The Mabry–Hazen House is a historic home located on an site at 1711 Dandridge Avenue in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

, at the crest of Mabry's Hill. Also known as the Evelyn Hazen House or the Joseph Alexander Mabry Jr. House, when constructed in 1858 for Joseph Alexander Mabry II it was named Pine Hill Cottage. The house was in what was then the separate town of East Knoxville. Stylistically, the house exhibits both Italianate and

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

elements. Additions in 1886 increased the size of the first floor. Having operated as a museum since the death of Evelyn Hazen, the house retains its original furniture and family collections, including antique china and crystal with over 2,000 original artifacts on display making it the largest original family collection within America. The house is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. At the outset of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Joseph Mabry II, a wealthy Knoxville merchant and importer, pledged $100,000.00 to outfit an entire regiment of Confederate soldiers. Because of this assistance to the cause, he was given the honorary title of General in the Confederate army. During the course of the war, both

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

and

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

forces occupied the strategic site of his house adjacent to Fort Hill. Confederate General

Felix Zollicoffer Felix Kirk Zollicoffer (May 19, 1812 – January 19, 1862) was an American newspaperman, slave owner, politician, and soldier. A three-term United States Congressman from Tennessee, an officer in the United States Army, and a Confederate brigad ...

set up his headquarters in the house in 1861, but it was Union forces who had the greatest impact when they fortified the grounds as part of their Knoxville defenses after later taking control of Knoxville. After Mabry's death in 1882, his daughter Alice Evelyn Mabry and her husband Rush Strong Hazen resided in the house. Their youngest daughter, Evelyn Hazen, later occupied the house alone (except for many pet dogs and cats) for many years until her death in 1987. Her

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

stipulated that the house had either to become a museum or be razed to the ground. The house opened as a museum in 1992.Amy McCrary
Mabry–Hazen tells intriguing tales back to 1850s
''

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The ...

'', January 22, 2006

Cemetery

Knoxville's Confederate Cemetery, also known as Bethel Cemetery, located at 1917 Bethel Avenue, occupies near the house, and is owned by the same museum foundation. It contains the graves of approximately 1,600 Confederate soldiers, 50–60 Union men (prisoners) and 20 veterans. The

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

also contains a high monument erected in 1892, consisting of a Tennessee marble obelisk topped by a Confederate soldier facing north. The cemetery property includes a frame caretaker's house, built circa 1881, known as the Winstead Mansion.

In literature

Three generations of the occupants of the Mabry–Hazen House have been referenced in literary works. In '' Life on the Mississippi'',

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

wrote about the

gunfight A shootout, also called a firefight or gunfight, is a fight between armed combatants using firearms. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used to describe those that do not involve military forces or only invo ...

that killed the home's builder Joseph Mabry II, and his son, Joseph III (known as Joseph Jr.). Mabry's daughter married Rush Strong Hazen, a benefactor to Leonora Whitaker Wood, whose life was fictionalized in the novel, '' Christy''. In 2007, author Jane Van Ryan published ''The Seduction of Miss Evelyn Hazen'', a book chronicling the sensational

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

between Knoxville socialite Evelyn Hazen, granddaughter of General Mabry, and Ralph Scharringhaus, to whom she was once engaged.

References

* ''Knoxville: Fifty Landmarks''. (Knoxville: The Knoxville Heritage Committee of the Junior League of Knoxville, 1976), page 19. * Marshall, Catherine. ''Christy''. (Chosen Books, 1967). * ''The Future of Knoxville's Past: Historic and Architectural Resources in Knoxville, Tennessee.'' (Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission, October, 2006), page 19. * Twain, Mark. ''Life on the Mississippi.'' (Oxford Press, 1996), Chapter 40. * Van Ryan, Jane. ''The Seduction of Miss Evelyn Hazen.'' (Glen Echo Publishers, 2006)

Notes

External links

Mabry–Hazen House & Museum

Mabry–Hazen News
a blog series mainly by Jane Van Ryan, continuing the stories of the past residents of the Mabry–Hazen House.
City of Knoxville History

State of Tennessee: East Tennessee Civil War Sites
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabry-Hazen House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Houses in Knoxville, Tennessee Tennessee in the American Civil War Cemeteries in Tennessee Military monuments and memorials in the United States Houses completed in 1858 Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Tennessee Historic house museums in Tennessee Museums in Knoxville, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Knoxville, Tennessee