Listed in the National Register, this one-and-one-half story
weatherboard bungalow was the house of Alex Haley's grandfather,
Will Palmer, who operated a respected and profitable lumber
business and mill in Henning. In 1918-19 Palmer and his wife
Cynthia built the ten-room house, complete with music room and
library, that rated among the most modern and fashionable
residences in this rural town. Two years later, in 1921, their
daughter Bertha Palmer Haley brought her baby son Alex back home to
Henning to stay with her parents while her husband, Simon Haley,
pursued graduate studies at Cornell. Haley lived here from 1921 to
1929 and afterward visited the home during many summers. As he
later recounted in his popular book Roots: The Saga of an American
Family (1976) and in many interviews, his Grandmother Palmer was an
immense influence on his telling of the family history, especially
through her colorful and compelling stories of past, but not
forgotten, family members.
Haley heard those stories and began to develop his own sense of
imagination and place while living at this bungalow dwelling. His
writings and lectures inspired millions to search for their family
history and to learn how their families have played a role in the
drama of the American past. The Alex Haley Boyhood Home was listed
in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and was opened
as the first state historic site devoted to African American
history later that decade. After his death in 1992, Haley was
buried in the front yard of the boyhood home he recalled so
fondly.
Source: Carroll Van West, Middle Tennessee State University
Taken from the Online Edition of the Tennessee Encyclopedia of
History and Culture (Tennessee Historical Society and University of
Tennessee Press, 2005, http:tennesseeencyclopedia.net)
Log and pencil, along with small goodies such as keychains, are
in a waterproof smaller-sized box.
Part of The "National Great River Road 70th Anniversary
Geocaching Event."