America 250 Celebration Historical People of Franklin County
Benjamin Franklin
Established by an act of the Tennessee Legislature in 1807, Franklin County, Tennessee was named for Revolutionary War patriot Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). This was just two years after the Cherokees and Chickasaws signed a treaty that allowed white settlers to assert claims in this area. Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence, and the first United States Postmaster General.
James Winchester
Winchester was designated as the county seat of Franklin County, Tennessee by an act of the Tennessee Legislature in 1809. The town was named for James Winchester (1752-1826), a Revolutionary War hero and a Brigadier-General in the War of 1812. He owned land here but never lived here. His home, Cragfont, is in Sumner County, Tennessee.
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) received a 1,000-acre land patent north of Winchester, Tennessee on the Boiling Fork of Elk River in 1808 and purchased an additional 640 acres the next year. However, he never lived here. During the Revolutionary War he was a courier for the Continental Army and was captured and imprisoned by the British in 1781. After the Revolution he moved to Tennessee where he became the first man elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives. Major-General Jackson led troops during the Creek War, War of 1812, and first Seminole War, with numerous Franklin Countians serving under him. He was elected the Seventh President of the United States, serving two terms, and was the only United States president to own land in Franklin County, Tennessee. His home, the Hermitage, is near Nashville, Tennessee.
David “Davy” Crockett
The southern end of Franklin County, Tennessee was settled very early with the establishment of the village of Old Salem. David “Davy” Crockett (1786-1836) settled in Franklin County near this area as did Jesse Bean, who had a gunsmith shop and powder mills in two caves on Little Bean’s Creek. Davy’s first wife Mary “Polly” Finley was born to William and Jean Finley of Dandridge, Tennessee on January 4, 1788, the year that the American Constitution was ratified, and George Washington was elected first President of the United States. According to legend, when Polly met Davy it was love at first sight resulting in their marriage one year later on August 12, 1806 in her parents’ home when he was twenty and she was eighteen years old. In 1812 they moved to Franklin County, Tennessee, and settled on a site near Maxwell that was called Kentuck. In 1813 Davy mustered into service to fight against the Creek Indians, leaving Polly and their three children at home. The Crocketts' neighbor James Patton was killed in the fighting leaving his widow Elizabeth and two small children. In 1814 an order was issued for volunteers to join Major-General Andrew Jackson’s campaign against the British and the Creek Indians in Florida. Davy decided to return to the army once more leaving Polly and the children at home. In 1815 Davy ended his service and returned home where Polly died at the age of twenty-six making it necessary for him to care for his children. She was buried on a hillside near their homestead. Knowing he needed another wife, he realized his neighbor the widow Elizabeth Patton and he were both in the same situation thus he apparently proposed to her for they were married the summer of 1815. Davy was elected to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1827 to 1831. He died in Texas at the Alamo.
Isham Green Harris
Isham Green Harris (1818-1897) was born in Franklin County, Tennessee and was educated at Carrick Academy in Winchester until he was fourteen. He moved to Henry County, Tennessee where he studied law and had a lucrative law practice. He served twice as Governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862, during the War Between the States, and four terms as a United States Senator from 1877 to 1897.
Albert Smith Marks
Albert Smith Marks (1836-1891) moved to Franklin County, Tennessee from Kentucky in 1856. During the War Between the States, he was Colonel of the Seventeenth Tennessee Infantry and went on to serve as Governor of Tennessee from 1879 to 1881. His son transformed their home into Hundred Oaks Castle which was burned by an arsonist in 1990.
Hopkins Lacey Turney
Hopkins Lacey Turney (1797-1857), a native of Smith County, Tennessee and father of Peter Turney, practiced law in Jasper, Tennessee, was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1828, and moved to Winchester, Tennessee in 1830 to establish a law practice. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1837 and to the United States Senate in 1845. He returned to Winchester in 1852 and continued his law practice until his death in 1857.
Peter Turney
Peter Turney (1827-1903) moved with his parents from Jasper, Tennessee to Franklin County, Tennessee when he was three years old. During the War Between the States, he organized Turney’s First Tennessee Infantry and left for Virginia before Tennessee seceded from the Union. After the war he served as Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 1870 to 1893 and as Governor of Tennessee from 1893 to 1897. He died in 1903 at his home Wolf’s Craig on Sharp Springs Road in Winchester, Tennessee.
Henry Hollis Horton
Henry Hollis Horton (1866-1934), a native of Jackson County, Alabama, graduated Winchester Normal College in Winchester, Tennessee in 1888, and studied law at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in the 1890s. He practiced law in Winchester, was a director of the Home Bank, and was a Winchester City Commissioner in the early 1900s. In 1907 he was elected to represent Franklin County, Tennessee for one term in the Tennessee House of Representatives. After moving to Marshall County, Tennessee, he was elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 1926 for the district of Marshall and Lincoln Counties. When Tennessee Governor Austin Peay died in office, Horton became Governor of Tennessee, according to Tennessee’s succession law, serving during the Great Depression from 1927 to 1933. He retired to his farm in Marshall County, Tennessee where he died in 1934.
Arthur Thomas “Tom” Stewart
Arthur Thomas “Tom” Stewart (1892-1972), a native of Dunlap, Tennessee, graduated Cumberland University’s law school in Lebanon, Tennessee and was admitted to the bar in 1913. He practiced law in Jasper, Tennessee and Birmingham, Alabama before moving to Winchester, Tennessee to establish a law firm in 1919. He was elected District Attorney General for the former Eighteenth Circuit, a position he held from 1923 to 1939. During this time he was the chief prosecutor in the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial in Dayton, Tennessee. From 1939 to 1949, he served as a United States Senator. One of his sons was the late Chancellor Lawrence Fricks Stewart of Winchester, Tennessee. Among Tom’s grandsons are retired Chancellor Jeffrey Franklin Stewart and attorney J. Mark Stewart also of Winchester. David Lawrence Stewart, a great grandson, was elected Franklin County, Tennessee General Sessions Court Judge in 2022.
Walter Miller “Pete” Haynes
Walter Miller “Pete” Haynes (1897-1967), a native of Decherd, Tennessee, received his law degree from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1918 before setting up a law practice in Winchester, Tennessee. He served almost forty years in the Tennessee State Legislature and was speaker of both houses numerous times. From 1949 to 1953 he served as Tennessee’s first Lieutenant-Governor.
Charles Edward “Ed” Murray
Charles Edward “Ed” Murray (1928-2009), a native of Decherd, Tennessee, attended the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee; Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and the Nashville School of Law, Nashville, Tennessee. A Navy veteran, he practiced law in Winchester, Tennessee before being elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1970. He was voted Speaker of the House, serving two terms from 1987 to 1990. He did not seek re-election and was appointed Claims Commissioner for Middle Tennessee until his retirement in 1995.
Mary Ida Bealey Elliott
Lady Mary Ida Beasley Elliott (1864-1948) lived in Winchester, Tennessee, was graduated from Mary Sharp College, and ran a millinery shop on Winchester’s square. After her husband’s death, she graduated the University of Nashville in Nashville, Tennessee; served as principal of the academic department of Shorter College in Rome, Georgia; then went into the missionary field in Burma, India as a teacher. She was given the title “Lady” by the British Crown for her work in establishing a high school for girls in Burma in spite of strong Buddhist opposition. She died in 1948 while living at the Wrenn’s Nest in Monteagle, Tennessee.
Francis Joseph Campbell
Sir Francis Joseph Campbell (1832-1914), known as the blind knight, was born in Franklin County, Tennessee and became blind as a child due to an accident when he was five years old. A talented blind musician, he was appointed music master at the Tennessee School for the Blind in Nashville, Tennessee. While on a visit to London, England he met Thomas Rhodes Armitage, a British physician and founder of the Royal National Institute for the Blind. Armitage encouraged Campbell to make London his home and establish a school for the blind that would emphasize music. As a result, Campbell, in collaboration with Armitage, established the Royal Normal College for the Blind in London in 1871. In 1909 Campbell was given the title “Sir” when he was knighted by King Edward VII and retired as principal of the school in 1912.
