Major Nathaniel F. Cheairs

Major Nathaniel F. Cheairs. B. December 6, 1818 – D. January 2, 1914. The Cheairs Family moved to northern Maury County in 1811. The Cheairs patriarch (also named Nathaniel) purchased three hundred acres of land just south of present-day Spring Hill. It was on this land that young Nathaniel was born in 1818. He was the youngest of ten children., In 1841, he became engaged to Susan McKissack. This should have thrilled the family, as Susan was quite the catch. Her father was one of the wealthiest men in the entire county. Nathaniel's father was not happy with the union, however. There had been five generations of men named Nathaniel Cheairs. All five men had married women named Sarah. The elder Nathaniel offered his son $5,000 if he would call off his engagement with Susan in order to marry a Sarah. The younger Nathaniel refused, and he and Susan were married on September 2, 1841. His father later gave them the $5,000 as a wedding gift., Nathaniel inherited his father's Spring Hill property when he died in 1846. On this property he began construction of a large home for his young family. Three times the walls of the home were erected and three times he ordered construction halted and the walls torn down – he wanted the home to be perfect and to stand for one hundred years. This home was completed in 1855 and still stands today. It is called Rippavilla., Although against secession, when President Lincoln called for troops to invade the South, Nathaniel Cheairs responded by organizing and equipping what would become Company E of the 3rd Tennessee Confederate Infantry. Nathaniel was elected the Major of the regiment. At Fort Donelson, Major Cheairs was ordered to take the flag of truce and the Confederate surrender to General U.S. Grant. After the surrender, Major Cheairs was taken to a prisoner of war camp in Boston Harbor. He was eventually exchanged and took up arms once again, serving on the staff of General N.B. Forrest and with the Commissary Department. He was again captured and released just prior to the War's end. He fought his last battle with Forrest in Selma, Alabama., Major Nathaniel F. Cheairs died January 2, 1914 in Texas. He was 95 years old.