The Family of James Rufus Agee; Agee Family in LaFollette; Tyler Family in Knoxville; Jay's Funeral; Agee Real Life Images; Motion Pictures
East Tennessee Commentary
Although his formative years were in an artistic and upper middle class home and in the progressive
and liberal Knoxville environment, Agee remained drawn to his mountain roots. East Tennessee is synonymous with his character. He was happiest being with nature under the mysterious sky. It is a
recurring image in all his works from walking hidden paths to the swimming hole in The Morning Watch to lying under the stars in his poetic prose, Knoxville: Summer 1915. During his field research
in Alabama for Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, Agee easily fell into the rural mannerisms of the sharecroppers. In The Collected Short Prose of James Agee, Fitzgerald recalls Agee wore blue and
khaki work shirts with armpits stained—he never laundered clothing. (42-43)
As a young writer Agee was drawn to the open road, considering hitch hiking to California. Instead, he
found work as a farm hand in the wheat fields of the Great Plains, retold in "They That Sow on Sorrow Shall Reap," "Death in the Desert," and "The Great American Roadside,"
written for Fortune magazine. (September, 1934) He found the flat and dry Midwest an unacceptable contrast to the plush terrain of
his Knoxville valley and the mysterious blue hue of his Great Smoky Mountains, where flowering trees and shrubs enhance verdant lawns, as flaming sunsets are relinquished to a star studded black rural sky.
~Low on the length of lawns, a frailing of fire who breathes. (6)
As an artist Agee was engaged in an unrequited search for "who I am," always returning to who he
"was." In life, Agee seldom found personal or artistic contentment, but he was most happy near nature. His farm in Hillsdale, NY was his escape from the congestion of the city and pressures of work. It was
there he was buried, his final home.
Agee's The Morning Watch is set in an area known as Sewanee located west of Knoxville. There Agee
attended St. Andrews School's a school run by monastic Anglican priests. It is an area where small river branches provided swimming holes for the boys. Rivers play prominent roles in Agee's novels,
but none is as brilliant as Agee's script for The African Queen.
~A great silence seems to close in on them—the silence of a tropical river
at noon. The only sound is the subdued rush and gargle of the water.
The sober air is filled with a strange light—a green light. (AQ 175)
(3) Compiled from (AQ, C, CB 1, CK; HV; O, RM, TN, W)
Climate
That the Tennessee flag has three stars is not by accident. West, Middle, and East Tennessee are
distinctive both in economics and in geography—West Tennessee and Memphis' great cotton export port, Middle Tennessee with its rich soil for farming, and East Tennessee's fertile valley nestled
beneath the majestic Smoky Mountains.
In the valley Fall is a long season with the first frost coming in November. Winter is equally mild, with
an average temperature of 42 degrees, although the mountains may drop to zero. The highest precipitation is in winter and early spring, ranging from 60 inches as snow in higher mountains to 45
inches of rain in ridge and valley areas. Spring arrives between March and May with the last frost in early April. With it come spring rains, as much as 30 inches, and temperatures ranging from the mid 60s to mid 70s.
~May 16, 1916, on the morning Hugh James Agee died,
the pre dawn temperature was 57 degrees, by midday
it was 74 degrees with 0.01 inches of rain.~
Summers are hot and humid in Knoxville, but the mountains remain cooler. Average valley temperature is in the 70's, while 55-60 inches of flooding rain falls—a striking contrast to the July and August
"droughts." Between 1871-1930 June temperatures averaged between 64 to 84 degrees; July 67 to 87 degrees; and August between 66 and nearly 86 degrees. June and July daily precipitation averaged
over four inches, diminishing to three in August.
The Summer of 1915 that Agee remembered ranged from 63 to nearly 82 degrees and over six inches of daily
rain in June; 67 to 86 degrees with nearly four inches of rain in July; and 65 to 83 degrees with almost four inches of rain in August. What is amazing is that the Agees found a need to water their lawns at all.
As the warm afternoon air relinquishes to the cooling at evening sunset, moisture condenses from the air into drops of dew on the lawn and rings of fog through the mountains. In late spring and early fall,
frost may form if temperature is below 32 degrees and humans and animals can "see their breath."
(3). Sources (C; CK; HV; W;G, N; NE)
Geography and Geology
The land area of Tennessee is a somewhat rectangular: 42,146 miles with over 926 miles of inland water.
East Tennessee is located between Mississippi River on the west and the Appalachian Mountains' Blue Ridge on the east, with seven natural regions. A terrain of rugged dense forests and brush kept
the area remote until the early 20th century. Knoxville and Chattanooga are the regional centers of East Tennessee.
The Great Smoky Mountain's valleys and ridges are ringed in a blue humid haze or fog (219). A National Park, the Smokes are located in the Blue Ridge Mountain's Unaka Range bordering North Carolina and
Tennessee. Clingman's Dome, Tennessee's highest point, is 6642 feet and overlooks the Blue Ridge Mountains and the fertile Great Valley of Tennessee, sharing the Cumberland Plateau with Kentucky.
Rivers
Knoxville was a planned city, laid out in thirty square blocks of four lots each along the Holston "Tennessee" River. The Tennessee River ambles from the Holston and French Broad Rivers southward
into Alabama before returning to West Tennessee. Knoxville is surrounded by rivers with the Powell River to the north, the Clinch to the west, and the Holston and French Broad to the east--lacing it with
creeks and plush vegetation. The Tennessee state gem is the river pearl, an irregularly shaped, bluish gray or white, river pearl, formed around an irritation, such as a grain of sand, in the shell of bivalve
mollusks. (CK; HV)
Southeast of Knoxville, where the Holston and French Broad rivers meet, the Tennessee River meanders south through Alabama and then upward to the Ohio River in Kentucky. In 1985 the
Tennessee and Tombigbee Rivers were joined with a northeastern Mississippi canal to provide a route to the Gulf of Mexico.
As the rivers bend, shoals build up and only small boats can navigate past the shoals. The early Cherokees used dugout canoes to cross. When the river was high, a flat boat could reach New Orleans,
but it could not return "against the tide." At low water service would be out for several months each year. By 1830 there was steamboat traffic; keelboats had access to Knoxville only on irregular high
water runs. The riverboat is on the Tennessee State Seal, demonstrating the commercial importance of river traffic.
A canal was built in 1836, but closed with the development of a railroad around the shoals
. The railroad had an open price war with river transportation, but the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 outlawed the
competition. The north rivers of Knoxville were used for freight transport. The Holston River to the east transported salt. Boats were disassembled and returned rail, only to be assembled again. It wasn't until
1925 that TVA removed the obstacles: Wilson Dam, 1925, and Pickwick and Wheeler Dams, 1930. (HV 178-183)
Jay Agee crossed the Powell River northwest of Knoxville to reach LaFollette. It was the Powell River flowing from Virginia into Tennessee that Rufus and Jay observed on their walk home from the movies.
In modern times it was the river utilized by the TVA for the Norris Dam and the creation of Norris Lake.
~They both watched the brown water widen under the lantern light,
apparently with equal appreciation. (43)
Soil
The rough surfaces and high ridges created by the Tennessee River are in contrast to the fertile
farmlands of the 100-mile rolling Costal Plain to the East. In contrast, the Mississippi River in West Tennessee has fine-textured alluvial soils which support abundant river valley crops.
Lithosols, a thin and acidic soil, covers the Cumberland Plateau and Eastern Tennessee. The acidic soil in the mountains is poor for crops, but supports abundant forests of northern hardwoods and plant
and wild life familiar to most Appalachian mountain areas.
Tennessee was principally agricultural until the mid 20th century, particularly Middle and West
Tennessee. Primary crops were wheat, a cereal plant, and cotton, used for oil and cloth. The plow, wheat sheaf, and cotton stalk are on the Tennessee State Seal.
Knoxville was noted as an industrial city. Coal was mined in the Cumberland Plateau, while limestone, marble, sandstone, and zinc and copper were mined in Eastern Tennessee. Marble, a semi metamorphic
rock, changes via recrystalization of limestone and is tinted by iron oxide, carbon, or serpentine for color. It is pressure and heat that cause the change creating white, black, pink, yellow, and brown
colors. It is softer than granite. Agate, crypto crystalline quartz, is banded with hidden crystals. Before polishing it is just a coarse and unattractive rock. Agates vary throughout the U. S., with maganese
moss agates in Montana, pear shape ringed quartz in Iowa, and the petrified agate wood of Arizona. (O, RM 12, 27, 80-81, 134-135, 155) The State Rock of Tennessee is "Tennessee Marble" or Limestone. The
Semi Precious State Stone is Agate.
