The Larson cabin was located deep in the woods of Henderson County, Tennessee. It was about two miles from the Bartholomew Cabin. The nearest town, Scotts Hill, was about ten miles away. Mrs. Martha Larson told us that she had to walk or ride the mule over a mile to school.
The cabin was built by George Washington Smith, better known, in the area as “Wash.” Mr. Smith began building the cabin in the early 1860’s. Before he was able to finish the cabin, he left to go and help the South fight in the Civil War. After the war he returned and completed the cabin. It was later purchased by Mrs. Larson’s grandfather, Millard Fillmore Jackson.
Three generations of Mr. Jackson’s family were raised in this cabin. Millard’s daughter lived in the cabin until her death in 1978.
The original cabin was a one-story structure with a loft, rock fireplace and a tin roof. The upstairs was mainly used for storage. Mrs. Larson said her daddy would never let her go up in the loft. A near-by neighbor, Mattie Welch, told us the reason for this was that was where her daddy kept his still. The main floor of the cabin had an iron bed in one corner, a wooden bed in the other corner, a table and four chairs by the window, and a trunk by the stairs where Mr. Jackson kept his important papers. Under the stairs, Mrs. Jackson would keep jams, jellies and other items she had canned over the summer. Cooking was done on an open fireplace until later years when a kitchen was added to the back.
After a hard day’s work on the 100-acre farm, the family would gather on the front porch to relax and enjoy the peace and quiet.
Mrs. Jackson said that she could remember her uncle teaching her to walk by turning and old cane chair around and having her push it across the floor. She said that she almost wore the legs out on the old chair and there were still scratches in the floor.