KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) – Sitting on the edge of the North Folk Holston River in Kingsport, the Rotherwood Mansion has significant ties to the city. It was built in the 1800’s by Frederick A. Ross and then bought by Joshua Phipps.
Years later, many with connections to the mansion still reside within the city limits.
“Abenida Phipps, my great-great-great-grandmother, was the daughter of Joshua Phipps,” said Mark Fleenor, a descendant of Joshua Phipps. “Who [was] a one-time owner of the Rotherwood Mansion.
Phipps owned slaves who worked on his property, some of whom stayed in the area after being freed. The descendants of those who resided at the mansion felt it was necessary to gather at the place where it all started.
That’s when Tacia Green, whose ancestor Victoria Phipps was a former slave at Rotherwood, contacted the mansion’s current owner.
“She said something like, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice to have a reunion of descendants of the slaves here where it all was?'” said Lenita Thibault, the mansion’s current owner.
As the reunion began, the decision was made to involve those whose ancestors once owned slaves at the property. On Saturday, those descendants gathered on the mansion grounds to acknowledge the past and find a way to move on.
“No one here was at fault,” said Green. “We just happened to be in the family of those that were. So our generation needs to take on both sides of the healing process.”
“It’s a time in our history that happened that we need to try and get past,” said Fleenor. “And this is one of those events that helps us get past it.”
Johnson City Salvation Army to host in-person Angel Tree application events this week Thibault has owned the property since 1991. Although she doesn’t have ties to the house, she feels she now has a new connection to Rotherwood.
“The only thing that’s absolutely perfect for my owning this house is that I do not have a direct connection with previous owners,” said Thibault. “But it’s my adoptive family.”
Overall, the day was about healing, which the descendants said is essential to the house’s history.
“We will never forget; hurt is hurt,” said Green. “Acknowledge, heal, and move on. That’s the only thing we can do.”
Fleenor agreed.
“We still remember our stories,” said Fleenor. “And we can talk to each other and heal from that remembering, but not dwelling on the past.”
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