Click on the small white arrow in each individual event to learn more about the history of the Lonesome Cabin.
June 20, 1790 - William Green Austin was born in Orange County, North Carolina. He and his wife, Dicy Horner Austin, were the first occupants of Lonesome.
December 23, 1800 - Delilah (Dicy) Horner was born in Orange County, North Carolina. She and her husband, William Greene Austin, were the first occupants of Lonesome.
William Green Austin fought in the Battle of New Orleans, and in return was given 800 acres of land by Andrew Jackson, his commanding officer, who later became the first president of the USA from the state of Tennessee.
It was during the War of 1812 that Jackson gained national fame which would later help him to become president. Jackson was appointed leader and General of the Tennessee militia. He led them to several victories. When the British were expected to attack New Orleans, Jackson was put in charge. At the Battle of New Orleans Jackson claimed the one major victory over the British in the war. With 5,000 men he soundly defeated 7,500 British soldiers. The British had over 2,000 casualties while Jackson's army only suffered around 70. During the Battle of New Orleans, the U.S. soldiers said Jackson was as tough as "old hickory". This became his nickname.
A new log house (two large rooms, each two stories) with breezeway between was built by an unknown builder, probably David Pasmore and coworkers. David Pasmore was a Revolutionary War vet who wed (about 1805) William Austin’s widow, Ruth Kelly Austin, mother of my first occupants who were William Green Austin who married Dicy Horner Austin 1819.
We don't know the exact year, but William and Dicy were instrumental in establishing Burns Methodist Church. (from Burns Historic Society) "According to the tradition that has survived, the first Methodist Church was established on the south bank of the Beaverdam Creek, in a building belonging to Sarah Davidson. Here, it is said that after Lorenzo Dow had conducted a successful Camp Meeting, William Austin, his wife Dicey, and Sarah Davidson formulated plans for the first church building. Mrs. Sarah Davidson donated the tract of land. William Austin supervised its structure. During the latter part of the 1830[s] regular services were held in the new building. It was named Marvin’s Chapel in memory of Rev. Marvin, former Bishop of Methodism in Tennessee. The church continued in that location until 1862, at which time it moved one and one-half miles north, near old Franklin Road. It was located amid a beautiful grove of trees."
April 8, 1844, Mary Zenab (Zenie) Austin was born. Zenie was the youngest daughter of William and Dicy Austin. She lived to be 78 years old and died on May 7, 1922.
After the deaths of both of her parents, Mary Zenab (Zenie) Austin Alspaugh, inherited the cabin in 1884.
February 6, 1891 - Ruth Elizabeth Austin, granddaughter of William and Dicy Austin, was born. She died on December 11, 1994 at the age of 103. She was the daughter of Calvin Franklin Austin and Lurana (Raney) Elisabeth Anderson Austin.
June 6, 1907. Emily Alspaugh was the mother of Josiah Clifton Alspaugh, husband of Mary Zenab (Zenie) Austin. This is one of the earliest events that was photographed -- her birthday party shows Lonesome when it was about 92 years old.
February 6, 1912 - The cabin was given to Ruth Elizabeth Austin on her 21st birthday by her Aunt Zenie (Mary Zenab Austin Alspaugh) who was also her foster mother.
1913 was the year of the marriage of (Betty) Ruth Elizabeth Austin and John Alan Kimbro.
May 29, 1915 - William Wyatt Austin, Jr., great grandson of William and Dicy Austin, was born. He died on October 8, 2004. He is the author of a book about Lonesome called "The Lonesome Story".
The year was 1916 and Zenie (Mary Zenab Austin Alspaugh) was talking to her niece (and foster daughter) Elizabeth (Betty) Austin Kimbro. Betty as you may know, was known to all as “Aunt Betty” and she spent many summers at Lonesome later in her life. But getting back to the story, Betty and her husband, Jack Kimbro, had been married about 3 years and on that warm spring day they decided to go on a picnic down to the cabin. They had a blanket, and basket with some bread and a little glass hen containing some peach preserves that Zenie had just made that morning. She looked at them and said, “You look like Mr. and Mrs. Suburb going to Lonesomehurst.” You may wonder what or where Lonesomehurst is. Well it was from a newspaper comic strip that was popular in 1916. It was called “Living in Lonesomehurst” and was about a family who moved to the suburbs. The city-folk thought that they were completely nuts and were certain that wild animals would attack them out there in the wilderness! So when Zenie saw Betty and Jack getting ready to hike down to the cabin, that’s when she uttered those famous words. The name Lonesomehurst stuck and over the years was shortened to Lonesome.
At the death of Ruth Elizabeth Austin Kimbro Astin on December 11, 1994, the cabin was deeded to her great nephew, William Wyatt Austin, III.
On June 20, 2015, the Austin Family dedicated the Lonesome Cabin to the Town of Burns, TN, with the intention that it would be made into a pioneer park preserving the cabin and its history for generations to come.
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