05/28/2026
We hope to see you at tonight's History Happy Hour!
Chester Inn Museum Board Room at 6PM
This month's History Happy Hour will be on Thursday, May 28th at the Chester Inn Board Room from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM! Our speaker will be Hannah Decker from Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site.
"Hannah Decker is a recent graduate of Milligan University where she received her Master’s in Education. She joined the staff at Tipton-Haynes as an interpreter in May 2025 after completing her Bachelor’s in Music Education, also at Milligan. Her future plan is to become a music teacher at the elementary or middle school level.
The history of Tipton-Haynes spans back to the Ice Age with the formation of our naturally formed limestone cave. The grounds also contain a buffalo trace, which are indentions left in the ground by buffalo hoofs. The first inhabitant of our site, Colonel John Tipton, moved to the area (then North Carolina) in 1783. Tipton was a politician and recruiting officer in the militia during the Revolutionary War (1776-1783). He would become most well-known for his opposition to the State of Franklin, an illegal state fighting for influence over North Carolina, led by John Sevier. Ultimately, Sevier and Tipton would battle at our site in late February 1788 after Tipton order the local sheriff to seize Sevier’s property for owed taxes. Tipton proved successful and Sevier’s loss essentially ended Franklin’s time as a state. After John Tipton’s death, his son John Tipton Jr. moved into the home and began making improvements on his father’s one and half story log cabin, turning into a two story, Federal-style farmhouse. Tipton Jr. lived in the home until his death in 1831 and his children held on to the property until 1837 at which point David Haynes purchased it. Two years later, David gifted the property to his oldest son, Landon Carter Haynes, as a gift for him and his new bride, Eleanor. Landon would be a politician, lawyer, newspaper editor, and Confederate senator. Landon would also make additions to the home, including the ‘ell’ porch containing a dining room and kitchen. The Haynes family would maintain ownership of the property until the end of the Civil War at which point it was seized by the federal government. Eventually, the home went to Landon’s niece, Sarah Simerly, and her two sons, Samuel and Lawson. Sarah lived in the home until her death in 1935, while her two sons remained there until their deaths in 1962."
