Pioneer Memorial - Johnson City, TN - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

----- TENNESSEE - A Guide to the State (third printing 1949)

From the Winged Deer Park website we learn: "From 1937 until 1990 this statue of Henry Massengil and his pioneer family stood in north Johnson City at the intersection of two highways leading to Bristol and Kingsport. Due to a state highway improvement project, the 24-foot statue was moved to Winged Deer Park in 1990. The monument was originally erected by Dr. Samuel Evans Massengil of Bristol, Tennessee to commemorate his great-great-grandfather as well as all pioneers. As at the original location, the statue faces west, portraying the westward movement of pioneers. Settlement in this area represented the pioneers' first foray into territory west of the Allegheny Mountains, which is why this area of Tennessee is billed as the "First Frontier." The Massengil pioneers stand as a lasting reminder of our region's proud hertiage. Henry Massengil came from North Carolina to the Watauga settlement in 1769. Henry's wife was a sister of William Cobb, whose residence, "Rocky Mount"

Text on the monument base reads:
"Erected to the memory of Henry Massengill and his pioneer family
Came from North Carolina to the Watauga Settlement in 1769. His plantation near the mouth of Boone's Creek adjoined William Bean's, who was the first permanent white settler west of the Alleghany Mountains.
In 1775 was appointed to an office in the Watauga Association which adopted the first written constitution for the government of American-born freemen.
Built the Massengill house of worship, 1777, served two years as sheriff of Washington District. In 1778 was chairman of the Committee of Safety.
Served on the staff of Captain William Edmiston in General's Shelby's expedition against the Chicamagua Indians in 1779.
Furnished three sons to the Revolutionary Army."