Sky
Dinner at the Agee home ended at 6:30 p.m. and was beyond sunset—a frailing of fire. While the sky at
dusk resembles the lining of mother of pearl, the night stars contrast against the black rural sky. The sky is a theme in a majority of Agee's writing. (3,4, 6,11)
(3). Source (CK; HV; ME; 0; RM; TN)
Wildlife
The State Amphibian is the Salamander, a semi-terrestrial tailed amphibian with moist scaleless skin.
Like frogs, its larvae are aquatic. Tennessee abounds with turtles, fish, and lizards, as well as frogs, toads, and snakes--subjects in Agee's novels.
The State Reptile is the Box Turtle. The freshwater Box Turtles have trunks enclosed in a hard scale-like shell with dorsal and ventral bony plates that are
fused to the shell and guard the body. Turtles are beaked and toothless; their flippers have webbed toes. In North America the freshwater turtle is the oldest living group of reptiles and is related to the dinosaurs.
Native year-round birds include the Mockingbird (the State Bird) and the Bobwhite quail (the State
Game Bird), as well as the eastern Bluebird, Cardinal, Robin, and Chickadee, and Woodpecker.
The Tennessee State Butterfly is the Zebra Swallowtail. It is easily identified by an extended spur in the
hind wing and by its bright colors. The hind wing supports the forewing and expands during daytime flight. It rests with wings upright. It has long tube-like mouth to suck liquids. It is metamorphic, the
larva is a caterpillar.
The State Fish is the Largemouth Bass, a fresh water game fish. It is spiny finned and grows to 2 ½ feet
in length. The abundant Catfish is a commercial fish; it is scaleless and its mouth garbles resemble cat's whiskers.
The Firefly is the State
Insect and often mentioned in Agee's writings. It is a soft-bodied beetle and emits phosphorescent light. A song was written about its larvae, the "Glow Worm." In the Great Smoky
Mountains fireflies have been known to emit light in unison. The State agricultural insects are the Honeybee and the Ladybug—in folklore believed to cure colic and measles.
Small
mammals, including fox, raccoon, opossum, gray and red fox, and southern flying squirrel roam the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. An abundance of migratory birds winter and summer in Tennessee.
Sources (BN; C; CK; GB; GF; HV; 0; SS; TN; TS; UB; W)
Knoxville, Tennessee
The plot of A Death in the Family
unfolds in Knoxville with scenes of the Agee home, followed by descriptions of the route Rufus and Jay walked to downtown Knoxville. His maternal grandfather
Tyler's home, and the site of Jay's Wake, was a short walk around the corner from the Agee home. After her husband's death Laura Agee sold the house and moved to a smaller house down the block, finally,
relocating with her children at St. Andrews School near Sewanee in Middle Tennessee. Rufus was enrolled as a boarding school student. The mystical summers between school terms that Agee recalls
were spent at Grandfather Tyler's home--a profound influence:
~Why is your skin so dark? (98)
Knoxville was historically a stronghold of enterprising and independent thinkers. Prior to the Civil War, East Tennessee's belief in equality and their loyalty to the Federal government was unique among
southern states. Tennessee was the last southern state to secede from the Union. Knoxville remained defiant and loyal to the Union. The Confederate Army invaded Knoxville and seized their buildings,
sacked their stronghold, and tried to starve them into submission. Cleverly, and using the same flat boat system that carried Jay Agee to LaFollette,
the Knoxvillians brought in food supplies through a river route unknown to the Confederates. When the war ended, Tennessee was the first seceded state to return to the Union.
Curiously, and despite their advocacy for African American rights, the cause for Native American freedom and independence was not a priority of the early Tennessee settlers or the Federal
Government. Despite the literacy Sequoyah brought to the Cherokee Nation and their generosity to the early settlers, after gold was discovered in Tennessee, the Cherokees were viewed as an
inconvenience—they held land that was wanted. The Cherokee Nation was taken from their historic homeland and forced to walk to the newly opened Oklahoma territory to the west. The Tennessee
mountains kept secret thousands of Cherokee that escaped history's cruelest walk: the "Trail of Tears."
See also: Timeline and Resources-Ken Burn's CIVIL WAR video
Streets, Stops, and Stores
Walking Knoxville with Jay and Rufus
Before beginning, download a map of Knoxville:
Select "Knoxville, TN" and "Market Square" for a downtown map. You may select any Knoxville street or area name.
Agee's Knoxville Neighborhood: (3,4,6)
Jay and Laura Agee's home: 1505 Highland Avenue, west Knoxville
Joel Tyler's home: Laurel Avenue (188)
~Along Laurel, it was much darker; heavy leaves obscured the one near street lamp.~ (188)
Fort Sanders.
(308, 310). The old fort is dead and looking at it is as it is a Bier upon which a coffin is laid.
The Tyler and Agee neighborhoods were built in the vicinity of Fort Sanders—a Civil War series of dirt
bunkers. The first Knoxville fort was James White's Fort, founder of Knoxville; the home stands today and is a historical site. (TN-Gordon)
Asylum Avenue: (16-17)
Deaf and Dumb Asylum
Drug store with Venus de Milo statue. The Roman goddess of vegetation was Venus, worshipped in the 3rd century by the Greeks, and later as the protector of chastity. The Venus de Milo statue is in the Louvre
museum In Paris. (C)
L&N Depot (16), switch engines (91); North Knoxville rail yards (17-18), and train (20)
In 1905 the L&NRR broke the Southern Railway monopoly (19-21). In 1833 the worlds largest rail line was set between Charleston to Savannah, but Knoxville&Southern Railway plan to connect to Georgia
and North Carolina was still being debated. By 1836, nine states had agreed on a new route. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina wanted a route east to the Mississippi River, west of East Tennessee.
Others wanted to extend upper East Tennessee into the Catawba Valley of North Carolina, among other routes. The post Civil War economic depression prevented any action. By 1990 there were 2621 miles of
railway tracks in Tennessee.
The well paid Louisville and Nashville (L&N) employees created Knoxville's first middle class. There
was no streetcar service to the L&N depot (218). The L&N Depot's stained glass was an important Victorian contribution to railway stations. Aboard the L&N train a "news butcher" sold items to
passengers; the Agee children selected candy in glass (219). Knoxville's L&N Depot today is used as living quarters for area residents. (see also: Transportation below)
West Church Avenue.
E. Mann Undertaking, 311-313 W. Church
East Fifth Street. (TN) Knoxville High School, between Central and Lamar Streets, as of 1924
Gay Street (4, 14 and TN)
George's Hall & Donohue Coffin Co., 204 Gay Street
Majestic Theatre, 315 Gay Street, where Rufus and his father saw the Charlie Chaplin movies
Sterchi's Store
Forest Avenue (17, 41).
A hilly street with a viaduct overlooking L&N RR yard, a turn from the Deaf and Dumb Asylum. Vacant lot in a North Knoxville overlook ¼ mile from Agee home (17-18)
Market Square (45).
A place in the city where farmers gather to sell produce. Harbison's clothing store for men and boys; Rufus purchases a checkered cap (73) Millers store for women, around the corner from Market Square
Payne Avenue. (TN) Central High School, African American, as of 1924
Sixth Street. (TN) High School, 1924, moved to Sixth and Fountain City in 1924
Streets lighting
, "white carbon lamps," (4,6) were at first dull and flickering, but became brightly lighted with the introduction of the gas light mantel. (See: Turn of the Century interior lights)
Near Knoxville
Powell River Valley. "This was the real, old, deep country, now. Home country." (15, 134)
Market Bar. (15-16) Bars and the sale of alcohol were legally ceased by Prohibition, but continued in "nighthawks" (41) with markets or restaurants as fronts. Jay and his brother were regular drinkers.
Following their example, James Rufus Agee became a dedicated drinker in college, an obsession that permeated his marriages, writing, and work, leading to poor choices, poor health, and ultimately death.
