The Carter Farm

The Carter Farm. Slavery. Of the more than 12,000 enslaved people who lived in Williamson County in 1860, Fountain Branch Carter owned 28. Carter family records contain many of their names: Prescyt, Harriet, Jack, Calphurnia, Petrenella, Clara, Charlie, Frank, Susie, Oscar, Dilsey, Nancy, Caroline, Eliza, Allen, Rachel, Horace, Mary, Sarah, Sophia, Abow and Tom. These people, with personalities, talents, and skills, lived and worked on the farm and helped it to prosper. They, their parents, and grandparents had been born into the bonds of slavery, but suddenly, as a result of the Civil War, they were free. Freedom was but the first step in the long-fought struggle for equality., Almost 300 African American men from Williamson County enlisted in the U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) and fought for their own freedom. USCTs did not fight at Franklin, but those who fought at the battle of Nashville in Mid-December 1864 were commended for their valor., Men and women who had once been enslaved created a new society in a world turned upside down after the war. They learned the value of their skills and labor, learned to make contracts, and established their own family and community structures. They created schools, built churches, and made progress. African American neighborhoods that flourished in Franklin included the Natchez Street community near the Carter House and nearby Hard Bargain. From the backyard of his Natchez Street home, freedman Oscar Carter cooked and sold barbeque on the weekends. Proverbial survivors like him lived long lives and helped build the town’s African American community.