John Marks Templeton
Sir John Marks Templeton (1912-2008), born in Winchester, Tennessee, graduated Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and Balliol College in Oxford, England where he was a Rhodes Scholar. His mother, Novella Handly Templeton, taught her sons that "God wanted our prosperity and provided for us an inner strength and wisdom which would enable us to prosper materially as a natural consequence of intelligent planning and spiritual preparation as we seek to help and love everyone." Carrying his mother's lesson throughout his life, Templeton became a mutual fund pioneer, establishing the Templeton Growth Fund, Ltd. in 1954. He was given the title “Sir” when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his philanthropic one million-dollar Templeton Prize and Foundation.
Alexander Peter Stewart
Alexander Peter Stewart (1821-1908), a native of Rogersville, Tennessee, moved to Winchester, Tennessee in 1831 with his parents. At age seventeen he entered West Point in Orange County, New York where he was graduated in 1842. He was Lieutenant-General of the Army of Tennessee’s Third Corps during the War Between the States. From 1874 to 1886 he served as Chancellor of the University of Mississippi. From 1890 to 1908 he was Commissioner of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park located in northwestern Georgia and southeastern Tennessee.
Leonidas Polk
Leonidas Polk (1806-1864), a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, graduated West Point in Orange County, New York in 1827 and became Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana in 1841. A second cousin of United States President James K. Polk, he was a leading founder of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He laid the cornerstone for the school in 1860 then resigned his ecclesiastical position to become Major-General in the Confederate Army during the War Between the States. He was promoted to Lieutenant-General in 1862 and elected the second Chancellor of the University in 1863. He was killed in action in 1864 near Atlanta, Georgia.
Edmund Kirby Smith
Edmund Kirby Smith (1824-1893), a native of St. Augustine, Florida, served as a General in the Confederate Army during the War Between the States. After the war, he became a professor of mathematics and botany in 1875 at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee, serving until his death in 1893. Portions of his botany collection were donated to the University of North Carolina, Harvard University, and the Smithsonian Institution.
William Crawford Gorgas
Dr. William Crawford Gorgas (1854-1920), a native of Alabama, was the son of Josiah Gorgas, a West Point graduate, and his wife Amelia Gayle, daughter of Alabama Governor John Gayle. William Crawford studied at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee while his father was headmaster of the Junior Department and later elected the second Vice-Chancellor of the University. After attending medical school in New York City, Dr. Gorgas was appointed Surgeon General of the Army in World War I and is best known for his work in the Panama Canal in abating the transmission of yellow fever and malaria. He served as President of the American Medical Association from 1909 to 1910.
Charles Todd Quintard
Charles Todd Quintard (1824-1898), a native of Stamford, Connecticut, studied in New York to be a physician. At the encouragement of his friend James Harvey Otey, the first Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Tennessee, Quintard gave up his medical profession to enter the priesthood. He became the second Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee and first Vice-Chancellor of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. During the War Between the States, Quintard served as chaplain of the First Tennessee Infantry Regiment and after the war was one of the key figures in the revival of the University in Sewanee. He died in 1898 in Meridian, Georgia where he had gone for his health.
James William Terrill
Professor James William Terrill (1837-1918), a Baptist minister and Confederate veteran, came to Winchester, Tennessee in 1876 from Missouri where he had served as President of Mt. Pleasant College in Huntsville, Missouri. He taught in Winchester for several years at Carrick Academy and Winchester Normal College which were on the site of present-day Clark Memorial School on North Jefferson Street. In 1890 he moved to Decherd, Tennessee where he established Terrill College. After the college ceased, the building was used as Franklin County High School until 1949 and then as Decherd Elementary School until it was replaced on the same site in 1975 with a new elementary school building by the same name.
Rufus Anthony Clark
Professor Rufus Anthony Clark (1846-1913), a native of Coffee County, Tennessee, moved to Winchester, Tennessee in 1867. He served as headmaster of Carrick Academy in Winchester from 1871 to 1878 and president of the academy’s successor Winchester Normal College from 1878 to 1911. After the college ceased, the building was used for Winchester Central High School until 1949 when it became Clark Memorial Elementary School named in Professor Clark’s honor. It was replaced on the same site in 1974 by a new elementary school building by the same name.
Doctor “Doc” Anderson Townsend
Doctor “Doc” Anderson Townsend (1848-1927) was born a slave of the Coover family in Winchester, Tennessee. While living in Alabama with the Coover’s daughter and son-in-law Sarah and Parkes S. Townsend, he enlisted in the Union Army during the War Between the States and became a free citizen in 1864. After attending Nashville Normal and Bible Institute in Nashville, Tennessee, Doc returned to Winchester to be a Baptist minister and school teacher. Townsend School in Winchester was named in his honor.
Frances Rose “Dinah” Shore
Frances Rose “Dinah” Shore (1916-1994) was born to Jewish immigrants in Winchester, Tennessee on leap year 1916. She contracted polio at eighteen months and sat on the counter of her father’s store in Winchester to sing to the customers. She overcame polio and in 1923 moved with her parents to Nashville, Tennessee where she graduated Hume Fogg High School and Vanderbilt University. While in college, she made her singing debut with a 15-minute program on the Nashville radio station WSM. The theme song was the 1925 hit "Dinah", a name she adopted legally in 1944. She became the singer and television star all America loved for more than forty years. In 1990 she was honored with the prestigious "Outstanding Tennessean" Award and in 1991 was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame. Dinah was four times selected by Gallup Poll as one of the most admired women in the world. Her last visit in Winchester was in 1989 when the Winchester-Decherd Boulevard was renamed Dinah Shore Boulevard.
Martha “Mattie” Selina Arledge
Martha “Mattie” Selina Arledge (1868-1923), a native of Winchester, Tennessee, attended Winchester Normal College and graduated Mary Sharp College in Winchester in 1885. She was the first woman elected to serve as Franklin County, Tennessee Superintendent of Education and served from 1899 to 1905. After teaching for a time in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she moved to Huntsville, Alabama and was a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine with an office in the Elks Building. Her last move was to Deland, Florida where she taught fourth grade before dying there in 1923.
Zuinglius Calvin Graves
Professor Zuinglius Calvin Graves (1816-1902), a native of Chester, Vermont, moved in 1851 to Winchester, Tennessee where he served as president of Mary Sharp College for women for over thirty-eight years and persevered to keep the school open during the very depressed Reconstruction Era following the War Between the States. The college was famously known for requiring Latin and Greek along with other highly challenging courses for a Bachelor’s degree equivalent to that of men’s colleges. He died in Winchester in 1902 and was buried in City Cemetery on South Shephard Street.
James Stewart Tolles
James Stewart Tolles (1827-1908) was born in Winchester, Tennessee to Abraham Tolles and his second wife Harriet Crisman. In 1833 they moved to the newly platted town of Rushville, Illinois. When word that gold nuggets were spotted by John Sutter in California in 1848, James S., almost twenty-two years old, his half-brother John, and their father gathered a party of ninety men and left Rushville on April 3, 1849 for California. James S. kept a daily diary of the trek that lasted until October 1849 when they arrived in Butte County near Oroville, California. To quote his diary he wrote “We have now ended our long and wearisome task, and one which I would not undertake again for all the gold in this region…We have now traveled since leaving our home, according to our estimate, 2,670 miles, and all the way but a few miles on foot, driving ox teams through water, mud, dust, heat, cold, and snow, and over mountains, through hollows and deserts, first one then another but never getting discouraged.” Since he did not find much gold, he operated an express company carrying and delivering mail to and from San Francisco and then a general store near Forbestown. He finally moved to Nevada and became a pioneer irrigator, nurseryman, and fruit grower.
