The Case of the Missing Taxidermy

By Leonydis Matis

It’s April 27, 1981, and your school takes a field trip to Cumberland University for an undisclosed reason.  Nothing beats getting out of school to hang out with your friends, but when you arrive at the small school, you hear the leaves rustle, the sky is speckled with clouds, and the clock tower looks down upon you as your class, following the school president, enters the building. Up the wide staircase, you hear each creak of the floorboard and see yourself in the mirror. You continue following the president up one more flight of stairs to your right. A musky smell reaches your nose. 

At the top of the stairs, standing close to 9 feet tall, a brown bear claws out, jaw open, stopped in time. 

The bear itself was stopped by Tillman Cavert, Jr, hunter and progenitor of the Tillman Cavert, Jr. Big Game Trophy Collection Wildlife Museum. Over 145 different species of animals were a part of this display, from a small fawn to a 9-foot tall polar bear. Cavert Jr. had collected them all. He was a record holder for about 125 different species and had over 500 taxidermied animals in his collection. Later in his life, he donated many of these animals to Cumberland as part of his trophy collection, which he described as the “impossible dream.”

In the summer of 2023 the trophy room mysteriously disappeared, packed up in trucks and driven to an unknown area, never to be seen or heard from again. 

Rumors started to circulate, some about ghosts, some that the animals would wake in the middle of the night, and others were disturbed about the ethics of having taxidermied animals in a university. Many thought the animals were placed in a store, others thought they were thrown in a dump, and others still believed it all went back to the family, but there was no record of anything about Mr. Cavert Jr. besides his obituary and no information about where or how his collection was moved. If you are like me and remember the room and wondered why a liberal arts university had a taxidermy room, never talked about it, and mysteriously removed it without a word, come down this rabbit hole with me as I tell you another piece of strange history about Cumberland University. 

Biography 

Tillman Cavert, Jr. was born on July 31, 1916, and died on April 30, 2013. He was 96 when he died, and not only was he a devoted hunter, but a devoted Christian as well. He lived his life to serve others and his community, and he considered the trophy room a part of this service. He believed it would be used for educational purposes and that many different people could see animals that they would not see otherwise.

He started this long journey in the same place where he died, Nashville, TN. He went to a Nashville public school and Duncan College Preparatory School. He then attended Cumberland University, and would earn a bachelor's degree in Law. After graduation, he was the second youngest member of the Tennessee State Legislature in 1937, where he served until 1939.

Mr. Cavert was not just an academic but a nationally-recognized hunter. Even before he became well-known in the world of hunting, he was in WWII and served for six years, even achieving the rank of Captain. After Officer's Training School, he was accepted for pilot training in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and later served as a flight instructor to America's pilots. He was so good at what he did that Mr. Cavert was one of only 20 pilots selected for a special mission: to transport highly ranked Army personnel and cargo to North Africa to stage the final strategies of the War. 

After the horror of war, Cavert, like many others, married and created a family. In 1940, he married Ellen Josphine McGehee and had four children: Tillman Cavert III of Douglas, Ray Cavert, Ellen BaBa Cavert, and Grace Cavert. Since he needed a job after the war, Cavert was able to join the paper business from his father-in-law, C. G. McGehee. Mr. Cavert worked his way up the company and became President and Chairman of the Board of Calcasieu Paper Company, Inc. and President of the Paper Bag Institute of America. 

“He retired in 1971,” said his obituary. “Mr. Cavert would say that his highest achievement was his beloved family, but a close second to that was his classification and reputation as one of the world's most respected and decorated game hunters.”

The Hunts 

His first major big game hunt was in Botswana, Africa, in 1969. Africa was his favorite place to hunt, for better or for worse, and he had gone there at least 14 times. Overall, he had 500 big game trophies, and over 125 were recorded in the Book of World Records. Calvert’s achievements include the Big Five of Africa (elephant, lion, cape buffalo, leopard and black rhino), all record class; the Grand Slam of North American Wild Sheep, all record class; Grand Slam of Dangerous Game of Africa; a number of species of Asian sheep and ibex; World Record mouflon sheep from behind the former Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia, and most all the species of Eastern Europe.

