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HARDING CABIN – BELLE MEADE PLANTATION

SITE DOCUMENTATION AND HISTORY April 2015

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SITE DOCUMENTATION AND HISTORY

For

HARDING CABIN – BELLE MEADE PLANTATION NASHVILLE, TENNESSSEE

A Public Service of the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area

By

Leigh Ann Gardner, Interpretive Specialist Noel Harris, Graduate Assistant

April 2015

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Methodology 1 History 2 Architectural Description 24 Landscape 52 Appendices 61 A: Deed of John Harding’s purchase of Belle Meade in 1807 61 B: Last Will of Bob Green 62 C: Death Certificate for Robert Green 64 D: Death Certificate for Ellen Green 65 E: Hyder Ali, “Showing the Thoroughbreds” 66 F: State of Tennessee Site Survey Record, Tennessee 67

Division of Archaeology

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METHODOLOGY

This Site History and Documentation Report is the result of a project partnership between the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area (TCWNHA), a program of MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation and Belle Meade Plantation, governed by the Nashville Chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities (APTA). In March 2014, John Lamb, Curator at Belle Meade Plantation, requested this report from the Dr. Carroll Van West. On June 16, 2014, Dr. Carroll Van West, Director of the TCWNHA, Leigh Ann Gardner, Interpretive Specialist for the TCWNHA and John Lamb met to tour the site and discuss the contents of the report.

Gardner and Noel Harris, graduate assistant with the TCWNHA, documented the

site and performed the fieldwork. Gardner researched the history of the cabin while Harris documented the building and created the measured drawings.

Thanks to John Lamb of Belle Meade and the staff at Belle Meade for their

assistance during the report.

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HISTORY Prehistory Archaeological evidence suggests there was not permanent prehistoric occupation of the cabin site. Excavations undertaken in 1982 found no features associated with aboriginal occupation at the site, and anthropologist Jane Hinshaw speculated, “Probably the area was an open habitation site, made attractive to Indians by the same topographic elements which the later settlers enjoyed – higher ground in close proximity to a creek, a spring, and a well traveled trail or trace.”1 Hinshaw went on to conclude that the site was a temporary stopping place spanning the possible Middle Woodland period (1000 BC-1000 AD) through Mississippian period (800 AD-1600 AD).2 Hinshaw’s report concluded that the earliest period of occupation for the cabin site is the late eighteenth century.3 Dunham Family Daniel Dunham received a 640 acre preemption grant from the state of North Carolina in 1786, and this grant included the site of the cabin. Dunham first arrived in Davidson County in 1780 as part of John Donelson’s settlement party. Once he received the property on Richland Creek, Dunham built a small station, possibly where the cabin is now located.4 American Indians allegedly killed Dunham on his property in 1789, and later burned the cabin, known as Dunham’s Station, in 1792. Daniel Dunham’s son, Daniel A. Dunham, rebuilt a cabin in 1792. Historians for years believed that the Harding cabin was very possibly the cabin Dunham built in 1792. Herschel Gower stated, “This is the double log cabin, with its connecting dog-trot, which presently stands at the edge of the Belle Meade lawn and symbolizes the early era of the hard-pressed but valiant Dunhams.”5 However, dendrochronolgical testing conducted in 2014 indicates that the cabin was built as two separate pens, from logs cut in the spring/summer of 1807, and joined together at a later date.6 Between 1795 and 1800, Dunham’s Station was operated by Colonel Benjamin Joslin.7 Archaeological research at the site in 1982 gave a beginning occupation date for the site as 1789, suggesting that Harding built his cabin at the same site as the cabin built by the Dunham family.8 It is not clear what happened to the 1792 Dunham cabin. Harding family (1807-1820s)

1 Jane Hinshaw, “Archaeological Investigations at Belle Meade Historic Site 1982 Season” (1982), 92. 2 Hinshaw, “Archaeological Investigations,” 93. 3 Hinshaw, 97. 4 Ridley Wills II, The History of Belle Meade: Mansion, Plantation and Stud (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1991), 5. 5 Herschel Gower, “Belle Meade: Queen of Tennessee Plantations,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 22, no. 3 (September 1963), 204. 6 Email correspondence from John Lamb, September 16, 2014. 7 Herschel Gower, “Belle Meade: Queen of Tennessee Plantations,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 22, no. 3 (September 1963), 205. 8 Hinshaw, “Archaeological Investigations,” 97.

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John Harding was born in Goochland, Virginia in 1777 to Giles and Amidia Harding. Prior to his birth, the Hardings had lived in Goochland County at least fifty years as tobacco farmers and small-scale slave owners. During the Revolutionary War, the British ransacked Giles Harding’s farm in 1781; Harding could not recover from this economic setback, and the family moved to Tennessee in 1798.9 Giles Harding settled on a 100-acre farm north of the confluence of the Little and Big Harpeth Rivers, and John worked with his father farming the land and overseeing other farming ventures.10 Later biographers of John Harding described him as “a warm friend of education, a member of the Christian Church, a prosperous farmer and stock raiser, a large land and slaveholder, and a man of energy, industry, and versatility of talents.”11

Portrait of John Harding (1777-1865) painted by Washington B. Cooper in 1846. Image courtesy

Colonial Dames Portrait Project.

John Harding purchased two hundred and fifty acres of land from Daniel A.

Dunham in February 1807, land which became known as Belle Meade Plantation.12 Located on Richland Creek, the property was six miles from Nashville and adjacent to the old buffalo trail known as the Natchez Road.13 In 1887, an article in the Atlanta Constitution described how, for early travelers, “It was their custom to stop at the house of John Harding as they passed, and by him they were always welcomed.” He was also described as,

[A] tall man, six feet high, and of very gentle presence, mild in expression, careful of speech, never going above the

9 Wills, The History of Belle Meade, 5. 10 Wills, The History of Belle Meade, 3. 11 William S. Speer, ed. Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans (Nashville: Albert B. Tavel, 1888), 3. 12 Davidson County Deed Book G, Page 192. 13 Wills, The History of Belle Meade, 5.

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mark in assertion. His motto was, "If you had tried a little harder, don't you think you could have got a little further?" He was possessed of indomitable will, and had an iron constitution.14

Deed showing John Harding’s purchase of the property from Daniel Dunham in 1807.

Davidson County Deed Book G, Page 192.

Although John Harding did not fight in the War of 1812, the site does have an

association with the war. William G. Harding, son of John Harding and born at the cabin, recalled later in life, “Over this road Gen. Harding saw Gen. Jackson move his troops to the defense of New Orleans, large numbers of his cavalry stopping at his father's noted blacksmith's shed to have their horses shod.”15

14 Jay Pea, “Belle Meade: A Visit to the Great Stock Farm of General Harding,” Atlanta Constitution, December 18, 1887. 15 W.W. Clayton, History of Davidson County, Tennessee (Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1880), 425.

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Susannah Shute Harding (1785-1845) married John Harding in 1806 and lived in the cabin until 1820.

Image courtesy Colonial Dames Portrait Project.

Harding married Susannah Shute in August 1806 in Davidson County.

Susannah, born in Pennsylvania in 1785, moved as a child to Davidson County with her parents, Philip and Elizabeth Shute, in 1790.16 This may be the same Shute family that Harriette Simpson Arnow stated built a frontier station three miles west of Nashville in 1790.17 Philip Shute died in 1811, and was buried in a family cemetery. That cemetery, now lost, was believed to have been located near the present day vicinity of Nevada Avenue and 40th Avenue North in Nashville. Also buried there was his daughter, Rachel, and granddaughter, Tennessee Stump.18

It is believed that Harding and his wife, Susannah, lived in the cabin from 1807-

1820.19 Records of this early period of occupation, however, are quite scarce.20 However, records that do exist show Harding prospered during his time in the cabin. The 1812 tax list for Davidson County records that Harding owned 3,500 acres of land

16 Susannah Harding Shute note, Colonial Dames Tennessee Portrait Project, http://tnportraits.org/harding-susannah-bm.htm. 17 Harriette Simpson Arnow, Flowering of the Cumberland (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1996), 250. 18 “Shute-Stump (Lost) Cemetery,” Davidson County Cemetery Survey Project, http://www.davidsoncocemeterysurvey.com/home/cemeteries-s-u/shute-stump-lost-cemetery. 19 Sherill Jane Kilgore, “Brief History of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee’s Antiquities

and Its Belle Meade Mansion Historic Site Museum,” (Master’s Thesis, Middle Tennessee State University, 1981), 11. 20 The earliest record in the “Harding-Jackson Papers, 1819-1911” at the Tennessee State Library and Archives is a ledger of John Harding dating to 1819. To date, no correspondence or other documentary evidence has come to light regarding Harding’s first years at Belle Meade.

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and was taxed for owning 31 slaves.21 Little is known about the identity of Harding’s slaves during this early period. His father Giles sold him a slave woman, Dicy, in October 1806, a few months after his marriage to Susannah.22 In September 1807, a few days after he purchased his land, Harding purchased four slaves from his father, Giles.23

Bills of Sale where John Harding purchased slaves from his father, Giles Harding. (Top)

Davidson County Will Book 3, Page 110. (Bottom) Davidson County Will Book 3 Page 171.

During this time period, Harding sold clover and timothy hay, and it is also

believed that he built stables to board horses.24 Sam Houston, future governor of both Tennessee and Texas, boarded ponies as well as a bay horse with Harding.25 Ralph

21 Davidson County Tax List, 1812, Tennessee, Early Tax List Records, 1783-1895. 22 Davidson County Will Book 3, Page 110. 23 Davidson County Will Book 3, page 171. 24 Kilgore, “Brief History,” 16. 25 Kilgore, “Brief History,” 18.

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E.W. Earl, portraitist and friend of Andrew Jackson, also boarded his horse with Harding from 1818-1819.26

While living in the cabin, John and Susannah had six children, three of whom lived to adulthood. Amanda P. Harding was born in 1807, William G. Harding, who inherited the property, was born in 1808, and Elizabeth Virginia Harding was born in 1812.27 Amanda married Francis McGavock of Nashville and Elizabeth married Joseph Clay of North Carolina.28

In 1819, Harding purchased approximately 17,000 bricks and began construction

of a larger home.29 While it is unknown what this new home looked like, some conjecture that it was a simple, two-story, brick Federal-style house, based on architectural trends in Middle Tennessee at the time.30 Once the house was completed in 1820, Harding and his family moved out of the cabin. Beginning in the 1830s, John Harding bought and began operating a 10,000 acre cotton plantation in Arkansas. In 1839, he gave his son, William G. Harding, responsibility for managing Belle Meade. In 1840, John Harding bought a town house in Nashville and moved to the city with his wife and three slaves.31

Illustration of the cabin from W.W. Clayton’s History of Davidson County, Tennessee (1880).

Slave History

26 Gower, “Belle Meade: Queen of Tennessee Plantations,” 207. 27 Wills, The History of Belle Meade, 6. 28 Clayton, History of Davidson County, Tennessee, 412. 29 Kilgore, “Brief History,” 19. 30 Kilgore, “Brief History,” 20. 31 Wills, “Black-White Relationships,” 19.

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The history of the cabin following John Harding building and moving to the larger home, Belle Meade, in c. 1820 is sketchy at best. Several scholars have noted that slaves lived in the cabin from c. 1820 until the end of the Civil War. It is said that Susannah Carter, a slave, lived in the cabin at one point.32 Susannah married Ike Carter, also a slave at Belle Meade, and remained as housekeeper and servant following the Civil War.33 By the 1870s, the Carters lived in the 11th Civil District, near the Clifflawn Farm, although Susannah remained employed at Belle Meade. Robert “Bob” Green

Robert Green was born in slavery and became renowned for his knowledge of horses and instrumental in making Belle Meade famous for its thoroughbreds. Where Green was born is unclear, although in his infancy, he was given to General William Harding’s first wife, Mary Selena McNairy, as a wedding present in 1829.34 At some point, likely after his marriage, he moved to the cabin. Author Will Allen Dromgoole, in a sketch about Green, stated, “He lived in this cabin to the day of his leaving in 1904. It was the one home of his life.”35

While much of Green’s early life is the subject of conjecture, it is known that he

remained on Belle Meade during the Civil War. William G. Harding asked that he and Susanna Carter hide the family silver during the Civil War, which they did.36 It is possible that Green was one of the twelve men the Union troops ordered to work on the fortifications around Nashville in August 1862.37 On the night of September 12, 1862, a group of one hundred soldiers came to plunder Belle Meade and shot Green when he protested their actions. Elizabeth Harding, wife of William G., wrote to Governor Andrew Johnson on September 14, 1862 to protest the way in which she and her slaves were treated by the troops. Of the shooting of Green, she states, “Night before last a Captain's company of 100 men came out here at midnight and wantonly shot without the least provocation my favorite man servant Bob.”38

32 Hinshaw, “Archaeological Investigations,” 7. 33 Wills, History of Belle Meade, 46, 48. 34 W. Ridley Wills II, “Black-White Relationships on the Belle Meade Plantation,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 50, no. 1 (Spring 1991), 20. 35 Will Allen Dromgoole, “Passing of “Uncle Bob,” Faithful to the End,” Box 4, Folder 9, William Hicks Jackson Papers 1766-1978, Mf. 842, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee. 36 Wills, The History of Belle Meade, 92. 37 W. Ridley Wills II, “Letters from Nashville, 1862, I. A Portrait of Belle Meade,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 33, no. 1 (Spring 1974), 80. 38 Elizabeth M. Harding to Andrew Johnson, September 14, 1862, Papers of Andrew Johnson, v. 6 (10-12), cited in http://tn.gov/tsla/cwsb/1862-09-Article-71-Page87.pdf.

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Bob Green on his horse at Belle Meade. Image courtesy Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Green remained at Belle Meade, the only home that he remembered, following

the Civil War. The 1870 census lists Green as living in the household of William G. Harding and his occupation at that time was hostler, or a person employed to look after horses.39

39 1870 Census, District 11, Davidson County, Tennessee, Roll: M593_1521; Page: 382A. The household listing for William G. Harding lists Harding, his daughter, Mary, his daughter Selena Jackson, son-in-law, William Jackson, Lizzie Hoover, and 15 servants. The servants ranged in age from 13 to 50. Lizzie was the daughter of Harding’s first cousin, unmarried, and neither parent still lived. Ridley Wills discusses the relationship in The History of Belle Meade: Mansion, Plantation and Stud (1991).

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1870 census for William G. Harding. Robert Green is listed as living in the household, along with 14

other servants. It is unclear whether he lived in the cabin yet in 1870.

Green married Ellen Watkins in Nashville on December 11, 1872.40 The 1880

census indicated that he lived with Ellen, his wife, as well as three children on the plantation. The children, Robert, Sarah, and Macie, ranged in age from one year to eight years old. Robert’s occupation is listed as farm laborer.41 In 1900, the census lists Robert’s occupation as head groom, and he is the only one listed as working in the household. He and Ellen had three daughters at home, Sallie (21), Mackie (20), and Ella (12). Three sons remained at home, Thomas (19), William (16), and Henry (10). Mackie’s son, Robert, aged 2, also lived in the home with the family.42 Other historians have stated that Green’s sons showed the stallions and worked with the horses along with their father.43

Green, however, was far more than a farm laborer. He was an integral part of the Thoroughbred program at Belle Meade, acting as the handler to Priam, Vandal, Jack Malone, and several other stallions famous for their racing abilities.44 Green’s fame as a handler and trainer of race horses was such that his portrait, posing with Bonnie Scotland, was painted by well-regarded equestrian artist Herbert S. Kittredge.45 Green was often mentioned in press accounts of the farm at Belle Meade, as this account from the Knoxville Daily Chronicle in 1879 attests:

40 Davidson County Marriage Book 6, Page 243. 41 1880 Census, District 11, Davidson County, Tennessee, Roll: 1251, Page: 165A. 42 1900 Census, District 11, Davidson County, Tennessee, Roll: 1566, Page 3A. 43 Margaret Lindsley Warden, The Belle Meade Plantation (Nashville: Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, 1979), 41. 44 Wills, The History of Belle Meade, 231. 45 Wills, History of Belle Meade, 177.

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“Bob,” the colored man, who has charge of their fine stock, was on hand, and showed us around. By the way, “Bob” is known wherever Belle Meade is known. In fact it would hardly be Belle Meade without “Bob,” and what he doesn’t know about horse-flesh is hardly worth knowing.46

Portrait of Bob with Bonnie Scotland, painted by artist Herbert S. Kittredge. Image courtesy Tennessee

State Library and Archives.

An article in Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly about horse racing described Green as “Uncle Bob, who as a man and boy has spent forty years at Belle Meade, and has forgotten more horse sense than would set up a brand-new racing stable. In fact, he fairly oozes wisdom, perspiration and benignity.”47 The American Veterinary Review printed an obituary for Green at the time of his death, describing him as “master of the stud since its establishment.”48

46 “Belle Meade: A Visit to General W.G. Harding’s Farm,” Knoxville Daily Chronicle, February 12, 1879. 47 Martha McCullough Williams, “The Business and Sport of Horse Racing,” Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly XXXVI, no. 3 (September 1893), 266. 48 “News and Items,” American Veterinary Review 30 (December 1906), 1122.

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Death notice for Green published in the American Veterinary Review in 1906.

Green was present at Belle Meade in 1887 when President Grover Cleveland and his wife, Frances Cleveland, visited in October. An article in the Rock Island (Illinois) Daily Argus described Green’s role in the visit, stating, “”Uncle Bob,” an old colored man who has chief care of this fine place, was the guide, and after breakfast he was given the post of showing the president through the grounds. . . The old man’s cup of joy was filled to overflowing when he was permitted to shake hands with the president.” When asked about Mrs. Cleveland, the paper quotes Green as declaring, “Dat lady sartinly am a queen! and goodness, but she does like a fine hoss. Dat pet of mine [Luke Blackburn] seems to catch her eye. I like dat lady, I do.”49 Green was also featured in an article in the New York Times published on October 17, 1887 concerning the visit. The subtitle of the article, “A Great Day for Uncle Bob Harding,” names Green, although it got his name incorrect. The article describes the occasion, stating, “The President has made the personal acquaintance of Uncle Bob Harding. Every stockman in the country knows of Uncle Bob, the colored major domo of the Belle Meade stock farm and one of the chief authorities on blooded stock in the world.” The paper quoted Green as saying, “Just think, Oh Lordy, that I should live to 63 year and then see the President!” When asked his thoughts on the President, he remarked, “Oh, he’s a fine gentleman, very much so.” When asked about Mrs. Cleveland, he remarked, “Oh, she do beat ‘em [sic] all. And she certainly do know a good hoss [sic].”50 During the visit, Green also was in charge of driving the deer past the guests in the deer park for the

49 “A Ghastly Incident: Death Invades the Presidential Festivities at Memphis,” Rock Island Daily Argus, October 17, 1887. 50 “Resting at Belle Meade: The President’s First Sunday in the South,” New York Times, October 17, 1887.

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guests to view them.51 Perhaps one of the oddest tributes to Green arising from the visit of the President was a poem published in the Chicago Daily Inter Ocean on October 23, 1887. This poem, entitled, “Showing the Thoroughbreds,” is mostly written in dialect from Green’s perspective of showing the President the thoroughbreds at Belle Meade. Green is described in the poem as, “While Uncle Bob, a colored man, With locks of silver gray, Led out the gallant thoroughbreds That make Belle Meade today.”52

Illustration of Bob Green from the (Washington, D.C.) Evening Star, April 19, 1890. Image courtesy

Library of Congress.

One of the interesting aspects of the New York Times article about Cleveland’s

visit is that Green, although misnamed, is treated as an expert in his field. His knowledge is described as “an exhaustless mine of racing reminiscenses [sic] and horse lore.”53 Other newspaper articles over the years would continue to describe Green in such a way. The Atlanta Constitution in 1895 described Green as, “Everybody who knows anything about Belle Meade knows “Uncle Bob.” He is the major domo, the princely old servant of his master . . . He has general charge of the horsebreeding establishment . . .”54 The Washington, D.C. Evening Star, in an article about the Kentucky Derby, mentioned Uncle Bob, describing him as “Gen. Jackson’s right hand man.” It went to say, “Uncle Bob is a peculiar character. His good sayings, and they are many, are treasured up by western turfmen who visit the farm . . . “55 One of the

51 “Presidents and Horses: An Aged Retainer of the Belle Meade Farm Discourses About Both,” Washington Post, October 17, 1887. 52 Hyder Ali, “Showing the Thoroughbreds,” The Daily Inter Ocean, October 23, 1887. 53 “Resting at Belle Meade.” 54 “Rare Belle Meade: General Jackson Entertains 200 Gentlemen from All Over the South,” Atlanta Constitution, April 28, 1895. 55 “The Kentucky Derby,” (Washington, D.C.) Evening Star, April 19, 1890.

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thoroughbreds, a son of famed Luke Blackburn, was named “Uncle Bob” in honor of Green. The horse was not esteemed at the 1888 Belle Meade sale, and Green purchased the horse for $225. He later sold the horse to Sam Bryant for $400, and the horse won the American Derby in 1890.56 The Atchison Daily Globe, a Kansas newspaper, in an article about Belle Meade, described Green as,

He is known to all the leading stockmen in the country. A man without education, a slave of the former owner, he is celebrated as one of the best posted horsemen in the country. He can tell you off-handed the full pedigree of ever race horse that has been before the public during the past fifty years. Kindly, gentle, honest, and trustworthy, he is known and respected by everyone for miles around.57

Excerpts from the June 22, 1890 Los Angeles Herald article about Uncle Bob winning the American

Derby. Image courtesy Library of Congress.

In 1889, William Hicks Jackson sent his yearlings to New York for his annual yearling sale. On June 6, Green and William Giles Harding III supervised the loading of the fifty-seven yearlings on the train cars bound for New York. Green, along with several other grooms, departed with the horses and traveled to New York, the first time that Green had left Tennessee.58 The night before they departed, Green held a prayer meeting in the servant’s quarters, allegedly stating, “Good-bye Lord, I’m going to New York.”59 Green described the trip in his own words, stating, “This is the first time I ever

56 “A Mud Runner,” Los Angeles Herald, June 22, 1890. 57 “A Great Stock Farm,” The Atchison Daily Globe, October 10, 1888. 58 Wills, History of Belle Meade, 229. 59 Ridley Wills, II, “Tennessee Day, June 17, 1889, Hunt’s Point, New York,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 47, no. 7 (Winter 1988): 209.

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left Belle Meade in my life, to go to New York, and I felt just like a blind cat going through a swamp.”60 As the yearlings suffered some sort of damage during transport, the trip did not materialize as Green and the others had planned. Green describes his feelings on the matter, stating,

When I started from here . . . to that sale of horses – when we loaded the colts that evening for New York I was in high spirits for I thought when we got to New York I was going to knock the black out, but when we got to that place, and they got to going on so and got so butchered up, I give up.61

Following the disappointing sale of the yearlings, which did not match the expectations Jackson had of the sale, Green and the others remained in New York for eleven days, sightseeing in New York.62 Green returned to New York with Jackson in 1894 for the yearling sale, held that year at the American Horse Exchange. At that sale, Green purchased a filly by Iroquois for the price of $550.63

Bob Green and his family at the cabin, c. 1900. Image courtesy Belle Meade Plantation.

60 Deposition of Bob Green, Adams Express Company v. W.H. Jackson, H.E. Jackson, and John Harding, Jr., Supreme Court of Tennessee, 1892, unprocessed Middle Tennessee Box 934, Manuscript Section, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville. Jackson and his partners alleged that the yearlings were mistreated during the shipment to New York and refused to pay Adams Express Company for transportation costs. Adams Express Company sued, and the case went to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1892. The case will not be discussed here, but the case file does contain a deposition from Green, largely about the trip and how the yearlings were transported. 61 Green Deposition, Adams Express Company v. Jackson et al., TSLA. 62 Wills, History of Belle Meade, 232. 63 Wills, History of Belle Meade, 242. Wills also notes in this work that Green purchased Chattanooga, a colt by Luke Blackburn, in 1891 (p. 335, n. 29).

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Green is often portrayed in contemporary accounts as being loyal to the Harding and Jackson families. During the Civil War, fellow slave Susanna Carter wrote to William G. Harding during his imprisonment in Michigan. Her letter dated June 3, 1862 mentions Green, stating, “He sends much love & many thanks for your kind remembrance of him & hopes with all the rest that you will soon be at home again.”64 Will Allen Dromgoole, local color author, described Green as “polite, kind, earnest, and faithful, forbearing with his own race, and hating to his heart’s centre[sic] the so-called ‘poor white trash. . .’”65 An article about Belle Meade in 1888 gave a lengthy description of Green, and stated, “When given his freedom he refused to leave his home, and has since remained in his old position ever since.”66 The Salt Lake Herald described Green in 1897 as “the venerable colored foreman of Belle Meade, has for seventy years been the most faithful of servants. . . His manners are those of a stately old-fashioned gentleman.”67 His relationship with the Harding and Jackson families was likely close as Green served as pallbearer at the funerals of William G. Harding and his daughter, Selene Harding Jackson.68 When William Hicks Jackson died in 1903, Green led the procession from the house to the vault in the cemetery to inter Jackson’s remains.69 Due to ill-health and old age, William Hicks Jackson auctioned the Belle Meade thoroughbreds, so long associated with Green, in October 1902. The article in the New York Times announcing the auction mentioned Green, stating he lived in the cabin built by John Harding and describing him as “the famous old negro servant of the family.”70 Although this marked the end of the Belle Meade stud, Green remained in his cabin for a time. However, in November 1904, the house and land at Belle Meade were sold, forcing Bob to leave his home at the cabin and move to a home he owned in Nashville.71 Leaving Belle Meade, his home since childhood, must have been difficult for Green. Before he left, he may have asked Mrs. Jackson to promise that he could be buried at Belle Meade, a promise to which she agreed.72 Dromgoole portrays the scene in her sketch, stating,

He begged with tears to be allowed to spend the remainder of life’s little span among the old scenes. But it was not to be – the place had passed into strange hands, and at least the little remnant of the family left persuaded him that it was best for him to go, along with the rest.73

64 Randall M. Miller, “Letters from Nashville, 1862, II. “Dear Master”,” Tennessee Historical Quarterly 33, no. 1 (Spring 1974): 89. 65 Dromgoole, “Passing of Uncle Bob,” Jackson Papers, TSLA. 66 “A Great Stock Farm,” The Atchison Daily Globe, October 10, 1888. 67 The Salt Lake Herald, February 4, 1897. 68 Wills, “Black-White Relationships,” 24. 69 “Gen. Jackson’s Funeral,” Bolivar Bulletin, April 10, 1903. 70 “Passing of the Belle Meade Farm,” New York Times, August 17, 1902. 71 Kilgore, “Brief History,” 71. 72 Dromgoole, Passing of Uncle Bob,” Jackson Papers, TSLA. 73 Dromgoole, “Passing of Uncle Bob,” Jackson Papers, TSLA.

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Death certificate for Robert Green.

Bob died at his home at 1415 Lorango Street in Nashville on November 9, 1906

of cardiac weakness and old age. His death certificate listed his age as 84 years of age.74 A funeral was held at the Baptist Church on Broadway in Nashville. Looking at the Sanborn Insurance Map for Nashville in 1914, this may have been the United Primitive Baptist Church (Negro) depicted on sheet 16. His funeral was described as, “a notable one . . . from the Baptist Church on Broadway; here white and colored gathered last Sunday morning to do honor to his faithful dust. The sermon, or sermons, occupied the entire morning, several different preachers taking part.” Following the funeral at the United Primitive Baptist Church, the attendees marched to Cockrill Springs, and “passed on the burying ground of the Hardings and Jackson at Belle Meade.”75

74 Death Certificate for Robert Green, November 11, 1906, Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1959. 75 Dromgoole, “Passing of Uncle Bob,” Jackson Papers, TSLA.

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Sanborn Insurance Map, Volume 1, Sheet 14, showing the United Primitive Baptist Church on

Broadway, the site of Robert Green’s funeral.

At the graveside at Belle Meade later that day, the pastor of Harding Pike Church

conducted a brief internment service.76 A choir sang “Nearer, My God, to Thee” at this service. The pallbearers, all white men, were described as, “from the ranks of the most distinguished citizens of the city; some who had known and all who had admired the faithful old man . . .”77 The pallbearers included W.J. Ewing, Sr., Walter O. Parmer, John G. Greener, Judge John Morrow, Howell E. Jackson, L.C. Garrabrant, Charlie Marks and C.H. Gillock.78 The Paducah Evening Sun stated that Green was buried in the paddock that had been the home of Bonnie Scotland, Enquirer, and other noted horses, which is the best clue as to the location of the final resting place of Green on Belle Meade Plantation.79

76 Wills, “Black-White Relationships,” 31. 77 Dromgoole, “Passing of Uncle Bob,” Jackson Papers, TSLA. 78 “”Uncle Bob” Dead,” The Marshall Republican, November 30, 1906. 79 “White Men Pallbearers,” Paducah Evening Sun, November 13, 1906.

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According to his death certificate, Green was living on this block of Lorango Street in Nashville at the

time of his death in 1906. 1914 Sanborn Insurance Map of Nashville, Volume 2, Sheet 232.

In his will, Green left the home on Lorango Street to his wife, Ellen. At her death, he bequeathed the home to his daughters, Sallie and Mackie. He bequeathed $100 and his saddle horse to his grandson, Robert Green. He left the two youngest children of his daughter, Mackie, $25 each. He also bequeathed $25 each to his daughters Ella Green and Mary Jane Kiser. The remainder of his estate was left to his wife Ellen. He named Hill McAlister, future governor of Tennessee, the executor of his will.80 His wife, Ellen, did not long survive him, dying on December 29, 1906 at her home on 1415 Lorango Street in Nashville. She was also buried at Belle Meade.81 Post Harding-Jackson Ownership

The land (and cabin) ownership changed hands several times during the first half of the twentieth century. The mansion and cabin first passed to Jacob Dickinson in 1906, and during his ownership, President Taft was entertained at Belle Meade. Between 1909 and 1932, the property was owned by James Leake and Walter Parmer in succession. Mr. and Mrs. Meredith Caldwell purchased the property in 1936. The Caldwells owned the property until it was purchased by the State of Tennessee in 1953.82 In 1953, Mrs. Guilford Dudley, Sr. (Anne Dallas Dudley) organized the efforts of

80 Last Will of Bob Green, Davidson County Will Book 36, Page 425. According to Ridley Wills in The History of Belle Meade, McAlister married Louise Jackson, daughter of Mary Jackson, in 1901. Mary Jackson was the wife of Howell Jackson, brother of William Hicks Jackson. Howell and Mary lived at West Meade. 81 Death Certificate for Ellen Green, December 31, 1906, Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1959. 82 Gower, “Belle Meade: Queen of Tennessee Plantations,” 221. Gower states that the Caldwells purchased the property from Parmer’s estate in 1936, following his death in 1932.

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the APTA to acquire the site.83 Secondary sources have not focused on the fate of the cabin during this period, so it is unclear how the cabin was used. The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) photographs of the building, taken in 1940, seem to indicate that the building was unoccupied at that point, due to the overgrowth of vegetation around the porch and chimney.

Although it is unclear how the cabin was used after Bob Green left in 1904, this 1910 photograph shows flower boxes on the porch, possibly indicating the cabin was inhabited at this point. Image

courtesy Belle Meade Plantation.

83 Kilgore, “Brief History,” 73.

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Photograph of the cabin taken in 1940 for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). The

overgrowth of vegetation at the porch and chimney may suggest that the building was not inhabited at this point. Image courtesy Library of Congress.

APTA Ownership

In the fall of 1952, the Caldwell family offered the APTA an option to purchase the property on the condition that the APTA raise $50,000 towards the price by January 1, 1953. The Caldwells agreed to extend the deadline to the end of 1953 if the APTA could convince the Tennessee General Assembly to pass a private bill to match the purchase price. In March, 1953, the General Assembly passed a private bill authorizing the purchase of Belle Meade, and $125,000 was appropriated for that purpose. Governor Frank Clement signed the bill on March 26, 1953.84 This allowed the APTA to acquire Belle Meade Mansion, the Harding cabin, four outbuildings, and twenty-four acres. The site opened to visitors in 1954, and has been open since that time.85

From the beginning, the cabin has been used as part of the interpretation of life

at Belle Meade Plantation. An early use for the cabin was as one of the homes on view for Tennessee Pilgrimage, sponsored by the APTA, in 1955.86 In 1969, the cabin was

84 Kilgore, “Brief History,” 91-92. 85 Kilgore, “Brief History,” 2. 86 “Belle Meade Log Cabin on Pilgrimage,” Box 15, Folder 12, Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities Collection, Mf 1577. Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee. Henceforth referred to as APTA Collection Mf 1577 to differentiate it from the other APTA collection available at TSLA

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used to portray antebellum life, and a loom was set up in one of the rooms, with weaving taking place.87

A historic marker, prepared and sponsored by the Daughters of the American

Colonists, was dedicated at the cabin on May 20, 1972. Albert F. Ganier prepared and read a short history of the cabin at that ceremony. This history focused on the association with the Dunham family and Ganier’s belief that the cabin was the same station built by the Dunham family prior to Harding purchasing the property.88 In the fall of 2000, a kitchen garden was added to the cabin for educational purposes.89

Historic Sites Survey for the cabin from 1957. The cabin is described as being built in 1793 and

continuously occupied until c. 1937.

For several decades, the cabin was interpreted as being the cabin rebuilt by the

Dunham family in 1792 if not the original 1780s Dunham station. A Historic Sites Survey, completed in 1957, for the cabin named the site “Dunham’s Station.” The survey went on to state, “Present cabin built 1793, following burning by Indians of the

87 Orrin W. June, “Master Plan I of Belle Meade Plantation,” (October 1969), 57. Box 16, Folder 16, APTA Collection Mf 1577. 88 Albert F. Ganier, “The Story of Dunham’s Station Cabin,” Box 15, Folder 12, APTA Collection Mf 1577. 89 APTA Bulletin, Box 2, Folder 39, Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities Records Addition, 1950-2007, Mf. 1983, Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, Tennessee. Henceforth referred to as APTA Collection Mf. 1983.

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original cabin in 1792 on the same site. The cabin has been occupied continually up to about 20 years ago. 3500 feet westward is an extensive Indian burial ground.”90 The Master Plan for Belle Meade, completed in 1969, suggested interpreting the cabin as the Dunham’s cabin and station on the Natchez Trace.91 An undated brochure for Belle Meade described the cabin, “of keen interest to historians and is one of the oldest houses in Tennessee.” The brochure continued its description as the cabin, stating, “The original cabin was burned in 1792 during an Indian attack but was rebuilt (as it now stands) about 1793 and served as a way-station on the famous Natchez Trace road, which passed by its door.”92 Beginning in 1986, the site offered educational programming at the cabin about early Tennessee life, planting a “pioneer garden” and using costumed interpreters at the cabin.93 As late as 2007, the cabin was still being interpreted as a 1790s frontier cabin.94

90 “Dunham’s Station Historic Sites Survey,” Tennessee State Planning Commission, 1957, Box 15, Folder 12, APTA Collection Mf 1577, TSLA. 91 Orrin W. June, “Master Plan I of Belle Meade Plantation,” Box 16, Folder 16, APTA Collection Mf 1577, TSLA. 92 Undated brochure, Box 15, Folder 12, APTA Collection Mf 1577, TSLA. 93 Donna Russell, “The Marketing of Belle Meade Plantation: An Alternative to Traditional Fund Raising,” History News 47, no. 1 (January/February 1992): 11. 94 “Nashville Chapter,” APTA News (Fall 2007): 5.

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ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Exterior Description

Harding cabin is a two-pen, dogtrot style log house. A single-gable shake roof

joins the pens, providing shade for the deep front and back porches. The structure sits on stacked stones most probably procured from the property.95 The north pen is constructed from chestnut while the south pen is made from elm logs. Differing lumber type and corner notching suggests the two chambers were erected by different builders. This difference also could indicate that the two pens were even built at separate locations on the property, then moved together and joined after construction. However, recent dendrochronology suggests that the lumber used in the construction of both pens was felled during the spring of 1807. This date refutes claims that the cabin belonged to John Dunham and is family, residents of the site 1780-1792.

The south pen’s logs vary in size and shape. They were cut using an adze or an

ax to remove the tree bark and square the edges. Each log is joined together at the corners using diamond notches, not commonly found in Tennessee. Although very common in Virginia and North Carolina near the Tennessee border, these notches appear on outbuildings like tobacco barns rather than domiciles. 96 The wood is obviously different from the north pen, with tiny holes throughout caused by wood-boring parasites.

South pen diamond notches and diagonal axe marks.

95 The Harding Jackson Papers in the Tennessee State Library and Archives collection lists several sales of stone from the property to local builders. See: Harding Jackson Papers, Box 2 Folder 4, page 45, Tennessee State Library and Archives. 96 John B. Rehder, Tennessee Log Buildings: a Folk Tradition (Knoxville: University Tennessee Press,

2012), 51.

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The north pen’s logs are cut quite squarely, and seem to have been milled using

a hammer and wedge to split the rounded edges from the logs.

Mark left from a wedge and hammer to split the log into the desired size and shape.

The notches on the north pen are half-dovetail type notches, historically the most common notches used in log home construction in Tennessee. In a survey of 2,956 Tennessee log buildings completed in 2006, 60.3% of buildings surveyed had half dovetail joints. This means that the main carpenter, or person making the construction choices on each building probably originated from a different geographic location than the builder of the south pen.

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Half-dovetail notch on north pen.

The chinking, or filler between the logs was almost all replaced with a Portland

cement mixture in the mid-twentieth century.97 One section of Wall Four of the south pen also shows an odd patch stuffed with small flat rocks pushed into place diagonally. They resemble the pattern seen at the top of dry stack walls found in Tennessee and Kentucky. This patch was not filled in with cement, and is still visible.

97 A controversial material to use in preservation, Portland cement does not offer the plasticity and flexibility of simple mud chinking. For a log building this means that the Portland cement will sit hard and unmoving, while the logs will swell and shrink to some extent depending on the humidity of the environment.

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Stacked rock portion of chinking on exterior Wall Four of South Pen. Note three differing types of material

used for chinking on this wall portion.

Modern cedar shake shingles cover the cabin’s roof. Long gallery porches stretch

the length of the west and east sides of the cabin creating further architecture cohesion between the pens. The roof appears to be sheathed in new cedar shakes.

Roof covering east elevation.

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Each pen has its own coursed, square-rubble masonry chimney made of hand cut stone. The stone appears to be limestone, but has not yet been tested. The stones display regular chisel marks and appear to have been cut by hand.

Stone chimneys with regular chisel marks on south chamber gable end.

Each chimney is built entirely on the exterior of the chamber it is meant to heat, set into an opening built into the gable ends of the pens.

Chimney on one of the gable ends

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The chimneys’ construction is identical on both chambers; therefore they were probably constructed after the two pens were joined. The mortar seems to be Portland cement, a product used to replace whatever original material may have bonded the stones. Exterior Elevation Descriptions East Elevation

East elevation

The east elevation of the cabin looks toward the Belle Meade Plantation

mansion. Chimneystacks flank the ends of each pen, and the side exterior of the fireboxes and fireplace foundations are also visible. A gable roof runs the length of the building, with a long overhang shading the gallery porch that is held up by four square, wood posts. Natural stone slabs create a foundation for wooden steps that allow access to the porch.

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Slab stones laid as steps.

Each of the pens has two, four over four windows visible from the east elevation.

Windows on north chamber of east elevation.

These appear to be the windows installed in 1975 by APTA. The same year, lightning rods were attached to the chimneystacks.98

98 “Yearly Report,” June 1976, Box 5, Folder 8, APTA Collection Mf. 1577, TSLA.

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Lightning rods with grounding cable running down roof and into the ground.

Joists supporting the loft above each pen protrude through notches cut into the logs. Historical photographs reflect multiple additions and changes made to this elevation over time. Early twentieth century photographs of this elevation show the porch enclosed as an additional room on the north pen. Multiple cuts, holes, and misalignments in the east elevation log members reflect some changes and repairs over time.

HABS photograph from 1940 showing the enclosed porch on the west elevation porch.

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Cut log members with vertical filler in east elevation wall.

What appears to be lime plaster applied over an older layer of cement chinking on east elevation of north

chamber.

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Cut log members and filled gaps on north chamber, east elevation.

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South Elevation

The south elevation displays the chimney of the south pen. The gable roof terminates into the chimneystacks. Construction methods on this elevation are consistent with the east elevation.

South elevation.

A modern, cement composite, probably Portland cement fills the chinks between the logs, and the mortar in the chimneystack. Two two-over-two windows have been installed on either side of the narrowest portion of the chimney to light the loft above the south chamber, consistent with HABS photos from 1940. The chimney covers the windows in the lower interior corners.

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Windows tucked behind chimney on south elevation.

West Elevation

West elevation

The west elevation almost mirrors the east elevation. Like the east elevation, the

north pen has two four-over-four windows visible. However, on the west elevation the south pen has no windows, but rather an exterior door. The roof has a low overhang over the gallery porch, again supported by four square cut wooden posts. A wheelchair

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ramp attaches to the north end of the gallery porch. Inside the dogtrot, attached to the south wall of the north pen, a relatively new staircase leads up to a loft above the south pen. Chimneystacks rise from the gable roof ends, with flashing sealing the connection of roof to chimney. A grounding wire runs down from the lightning rod on the north chimney to the earth. North Elevation

North elevation

The north elevation, almost mirrors the south elevation, also has a chimneystack attached to a wall. Two small two-over-two windows appear on each side of the chimney near the roofline. These windows provide light to the loft space over the north pen. The oldest portion of the wall appears to be the bottom eleven logs that compose the wall. Logs above these older eleven seem to have been added at a later date, as do the modern windows looking into the loft. The difference in materials indicates a possible repair sometime in the last century.

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The left photo shows the interior of the north chamber loft, with interior-grade bead-board covering the

new logs above the old construction. The right photo shows the window installed into the new wall portion with a corner covered by the chimney.

The porch ends flank the chimney wall, and the modern accessibility ramp connects to the north end of the east elevation porch.

Interior Description

Harding Cabin is divided into two discrete chambers each meant to interpret a

different period in the Cabin’s history. The interpretation has informed the rooms’ finishings. The north chamber represents the Harding family’s residence prior to the 1820s, while the south chamber represents Belle Meade hosteller Robert Green’s and his family’s time in the cabin. These two rooms both open onto the central dogtrot. An open staircase on the dogtrot leads to a loft above the south chamber, while a very small ladder-like stair leads to the small loft above the north chamber.

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Dogtrot The dogtrot creates a breezeway between the two cabin chambers.

View of the dogtrot from the west porch looking through to the east porch.

Flooring in this section matches that of the east and west porches, although here

the boards are laid parallel to the massing of the structure, while the porch flooring run perpendicular to encourage water runoff. The moist environment has caused the floorboards to curl slightly. The north exterior wall of the south chamber and the south exterior wall of the north chamber terminate in a header supporting joists extending over the dogtrot. These joists support the floor of the loft above the dogtrot.

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Modern staircase providing loft access

A shallow, basic staircase with a single handrail leads up to the loft through an opening in the dogtrot ceiling.

View from loft down onto west porch.

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North Chamber

The north pen is square with a steep staircase/ladder in the southeast corner of

the room that leads to a loft above the pen.

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North chamber southeast corner showing ladder up to loft space, Wall Four window and Wall One

doorway.

Access to the north chamber is given through a door on Wall One, and two windows are hung on Wall Two and Wall Four. A security light is installed above the doorway.

Wall Three contains a large, arched stone fireplace that seems to have been completely deconstructed and rebuilt at some point in the recent past.

North chamber fireplace.

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Each stone in the arched fireplace opening on the north pen shows handwritten numbers marked in pencil, perhaps labeled so that they could be replaced during reconstruction.

Lettering on arched chimney stones.

Like the chimney, the firebox and fireplace are made using a square-rubble

masonry technique. The hearthstones of the fireplace are not a single piece of stone. They are an odd shape, forming almost a cross pattern, possibly having begun as a single stone that broke over time, and the missing pieces were replaced with concrete.

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Broken and repaired hearthstone.

The log walls of the north chamber have been finished in tongue and groove panel boards, and then were painted using modern interior grade semi-gloss paint.

Tongue in groove panel boards unpainted in loft space above the north chamber.

They were then painted with fancy-paint, decorative floral techniques. Upon close

investigation, visible remnants of newspaper were found adhered to the wood walls

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beneath the paint. When the paper was pulled back no paint residue was visible underneath, indicating that the decorative paint was a modern addition to this space.

Wall segment displaying newspaper remnants, modern wall and decorative painting.

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Paint remnants were also evident on archway stones on the fireplace opening.

White and green paint shows on the face of the fireplace opening.

Grey or dirty white paint shows on the fireplace opening.

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Electrical service was added to the building in the twentieth century. All wiring is

hidden inside galvanized piping visibly mounted on the interior walls.

Sill plates at the top of the walls in this room show water damage from some time in the past. Since no drip marks appear on the walls, this damage has probably been arrested.

The loft of the north chamber is a simple room with knee walls supporting the roof structure. The chamber is left virtually empty, with only a few items put away for storage.

View of north chamber loft from access ladder.

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South Chamber

The south chamber, like the north, is a square room. Wall One contains the main entrance door, with two windows on Wall Two, a fireplace on Wall Three and another exterior door located on Wall Four. This chamber is interpreted as Robert Green’s home, and this story informs the presentation and condition of the space. The log walls have been covered with tongue-in-groove wood paneling painted with modern white paint. Photocopied pages of 1860s Harper’s Weekly are glued to

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upper wall surfaces, while portions of the walls remain only painted. No evidence of decorative paint appears in this chamber.

South pen walls with both white paint and photocopied newsprint.

Cuts in the wall paneling over the door on Wall One reveal a repair or remodel at

one time. However, these amendments are not visible on the exterior logs of this wall.

Door opening on Wall One of south pen showing cuts in wall paneling.

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The south pen fireplace opening is plain and square, and its hearth is made from bead board, and what appears to be salvaged wood.

Fireplace on Wall Three of south pen.

There is a good chance that this entire fireplace was constructed in the mid-

twentieth century from salvaged wood from another site altogether. Unlike the north pen’s fireplace, the south’s opening is held up with a simple metal strap for a lintel, rather than a stone arch. The stones are put in place again using square-rubble masonry, but the pointing in this fireplace appears less elegant, a bit sloppy, and possibly repaired in the last few decades. The stones making up the fireplace back seem less regular than those used in the north chamber. The quality and type of stones seem to differ from those on the face of the fireplace, and on the chimneys of both chambers. Like the north chamber, the hearthstone has been broken and refilled with cement. The square fireplace opening is framed with a simple timber header and side support timbers, braced with small crossbeams. The header is hand hewn with an axe.

