About: Tracy Jepson 
Tracy Jepson is an Associate Historical Interpreter at Fort Defiance Civil War Park and Interpretive Center. She is married to Brian and is the mother of 3 children.
She enjoys hiking, writing, research, travel, spending time with her family, and doing anything fun with a good friend!
Tracy is originally from Topeka, KS, but now makes her home in the beautiful wooded hills of Middle Tennessee.
Tracy Jepson's Articles:
The History of Renfroe Station on the Red River, 1780 – Part 1
Clarksville, TN – Have you heard the story of the first frontier settlement on the Red River?
Many times the history beneath our feet here in Montgomery County is not in the forefront of our minds. It can be easily forgotten that the many places we live, shop, or work every day contain stories from multiple historical periods of Tennessee. In this case, it is the history of westward expansion and the Indian Wars of the 18th century.
People may wonder why these stories matter. Many of us were at one time young students who felt history class was incredibly boring and even called it our least favorite subject. Yet, in truth, it is those who devote some time to the subject in depth who are a very fortunate group of people. They gain insights and knowledge; they increase their wisdom.
The Red River, Clarksville, Tennessee
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The Freed Slaves of Montgomery County
Clarksville, TN – Every human being has worth and deserves dignity. “Everyone matters” is an incredibly powerful humanitarian ideal, and one upon which the United States seems to continually both build and define. We hear the whispers of this ideal within the words of the Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The generation of Americans which fought to free us from the tyranny of Europe in the late 18th Century probably could not have grasped how these words, and the spirit of the ideal they reflect would be used by subsequent generations to form the nation we live within today.
Unknown Slave Women and children
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Clarksville Beginnings – Part 4: Is Sevier Station Really Sevier Station?
Clarksville, TN – If you look hard enough, it is not difficult to find a rather cynical analysis of recorded history. For example, “The past actually happened. History is what someone took the time to write down,” says writer and comedian, Whitney A. Brown.
Or there is American writer and Civil War veteran, Ambrose Bierce, who chimed in with, “God alone knows the future, but only a historian can alter the past.”
Yet, despite these opinions and the imperfections they reveal concerning the whole endeavor of unearthing information about the past, it is a still considered a noble one.
Sevier Station
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Clarksville Beginnings – Part 3: What Kind of Man Was Valentine Sevier?
Clarksville, TN – Our lives here in Middle Tennessee are built upon the foundation of those who lived before us. The names of these souls of long ago are sprinkled upon our consciousness as they are now reflected in the names of our counties, cities, and roads: John Montgomery, George Rogers Clark, James Robertson, etc.
They are people who lived the prime of their lives in the late 18th century on the cusp of a new nation, bordering a frontier with a plethora of possibilities. These men are revered and their lives have been boiled down to a thick consistency of stories that all reflect their heroism, bravery, and sometimes larger than life achievements.
There is a definite vibe that they are only to be portrayed as one dimensional hero type characters. Along with that I get the feeling that to declare anything else is pretty much blasphemy.
Sevier Station
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Clarksville Beginnings – Part 2: Revisiting the Massacre at Sevier Station; In Their Own Words
Clarksville, TN – I love history and find it fascinating – and you must enjoy it as well or you would not be reading this article! Yet, I could listen and listen to someone who is alive and well with me today go on ad nauseum about the dry facts from the past and get absolutely nothing from it.
But, to hear the very words of those who lived before us – those priceless journals, letters, and testimonies – that is gold to me! It is amazing to be able to peak into their minds and hearts for just a moment and experience with them the joys, the struggles, the hopes, and the pain of the experience of life.
That is what we have with the story of the lives of Valentine Sevier, his family, and community – their own words.
Sevier Station
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Clarksville Beginnings: The Early History of Sevier Station – Part 1
Clarksville, TN – Have you seen the old stone building on Walker Street in the New Providence area? If not, come by and take a look at it some time. This primitive looking building, labeled “Sevier Station”, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is touted as the oldest building in Montgomery County, Tennessee.
As you walk around and gaze at the roughhewn limestone quarried from the nearby bluffs, and ponder the old chimney placed oddly in the center of the building, and consider the apparent gun port built into the east side, may you contemplate the ground upon which you are standing.
Sevier Station
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