Title: R. N. Kesterson Ledgers

Date/Date Range :   1894-1896

Extent: 1.5 linear feet

Abstract:

This collection consists of two ledgers belonging to dentist R. N. Kesterson of Knoxville, Tennessee, covering the years 1894 to 1896. They contain the names of customers, the dates they came in, and the dental work they had done.

Call number: MS-3190

Repository: University of Tennessee Special Collections Library, Knoxville, TN

Aquisition Information:

Collection was purchased by Special Collections on January 29, 2007.

Access Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Copyright:

The copyright interests in this collection remain with the creator. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of Item], R. N. Kesterson Ledgers, MS-3190. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Special Collections Library.

Collection consists of a single box.

Reuben Neil Kesterson was born on July 12, 1858 in New Tazewell, Tennessee to Reuben and Adeline (Henderson) Kesterson. He graduated from University of Louisville Medical School Dental Department with his DDS in 1883 and set up a practice in Tazewell, Tennessee. He married Frances "Fanny" Otey (1861-1959) in 1885, and the couple moved to Knoxville in 1887. Here, Kesterson (said to be Knoxville's first dentist) practiced dentistry in the East Tennessee National Bank Building.

The Kestersons had two sons: Robert Neil (born November 4, 1887) and Tom Otey (born January 11, 1890). After Robert died on August 8, 1890, Reuben Kesterson became obsessed with creating a suitable resting place for his son. He and his wife studied cemetery layout and operation around the country and established Greenwood Cemetery on Tazewell Pike in 1900. They moved their son's coffin there from Old Gray Cemetery, and in 1928 erected a 45-foot marble obelisk (second only to John D. Rockefeller's 65-foot monument) at his grave. When Reuben Kesterson died on December 4, 1931, he was buried in Greenwood Cemetery near his son.

This collection consists of two ledgers belonging to dentist R. N. Kesterson of Knoxville, Tennessee, covering the years 1894 to 1896. They contain the names of customers, the dates they came in, and the dental work they had done.

• Knoxville (Tenn.) -- History.
• Dentists -- Tennessee.
• Dentistry -- Accounting.