Sources: (CK, D; HV)
Transportation
Automobiles have a high profile role in Agee's A Death in the Family. Jay was driving a "Tin Lizzy,"
Model T. Ford, at the time of his death. Jay's brother drove a more expensive Chalmers, a company better known for its racecars and the Allis-Chalmers farm tractors of 1914-1985. The Model T was
mass-produced on the nation's first assembly line in 1913 and was durable for both city and rural roads. The tires were thin and large in diameter and pulled very well through mud. It was the most popular car
in the US between 1909 and 1927. By the 1930's the Chrysler Airflow automobiles were breaking records for design and performance. Interestingly, Agee worked in the Chrysler Building with Robert Fitzgerald,
who would later publish Agee's prose and poetry. Autos were significant in Agee's life. He and his wife loaded the car with their animals to visit friends. He was known to drive at fast speeds while his wife
daringly stood on the running board. (AC 1-2; CN 14; ST 1-2)
Streets and roads were first laid along Cherokee Indian foot routes--first dirt, then macadam, and later
asphalt. Knoxville's early roads were bridal paths that followed the foot routes of the Cherokee.
Dirt roads were replaced by Macadam making an outing more comfortable and the auto could go faster
on the smooth surface. Today modern Interstate highways link Knoxville to a one-day drive to half the nations' population and marketplace. While Knoxville's transportation progressed from footpaths to
horse drawn buggy, then horse or mule drawn streetcars to autos, and finally busses, it is the automobile that represented personal freedom then and today.
People movers
Early 1770 horse-drawn two-wheeled Chaise carried two passengers. By 1810 the four-wheeled Coachee became popular, carrying up to six people. Commerce was conducted with Conestoga wagons between
1750-1850. Horse drawn transportation continued popular until the 1920's and high- wheeled bicycles were popular as early as in 1869 with Sylvester Roper's steam bicycle, later developing into the 1914
Pope motorcycle. (CK 302) While the blacksmith is erroneously considered an icon of the past, it is in reality as viable a profession today as it was the night of Jay Agee's death. (146) Where there are
horses, there are blacksmiths.
In 1903 the Winton touring car was the first auto to cross the United States, a trip of 63 days. The
popular gas powered automobile of 1903 was the Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout. In 1902 the Rambler, with open two-bucket seats and a two-cylinder chain drive, was followed by the 1903 Ford of
the same design. By 1909 Reo, Cadillac, and the Stanley Steamer were household names. Just as today, an electric car with tiller steering was attempted and in 1913 it was considered inefficient. It was the
enclosed body of the Ford (38, 45) and it's development of the assembly line that changed the face of transportation. (AC and ST 1-2, KS 1-4)
Railroads
Before settling on the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) and Southern Railway systems, several lines were established, changed, merged, and/or failed. Railroads meant there was a rout in and out of East
Tennessee and with that the face of the state began to change. There were Germans and French Swiss seeking religious freedom and the Irish brought Roman Catholicism to what had been a Protestant
stronghold. The L&N and Southern Railway monopolies created manufacturing and mechanical jobs and established a Knoxville middle class. The textile market boomed and by 1908 Knoxville held its first
Exposition. It was a Knoxville plow manufacturer who won the low bid for the Panama Canal Construction. The canal was subsequently built by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U. S. Post Office assigned Jay Agee
to Panama. There Agee married Laura Tyler, the daughter of the co-owner of TY-SA-MAN metal working company of Knoxville. (HV 18-48)
Streetcar
sounds are popular Agee images: the iron wheels scraping over rails and the starting bell. Streetcars were at first open and unheated, but later had heaters under the straw seats and along the side.
The Knoxville Street Railway streetcar was chartered in 1875, but only operated two months.
The streetcar ran on twenty-minute intervals with a route from Jackson (now Gay) to Main Streets and
was sometimes drawn by mules, but horses were preferred because they could stand the summer heat. The drivers had no protection from the weather and straw was provided to keep the riders' feet warm in
the winter. Over the next decade several companies were organized, extending the routes until all but one merged into the Knoxville Street Railway.
But again electric did not prove economical and the Knoxville Electric Railway was sold at auction. Streetcar wars ensued with workers dismantling rival's rails in the middle of the night. Then in 1896 a
new type of streetcar appeared. It was 35 feet long and carried 50 passengers with electric heaters and plush upholstery. It required armed guards to complete the construction. Bitter fights and many arrests
continued over the streetcar lines--the longest being 17 miles and the shortest less than five miles in length. Finally, in 1905 the warring competitors merged into Knoxville Railway and Light Company. By 1910
there were forty-two miles of track. Streetcar popularity began to wane as the auto gained popularity. The streetcar met its decline with Depression of the 1930's and was replaced by busses. (HV 216-232)
The streetcar lines in front of Agee's Highland Avenue house were gone by 1971. (DM 32)
~A street car raising its iron moan (6)
Sources: (KT 2; KCC 1a-b)
Agee's Life and Times
Artistic Periods
1850
High Victorian. Flamboyant, eclectic, and cluttered; reflects prosperous middle class
1858
Knoxville's Joseph A. Mabry, Jr. builds a two-story wood frame house for his wife. During the Civil War it served as headquarters for both Union and Confederate Armies. In 1882, Mabry and his son
were murdered on Gay Street, a business dispute documented in Mark Twain's book Life on the Mississippi. Mabry's daughter married Rush Strong Hazen, a benefactor to Leonora Whitaker, heroine
of Catherine Marshall's Christy. The Mabry-Hazen home is open to the public and provides 130 years of furnishing and history.
1870-1900
Arts and Crafts Movement. Wicker, originally for resort and outdoor settees and rockers. Twisted fiber, using raffia, reed, rattan, willow and bentwood; throne-like "peacock" chair. (alt. 1900-1920)
1880-1890
Aesthetic Movement. William Morris designs; sunflowers and lilies; author Oscar Wilde; real and faux bamboo furniture
1900-1920
Arts and Crafts Movement. Plain, simple, and poor quality of mass-production; recliner and leather chairs. The Morse (Morris) Chair in the Agee home was a classic Mission or crafts tradition. American
red oak, prominent in Tennessee, or walnut were favored woods for the leather rocker. (RC)
Clothing
(AD-illustrated First Ed., Patterns, and Shoes)
While some turn of the century styles, such as long dresses and high top shoes, continued into the early 20th century, it is important to note most style changes are modifications rather than innovations.
Dress hems gradually inched above the ankle. High top shoes were lowered to reveal the ankle, such as the Oxford, Derby, Monk-style and Saddle Oxford.
Fabrics: "Pekay"
(108) Pique is a diamond embossed fabric, usually white. Lace became popular in Victorian Period. During "Calling Calls" women crocheted and tatted lace used as borders for clothing and linens.
Family Clothing
Children: (14, 72-73)
Boys: Until school age of boys wore tunic style dresses. Young boys wore short straight pants to the
knee, knee socks, and high top shoes. Older boys wore knickers, which came to just below the knee. Boys also wore suspenders.
Girls:
Wore dresses to the calf and with sashes at the waist, long stockings and high top shoes.
Caps: Young boys wore sun style hats with brims or soft caps with large bills; both had ties under the
chin. Older boys wore soft bulky caps similar to working men's caps. Girls wore bonnets or brimmed hats.
Men: (4, 6, 29, 33, 92)
Hats
worn for formal occasions were tall and gradually shortened from the Topper to the round Bowler and Derby. Farmers and outdoor work hats continued to be short, but with wide brims. Autos brought
the need for Wheel and Duster caps, Newsboy soft caps, and Engineer caps. Celluloid stiff collars were removable and were varied at the bottom in front. Ties replaced ascots. Shirts (29, 92) were striped,
dotted, or diamond pattern. Long tails on shirts were considered masculine. Sleeve garters held the shirt arms in place. Pants were held up with both belts and crossed suspenders. Coats, vests, shirts
with button collars and French cuffs, and tie were worn outside the home.
Women: (4, 15, 27, 69, 71)
Aprons
were worn over dresses. Blouses and long skirts were common. The styles were already moving from the elaborate Victorian to a mixture of tunic blouses over skirts or dresses with
embellished hems, necks and panel sides—clearly a transition from Victorian to Flapper. Hats were sunbonnets or straw with wide brims to shield their faces from the sun. As the century progressed
women's hats became smaller, although the wide brim continues to block the sun today. Scarves with flowered designs were used for both adorning clothing and were expanded as throws for furniture.
Nightwear: Men, women, and children wore nightgowns to bed. Bathrobes had ties called "girdles."
