3372 Campbellsville Pike Columbia, TN
Circa 1845. 2-story Greek Revival home
Rose Hill/ Pillow Place was built by 1845 for Major Granville A. Pillow (1805-1868) and Olivia D. Cheatham Pillow (1817-1864) on the Campbellsville Pike southwest of Columbia.
They married in 1833. The mansion is a fine example of Greek Revival style and of significance is the spectacular unsupported circular staircase and originally sat on 500 acres. Granville was a son of Gideon Johnston Pillow, Sr. and Anne Payne Pillow and was a farmer.
Since the early twentieth century, members of the Halliday family have owned the home. William Parker Halliday, Jr. (1865-1928) and Anne Grey “Annie” Pillow Ridley (1870-?) were owners. They married in 1892. Annie was a Columbia, TN native. William Parker Halliday (1897-?) and Caroline Wilkinson Halliday were owners around the turn of the century. Then, their son William Parker “Wick” Halliday (1932-2014) and Polly Ann Trabue Halliday were among the descendants residing there. Caroline was a great-granddaughter and great-niece of the earlier Pillows owned property.
A rarity, Rose Hill/ Pillow Place has been a continuously operating farm since 1819 and may be the oldest continuously operated farm in Maury County. The Wick Halliday family still owns the property. In the late 1950s to 2014, Edwin Wilkinson “Wick” Halliday (1932-2014) and Polly Ann Trabue Halliday owned the property. Wick was the brother of Evelyn Trabue who married Thomas M. Trabue, Jr. Polly's grandparents were Margaret and Charles Trabue of Bonaventure. Wick was also a cousin of the Charles Jewell family of Clifton Place. He grew up in Memphis and then in Columbia after which he served in World War II. He returned to Rose Hill farm to raise cattle, corn, soybeans, tobacco and cure hams as Halliday Farms. He won various farming awards,and was involved in his church and served on the board of First Farmers and Merchant Bank for years. Wick died the same year, and his wife continues to reside there.
The mansion was originally called Rose Hill because of the roses grown on property by Mrs. Olivia Pillow; over time, it has become known as both Pillow Place and, more recently last century, Pillow-Haliday Place. Several relatives owned and lived at Clifton Place, “old Ridley homestead.” James W.S. (Webb Smith) Ridley (1824-1897) and Anne Lewis Pillow Ridley (1836-1893)were owners. Ridley was known as "The Mule King" of the South and supplied thousands of mules to Southern states. Anne was the daughter of Jerome Pillow of Ashwood. Their son William Percy Ridley (1872-1949) resided there next with his wife Eva Campbell James Ridley (1878-1925) married in 1904. Ridley was a renowned farmer and leader in agriculture, and the family homestead was 2,000 acres. He was a charter member of the Maury County and Tennessee Farm Bureau, was president of the Tennessee Livestock Producers Market and Burley Tobacco Growers Association, a member of the Federal Reserve Board, director of Maury National Bank and of Commerce Union Bank in Nashville, and a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Tennessee. He protected farmland that in the 1920s had been the University of Tennessee farm and later the Middle Tennessee Experiment Station. By purchasing the nearly 50 acres, he preserved it as home of the Ridley 4-H camp
William Percy Ridley, Jr. (1907-?) lived there. Campbell Pillow Ridley (1911-2007) and Evelyn Shappard Ridley (1913-?) also lived there. They continued the family legacy of farming on their legacy 100-year farm. NRHP 1983. See Ashwood, Bethell Place, Bonaventure, Clifton Place, Honeywood.
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