Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Miss Jess Shank

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  • This 1941 image taken by Irving Kip Stearns (1895-1942) of his aunt Jessie "Miss Jess" Lenore Shank, who moved to Bryson City with her family in 1903, is part of the Stearns-Grueninger collection. Miss Jess was secretary-treasurer of Carolina Wood Turning Company, which her father Jeremiah Shank owned, and took over as company president after the death of I. K. Stearns. She was an incorporator and vice-president of Carolina Builders Supply and active in the acquisition and sale of timber in several sections of Swain County. She donated the land for the Swain County Hospital and was well loved and respected in her community. I. K. Stearns 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).