Updated: Jan 25, 2021
After check-in at our room-block hotel, in Nashville, TN, we were happy to see this welcoming marquee in the lounge
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Helena & Stuart standing in front of the statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom, prudent warfare, and the useful arts, located inside The Parthenon, in Nashville, which our attendees visited on Oct. 25th. The 42-foot, 10-inch tall statue, unveiled in 1990, was gilded and painted with 8 pounds of 23.75 carat gold in 2002."
A close-up of the intricate gold-plated freeze (base) of Athena.
The front of the Parthenon.
On the morning of Oct. 26th, Frank Jones, M.D., led us to a viewing of a section of the original Natchez Trace, which began in Nashville, and went southward into Mississippi. The walls shown here were built by enslaved African Americans.
Brian Hardison, Oct. 26, is next to the historical marker in west N-ville for Montpier, the residence of Nicholas Perkins, Tenn. attorney, who carried out Pres. Jefferson's orders and transported Aaron Burr, in custody, by horseback, from current-day Alabama to Richmond, to face the treason trial, in which Burr was found not guilty by a jury.
Diana Howie is reading the text on the marker for Montpier, built in 1821-22 on 12,000 acres purchased by Perkins.
Dr. Frank Jones, left, and George Bulow, standing downhill from where the Montpier mansion was located.
We car-pooled to the beginning of the "new" Natchez Trace Parkway, in west N-ville, Diana and Jeff Howie drove the Parkway in coming to our meeting from Houston. In Aaron's day, robbers lay in wait to relieve merchants of their profits from having sold their wares in the southern end of the original Natchez Trace, as the victims tried to travel back towards N-ville.
Helena & George standing on the Highway 96 bridge which spans the N-ville beginning of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
Frank Burr standing on the same bridge, featuring fall foliage colors.
On Wed., Oct. 26, ABA meeting attendees arrived at historic Belle Meade Plantation, to begin our luncheon & tour.
Kent Burr Millspaugh, D.D.S.; his brother, Charles Millspaugh; and Charles' wife, Ruth, at the luncheon.
From left: Jeanne Burr Burks, 88 years young (in dark glasses), of Tullahoma, Tn.; Virginia Adcook, age 87, of the Syracuse, N.Y. area; and her cousin, Barbara Coe, 86, of Vt., enjoying our luncheon at Belle Meade Plantation, Oct. 26.
Frank Jones portrayed Pres. James Madison at the luncheon, as Charmaine Galloway, center, and her mother, Jeanne Burr Burks, look on.
President Madison unfurls the U.S. flag, as it then-appeared.
James Madison explains how Aaron Burr introduced him to Dolley Payne Todd, who became the President's wife. James Madison and Aaron were classmates at Princeton University.
Helena (l.) and Mary (r.) inspect one of the carriage houses at Belle Meade Plantation.
Belle Meade Plantation
The weather was perfect, as we bonded in the garden outside the winery building of Belle Meade.
The Winery building at Belle Meade Plantation.
Charles Millspaugh, entering the Dollhouse, at Belle Meade.
One of the gardens at Belle Meade.
Evening of Oct. 26: we arrived at Hillwood Country Club, to join the Andrew Jackson Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), at their monthly meeting.
Pete & Mary Tavino; Judge Brian Hardison; and Lucienne & George Bulow enjoy pre-dinner cocktails, Hillwood C.C.
Brian Peter and Stuart with the portrayers of Gen. Andrew Jackson and his wife, Rachel, at Hillwood.
Members Alan Clark (l.) and Frank Jones, M.D. (r.)
ABA Pres. Stuart Johnson thanks the SAR chapter for inviting us to dinner at Hillwood C.C.
Jeff & Diana Howie watch David McArdle and Melinda Gaines portraying the Jacksons
SAR chapter president, Frank Jones, M.D., looks on as we, and SAR members, enjoy the dinner and portrayal.
Simon Mayfield (Dick) Dickerson (in suspenders and top hat), Al Gore's 2nd cousin, starts the tour of his Springfield, Tn. residence, Oct. 27, to which we were driven by Adairville, Ky., church elders Johnny Lee Barnes (far l.) and William Cowan, as Ginny Adcook & Diana Howie look on.
How about Dick's official greeters, at his Peach Blossom estate, a mile from the Kentucky line?
Dick Dickerson informs us of the history of his residence.
Dick is proud of his antique "Andrew Jackson" clock. His ancestor, Charles Charles Dickinson, lost his life in a gun duel with Andrew Jackson, fought in nearby Adairville, Ky., on property then-owned by Jeff Burr.
Stuart receives a proclamation of Aaron Burr Day from the mayor.
The Proclamation Certificates
A gift to Dick's parents for attending the King and Queen's wedding.
An Egyptian artifact we viewed at Peach Blossom, home of Dick Dickerson. Dick went to Egypt on a Fullbright scholarship, following graduation from Vanderbilt University.
Harry listens intently at the informative stories.
Members in the lobby.
This tavern is where Charles Dickinson and friends partied before his fateful duel 205 years ago.
Half of this tavern sits on the Tennessee side, and the other half in Kentucky.
"The Second Great Awakening," log cabin tribute to the original location.
The first Great Awakening was in New England, with Aaron's grandfather, the fire and brimstone famous minister, Jonathan Edwards, leading it.
The cabin shown in this photo is called the Red River Meeting House.
Patrick Byrne shoulders a musket at the Red River Meeting House, as Bejan Parivar, left, and our docent look on.
The Second Great Awakening spread throughout the country from here.
Pete Tavino, ABA webmaster, in the doorway of the Meeting House. Ruffians (mostly persons on the run from crimes committed in the east), abounded in this frontier area.
Our gracious host, Kathy Parker, shown here, is the current owner of the property, then-owned by Jeff Burr, upon which Andrew Jackson fought his gun duel with Charles Dickinson, in 1806.
From l.: Stuart, Dr. Alan Clark, Ginny Adcook, Anna Burr Root, Joyce Cole, and our Interpreter, Elizabeth, at the start of our rainy, but fascinating, tour of The Hermitage, home and plantation of Andrew Jackson, 7th U.S. President, on Oct. 28.
Rain failed to dampen our desire to see the rear of the Hermitage property where, on three separate occasions, Aaron stayed in a primitive cabin, as the guest of Andrew & Rachel Jackson.
Mary Tavino, Rich Maroc, and Roger Sollie are on the porch of the Hermitage Mansion.
: Jeff Howie, Brian Hardison, Barbara Coe, Katherine Woltz, and Marty & Tom Kakuk are eager to enter the Mansion, and get out of the rain!
But, first, our docents, correctly, insist on giving us an overview of the Mansion's history.
: Interpreter, Elizabeth, explains that we are standing in one of the First Hermitage Cabins were Aaron stayed, three times, as the guest of Andrew Jackson and his business partner, as they were building some of the flatboats Burr eventually used in his expedition from Nashville to the Southwest Territories.