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.
We were pleased to be at the very place where Aaron stayed, to the rear of the Hermitage Mansion, as Jackson's guest, three times; but, we take issue with the interpretation given on their historical plaque
The Ralph Earl painting of Jackson (with Peter's reflection.)
During our box lunch social hour at The Hermitage, Brian explains his ambitious plans for, and at, next year's Annual Meeting, which will be centered around our visiting the Grolier Club, in NYC, which, from late May to late July, will professionally display Brian's one-of-a-kind collection of Burr items. Our meeting is likely to occur in July.
Brian's follow up email with the Jackson statement he read to us here:
Dear Frank:
Please accept my apology for the delay in forwarding the attached information concerning Jackson's Speech upon the steps of the Richmond Court House concerning Aaron Burr's Trial
I found the following speech by Jackson on pages 204 & 205 of Vol. I of Augustus C. Buell's, History of Andrew Jackson, 2 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons: New York, 1904. Buell unfortunately did not provide footnotes, but in the text he says on page 204 that "No complete report of his [Jackson's] speech was ever made. But some notes of it were taken by Thomas Ritchie, a famous Virginia journalist, and these were long afterward (in 1824) printed. When Jackson, then running for the Presidency, saw them, he said, 'they are fair as far as they go, but they don't go far enough.'" Buell writes:
[Jackson's] ostensible subject was the outrage upon our flag and the supineness of Jefferson under it. But he soon digressed: Mr. Jefferson has plenty of courage to seize peaceable Americans by military force and persecute them for political purposes. But he is too cowardly to resent foreign outrage upon the Republic. Here an English man-of-war fires upon an American ship of inferior force, so near his Capital that he can almost hear the guns, and what does he do? Nothing more than that his friends say he will recommend to Congress a bill laying an embargo and shutting our commerce off from the seas. If a man kicks you downstairs you get revenge by standing out in the middle of the street and making faces at him! … This persecution [of Aaron Burr] was hatched in Kentucky. The chicken died and they are trying to bring it to life here. Some think the object of the person that hatched it in Kentucky [Joseph Hamilton Daveiss] was malice. I prefer to think it the over zeal of a weak tool in the hands of a cowardly master. The man in Kentucky had his orders from the man in Washington, just as men here have their orders from the same source. Mr. Jefferson can torture Aaron Burr while England tortures our sailors … A year ago or more I gave a dinner to Aaron Burr in Nashville the toast – “Millions for defence; not a cent for tribute.” They changed that tune on this side of the mountains. Here it seems to be – “Millions to persecute an American; not a cent to resist England!” Shame for such a leader! Contempt for a public opinion rotten enough to follow him! Buell, I: 204–205. You will likely recall that our guest at the meeting in Nashville, David O. Stewart, claimed that he didn't use this cite due to a lack of sourcing. At present I have not taken the time to research this any further but I find Stewart's comment comical. The accusations made against Aaron Burr that Washington lacked confidence in him during the Revolution came from hearsay statements written more than eight years after the event with no sourcing whatsoever, yet were continuously cited as accurate until recently refuted. I agree with our own Dr. Suzanne Bowles that Stewart has ignored so much of the work already written and researched concerning Burr in the last 50 years why did he write the book. When Stewart was writing his book he ask to see my library. By my request he sent me two chapters of his book in advance. I responded that unless he was willing to rewrite the chapters to include a more accurate up to date accounting of the history of Burr I could not help him. This he was not willing to do. My present posture concerning Stewart is to ignore him. Recently since the Nashville meeting he appeared at the Atlanta History Center to speak on Burr and promote his book. One of my friends later asked me why I did not attend to refute his position. As we discovered in debate with him in Nashville, he seems to be unaware or intentionally ignoring important features of Burr's trials in Richmond such as the witness testimony of Swartwout that ultimately was important to Judge Marshall in his opinion that Burr's only intent was to invade Spanish territory. Therefore, there was nothing for me to gain by attending Stewart's talk. To refute his book would require another book. Fortunately, books on the subject refuting his position have already been written by such authors as Dr. Nancy Isenberg, an author I was proud to assist in a minor way and traveled to New Jersey in 2007 to hear her speak on the subject. If you have the chance to learn more about Jackson's speech please pass it along. It was pleasure to meet you and James Madison in Nashville. I hope you can make it to the Burr Exhibit in New York next year. Best wishes, Brian Hardison
Brian and Richard at the gravesite of President Andrew Jackson.
