Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-03-13
WHOLE NO. 2,3l1.
ole BnII.s castle.
New Bergen Letter 70 the Titusviile neral

New Bergen Letter 10 the Titusviiie Herald
About thirty or thirty-five wears
ago, Ole Bull, the Norwegian viO-
linist, with one Of those idiOsynca-
cies peculiar to men Of genius,
turned his attention to cOlOnis.ing
and speculatiOns in lumber. Engag-
ing number Of his cOuntrymen,
who had reached New York on
their way to the fertile fields of the
West, he brought them here, laid
out city, and erected cabins for
their use. He purchased an inn
mense tract Of land i'm this region
from parties i'm New York, and
made preparations to open up the
forests on a grand scale. About six
! miles below here, on Kettle Creek,
high up on the summit OF the noun
tains, ne built for himself a home.
EBdeavOring to implant i'm this will
/ dernesS some memories of the land
he had left, he constructed a castle
and furnished ii with all the embel-
lishments that could be imported
into this out-Of-the-way place. A
beautiful road winding up the
mountain side on gradual ascent
led to his retreat. Artists were
brought from afar to add 10 the
splendOr of his castle, and the paint
er and glider gave their handiwOrk
to complete the structure, while pa
per of the most expensive kind COW
cred the walls and added its charms
10 the editiee. One mammoth room
was set apart as the concert hall,
and here Ole Bull exercised all his
ingenuity in its decoration. The
roof was composed Of glass, and the
barbaric splendOr was well calcula-
ted to make one forget the outside
surroundings and yield themselves
to the subtle strains of the violin
and enter with spirit into the gay
cites and festivities with which Ole
Bull tried to surround himself.
But all this was doomed to mold
er and decay. Before the artizans
had vet ceased their labor trouble
began to show itself. Dissatisiac-
tion began To manifest itself among
those who had come with him Co
this land, and although he eXpend-
ed money freely and tried to bring
peace and harmony among his re-
tainers, the specter Of rebellion
would not vanish. About this time,
too, he discovered that his title TO
his land was not worth the cost Of
its writing. He had bought il from
parties who had no claim on IL
whatever and now the real owner
came fOrwa. dand asserted his rights.
Overwhelmed by the thickening
troubles that came on him, he sud-
denly abandoned all and reap
peared again among the haunts OF
and, with his beloved
violin as his companion, began to
retrieve his wasted fortune by tread
ng the boards behind the foot
lights.
The colony he had brought with
him, being left without a leader,
broke up and became
scattered far and wide. Now scarce
v one remains behind to tell the
story and record the history of New
Bergen. The castle ON the noun
ain top suffered from the ravages
If time and the despollatioH Of the
Hundreds visited
he place, and most all carried away
iome memento of this "Ole Bulls
Folly" till now scarcely a log re-
Mains TO mark the spot. The only
of the past is in the name
If the little village that clusters
lround the foot Of the mountain. IL
S called Oleona, which Is supposed
o be what remains after the "shOrt-
ming process" of "Ole-Owns-it." :"