Official or not, if there’s a keeper of history for Gibbs and Corryton, it has to be Joe Longmire. When asked what might make a good story, his response is “well, what do you want to know?”
Turns out Longmire is a pretty good story himself. A lifelong resident of the area and 1964 graduate of Gibbs High School, he married his high school sweetheart, Becky, who became a teacher and librarian there. A road that bears his surname runs along the Northeast side of Corryton.
Longmire and his brother, Dale, co-own the Midway IGA, a stone’s throw from Harbison’s Crossroads (Tazewell Pike and Emory Road). He is the president of the Nicholas Gibbs Historical Society, which is appropriate since he is descended from the Revolutionary War veteran who fought at the Battle of King’s Mountain. Another of his descendants, O.S. Gibbs, donated land for the high school and gave it a name.
Descendants of Nicholas Gibbs stand in front of the homeplace on Emory Road: Bart Gadola and his mother, Sally Gadola; Gail Lay and her daughter, Angela Cochran; Robin Longmire Gresham and Joe Longmire. (file photo)
Longmire said there are probably many more residents in the area that have Nicholas as an ancestor, they just don’t know it.
“They either haven’t bothered to look or they don’t care,” Longmire said. “But if their family’s been here awhile, odds are they’re descended from him.”
He added that the historical society’s annual meeting is held on the second Saturday of June at the old Gibbs homestead on Emory Road near Clapps Chapel.
“We get people from all over, Alaska, Texas, Florida,” he said. “His descendants are spread out across the country. We’ll have 100, 110 people here, easily.”
The homeplace, which is open by appointment, still sits where it was built in 1793, one of the oldest in the state. Dues for society membership and grant money help pay for the routine maintenance costs of the cabin, which was restored to its original condition (i.e., electricity removed) several years ago. The society added a pavilion in the back five years ago, which is available to rent. It also has reprints of “Nicholas Gibbs and his Descendants” for sale.
Longmire can easily reel off names of Gibbs notable descendants, such as the late John Rice Irwin, founder of the Museum of Appalachia, and William Gibbs McAdoo, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Woodrow Wilson.
But his knowledge isn’t limited to Gibbs lineage. He can tell you about Sawyer’s Fort and how Corryton used to be called Floyd before Coryton (one R) Woodbury bought up land ahead of planned railroad junctions that didn’t happen. He can also tell the history of the old Walnut Grove Academy and the original Little Flat Creek Baptist Church (which now sits behind the new one on Emory Road).
Another thing he will tell you is that Gibbs and Corryton are not the same thing, even if they exist in the same ZIP code.
“They are two distinct communities,” Longmire said. “If you’re from Gibbs, you’re from Gibbs. If you’re from Corryton, you’re from Corryton.”
But one thing he cannot tell you is why some people pronounce Corryton as if it’s spelled “Corrington.”
“I have no idea,” he said, laughing. “Because there isn’t an ‘ing’ in it.”
For more information on the Nicholas Gibbs Historical Society go here or look him up on Facebook here.
Beth Kinnane is the community news editor for KnoxTNToday.com.