103 Union St. Clarksville, TN
Circa 1856. 2-story yellow frame Italianate style
This historic home is an Italianate frame structure on Union St.
Photo from Montgomery Co. Historical Society
It was built atop one of the seven hills that dominate Clarksville. In 1856, Lewis G. Williams and Elizabeth Williams were owners. Williams was a prominent member of the tobacco community. After purchasing the home, he also became tax assessor for Montgomery County. Twelve years after the home purchase, in 1868, the Williams leased the home to Peter Oneal (1813-1885) who subsequently purchased the home the next year. Oneal had been elected County Court Clerk for Montgomery County.
Photo from Clarksville Onlline
Oneal was not re-elected the next year [Oneal was Montgomery County clerk in 1874] and sold the home to Walter McComb (?-1932) and Virginia Elizabeth Stewart McComb about 1869. McComb owned Walter McComb and Company with James L. Glenn in 1870, wholesale grocer.
In 1884, Jesse Thomas (J. T.) Edwards (1846-?) and Mary L. Lenox Edwards (1848-?) bought the home and kept it until 1921. They wed in 1866. Edwards worked with the Grange Warehouse and Herndon, Young and Company. In 1886, he was a director of the Indiana, Alabama & Texas Railroad. They sold the home and moved to Memphis.
The new owners were the parents of (Joseph) Earl Townley (1888-1952). He and Louise Dickson Townley (1892-1954) who wed in 1925 moved into the home with his parents and lived there for years. Louise was a Clarksville native and grew up in the “Southside” area of the city. Louise became a famous and essential historical and chronicler of Clarksville families and history. Later, likely after Louise’s death, the Townley family deeded the Oneal-Townley Home to the City of Clarksville to benefit Memorial Hospital. The City sold it in 1984 for developers and it is now an apartment house. It is located in the Dog Hill Architectural District.
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