No doubt many people see “hunt” and “taxidermy” and don’t think of wildlife conservationists, but Mr. Cavert was one of them; a very big advocate for them. He believed hunters have a special obligation to protect the environment and aid in conservation. “Who more than hunters are more sensitive and caring about the universal need to preserve what God has bequeathed?” Cavert often asked. 

When Mr. Cavert hunted, he really meant what he said about preserving what his God had created. It was one of the main reasons the Grand Slam of North America was his most prized award. He wrote about it in a journal called SHEEP, where he describes how it felt hunting, and this small entry feels more like a ramble than anything else. 

What I love the most about this article is that we can see how he felt about hunting and about sheep. He describes his first sheep as “a beauty he was, sitting so majestically on the side of the mountain with all of his 40-plus inches of horn shining like a mirror in the sunlight.” 

Mr. Cavert caught a Kodiak bear in Alaska, and while many people would put that bear as their grand prize, he never did. The sheep and the rams were always his favorite, even after all he had collected. 

The Trophy Room

Now, for the big question: why was it at Cumberland in the first place? As already established, he was a great hunter, and his taxidermy work was no joke; they could have been donated to a museum, and many had asked, but he never acquiesced. 

As you have been reading, you might have found yourself interested, or disgusted, or somewhere in between.. It might seem that everyone loved Mr. Cavert and his taxidermy hobby, but the reality is, that they didn’t. Not everyone agreed with the trophy room even being there. Many had complained about the room, for most of the same reasons that people would complain about today. Two of these people were a Ms. Ashley and a Mr. Biola. Both wrote letters on August 19, 1979, to the president of Cumberland at that time, Dr. Ernest Stockton, and Cavert himself.

Both letters highlight major concerns about the room and what its presence would do to the school's reputation. Both letters question the use of the collection for “educational values.” As Ashley puts it, “Yes, education in one man’s love for killing, his destruction for beautiful wild animals that only wanted to be left alone and never did him any wrong and the making of an egotist who brags of his power -- with a gun.” Ashley’s letter is raw and does not sugarcoat her feelings. She believed it would be better for him to use his money to support the conservation of animals instead of killing them. Biola writes with the same intent when he writes, “…this exhibit will teach students that man can collect the hides and heads of animals if he has enough money and ammunition.”

Both of these letters urged the university to rethink their decision about taking the collection. Biola even gives the alternative of having photos of the animals instead of their bodies. 

While I understand their concerns and I feel the same for the animals there is, of course, another side. 

The animals are already dead; he would have killed them anyway. When he was discussing the collection with Dr. Stockton, Calvert said he would like for the college to commit to keeping the collection for at least 5 years or until April 1985. When he is asked for recognition he states, “I do not want any great wide publicity, but I would like some appropriate recognition at the time it is presented.” Which is true. There are some news articles about Mr. Cavert and his collection, but only a few, and no information is available online except for his obituary and a couple of small details. 

There were a couple museums who wanted the collection, but Mr. Cavert wanted it to go to Cumberland: a university that was not even a 4-year institution yet, and was small compared to other area schools. Yes, he did hunt, kill, and have the animals stuffed, but this was a time in which it was much more common to see taxidermy. In the display, Mr. Cavert used quotes from Robert Ruark’s book Horn of the Hunter.

...and for a period of time to move out into the fields and woods, the mountains and plains, the jungles and desert, and with the gun in hand pit oneself against the many wonderful creatures of nature - not for the sake of killing - but rather for the sake of preserving - preserving what? — preserving a marvelous trophy which tomorrow might well have served as food for a carnivorous animal but which in the preservation of such a trophy can provide great memories for the sportsmen and pleasure to others.”

Mr. Cavert had a passion and while some passions might look like scrapbooking, or  cooking, Mr. Cavert’s looked like taxidermy. 

I was able to speak with Cumberland President Paul Stumb who, as it turns out, is a grand nephew of Cavert. 

“I do know that he was particularly fond of that polar bear…he had a couple of several different elephants…you may recall up in that room he had these stools that he had.  He had a home in Florida with his game collection which was also too big for his home. It's one of the reasons he donated to the university. He had stools around the table that were made of elephant feet.

President Stumb also shared a story about when the giraffe head got delivered. 

