Arnwine Cabin Part 1

Arnwine Cabin at the Museum of Appalachia

  

My family wasn't much for for telling family stories, but one summer I spent a lot of time with my Grandmother. On the warm Summer evenings we would sit up late into the night.  I would rock my daughter to sleep in the gentle breezes coming from Cherokee Lake and sometimes she would share a story. I knew that the Arnwine family was related to my Grandmother, so when John Rice Irwin had the Arnwine Cabin placed on the National Register of Historic Places, I wanted to know about this family. My Grandmother's Grandmother was Sarah Arnwine. Sarah was the sister of Elisa Jane and Polly Ann Arnwine, the last two members of the Arnwine family to live in this tiny cabin. Sarah, Elisa Jane and Polly Ann were born just around the time of the Civil War to William Arnwine and Mary Dyer. It is possible that William built the cabin, but it is more likely that is was built by his father or or his Grandfather.

Although the cabin in now in Anderson County, it was built near the banks of the the Clinch River in Grainger County. The Arnwine families lived near Arnwine Cemetary(sic) Road at a place known as Arnwine Ford. ( 36 22 05, -83 35 36). When the Daniel Arnwine first came to the area the fords or shallow places  were used as a safer place to cross the river. Claiborne County is on the North side of the river.