© The University of Tennessee Special Collections Library

Linear feet: The Arnell collection occupies 3 linear feet.

Abstract: This collection contains correspondence, diaries, journals, historical manuscripts, accounts of historical events, financial and legal papers, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings and various miscellaneous items.

Administrative Information

Provenance: Mrs Broadus Farrar presented the Arnell Collection to the library in 1975.

Copyright statement: Copyright © 2001. The University of Tennessee Libraries. All Rights Reserved. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute these materials for educational, research, and not-for-profit purposes, without fee and without a signed licensing agreement, is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph appear in all copies, modifications, and distributions. For commercial license to use contact, University of Tennessee Libraries, Office of the Dean, Permissions, 1015 Volunteer Boulevard, Knoxville, TN 37996-1000.

Scope and Content: The correspondence in the Arnell Collection is primarily from family, friends, or law associates although there is one letter of special interest confirming Arnell's Union loyalties. They span the years from September 12, 1864 to July 13, 1937. Diaries, journals, ledgers, etc. contained in this collection cover the years 1873 to 1903. They are mostly Arnell's accounts but Mrs Arnell's diary is included. Notes, memorandums, and compositions are combined in many of the diaries. The historical manuscripts include notes on a history of Tennessee, notes on a biography of William Brownlow, and a manuscript on the Zion Church and Community. The accounts of historical events contain an account of a raid led under General Stoneman, Mrs. Arnell's account of Hood's Raid and the damage to their home and themselves, a statement of some men whose orders were to burn the Union Depot in Sullivan County, and the account of a march to King's Mountain. The financial and legal papers contain deeds, abstracts of title, leases, statements, etc. There are many photographs included of people and places in Tennessee that were of interest to Arnell. Newspaper clippings make up the scrapbooks and there are also folders of newspaper clippings, magazine pages, and pages from various newspapers. Calling cards, souvenirs, programs, memorabilia, and etc. are included in the miscellaneous materials.

Biographical Note/Information: Samuel Mayes Arnell was born in Maury County, Tennessee on May 3, 1833. He was educated for the Church but taught at classic school and studied law. In 1859 he went into business manufacturing leather. In 1861 he took active interest in putting down the Rebellion, suffering in person and property from the Confederate Army. Arnell was elected to the first Tennessee Legislature after the war and advocated the passage of the Constitutional Amendment in 1865. He was elected as a representative from Tennessee to the Thirty-ninth Congress, taking his seat near the close of the first session, and served on the Committee on Public Expenditures. He was re-elected as Representative to the Fortieth and Forty-first Congresses and served on the Committee on Accounts and as Chairman of that on Expenditures in the State Department. During this time he became a close friend of Governor Brownlow. Arnell was the postmaster at Columbia, Tennessee from 1879 to 1885 and Superintendent of Public Schools there from 1885 to 1888. After many years of failing health his death was announced on July 28, 1903.

Series/Container List

Series I: Correspondence

Box 1
Folder 1: September 12, 1864 - October 12, 1899
Folder 2: August 31, 1900 - July 13, 1937.
Folder 3: Undated Letters.
Folder 4: Letters pertaining to Case No. 8919, In the Court of Claims. Guadalupe Ascarate, Administrator, vs. The U.S. & the Mescalero Indians,
Fort Stanton Reservation, January 5, 1867. Brief for Claimants Arnell & Newcomb, Attorney's for Claimant.

Series II: Diaries, Journals, Ledgers, etc.

Folder 5: Diaries 1873 - 1903
Folder 6: Mrs. Arnell's Diary 1894
Item 6a: Ledger of Family and Personal Accounts 1874 - 1900. (Too large for folder)

Series III: Historical Manuscripts and Accounts of Historical Events

Folder 7: Statement Relating to The Union Men Who Were Enlisted To Burn the Rail Road Bridge at Sullivan County, Tennessee, Under Special
Orders from Gen. George M. Thomas.
Folder 8: An account by a member of a raid led under the command of Gen. Stoneman, March 25, 1865.
Folder 9: Mrs. Arnell's account of Hood's Raid.
Folder 10: Sycamore Shoals, the March to Kings Mountain, and the Washington College Centennial.
Folder 11: Lectures on Philogie.
Folder 12: William Gannaway Brownlow biography notes and Tennessee Unionism and Reconstruction notes.
Folder 13: History of Tennessee notes.
Folder 14: Conclusion of History of Tennessee notes.
Folder 15: Brick Church manuscript original.
Folder 16: Brick Church manuscript xerox.
Folder 17: Three composition books. (A, B, C)
Folder 18: One composition book. (D)
Folder 19: One composition book. (E)
Folder 20: One composition book. (F)

