Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1872-05-11
INTERESTING OCCASION.
Family Reunion at Mr., Karns'.--SiNty
eight Near Relatives Present.

|
participating. At the residence of Mr.. John
Harms about two miles from the city, were
| gathered all his descendants, to the third gen
| Grafton. to the number of sixty-eight persons
Heading the list we're Mr.. Harms, the Venera-
| Bile patriarch of the family, and his WIFE,
| eight daughters with their husbands, three sons
with their wives and all their children.
| Early in the morning they began to assemble
! and by ten o'clock they had all arrived The
house could not contain the number present
! and the majority repaired to a grove close by
! where large table had been erected, which
was laden with refreshments of all kinds, while
| pendant from the limbs of several giant oaks
swings had been provided, and were soon filled
with happy children enjoying the poetry OF
motion" though not id the fatiguing manner
of the devOtees of Terpschore
The Sabbath School hymn
1.-THE children are gathering from near and
from far
would have been most appropriate, for any one
seeing the concourse assembled would have
thought regular picnic had assembled, which
indeed it really was in one sense.
The day was fine and passed as pleasantly rs
could have been desired Young and old felt
that it was good to be there" and the parents
lived their childhood DER again, in witnessing
the happiness of their children gathered under
the old roof tree where they had spent their
boyhood and girlhood, until in the revolutions
of the wheel of time they had severed their pa
ternal connection and went out to fight the bat
tie Of life on their own account, in which to
judge from their smiles of pleasure, they had so
far been victOrs.
Mr.. Harms is the son of Charles and Hannah
Harms, and was born in Liberty, Bedford coun-
ty, Virginia, on the I'd of October, 1888, and is
now in his 18th year When he was nine
years of age his parents moved to Richland
Granger county, where they remained about a
year and a half and then came to Knoxville
a nd took II tbnIr residence the of
Main and State streets The city was then IN
its infancy and boosted Of only about twenty
five houses and two stores, kept respectively
by Messrs. Cowan and Greer. He lived in
Knoxville only two years, when be moved to
the farm where he now lives, and on the
oath of August 1916, married Miss Sarah Gam
mon, Of this county, who bore him nineteen
children, fourteen girls and five boys, OF whom
nine daughters and three sons are living, and
all are married except three of the former. All
of these were present except one daughter and
her children who are living at ElktOn. Mis-
souri, and what is something remarkable in so
large a family, all live within radius of ten
miles.
At the time of his marriage the country was
thiCkly populated by Indians and the early
settlers were forced to rely on block houses for
protection from the savage foes. One Of these
stood on Main street, opposite where the court
house now stands and which was but recently
torn down. Other noted Notifications men
JlOneQ Dy h3nSaS, III MS history OF tennessee,
were erected at convenient distances, one on
Adair's, now known as John Smiths farm,
while yet another was situated at the confluence
of the French Broad and Holston rivers.
Some Of the most valuable property in Knox
Vile on which are located the largest business
houses, were then corn fields, and Mr. Kar1s has
often planted corn where now COwan, Nc
Chung & Co.'S wholesale house Tears its front,
extending to the present Market Place, when
that public necessity was not dreamed of, and
the Cawing Of the crow was heard where now
resounds the putting of the steam engine used
in running the press that daily disseminates
knowledge to the world through the columns Of
the CHRONICLE.
Though now almost fourscore years of age, |
Mr. Harms, or ''Uncle John" as he is affec-
tiOnately termed, Is in the possession Of his fac
ultes to a remarkable degree, enjoys vigorous
health and works every day on the farm. He
was an old Wing, when there were but two pO
litical parties known, and since the war has
been strong Republican. Our friend Helms
was there yesterday, and an incident illustra- !
ting party zeal was told, which was heartily en-
jOyed by all, and by none more than by Mr. !
Harms himself
John f. was then, as now, strong Demo- !
crat and during an election when the Know !
n Othlng excitement was at its height, attempt |
ed to vote about forty foreigners solid in town,
but the natives were too vigilant in the city and
our friend thought that he could run them in |
at a country precinct, and accordingly !
marched out his squad. Mr. Harms was judge |
of the precinct, however, and refused to receive |
their votes when John retired and tried it again |
at place where "Uncle Billy Hillsman" Off
ciated as judge, with like result. Helms said |
he was never so badly beaten in his life before |
or since as out of the whole number only one |
was allowed to vote.
Mr. Harms has always been temperate man,
which accounts for his health and activity, |
though his years are beginning to tell, and has |
used tobacco for more than sixty years, and |
from his long experience is q good Judge Of the |
weed. His estimabe wife is several years
younger and appears twenty years younger |
than she reallyis.
This is the first general assembly of the fam
lily, but it should not be the last. There is some
thing almost sacred in the very idea of family |
reunions and the world would be better off if |
such occasions were of more frequent occur
renee. What can be more interesting to the
young listening to the life experience of those
who pc Ietrated the wilderness and made it bios
som as the rose, in hearing the recital of con-
tlictS with the Indians or more savage white
men, who, fleeing from justice, banded with the
aborigineS in their relentless warfare against
the early settlers OF such facts history is COM
posed and is handed down in written ard reli-
able form instead of tradition, which is always
inaccurate, as is evinced by the laborious eff
forts of those who have endeavored to present
in continuous form the history of those nations
now extinct whose fame and grandeur once ex-
cited the admiration OF the world.