founder invented a thrashing machine," May 4, 1941.
9. "Of Many Things," by Dorothy Hamill, Johnson City Press- Chronicle, April 3, 1955; "This Seth Thomas

Clock" by Landon Smalling; "Of Many Things" by Dorothy Hamill, Johnson City Press-Chronicle, ND.

10. "Fourth of July Not What It Used To Be," Johnson City Press-Chronicle, May 25, 1969.
11. "1782: The Year It All Began for Johnson City," Johnson City Press-Chronicle, May 25, 1969.
12. "Deed of Henry Johnson's Wife, Discovered by City Residents," Johnson City Press-Chronicle,

November 22, 1969.

13. Centennial Program - Unveiling of Johnson City Historical Marker and Burial of Centennial Crypt,

December 1, 1969.

14. "The H. Johnson Thrashing Machine," by Dorothy Hamill, Johnson City Press-Chronicle, April 7, 1974.
15. "A Look at Henry Johnson, Founder of Johnson City," (2 copies) by Tom Hodge, Johnson City Press-

Chronicle, March 10, 1978.

16. Lineage from Henry Johnson to Great Grandson Roy Lester Moore, ND.
17. "Henry Johnson, the Man," ND.
18. "Johnson's Grandson Recalls Past," ND.
19. "City Founder's Granddaughter Dies at 87," "Old School Bell to be Presented to City High School, ND.
20. Three Obituaries for Nancy Smalling Baller, granddaughter of Henry Johnson, ND.
21. "Our Happy 100th," Johnson City Press-Chronicle, ND.
22. "Samuel Mosier Knew Infant Johnson City," ND.
23. "Governmental History of City," ND.
24. "The Railroad Center - Then," ND.
25. "New Passenger Train to Begin Schedule Today," ND.
26. Five short articles, ND.
27. Three short articles; church announcements; American Cigar Box Company advertisement. ND.

INDEX TO LESTER MOORE COLLECTION

* The notation following the index item refers to the folder and document number location within the the collection.

Artz, Bennie (Mrs.): 1-7.
Boone, Daniel: 1-4.
Brush Creek, Tennessee: 1-4.
Callaway, A. W.: 1-3.
Carter, George L.: 1-11.

Crumley, Daniel W. : 1-11, 1-23.
East Tennessee State Normal School: 1-11.
Farnsworth, Alexander: 1-5.
Fau, Thomas A: 1-2.
Finley, John: 1-4.

First Baptist Church, Johnson City, Tennessee: 1-1.
First Methodist Church, Johnson City, Tennessee: 1-1.
First Presbyterian Church, Johnson City Tennessee: 1-1.
Hagen, Theodore (Mrs.): 1-9.
Harris, Allen (Mrs.): 1-14.

Haynes, Landon Carter: 1-11.
Hopwood, Joseph: 1-11.
Hoss, E. D.: 1-5.
Hoss, Fred: 1-15.
Hoss, Jacob: 1-4, 1-11.

Hoss, John: 1-8.
Hoss, Mary Ann: 1-4, 1-7, 1-11, 1-12, 1-14, 1-18.
Jobe, Abram (Tipton): 1-4, 1-5, 1-14.
Johnson, Henry: 1-15, 1-16, 1-17, 1-18, 1-19, 1-20.
Jonesborough, Tennessee: 1-4, 1-11, 1-26.

McCown, L. W. (Mrs.): 1-14.
McLeod, D. N. (Mrs.): 1-5.
Merritt, Fannie Johnson: 1-3.
Milligan College: 1-11.
Moore, J. L. (Mrs.): 1-9.

Moore, Lester: 1-9.
Moore, Sallie Smalling (Mrs.):1-19, 1-20.
Mosier, Samuel T.: 1-22.
Mountain Home's VA Center: 1-11.
Nave, Henry: 1-12.

Pickens, Minnie C.: 1-7.
Puckett, J. F. (Mrs.): 1-3.
Science Hill Literary Society: 1-11.
Science Hill Male and Female Institute: 1-11, 1-13.
Smalling, John F.: 1-18.

Smalling, Landon; 1-6.
Smalling, Nancy: 1-20.
Southern Railway Station, Johnson City, Tennessee : 1-10.
Weiler, Birdena Jobe: 1-5.
White, Ollie C.: 1-3.

Williams, S. C.: 1-14.
Willett, N. C.: 1-14.
Woodall, J. Pascall (Mrs.): 1-9.
Yokum, Colonel S. H.: 1-11, 1-23.
Zimmerman, J. R. (Mrs.): 1-9.

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