Gen. John Sevier, 1745-1815

Gen. John Sevier, 1745-1815. By Edgar Wallace Bowlin, Sr., Vermont white marble, 1959. Edgar W. Bowlin (1919-2001), a self-taught artist from Hancock County, was commissioned by the Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Upper East Tennessee, to sculpt this likeness of John Sevier, first governor of Tennessee. It was unveiled in the lobby of the bank's Kingsport branch on January 2, 1960. After the bank was sold in 1996, the sculpture was gifted to Donald Ault, found of the Governor John Sevier Bicentennial Association, who planned to display it in a replica of Tennessee's first state capitol in downtown Knoxville. The construction of James White Parkway derailed Ault's project, and he was ultimately forced to store Gen. John Sevier, 1745-1815, near The Foundry on the 1982 World's Fair site. There, during the wee hours of August 14, 2002, the sculpture was vandalized., Gen. John Sevier, 1745-1815, is one of three life-sized marble sculptures by Bowlin. He also carved Andrew Johnson, 17th president of the United States, unveiled on October 12, 1956, in the lobby of the Greenville branch of Home Federal (now the Greene County Partnership), ad Kenneth D. McKeller, United States congressman and Advocate of commercial aviation, unveiled on June 22, 1958, at the Tri-Cities Airport., [Caption]: , Above: Edgar W. Bowlin speaking at the unveiling of Gen. John Sevier, 1745-1815. Nathaniel T. Winston, president of Home Federal Savings and Loan, is seated to Bowlin's immediate left. , Banner: Edgar W. Bowlin with Gen. John Sevier, 1745-1815, in the lobby of Home Federal Savings and Loan, Kingsport., Gratitude is also extended to the family of Edgar W. Bowlin, Donald and Wanda Ault, and William James "Jim" Cartese.