Winter 2015 "Oh How Beautiful!" by Justin Stelter, Director of Gardens and Grounds, Carnton Plantation
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Magnolia grandiflora The Laurel Tree of Carolina Publication of the Southern Garden Catesby’s NaturalM History, 1743 agnoliaHistory Society Vol. XXVIII No. 1 Winter 2015 "Oh How Beautiful!" By Justin Stelter, Director of Gardens and Grounds, Carnton Plantation INTRODUCTION Carnton Plantation, portions of which would be af- fectionately called McGavock’s Grove and the Confederate Cemetery, rose to world-renown in the nineteenth century. The McGavock’s prominence is directly linked to their wealth and social status, the caring refuge they provided to the wounded and dying during the Battle of Franklin, and their creation of a ‘cairn’ town; the largest privately held Confederate cemetery in the United States.1 The following study highlights agricultural and gardening pursuits at Carnton Plantation, in Williamson County, Tennessee. Here three generations of McGavocks maximized the productivity of their landholdings, served Liliana Katherine Stelter. by Photo their community, and ultimately established a lasting trib- Carnton Plantation and Cemetery. ute of respect and remembrance by their creation of the dant opportunity, two of James McGavock’s sons, David Confederate Cemetery. (1763-1838) and Randal (1768-1843), moved in 1796 Around 1784 James McGavock (1728-1812) pur- from the family’s home at Ft. Chiswell, Wythe County, chased a military warrant from John Shannon for 640 Virginia, into Middle Tennessee. By 1809, Williamson acres on the Harpeth River, about a mile south of Frank- County tax records reveal that Randal was a caretaker, or lin. Sometime thereafter he acquired an adjoining 640 “agent” of his father’s property. acres to the east. Additional land swaps and exchanges On February 11, 1811, Randal married Sarah Dough- for Williamson County properties occurred over time. In erty Rodgers (1786-1854), and by the end of the decade 1814, an adjoining seventy-five acres were purchased near they had five children. Both archaeological excavations and Nichol’s mill, and for the next several decades, the McGa- circumstantial evidence indicate that a home was built at vocks’ holdings encompassed 1,355 contiguous, river- this time. Upon James McGavock’s death in 1812, official enriched acres.2 ownership of the property transferred to Randal.4 Aside from knowledge of initial home construction (continued on page 3) and road layout, little is understood about the activities at the McGavock property between 1787 and 1826. Ten- nessee statehood was not declared until June 1, 1796 and, Inside this Issue consequently, settlement of the area was limited until that time. Once statehood was official, however, settlement was Pg. 6 Members in the News fast-paced. Between 1800 and 1830, the population in Pg. 7 Roots House Williamson County increased nearly tenfold, from 2,868 Pg. 9 Book Review: Arthur A. Shurcliff to 26,638.3 With this westward expansion, and emerging abun- CALENDAR February 20-May 17, 2015. “Charles Courtney June 14-19, 2015. 19th Annual Historic Curran Seeking the Ideal,” an exhibition at the Landscape Institute, “Preserving Jefferson’s Columbia Museum of Art (South Carolina) brings Gardens and Landscapes.” This one-week course together fifty-eight Curran masterpieces capturing uses Monticello’s gardens and landscapes and the the joy of soaring vistas and garden landscapes on University of Virginia as outdoor classrooms to study canvas. The exhibition is organized by the Dixon historic landscape preservation. Lectures, workshops, Gallery and Gardens, Memphis, with the Frick Art field trips, and practical working experiences provide & Historical Center and the Columbia Museum of an introduction to the fields of landscape history, Art. Visit: www.columbiamuseum.org; phone: (803) garden restoration, and historical horticulture. Visit: 799-2810. www.monticello.org/hli March 21-June 21, 2015. “Van Gogh, Manet, June 22-26, 2015. American Public Gardens and Matisse: The Art of the Flower,”exhibition Association Annual Conference, “Watering our at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond Roots to Grow our Communities,” Minneapolis/ explores the infusion of new spirit and meaning into St. Paul, Minnesota. Botanic gardens and arboreta, the traditional genre of floral still-life painting in historically and scientifically rooted in horticulture, nineteenth-century France. It features approximately are challenged to transform and stay relevant in seventy flower paintings by more than thirty artists, a changing culture. Can gardens make a more including well-known painters such as Eugène meaningful impact on public life? Visit: www. Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Henri Fantin-Latour, publicgardens.org; contact: [email protected]; Édouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, and Henri phone (610) 708-3010 Matisse, as well as less familiar figures such as September 11-12, 2015. 