03/16/2026
Article in the Elizabethton Star by Rozella Hardin about the Folsom Family and House. November 16, 2009
Folsom family leaves mark on Elizabethton
BY ROZELLA HARDIN
STAR STAFF
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The Civil War was a war of principles as well as one of guns and blood. It was also a war that pitted brother against brother, divided communities and churches, and made bitter enemies of neighbors.
Elizabethton, even though a small town, which leaned toward the Union cause, had a number of highly visible war activists on both sides. Some of the most loyal Union supporters in the country were also slaveholders. And, there were those who were true Confederates, not so much that they believed in slavery, but because of the many other prejudices and differences that seem to divide the north and south.
Two local families, which the war had a profound effect on, were the Carters and Folsoms, neighbors on Forge Street (now E. Elk Avenue). The Folsoms, appropriately enough, lived on the south side of the street, and the Carters on the north side. Much has been written about the Carters, who were devout Unionists. Oddly enough, they owned slaves. However, little is known about the Folsoms — a family divided by the war, although they were one of Elizabethton’s most prominent families and left an indelible mark on the community. There is Folsom Printing Company, the Captain Lynn H. Folsom Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Folsom House, a historical landmark on E. Elk Avenue, home of the Fraser Fir Christmas tree.
The patriarch of the local Folsom family was Malcolm N. Folsom, a native of North Carolina who came to Carter County perhaps because his uncle, Nathaniel Folsom, had migrated here in the late 1700s. Malcolm Folsom was born in 1792 and fought in the War of 1812 along with his brother, Willey (pronounced Wiley) Folsom, who fought and died in the War of 1812.
Malcolm N. Folsom was married to Nannie Hughes and to this union was born William I. Folsom, George Folsom, Thomas S. Folsom, Henderson M. Folsom, Benjamin Franklin Folsom, Mary J. Folsom and Sarah Folsom.
Malcolm N. Folsom, according to the 1850 census, was a hatter and owned a business in town, in which his sons worked. Folsom served as Clerk of the County Court from 1836 to 1840 and as Register from 1840 to 1844.
William J. Folsom apparently took the family business over from his father and also worked as a blacksmith. The census of 1850 also listed George as a merchant and Henderson M. as a storekeeper.
George went on to become a prominent banker in Morristown while Henderson (H.M.) entered the practice of law, and for a time served as clerk and master of the Carter County Chancery Court, leaving that post to go to war. Henderson Folsom built the two-story white clapboard house, which stands on E. Elk Avenue, home of the Fraser Fir. The house and properties are owned by Carter County and serves as the office of the U-T Carter County Extension Service.
After building the house on Forge St., the story is told that sometime in the 1860s, Folsom took his family to the top of Roan Mountain for a picnic. While they were there, the family dug up two Fraser fir saplings and brought them back to Elizabethton, where they were planted on each side of the front entrance to their home. One of the trees died, and one lived, growing to be 78 feet tall — the tallest in the state. This year marks the 21st year the tree has been the Community Christmas Tree, displaying thousands of lights that are visible throughout much of the downtown.
Major H.M. Folsom was the only commissioned officer from Carter County in the Confederate Army. He was with the Confederate States of America, serving in Company G of the 31st Tennessee Regiment commanded by General Vaughn. He was captured at Wi******er, Va., on September 19, 1864. He was a well-known lawyer and teacher of law. One of his law students was J.N. Edens, who lived on Race Street and was a Tennessee legislator and Elizabethton’s first recorder.
Major Folsom, who was well respected in the town, both before and after the war, was the first Sunday School superintendent of the Southern Methodist Church and helped to erect the church building on Second Street (now the St. Thomas Episcopal Church).
Major Folsom lived and worked in a town, which was predominantly Union, and who after the war continued to practice law. “This was unique because there was a lot of animosity in the town between the two sides and many of the Confederates were run out of town during and after the war,” said local historian Bobby Nave.
