Carter County has had it's share of local legends. Our focus is on such a legendary character. One that baffled many a person across this great nation because of his life choices. That man was the grandson of a United States president. His name was Andrew Johnson Stover.
Andrew Johnson Stover was born in 1860 to Col Daniel Stover and Mary Johnson Stover. Andrew's father served in the Fourth Regiment Tennessee Volunteer Infantry (Federal). His mother was the daughter of future President Andrew Johnson. Little Andrew lost his father at the tender age of four. Like many soldiers in the Civil War, Daniel succumbed to disease. In 1864 he lost his battle to tuberculosis and is buried in Drake cemetery.
At the close of the war, Mary's father became president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Her mother, being ill, was unable to serve as the White House hostess. These duties fell on Mary to fulfill. This circumstance is what afforded young Andrew Stover the opportunity to grow up in the White House. What sights he must have seen: the dignitaries in their grand costume and ceremonies, the turmoil of reconstruction that weighed heavily on his grandfather. One can just imagine the stresses the family endured during the impeachment trials alone.
At the end of Johnson's presidency, Mary and her children moved back home. Andrew Stover was reunited with the sights and sounds of his childhood home. Morning fog that rested on high mountaintops, the cool waters of the Watauga gently cascading in timeless fashion, forests full of trees and the wonderment of all God's creatures that lived in them. What child or any Carter Countian for that matter could refuse this fantastic tapestry of natural beauty and serenity? This was obviously a stark contrast to the city life found in our nations capitol. A life Andrew eagerly left behind for the opposite side of the spectrum. This life of luxury and grandeur of the White House would soon turn to a life of solitude, a permanent fixture in the mountains and our lore.
In 1908, writers and readers across the country began to develop a peculiar fixation on the lives of descendants that were born from the bloodline of presidents. Andrew Stover would be no exception to their investigations. They simply could not fathom that a grandson of a president, one that was raised in the presidents home, would choose to not take advantage of the luxuries that his lineage provided him. So perplexed at his choosing to be a hermit, they began to create excuses for his shunning of public life. Some writers proposed than he became mentally unhinged when his mother died in 1883. Others submitted that he was kicked in the head by a pony as a child and retained the mental age of a child, never to have adult reasoning. It was completely oblivious to them all that maybe, just maybe, Andrew obtained a level of happiness that eludes most people. Happiness derived through a simple man's way of life.
Obviously the courts found him to be too simple in needs and throughout the years appointed him various guardians. Capt Ellis was probably Andrew's favorite. Ellis let the young man live as he wanted. Free and clear. Ellis was to have said to make sure Andrew had plenty of tobacco and coffee, which was all he ever asked for. Andrew built a small cabin on the Holston Mountain. He lived off of wild game and fish, as well as natures bounty of fruit, wild ramps, and other vegetation. His prized possessions were his banjo, rifle and a shotgun, and he was known to keep raccoon and opossums as pets. During the winter, Ellis would make Andrew come live in his home for the season. Andrew was said to have been most miserable during these times and would brood and lament something awful until the next hint of spring would arrive.
Andrew departed his happy life in 1923. He is buried in the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery.
(Previously printed in the Elizabethton Star)
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