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This
House was the home of Eleanor Berry and John Reed after they were married about 1824. Eleanor was the daughter of Thomas Berry and Sarah Cate and the Granddaughter of Robert Berry in Orange County North Carolina. This cabin was restored by Eugene Allen Berry and his wife Nellie Berry about 1990. Nell is the lady in the pink blouse. The cabin is located at Iron City Tennessee and This picture was taken on my visit May 12, 2005 |
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This is the Fireplace inside of the John and Eleanor Berry Reed cabin. One of the interesting features in the house was a latch string. A latch string is attached to an arm that pivots at one end that is attached to the inside of the door. The other end of the arm can fall down in a u shaped structure attached to the door frame. There is a hole in the door above the latch and when you want to let someone in you stick the string through the hole. When the person outside pulls the string it lifts the latch up above the u shaped structure and allows the door to be pushed open. The beams that made the walls were about 6 inches thick and some were about 18 inches high. I think the cabin would be very cozy in the winter |
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This is Allen and Peggy Berry standing in the left corner of the cabin as you come in the front door.The stairs on the right of the picture go up to the attic where the children most likely slept. This is a good picture to view the size of the beams that were used to construct it. |
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This is the attic which would be heated by rising heat from the first floor and the radiant heat from the inside wall of the chimney. There were probably a lot of quilts used also. As it has been said so many times before. If only the walls could talk and tell the things that have been said so many years ago. I can almost hear the little voices of the small children talking about things that happened that day as the try to settle down for a nights sleep up here |
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I suppose this would be considered the rear of the cabin. You can see how the beams were mortised on the ends so the cracks between them would be smaller and also it would add to the strength of the corner. There may have been many friendly Indians around this local at the time this cabin was first constructed in the early 1800's. The land lies very close to the Natchez Trace Parkway which is 450 miles long. This was the old Indian trail that runs from outside of Nashville down the middle of Tennessee all the way to Natchez Mississippi. The Trace is preserved as a national park. |