Posted on 12/29/2005 3:44:44 AM PST by Pharmboy
The old Klepper house, also known
as the old stone house, was built in
1792 for Col. George Gillispie, who
with his son Capt. Thomas Gillispie
were members of the
Overmountain Men that turned the
tide of the American Revolution at
King's Mountain, S.C., in 1780.
Tony Duncan photo.
LIMESTONE - They called it the old Klepper house in Limestone. As memories of the family faded and the house began to be obscured by brush and trees growing up around it, it was known as the old stone house.
It is one of three stone houses built in Washington County in the late 1700s by stonemason Syth Smyth. The others are in Telford and on the Kingsport Highway.
It was built in 1792 for Col. George Gillispie, who with his son Capt. Thomas Gillispie were members of the Overmountain Men that turned the tide of the American Revolution at King's Mountain, S.C., in 1780.
In 1936, it was selected as one of three homes in Tennessee to be photographically documented by the Smithsonian. It sat vacant since 1974 when the last resident, Sue Klepper, died.
It was last used for the movie "Goodbye Miss Fourth of July" in 1988. The kitchen shown in the movie was actually a set created in the open air outside the back door.
After Louis Gossett Jr., Chris Sarandon, Chantal Contouri, Roxanna Zal and the others from the film crew departed, serious decay set in.
Vandals had already ransacked the house, taking all the doors, windows and mantels. Even the wiring was stripped away to be sold for its copper. The porch roof had fallen in, and the roof above was leaking badly, causing permanent damage to its rafters.
Only the sturdiness of its construction saved the Gillispie house. The walls are 3 feet thick in the basement and 2 feet thick above ground. It would not go easily.
Then it was purchased in 2003 by Doug and Donna Ledbetter, the former owners of Windows on Main Street in Jonesborough and no strangers to restoration.
To anyone driving by during that first year it appeared that the old house was being pulled down and another landmark structure was disappearing. In fact, Doug had cut away the brush and removed the bad roof and its rafters, which were rotted by leaking and the destructive boring of powder post beetles.
The Gillispie house was on its way back.
"The new metal roof is the fourth roof that has been on the house," Doug said. "We tried to faithfully restore the house without using manufactured woods. We used traditional materials and methods to restore it as close to original as possible and still be inhabitable by a modern family."
That meant adding a kitchen and a comfortable living room area to the back, and bringing plumbing and wiring to the upstairs bedroom behind a false wall. One of the original doors was found at a flea market and was used to duplicate the doors and hardware used throughout the house.
Local blacksmith Jamie Tyree reproduced the original hardware and other iron items found throughout the house, including a front latch with a heart inset into it.
The Ledbetters collected the period antiques and reproductions used to furnish the house, including the mantels. One of the two living room fireplaces had been bricked in and had to be dug out. Doug did much of this work with advice and help from modern mountain man Buck Fleenor.
The exposed beam ceilings and floors were original, as are the built-in cupboards in the dining room. Doug had to replace two missing leaded glass cupboard doors.
Col. Gillispie was born in Ireland about 1735 and moved to Washington County (then called The Territory South of the Ohio) during the American Revolution. He purchased 5,000 acres from land speculator Jacob Brown, who leased the land from the Cherokee. The British forbade colonists from moving across the mountains, so all these transactions were illegal.
Gillispie had about eight slaves who helped clear the land with the help of hired tenant farmers, including David Crockett's father, whose cabin was nearby on the Nolichucky River.
Fort Lee was built nearby (exact location unknown) under the leadership of Col. John Sevier. The Indians took exception to the building of a fort in the area and attacked, burning the structure before it could be finished. The settlers removed to Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals. The Gillispie family was living in a log home until the stone house was built in 1792, after the war was over.
Col. Gillispie died in 1794, and the house passed to his wife, Elizabeth, and son, Thomas. It was sold in 1840 to Jacob Clark, who sold it to Thomas Klepper in 1842, and it stayed in the Klepper family for more than a century.
"There was a hearth kitchen under the dining room, and the slaves brought the meals to table," Doug said. "They probably had an outdoor summer kitchen as well."
He has moved two log structures to the property from Hawkins County that were originally in the Ledbetter family. One of them is a smokehouse where Doug has his furniture restoration shop.
Among the original touches are a flock of free-range bantam chickens that come running at the crow of the cock. A few Araucana chickens add a modern touch, because Donna Ledbetter said if they were going to keep chickens, she wanted ones that could lay colored eggs.
A narrow circular stair connects to the upstairs bedroom. It is so narrow that Doug had to hoist all the furniture up from the outside and bring it in through the window.
A similar stairway connects to another bedroom, usually used by their grandson on visits. Doug can't wait until he's old enough to tell him stories about the old house. At 3 he's a bit young to be sleeping alone after hearing about Indian raids and the Civil War battle of Limestone Station that took place just across the road, with dead and dying being tended to in the yard and in the house itself.
This house has enough history and enough stories to make a lifetime of bedtime stories.
My family (mostly from Cleveland County, NC) fought there -- on both sides!
Please Freepmail me to get ON or get OFF this RevWar/Colonial History/Gen. Washington ping list.
It's quite a house! MM
Excellent! Much better than the pic that came with the article. Thanks...
Wonderful read, and great good fortune for the old stone house. Nice to learn about Ferguson sparing Washington's life, too. Thanks!
Thank you for this post.
Youre Welcome.
That is actually George and Elizabeth Gillespie's great X 7 Grandson.
Did those on the losing side survive?
Three of my GreatX uncles fought at King's Mountain. Because if this thread, I found a website of some distant relatives that I didn't know that I had.
Excellent! The Internet is powerful, eh?
Indeed. I knew that my great x 5 grandfather was Gen'l Benjamin Logan of the Virginia Militia during the Revolution, and that he operated mainly in what is now the Ohio Valley- but he had that several brothers who fought at King's Mountain in SC. Digging around on the net- what do I find but a website devoted to a reunion of members of that family. Cool!
bttt
Thanks for the bump, TC. But with that big, great-looking family, when do you find the time???
LOL - thanks! I have to sneak off while they're eating!
We've lived here (east side of Charlotte) 2-1/2 years, and I haven't been to King's Mountain yet. We'll have to go this summer; it's only about an hour away.
They don't build houses like they used to. On a more serious note, there is a house open to the public in Dallas that was built with 3 foot concrete walls. The name of the original owner escapes me, but he was a geophysicist, IIRC. Anyway, the library was incredible. It was huge with large windows to let in the light, a large fireplace in the middle of one of the long walls and plenty of built-in shelves. The square footage (of the library, never mind the rest of the house) was probably more than any residence I have ever lived in. Plus it had a secret room in one of the corners. What fun!
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