Food
The Agee children ate Post Toasties cereal and drank hot cocoa. Many of the products mentioned exist today.
Hot Cocoa is rooted in the 17th
century when Christopher Columbus noticed that 'cocoa' beans were used as coins by the Guanache Indians. Hernando Cortez noticed Montezuma drank "xocalati" made
from crushed cocoa beans. The Spanish boiled water and used ginger and nutmeg. Most cultures did not sweeten the cocoa with sugar, but used vanilla, chili powder, honey, hazelnuts, almonds, or
cinnamon. Explorers brought cocoa back to Italy in 1600. France adopted it with the Spanish union of King Louis XIII. When Jamaica became a territory of England in 1655, cocoa was imported directly. The
first chocolate factory was in London and cocoa became a middle class drink. (C; 0; W; CH)
Since the 1800s Americans have enjoyed chocolates made by van Houten, Cadbury, Cailler, Nestle and
Hershey. Cocoa beans are delicate, require substantial rainfall and high temperatures; it is grown near the equator. With wars and devastation of the rain forest, crops are now endangered. (CH)
Life Savers. In 1912 life preservers were being used on ships. Clarence Crane was a chocolate maker who wanted an alternative candy for the hot summer months. English imported peppermints were a
popular summer candy. While in a drug store, he noticed the pharmacist's pill making machine. He used that idea and punched a hole in the middle, creating "Crane's Peppermint Life Savers." (LS)
Orange Crush was developed in 1916 by chemist Neil C. Ward who worked for the founder Clayton J. Howel. When the company was sold, Ward left and developed "Ward's Orange Crush," available also
in Canada by 1918. Norman Rockwell developed the Crush print advertising. It was a "zesty, all-natural
orange flavor." Collectable "Krinkly" bottles were used until 1955. A "Mae West" bottle debuted with international marketing, followed by the introduction of the long neck. (OC)
Postum and Post Toasties are the innovation of C. W. Post. In a barn in Battle Creek, Michigan in 1895, Post made his first Postum,
"a cereal beverage," which he immediately sold retail. In 1897 he developed the first ready-to-eat cold cereal, Grape-Nuts. In 1904 he developed his "Elijah's Manna" or a corn flake
later renamed Post Toasties in 1908. By 1902 an Instant Postum was developed. Post's marketing innovations include coupons, free samples, product demonstrations, plant tours, recipe booklets, and
extensive advertising. (FR; PT)
Zuzu cookies were hard, as opposed to the soft cake cookies. It became common to refer to someone as a "tough cookie," implying Zuzu.
Complied from: (indicated Sources and CK; DG; HV; K; OT 281-286; SS; TN; TS; VS 1-78)
Life Style
Appliances
Ear trumpet
(93) First used by sailors to communicate over distances, manufactured trumpets began around 1800 and were stylish and treated as jewelry, made of tortoise shell and silver. Some were
collapsible or fitted into canes. Speaking tubes were tried, but sound didn't carry successfully. Most were trumpet shaped with rubber tips for the ear; some were swan shaped. Around 1910 battery-packs
or "electric" aids were carried in boxes or strapped to the leg. Today hearing aids tuck unnoticeably into the ear or on the rim of eyeglasses and are computerized to assist the specific need of the wearer.
Hair Styles (92)
Men's hair parted in center until mid 20th century. Full beards gave way to mustaches, which were
considered more masculine. Men shaved with a straight razor, which they stropped on leather; they lathered their faces with a short stubby brush. Women braided or rolled their hair into twists or buns.
With the "roaring twenties" women's hair styles changed radically, becoming short, curled, and/or bobbed. Children's hair was Dutch cut or often in banana curls until school age; schoolboy's hair was
shortened, while girls hair was both long and cut above the shoulders.
Respectful Conversations
Children (93) Children were expected to "seen and not heard" and shielded from adult topics and problems. Even today pregnancy is not discussed by some cultures and is often referred to as "in the
family way."
Parents (116) Mary dreaded her father's confrontations regarding her husband's religion and heritage, yet she was respectful and forgiving
. Although Jay, himself, was educated to only the fourth grade, the Agees were educated and were professional people. Never the less, the Tylers looked down on the
mountain roots of the Agees. The Tylers considered themselves a higher economic and cultural level. Early American marriages were arranged and approved of by parents. Many cultures continue that practice today.
Social Mannerisms
Paying calls. Drop-ins were not welcome. Morning Calls were made between noon and five p.m. and
evening calls were usually prearranged. The caller left a calling card and was invited into the formal parlor, where tea was served. Men might visit in the Library, a man's room, and women in the Green
Room, a room with ample windows for plants or a sun porch. Men sat with men and women sat with women. No casual clothing was worn.
Home Exteriors (3)
The Hugh James Agee home was
middle-sized, an 1890-1900 architectural style with brick foundations. Colonial foundations were often laid from stone and brick ballast from ships. House frames in Agee's
neighborhood were white, gray, and yellow and dated from the late 1890's. His front yard had a high old cast iron picket fence with spearheads. Agee's house, the second house from the corner, was razed in
1963 and rebuilt as the James Agee Apartments. (DM 32)
Porches(3, 6)
Fretted wood porch (3) with interlaced or pierced wood were angular and adorned the upper posts as a
border. The fretted design was used as border for interior fireplaces. Because they were impervious to weather, wicker and bamboo were common porch furniture. The front porch and piazza extended the
living space. The front porch of James Agee's boyhood home was gnarled with vines. (DM 32). During the Gothic Revival, covered entries—piazzas or verandahs—were popular. Styles varied from the Italian
Bracket in 1860, Stick Style in 1860-90; Queen Anne in 1870-1900; and Shingle in 1880-90. The Shingle was of varying shapes and can still be seen on many homes today. (VH 17, 156-161)
Lawn quilts
were commonly used, particularly family gatherings. Quilts were made from old clothing and hand stitched in geometric designs or, in the case of baby quilts, embroidered with nursery shapes.
Many quilts had a thin cotton inner lining with a solid color backing. Women gathered at quilting bees to visit as they sewed. Today quilting is a specialty hobby and popular for wall hangings.
Home Interiors (3)
The Victorian period was the post Civil War's "golden age." (VS 20) During the War many homes were sacked and pillaged. With the railroad came a Knoxville
middle class and with rise of industrialization families came affluence, such as the Tylers--the grandparents of Rufus. The Victorian influence on
subsequent periods continued exotic, romantic, and stylized. There was fascination with the Orient and Europe, which expanded to anything French after WWI.
Accessories
Floor vases
held peacock feathers as "tangible signs of achievement and position." (VS 34) Tables were strategically placed for display of prized items, including small box collections, Bohemian glass and
small animal sculptures. Carved candlesticks, terrarium plants, pictures albums, throws, needlework, fringe and flowers were all part of the decor. Paintings of the time included fantasies, abstracts,
impressionism, folk art, and the spirit and energy of the "ashcan school." All things French were prized. (SI 17; VH 48-51; VS 34) See also: clocks, Grammophones (Gramophone), and telephones.
Baths
Less than one in five homes had running water. Despite the poor water pressure and poor filtration, by 1895 people paid for commercially produced water: $6 four rooms or less, with a dollar for each
additional room up to six, then 50 cents. If the house had a water closet or bathroom, it cost an additional five dollars per month. Septic systems were in use, despite the poor soil of north and eastern
Knoxville, until sewers were laid in 1889. Until 1942 all sewer trunk lines all emptied into the rivers. The old outhouse continued as a mainstay for many small towns and rural areas in the US until after WWII.
Even today many suburban and rural homes utilize the pump-out method of septic systems where sewage systems are not available. (HV 155-158, 1700-173; PS-Eisner) Bathtubs were footed porcelain.
The toilet was pedestal based with an oval seat and lid. A cistern fed the wall tank with an attached flush handle or pull chain. The rush of water and gravity continue today as the primary method of
moving waste from toilets and sinks.
Bedrooms
With affluence, bedrooms ceased to contain several family members and became private havens for the
adults and while children shared bedrooms, they usually were designated specifically for boys or girls. Servants' bedrooms were usually near the kitchen or in a separate building in more affluent homes.
Early beds were made of wood and were designed for warmth (canopy and sleigh) and protection from insects (gauze sheers). Mattresses were rigid, usually stuffed with straw late well past the Civil War.
