The Collier-Crichlow House sits at 511 East Main in Murfreesboro.
The 8,000 square foot home was built in 1878 in asymetrical Second Empire Victorian style. It was built by Ingram Banks (I.B.) Collier III (1838-1879) and wife, Louisiana “Anna” Cushman Ready Jones Collier (1839-1924). They married in 1869. Anna was a young daughter of Ephraim and Nancy Cushman of Kentucky and widow of Benjamin F. Jones of Hardin, KY. I.B. had multiple business interests. He owned three cotton stores on North Maple Street. I.B. was a farmer, cotton broker, cashier of First National Bank of Murfreesboro, and a director of the N & C Railway. He had an interest in Colliers and Ellington Furniture, Collier and Jones Grocery, and in the Exchange Mills. He also owned real estate in Rutherford County and in Mississippi. He was also mayor of Murfreesboro (1872-73).
As you can see above, I.B. died soon after commissioning the mansion - only the first floor was finished. His will instructed the construction to be completed. After I.B. died, Anna remained at the Collier-Crichlow House and later met Col. Horace Ready (1838-1904). Anna and Horace married in 1888. He was the son of former Murfreesboro mayor and attorney Charles Ready of C. Ready House/ The Corners. Col. Ready had served as colonel of the 23rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment. After the Civil War, he was the owner of the Ready Hotel on East Main Street in Murfreesboro. Their daughter Carmine lived with them and never married. When her second husband died,Anna remained in her Collier-Crichlow mansion for the last twenty years of her life.After her Anna’s death, Carmine moved to the Crichlow Apartments nearby.
The property was vacant for two decades. In 1948, Newton Collier Crichlow (1880-1970) and Martha L. Quarles Crichlow (1893-1974) bought the home from Carmine. They wed in 1916. His family occupied the house for almost 40 years. Newton’s father, James Henry Crichlow, had been a mayor of Murfreesboro, and Newton grew up in the Collier-Lane-Crichlow House. Crichlow was one of Murfreesboro’s mayors.
The home was inherited by son Newton Collier Crichlow, Jr. and wife Martha E. Ramsey Crichlow (1918-2001). In 1973, Martha remained in the home. In 1983, James and Judy Smythe purchased the Collier-Crichlow House and commenced renovations. James owns J. Smythe commercial property leasing. NRHP 1973 See Collier-Lane-Crichlow House, Charles Ready House/The Corners
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