Knoxville Female Academy?

Chota, Monroe Co.

Elizabeth Moore Henley was the daughter of Arthur Hesilrigge Henley, Sr. and Ann (Annie) Evelina Moore. She was born and married into two well connected families. Her grandfather, Col. David Henley, served in the Light Horse Infantry during the Revolutionary War, and was a friend of George Washington. Elizabeth was born at Chota, her family's home on the banks of the Little Tennessee River. Her father was a farmer who served as a postmaster and a Justice of the Peace. Elizabeth married John Barclay McGhee II in 1843. Her husband was a wealthy planter and merchant. Elizabeth died on Apr. 28, 1844, twelve days after the birth of her daughter. She is buried in the Bacon-Henley Cemetery, Monroe County.

Elizabeth stitched her family register at the age of ten or eleven in 1830. It may have been done at the Bolivar Academy in Madisonville, Monroe Co., as it bears some resemblance to other samplers made there at that time. However, in 1831 her name was listed as a student in the summer session of the Knoxville Female Academy Catalog. The school, which was located at the corner of Main St. and what is now Henley St. (named for Col. David Henley), was founded in 1827 with the building completed in 1829. Photograph courtesy of Case Antiques, Knoxville.