East Tennessee Roots
Major
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2010
- Location
- Kingsport, Tennessee
Source W.C. Hicks, Civil War History OF East Tennessee
Andrew Johnson Stover was born March 6, 1860, in Carter County, East Tennessee. He was the youngest child and only son of Daniel Stover and Mary Johnson. His mother was the third child and youngest daughter of future President Andrew Johnson and Eliza McCardle. His father, an East Tennessee Unionist was one of the Bridge Burners of 1861 and would become Colonel of the Union 4th Tennessee Infantry. As a child, little Andy Stover frolicked in the White House and on its lawn and soon became a favorite of Military leaders and politicians of that day. Along with older sisters, Elizabeth and Sarah, they quickly became known as "The White House Children".
There are different sources and stories as to how Andy went from the pampered grandson of the President that followed Lincoln to a mountain hermit in East Tennessee. One source says as a boy he was kicked by a horse. This led to mental difficulties and his not being able to live by himself as he got older and going from family to family among relatives willing to take him in. Another family tradition is that while visiting the White House, he was playing with a soldier’s rifle and when the rifle discharged, the recoil caused damage to his head. There is reportedly a record at Greeneville stating that when 13 years old he was hunting and the recoil of his rifle sent the butt of the rifle into his head causing brain damage and temporary loss of hearing.
He lived at times as a hermit, played the banjo, and fiddle and loved to spend time on the Holston where he had a cabin or stayed at one owned by another. His mother bought him 1,000 acres in Texas but he soon returned to Tennessee. This White House child became a log-cabin man that loved the Holston of East Tennessee. He died on January 25, 1923. Andy is buried at Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in Greeneville, Tennessee. One writer wrote, "Andrew Johnson Stover was excited neither by recollections of his childhood in the White House nor the work of the landscape gardener in the country around his grandfather's grave. His gun and his cabin in the mountains were all that he asked for in life".
Colonel Daniel Stover 4th Tennessee Infantry Union Volunteers. His brother, Samuel was a Confederate Commissary Officer.
Mary Johnson Stover
Andy Stover & his dog
Andrew Johnson Stover was born March 6, 1860, in Carter County, East Tennessee. He was the youngest child and only son of Daniel Stover and Mary Johnson. His mother was the third child and youngest daughter of future President Andrew Johnson and Eliza McCardle. His father, an East Tennessee Unionist was one of the Bridge Burners of 1861 and would become Colonel of the Union 4th Tennessee Infantry. As a child, little Andy Stover frolicked in the White House and on its lawn and soon became a favorite of Military leaders and politicians of that day. Along with older sisters, Elizabeth and Sarah, they quickly became known as "The White House Children".
There are different sources and stories as to how Andy went from the pampered grandson of the President that followed Lincoln to a mountain hermit in East Tennessee. One source says as a boy he was kicked by a horse. This led to mental difficulties and his not being able to live by himself as he got older and going from family to family among relatives willing to take him in. Another family tradition is that while visiting the White House, he was playing with a soldier’s rifle and when the rifle discharged, the recoil caused damage to his head. There is reportedly a record at Greeneville stating that when 13 years old he was hunting and the recoil of his rifle sent the butt of the rifle into his head causing brain damage and temporary loss of hearing.
He lived at times as a hermit, played the banjo, and fiddle and loved to spend time on the Holston where he had a cabin or stayed at one owned by another. His mother bought him 1,000 acres in Texas but he soon returned to Tennessee. This White House child became a log-cabin man that loved the Holston of East Tennessee. He died on January 25, 1923. Andy is buried at Andrew Johnson National Cemetery in Greeneville, Tennessee. One writer wrote, "Andrew Johnson Stover was excited neither by recollections of his childhood in the White House nor the work of the landscape gardener in the country around his grandfather's grave. His gun and his cabin in the mountains were all that he asked for in life".
Colonel Daniel Stover 4th Tennessee Infantry Union Volunteers. His brother, Samuel was a Confederate Commissary Officer.
Mary Johnson Stover
Andy Stover & his dog