James Pleasant Moon
Dr. James Pleasant Moon (1881-1956), a native of Bedford County, Tennessee and graduate of the University of Nashville in Nashville, Tennessee in 1908, moved to Winchester, Tennessee in 1940 to be director of the Franklin County and Coffee County Health Departments. He promoted the Salk Polio vaccine and as a result Franklin County was raised to eighth in the state of percentage of shots given. His son John Urbane Moon was a biology teacher at Franklin County High School in Winchester for thirty-five years.
Avery Handly, Jr.
Avery Handly, Jr. (1913-1958), a native of Nashville, Tennessee and nephew of Mrs. Novella Handly Templeton of Winchester, Tennessee, graduated Wallace University School and Vanderbilt University, both in Nashville. Later he studied with Thomas Hart Benton at Kansas Art Institute and Grant Wood at the University of Iowa. After serving in the Navy in World War II, he returned to Winchester, Tennessee where he had an art studio on South High Street. During the 1950s he had one-man shows at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Centennial Club in Nashville, Tennessee and in 1950 the Ward Eggleston Gallery in New York. He is a nationally renowned Tennessee artist.
Sherman Bourne Robinson
Sherman Bourne Robinson (1861-1902) was born in Mercer County, Illinois and moved to Winchester, Tennessee where he was the publisher of The News Journal newspaper. The competing newspaper in Winchester was The Franklin County Truth. During a heated campaign between Jesse Littleton and Judge J. J. Allison for the circuit judgeship, a prominent lawyer George Banks, Sr., a devout Democrat, accused Robinson of having Republican leanings. Both men were members of the Winchester Masonic Lodge, Robinson the Master in 1902 and Banks a former Master. After Robinson finished publishing his paper on a fall day in September 1902, he walked past Banks’ law office just off the square in Winchester when Banks called out his name. As Robinson turned, Banks shot him with no warning. Robinson died the next day leaving a wife and several children. After a convoluted and lengthy trial, Banks pled not guilty, was set free, and the cost of the trial was assessed against the state. As for the indictment for carrying a gun, Banks pled guilty and was fined $50 plus costs of $20.05.
Burgess Templeton
Burgess Templeton (1819-1900), a native of Iredell County, North Carolina, moved to Winchester, Tennessee in the 1850s. He was a farmer and Winchester merchant in business with William Stewart father of Alexander Peter Stewart. During the War Between the States, he was a member of the Home Guard for Franklin County, Tennessee in Civil District 1 and was elected Mayor of Winchester. While he was serving as mayor, he received a card of thanks, which was published in the local newspaper, for his hospitality to the Confederate forces of Jackson’s Artillery from Georgia when they were in Winchester in the fall of 1862.
George Dardis
Reverend George Dardis (1824-1912), born a slave on May 5, 1824 in Knoxville, Tennessee, came to Winchester, Tennessee with his master, joined the Winchester Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and went into the ministry as a teen. After purchasing his freedom in 1850, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he was chosen in 1851 as porter of the newly completed State Capitol building, serving under Governors W. B. Campbell, Andrew Johnson, and Isham Green Harris. In 1855 he published a book about the plan, structure, and apartments of the capitol. After the War Between the States, he served as pastor of African Methodist Episcopal Churches in twenty-six southern and east coast states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. He died in 1912 at the National AME Church Preachers’ Home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Ella King Newsom Trader
Ella King Newsom Trader (1838-1919), a native of Brandon, Mississippi, moved to Winchester, Tennessee to accompany her sisters who attended Mary Sharp College for women. Being a young and wealthy widow, she devoted her life and fortune to hospital work during the War Between the States. She had the sick and wounded soldiers transported on flat cars and brought to Winchester where she placed them in makeshift hospitals in churches and other buildings. Colonel A. S. Marks of Winchester characterized her as "the Florence Nightingale of the South". After the war she remarried and took clerical jobs in the pension office in Washington, DC.
Arthur Crownover
Arthur Crownover (1874-1942), born in the Alto community of Franklin County, Tennessee, attended the University of the South at Sewanee, Tennessee. After receiving his law degree in 1895, he returned to Winchester, Tennessee to practice law. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him as his Ambassador to England. In 1914, Crownover became the first chairman of the Tennessee Highway Commission.
Charles Daniel Sherwood
Charles Daniel Sherwood (1833-1895) was a Minnesota politician, the youngest Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives in state history at that time, and the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota. In 1878, Sherwood settled in Franklin County, Tennessee and platted the community of Sherwood that was named for him.
Arthur St. Clair Colyar
Arthur St. Clair Colyar (1818-1907), a native of Jonesboro, Tennessee, moved to Franklin County, Tennessee when he was twelve years old. He was admitted to the bar in 1846 and practiced law in Winchester, Tennessee until the War Between the States broke out in 1861. It was largely through his influence that the University of the South was established at Sewanee, Tennessee and Mary Sharp College in Winchester, Tennessee. After moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1867, he continued practicing law and served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives in the 1870s. He took an interest in the field of journalism and became the editor of the Nashville American in 1880 (which later became The Tennessean). He eventually bought out the Nashville American and continued as its editor until 1884 when he again took up the practice of law. He was identified with some of the most famous cases of his day, was often in the Supreme Court of the United States, and was a well-known figure in Washington, DC.
Septima Sexta Middleton Rutledge
Septima Sexta Middleton Rutledge (1783-1865), born at Middleton Place plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, was the daughter of Arthur Middleton, II, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and daughter-in-law of Edward Rutledge, the youngest signer of the Declaration of Independence and later Governor of South Carolina. She and her husband Henry Middleton Rutledge were first cousins by marriage. They moved to Franklin County, Tennessee in 1816 and lived on land he had inherited from his father who had received it through grants and other purchases. Their plantation, located on the Elk River, was called Chilhowee, which means Place of the Running Deer. In 1821 they moved to Nashville, Tennessee where they died.
Isaac Van Zandt
Isaac Van Zandt (1813-1847), born in Franklin County, Tennessee, was a grandson of Jacob Vanzant, a Revolutionary War soldier who died in Franklin County and whose will was witnessed by David Crockett. Isaac moved to Texas shortly after 1837 and became a political leader in the Republic of Texas with Van Zandt County being named in his honor. He served in the Fifth and Sixth Congresses of the Republic of Texas and represented the Republic in annexation negotiations with the United States. He also helped write the Texas Constitution in 1845. His oldest son, Khleber Miller “K. M.” Van Zandt, is often referred to as the “Father of Fort Worth” where he was a member of the firm of Tidball, Van Zandt and Company, Bankers. He served as president of the bank, later the Fort Worth National, from 1874 until his death in 1930. A vigorous civic worker, K. M. helped bring churches, schools, railroads, and new business and industry to Fort Worth. He represented Tarrant County in the State Legislature and was active on the Fort Worth City Council and the school board. He also had large ranching interests in the Texas Panhandle and was one of the first directors of the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad.
Chester Coles Chattin
Chester Coles Chattin (1907-1979), born in Winchester, Tennessee, was a graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee with a B.S. degree in 1929 and an LL.B. degree from Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1930. After practicing law in Winchester, he served as Assistant District Attorney General for the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit from 1935 to 1937 and from 1939 through 1947. He represented Franklin County in the General Assembly for one term from 1957 to 1958 and served as District Attorney General for the Eighteenth Circuit from 1947 until 1958 when he became Circuit Judge. In 1962 he was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals and in 1965 to the Tennessee Supreme Court, serving until his retirement in 1974.
Clarissa “Clara” Hull Judd
Clarissa “Clara” Hull Judd (1816-1886), a native of New York, was married to Episcopal Deacon Burritt Samuel Judd of Connecticut. In 1859 they moved to Franklin County, Tennessee due to discontent with the North and Clara’s health and settled in Sewanee. Referred to as a carpenter with a love of architecture, Deacon Judd went to inspect ornamental lamps being erected on upper levels of the new Tennessee State Capitol building and accidentally stepped off a parapet breaking his arm and suffering internal injuries. He was brought back to Winchester and died April 12, 1861. Clara was left a widow with little means and seven children. When Union troops occupied Winchester in 1862 during the War Between the States, she decided to take her children to her parents in the North and to buy a knitting machine with which to earn her living. While crossing Union lines, she was accused of being a spy and imprisoned. After the end of the war, Clara returned to Winchester where The Home Journal newspaper noted “Mrs. Judd, using a knitting machine, will knit a pair of socks or stockings in a few minutes doing the work complete without having to sew up any part afterwards; she will do the work for anyone and is the agent for the sale of the machine; she can be found at the brick hotel, known as the Custer House, on the Square.”
