An ancient white oak tree in Brotherton receiving a state historical marker to honor local legends and its location along the historic Old Walton Road.
The old tree sits next to a red barn on Buck Mountain Road, east of the Brotherton Baptist Church. Trevor Lee is the great-grandson of the tree’s namesake, Frances Hammock. Lee said the project required the cooperation of the landowner, and agreed to have the marker placed on her farm.
“As Monterey and Central Tennessee, the Upper Cumberland becomes more and more developed as more and more people move into this region, I think these local histories just add to the quality and character of the space, of the landscape, telling these stories before they’re lost,” Lee said.
Putnam County Archivist Glenn Jones said the tree has stood the testament of time, and serves as a quiet observer of the local folklore. Jones said Hammock fled from soldiers in a nearby cave in the 19th century.
The oak tree was just one of 13 recent historical markers added statewide.
Jones said the tree was also the resting site for an old horseback mailman named Willis Hyder.
“I think it’s kind of neat that it brings people’s attention to the history that’s in that area,” Jones said. “A lot of people don’t even know that’s the Walton Road. So I think it’s significant to have a historical marker alongside the Walton Road and tell some significance with the tree that was there.”
Lee said the tree is estimated to be over 200 years old and remains healthy despite being heavily trimmed about a decade ago to clear power lines. Lee said the historical marker text will note Hammock is remembered locally as a Cherokee woman, a detail that reflects the cultural connection between the local community and the Nettle Carrier people.
Jones said while researching the history, he discovered an anonymous poem written about the tree in the county’s historical archives titled, ‘If an Oak Tree Could Talk’:
I stand tall, strong and free/ In circumference, I measure 16 feet 3 inches. I have limbs large and neat/ I grow acorns for the deer to eat. I have roots that run deep and low/ They hold me steady when the strong winds blow. I have bark to protect me from the snow/I have a heart that lets me grow. I am 100 years old, so they say, but I may have to be cut down for the lines of the TVA.
I stand on the south side of the old Walton Road/ Please help me bear my heavy load. Long ago, I saw the stagecoach rumble by/ I’ve even heard the sounds of a newborn baby cry. I have seen the mailman on a horse pass by/ I have shaded the house where my owner lived and died. He and his son died only hours apart/ Oh, how it broke this big oak’s heart. He and his son are in a better place they say, where the power will not come from TVA. Who made the oak tree wondrously high? Someone who is bigger than you and I.
Jones said while some details of the lore are difficult to verify with absolute certainty, the existence of the road and the historical figures associated with the site are well-documented.
“I know it doesn’t say it on the historical marker, but they met there before they were rounded up to go on the Trail of Tears, but the Walton Road is not the Trail of Tears,” Jones said. “I’m sure they rounded Indians up and then took them to another place where they marched them out west.”
Lee also said the marker serves as a reminder of the region’s role in westward expansion and the impact of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Lee said he hopes the presence of the sign will encourage utility workers and the public to be more sensitive to the tree’s preservation in the future.
“I think Frances Hammock and the history of her as a midwife as somebody who treated those locally who needed assistance medically with herbal medicines medicines that were derived from the American Indian community the Cherokee community as an extension of the Nettle Carrier people I think those stories are pretty well-validated through oral histories,” Lee said. “And I think whether there is any controversy of her being a Native American or not is a little bit irrelevant. I think she was heavily influenced culturally by the Nettle Carrier people and I think that’s probably more to the point.”
The historical marker is expected to be installed this fall.
