Civil War Franklin

Civil War Franklin. The African-American Experience. , In 1860, African-Americans , both enslaved and free , made up more than half of Franklin's residents, as well as half of Williamson County's population. When the Federal army arrived late in 1862, many slaves freed themselves by escaping to Union lines, where they established their own businesses, churches, and schools. By the end of 1863, many freedmen had joined the United States Colored Troops (USCT)., Local slave James Moore escaped and joined the 111th USCT as a private in 1864. Captured at the Battle of Athens, Alabama he was sent to a Confederate prison in Selma. He survived the war and settled near Thompson's Station., A.N.C. Williams, born a slave in 1844, did not join the army. In 1863, he and William Perkins established Franklin's first black-owned business, a shoe repair and manufacturing shop. It was destroyed in 1864 during the Battle of Franklin. Undaunted, Williams opened a general store downtown. For sixty years, he catered to both black and white patrons despite Jim Crow laws and racial segregation., After the war, former slave Harvey McLemore built a house among a skilled labor force of carpenters, rock masons, blacksmiths, mill workers, and domestic servants in the Hard Bargain neighborhood. The dwelling stayed in his family for 117 years and currently houses the McLemore House Museum., Mariah Reddick who was given to Carrie McGavock as a wedding gift, lived at Carnton Plantation. Mariah was sent south with other slaves to keep them from escaping as Union troops approached. She returned as a free woman, remained a Franklin resident, and died in 1922.