Family Photo Fun

This is the only image I have of our Great-g-g-grandpa, James Hicks of Washington County, Tenn. He was born in 1841 in Jonesboro, Washington Co., TN and died in 1915 there.
When I got this photo from my cousin Linda who, in turn, got it from Lyla Dawn, I noticed that James Hicks is sitting out in a yard somewhere.
When I looked to the bottom to see where the photo was taken, I found Gate City, VA. Shipley was the photographer.

Now the interesting thing is, James Hicks lived in Washington County TN his whole life, as far as we know [except for his enlistment with I Co., 8th Tenn Cav.] We don't know of his having ever lived out of the state of Tennessee [census confirm that he was residing in Washington County at least every ten years].
So what was he doing having a photo taken in a yard in Gate City, VA?

I decided I needed to know where Gate City was. Looking it up on the www.rootsweb.com
city/county locater I quickly discovered Gate City is in Scott County.
Hummm.
Looking for it on a map from Google images search engine, I find that Scott County VA and Washington County, TN weren't anywhere near each other!
So what was James doing up there?

The Shipley name is familiar to our family because Rhetta Shipley married George G. Hicks, one of James and Matilda's sons. Rhetta was the daughter of Adam and Elizabeth Robinson Cox Shipley - they also lived in Washington County, TN. No Shipley relations living in Scott County, VA that I can find.

So what was James Hicks doing there in Gate City, VA having his photo taken during his later years? He looks to be in his early or mid 50's in this photo. The card type and the clothes he is wearing support that idea.
The beard is "the scraggly beard those guys wore in those days," my Dad commented. This was a style Civil War vets commonly kept even in their later years.

Since I didn't get any answers looking for Hicks, Hix or Shipley in the census for Scott County around this time, I decided to look into photographers that once worked in Gate City, VA.
Nobody has any listings or paperwork for any Shipley photographers in Gate City, VA!

Now I have two mysteries to work on over the next couple of days...