Cumberland Pioneers Blog

Feature Article in "The Tennessee Magazine"

2011-10-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

The folks at "The Tennessee Magazine" feature our NEW Volume 2 book Thoroughfare for Freedom in the November 2011 issue. The magazine is distributed monthly to over 500,000 members by Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation.

They did an exceptional job in photography and layout. You can see the entire article by: clicking here

2011-08-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

Bill Puryear to appear on "A Word on Words"
Be sure and watch John Seigenthaler's interview with Bill on local NPT Sunday September 25th at 10:30am.

Jack Masters & Bill Puryear

TSLA Prominently Displays our Pioneer Books

2011-08-04T04:47:00.000-07:00

Display at Tennessee State Library and Archives
Patrons entering the main reading room at TSLA in Nashville are greeted with our books on display. A recent visitor, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, commented that he had both books in his personal library.

We appreciate our relationship with the the staff at TSLA - - where we also spend a lot of time researching.

Jack Masters & Bill Puryear

Houston County Public Library receives New Books

2011-07-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

Nina Finley and Kay French
Jack Masters met recently with representatives in Houston County and discussed the work being accomplished to be able to place North Carolina Land Grants in Houston County.

North Carolina Land Grants on the Cumberland River from Kentucky all the way to Gainesboro, Tennessee, are a part of Volume 3 expected to be available mid 2012.

Jack Masters & Bill Puryear

Thoroughfare for Freedom now Available

2011-05-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Co-Author Jack Masters signs his newest book Thoroughfare for Freedom for Society President Joe Davenport at the most recent meeting of Cannon County Historical Society.
A Program dealing with North Carolina Land Grants was presented to an enthusiastic Society Membership in conjuction with the regular meeting of the Cannon County Historical Society last Monday May 10th. The new books were received the day of the meeting and will be mailed to those who previously ordered starting in the next few days.

Jack Masters & Bill Puryear

Image courtesy of Donna Nichols

Thoroughfare for Freedom now available in pre publication

2011-02-10T13:15:00.000-08:00

Volume II of our series is now available in pre publication sales. To be delivered in May, this work represents the second of three volumes centered on early Cumberland River Valley Pioneers.

Order yours now by clicking here

Pre publication sales will continue thru April at a discounted price.

Jack Masters

Historical focus on James Robertson

2010-12-01T06:15:00.001-08:00

L - R David Wright, Kaki Johnston, Bill Puryear, Jack Masters & Aubrey Preston
These folks got together at Animalia in Leipers Fork recently to discuss Aubrey Preston's concept of historical focus on pioneer James Robertson.

Schedules Announced for Future Publications

2010-10-05T01:01:00.000-07:00

After a very busy year and a half your authors have determined a target schedule for Publication of Volume II & III.

Volume II along with Data Supplement 3 for the next set of counties will be available for purchase in May 2011.

Volume III along with Data Supplement 4 for the next set of counties will be available for purchase in October 2011.

We'll announce the schedule for ordering with pre-publication pricing as soon as possible - - meantime we will be very busy completing this book project.

Our web site has been updated to reflect all future publication plans.

Regards - your authors

Jack Masters & Bill Puryear

Reprints of Volume I have arrived

2010-05-15T15:24:00.000-07:00

Reprints of Volume I have arrived and are being shipped as ordered effective immediately. Thanks to those who have ordered - Enjoy our previously sold our Atlas!!!

Our Atlas receives Tennessee History Book Award, 2009

2010-03-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Jack Masters accepts award on behalf of Doug Drake & Bill Puryear from Carol Roberts

The "Tennessee History Book Award, 2009" was presented by the Tennessee Library Association and the Tennessee Historical Commission at the annual TLA meeting in Memphis on March 19, 2010.

Our Atlas receives Award !!

2010-03-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

We have been notified that our Founding of the Cumberland Settlements has won the annual Tennessee Library Association - Tennessee Historical Commission's History Book Award.

About 15 books published on Tennessee History last year were nominated and the committee reported that ours was unanimously chosen.

Thanks to the many folks making this prestigious award possible.