Dr. Frank Jones, of Nashville, drawing on the extensive pre-Meeting research which he did, shows us the historic marker at the Stone's River, a few miles west of The Hermitage, memorializing where the boat building company of Andrew Jackson (and his business partner) was located. The company built and delivered to Aaron Burr several (4) flatboats which Aaron used in his flotilla expedition to the southwest territories.
Four boats were to hold the 1500 man army David Stewart contends were up to no good ???
Response: Aaron already had obtained other flatboats ( not sure of the number), north of Nashville, in Ky or Ohio. ???
Faye Stubblefield, Commissioner of Roberton County, Tenn., and Brian Hardison, Georgia Judge, stand in the general area where Aaron took possession of the flatboats he ordered from Andrew Jackson's company, in the Clover Bottom area of Nashville.
Anna Burr Root, at the Stone's River.
Dr. Frank Jones (red sweater) shows us the location where Aaron and his expedition members actually pushed-off from Nashville, for his mission to settle an enslavement-free, westward-expansion area, near Nacogdoches, Texas.
James Yasko, Education Director of The Hermitage, gave us a wonderful overview of the relationship between Gen. Andrew Jackson and Aaron Burr.
"Women Gone Wild": l. to r.: Lucienne Bulow, Mary Tavino, & Helena Lawrence obviously are happy to be in Nashville.
Our annual meeting luncheon, Oct. 29, begins, at the Radisson Opryland hotel
"Behind Every Good Man, Is a Good Woman."
Seated, from l.: Audrey & Frank Jones, & Mary Tavino. Standing, from l.: David O. Stewart, Esq., our featured guest speaker at the Sat., Oct. 29 Luncheon; Dr. Larry & Nancy Elliott Mehne (back to camera; 1st-time attendees); Barbara Elliott Osborn (1st-timer, talking to Roger); Roger & Karyn Sollie; and Joyce Cole (w/white scarf/hair clasp).
David Stewart explains to us the major theses of his new book: American Emperor-Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America (Simon & Schuster, Oct., 2011), including what Stewart feels were the 5 main objectives of Burr's expedition to the southwestern territories.
(No matter what one thinks of Stewart's controversial book, he proved to be a skillful public speaker.)
Seated at lower table, clockwise from l.: Stuart's relatives: Charles & Ruth Millspaugh, Jr.; and Dr. Kent Burr Millspaugh. At upper table, clockwise, from l.: the Bulows; Brian; Harry; Jeanne Burr Burks (dark glasses), and her daughters, Brenda Jordan & Charmaine Galloway; and the Howies.
: Richard Maroc, Esq., proved to be an excellent public speaker, giving a powerful rebuttal to some of David Stewart's negative opinions of Aaron's objectives in his southwestern expedition.
Judge Brian Hardison delivered the second rebuttal to author Stewart's conclusions. Looking on are Roger Sollie, and Thelma Parivar, from California.
Katherine Woltz presents an engraved pen, as a gift from ABA, to speaker Stewart, as Bruce & Barbara Osborn (lst timers), Karyn Sollie and Joyce Cole look on.
Nancy Elliott Mehne, of Lookout Mountain, Ga.
Nancy Mehne showed us her family tree, back to Jonathan Edwards.
Henry (Harry) Anderson, Jr., our beloved member, is a young-looking 90 year-old!
Our Houston playwright, Diana Melson Howie.
The live music, plus great food, made Caney Fork restaurant, across from our hotel, a favorite destination of our attendees.
Nashville Riverboats across from the football stadium.
The Tennessee Titans beat the Colts the day after our annual meeting. Pete Tavino attended because his childhood friend Chris is the Titan's offensive coach.
Occupy Nashville made national headlines Friday night when confronted by police. By Sunday this encampment was all that remained.
The Tavinos, Helena and Brian attended the Charlie Daniels Band's concert at the famous Opryland music hall, near our hotel, hearing "The Devil Went down to Georgia".
With Halloween on Monday, a live band at John A's restaurant, in back of our hotel.
A skyline shot of downtown Nashville, including, on left: the "Bat Man" building.
End Thanks Stuart for your caption help, and some of these pictures. Pete