1111 16th Ave. South Nashville, TN
Circa 1912. Large 2-story stone home.
Jacob Powell Schnell (1841-1910) was a grocer in the Germantown area. For years, he lived as a bachelor above his store on Jefferson St..
He married Virginia Rebecca "Jenny" Powell Schnell (1860-1923) in 1873. About 1913, to demonstrate his prosperity, Schnell built the large mansion in the newly-established and fashionable area southwest of downtown - known many years later as Music Row.
To celebrate his daughters' coming of age, the Schnell family organized a large society party and invited society to their debutante ball. But because "society matron" did not know him, and he was German in First World War era, NONE of the 400 families invited came to ball. Jacob and Jenny were devastated and embarrassed. The father vowed never to maintain/ improve home and family members promised to keep his vow.
One daughter, Bessie Schnell Foster (1883-1961) married and moved to North Carolina. The other children remained in the home, unmarried:, Lena (1877-1950), Bertha ((1888-1974), Albert (1880-1943). In the 1950s Lena and Albert died. Their mother, Jenny, evidently left the family. Bertha died in 1974. In 1977, the mansion was torn down. A new commercial building was erected, and there are multiple reports of the building being haunted.
Sources:
Hidden History of Music Row, Geo. Zepp, p 29
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