Mary Elizabeth Davis Collins
Mary Elizabeth Davis Collins (1866-1951) and her husband E. L. Collins moved to Franklin County, Tennessee from Indiana in 1915. She served as Tennessee State Treasurer of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and publisher and editor of the organization’s state paper The Open Door. Her paternal grandfather was Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1845 to 1847 and United States Diplomatic Commissioner to China from 1848 to 1850.
Smith Morgan Alexander
Smith Morgan Alexander (1845-1932), a Confederate veteran, moved to Winchester, Tennessee in 1888 from Lincoln County, Tennessee. He established the Home Bank on the east side of the square and later the Home Bank and Trust Company on Winchester’s northwest corner of the square. Valentine Square, his Victorian-Eastlake home on North Cedar Street, was built in 1899 and named for his daughter Mary Valentine who was born on St. Valentine’s Day. The home was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In addition to serving as president of his banks, he was a member of the board of trustees of the Winchester Normal School. In 1910 his son Harmon Badgett Alexander was editor of the Winchester newspaper The Herald. In 1914, Harmon purchased the consolidated newspaper The Truth and Herald and the next year acquired sole interest in the Southern Printing and Publishing Company. In 1950 he purchased the consolidated newspaper The Winchester Herald-Times, which he published until 1967.
Will Allen Dromgoole
Miss Will Allen Dromgoole (1860-1934), a native of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was a Southern novelist and poet as well as a journalist for the Tennessee newspaper the Nashville American. She had a home in Estill Springs, Tennessee called the Yellow Hammer’s Nest where she hosted the Tennessee Women’s Press and Author’s Club in 1904. She was named Poet Laureate by the Poetry Society of the South in 1930.
John Fitzpatrick Anderson
John Fitzpatrick Anderson (1808-1894), a native of Sullivan County, Tennessee, moved to Franklin County, Tennessee in 1819 and was active in securing the building of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad through the county. He served as a director of the road for many years and owned 16,000 acres of land in Crow Creek Valley in Franklin County.
Wallace William Estill
Dr. Wallace William Estill (1789-1864) came from Virginia to Franklin County, Tennessee in 1812 and practiced medicine for over fifty years. He purchased a large tract of land on which the town of Estill Springs was eventually located. He served as a Tennessee State Senator and, during the War Between the States, enlisted as Surgeon in the First Tennessee Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army at age seventy-two. He died in 1864 in Newman, Georgia while serving as Army Surgeon.
David Lipscomb
David Lipscomb (1831-1917), was born in Franklin County, Tennessee to Granville and Ann E. Lipscomb who were active in the Bean’s Creek Baptist Church near Old Salem. Attempts to convert the Bean’s Creek church to Restoration Movement theology were poorly received, and the Lipscomb family was expelled in 1831. Under the tutelage of Tolbert Fanning, David graduated Franklin College in Davidson County, Tennessee in 1849 and preached his first sermon in 1856. He was a minister in the Restoration Movement which developed from several independent strands of religious revival that idealized early Christianity. With the help of J. A. Harding and others in 1866, Lipscomb founded the Nashville Bible School, now Lipscomb University, in Nashville, Tennessee. Through his work in the Restoration Movement and as co-editor of the Gospel Advocate, Lipscomb had more influence on the churches of the South than any other preacher of the gospel in the late nineteenth century.
Byron Gager
Byron Gager (1845-1926), an industrialist from Ohio, established his lime manufacturing company in Sherwood, Tennessee because he was looking for the type of high quality limestone that he found in the area. The Gager Lime and Manufacturing Company was chartered in December 1892 and operated until 1949.
Emile Otto Kaserman
Emile Otto Kaserman (1864-1948), born in New Philadelphia, Ohio, came to Franklin County, Tennessee in 1868 with his parents and located near Belvidere. He graduated the Winchester Normal College in 1884 and was later an instructor there. After graduating the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, he received a Master of Science degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He served as Professor of Science at Carson-Newman College in East Tennessee and Professor of Biology at Oklahoma Baptist University, having established the science department there in 1916. He returned to Knoxville, Tennessee and devoted his time to research.
James Patton Anderson
James Patton Anderson (1822-1872) was born in Winchester, Tennessee. The family moved to Kentucky in 1831 and then to Mississippi. After serving as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Mexican-American War, he became a Major-General in the Army of Tennessee during the War Between the States. Following the war he practiced law and served in the Mississippi House of Representatives. After moving to Washington Territory, he was appointed United States Marshal for the Washington District, represented the territory in Congress, and eventually became territorial governor.
Mark Mitchell Henderson
Mark Mitchell Henderson (1824-1900) was born in Warren County, Tennessee and moved to Franklin County, Tennessee in 1837. He was a merchant in Winchester, Tennessee and built two historic homes here—one on South Jefferson Street now occupied by Bean, Rhoton, and Kelly Accounting Firm and the other on the Lynchburg Road lately occupied by Magnolia Hill Manor, formerly the Antebellum Inn. His grandparents, of Kentucky fame, were Samuel and Elizabeth “Betsy” Calloway Henderson who came to Franklin County, Tennessee in 1811. Betsy was one of three girls captured by the Indians at Boonesboro, Kentucky and Samuel was her rescuer. They were married two weeks later by Squire Boone, brother of Daniel Boone, which was the first white marriage in Kentucky.
William “Bill” Key
Dr. William “Bill” Key (1833-1912) was born a slave of John Key in Franklin County, Tennessee. A self-trained veterinarian, Dr. Key was, even as a child, recognized for having extraordinary horse whispering and animal healing skills, using only kindness and no force. Educated by his master John W. Key, who inherited him, and his master's sons in Shelbyville, Tennessee, he later chose to protect the boys during the War Between the States, serving with the Rebels in the battles of Fort Donelson, Stones River, and Shiloh, while also serving with the Yankees and fellow slaves along the Underground Railroad. Sentenced to hang as a double-agent, Dr. Key escaped thanks to his poker-playing genius, which made him popular with the officers on both sides and quite wealthy. After the war, he went back to Shelbyville, paid off the mortgage on his dead master's fallen property, and supported his master's heirs for the rest of their days. The entrepreneurial Dr. Key established a leading veterinary practice and made a fortune in the patent medicine business selling Keystone Liniment in his traveling medicine shows. He was married to four notably educated women. His third wife, Lucinda Davis Key, MD, received her medical degree at Howard University, one of the first black women doctors licensed to practice in the state of Tennessee. Dr. Key had no children of his own. He was already fifty-six years old when a sickly colt he named Beautiful Jim Key was foaled. With patience and kindness Dr. Key trained the colt that traveled and performed with his medicine show for the next seven years, Jim becoming a seasoned thespian. At the age of eight, Jim knew his ABC's and could spell and do basic math with numbers up to thirty. As Jim continued his studies, Dr. Key taught him to tell time, know the days of the week, and recognize flags of different countries. Jim performed at the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in Nashville in 1897, the World's Fair in Charleston, South Carolina in 1901 to 1902, in Winchester, Tennessee at the opera house around 1903, and was the top moneymaker at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair in Missouri. Universally praised for Service to Humanity, Beautiful Jim Key and Dr. William Key retired after their record breaking 1906 season when Jim's rheumatism caused the two to return to Shelbyville, Tennessee. Dr. Key passed away at age seventy-six in 1909 and Beautiful Jim Key died on a cool autumn day in 1912.