Pillows were stuffed with duck and chicken feathers, as were comforters. With Victorian Romanticism, carved beds, particularly Rosewood, and brass or enamel railed beds were popular.
With the advent of Montgomery Ward and Sears and Roebuck catalogues, head and footboards were made with readily accessible woods and had simple designs. The Victorian influence is enjoying a
revival today, including the 19th century use of ebony and dark mahogany colors.
Sick rooms, such as the room prepared by Mary in anticipation of Jay's injuries, and contained bed
pans or slop jars, thermometers, and pitcher and basin for washing. With the 1900 epidemics of TB, Typhus, Smallpox, Whooping Cough, Polio and Malaria isolation of the ill was mandatory. In order to
prevent the spread of disease, sick room items were destroyed, including children's books and toys. Notices were posted on front doors of homes indicating the home was Quarantined and should not be
entered—a prevention that was practiced even past WWII. (PS-Eisner)
Ceilings and moldings
Following the European influence ceilings were high, twelve to fourteen feet and decorative, some even
with landscapes, particularly bedroom ceilings. Most ceilings were painted and had plaster medallions
framed by "Corbal" or "Cornice" molding. Kitchen ceilings were metal for sanitation. Moldings were often sculptured. The use of moldings, cornices, and medallions increased in size each decade, but
center medallions were not used after 1890. (VH 136-139;VS 34-41)
Colors
Manufactured paints and stains replaced the natural colors of the Colonial period. Victorian coloring
was popular during the 20th century and continues today: green, gold, yellow cream and ivory, muted stone green, and red variations of burgundy, claret, rose, violet and mahogany-brown. Victorian use of
ebony, red mahogany, warms walnut, golden oak, and cherry dominated 19th and early 20th century woods. Painted woodwork continues popularity today. (VS 40-41)
Clocks
To represent the moon over a month, 30,000 years ago, grooves were carved in bones. Early sundials only worked in the sunlight, thus primitives believed the sky was a vault. The Egyptians devised,
obelisks, the Chinese measured water drippings, and in Europe the sandglass or hourglass provided short-term timing. By the 14th century mechanical clocks, with no faces or hands, struck bells in Europe;
a century later the coiled unwinding (escapement) spring allowed clocks to be portable for the first time. The long pendulum made the 18th century clock more accurate and grandfather clocks continue to keep
time with today. Mantel clocks were developed by Eli Terry and meant that for the first time an average person could have a clock. But there was a problem: time zones. The US railroads ran through 50 time
zones! Europe had developed Greenwich Mean Time and by 1800 the US adopted Greenwich Mean as the standard. Sears and Roebuck and a Norwegian company, Timex, brought the wristwatch to soldiers
in WWI. But many men thought it wasn't a "real" man's watch and wouldn't wear it, continuing to prefer the chained pocket watch. Clocks have evolved over the years from bone to the atomic clock and
GPS of the mid 20th century, but today the wristwatch is the standard and the pendulum clock remains a work of art for the home. (SI 17)
Dining
Early dining rooms were in basements or half basements, often near the cooking fireplace. Early Colonial families often ate from a common bowl. This evolved into table settings with fired clay or
porcelain dishes. By the 19th century knives were used and a separate spoons was used for each item. With the rise of the 20th
century middle class, silver service was replaced by silver plate. By 1870 a formal dining room became popular with a passageway to the hall. The floor under the table had a dark
design or an Oriental rug underneath. A chandelier hung three-feet above the table. Restful paintings, sconces and candles adorned the wall, particularly framing the sideboard. Golden oak tables with
leaves with table head chairs with arms were introduced. Two white tablecloths of damask or lace were used, removing one after the soup, meat, and vegetable course. A hand broom and tray to removed
crumbs before the next course. A castor set for condiments or a celery set was placed in the center of the table. Finger bowls were used before fruit and coffee. (GS; VH 54-75)
Floors
Parquet floors were popular by 1890 and were considered more sanitary than woven mats or carpets. Oriental rugs remained popular as a status symbol. Floors were made attractive with geometrical
designs. In the 1870's a popular pattern of tile work used black triangles as fillers, contrasting with the white squares to form a diamond design. This was carried over to furniture, sideboards, wash stands, et
al. By the turn of the century and with the quest for sanitation, rugs became less popular for floor use and were given an artistic status as wall hangings with woven landscapes and heroic images. Early
Colonial hooked or rag rugs continue popular to this day. In the late 19th century Victorian, however, exotic was in fashion. Imported Turkish and Oriental rugs were popular for floor and wall, as were cut
pile, needlepoint rugs and anything with a parquet border. (VH 34-36)
Furnishings
Wicker upstaged the settee with the curved legs, serpentine or medallion back, and horsehair seats.
Wicker made its entrance in the early 19th century and by the 20th Century, American Romanticism had
taken over filling the room with color—from the Tiffany lamp to the painted Gramophone bell. Brightly colored accessories provided contrasts, such as crewel chair backs. With the Industrial Revolution the
middle class family could purchase machine made furniture. Cottage style furniture was made from pine, poplar, and birch. The Agee's The Morse or Morris Chair was a massive rocker during the Arts and
Crafts Movement, or Mission Movement. It was a chair with holes, which could be pegged as a recliner-rocker or upright rocker. Red Oak or Walnut woods and leather were popular upholstery.
Wicker, rattan, and cane chairs, popular in the Late Victorian Period around 1800, never lost their appeal. Gypsies made willow back loop chairs. (K; RC; VH14, 46, 156-161;VS 37-52)
Hall
Halls both provided warmth from opening doors and access to the parlor, library, and stairway to the upper floor. Racks were provided for coats and hats; some were self-standing with mirrors and storage
seats. Halls were not well lighted, but the walls were profuse with pictures. The foyer in the entry of modern homes is an outgrowth of the formal hall.
Kitchen
No room evolved more than the kitchen as the Victorians realized the need for sanitation. While in Colonial times kitchens were kept separate from living space, sometimes in separate buildings or
basements, by the turn of the century kitchens had worked their way up to the living level. Small livestock no longer were warmed in the kitchen--although Mia and Jim Agee's goats lived in their
Hillsdale, NY kitchen and rode in the back seat of their car. To ensure sanitation, tiles replaced woven floor mats or linoleum made of linseed oil, cork fibers and tillers with a burlap back. Ceilings of kitchens
became pressed tin, usually in squares resembling tiles. While early kitchens were often in separate buildings, particularly for baking, but by the 20th century most kitchens had stoves and iceboxes.
Stoves were heated with coal, wood, and eventually gas and vented to the outside via pipes and a wall-flu. Even into the mid 20th century, summer canning and baking was relegated to a kerosene stove
on the back porch. While deep wells and springs, particularly in the mountains, provided the purist water, much of the drinking water of Knoxville was drawn from the river. Perhaps the greatest influence
on the kitchen was Harriet Beecher Stowe's book The American Woman's Home (1869), advocating mixing tile and wood to create patterns in floors and curtain rods to hold kitchen curtains. (VH 63, 100-109)
Library
The more affluent homes, such as the Tylers, had a library. It reflected the wealthy's "insatiable thirst
for knowledge" and status. The library was a room designated for the master of the home, as the green room was designated for the ladies. Gentlemen would retire to the library for smoking following dinner.
The a secretary or writing desk was the focal point and used by the head of the household for correspondence and record keeping. In 1900 library floors were painted or stained with an Oriental rug
was the focal point. The library contained the family collection of books, with popular authors: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Edith Wharton, Henry James, William Dean Howells, and Louisa May Alcott. The
Tylers were considered a "literary family;" Rufus' mother was an aspiring poet. (VS 31, 78-81)
Lights
In 1800 homes were lighted by candlelight and by oil lamps and then kerosene lamp in 1850. Gaslights were developed in England in the 1790s and used as street lights in 1879. As early as colonial times,
light intensity was controlled by wicks and replaced by the invention of the mantle with orange and yellow tones. Electric lights were available in Knoxville for $12 per month. The subscribers were
promised there would be no hissing and no flickering, but many disliked the electric harshness and gaslights (gasolier) could be found in parlors and living rooms well into the 20th century. By 1912
incandescent bulbs were popular in homes and transmission lines were established to increase power, but it wasn't until the 1920's and 30's that rural homes had electricity. A glass globe or a trimmed fabric
shade surrounded gas light lamps. Art Noveau glass provided popular shades for electric lighting. (HV 163-167; L; MS)
Parlor (Parlour or sitting room)
From the early Colonial times, one room was set aside for receiving company and was seldom used by the family. By the 19th century the parlor became a formal receiving room and entry was from the hall.