“Henderson had an unusual relationship with Capt. Dan Ellis. Ellis, who was one of the union’s most decorated soldiers, punished most of the Confederates. He killed them and burned their homes, but, for some reason he protected Henderson Folsom. He had a lot of respect for him,” explained Nave, who believed that Folsom and Ellis may have been boyhood friends.
However, it was a divided Folsom home as the older brother, William J. Folsom, and his sister, Sarah, were staunch Union supporters. “This may have been due to the fact that W.J. married one of the O’Brien girls, whose family was loyal to the Union cause,” Nave conjectured. W.J.’s first wife was Anna J. Bishop, and to this union were born Landon, William H. and Thomas. He and Eliza O’Brien were the parents of Brien, Mary and Flora.
Eliza O’Brien was the daughter of Joseph and Mary O’Brien, very good friends of the Carters. Eliza’s cousin, also Eliza O’Brien, was married to Parson Brownlow, who was very loyal to the Union cause. Brownlow was also a former Tennessee governor. Apparently, the O’Briens had much influence on William J. and his sister, Sarah, who later made her home with the William J. Folsom family.
Major Henderson Folsom was married to Sarah Berry on Sept. 30, 1855, and it was during this period that he purchased the two lots on Forge Street, where he built a home around 1861. The tract of land on which he built his home were lots No. 48 and 49 in the original town tract. The two lots were among the first sold at a public lottery on October 4, 1796. They were one-half acre in size and were purchased for $10 each from Samuel Tipton, who donated 50 acres of his farm for the town site. Lot No. 8 was initially purchased by Abraham Tipton and Lot No. 49 was initially purchased by Abel Pearson.
Major and Mrs. Folsom were the parents of John Folsom, who in the 1880 census was listed as an artist, but who later founded Folsom Printing Co.; Ida, who married George Boren, who became a prominent Elizabethton attorney; and Minnie, who married Thomas Williams.
John Matson Folsom founded Folsom Printing Co. in 1885 and at the time of his death in 1931 was one of the oldest businessmen in Elizabethton. He remained active in the operation of his printing business until the late 1920s.
His obituary in the Elizabethton STAR noted that Folsom was a member of the Southern Methodist Church and “was known in the county and East Tennessee as a man of sterling character, a good friend and neighbor.”
He was married to Amelia Stover, daughter of Dr. Samuel Murray Stover, a surgeon in the Confederate Army. (Note: Dr. Stover was a brother to Daniel Stover, a decorated soldier in the Union Army and son-in-law of President Andrew Johnson).
John and Amelia were the parents of Matson Henderson Folsom, who took over the family printing business, and Lynn H. Folsom, who was a highly decorated soldier of the Elizabethton National Guard and for whom the local VFW post was named.
Captain Folsom saw Mexican Border service and served with the 30th Division, 117th Infantry in World War I. He was wounded during the war and died at the early age of 41, as a result of war injuries he never completely recovered from. He also worked in the family printing business.
Other children of John and Amelia Folsom were Kitty B., who was married to John Nave, a former Elizabethton Police Chief, and Murray Folsom, who inherited the Folsom House. He and his wife deeded the property to Carter County in 1976 with the provision that the house would not be sold or removed to another location.
The early Folsoms are buried in the Green Hill Cemetery while several members of the Major Folsom family are buried in the Highland Cemetery. Among the graves in the historic Green Hill Cemetery are Willie B. Folsom (19-year-old daughter of Henderson and Sarah Folsom); Sarah Folsom, sister of H.M Folsom; Malcolm Neville Folsom, father of Henderson Folsom; Eliza E. Folsom, wife of W.J. Folsom; Nannie Hughes Folsom, wife of Malcolm N. Folsom; W.J. Folsom, Thomas Folsom and B.F. and Sarah Ryan Folsom.
Buried at the Highland Cemetery are Major H.J. Folsom and wife, Sarah; John J. Folsom and wife, Amelia; and Captain Lynn Folsom.