Series IV: Financial and Legal Papers; Photographs and Scrapbooks

Box 2
Folder 1
       Item 1: October 24, 1782, Abstract of Title.
       Item 2: September 11, 1849, Deed.
       Item 3: February 1, 1872, Henry Conradis and wife to Samuel M. Arnell.
       Item 4: March 11, 1882, H.P. Figuns Deed to Cornelia C. Arnell September 30, 1889, Abstract of Title, S.M. Arnell, Jr.
       Item 5: December 12, 1889, Warranty Deed.
       Item 6: September 1, 1894, John T. Wilder to Mortgage Cornelia M. Arnell.
       Item 7: February, 1895, Proof of Claims.
       Item 8: September 11, 1896, Back Tax Attorney's Certificate, Thaddeus A. Cox, Tax Atty., to Samuel M. Arnell, Jr.,.
       Item 9: September 6, 1897, Tax Deed from Circuit Court Clerk to S.M. Arnell.
       Item 10: July 20, 1898, Back Tax Attys Deed, Thaddeus A. Cox, Tax Atty to Samuel Arnell, Jr.
       Item 11: September 3, 1898, Back Tax Attys Deed, Thaddeus A. Cox to S.M. Arnell, Jr.
       Item 12: October 20, 1898, Tax Attorneys Deed, Thaddeus A. Cox to S.M. Arnell.
       Item 13: October 13, 1898, Tax Attorneys Deed, Thaddeus A. Cox to S.M. Arnell.
       Item 14: June 14, 1900, Quit-Claim Deed, Carrie M. Beal and husband to B.M. Long.
       Item 15: October 2, 1900, Deed, G. Kirkpatrick & Wife to Samuel M. Arnell, Jr.
       Item 16: October 1, 1902, Warranty Deed, J.J. Coile, et ux, to S.M. Arnell, Jr.
       Item 17: January 6, 1903, Tax Deed Sold to S.M. Arnell by George Barnes Depty, Circuit Clerk.
       Item 18: February 7, 1903, Deed.
       Item 19: May 18, 1903, Abstract of Title.
       Item 20: May 20, 1903, Deed, E.A. Shipley to S.M. Arnell, Jr.
       Item 21: July 6, 1903, Tax Deed, Sold to S.M. Arnell.
       Item 22: November 21, 1904, Deed of Release, David Moore, William A. Hill, Trustees, to Samuel M. Arnell.
       Item 23: June 27, 1907, Deed of Trust, Samuel M. Arnell, et ux Hattie R, to the Washington Loan and Trust Company.

Folder 2
       Item 1: January 4, 1909, Abstract of Title.
       Item 2: October 23, 1909, Indenture.
       Item 3: November 11, 1919, Abstract of Title.
       Item 4: September 1, 1923, Lease, J. M. Rose to S.M. Arnell,
       Item 5: September 1, 1923-24 Statement and canceled checks.
       Item 6: Insurance policies.
       Item 7: Stockholders reports from the Chickamauga Coal & Coke Company.
       Item 8: Receipts.
       Item 9: Invoices.

Folder 3: Photographs.
Folder 4: Scrapbook. (A)
Folder 5: Scrapbook. (B)
Folder 6: Scrapbook. (C)
Item 6a: Scrapbook. (Too large for folder) (D)
Item 6b: Scrapbook. (Too large for folder) (E)
Newspaper Clippings

