Swan Pond Sampler

Designer: Joyce McClaine

Embroiderer: Beverly Klassen

Year Created: 2004

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The Ramsey Family was one of the first families to settle the Knoxville
area in the 18th century. They played vital roles in developing
civic, educational, and cultural institutions. Colonel Francis A.
Ramsey was a founding trustee of Blount College, now the University
of Tennessee. One of his sons, Dr. J.G.M. Ramsey authored an
early history of the state, The Annals of Tennessee. Another son,
William B.A. Ramsey, was the first elected Mayor of Knoxville and
the Secretary of State for Tennessee. Swan Pond is historically the oldest,
finest, and most costly structure erected in this part of Tennessee.
The four lines on the sampler were taken from a poem, “Heritage and
Youth,” written by Dr. Ramsey in memory of his childhood home that
once stood so nobly on the frontier.