William “Billy” James Slatter
William “Billy” James Slatter (1838-1917), a native of Winchester, Tennessee and great, grandson of Revolutionary War soldier Wallis Estill, Sr., was the publisher of The Home Journal newspaper in Winchester from 1857 to 1884. His second wife Volumnia Roberta “Berta” Barrow was the niece of Horace Lawson Hunley who helped finance the building of the H. L. Hunley submarine made famous in Charleston, South Carolina during the War Between the States. After one year of service in the Confederate Army, Billy returned to Winchester. When the Union Army took over the town in 1863, he transported his printing press to Newnan, Georgia and continued to print the paper and send it back to the subscribers in Tennessee. After the war he published his newspaper in Winchester until 1884 then served several years as President of the Tennessee Press Association. He died in 1917 while living in the Confederate Soldiers’ Home in Hermitage, Tennessee.
William Knox
William Knox (1800-1869), a native of Ireland, came to Winchester, Tennessee with his brother John in the 1820s and established a mercantile business on the north side of the square styled Knox Bros. He married Anna Octavia Lewis, whose father was Revolutionary War soldier Colonel Joel Lewis of Nashville, Tennessee. Sherrod Williams, a prominent farmer living a few miles out of Winchester came to town one day to do some trading. Stepping into Knox Bros.’ store, Mr. Williams asked to see some hats. He was shown samples, and asked prices. ‘How many do you want?’ asked Mr. Knox. ‘Twelve,’ replied Mr. Williams without any hesitation. Knox was astonished. ‘And for whom, sir,’ said he, ‘do you desire so many hats?’ ‘Why for my twelve boys, sir!’ replied Mr. Williams. Knox was incredulous. Said he, ‘Show me your twelve boys, and I’ll fit ‘em up free of charge!’ Mr. Williams quietly walked to the back door, gave a shrill whistle and called out, ‘Come on, boys!’ and in marched his twelve sons and ranged themselves up in a row. ‘Fit ‘em up,’ said he, turning to Knox, who stood open-mouthed in wonder. He was convinced that it was no joke, and, true to his word, fitted twelve hats to the heads of twelve grinning youths. Of course, he received the Williams’ trade after that.” In 1835 William and Anna Knox moved to Montgomery, Alabama and purchased a house built ca. 1834 by William Sayre on the corner of Lee and Bibb Streets. In 1842 the Knoxes moved to a home they built on Perry Street named Knox Hall. It was designed by Philadelphia architect Stephen Decatur Button. In 1845 Knox established the Central Bank of Alabama and erected the Renaissance Revival bank building at the northeast corner of Dexter Avenue and Court Square. Knox Hall was one of three mansions considered for use as the Alabama governor’s mansion in 1950.
Orphella “Ella” Johnston Hart
Orphella “Ella” Johnston Hart (1861-1947), a native of Franklin County, Tennessee, in 1863 witnessed as a child her father Allen Johnston being shot by Confederate soldiers from Georgia because Mr. Johnston was a Union sympathizer. After the end of the War Between the States, she and her mother moved to Kent County, Maryland. Ella was educated in piano at the New Jersey College for Women in New Brunswick. She also studied at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland under Carl Gaertner and Richard Burmeister. She was an accomplished artist and musician, marched with the Suffragettes, and became the owner of an opera company in Washington, DC where she taught piano, harmony, vocal culture, sight singing, elocution, and dramatic art. In 1912 she wrote and copyrighted the words for the song "Hurrah For Our Leader", the Democratic campaign song dedicated to the Democratic Party.
Joseph A. Shadow
In 1920, Joseph A. Shadow (1860-1931), a native of Warsaw, Indiana, and his sons incorporated Joe Shadow Nursery on the 320-acre farm that was originally purchased by his father Michael in 1875 near the present Dry Creek Beach and Park in Franklin County, Tennessee. The original Cedar Hill Nursery, established in 1872 by Michael J. Shadow, was reorganized in 1892 when Michael's son John, along with Joseph C. and Nathan W. Hale, incorporated it and changed the name to Southern Nursery Company. They were joined by John's brother Joseph A. Shadow, who was made foreman, the Shadows’ brother-in-law Edward W. Chattin, and Henry N. Camp of Knoxville. The nursery's once charming brick office stood on the North side of US Highway 64 West across from Magnolia Estates in Winchester. In 1896 this 800-acre nursery with sales of nearly $55,000 was a major industry in Franklin County. The Winchester depot was a vital link for transporting the nursery stock sold by 100 agents hired by the company as traveling salesmen in several states. Soon the nursery's sales went world-wide. In the 1930's Joseph A. Shadow’s son Hoskins Shadow learned additional techniques for growing ornamental nursery stock at nurseries in Alabama, Texas, and Nashville, Tennessee. By 1940 he returned to Winchester and established Tennessee Valley Nursery. Hoskins devoted a lifetime to producing quality dogwoods, served as president of the American, Southern, and Tennessee Associations of Nurserymen, and was inducted into the Nurserymen’s Hall of Fame in 1990. It has been said that Hoskins Shadow did more to upgrade the production of nursery stock in general, dogwood in particular, than any other individual in the state of Tennessee, and consequently he was dubbed The Dean of Dogwood Growers by fellow nurseryman Hubert Nicholson.
Edward Walter Chattin
Edward Walter Chattin (1868-1946), son of Edward R. and Mary Todd Chattin, was born September 10, 1868 in Meigs County, Tennessee. After receiving an education in the schools of Jackson County, Alabama, he moved to Winchester in 1889. In 1890 he married Ellen Elizabeth Shadow and they were the parents of eight children. He began his career as a merchant, retiring from the mercantile business to enter the nursery business. He was long active as secretary-treasurer and general manager of the Southern Nursery Company of Winchester, one of the largest nurseries in the South. He was Mayor of Winchester from 1915-1921. He was a director of Farmers’ National Bank, and served as president of the Tennessee Nurseryman’s Association and Southern Nurseryman’s Association. He died at his home in Winchester on February 18, 1946 and was buried in Winchester City Cemetery.
Jesse M. Littleton
Jesse M. Littleton (1867-1923), son of Thomas J. and Hannah Ingram Littleton, was born in Kingston, Roane County, Tennessee on March 9, 1867. The family lived in Texas when Jesse was a child. When he was grown he came to his brother’s home in Nashville and entered school. He taught school for a time in Roane County and returned to Nashville and entered the newspaper business as a writer for the Nashville Republican, which was owned and edited by his brother. Later he entered the government service in the revenue department and was stationed in Winchester, where he was appointed postmaster. In addition he read law and was admitted to practice in 1896. While he was Mayor of Winchester from 1903-1911, the boulevard from Winchester to Decherd was built by private subscription, and he led the movement that resulted in the establishment of a county fair association. During this time he was the Republican nominee for governor. He and Judge Floyd Estill were law partners until Jesse moved to Chattanooga in 1911. In 1914 he was elected Mayor of Chattanooga and was head of the law firm Littleton, Littleton, & Littleton. He was married in 1906 to Katherine Estill, only child of Judge and Mrs. Floyd Estill. Jesse and Katherine were the parents of one daughter. He died in Chattanooga on April 22, 1923 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.
Elizabeth Bright Drake
Miss Elizabeth Bright Drake (1877-1950), a native of Franklin County, Tennessee, was educated at the Winchester Normal College. After teaching for several years, she worked as secretary for a Winchester nursery and became interested in the business at a time when Winchester was the nursery center of the South. As a result, she became the first woman to operate a nursery business in Franklin County. She started Cumberland Nurseries in 1906 and incorporated it as E. B. Drake Nurseries in 1926 with 500 acres under cultivation. She was active in horticultural organizations of the state and throughout the South. As fame of her business spread, her catalog and mail-order business resulted in her nursery stock being sold throughout the United States.
Revolutionary War Soldiers Who Died in Franklin County
As of 2026, thirty-three Revolutionary War soldiers have been verified to have died in Franklin County, Tennessee.
