The Old Home Place
Lancing, TN.
Actually located at Potter's Chapel, Morgan County, TN
Note: I have had trouble viewing photos in the photo albumns with Netscape. If you experience trouble, try Internet Explorer. Thanks.
This is the cabin where my dad and his 8 brothers and sisters were born and raised. We think it was built around 1890 about the time that Martha Eliza Hawn and Solomon Johnson Potter were married (May 16, 1889). This is speculation.
My brother Bryan and I decided to clean up the old place in 1992 the year after Pop (Ivory J. Potter) passed away. The logical time to do it was around May 30th because the family planned a reunion corresponding to that time. We didn't know whether our work or materials would survive until the next year because the cabin sits in the woods well off the nearest road.
We had let Dwayne Williams pasture goats on the property in 1991 and 1992. The goats had made a home out of the old cabin and it needed some clean up before we could get to the dismantling of the floor(1994), which was mostly rotted. Once the floor was removed we could see that the sills needed replaced and that was just the beginning.
This project could not continue without the help of numerous people. I will attempt to name those folks that have been most active with the project.
Lester "Hawk" Beasley
Larry, Gina, Jontz and Ezekiel (Zeke) Potter
Cleo Potter
Greg Potter
Jeff Potter
Bryan Potter
Roger Potter
This photo was taken about May of 1992 before my brother Bayan and I started restoration. The sill plates, floor and left front corner are rotted. The building has shifted to the right off of it's foundation, which are field stones stacked on top of each other. When the cabin shifted it demolished the chimney. Wisteria vines are in every crack and crevice of the cabin.
May 2001 photo
This photo was taken by Greg in May 1997.
The chimney is complete and is now lined with 18" X 18" flu liners. The left front corner was rebuilt using logs from the farm in Indiana and logs from the John I. Potter cabin. The sill plates are now treated 6" X 6" timbers setting on field stones mounted in place with mortar. The sub floor is treated ply wood and the floor is car siding taken from the inside walls.