Rufus Agee's grandfather Tyler's house had two parlors. Guests made "Morning Calls" between noon and five p.m. Tea was served and sewing accompanied conversation. After dinner calls were arranged
and ended by nine p.m. with guests presented their calling cards to servants. Men sat alongside men and women sat by women. The parlor evolved into today's living room and, with increased family
activities, the "rec" room, family room or lanai. Subjects that would incite controversy were avoided: politics and religion. (VH 20-24)
Telephone
When the telephone rang the Laura Agee knew the call was for her home by the number of rings. To get the attention of the operator, Central, she had to grind a handle attached to the right of a square box
that held a bell on top. Central was a one person, usually a woman, office in small towns. Central knew the customer by first name, was often a confidant, and even told nosy party-liners to hang up!
Beginning with the railway telegraph, telephone poles soon lined Knoxville streets. The first private lines existed only for internal use in industry, but by 1890 over 350 homes had telephones with long
distance service. By 1920 over 7,000 homes had telephone service. It wasn't until July 1926 that Southern Bell established one system and two years later dial service began. There were repairmen,
called "Troublemen" and, in true Victorian politeness, they followed strict rules for good manners. Alexander Graham Bell's 19th
century device transmitted acoustic sound via electric circuits; in its simplest form: two kids with two tine cans connected to a taught string carrying vocal sound. Today's
transmission of sound is vast: coaxial cable, glass fiber, microwave and satellite. (C; CK; HV 150-155; O)
Walls
"Leave no space unfilled" would be a good description of the Victorian influence on walls. Tapestry and paintings adorned walls from the chair rail the ceiling and anything Greek, Roman, or Gothic was
favored, such as Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) mythic paintings and landscapes spanning rivers and forests. To ensure sanitation, pictures in kitchens, baths, and eating areas were replaced by
machine-made wallpaper. Pink, gray, and green were popular colors with woodwork being a dark tint. Scenics were sometimes embossed in leather and florals and vertical stripes were as popular as they are
today. By 1890 Art Noveau brought in romantic designs and flowering swirls and by the late 19th century patterned borders or friezes framed the wallpaper. Chair rail provided an accent or border. Some
were stenciled or trompe l'oeil—simulated wood, stone, marble, tortoise shell et al. (C; CK; VS 41-44)
Windows
Windows experienced a Colonial Revival with etched and beveled glass. Windowpane adornments
included pressed flowers. From the 1890's to the 20th century stained glass was prized and sold in the Sears Roebuck Catalogue. Glass designs were geometric and floral. Skylights above windows or on
staircases were usually stained glass. (VH 14;VS 44-45) Victorian windows were framed with heavy dark materials, such as velvet. Revival Victorian, as popular at the turn of the century as it is today, was
lighter with the introduction of sheer under curtains resembling "glass." Pull rings for under curtains, filmy lace under curtains, and curtains for the doorway (partiers) were common. Partiers were beaded,
creating a musical sound at entry. Interior shutters utilized the Colonial wooden (Venetian) blinds and Muslin roller shades. In the winter, lush outer drapes of velvet, damask, or silk brocade ringed the floor
and were framed the sheers with swags, festoons, embroidered cords or tassels, braid or fringe. Venetian curtains or balloons of the 1890's stuffed with material or paper to retain their shape became
popular while the valance was usually made of fabric and was stiff and ornamental with a wooden cornice. Lighter curtains were used for summer. Victorian window dressings remain popular today. (VH 41-45; VS 43)
Yards and Yard Life
Victorian small front and side yards and spacious back yards were traditional. (3) Ornamental gardens
became popular in the Victorian era and provided cut flowers for interior display. Harriet Beecher Stowe and Catherine Beecher were influential in extending the garden inside. Ferns and fragrant flowers were
pressed between pages of books or between glass panes and hung in the window. Garden vegetables, beans and corn, along with shells found on riverbanks, provided adornment for picture frames and were
then gilded. (VS 46-47)
~There were fences around one or two of the houses~ (3) Iron fences adorned fronts of yards, while
low hedges separated neighbors' yards. Chicken wire was used as fencing to separate backyards from alleys. Agee's alley is now concrete and overgrown with weeds, vines, and trees. The fences have only iron bolts left.
~From damp strings morning glories~ (6) Vining plants adored trellises in arbors and on porches. The Morning Glory
's colorful funnel-shaped flowers open on in the morning; it is related to the sweet potato, bindweed, and moonflower (C; W)
Garden hoses (3)
When water became available from river sources and lawns and gardens could be freely watered with hoses and sprinklers. Agee was "mesmerized" by the sight of men watering the lawn. (JA 10)
~These were softwooded trees; populars, tulip trees, and cottonwoods~(3)
Trees (B; C;O; T; TN; ME; S; W)
Dogwood trees favor wet swampy areas and have alternating rough and silky leaves. Flowers are pink
or white and winter fruit is red. Magnolia trees have big leaves and large flowers. The Southern umbrella variety includes Cucumber, Fraser, and Sweet Bay. Tulip Trees are the tallest and largest
broad-leaved tree in the eastern US. The record tree was 200x12 feet. The leaves are round or tulip shaped. The flower is a greenish-yellow tulip shape with six petals. The cone-clustered seeds are
winged when dry. The timber is called Whitewood, Yellow Poplar or Tulip Poplar. The wood is prized for use in airplane construction. Poplar trees include White, Balsam, Eastern Cottonwood, Swamp
Cottonwood, Big Tooth Aspen, and the fast growing, water loving Lombardy Poplar. The Eastern Cottonwood is moisture loving and grows rapidly along streams and lakes. Even when the tree is cut,
the roots sprout new trees. The fruit had drooping tassels from three to six inches; the fine hairs on the tassels blow in the wind and are white like cotton, thus the name. A coniferous tree that is easily cut, is
called a softwood tree, such as pine or cypress. Evergreen trees, such as Spruce, of the Pine Family, are coniferous trees found in the Northern Hemisphere with conical shaped foliage or angular needles. The
pulpwood of the eastern Red Spruce, and White and Black Spruces are used for paper.
Yard Life
(3-7) (C; W; O)
"Birds hung havens"
(6) Slender and nine to eleven inches, the Mockingbird of the South is found in both parks and near neighborhood homes searching for insects and wild fruit. It jerks its tail from side
to side as it mimics the songs of other birds, singing as it perches and flies. Its color is gray, but may appear greenish, blue, or brown at the larger end. The flight is slow enough that its white wing patches
are displayed in flight. The bird builds a bulky nest in shrubs; the nest is made of twigs, wood straws, strings, or pieces of cloth. (GB 82, 144-145; BN 226-227; UB 36)
Hard shell flying bugs, such as beetles, are insects with horny waterproofed wings cover flight wings. Mostly vegetarian, they have chewing mouthparts. Fireflies or lightning bugs are a nocturnal
carnivorous beetle. The rear abdomen produces sexually attractive green-yellow to red-orange light. Larvae eat earthworms and snails, are wingless and the females are called "glow worms." Crickets with
their "three spaced non-resonate silvery notes" (5) are jumping and have long antennae, two sets of wings, and strong legs. Sound is made by males rubbing structures of front wings together; auditory
organs are on the forelegs. US field crickets are brown to black and 1" long. Locusts, have a bold sound, a dry rasp or rattling sound with range of two full tones that "enchants my eardrums." (5-7) The
locust is a migratory short-horned or swarming grasshopper with short antennae. Some locust swarms arrive in seventeen-year cycles and can contain 100 billion vegetarian locusts, devastating entire farms and forests.
Frogs flopping
A freshwater semi-aquatic amphibian is two to eight inches long, with bulging eyes, strong jumping
hind legs, and no tail. Frogs lay eggs in spring, develop into tailed and swimming pollywogs, and are adult with four legs by summer. Mucous on vocal chords results in raspy sound. Toads as adults are
terrestrial with thicker bodies and shorter legs than frogs, have warty skin and glands behind the eyes that emit a milky poison. One to seven inches, it seeks cool wet places and lays eggs in water.
