A Mountaineer in Motion: The Memoir of Dr. Abraham Jobe, 1817-1906 (review)

Abraham Jobe describes his memoir as a "hastily written sketch" that "ignores style" and is "reckless . . . with details" (2). Jobe warns that his "biographical sketch" is "not for publication" or "the literati" but is simply for the "perusal of my children and friends" (2). Thankfully, his manuscript found its way into East Tennessee State University's Archives of Appalachia and the hands of historian David C. Hsiung. From Jobe's youth in Tennessee's Cades Cove to his final days residing in the rapidly developing communities of eastern Tennessee, Hsiung teases out the historical and historiographical significance of Jobe's rich and revealing life.

This autobiographical account of Abraham Jobe, who was born in the rugged mountains of East Tennessee, offers readers a glimpse into life in the nineteenth-century South. Over eighty-six years, Jobe witnessed the tragedy of Indian removal, the horrors of war, and the rise of the New South. The sprawling memoir allows its author and editor to offer insight into a diffuse range of subjects related to southern Appalachia, the Civil War period, and Amerindian culture and politics. Jobe's dynamic occupational path reveals the complexity of southern Appalachia's economy, characterized by commercial agriculture, rural industry, and external market connections. As a salesman in Jonesboro, Tennessee, and store owner in Ringgold, Georgia, Jobe "participated in [southern Appalachia's] market revolution" (25). As he traveled the American South speculating in land and collecting debts from customers as distant as New Orleans, he stood on the forefront of Appalachia's economic transformation. Following the Civil War, Jobe found himself at the center of the New South's economic evolution, and his entrepreneurialism and regional boosterism placed him among a growing cadre of southern mountain business leaders. Jobe contributed to the growth of Appalachia's markets and southern trade linkages by constructing a woolen mill in North Carolina; a post office in Elk Park, North Carolina; and a branch of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad. He was also active in the development of eastern Tennessee's timber and iron industries. As Hsiung's commentary and Jobe's employment history demonstrate, the economy of southern Appalachia remained closely linked to regional and national markets, experienced economic developments comparable to those in the remainder of the South, contained a diversity of industries, and was driven by ambitious local entrepreneurs and boosters.

Jobe's memoir provides a window into the life of a committed Unionist in war-torn eastern Tennessee. His account of the war and its aftermath joins a growing collection of contemporary sources recounting the terror, tumult, and factionalism of Civil War southern Appalachia. Jobe's description of partisan violence between Tennessee Unionists and Confederates, bushwhacking, bridge-burning plots, and political assassinations confirms what historians have written about this period. His arrest by local Confederates and harrowing flight to Ohio reveal his level of involvement in Unionist politics. During Reconstruction, Jobe continued his involvement in regional politics. His relationship with Andrew Johnson led to his appointment as a southern postmaster and to increased political influence within the Republican Party. Jobe's chronicle of the decade including the Civil War reveals the cataclysmic effects of divisive politics and combat on mountain communities.

Throughout the course of his life, Jobe interacted a great deal with native peoples. From his youth in Cades Cove among the Cherokee to his postbellum work as a Bureau of Indian Affairs special agent to Minnesota's Chippewa, Jobe's life encompassed the tragic decades surrounding Indian removal and "civilization" efforts. Jobe's connections to the Cherokee are numerous, and his memoir provides insight into the community's removal struggle. His "far flung" business ventures brought him into contact with the Creek, and despite Jobe's racism, his memoir and his familiarity with the Muscogee and Cherokee languages reveal his grudging respect for the South's indigenous cultures (25). Jobe's...