Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Aunt Dolly Jones at the company picnic

  • wcu_picturing-5388.jpg
  • This 1941 image of Dolly Seay Jones (1869-1955) was taken at the Carolina Wood Turning Company picnic and is part of the Stearns-Grueninger Collection. Born in Cades Cove, she is the daughter of Civil War veteran James Metillas Seay, who served for both the Confederacy and the Union, and Elizabeth Jane Burns. Irving Kip Stearns (1895-1942) was president of Carolina Wood Turning Company from 1928 until his death in 1942. Stearns’ grandfather, Jeremiah Shank, started the company in 1903 as Bryson City Pump Works and it grew to be a thriving industry for the community. In 1911, Stearns was in the first graduating class of Bryson City High School. He had one son, Joseph Pease Stearns (1917-1948). In 1935, I. K. married Betty Grueninger (1896-1971).