Samuel Doak, a local of Greeneville, Tennessee, owned this writing desk. He founded Tusculum Academy and later Tusculum College. This desk had several functions, both practical and conveying. Assumptions are that he would grade papers, write letters, and would store important papers within its compartments. It is safe to expect that quills, inkwells, ledgers, record books and the like would also be stored here. The most wear, however, was in the bottom drawers, not the gallery. 

   Notice the volume of the piece and the glass in the bookcase? This piece was to be a showpiece, created to be noticed. The height of the peace proves that the house had to have high ceilings, something at the time a "regular" house would not have. It sat in the main hall, where people would notice it immediately. The glass installed was to show off Doaks books, and thus show off his intelligence and authority.

    Unfortunately, who built the desk is unknown. Due to the woods used in the building of the bookcase being local to Greeneville, it is presumed that it was built there.