Living History Saturday Brings the Story of Private Abraham Nave to Life

History is more than names and dates recorded on a page. It lives in the stories families preserve, the experiences passed from one generation to the next, and the people who help us hear the voices of those who came before us.

On Saturday, September 26, the Museum of Butler invites you to step back in time as descendant and historical interpreter Robert Rambo portrays his ancestor, Private Abraham Nave.

The special Living History Saturday presentation will take place from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. and is included with regular museum admission.

A Farmer, Hunter and Tennessee Soldier

Abraham Nave was a farmer, an accomplished bear hunter and a soldier whose life reflected the resilience and independence of early East Tennessee’s settlers.

He and his wife, Mary, raised 15 children in the community once known as the “Neck,” an area near Elizabethton that later became known as Siam. Life on a large mountain farm required the work of the entire family, but according to stories preserved by Nave’s descendants, Abraham still found time to head deep into the mountains in pursuit of bear.

Family history recalls that while his sons tended the farm, Abraham would leave on extended hunting trips—and that the family “always had at least one bear ham in the smokehouse.” It is a small but vivid detail that offers a glimpse into the resourcefulness required of families living along the Appalachian frontier.

From East Tennessee to New Orleans

Nave’s life also became part of a much larger American story.

Contributed by Robert Rambo, Historical Interpreter

Abraham Nave's first known military service was under John Sevier against the Chickamauga Cherokees at the Battle of Hightower, sometimes considered one of the closing engagements of the Revolutionary War Indian battles. 

During the War of 1812, he first became one of only 165 original "Tennessee Volunteers" under Knoxville lawyer John Williams, who rode from the counties of upper east Tennessee to Knoxville, and then over the mountains to East Florida, to fight against the Seminoles in 1812-1813, with no pay, provisions, nor supplies, entirely on their own initiative. 

Afterwards, Abraham answered the call for volunteers in Tennessee for the Creek War in Alabama, in the 2nd East Tennessee "Volunteer Mounted Gunmen" Regiment, in Major General John Cocke's East Tennessee Division. After several initial battles, Cocke's East Tennessee Division linked up with Major General Andrew Jackson's West Tennessee Division (which also included David Crockett), after which all mounted forces (including 600 allied Cherokees) rode together under John Coffee's Mounted Brigade. 

Private Nave went on to serve under Jackson in campaigns at Horseshoe Bend, Pensacola, Mobile, and New Orleans (including the famous Battle of New Orleans). Coffee’s mounted gunmen traveled many hundreds of miles through difficult country of swamps, bayous, and forests without roads, supplying their own horses and enduring harsh weather, uncertain provisions and exhausting marches. Three brothers of Abraham Nave, as well as at least four other Johnson County ancestors of Mr. Rambo, also participated in these campaigns. 

These men were part all part of the larger movement of Tennessee volunteers who  during this defining period in American history who gave birth to the legends of the  East Tennessee mountaineer riflemen, and fearless Tennessee Volunteers.

When Family History Becomes Living History

What makes this presentation especially meaningful is Robert Rambo’s personal connection to the man he portrays.

Through period interpretation, family stories and documented history, Rambo will introduce visitors to Abraham Nave not simply as the name of a soldier on a muster roll, but as a husband, father, farmer, hunter and East Tennessean.

This is exactly what Living History Saturday is meant to do: connect national events to the lives of people from our own region and demonstrate how the families of the Watauga Valley helped shape the American story.

Join us as one descendant honors another—and as the story of Private Abraham Nave returns to the mountains he once called home.

Event Information

Living History Saturday: Private Abraham NaveFeaturing Robert Rambo as his ancestor, Private Abraham Nave

Saturday, September 26, 202612:00–2:00 p.m.

Museum of Butler 123 Selma Curtis RoadButler, Tennessee

The presentation is included with regular museum admission.

Admission: $5 per person | Children under 12 are admitted free

Season passes are available for $25

Museum Hours: Saturdays: 11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.Sundays: 1:00–4:00 p.m.

Learn more at MuseumofButlerTN.org.

This project is funded under an agreement with the State of Tennessee and administered by the Tennessee Commission for the United States Semiquincentennial.