A Mountaineer in Motion the Memoir of Dr. Abraham Jobe, 1817-1906

This compelling autobiography of a nineteenth-century Tennessee physician, entrepreneur, and civil servant provides an intriguing look at one professional man's life in pre and post Civil War Appalachia and stands as an invaluable chronicle of southern history. Born in upper East Tennessee in 1817, Dr. Abraham Jobe moved at an early age to Cades Cove, Tennessee, with his family. His description of that area at the very beginning of the community offers a unique perspective on frontier life. Beginning in the 1840s, Jobe practiced medicine in upper East Tennessee and in northwestern North Carolina. He recounts many of his medical cases, some quite harrowing, and in the process illuminates both the role of the physician in Appalachian society and the state of scientific thinking at this time. During the Civil War, Jobe was a Unionist and witnessed such brutal fighting in East Tennessee that he was forced to go into hiding and eventually flee the region. Jobe discusses this experience and comments on the effectiveness of Reconstruction governments and the entry of African Americans into state legislatures. After the Civil War, his friendship with Andrew Johnson resulted in an appointment as a special agent in the U.S. Postal Service. Upon his return to southern Appalachia, Jobe started two manufacturing businesses, reflecting the entrepreneurial activity that characterized both the New South specifically and the nineteenth-century generally. 206 pages; hardcover.