An Insider’s View of the Cove

To say Cades Cove: A Personal History gives a unique testimonial of early 20th-century life in the Smokies is more than hearsay. Consider the evidence: The late Judge William Wayne Oliver wrote the book, based on his childhood in the cove bearing witness to feuds, murders, moonshining, barn burnings, the lawsuit over land for the national park, and the exodus of its residents that followed. In addition to his legal repute as a judge in the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, Oliver hailed from Cades Cove’s first white settlers, a direct descendant of John and Lucretia Oliver. 

One of the latest books published by the Great Smoky Mountains Association, the judge’s fair-minded autobiography is scholarly but far from rote. Oliver’s stories captivate with his boyhood recollections of trips to the mill and to the grassy balds in summer, gathering chestnuts and fishing, and Christmas festivities and chores in the cove. Dozens of historic photos from the Oliver Family Collection show everything from baptisms to beekeeping, family pets to fiddle-playing neighbors. 

Cades Cove: A Personal History ($13) is available at visitors centers in and around the national park. Sales support GSMA’s mission to preserve Great Smoky Mountains National Park. smokiesinformation.org