Charles Smith Doak

A gentle, kindly gentleman, Mr. Doak was among the eldest alumni of Tusculum College where he had spent his entire life. The first Doak's Cabin at the foot of the mountain was located for him. An active church worker for many years he served Mt. Bethel as elder and trustee.

Surviving are his wife, Lucy Compton Doak and one grandson, Carlos Doak Cordova.

Funeral services will be held from the home at ten A. M., Sunday. Interment will be in Oakland Cemetery.

Active pallbearers will be Sam, Alpha, and Maurice S. Doak, Roy, Raymond, and H.T. Ramsey.

Honorary pallbearers will be Dr. J.D. Campbell, Roscoe Hensley, Frank Alexander, W.F. Russell, L.M. Shanks, L.C. Haynes, R.F. Register, H.T. Ramsey, H.B. Walker, W.L. Miller, H.C. McAmis, Frank Campbel, Lee Horne, W.R. Gray, C.O. Gray, S.R. Dobson, J.H. Claubaugh, Garfield Kelly, L.W. Taylor, T.S. Rankin, and D.B Fraker.

Charles Smith and Lucy Doak, as described in "Doak School Unveiled" (© 2024 by Jennifer Teague)

“The largest subscribers to the building of the new Doak High School were Mr. and Mrs. Charles Smith Doak, owner of the Doak Homestead.” They pledged and donated $1000 “although they had no children to send to school. For that reason, the school building was named ‘Doak’, and the name was inscribed over the front door.”

Lucinda Ann Thompson Doak, better known as “Miss Lucy,” as she was called by her friends, perhaps gave the greatest moral support in the early years of the new school. “Anytime there was a need to be at the schoolhouse for business reasons, or any school activity, she could be seen walking up the hill from home. ‘Miss Lucy’ with lantern in hand became familiar and an inspiring figure to Tusculum friends. In the spring and fall of the year she would not need the aid of her kerosene lantern on the way to the schoolhouse, but on her way home she needed the light for her walk down the dark path home.”

Charles Smith and Lucy Doak adopted the son of their daughter Margaret Doak Cordova, after she died in 1919 from TB. The child was named Carlos Reye King Cordova, was born in 1917, and attended Doak as a graduate of the class of 1936. He later became the historian for the Doak High School Reunion Committee. “The Margarette (sometimes spelled Marguerite, Marguerite or Margaret) Falls Trail was once home to one of the largest logging operations in the area and was named after Margaret Doak in the early 1920s” and is located near Shelton Mission Road in Greeneville, Tennessee. According to Carla Hopson Kesterson in a Facebook post on August 13, 2024, Carlos and his wife, Elizabeth, “built a log cabin between Shelton Mission Church and Marguerite Falls.” She went on to describe them as “the loveliest and most gracious individuals.”

In a 1932 newspaper article, Charles Doak at 73 said his grandson was “the apple of his eye.” Carlos attended Tusculum College just like his grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather. An earlier newspaper article spoke to the fact that the Doak’s donated the money they did even though they didn’t have a child of their own to send to school there. But they did have this grandson who was seven years old at the time they pledged money to secure the building of Doak School in Tusculum. Carlos was their pride and joy and his education was important to them. In this 1935 junior class photo, Carlos Cordova is the first person on the left in the back row.

In that same article, Mr. Doak said, “But I can’t walk so well any more,” he complains. “A mile or two, and I get all tuckered out. I’ve got to stop and rest for a spell.” After graduating from Tusculum College, Charles Doak “helped his mother run the farm.” His father was a physician and spent many hours on the road traveling to “tend to the sick.” He became a farmer as the “Doak properties were extensive.” In 1932, many visitors would stop by the Doak Homestead in admiration. If he was home and noticed them, he would ask them in and had a “register book” for them to sign. “I like to talk to folks,” he explains.

Mr. Charles Smith Doak died on August 13, 1937, at his home, now known as The Doak House and Museum. His obituary read, “A gentle, kindly gentleman, Mr. Doak was among the eldest alumni of Tusculum College where he spent his entire life. The first Doak’s Cabin at the foot of the mountain was located for him. An active church worker for many years he served Mt. Bethel as elder and trustee.” Mr. Doak was the great-grandson of Rev. Dr. Samuel Doak, the founder and first president of Washington College in Limestone, Tennessee.

Lucy Doak died on March 17, 1938. Charles, Lucy, Margaret, and their twin sons, Harry and Lawrence, are buried at Oakland Presbyterian Cemetery on Morgan Road in Greene County. They rest around 1.5 miles from Doak School.