9th Annual Heritage Antoine Berjon and Simon Saint-Jean. Visit: www. Harvest Festival at Monticello, in Charlottesville, vmfa.org Virginia. This family-friendly event celebrates May 15-17, 2015. “Middle Tennessee—Harmony, Thomas Jefferson, who championed vegetable Hills, and History,” 33rd SGHS Annual Meeting cuisine, sustainable agriculture, and plant in Nashville, Tennessee. The conference will include experimentation by featuring heirloom fruits and visits to the Governor’s Residence, Travelers’ Rest, vegetables, organic gardening, seed saving, and more. Historic Carnton Plantation, Battle of Franklin Co-hosted by Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. sites, and private gardens. The meeting is organized Visit: www.heritageharvestfestival.com by Justin Stelter (chair) and Ben and Libby Page. October 1-3, 2015. 20th “Restoring Southern Meeting headquarters at the Nashville Marriott Gardens and Landscapes” Biennial Conference, at Vanderbilt University, 2555 West End Avenue, held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Conference Nashville, TN 37203. Make reservations early at is co-sponsored by Old Salem Museums & Gardens; Marriottvanderbilt.com; phone (615) 321-1300 Reynolda House Museum of American Art; and June 7, 2015. Annual Bellefield Design Lecture, the Southern Garden History Society. For program Hyde Park, NY, features Lynden Miller. Renowned and registration information, contact Sally Gant, public garden designer Lynden Miller discusses how [email protected] or visit: www.oldsalem.org/ the life and career of Beatrix Farrand has inspired landscapeconference and influenced her own work. She will explore the Upcoming SGHS Annual Meetings unique significance of public gardens and their contribution to civic life, both in Farrand’s time and April 21-24, 2016. 34th SGHS Annual Meeting in our own. Visit: www.beatrixfarrandgardenhydepark. Charleston, South Carolina. Meeting headquarters org or email: [email protected] at the Francis Marion Hotel. 2 Magnolia • Winter 2015 Vol. XXVIII, No. 1 "Oh How Beautiful!"……(continued from page 1) In 1812, “Williamson County ordered the construc- tion of a road through McGavock’s property extending from Franklin to John Nichols’ mill on the Harpeth Riv- er.”5 Furthermore, in 1815, Williamson County ordered … “the clearing out and keeping in repair the road from McGavocks Spring branch to the old fork road…”6 By 1816, tax records show that carriages and stud horses were on the property.7 Development at the McGa- vock property was well underway, while Randal and Sarah were also raising a family. THE RISE Indicative of his prominence, Randal McGavock served as mayor of Nashville from 1824 to 1825. More- over, around 1826, he generously expanded his home at Photo by Justin Stelter. Justin by Photo Carnton to the mansion’s current shape and size. Entrance to Carnton Plantation. It is believed that at least by this period the house became more than a summer home and was sentimen- In the early twentieth century Miss Carrie Ewing tally named Carnton, after his father’s ancestral home (1854-1939) wrote to Mary Harding Ragland referencing place “Carntown,” in County Antrim, Ireland. “Carn,” in a flower garden and its similarity in style to the garden at Gaelic, “cairn,” is defined as “a heap of stones set up as a The Hermitage: landmark, monument, tombstone, etc.”8 In the late 1820s, an agricultural and horticultural The flower garden at Carnton was like the Hermit- reference provides a sense of how the plantation was per- age, or rather, the Hermitage was like Carnton— ceived. The documentation, found in a letter from Felix which was built first. We have heard that on a visit Grundy, Randal’s brother-in-law, legendary criminal law- General and Mrs. Jackson paid to your great-great yer, and soon-to-be U.S. Senator, is summarized in Democ- grandfather, she said: “Mr. Jackson, I want a flower racy’s Lawyer by J. Roderick Heller (great-great grandson of garden like Sally’s [Sarah Dougherty Rodgers],” and Carrie McGavock): of course she got it.10 On July 28, 1829, at Carnton, Randal McGavock’s There is little doubt that the McGavocks and Jacksons home in Franklin, he wrote Tennessee’s secretary of had a fond relationship and that their mutual interest state, Daniel Graham, that for twenty years he had in gardening was a common bond. While both sites had not enjoyed life as much as at the present: “About an early “flower garden” of sorts, another garden feature six days hence I turned my feet out to grass literally. shared by both was the use of native red cedar, Juniperus I have not had sock or shoe on since.”9 virginiana, as an ornamental. At The Hermitage, these native cedars were planted en Certainly, the overall sentiment of this statement masse to line the main drive in a distinctive guitar shape. evokes relaxation, but Grundy was a man known for his At Carnton, in addition to lining the carriage drive, these choice selection of words. To savor putting your “feet out stately cedars were positioned in the garden to provide a to grass” arouses idyllic pastoral images of a rich, lush, and symmetrical framework for the formal space and to offer abundant property. It was clearly a plentiful place where respite for the ornamental plants and garden vegetables an obstruction such as shoes should not separate a human from the hot summer sun and cold winter winds.