Isaac Franklin Plantation

Fairvue Plantation, also recorded as the Isaac Franklin Plantation, is a historic estate near Gallatin in Sumner County, Tennessee. It was established in 1832 by Isaac Franklin (1789–1846), a planter who had previously been a partner in Franklin and Armfield, described in the source as the largest slave-trading firm in the southern United States before the Civil War. Franklin divided his time between the roughly 2,000-acre Fairvue estate in Tennessee during the summer and his Louisiana holdings, known as the Angola Plantations, in winter. Rather than concentrating on cotton or tobacco, Fairvue was largely organized to supply his Louisiana plantations with corn, mules, bacon and other commodities. After Franklin's death in 1846, his will placed assets in trusts and stipulated that Fairvue should eventually become an endowed school, but the plan never materialized. His widow Adelicia remarried in 1849 to Joseph Alexander Smith Acklen, went to court and had the will declared void, acquiring the Louisiana plantations while Fairvue remained in Isaac Franklin's estate with John Armfield as executor. In 1869 Adelicia bought Fairvue from Armfield. She later separated from her third husband, Dr. William A. Cheatham, sold her Louisiana plantations and moved to Washington, D.C., where she died in 1887. Around 1882, New York banker and racehorse enthusiast Charles Reed purchased the 2,000-acre Fairvue Plantation for $50,000 and transformed it into a racehorse breeding farm, keeping famous horses including the English Derby winner St. Blaise. He sold his horses around 1900 and sold Fairvue in 1908 to a syndicate that subdivided its acreage into smaller farms. After roughly two decades of changing owners, the property was purchased in 1929 by the Sumner Land Company and became the headquarters of the Grasslands Hunt and Racing Club, a fox hunting and steeplechase club between Hendersonville and Gallatin, with plans to restore the mansion and remaining estate as a recreation area. By 2004 the site had been transformed into a golf course community of luxury homes, with various buildings from its past restored. The property is remembered both as an antebellum plantation and as a later Thoroughbred horse farm and residential development, and its history is closely tied to the broader history of slavery, the Civil War and postbellum Tennessee.