View our story on PBS Tennessee Crossroads

2010-02-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

This segment primarily detailed early pioneer roads and was initially aired on Tennessee Crossroads Feburary 25, 2010. Filmed last November we thought the piece was done very well indeed by the folks at PBS in Nashville.

You can view the film by clicking here.

Feature Article in "The Tennessee Magazine"

2009-12-01T12:59:00.001-08:00

The folks at "The Tennessee Magazine" feature our book and work in the December 2009 issue. The magazine is distributed monthly to over 500,000 members by Cumberland Electric Membership Corporation.

They did an exceptional job in photography and layout and we have experienced great sales as a result. You can see the entire article by: clicking here

Authors enjoy First Sale & Signing at Gallatin Public Library

2009-10-16T13:46:00.000-07:00

L - R David Wright, Bill Puryear, Doug Drake & Jack Masters
A successful book sale and signing was enjoyed Thursday evening October 15, 2009 at the Gallatin Public Library in Gallatin, Tennessee. We did not get a count of the attendees but we were busy signing books for the entire 2 1/2 hours!!

It's always a pleasure to see our old and new friends who enjoy the thrill of pioneer history in this part of Tennessee!!!

Our Founding of the Cumberland Settlements has arrived!!

2009-10-05T05:08:00.000-07:00

After years of preparation our Atlas is safely in our warehouse and we expect all pre-publication orders to be shipped the week of October 5th. The best news is that new orders via our site will be immediately filled.

We are pleased with our books and are confident you will be as well. In the meantime, be sure to see our program schedule and if you see that we are in your area we will be more than happy to sign your books. We always have a supply of books at the signings for those of you who have not purchased yet.

Work has begun on the next series and we'll have more on them later.

Jack Masters for
Doug Drake & Bill Puryear

Tennessee State Historian, Walter Durham, Reviews our Atlas

2009-06-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

Founding of the Cumberland Settlements, The First Atlas 1779-1804, Showing Who Came, How They Came, and Where They Put Down Roots is a piercing, almost breathtaking look at the Cumberland Country. This remarkable book and the accompanying disc that contains plats and descriptions of 1,500 North Carolina land grants represent an incredibly detailed study of its type. Doug Drake, Jack Masters, and Bill Puryear have produced an Atlas, but it is also an easy to read narrative history, a biographical sketch book, a trails and roads study, and an archive. It is a dossier of North Carolina land grants and a series of maps, cross referenced so that land grants, forts, stations, towns and cities, and even the residences of the settlers can be located. Its graphs and tables can lead one to elusive and at times unremarked history. It is majestically and copiously illustrated by David Wright and co-author Puryear. The combined, non-redundant indexes of the book and disc have a total of 18,000 entries.

The authors beautifully answer the question they posited: Who Came, How They Came, and Where They Put Down Roots. This is a valuable resource for anyone interested in early Tennessee and western history. It will surely be on the shelves of public libraries and universities in Tennessee and beyond. It is a special treasure for all of us who live in the Cumberland country.

--Walter T. Durham, State Historian

Dayspring Academy History Class Field Trip

2009-05-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is no ordinary group of school children. It's a special history class at Dayspring Academy in Greenbrier Tennessee. Seen here the class is viewing an old tree in a property line of Thomas Kilgore's 640 acre North Carolina Land Grant. We think the date is most likely 1785.

Seen Front L - R Derek Lamberth, Andrew Sims, Caleb Primm, Teacher Heather Frizzell, Andy Suttle and Jessica Duke. Seen in the back are Mary Massie on the left and Savannah Eller on the right.

This class has tackled tough questions as to the possible location of Kilgore's Station and while the exact site is yet to be proven a selection of possible pioneer relics discovered by class members suggest a location which may just be the site. More on that topic later.

Paula Eller and her father, Ted Melton have helped mentor this very gifted class. Field trips allow the class to gain insite to Robertson County Tennessee history in ways that few ever enjoy.

Cumberland Pioneer Settlers News

2009-05-18T10:34:00.001-07:00

New News page today - I'll have to determine content and direction.