Historical observations in Lynnhurst Cave, Tennessee

HISTORICAL OBSERVATIONS IN LYNNHURST CAVE, TENNESSEE.
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by Marion O. Smith

Lygnhurst Cave is in the northern. part of Knoxville, about a mile from
Fountain City, and undoubtedly was so named; because of its proximity to Lyng
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hurst Cemetery. The entrance is a seven foot chimney at the base of an unnamed; ,

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northeast-southwest trending ridge. Immediately there is a ter -twelve “foot

wide, ten foot high chamber which leads to about 250 feet of passages, including
all the nooks and crannies. :
Although already on the Tennessee Cave Survey, attention was drawn to this

cave when Bob Terry, a TVA employee and caver of twenty years ago, called Dr.

Charles H. Faulkner of the University of Tennessee Anthropology Department and

reported that the cave had a "dug-way" in it. Faulkner was interested because

less than a mile away was the site of Fort Adair, a trading post built during
the late 1780's by John Adair. He conjectured that Adair or his helvers might
possibly have gotten saltpetre from the cave for either their own defense or
to sell to others. )
Accordingly, on February 8, 1984, Art Cathers and I, acting as Dr. Faulkner 's
surrogates, met Bob Terry and his fianceé Jean, and the four of us spent two
hours in the cave examining it for evidence of saltpetre mining and for early
dates and signatures. Just beyond the entrance chamber was indeed the Saupe!
Bob had described. Actually there were two, in the shape of an "L." The trench
to the right was about seven feet long, one and a half feet wide, and one and a
si half to one half feet deep. The trench straight ahead was about twenty-four
feet long, two aud a half feet wide, and two to three feet deep. The passage
then enlarged to a standing room about forty-five feet long and twelve feet wide,
with several well-trampled dirt mounds. Other alcoves contained small matics

marks, and a man-enlarged and now muddy crawl at the back of the cave contained

at least seven pieces of wooden logs, one of which was used to support the ceiling.
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All of these observations led us to the obvious conclusion that Lynnhurst was
defini te ly
Sessa saltpetre cave.

Only the "big room" and entrance chamber seemed to contain old names, inter-

mixed with numerous scrawlings of modern spray paint vandals. We carefully
scanned the ceiling and walls for significant names. There were a number of
1892, 1893, 1900, 1901, 1911, and 1912 names and dates, plus others that looked
old but were now unreadable. The only legible name of note we found was
"Lafayette Lewis 1819."

During the succeeding weeks I attempted some follow-up research. I found
absolutely nothing about Lafayette Lewis, although there were Lewis families
living in the general vicinity of Lynnhurst Cave before 1819. This man seems
to have fallen through the cracks of time. He did not show up in the early
census returns, deed, will, or court records.

However, John Adair, the early Knox County settler, did have title to the
lands containing Lynnhurst Cave. The reason he came to the area was because
he had received a land erant of 640 acres from North Carolina. In 1820 he sold
474 acres to John Smith, 2 who the year before had married his granddaughter
Maria A. Christian. By this transaction Lynnhurst Cave apparently became Smith's
property.

Although the date or dates that Lynnhurst Cave was mined for saltpetre will
probably never be known, whether by John Adair, Lafayette Lewis, or whoever, it
was certainly mined before the Civil War. A Tennessee geology book published in
1857 noted that "a cave" was "found near the residence fae Smith, Esq., 4 miles
north of Knoxville, in which the nitrous earth is found."3>

FOOTNOTES

Liohn Adair (1732-1827) was an Irishman who immigrated to America in 1/771,

and lived in Maryland, Pennsylvania;” Sullivan County, Tennessee (c1773-88) before

North Carolina granted him 640 acres in what became Knox County. In 1/789 he was
commissioned to keep a supply depot to provision the guards who escorted settlers

Tele.

to the Nashville vicinity. Nannie Lee Hicks, The John Adair Section of Knox
County, Tennessee (Knoxville, 1968), 10, 11, 12, 16; Nannie Lee Hicks, Historic

Treasure Spots of Knox County, Tennessee (Knoxville, 1964), 10

2tohn Smith (c1795-1883) was a Virginia native who was listed by census

takers as a farmer. 1850 Census, Tenn., Knox, 15th Subdivision, 238; Hicks,
John Adair Section of Knox County, 25.

emi |
‘Srichard O. Currey, A Sketch of the Geology of Tennessee (Knoxville: Kinsloe

& Rice, 1857), 29. Although now within Knoxville, Lynnhurst Cave in sia was
about four miles from the city limits.

S Duriag late Summer tn f tarly aufumn, ed ge MN, ‘hee Stee! WOU 8a
>> Pountaiy City Fron Tellico, and became i laoi wide d | co Lyn nbur a
Cave. He noticed a diPRenlt pr read poss b/e cet Rubbre Dhiclb
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