“From his knowledge, he never got a full elephant taxidermied, but he did have the giraffe…I was not here when the giraffe was delivered by my great uncle, but Dr. McKee was here and he said one day a big truck showed up in the parking lot and the guy came inside and said, ‘Who's in charge here?’ and they pointedat Dr. McKee. The UPS driver came in and said, ‘I've got a delivery for you.’ Dr. McKee said, ‘Well, I didn't order a giraffe.’ It was delivered by UPS truck in a big long truck because it's almost 18 ft long.”

I asked Stumb about the idea that the room was used for educational purposes.

“I was not here at that time but when he made the gift, but he said that he wanted us to use it for both educational goals and to promote education, and we did in fact for years and years. We had a whole bunch of mostly elementary school students who would come and visit the collection every year.

“He [Mr. Cavert] gave the collection and a fund to maintain the collection, because  it's not inexpensive. We had to have it cleaned…There were a couple times, I remember, when a couple of trophies would get infested by little insects…We didn't inspected them regularly but whenever that would happen we would pull that trophy out make sure none of the others were infected and we have to go and specially treated…we repurposed that room when he first made the gift and put the whole collection in there. Then, over time, he continued to add to the collection; that's when it expanded out into the hallway. He was still hunting up until, well up into his nineties. There are very few places in the world that have that kind of collection with such a diverse and impressive set of animals.

“I had people that were very angry with me about having that collection here, and I understand that sentiment; I really do. I'm not defending that he was a hunter. He loved hunting and he did it all legally and I guess the right way but still, I understand that emotion. (My other) emotion was just a personal one…I love my great uncle – he was a wonderful great uncle to me, and I respected him and I respected what he did not just with trying to use that collection to educate others but also with his wife…they did so much for the community. She almost single-handedly funded a children's hospital in full and was so instrumental in helping improve lives by their generosity.”

Where is the Trophy Room Now?

Finally, after hours of research, combing through articles, pictures, and an interview with the President of Cumberland, we have made it to the answer; which in my opinion, the journey was what made it more worth it.

“We had an offer from this institution in Washington state and he has a business where he takes people on hunts in Washington state and abroad,” Stumb says. “ He takes him abroad, and  he also does hunts with cameras…he's a big animal rights person…He wanted to display the animals. We were having trouble even having room for them. The reason it took so long for the collection to be given away or for anything to be done with them is because Mr. Cavert, as well as the family, wished for the collection to stay together. I don’t know about you, but I can’t think on the top of my head how many places would want or have room for a collection of taxidermy this large. 

“...we were presented with an opportunity to keep it together and this company that our alumnus runs out in Washington state said that they would pay all the expenses. They paid to have the collection packed up and shipped, which was not inexpensive. Now there are a few of the items that we're not legally allowed to ship across state lines…for example, the elephant tusks. Those are ivory tusks and we still have three pairs of them here on our campus. One is right out here. It's in the…copy room right now, but two of them are over at the university health clinic.” 

You might ask yourself, “IVORY! Whoa. That’s crazy. Why can’t we sell them? Then we can have the money for our new building.” 

Stumb says it's not that easy.“It's illegal to sell ivory until you've owned it for a hundred years, and so our lawyers tell us we can't do anything with this; we can't even give it away for a hundred years so we are required by law to keep it on our campus for about another 60 years.” 

Stumb says that the school did give a few pieces of the collection back to the family, who wanted something to remember their grandfather by, but that the rest of the collection is all intact. “We reclaimed the room that we desperately needed,” says Stumb. “Now that room is dedicated to our international student services office.”

So,  the mystery is solved. At the very least, it is written down, and Mr. Cavert’s legacy lives on to this day, not just in his family and his death, but in print. 

If you are interested in learning more or want to know more about the room, it is located in Washington by the One Outdoor organization, run by Jake Collier, who graduated from Cumberland about a decade ago.

Even though this collection is older than the internet, and sadly no information can be found online, I’m thankful to the librarian, Davia Sullivan, who compiled all the information and articles together for me and let me talk to her about my article. I am thankful for President Stumb for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with me for an article that I deemed important. Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this, and I hope you can decide for yourself who this man was. If nothing else, I think we can all agree that his passion powered everything he did, and that is something I hope I can do with my writing. Maybe I’ll have my own room, full of writing of course, and….maybe a stuffed animal or two. – Leonydes Matis