Michael Awalt
Birth: 1757 Pennsylvania
Death: 1835 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army 1779-1781
Wife: Eve Speck Awalt
Moved to Franklin County: 1820
Pension: North Carolina W.326
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 141-142
Enoch Breeden
Birth: 1756 Maryland
Death: 1841 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private Virginia Militia and Army 1776-1781
Wife: Ann (maiden name unknown) Breeden
Moved to Franklin County: 1835
Pension: Virginia S.1747
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee County Court Minute Book 1837-1845, pg. 384
Tombstone: Lipscomb Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
Elihu Burke
Birth: 1765
Death: 1851* Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army 1781-1782
Wife: 1) Mary (maiden name unknown) Burke 2) Priscilla “Siller” Haynes Burke
Marriage: May 21, 1835 Franklin County, Tennessee
Moved to Franklin County: 1830
Pension: North Carolina W.8233
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee County Court Minute Book 1849-1853, pg. 215
Tombstone: Little Mountain Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
Placed in 1925 by the Tennessee Department of Finance at a cost of $50.00
*Year of death incorrectly inscribed as 1852.
Joseph Crownover
Birth: 1759 Virginia
Death: 1836 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private Virginia Militia and Army 1779-1781
Wife: Sally Prigmore Crownover
Moved to Franklin County: 1830
Pension: Virginia S.1754
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee Settlement Book 1837-1843, pg. 18
Tombstone: Crownover Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
Placed in 1995 by General James Winchester Chapter, NSDAR
John Denson
Birth: 1760* Virginia
Death: 1853 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army and Virginia Sea Service 1781-1783
Wife: Elizabeth Stradley Denson
Moved to Franklin County: 1809
Pension: North Carolina/Virginia Sea Service S.3279
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee County Court Administrators’, Executors’, and Guardians’
Settlements Book 1851-1854, pg. 557
*He stated in his pension he was born 1760 and had a record of his birth.
William Donaldson
Birth: 1762 Pennsylvania
Death: 1826 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private Pennsylvania Army 1778
Wife: Margaret Barclay Donaldson
Moved to Franklin County: 1820
James Dougan
Birth: 1754 Pennsylvania
Death: 1837 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Major North Carolina Army 1776-1780
Wife: 1) Mary (maiden name unknown) Dougan 2) Hannah Sharp Dougan
Moved to Franklin County: 1809
Pension: North Carolina S.3306
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee Record Book 1837-1845, pg. 41
Robert Dougan
Birth: 1765 North Carolina
Death: 1837 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Soldier North Carolina 1782
Wife: Elizabeth Scoby Dougan
Moved to Franklin County: 1810
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pg. 163
Occupation: Methodist Preacher
Wallis Estill
Birth: 1758 Virginia
Death: 1835 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: First Lieutenant Virginia Army 1776-1781
Wife: Virginia Jane Wright Estill
Moved to Franklin County: 1807
Pension: Virginia S.1759
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 128-136
Tombstone: Wallis Estill, Sr. Cemetery, Winchester, Franklin County, Tennessee
Placed in 2014 by Eagle Scout Ian Allish of Winchester, Tennessee
Nathaniel Ewing
Birth: 1744 Maryland
Death: 1817 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Captain Maryland Army 1776-1779*
Wife: 1) Catherine (maiden name unknown) Reeder Ewing 2) Elizabeth Chesley Cartwright Ewing
Moved to Franklin County: 1815
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pg. 29
*His rank and last year of service are incorrect in this obituary.
John Ferguson
Birth: 1758 Virginia
Death: 1833 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private Virginia Army 1776-1781
Wife: Sarah Anderson Ferguson
Moved to Franklin County: 1817
Pension: Virginia S.1814
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee County Court Minute Book 1832-1837, pg. 268
Samuel Handly
Birth: 1751* Pennsylvania
Death: 1840 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Ensign North Carolina Army and Lieutenant VA Army 1776-1780
Wife: Susannah Cowan Handly
Moved to Franklin County: 1809
Pension: North Carolina/Virginia S.1911
Tombstone: Woods-Handly Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
*His pension states he was not sure of his birth year but guessed it was 1752.
According to researchers Mortimeyer and Hopkins, he was born September 17, 1751.
James Harris
Birth: 1759 North Carolina
Death: 1830 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army 1776-1778
Wife: Susannah Gass Harris
Moved to Franklin County: 1812
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 89-90
Tombstone: Old Bean’s Creek Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
John Harvey
Birth: 1764 Virginia
Death: 1833 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private Virginia Army 1780-1781
Wife: 1) Prudence Ferrell Harvey 2) Nancy Houston Harvey
Moved to Franklin County: 1822
Pension: Virginia R.4714
Jonas Hill
Birth: 1763 North Carolina
Death: 1840 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army 1781
Wife: 1) Susan Marchbanks Hill 2) Mary Barnes Hill Castleberry
Moved to Franklin County: 1812
Pension: North Carolina R.1799
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee Settlement Book 1837-1843, pg. 267
William Jackson
Birth: 1762 England
Death: 1843 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army 1783
Wife: Rebecca (maiden name unknown) Jackson
Moved to Franklin County: 1813
Pension: North Carolina S.4433
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee Settlement Book 1837-1843, pg. 448
Benjamin Johnson
Birth: 1758 Virginia
Death: 1826 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Sergeant Virginia Army 1781-1783
Wife: Phebe Merriman Johnson
Moved to Franklin County: 1812
Pension: Virginia R.5651
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 60-61
William S. Kelly
Birth: 1739
Death: 1826 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Militia 1780
Wife: Mary Frances Durham Kelly
Moved to Franklin County: 1820
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 56-57
David Larkin
Birth: 1762 Virginia
Death 1822 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Lieutenant Virginia Navy 1777-1778
Wife: Jane Armstrong Larkin
Moved to Franklin County: 1812
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee County Court Minute Book 1832-1834, pg. 306
Tombstone: Larkin Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
Placed in 2006 by Hunt’s Spring Chapter NSDAR, Huntsville, Alabama
Hezekiah Lasater
Birth: 1760 North Carolina
Death: 1844 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army 1780-1782
Wife: Elizabeth Copeland Lasater
Moved to Franklin County: 1809
Pension: North Carolina R.6172
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pg. 205-206
James Lewis
Birth: 1756* Virginia
Death: 1849 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Sergeant Major Virginia Army 1775-1781
Wife: 1) Lucy Thomas Lewis 2) Mary C. Marks Lewis
Moved to Franklin County: 1809
Pension: Virginia W.303
Tombstone: Lewis Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
Placed in 1930 by James Lewis Chapter NSDAR since destroyed
Replacement tombstone placed in 2014 by Joseph Greer Chapter SAR
*He stated in his pension his date of birth was April 6, 1856.
