Mark Twain, whose real name was Samuel Clemens, made a career out of telling stories of elegant riverboats, good times and wild adventures along the Mississippi.
But miles away from that kind of life, in a Tennessee city of 2,000, you'll see and hear Clement's iconic pen name time and again.
Fentress County may be the birthplace of Sergeant Alvin York, the most decorated American soldier in WWI, but county seat Jamestown lays claim to Mark Twain, the father of American Literature.
Historians say he indirectly got his start here.
"That's absolute truth. Mark Twain-- he was conceived here," said Myra Smith who works at the Fentress County Historical Society. "Everybody knows the history here. You go talk to somebody, if they're from here, born here, they know the history - they know all about Sgt. York, they know all about Mark Twain."
Twain's family lived here in the 1820s and '30s-- decades old land deeds inside the county courthouse prove that. [emphasis mine]
John and Jane Clemens' home actually sat where the post office stands today, right across from the now appropriately named Mark Twain Spring.
But the Clemens moved from Jamestown to Missouri in 1835, just a few months before the birth of their son Samuel.
Click here to read more from the WBIR website.
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