Rugby in Morgan County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Roadside Cottage/Grey Gables
Rugby's Hidden History
Plans and specifications made to order.
All work promptly attended to. Central Avenue, Rugby
The above ad appeared in the very first issue of The Rugbeian newspaper in January, 1881, and ran for more than a year. J.H. Marvin came from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to the new Rugby colony in early 1880. Records indicate that he built the front two-story portion of the home that stood here sometime in 1880 or '81. His wife and children joined him in Rugby in March, 1882, but by August, 1882, the newspaper states that the Marvins returned to Cambridge. A few months later the home was purchased by Edward Bertz, the young German scholar who became the first librarian for the Thomas Hughes Free Public Library.
In March, 1883, Bertz sold the home to the English Potbury family and returned to Germany. Newspaper accounts show that Henry Potbury led a varied life in Rugby. He ran ads for several years as a "baker and confectioner," served on the Rugby Fire Brigade and the Commissary shareholder's board, played in the Rugby Cornet Band and served as president of the Rugby Social Club. But an account in March, 1886, records the Potbury family's removal to Chattanooga. Like many early Rugby colonists they probably could not earn an adequate living in Rugby.
The next residents were the German Oberheu family. They came from Cincinnati sometime in the late 1880s or early 1890s and became semi-permanent Rugby residents. The Oberheus likely added to the rear of the house and named it Roadside Cottage. A daughter, Nellie Lender Oberheu, married local mountain boy Charles Caster Brooks in 1902, and lived at Uffington House until her death in 1958.
The Oberheu home later became the residence for two different beloved Christ Church priests, and at some point became known as Grey Gables. Alexander Killeffer from Pennsylvania was of Swiss and English extraction. He was interested in music and became choirmaster at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Chattanooga while at seminary at Sewanee. After he was ordained a priest, his first church was St. Andrew's in Harriman. He often traveled from there to conduct services at Rugby's church in the early 20th century and again in the 1930s.
Benjamin Thomas Bensted was priest in charge of Christ Church from around 1912 until his death in 1925. According to a letter in the Rugby Archives, the home was still standing in 1930 and still owned by Reverend Bensted's widow. It probably burned sometime in the 1940s. Rev. Bensted is buried at Rugby's Laurel Dale Cemetery.
The site of this house with its multiple names and family histories is most discernible every year in late winter/early spring when the heirloom daffodils planted here a century or more ago still bloom.
[Captions]:
Rugby manager Robert Walton visits on the front entryway of Roadside Contage around 1900 with grandmother Barbara Lender seated left, Nellie Lender Oberheu, seated, and her sister, Jenny, standing.
This east side early 1900s picture shows the back addition. The lady with her dog is Jennie Obehbeu who later married James Lourie of Boston. They lived with their unmarried daughter Helen at Adema Cottage toward the end of their lives. All three are buried at Laurel Dale Cemetery.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Notable Buildings. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1881.
Location. 36° 21.646′ N, 84° 42.063′ W. Marker is in Rugby, Tennessee, in Morgan County. Marker is on Rugby Parkway (Tennessee Route 52) near Cumberland Avenue, on the left when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1412 Rugby Pkwy, Rugby TN 37733, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Perrigo/Alexander Boarding House (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Thomas Fardon's Drug Supply & Home (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Tabard Inn (approx. ¼ mile away); Early Rugby’s Appalachian Neighbors (approx. 0.3 miles away); Meet the Massengales (approx. 0.3 miles away); Welcome to the Massengale Homeplace (approx. 0.4 miles away); Gentlemen's Swimming Hole (approx. 0.6 miles away); Morgan County / Scott County (approx. 5.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Rugby.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Credits. This page was last revised on April 8, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 26, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 92 times since then and 15 times this year. Last updated on April 6, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on March 26, 2023, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.