Fairvue Plantation was created in 1832 by Isaac Franklin (1789–1846). In 1836, after a career as a partner in Franklin and Armfield — described in the source as the largest slave-trading firm in the southern United States before the Civil War — Franklin transitioned to a career as a wealthy planter. Franklin and his family divided their time between his 2,000-acre Fairvue Plantation near Gallatin, Tennessee, in the summer and his West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, estate of several adjoining plantations, known as the Angola Plantations, in the winter. Franklin's 1847 estate inventory listed 138 enslaved Africans on Fairvue Plantation, along with 276 sheep, 500 hogs, 65 head of cattle and 16 blooded racehorses. Fairvue's main purpose, rather than growing cotton or tobacco, was to supply his Louisiana plantations with corn, mules, bacon and other commodities. Franklin often shipped corn from Fairvue to his Louisiana estate, though it was not enough. Under Franklin's ownership the approximately 8,000-acre Louisiana estate was made up of the adjoining plantations of Angola, Bellevue, Killarney, Loango, Panola and Lochlomond. When the Franklins were in Louisiana, they stayed in a large residence on Angola Plantation. Angola Plantation was on the Mississippi River and operated mainly as a woodlot, making its profits from the sale of wood that steamboats on the river needed for fuel. His other Louisiana plantations were cotton plantations. At Isaac's death in 1846, his will put some of his assets into trusts for his children (all of whom died in childhood), and Adelicia was provided for until she remarried. She remarried in 1849 to Joseph Alexander Smith Acklen. Isaac's will stipulated that Fairvue was supposed to become a school endowed by the Louisiana plantations at some point. After marrying Joseph, Adelicia went to court and got the will declared void. She thus at least acquired the Louisiana plantations, but Fairvue stayed in Isaac's estate with John Armfield as executor. Without the income from the Louisiana plantations, the school never formed. Even without Fairvue, Adelicia's inheritance from Isaac's estate made her the wealthiest woman in Tennessee. The estate was valued at approximately $750,000 and included the 2,000-acre Fairvue real estate worth $40,000; personal property at Fairvue Plantation worth $62,819, which included 138 enslaved Africans on Fairvue worth $51,931 of the $62,819; 50,000 acres in Texas worth $25,000; the Louisiana estate valued at approximately $570,000, which included seven plantations; and land in Mississippi. Joseph increased the fortune. In Louisiana the couple eventually had 659 enslaved Africans working on the 4,000 improved acres of the approximately 8,000-acre Louisiana estate, which produced 3,149 bales of cotton in 1859. Because she did not inherit Fairvue Plantation, Adelicia changed her summer residence from Fairvue Plantation to her newly created Belmont Mansion and estate near Nashville, Tennessee. Adelicia's second husband Joseph Acklen died of pneumonia at Angola Plantation in 1863. In 1863 Adelicia's husband had died, her cotton crops from 1861 and 1862 at her Louisiana plantations were still in storage in Louisiana, the enslaved Africans had all left because the Civil War allowed them to be free, and the 1863 cotton crop was rotting in the fields. Thus, in 1864 Adelicia travelled to Louisiana to try to save her cotton. By convincing the Confederate soldiers that she would use her money from the sale of her cotton to help them, she persuaded the Confederates to help her get her cotton to New Orleans. In New Orleans, she convinced the Union soldiers that she would use her cotton money to help them, so they opened the naval blockade for her cotton to be sold in Britain. She travelled to Britain and got the approximately $800,000 proceeds from the sale of her 2,800 bales of cotton herself, so that she could keep either army from getting the money. This left her once again a very rich woman, in spite of the wealth she lost when her approximately 659 enslaved Africans were set free by the Emancipation Proclamation. In 1869, Adelicia bought Fairvue from John Armfield, executor of Franklin's estate. Adelicia, who in 1867 married for a third and final time to Dr. William A. Cheatham, separated from him in 1880 and sold her Louisiana plantations for $100,000, moving to Washington, D.C., where she died in 1887. These plantations eventually became the Louisiana State Penitentiary known as Angola. In approximately 1882, New York banker and racehorse enthusiast Charles Reed purchased the 2,000-acre Fairvue Plantation for $50,000 from Adelicia. Reed had changed his last name from Weed to Reed because his New York family disowned him for running Confederate ships between New Orleans and England. Reed transformed Fairvue Plantation into a racehorse breeding farm. Reed had many famous racehorses at Fairvue. He sold his horses in about 1900 because he realized that he was overspending on them. For example, Reed had bought the English Derby winner St. Blaise for $100,000 in 1882. He sold Fairvue in 1908 to a syndicate who subdivided its 2,000 acres into smaller farms. For 20 years after 1908, Fairvue had a succession of owners. Then in 1929 the plantation was purchased by the Sumner Land Company. It became the headquarters of Grasslands Hunt and Racing Club — a sixty to eighty farm fox hunting and steeplechase club between Hendersonville and Gallatin. Plans were made to restore the mansion and remaining estate, developing it into a recreation area. By 2004 it had been transformed into a golf course community of luxury homes with various buildings from its past restored.

• 2004

  Fairvue has been transformed into a golf course community of luxury homes with various historic buildings restored.

• 1929

  Sumner Land Company purchases the plantation; it becomes headquarters of the Grasslands Hunt and Racing Club.

• 1908

  Reed sells Fairvue to a syndicate that subdivides its 2,000 acres into smaller farms.

• 1882

  Charles Reed purchases the 2,000-acre Fairvue Plantation for $50,000 and turns it into a racehorse breeding farm.

• 1869

  Adelicia buys Fairvue from John Armfield, executor of Franklin's estate.

• 1849

  Adelicia remarries Joseph Alexander Smith Acklen and later has Isaac's will declared void.

• 1847

  Franklin's estate inventory lists 138 enslaved Africans, 276 sheep, 500 hogs, 65 cattle and 16 blooded racehorses at Fairvue.

• 1846

  Isaac Franklin dies; his will places assets in trusts and stipulates Fairvue should become an endowed school.

• 1836

  Isaac Franklin transitions from partner in Franklin and Armfield to wealthy planter.

• 1832

  Fairvue Plantation created by Isaac Franklin near Gallatin, Tennessee.

A historic Tennessee plantation estate that evolved from an antebellum agricultural property into a Thoroughbred horse farm and, by 2004, a golf course community of luxury homes.

• Fairvue Plantation estate (corn, mules, bacon and other commodities for Louisiana plantations)

• Racehorse breeding farm (including English Derby winner St. Blaise)

• Golf course community of luxury homes

1. 1Isaac Franklin Plantation - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2Fairvue Plantation (Gallatin, Tennessee) - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org