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Chattanooga's McCallie School opened September 21, 1905, with eight teachers and 48 students on a family farm located on the western slope of Missionary Ridge donated by Presbyterian minister T. H. McCallie to his sons, James Park and Spencer J.…

Cormac McCarthy, author of eight novels and two dramas, spent his childhood in Knoxville, where he graduated from Catholic High School in 1951 and attended the University of Tennessee. Although he never received a degree, he left the university with…

Governor, progressive agricultural reformer, publisher, and public official Jim Nance McCord was born in Unionville, Bedford County, in 1879. His parents, Thomas N. and Iva Stelle McCord, were farmers and the young McCord learned the value of hard work on…

Considered to be the first white settler in Hamilton County, John McDonald emigrated from Scotland to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1766. Almost immediately, he secured a position as a trader among the Cherokees and moved to posts in Tennessee, and…

John H. McDowell, newspaper editor and leader in the Agricultural Wheel and Farmers' Alliance, was born December 12, 1844, near Trenton in Gibson County, the son of John Davis and Nancy H. Irwin McDowell. Young McDowell attended St. Andrews College…

One of the state's most influential African American men of the 1880s, Samuel A. McElwee had to struggle to achieve a college education and law degree, but nonetheless served his race for three terms in the Tennessee General Assembly (1882-88),…

Civil War Unionist Hetty Montgomery Kennedy McEwen was born in Nashville. Her husband, Robert McEwen, a veteran of the battle of Kings Mountain, served as superintendent of Nashville's schools. As the Civil War approached, the McEwens remained strong Unionists and…

Two years after the passage of the 1957 Civil Rights Act, civil rights activists John and Viola Harris McFerren led voter-registration drives in Fayette County. Unyielding proponents of the right of African Americans to exercise the franchise, the McFerrens were…

Walter “Brownie” McGhee, an African American musician, was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 30, 1915. Raised within a musical family (Brownie’s brother Granville scored a hit with “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee” in 1947), McGhee overcame the ravages of polio at…

A trader and diplomat among the Upper Creek Indians in Georgia and Alabama, Lachlan McGillivray played an important role in British-Indian relations on the southern colonial frontier. Born in Inverness, Scotland, McGillivray immigrated to Georgia in 1735 and established relations…

The most successful coach in Vanderbilt University football history, Daniel E. McGugin was born on July 29, 1879, in Tingley, Iowa, the son of Benjamin Franklin and Melissa A. Crutchfield McGugin. McGugin graduated from Drake University in Des Moines in…

Until recently, Tennessee followed the doctrines of "contributory negligence." Under contributory negligence, a person harmed by a defendant's negligent act may be unable to recover anything in damages if that person contributed, even in a small way, to the harm.…

As the creators and producers of Little Debbie Snack Cakes, O. D. and Ruth McKee transformed a small bakery into a terrific success that their two sons have turned into a business worth $770 million in annual sales. Before the…

On June 1, 1976, Fran McKee became the first woman line officer in American history to be named a rear admiral in the United States Navy. Although McKee was born in Florence, Alabama, her family home was Maury County, Tennessee,…

Kenneth D. McKellar, influential mid-twentieth-century U.S. senator, was born in Dallas County, Alabama, on January 29, 1869. Young McKellar was schooled by an older sister and his parents before his father died when the boy was eleven. Working at different…

The first American-born bishop of the Methodist Church, William McKendree was closely associated with the establishment of the Methodist Church in Tennessee. Born in Virginia in 1757, McKendree visited Nashville as early as 1797. Three years later, he became the…

The McKissack and McKissack architectural tradition dates back to the first Moses McKissack (1790-1865) of the West African Ashanti tribe, who was sold into slavery to William McKissack of North Carolina and became a master builder. In 1822 he married…

West Tennessee land speculator John C. McLemore was born January 1, 1790, in Orange County, North Carolina. In 1809 he moved to Nashville, where he became a surveyor's clerk. Five years later, he succeeded his uncle William Christmas as surveyor…

Fred McMahan was a prominent and successful African American brick mason and builder from Sevierville. McMahan learned the trade from his grandfather, Isaac Dockery. He attended Knoxville College where he met his future wife, Mary Bond (1896-1983), in the late…

Benton McMillin, governor, congressman, and diplomat, was born on September 11, 1845, in Monroe County, Kentucky, the son of John and Elizabeth Black McMillin. After completing preparatory studies at Philomath Academy in Tennessee, he attended the Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical…