8423 Old Harding Pike Nashville, TN
Circa 1851. 2-story white frame home
Beech Grove is on Old Harding Pike near the Davidson/ Williamson Co. border.
Photo by rossograph
The property was originally a 200 acre plot purchased by Hugh Allison (1767-1835) and Lydia Harrison Allison (1777-1834) from James Robertson in 1801. Hugh and Lydia married in 1797. Hugh was a Pennsylvania native; Lydia was Virginia native. Hugh's brothers, James and Alexander, emigrated and bought adjacent land across the river. Hugh was active in local Democratic politics and expanded his (primarily cotton) farm with saw and gristmill operations. In 1801, Hugh was a member of the Davidson County Court.
In 1835, Hugh died and his son Thomas Jefferson Allison (1808-1897) with wife Tabitha inherited it. Thomas and Tabitha Newsom Allison (1819-1910) had married in 1837. Tabitha had grown up nearby at Newsom Station to the north. Thomas was also active in politics and successful with the farm which became a plantation at 1,150 acres. The operation included the farm, saw and grist mill as well as a blacksmith shop and a store. Their financial success enabled them to built a roomy 2-story white frame home on Old Harding Pike. The Allison family called it Beech Grove. for the beech trees in front of the home. Allison also opened a blacksmith shop nearby as well as a store. His ventures paid off from the increase in area settlers and travelers through the area. Later, the farm crop changed to corn.
Their daughter Tabitha “Bitha” Allison married William Eldridge DeMoss in 1871 of Belle Vue. Tabitha purchased a general store from Norman Morton as well as operating a granary on Old Harding Road which now houses an Elk’s Lodge. There is likely a family connection between the general store and her granddaughter’s Morton in-laws.) After the Civil War, the Allisons sold land reducing their farm to about 300 acres and rented out to tenant farmers.
At Tabitha’s death in 1910, her granddaughter Allie Newsom Morton (1871-1964) & her husband Samuel “Sam” Spragins Morton (1871-1948) got the farm. For the next 50 years, they transformed it from a cotton & grain operation to a livestock farm. The farm production was changed to more corn. The family also changed the design of the home to a Colonial Revival style.
After Allie passed away, her daughter, Sallie Allison Morton King (1906-1994), sold the property out of the family in 1975. Beech Grove is represented in a case study named “Historic Family Farms of Middle Tennessee” as one which documents the change from origin to plantation to modernization of operations. Later owners continued selling parcels except the outbuildings.
In 1993, Dr. Marek and Mrs. Michelle Kacki purchased the home, buildings and 12 acres. They called the property Beech Grove Historic Venue. The name came from the trees around the house. Just northeast of the property are the Loveless Cafe and the terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway. NRHP 2007 See also Belle Vue
Sources:
A Past Remembered: A Collection of Antebellum Houses in Davidson County, Vol. 1, Paul Clements, Ron Herr, Linda Mason
Comments