Patrick McElyea
Birth: 1751 Pennsylvania
Death: 1843 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army and Virginia Army 1777-1781
Wife: Hannah (maiden name unknown) McElyea
Moved to Franklin County: 1835
Pension: North Carolina/Virginia S.2789
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee Record Book 1837-1845, pg. 462
William Rawlins
Birth: 1762 Virginia
Death: 1836 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Sergeant Virginia Militia 1780-1781
Wife: Sarah Brame Rawlins
Moved to Franklin County: 1822
Pension: Virginia S.1713
Larkin Reagan
Birth: 1757 North Carolina
Death: 1842 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army 1777-1781
Wife: Elizabeth Morris Reagan
Moved to Franklin County: 1813
Pension: North Carolina S.4058
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee Settlement Book 1837-1843, pg. 442
Jacob Rich
Birth: 1763 North Carolina
Death: 1838 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Lieutenant North Carolina Militia 1780-1781
Wife: 1) Philopena Sharp Rich 2) Rosannah Counts Sartain Rich
Moved to Franklin County: 1807
Pension: North Carolina W.26380
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 359-362
James Russey
Birth: 1755 Virginia
Death: 1833 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private Virginia Army 1776-1778
Wife: 1) Sarah (maiden name unknown) Russey 2) Nancy Scott Russey Ayers
Moved to Franklin County: 1814
Pension: Virginia W.1697
Burwell Thompson
Birth: 1759 North Carolina
Death: 1833 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Army and South Carolina Army 1776-1781
Wife: 1) name unknown 2) Margaret (maiden name unknown) Thompson
Moved to Franklin County: 1808
Pension: North Carolina/South Carolina S.3801
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee County Court Minute Book 1832-1834, pg.364
William Thompson
Birth: 1753 North Carolina
Death: 1836 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Captain North Carolina Militia 1780-1781
Wife: Mary Fowler Thompson
Moved to Franklin County: 1811
Pension: North Carolina S.6217
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee Settlement Book 1835-1843, pg. 23
George Uselton
Birth: 1762 Maryland
Death: 1839 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private Maryland Militia 1777-1778
Wife: Margaret (maiden name unknown) Williamson Uselton
Moved to Franklin County: 1836
Pension: Maryland W.1100
Jacob Vanzant
Birth: 1751
Death: 1818 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Captain North Carolina Militia 1777-1782
Wife: Catherine Moon Vanzant
Moved to Franklin County: 1812
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 27-28
Tombstone: Old Bean’s Creek Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
George Waggoner
Birth: 1760 Pennsylvania
Death: 1837 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Militia 1775-1781
Wife: Mary King Waggoner
Moved to Franklin County: 1808
Pension: North Carolina S.3484
Estate: Franklin County, Tennessee County Court Minute Book 1832-1837, pg. 657
Thomas Wakefield, Sr.
Birth: 1762 Virginia
Death: 1846 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Private North Carolina Militia 1779-1781
Wife: 1) Nancy Johnson Wakefield 2) Jemima Franklin McCoy Griffin Wakefield
Moved to Franklin County: 1816
Pension: North Carolina W.1107
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 227-229
Tombstone: Wakefield Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
Placed in 1991 by the Tullahoma Chapter NSDAR
John Woods
Birth: 1751 Virginia
Death: 1815 Franklin County, Tennessee
Service: Captain Virginia Militia 1782
Wife: Abigail Estill Woods
Moved to Franklin County: 1809
Will: Franklin County, Tennessee Will Book 1808-1875, pgs. 27
Tombstone: Jones-Woods Cemetery, Franklin County, Tennessee
Some Local Descendants in 2026 of the 33 Revolutionary War Soldiers Who Died in Franklin County
Michael Awalt
Amacher, Lindsey Grant
Bean, Robert Lynn, Jr.
Carson, David Allen
Carson, John Steven
Carson, William Wade
Carter, Faye Bowling Hoffmeister
Coulson, Sylvia Hatchett
Curl, Margaret Clark
Curl, Michael
Daugherty, Jason
Daugherty, Natalie
Daugherty, Nora
Edens, Fayna Amacher
Edens, Joseph
Edens, Ethan
Faris, Amber
Faris, Tina Limbaugh
Fraley, Beri Nathaniel
Fraley, Sarah Elizabeth “Beth”
Hall, Danny Blanton
Hand, Dianne Shaffer
Hawkersmith, Chris
Hill, Hannah Palmertree
Limbaugh, Harry
Limbaugh, Jerry
Limbaugh, Larry
Limbaugh, Patti Zimmerman
Montoye, Major
Montoye, Mark
Morris, Evan
Morris, Rocky
Norris, Ronnie B.
Palmertree, Allison Coulson
Patton, Grace Palmertree
Rampy, Marilyn Carson Barnes
Rogers, Michelle Curl
Ruch, Stacie Tipps
Scott, Brandi Montoye
Scott, Charlotte
Scott, Sawyer
Scott, Shepherd
Sessions, Mary Gayle Tipps
Smith, Billie Gay Damron
Stockton, Joan Montoye
Tipps, David Michael
Tipps, William Timothy “Tim”
Turner, Jimmy Ray
Wilcox, Patricia “Patty” Tipps
Yarbrough, Betty Moorehead
Zimmerman, Pamela
Enoch Breeden
King, Annette Simmons
Knoer, Georgia Simmons
Simmons, Gregory
Simmons, James “Bossie”
Spears, Camilla Woods
Stewart, Teresa Simmons
Woods, Derek
Woods, Troy
Elihu Burke
Cates, Helen Bradford Rieben
Davis, Jimmy Lee
Kelley, Rev. James Hulin, Jr.
Simmons, Brent
Simmons, Ronald “Ronnie”
Joseph Crownover
Baggett, Gracen
Baggett, Katie Cunningham
Baggett, Rylan
Baggett, Vivian
Cunningham, Cara
Cunningham, Chloe
Cunningham, Cindy Crabtree
Cunningham, Emma
Lynch, Courtney Cunningham
Lynch, Evan
Lynch, Isaac
Lynch, Olivia
Stewart, Annalise Catherine
Stewart. Camille Cunningham
Stewart, Griffin Michael
Stewart, Lynleigh Grace
John Denson
Capley, Linda Feller
Clark, Coyle
Coulson, Sylvia Hatchett
Dotson, JoAnn Scharber
Feller, David
Feller, Michelle
Feller, Mike
Hill, Hannah Palmertree
Housley, Shay
Housley, Shad
Kessler, Penny Prince Zimmerman
Lesser, Martha Massey Housley
Patton, Grace Palmertree
Payne, Peggy Scharber
Rhoton, Beth Clark
Rhoton, Chase
Rhoton, Madison “Maddie”
Rhoton, Sam
Rhoton, Tyler
William Donaldson
Wallace, Lisa Henshaw
Wallace, Andrew
Wallace, Jonathan
Robert Dougan
Hankins, Melanie Dawn Waterson
Thomas, Susan Rogers
Wallis Estill, Sr.
Horton, Frank Allen
Horton, Glenn Allen
Matlock, Casey R.
Matlock, Danny
Simmons, Beth Soderbom
Stevens, Lori Williams
Williams, Kelly
John Ferguson
Harris, Christy Neel
Neel, Charles Layne
Neel, Charles Michael
Neel, Jathan Clifton
Neel, Natalie
Neel, Teresa
Wilson, Carolyn Neel
Winton, Susan Neel
Samuel Handly
Phillips, Annie
Phillips, Mary Handly
Phillips, Lauren Templeton
Templeton, Handly
Jonas Hill
Anderson, Penny Burch
Caroland, DeAndra Long
Crabtree, Susan Gipson
Cunningham, Patricia Cowan
Curtis, John F.
Garner, Sylvia Long
Gipson, Maggie Greer Martin
Harrell, Sherrie Perry Crownover
Hawkersmith, Bunny
Hawkersmith, Chris
Henley, Andrew Scott
Henley, Estelle
Henley, Gattis
Henley, Laura White King
Hill, Jamie D.
Hudson, Courtney King
Huffman, Oren
Johnson, Lydia Curtis
Leech, Marcia Huffman
Long, Troy Donovan
Martin, Felicia Anita Owens
Martin, Jeb Weston
Maze, Karen Coker
Orr, Tonya Perry
Owens, Jeffrey “Jeff” Allen
Payne, Todd A.
Rampy, Marilyn Carson Barnes
Rose, Audrey Welch
Rose, Amelia Grace
Rose, Ava Lee
Sanders, Jim
Santisteban, Kathryn Laughlin
Sells, Kristy Burch
Simmons, Brent
Simmons, Ronnie
Sproles, Naomi Mae
Sproles, Nikki Jo Martin
Stewart, Helen Sherrill Rose
Stovall, Gina Burch
Suddarth, Anita Hill
Toney, Gloria Gipson
Vaughn, Tiffany Payne
Wagner, Emily Hill
Walls, Betina “Tina” Suddarth
Walls, Calvin David
Walls, Christopher R.
