Donna's great grandfather, James Nugan Poe, died before I was born. My mom told me a bit about him over the years. He was a minister. He liked target shooting with pistols in a dueling style. He made homemade wine which he doled out in shot glass amounts on special occasions. He was a stern sort of man. And he was, wonderfully, a self-taught fine cabinetmaker. He studied antiques in books and magazines and made faithful reproductions completely by hand. No electric machinery. He made his own hand planes. He worked almost exclusively in Cuban mahogany and built most of his furniture in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the late 1920's and into the 1930's. Some of his furniture was purchased by well-to-do residents on Lookout Mountain. He marked a lot of his work by stamping his name (J. N.
Poe) and the date into the wood. Here are our examples of his handiwork:
