Alpheus Truett House Explained

Alpheus Truett House
Coordinates:35.9317°N -86.8625°W
Built:c. 1846 and 1864
Added:April 13, 1988
Mpsub:Williamson County MRA[1]
Refnum:88000364

The Apheus Truett House is a frame house located at 228 Franklin Road in Franklin, Tennessee, that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1988.[2] Built in 1846, it is a notable example of a two-story vernacular I-house structure in Williamson County (along with the William King House, the Old Town (aka Thomas Brown House), the Claiborne Kinnard House, the Beverly Toon House, and the Stokely Davis House).[1] It includes Central passage plan architecture. The NRHP listing is for an area of, with one contributing building and two non-contributing structures.

It is one of about thirty significant brick and frame residences surviving in Williamson County that were built during 1830 to 1860. It faces on the Franklin and Columbia Pike that runs south from Brentwood to Franklin to Columbia.[3]

Historical significance

During the American Civil War, the Truett house was commandeered by Union Major General John M. Schofield to be used as one of his headquarters during the Battle of Franklin.[4] This battle, fought on November 30, 1864, was one of the bloodiest in the Civil War with 10,000 men dead or wounded.[5] Schofield commanded Federal troops against a frontal attack by General John Bell Hood's Confederate forces on the south edge of Franklin. Schofield and his officers climbed the stairs of the Truett house to observe the wave of oncoming Confederate troops through binoculars.[6] As the battle began, Federal paymasters hid stacks of cash beneath flowerpots at the house and ran to their horses.[4] That night, after the five-hour battle ended, they returned to retrieve the money. A half-century later (1915), the Truett family received reparations in the form of a US government check for $395.[7] [8]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=64500624}} Historic Resources of Williamson County (Partial Inventory of Historic and Architectural Properties), National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination ]. Thomason Associates and Tennessee Historical Commission . February 1988 . National Park Service.
  2. Web site: Historic Resources of Williamson County . npgallery.nps.gov . U.S. National Park Service . February 1, 2020 . March 3, 1988.
  3. Web site: [{{NRHP url|id=64500624}} Historic Resources of Williamson County (Partial Inventory of Historic and Architectural Properties), National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination ]. Thomason Associates and Tennessee Historical Commission . February 1988 . National Park Service.
  4. Book: Smith . Reid . Majestic Middle Tennessee . 1982 . Pelican . Gretna . 0-88289-121-9 . 100 . January 29, 2020.
  5. News: West . Emily . Battle of Franklin had lasting influence . 113 . 20 January 2020 . USA Today Network . 330 . The Tennessean . November 26, 2017 . 1–W.
  6. Web site: Truett House . franklin-stfb.org . Save the Franklin Battlefield, Inc. . January 29, 2020.
  7. Web site: Rulick . Charles . Hall . Laura . Alpheus Truett Place 1846–2012 . behance.net . January 29, 2020.
  8. Web site: US Congress House Documents: Findings of Court of Claims in case of Alpheus Truett . 61st Congress, Session 2 . 365 . 1909–1910 . No. 640, Vol. 133, Serial 5836.