Murfreesboro Rd. (near current Nashville airport) Nashville, TN
Circa 1890.
Thomas Shadrack "T.S." Weaver (1850-1911) and wife Martha “Mattie” Strong Cheatham Weaver (1853-1919) built Sevenoaks in 1890 on Murfreesboro Rd. T.S. constructed Sevenoaks because he did not want to push his sister Mary Weaver Harris and her husband Joseph E. Harris out of Kingsley, their family estate.
The Kingsley and Colemere mansions were nearby. Thomas and Martha were married in 1872. Thomas was the son of Dempsey and Frances L. King Weaver of Kingsley, and Martha was the daughter of Dr. William Archer Cheatham and (first wife) Mary Emma Ready Cheatham. Dr. Cheatham was also married to Adelicia Acklen of Belmont. Thomas was an attorney and principal with the Pilcher and Weaver law firm, a businessman, and a trustee of Vanderbilt University.
Because of controversy with his management of Belmont and his unwillingness to move to Washington, D.C., Dr. Cheatham and Adelicia separated and by 1884, Adelicia left for New York. Dr. Cheatham went to Sevenoaks and stayed with Martha and Thomas. In 1894, Thomas was appointed Clerk and Master of the Chancery Court for 6 years.
The Weaver family purchased Sevenoaks. Martha Weaver, her widowed daughter Mary Ready Weaver Williamson (1877-1941), and the Will Weavers resided at the mansion. Martha's parents were Dr. & Mrs. H. W. Morgan of Dunsmore.
William Henry Williamson (1873-1912) wed Mary R. W. Williamson in 1909. He was a prominent attorney in Nashville and the general attorney for the Tennessee Central Railway. His father was Judge W. H. Williamson of Lebanon, and his mother was a member of the Ready clan of Murfreesboro. Williamson had started his practice in Nashville with Charles C. Trabue. After a short illustrious legal career, Williamson had retired from law and begun retirement raising race horses at the Sevenoaks farm. He had gone St. Petersburg, FL for relief of a heart ailment with his in-law Dempsey Weaver, a doctor friend, and his wife - but he died there.
After Weaver died in 1911, their son William Cheatham "Will" Weaver (1884-1943) inherited the property. His older brother Dempsey lived at Colemere. In 1910, Will had a wholesale hardware business McWhorter-Weaver Company in downtown Nashville. He married Irene Evans Morgan Weaver (1885-1957). Their children were Henrietta Weaver and William C. "Bill" Weaver. Henrietta's daughter Irene Weaver Jackson married Ridley Wills II, the esteemed Nashville historian.
After 1943, the family sold Sevenoaks because it was too big for the heirs. Irene Weaver Jackson married Granbery Jackson, Jr., and they moved to 775 Norwood Dr. off Franklin Rd. Later, when Irene became a widow, she moved to the old Wellington Arms Apartments on Harding Rd. Sevenoals burned down in 1915.
He and the family moved to St. Petersburg, FL at some point - probably after 1900 when Dr. Cheatham died. Seven Oaks Park, located south of Murfreesboro Rd. and Briley Parkway, and the neighborhood area of Sevenoaks remain to recognize the demolished mansion. See Colemere, Kingsley, Belmont, Dunmore
Sources:
Nashville Pikes #7 , Ridley Wills, p. 215
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