Built at 1502 Wilson Pike, the Samuel Crockett House / Forge Seat was founded from a Revolutionary War grant to Andrew Crockett of 640 acres. It is one of the oldest and most notable homes on Wilson Pike - Crockett-Knox Home.
Andrew and Sally Elliott Crockett deeded half of their property to their son Samuel Crockett III (1772-1827). He and Joanna Sayers Crockett (1772-1812) built the 2 story brick house Forge Seat near their father's property in 1808. Samuel built a reputation as a blacksmith and operated a renowned blacksmith and gunsmith shop by 1810. Crockett made high quality rifles in his iron forge and marked them with his initials. Among others, Andrew Jackson purchased some on the way to New Orleans and Daniel Crockett (a relative) was also a customer. In 1818, Samuel III deeded a portion of land to his son Andrew Crockett and his wife Catherine Walker Bell, who was a cousin of his. Her uncle was John Bell, a Nashville attorney and presidential contender in 1860 with Abraham Lincoln of Illinois.
By 1827, the forge operations had stopped after Samuel’s death. About 1834, the Crocketts were manufacturing various items including spinning machines. Crockett descendants resided on the property well into the twentieth century.
About 1875, William L. Carpenter and Fannie Horton Carpenter moved from Marshall Co. and bought Forge Seat. They ran a small store across the street and operated Carpenter post office from there for the community. About 1937, the Thomas Gregory family were new owners.
In the 1940s, James “Jim” Reed, Jr., a Nashville auto dealer, and Marie Temple Reed purchased a portion of the land that would become today Crockett Park. Reed founded Jim Reed Chevrolet Group in Nashville in 1917. He and his tenants operated a successful cattle farm raising fine Jersey cattle. Later, by the early 1960s, the Reed family had moved to Belle Meade. His son, Jim Reed III and wife Cece, were neighbors of mine in my youth. Monsanto Chemical Company bought them out and mined phosphate on the property as the company did on several properties in the area.
In the mid 1970s, Dr. & Mrs. Terry Allen were owners. He is a surgeon in Williamson County. Since at least 1988, Mr. and Mrs. James E “Buzz” Cason owned the property with 18.5 acres. Buzz Cason is a multi-talented musician/ songwriter. Cason is a native-Nashvillian who formed one of the first local rocks band, The Casuals, in the 1950s. The home’s name is derived from the renowned forge the Crockett family used to make fine rifles for the War of 1812.
Parker Cason was the owner in 2015. Two years later, in 2017, the property with 10 acres was owned by James A. and Karen Scott. By 2021, Karen Scott got approval to run Forge Seat as a bed & breakfast. NRHP 1988 See Crockett-Knox Home
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