Weaver, Carolyn Hill
Welch, Allie Beth
Welch, Averett Tyson
Welch, Dylan
Wheeler, Billie Gayle Partin
Williams, Bryan
Woodward, Kim Delayne Owens
William Jackson
Gipson, Maggie Greer Martin
Martin, Spencer Cory
Martin, Jeb Weston
Martin, Ruthie Mae Jackson
Martin, Troy Donovan
Sproles, Naomi Mae
Sproles, Nikki Jo Martin
Benjamin Johnson
Cobb, Pam Boswell
Ervin, Louise Osborne
Hall, Jeff
Hall, Paula Boswell
Wiseman, Jim
Wiseman, Kevin
Wiseman, Tammy Kaye
William S. Kelly
Baggett, Laurie Pfister Brandon
Carson, Ruth Ann Henley
Clark, Brenda Coulson
Coulson, Doyle
Crossland, Cloe
Crossland, Rachel Gamble
Davis, Jimmy Lee
Franklin, Alana Acklen
Fulmer, Phillip
Gamble, Jeff
Grant, Pam Gamble
Gulley, Kim Carson
Harrell, Sherrie Perry Crownover
Hill, Hannah Palmertree
Kolbe, Sue Stubblefield
Kolbe, William S.
Leech, Marcia Huffman
McBroom, Amanda Pfister
Morris, Evan
Morris, Rocky
Nuckolls, Kim
Palmertree, Allison Coulson
Patton, Grace Palmertree
Pfister, Lou IV
Pfister Lou V
Pfister, Caroline
Priest, Patty Bass
Rhoton, Beth Clark
Rhoton, Chase
Rhoton, Madison “Maddie”
Rhoton, Sam
Rhoton, Tyler
Rose, Amelia Grace
Rose, Ava Lee
Rose, Charles Dennis
Rose, Charles Matthew
Suddarth, Anita Hill
Walls, Betina “Tina” Suddarth
Walls, Christopher R.
Weddington, Yancy
David Larkin
Boswell, Regina Hatchett
Coulson, Sylvia Hatchett
Hill, Hannah Palmertree
Huffman, Melinda Hatchett
Mason, Davis
Palmertree, Allison Coulson
Patton, Grace Palmertree
Stubblefield, Lila Damron Grant
Hezekiah Lasater
Brandon, Andrew Joshua
Brandon, Jase Kenny
Brandon, Jenna Leigh
Brandon, Jesse Logan
Stevens, Tina Miller
Vaughan, Carolyn Harper
James Lewis
Bentley, Leah Krauth
Bentley, Olivia Louise
Cortner, Holly Johnston-Pyron
Davis, Sally Skidmore Wenger
Krauth, George Kopmeier
Matlock, Casey R.
Matlock, Danny
Moore, David E.
Pierce, Pat Skidmore Abel
Pyron, Rebecca Parkes Johnston
Sawyer, Kellye Krauth Bennett
Thompson, Allison Diane
Thompson, Clement Rote
Wilson, Wendy Wenger
Patrick McElyea
Cunningham, Janet Holland
Donnelly, Lisa Holland
Panter, Nancy Holder
Scott, Donna Holland
William Rawlins
Brooks, Phyllis Armstrong
Lawson, Teresa Armstrong
Young, Lindsay Lawson McCallon
Larkin Reagan
Amacher, Lindsey Grant
Crabtree, Jack
Crabtree, Peyton
Crabtree, Seth
Jacob Rich
Alford, Tera Isbell
Allish, Emma
Allish, Ian
Anderton Roxanne Yarbrough
Binkley, Demi
Binkley, Drake
Cates, Mitchell
Cates, Theresa Hopkins
Chatham, Brooke Isbell
Counts, Michelle Kington
Foster, Brad
Foster, Bryan
Foster, Kim Gipson
Foster, Ricky
Gipson, Susan Jackson
Hatchett, Melissa Syler
Hill, Jan Foster
Hinshaw, Dace
Hinshaw, Jeff
Hinshaw, Ray
Hinshaw, Steve
Hopkins, Casey
Hopkins, Cody
Hopkins, Gary
Hopkins, Jim Alan
Hopkins, Jordan
Hopkins, Nathan
Hopkins, Roy Allen
Hopkins, Zachary
Huffman, Melinda Hatchett
Huffman, Wesley Oren
Isbell, Adam
Isbell, Seth
Isbell, Tom
King, Annette Simmons
Knoer, Georgia Simmons
Lamb, Dara Dae Hinshaw Binkley
Partin, Harper Louise
Partin, Tiffany Stewart
Rose, Billy “Squirrel”
Rose, Chris
Rosinbum, Sandra Sue Stratton
Simmons, James “Bossie”
Smalley, Rebecca Welch
Stewart, Amelia Grace
Stewart, Cheyne
Stewart, Olivia Claire
Stewart, Teresa Simmons
Stewart, Yvonne Yarbrough
Stovall, Allie
Stovall, Thomas Kenneth, Jr.
Stratton, Walter Allen
Syler, Bradley
Syler, Brian
Syler, James Edward “Eddie”
Syler, Kent
Welch, Bobbie Sue Coop
Zimmerman, Linda Dianne Hall
James Russey
Nichols, Brandon
Nichols, Lori Neal
Nichols, Ryan
Burwell Thompson
Caroland, DeAndra Long
Carson, Ruth Ann Henley
Gulley, Kim Carson
Henley, William D.
Ray, Rebecca Caroland
George Uselton
Uselton, David Wayne
Jacob Vanzant
Anderton, John Carwell, Jr.
Carter, Faye Bowling Hoffmeister
Coutta, Gwen Limbaugh Jones
Crabtree, Carrie Moorehead
Crabtree, Jack
Crabtree, Peyton
Cunningham, Charles Frank
Eslick, Audrey
Eslick, Holly Zimmerman
Eslick, Millie Kate
Faris, Amber
Faris, Tina Limbaugh
Feller, David
Feller, Michelle
Feller, Mike
Hall, Danny Blanton
Henley, William D.
Hill, Angeline Shasteen
Holliday, Amy Whaley
Kolbe, William S.
Limbaugh, Harry
Limbaugh, Jerry
Limbaugh, Larry
Limbaugh, Patti Zimmerman
May, James “Butter”
May, James Jeffrey “J. J.”
Moore, Boone Glenn
Moore, Kelly Glenn
Moore, Megan Caroline
Moore, Milan Creed
Moore, Walter Keeling
Moore, Whitson Glenn
Moorehead, Linda Travis
Morris, Evan
Morris, Rocky
Nichols, Brandon
Nichols, Lori Neal
Nichols, Ryan
Sherrill, Charles “Chuck” Andrew
Simmons, Brent
Simmons, Sunny Marie Mason
Smith, Billie Gay Damron
Stevens, Ezekiel Grant
Stevens, Hudson Schaefer
Stevens, Jacob Ransom
Stevens, Wendy Ellen Moore
Turner, Jimmy Ray
Walton, Susan Zimmerman
Weaver, Laura Lynn Hill
Whaley, Irene Limbaugh
Williams, Ellie Grace Stevens
Zimmerman, David Alan
Zimmerman, Pamela
George Waggoner
Bryan, Linda Teters
Frame, Cathy Pendergraff
Pendergraff, Brad
Pendergraff, Brian
Pugh, David
Taylor, Kim Pugh
Wells, Brenda Pendergraff
Thomas Wakefield
Amacher, Dennis Lyle
Bailey, John Maxwell
Bailey, Tappy Maxwell
Baker, Linda Renegar Adcox
Bishop, Wendy Painter
Carter, Faye Bowling Hoffmeister
Clark, Nancy Maxwell
Edens, Fayna Amacher
Edens, Joseph
Edens, Ethan
Grant, Kay Nichols
Hopkins, Jim Alan
Limbaugh, Patti Zimmerman
Morris, Evan
Morris, Rocky
Painter, Clyde
Puryear, Jackie Stines
Zimmerman, Pamela
No Descendants Found
James Dougan
Nathaniel Ewing
James Harris
John Harvey
William Thompson
John Woods