Maryville College presidents learn of family connection
Note: This story originally appeared in the Winter/Spring issue of FOCUS magazine | Story by Linda Braden Albert
Students, faculty and staff at Maryville College consider each other family, but for two of the College’s presidents, that connection has taken on a more literal meaning—and a quite unexpected one.
Dr. Bryan Coker began his tenure on July 1, 2020, after a national search for the College’s 12th president. Little did he know that he would share a common ancestor with President Emeritus Dr. Gerald Gibson, who served as MC’s 10th president from 1993 to 2010.
What are the odds?
“This ‘discovery’ was made during my first in-person meeting with Dr. Gibson – my wife, Sara, and I met with Gerald and his wife, Rachel, outside on their deck one Friday evening in the fall,” Coker recalled. “He and I had talked over the phone previously, but to finally see him in person was such an honor and so meaningful for me. His legacy at the College is strong and outstanding. Many feel he truly ‘saved’ the College – something that has happened to MC a few times before – at a vulnerable moment in its history.”
In the course of their conversation, Gibson mentioned that he was originally from the Spartanburg, S.C., area.
“That piqued my interest, as the North Carolina county in which I grew up, Rutherford County, is just north of that area,” Coker said. “I shared this with Gerald, and it became clear that he was very familiar with Rutherford County – he shared that his mother was from there.”
As the men discussed the various towns of Rutherford County, they found that Gibson’s mother was from Ellenboro, and Coker’s mother was from the neighboring town of Forest City.
“As soon as I got home that evening, I emailed Gerald my mother’s family lineage – she had once traced it back to the Revolutionary War,” Coker said. “Within an hour, Gerald replied to me with the confirmation that we were indeed cousins.”
Gibson said he knew they had to be related after comparing family surnames and was not surprised when his genealogy files confirmed it.
“I mentioned that my maternal grandmother was a Harrill, and Bryan said, ‘I’m pretty sure we had Harrills in our family,’” Gibson said. “It didn’t take a lot of research once I knew that much to trace him down.”
Their common ancestors were their third-great-grandparents, Housen Harrill and Levicey McBrayer Harrill. Gibson said, “Bryan’s second-great-grandmother was Priscilla Harrill, the daughter of Housen and Levicey. Priscilla Harrill was my great-great-aunt, and her brother was my great-great-grandfather. His name was Alfred W. Harrill.”
Pleasant surprise
Finding the family connection with Coker was a surprise.
“I was pleased, of course, to know that was the case, because the odds are against it,” Gibson said. “Everything I hear about Bryan Coker is good. I wouldn’t have wanted to take up the reins when he did, with the (pandemic).”
Coker also was surprised and pleased about the connection.
“For me, this is truly one of those ‘what are the odds?’ stories,” he said. “A career in academia can truly take you anywhere; thus, it’s so remarkable that two individuals with roots in that rural North Carolina county can both end up as presidents of the same college.
“Of course, I also hope there’s some value in the shared DNA – Gerald was a transformational leader for the College, and if I can accomplish a fraction of all that he achieved, that will be a job well done.”
More connections
Gibson has been delving into his ancestry since the 1960s and now has more than 64,000 individuals in his database. He has found even more unexpected connections—he and his wife, Rachel, are seventh cousins.
“I didn’t know that until a number of years after we were married,” he said. “She is from Middle Tennessee, and all my line are in North Carolina and South Carolina.”
During his tenure as president, Gibson discovered another connection with the College through William Baxter Lee III, for whom the Grand Foyer at the Clayton Center for the Arts is named.
“It was as much a surprise as learning that Bryan and I are related,” Gibson said. “We went to lunch one day, and Baxter Lee mentioned he was doing some research on Rutherford County, N.C. I said, ‘I think I had a Lee in my family from Rutherford County.’ Sure enough, his great-great-grandfather and mine were the same person. There’s more than one happenstance, I guess you could say.”