The Samuel F. Glass Home / Pleasant View, Gentry Farm, built by Samuel Fielding Glass, Sr. (1781-1859) and Sarah Malone Glass (1797-1871) in 1859-69, is located west of Franklin on Hwy 96.
Glass, Sr. ran a hat making business in Franklin after he moved from Winchester, VA in 1812. After the death of Glass, Sr., his son Samuel F. Glass, Jr. (1820-1896) continued to own the farm and built the home with his wife Agnes Wyatt Hunter Glass (1824-1898). He and Agnes had married in 1842. Agnes was the daughter of Henry and Jane Wyatt Bennett Hunter of Leipers Fork. He was a farmer and pioneer distiller in Middle Tennessee. In 1848, Samuel F. Glass, Jr. began purchasing land and by 1859, Glass, Jr. owned 1,190 acres. He raised cotton, hogs and dairy cows primarily. Samuel was also on the board of the Bank of Franklin. It was one of the three largest antebellum houses in Williamson County with over 1,000 acres (others: Beechwood Plantation-HGW Mayberry Home, Ravenswood-Wilson Home) and the 2 story home included Greek Revival, Italianate and Central architectural features.
The couple’s son and his wife, William Henry Glass (1847-1916) and Mary Dedman Glass (1852-1924), owned first Walnut Hill and then Magnolia Hall.
In the 1940s, Samuel and Agnes’s granddaughter Rebecca Channell married Jimmy C. Gentry. In the early 1900s, the Glass family moved into Franklin and rented out the farm property to tenant farmers.
In 1975, the Gentrys moved back to the farm of almost 400 acres. The property has remained in the Glass/ Gentry family for 5 generations (James Cannon Gentry, James Cannon Gentry, Jr. )with the latest residents Cindy and Allen Gentry. Allen is Glass Jr.’s great-great grandson. The family hosts an annual festival with a pumpkin patch, children’s activities, and hayride.
In the early 2000s, a Glass relative sold a large portion of farmland across Hwy 96 to Southern Land Company for development. In 2004, the Westhaven community was opened as a planned residential community. [Note: My family has enjoyed visiting Gentry Farm in the fall several times for hayrides, children’s activities and at least once to go through the corn maze.] NRHP 1988 See Magnolia Hall, Walnut Hill
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