Jesse Shelton and His Pegram Plantation

Jesse Shelton, my sixth-great-grandfather, once owned a plantation in present-day Pegram, Cheatham County, Tennessee. His land was on Turner Creek and the Big Harpeth River according to his 1809 deed. The below map marks that spot and has an estimate of what his 640-acre spread (one square mile) might have looked like to help you …

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Hiram Harper, Nashville Detective: From Boston to Alcatraz

"One of the Best" - Detective Dave Beasley Hiram Herbert Harper, my mother's grandfather, passed away when she was only about seven months old. Our information about Hiram is limited to a few records and numerous newspaper articles. I wish I knew more about Hiram, because he seems like a fascinating man. Sadly, we don't …

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Green Allen Franklin Pylant

Green Allen Franklin Pylant, my third-great-grandfather, was a farmer and Civil War veteran who lived most of his life in southern middle Tennessee. I created a records timeline to take a deeper look into his life. Timeline 29 June 1845 - Green was the oldest of at least five children born to Nancy Tucker and Gabriel …

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Anecdotes of Centenarian William Bennett

William Bennett, of the Sycamore Mills area of Cheatham County, Tennessee, lived to be nearly 106 years old. We are lucky to have a few newspaper articles about his life that were written in the early 1900s when he was still alive. See 1) Wild Bill Bennett article and 2) Article transcriptions. If you carefully …

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First Slander Suit in Middle Tennessee

I came across this interesting article from an 1859 newspaper about Russell Gower, Sam Martin and John Boyd in early Nashville history. The voice reminds me of AW Putnam, writer of "History of Middle Tennessee: Or, Life and Times of Gen. James Robertson", but no author is listed. It is based on real court cases, …

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