Folder 7
       Item 1: Clipping about a Chattanooga Library.
       Item 2: Two clippings on Columbia, Tennessee.
       Item 3: Three newspaper pictures.
       Item 4: Literary Failures.
       Item 5: Would I Were Stadfast.
       Item 6: Meeting of the Chickamauga and Durham Railroad Directors.
       Item 7: Outrage Upon Colored Men At Johnsonville.
       Item 8: Nashville Dispatch, January 26, 1868--clipping on the Ku Klux Klan.
       Item 9: Democratic Record of A.M. Hughes, Jr.
       Item 10: More Outrages by the "Kuklux Klan."
       Item 11: Article on Hawthorne's life.
       Item 12: Making A Newspaper.
       Item 13: The Force Bill.
       Item 14: Queer Occupations.
       Item 15: Seven More Newspaper Pictures.
       Item 16: A French Game.
       Item 17: Article on oysters.
       Item 18: Lonely hearts/advice column.
       Item 19: Self-Dependence.
       Item 20: New-York Daily Tribune, Tuesday, August 3, 1880, Murder report
       Item 21: Samuel Arnell's death announcement (original and xerox copies).
       Item 22: Columbia Athenaeum.
       Item 23: Columbia & Maury County.
       Item 24: Columbia Public Schools and Columbia Institute.
       Item 25: Board of Mayor and Aldermen, Johnson City, TN.
       Item 26: Another lonely hearts/advice column.
       Item 27: Something New For Christmas.
       Item 28: Auf Wiedersehen.
       Item 29: Good News.
       Item 30: Lee's School History.
       Item 31: A Christmas Legend.
       Item 32: The Blue and The Gray.
       Item 33: Concerning Courage.
       Item 34: Monument Unveiled on Sunday Afternoon.
       Item 35: A Romance in Whittier' s Life.
       Item 36: Cornelia C. Arnell's death announcement.
       Item 37: Capitol of the State of Franklin.
       Item 38: Act of Congress admitting Tennessee as a state.
       Item 39: Stanton's Courage.
       Item 40: Worcester Women's Club.
       Item 41: Cranberry, NC.
       Item 42: Dance without men.
       Item 43: Two newspaper pictures.
       Item 44: Superstitions About Stones
       Item 45: Carnegie Institution.
       Item 46: The Three Garment Girl.
       Item 47: Miscellaneous News.
       Item 48: Our Rotten Elections.
       Item 49: Contest clipping.
       Item 50: Basket Weaving.
       Item 51: Section 71.
       Item 52: Puck's Girdle.
       Item 53: For the Wytheville Telegraph
       Item 54: Speech of Hon. A.A. Taylor.
       Item 55: Work of Tennessee Federation Among Mountaineers.
       Item 56: Exercises For Health.
       Item 57: The Path of the Padres.
Pages from Magazines

Folder 8
       Item 1: Twelfth Census of the United States. Census Bulletin. No. 74 Washington, DC, July 20, 1901.
       Item 2: Present worth of outstanding bonds, upon a two and one-quarter per centum basis, for the month of December, 1900. Treasury
Department, Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC, November 21, 1900
       Item 3: Table 6.--Population of the Principal Cities of New Jersey: 1820 to 1900
       Item 4: Map of the United States.
       Item 5: The Home Magazine, August 1890, pages 9 and 10.
       Item 6: The Queen of Fashion, July 1895, pages 165 and 166.
Pages from Newspapers

Folder 9
       Item 1: Washington Post, Sunday, June 8, 1902, page 15-16.
       Item 2: The Comet, Johnson City, TN, Thursday, April 2, 1908
       Item 3: The Bristol Herald Courier, Sunday, November 17 1918, page 2, 8, 9, 10.
       Item 4: New-York Tribune, Monday, June 1, 1908, page 1, 2.
       Item 5: St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, Sunday, March 23, 1902; April 27, 1902; May 18, 1902; May 25, 1902, May 11, 1902, March 2, 1902, February 23, 1902, June 15, 1902, June 22, 1902 (2); July 6, 1902, September 22, 1895.
       Item 6: The Journal & Tribune, Sunday, May 11, 1902, page 7, 8.
       Item 7: The Evening Star, Tuesday, July 15, 1902, p. 3, 4.
       Item 8: Morning Tribune, Knoxville, Tenn., Sunday, March 29, 1896, page 4.
       Item 9: Columbia Herald Industrial Edition, March 1896, page 3, 4.
       Item 10: Washington Post, Sunday, April 6, 1902, page 31, 32.
       Item 11: Johnson City (Supplement).

Folder 10: Miscellaneous Materials
Folder 11: Miscellaneous Materials