Compiled from Sources (B; BN; C, CK; D; HV; O, T, TN; TS, VH; VS; W)
Fleeting Images:
The Family of James Rufus Agee (7)
"Who I Am"
Fiction name: Rufus
Real name: James Rufus Agee (1909-1955) Named for his great-grandfather Tyler
Nicknames:
Rufus and Jim. Called "Rufus" from childhood to young adult by and by Fr. Flye and his mother. Called "Jim" and "Springheel," for his loping walk, at Phillips Exeter Academy, NH. He was
"Jim" at Harvard University in MA and in NYC where he worked as an adult.
Childhood Description: Baptized March 10, 1910 by Rector Dr. Walter C. Whitaker of St. John's
Episcopal Church." Laura Tyler Agee demanded that her son be Anglo-Catholic. Rufus looked like his father wit thick hair, bangs, sloping nose, and blue eyes. He was interested in mountains and nature
and was gentle, sympathetic, trusting, affectionate. "Why do some live well, while others starve?" (AR 81)
Fiction name: Jay
Real name
: Hugh James Agee (d. Clinton Pike, TN, May 16, 1916 (alt. May 18)
Married: Laura Tyler in Panama, 1908
Occupations: After only four years of school, Jay was self-taught and was briefly a teacher;
U. S. Postal worker 1906 (alt.1902) and assigned to Panama in 1908. Yellow fever epidemic forced his return to Corbin, KY where he worked for the L&N RR. Became will with malaria and alcohol, returned
to Knoxville where he was employed as office secretary in Spring of 1916, by TY-SA-MAN, his father-in-law's business.
Religion: Unknown; family French Huguenot
Description:
Worked to support mortuary education of brother. Easy going, drove cars fast, and consumed alcohol (15-17). Jim Agee saw in his father a calm "warmth, earthiness, and forbearance." (JA 61)
Fiction name: Mary (d.1948)
Real name: Laura Whitman Tyler (b. Michigan)
Fiction nickname: Poll (139). The nickname "Poll" was actually the nickname of Paula Tyler
Religion:
Anglican or Anglo-Catholic
Occupation: Published a volume of twelve religious poems, Songs of the Way, 1922
Description:
Twin to Hugh Tyler. Dark hair, brown eyes, generous nose and tiny mouth. A student at University of TN and an aspiring poet. Conservative and religious. Strict, "holier than thou," a "scold,"
and "distant" mother. (JA 8) At St. Andrews School she lived at Piney Point in the "Old Stroup Cottage."
First marriage
: Jay Agee, six years her senior. With twin brother's assistance, she eloped with Jay Agee who was working in Panama. Laura met Jay at dancing school.
Second marriage:
Father Erskind Wright, the bursar at St. Andrews School, 1924. Wright was from a prominent Philadelphia family. The Agee family described him as the kind of person who could make
you want to be a heathen. His "forbidding exterior concealed inner conflicts. They moved to Rockland, ME, sending Rufus to Phillips Exeter Academy. Wright had a nervous breakdown and became a semi-invalid.
Fiction name: Catherine
Real name: Emma Ferrand, two years younger than Rufus
Agee Family
Hugh James "Jay" Agee's family in LaFollette, TN
Jay's Family Genealogy: Agee or Agé. For two centuries the Agees lived Virginia and then what is now Tennessee. Jay Agee was the fourth generation in Tennessee.
Ancestor:
Mathieu Agee was a French nobleman born near Nantes, France. His Huguenot faith forced him to give up his land and title. He left France at the age of eighteen in 1699, joining soldiers lead by
William of Orange, who was renamed King William III when he captured the English throne. He gave free passage to the New World to all of his supporters. Mathieu Agee arrived in Virginia in 1690 where
the Agees were farmers, country doctors, lawyers and teachers. They were staunch Republicans and either Unitarians or Baptists. Mathieu married Ann Godwin Agee and they had four children, including
Anthony, and twenty-four grandchildren.
Great-grandfather:
Fiction name: John Henry Follett
Real name: James Harris Agee.
Occupation: doctor
Jay's mother: Unknown
Jay's father: (206, 233)
Fiction name: Grandpa Follett
Real name: Henry Clay Agee.
Description
: Born April 15, 1878 and lived on a farm in LaFollette, TN. Beak nose and thick mustache. Had a stroke May 16, 1916, died three weeks later believing Jay's death was "My fault, my fault." ( JA 18).
Jay's brother and his wife:
Fiction name: Ralph Follett
Real name: Frank Agee
Occupation: mortician
Ralph's wife:
Fiction name: Sally
Real name: Jessie
Ralph's children: Jim-Wilson and Ettie Lou and a baby (206)
Aunts and cousins: (206, 209)
Fiction name: Great-aunt Sadie, Grandpa Follett's sister
Fiction name
: Aunt Sadie and baby
Tyler Family
Laura Tyler Agee's family in Knoxville, TN
Laura's mother:
Fiction name: Catherine Tyler
Real name: Emma Tyler.
Description: Episcopalian. High strung, discontented with her place in society. Graduate of University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Walt Whitman was her ancestor. Sheltered wayward girls in her home
(prostitutes and unwed mothers). Contracted Syphilis from girls she helped, became deaf and weak, needing an ear trumpet.
Laura's father:
Fiction name: Joel Lynch
Real name
: Joel Tyler
Occupation: Bought tract of land in East Tennessee hoping railroad would come through it. Sold it and
then it did. Invested in Tennessee timberland; co-owner of TY-SA-MAN (Tyler, Savage, and Manning) machinery works in Knoxville.
Description:
Unitarian religion. Even-tempered and progressive thinker. Attended State University of Michigan; moved south due to respiratory problems. Illness in early 1924 forced Laura and children to return home.
Laura's brother:
Fiction name: Andrew Lynch
Real name: Hugh Tyler
Occupation: an artist living at home (100)
Personality: Liberal
Laura's sister:
Fiction name
: Amelia Lynch
Real name: Paula Tyler
Occupation: a musician living at home (100)
Laura's Aunt: sister to Joel Tyler
Fiction name: Hannah (Part II-III)
Real name:
Unknown
Laura's Aunt: sister to Emma Tyler
Fiction name: Unknown
Real name: Jessie. Founder of the "Contemplative Order" of nuns in Chattanooga before becoming an
Anglo-Catholic Nun, 1915 (JA 6)
Tyler relatives
Fiction name: Aunt Carrie. Half-sister to Catherine
Fiction name: "Aunt" Kate. Aunt Carrie's daughter.
Fiction name:
"Uncle" Ted. Kate's husband
Fiction name: "Aunt" Celia
Neighborhood Friends (3-4) Few family friends; in general nod or trivial talk; never paid calls. Lower to
middle class mix of small businessmen and clerical, ages 30 to 45 years. Agee was 45 years old.
School boys: Attend Van Gilder School in Knoxville.
Fiction names:
Arthur and Alvin Tripp. Rufus tells them of his father's death. (241) Ridicule Rufus' name (194—205).
Tyler family employees and caregivers:
Fiction name
: Walter Starr, "one of the family"
Fiction name: Victoria (98-100). African American in employ of Tyler family
Jay's Funeral
~The religiousness of life is at the heart of all of Agee's work. The sense that we do live in a mysterious universe, that human life is constantly under the shadow of death~ (AR 167)
The period of mourning reflects the value of family during the Victorian era. Reverence, of the dead, prominent in earlier eras, was replaced with sentimentality and remembrance. Immediate family women
wore Black crepe for six months, then three months in black dress, and finally subdued dress of dull colors. The passing of family of friends often overlapped, making basic black the color of the turn of
the century. Even the second wife wore mourning fashions for three months if the first wife died. Black was extended to jewelry, borders of stationery, combs, male armbands, and even handkerchiefs were
bordered in black. In contrast, the coffin was white and male mourners wore white gloves. While the Edwardian Period introduced the prominence of tombstones, the Victorians kept mementos, such as
postcard photographs (PJ-Harrop; RV 211-225)
Anglican Priest
Fiction name: Father Jackson from Chattanooga, TN (280). Chapter 18, fictional episode. In Agee's
novel, Rufus and little Catherine's' encounter with the formality of the Priest is written from the children's perspective—it is an excellent and pivotal scene. Fr. Jackson is less forbidding in the
screenplay and nearly absent in the play (AWR 336; AWM 64)
Funeral
Fiction name: Roberts the Undertaker, Cooke Funeral Home, and Greenwood Cemetery
Real Funeral Homes: In 1916 E. Mann Undertaking was located 311-313 W. Church. (TN-Gordon)
Real Anglo-Catholic Church: St. Johns (now) Cathedral, built in the Romanesque style of 11th-12th
century France or Spain. (SJ)
Friends and Family:
Fiction: Walter Starr; "Uncles" and neighbor, Gordon DeKalb; "Aunts" Celia Dun, Sarah Eldridge, and
Ann Taylor; Misses Storrs, Amy and Nettie Field: maternal grandparent's neighbors Doctor and Mrs. Dekalb; Mrs. Gunn, Celia's mother, and Dan. In both the novel and scenario Walter Starr is presented as
a close friend or Lynch employee. In the scenario his presence with Rufus is more prominent with Rufus than Andrew. (AWM 350-352)
Pallbearers: (294)
Uncles Andrew and Ralph, great-uncles Hubert Kane and George Bailey; and Mr. Drake.
