Uncle Bush: Tennessee Mountain Legend

     Felix Bushaloo Breazeale was, without a doubt, Roane County, Tennessee’s most well-known and celebrated citizen.  Uncle Bush, as he was known far and wide, was and may still be, the only man to ever attend his funeral…while still living!     

      Being a rough looking, reclusive mountain man and for fear of the unknown, more than anything else, rumors always ran rampant about Uncle Bush…he killed a man, he would shoot prowlers on sight, he was crazy, and the like. Fed up with all the unfounded gossip, he decided to approach funeral home owner Frank Quinn about having his funeral “now, while I’m still living so I can  hear what people have to say about me, what they know about me.” After the initial shock and weighing in on all the ifs, ands, and buts, Quinn agreed and the service was set for late spring of the following year.

     Describing Uncle Bush was easy. He had a long thick beard, always wore bib overalls, dipped snuff, was a master craftsman (he made his own coffin from black walnut wood), and was a crack shot with a rifle. He could reputedly bring down a fox from a hundred yards away, having gotten a lot of practice protecting his chickens. His best friend and constant companion was his mule which he had raised from a young colt and named, “Mule.” He never married, telling folks, “The ones I wanted I couldn’t have and the ones I could have I didn’t want.”

     He claimed he could communicate with Mule and apparently, he could. Other than the normal work chores…plowing, skidding logs, and pulling up stumps, he had taught Mule quite a repertoire of tricks. As word spread about the near-famous twosome, folks from around the area began to muster up the courage to come and request a showing of Uncle Bush’s mule and his “trick show.” And he would always oblige. To say that Uncle Bush enjoyed the limelight was an understatement.

     As the day of the “living funeral” as it had been tagged, began to draw closer, Frank Quinn realized that this was going to be an event of big proportions, much bigger than he first thought. And when East Tennessee’s largest newspaper, the Knoxville News-Sentinel ran the story, the Associated Press picked up on it, and the tale of Felix Breazeale, his mule, and his living funeral, spread like wildfire.

     June of 1938 was exceptionally hot for the mountains of East Tennessee as Sunday, the 26^th, the date set for Uncle Bush’s funeral, grew closer and closer. People began arriving on Friday, camping out in the woods around Cave Creek Missionary Baptist Church. By early Sunday morning, people were stirring like bees around a honey tree. Travel along the narrow dirt road leading through the woods to the little white church had slowed to a crawl. Estimates of the crowd ran as high as 8,000 to 10,000.

     June 26^th was anything but usual in the small Roane County community of Cave Creek. People began to gather early…in cars, trucks, buses, wagons, on horseback, on foot, some arriving before daybreak. An unofficial survey of license plates showed vehicles from fourteen states as far away as Louisiana, Missouri, and Alabama. An old and dear friend of Uncle Bush, the Rev. Charles Jackson had driven from Paris, Illinois, a distance of over 500 miles, to preach the funeral. Frank Quinn realized early on that the small church house would not hold a fraction of the people so plans quickly changed and the service was moved outdoors.

     The rumor that the funeral procession would be led by Mule, pulling a wagon bearing Uncle Bush’s handmade coffin, was just that…a rumor! Actually, Uncle Bush rode in with Frank Quinn in the front seat of the funeral coach, forty minutes late because of the clogged up narrow dirt road. Other than that, the well-planned service went off, pretty much, without a hitch.

     Uncle Bush, decked out in a new suit donated by a Knoxville clothing store, sat directly in front of his coffin. Others, including Quinn, Jackson, and a vocal group from Chattanooga, the Friendly Eight Octet, shared the stage. Songs, as requested by Uncle Bush included, “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand” and “In a Land Where We’ll Never Grow Old.”

     One man, looking for a quick buck, made close to $300 charging people to park on his property and two other men had set up a crude hot dog stand. Uncle Bush later told that he “didn’t mean for it to cause such a big stir.” At the conclusion of the service, Uncle Bush stayed for several hours to shake hands and sign autographs with his “X.”

     During the ensuing months, the name Bush Breazeale became almost a household name. Radio stations wanted interviews, newspapers and magazines, including Life, ran articles and columns, and Uncle Bush, of all things, was asked to throw out the first ball at the Loudon - Harriman baseball game.  Robert Ripley even asked Uncle Bush to come to New York to be interviewed for his “Believe It or Not” column. He later told that, “They were the nicest people, but to be honest, their vittles weren’t worth a dern.”

     And so goes the story of Uncle Bush. On February 9^th, 1943, Felix Bushaloo Breazeale, age 79, died peacefully at his home. As he had requested, a short simple graveside service was held. He is now at rest in his walnut coffin in Cave Creek Cemetery.  

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      In 2009, Sony Pictures released Get Low, a somewhat factual film depicting the story of Uncle Bush and his living funeral. Robert Duvall was cast as Uncle Bush, Bill Murray as Frank Quinn, Bill Cobbs as Rev. Jackson, and Decatur, Alabama's Lucas Black as Buddy Robinson, Quinn’s employee.