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Firebox of south pen fireplace showing repaired hearthstone and irregular stones on fireplace back.

The south pen’s loft space is only accessible by a ladder located in the dogtrot.

Because the south pen’s ceiling was likely replaced in the recent past, there is no evidence that an access hole was ever initially cut. The building materials used in constructing this loft are newer than those found in the north pen. Most likely, the loft was rebuilt and reinforced to add stability so that the museum could store items such as Christmas decorations and outdoor play equipment.

South pen loft space used as storage.

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Electrical services and security systems terminate into boxes in this room.

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LANDSCAPE

There are several landscape elements to the Harding cabin that merit documentation. Although all have been added since the APTA ownership of the site, they are part of the site.

Marker interpreting the history of the cabin.

Markers One of the more recent markers is the wayside interpretative marker that

interprets both the building of the cabin and the life of Robert Green. The marker shows historic images of John Harding, Green, and Luke Blackburn as well as one of the 1940 HABS photographs of the site. The marker also contains a brief history of the cabin, stating that John Harding purchased Dunham’s Station in 1807 and added a second room to the existing cabin. The marker is located east of the cabin, between the parking lot and the cabin.

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Close up of the interpretative marker.

There is a stone of an undetermined type found near the cabin currently located

beneath a tree west of the cabin, between the cabin and the creek. There are no markings on the stone, and it is not clear if there were ever any markings. Its original purpose has not been determined.

Marker beneath a tree on the west side of the cabin.

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Garden A garden, surrounded by a wooden fence, is west of the cabin, between the

cabin and the creek. It is used to interpret pioneer life in Nashville. The garden was added in 2000 to “encourage hands-on activities such as spring planting, natural dyeing of cotton and wool using garden plants and preserving food by drying, salting and pickling.”99

Garden west of the cabin.

Fences A wooden, split rail fence surrounds the cabin site. The fence is not historic.

99 “Belle Meade Chapter,” APTA News, Fall 2000, Box 2, Folder 39, APTA Collection Mf. 1983, TSLA.

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Split rail fence around the site.

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Archaeological Dig site

Sign south of the cabin indicating an archaeological dig in progress.

There have been archaeological digs and surveys at the cabin, and the cabin has

a different site number assigned to it by the Tennessee Division of Archaeology (40DV 107) than the rest of the plantation (40DV 171). The Division of Archaeology surveyed the site in 1977100, and Jane Hinshaw conducted archaeological research in 1982. It appears that there is further archaeological research being conducted at present at the cabin.

100 State of Tennessee Site Survey Record for Dunham’s Station, Tennessee Division of Archaeology. Please refer to Appendix F for a copy of the record.

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Archaeological dig at the cabin taking place between the cabin and Leake Avenue.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Primary Sources 1812 Davidson County Tax List 1870 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee 1880 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee 1900 Census for Davidson County, Tennessee 1914 Sanborn Insurance Map Davidson County Deed Book G Davidson County Marriage Book 6 Davidson County Will Book 3 Davidson County Will Book 36 Tennessee Death Records, 1908-1959 Manuscript Collections

Adams Express Company v. W.H. Jackson, H.E. Jackson, and John Harding, Jr., Supreme Court of Tennessee, 1892, unprocessed Middle Tennessee Box 934, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities Records, 1951-1994, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities Records Addition, 1950-2007, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Harding-Jackson Papers, 1819-1911, Tennessee State Library and Archives John Harding Cabin-Belle Meade Estate, Historic American Buildings Survey,

Library of Congress Papers of Andrew Johnson William Hicks Jackson Papers 1766-1978, Tennessee State Library and Archives

Newspapers and Magazines American Veterinary Review APTA News The Atchison Daily Globe Atlanta Constitution Bolivar Bulletin The Daily Inter Ocean Frank Leslie’s Popular Monthly Knoxville Daily Chronicle The Marshall Republican Los Angeles Herald New York Times Paducah Evening Sun Rock Island Daily Argus Salt Lake Herald Washington, D.C. Evening Star Washington Post

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Secondary Sources Articles Gower, Herschel. “Belle Meade: Queen of Tennessee Plantations.” Tennessee

Historical Quarterly 22, no. 3 (September 1963): 203-222. Miller, Randall M. “Letters from Nashville, 1862, II “Dear Master”.” Tennessee Historical

Quarterly 33, no. 1 (Spring 1974): 85-92. Russell, Donna. “The Marketing of Belle Meade Plantation: An Alternative to Traditional

Fund Raising.” History News 47, no. 1 (January/February 1992): 6-11, 40. Wills II, W. Ridley. “Black-White Relationships on the Belle Meade Plantation.”

Tennessee Historical Quarterly 50, no. 1 (Spring 1991): 17-32. Wills II, Ridley. “Letters from Nashville, I. A Portrait of Belle Meade.” Tennessee

Historical Quarterly 33, no. 1 (Spring 1974): 70-84. Wills II, Ridley. “Tennessee Day, June 17, 1889, Hunt’s Point, New York.” Tennessee

Historical Quarterly 47, no. 4 (Winter 1988): 206-215. Books Arnow, Harriette Simpson. Flowering of the Cumberland. Lincoln: University of

Nebraska Press, 1996. Clayton, W.W. History of Davidson County, Tennessee. Philadelphia: J.W. Lewis & Co.,

1880. Rehder, John B. Tennessee Log Buildings: a Folk Tradition. Knoxville: University

Tennessee Press, 2012. Speer, William S., ed. Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans. Nashville: Albert B. Tavel,

1888. Warden, Margaret Lindsley. The Belle Meade Plantation. Nashville: Association for the

Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, 1979. Wills, II, Ridley. The History of Belle Meade: Mansion, Plantation and Stud. Nashville:

Vanderbilt University Press, 1991. Reports Hinshaw, Jane. “Archaeological Investigations at Belle Meade Historic Site 1982

Season.” 1982.

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Theses and Dissertations Kilgore, Sherill Jane. “Brief History of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee

Antiquities and Its Belle Meade Mansion Historic Site Museum.” Master’s thesis, Middle Tennessee State University, 1981.

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Appendix A: Deed of John Harding’s purchase of Belle Meade in 1807

Davidson County Deed Book G Page 192

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Appendix B: Last Will of Bob Green

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Davidson County Deed Book 36, Pages 425-426

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Appendix C: Death Certificate for Robert Green

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Appendix D: Death Certificate for Ellen Green

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Appendix E: Hyder Ali, “Showing the Thoroughbreds,” The Daily Inter Ocean

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Appendix F: State of Tennessee Site Survey Record, Tennessee Division of Archaeology

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