~Agee used "death as an occasion to celebrate life in it's everyday context of death~ (DM 6)
James Rufus Agee: Real Life Images
Wives: the Mrs. James Agees and children
1. Wife: Olivia "Via" Saunders. Married January 28, 1933-1938
Occupation
: Bryn Mawr student; she met Agee at Harvard in 1930.
Children: none
Description: Her parents held soirees at their home attended by Jim Agee, Robert Frost, B. F. Skinner,
Hedda Hopper, Helen Hayes, Alex Woollcott, and I. A. Richards—who influence F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Agee. The Saunders were what "the Tylers aspired to be—talented and well connected." (JA 126)
Mrs. Arthur Percy Saunders, Via's mother was adored by Agee who felt she was his surrogate mother and. She taught English at Cornell and was a girl's school administrator.
Second marriage: Wood
2. Wife: Alma Mailman. Married Spring, 1938.
Occupation: she was an eighteen year-old student when she met Agee at Saunder's home.
Child:
Joel, b. March 20, 1940, Brooklyn, NY. Became a writer in Germany
Second marriage: Divorced Agee; met Bodo Uhse in Mexico, moved to Germany
Third marriage: Neuman
Description: Lived in Frenchtown, NJ
3. Wife: Mia Fritsch. Married Autumn, 1945
Born in Vienna, Austria; emigrated to US in 1933.
Married Agee: 1944
Occupation
: Researcher at "Fortune," 1939.
Three Children:
Julia Theresa, b. November 7, 1946
Andrea Maria, b. May 15, 1950
John Alexander, b. September 6, 1954 (never knew his father)
Friends of Agee
St. Andrews School Episcopal School, TN (1919-1922)
Father and Mrs. Harold Flye
: Fr. Flye was Rufus' French tutor and advocate. They visited France and England together in 1925 and remained life-long friends
Knoxville High School (Spring 1923-1924) No known friends.
Phillips Exeter Academy, NH: (1925-1928)
Freeman Lewis, nephew of Sinclair Lewis, was a friend
Lincoln Kirstein, friendship continued at Harvard; later a wealthy merchant
Harvard University, MA: (1928-1932)
Robert Saudek was Agee's roommate, 1928-1930; a life-long friend
Robert Fitzgerald was classmate and co-worker at "Time," 1939
"Fortune:" (1932-38, staff writer)
Walker Evans. Photographer for the 1936 Alabama tenant farmer assignment; remains a life-long friend.
Dwight Macdonald.
Co-worker; Agee corresponded as a student, beginning in 1927; life-long friend
"Time:" (1939-1941, book reviews; 1941-1948, film reviews; 1945-1951, feature writer)
Dwight Macdonald.
Worked with founders from Yale University, Britton Hadden and Henry Luce
Robert Fitzgerald Co-worker and Harvard friend; life-long friends
"The Nation:" (1942-1948)
McDowell-Obolensky, Inc.:
David McDowell. A student at St. Andrews School after Agee. They met at McDowell's graduation;
Agee assisted him in revising his graduation speech. Life-Long friends Founder of company publishing Agee books. Executor of James Agee Trust.
Motion Pictures: Reels and Reel People
In Knoxville, early moving pictures were shown in buildings with large halls. Before they had sound, they were short in length and accompanied by a piano, building suspense with tremolos and romance
with rolled chords. In large cities an organ or small orchestra accompanied silent pictures. In rural towns films were projected on white bed sheets draped against building walls, a practice that exists
today when movies are shown in parks or at the beaches.
Motion Picture: Reels
The Majestic Theatre was the setting in Agee's novel. (11-14) The Majestic Theatre was located at 315
Gay Street, where Rufus and his father watched the double-feature movies of William S. Hart and Charlie Chaplin. (TN) At the turn of the 20th century Knoxville built a permanent motion picture house,
the Bijou Theatre, and in 1913 the Gem was the first motion picture theater to serve African Americans in Knoxville. In 1915 the Bijou Theatre had both screen and projection equipment, but it continued to
host vaudeville shows.
Knoxville had long enjoyed live theater. Touring companies came by steamboats and river flatboats in the mid 19th
century. Knoxville hosted professional the tours in local buildings, but after the Civil War performance halls were built at Market Square and later Gay Street. Knoxville Thespians flourished and
in 1872 an opera house was built. William Tell was the first play attended by fashionably dressed people arriving in horse drawn carriages.
Motion Picture Reel People: (11-14)
Charlie Chaplin (CSC)
As a movie reviewer for Time magazine in 1941 Jim Agee was a devoted Charlie Chaplin fan and keenly
aware that his advocacy for Chaplin's first full length film would bring him closer to Chaplin and closer to his dream of writing for Hollywood. In true Agee style, his reviews were literary works of art and
caught the attention of Hollywood directors. The film inner circle opened to him and when he moved to Hollywood as a screenwriter, Chaplin and Agee became life-long friends. Agee and Chaplin shared
unrestricted philosophies of cinema and politics and Chaplin's "vulgar" ways of poking fun at prudish Victorian manners. (11) (Compiled from Agee biographers and JA; DM; and AR )
As with many artists of the time, Chaplin was considered to be a far-to-the-left liberal, if not communist--a daring line Agee teetered on, but didn't cross. In fact, after seeing a Chaplin movie in
April, 1936, Agee wrote a "Christian-Communist morning hymn" and the following June was devouring commentaries depicting Communism as the new era. Agee's his political and philosophical search was
exacerbated by his assignment by Fortune magazine to write the Alabama share cropper's story, which later became Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.
William S. Hart (WH; HF)
Perhaps no single person shaped the present character of modern westerns than Hart. Leaving New York at an early age for the Midwest, he had extensive interaction with Indians and cowboys. When his
family returned to New York, he became interested in the stage. He acted in plays with western themes, inspiring him to move to California where he directed and acted in over 70 Western motion pictures and
later wrote novels, short stories, and an autobiography. By the end of 1915 he appeared in 23 Westerns. There were ten Hart Westerns produced in 1916; Hart directed and appeared in all of them.
John Huston
hired Agee to write the screenplay for The African Queen, but soon realized Agee could not shake his expansive poetic style.(AQ 151). Huston stepped in as co-writer, inviting Agee and his
wife to his ranch while the extensive and repetitive dialogue was rewritten. Huston was a robust personality, accustomed to crack-of-dawn tennis matches, while Agee was an all-night writer. Trying to
accommodate Huston's script changes, while enjoying his friend's company became an impossible challenge for Agee; it was then that he had his first heart attack.
Other
Gaugin
Agee shared a love of art and nature with the artist Gaugin and wanted to write a screenplay about his life. He began the scenario NOA NOA in 1953 and David Bradley was contracted as the director.
Gaugin's son Emile felt it was "a true understanding of his father's spirit and courage." The film project died with Agee. (AF 3)
Abraham Lincoln (276)
Agee developed the Lincoln teleplay script for the Omnibus series. Lanky and awkward himself, Agee fancied his father and himself a lot like Lincoln.
~he lived each day as if it was a gift, as if it was his last, and he wrote that way~ (AR 183)
( Compiled from: AF 1-6; AR xvii-xix, 14-18, 78-101; AS 2-3; DM 24, 95; DM/AF 23-24; JA 35-79, 126)
Compiled from sources: (AF/DM 23-24; ¥AR 4, 14, 18, 19,28, 81, 105, 110; DM 97; ¥JA 4-5, 61-85, 126; SJ;
Susan Huetteman is a retired teacher in Rhode Island.
