Adelicia Acklen

[18thVirginia]

Born Adelicia Hayes in Nashville in 1817, Adelicia Acklen was the wealthiest woman in Tennessee by 1846. She married a slave trader and plantation owner, Isaac Franklin, and upon his death inherited 7 Louisiana cotton plantations of 8700 acres, 50,000 acres of land in Texas, more than 750 slaves and Fairvue Plantation in Tennessee. Four children were born of the marriage to Franklin, but none of them survived to adulthood.

Adelicia would marry again in 1849 to Joseph Alexander Acklen, a lawyer from Huntsville, Alabama. They would have six children together and build Belmont Mansion in Nashville, an Italian style villa with 36 rooms and 19,000 sq. ft. of space. Joseph Acklen died in Louisiana in 1863 while overseeing the cotton plantations. The Belmont Mansion survived the War undamaged, although the grounds were somewhat harmed by the 13,000 Union troops who camped there for several weeks.

In 1867, Adelicia would marry again, this time to a prominent Nashville physician, Dr. William Archer Cheatham. They would live together, mostly at Belmont, for the next 20 years. At some point they separated and Adelicia moved to Washington, D. C. where her adult children lived. She sold Belmont shortly before her death in 1887. It was opened as a women's academy and junior college and later became the home of a university.

So, what was different about Adelicia Hayes Acklen and most upper class Southern women of her time? Well, first, she made Joseph Acklen sign a pre-nup agreement that gave her control of all her assets, which had been valued at $1 million when she inherited them. She also had Dr. Cheatham sign a prenuptial agreement.

When her husband died in Louisiana during the Civil War, the Confederate Army was about to burn 2,800 bales of cotton in Louisiana, sending her into financial ruin. Adelicia convinced the Confederates not to burn her cotton and Union officials to let her transport it to New Orleans, where she ran the blockade and sold it to London financiers for 960,000 in gold.

Some historical accounts mention that Adelicia and her children toured Europe after the War, while others explain that they traveled to England within 3 weeks after the surrender at Appomattox to secure the cotton money.

 

[18thVirginia]

Adelicia Acklin

Belmont Mansion

http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1

 

[Northern Light]

Born Adelicia Hayes in Nashville in 1817, Adelicia Acklen was the wealthiest woman in Tennessee by 1846. She married a slave trader and plantation owner, Isaac Franklin, and upon his death inherited 7 Louisiana cotton plantations of 8700 acres, 50,000 acres of land in Texas, more than 750 slaves and Fairvue Plantation in Tennessee. Four children were born of the marriage to Franklin, but none of them survived to adulthood.

Adelicia would marry again in 1849 to Joseph Alexander Acklen, a lawyer from Huntsville, Alabama. They would have six children together and build Belmont Mansion in Nashville, an Italian style villa with 36 rooms and 1900 sq. ft. of space. Joseph Acklen died in Louisiana in 1863 while overseeing the cotton plantations. The Belmont Mansion survived the War undamaged, although the grounds were somewhat harmed by the 13,000 Union troops who camped there for several weeks.

In 1867, Adelicia would marry again, this time to a prominent Nashville physician, Dr. William Archer Cheatham. They would live together, mostly at Belmont, for the next 20 years. At some point they separated and Adelicia moved to Washington, D. C. where her adult children lived. She sold Belmont shortly before her death in 1887. It was opened as a women's academy and junior college and later became the home of a university.

So, what was different about Adelicia Hayes Acklen and most upper class Southern women of her time? Well, first, she made Joseph Acklen sign a pre-nup agreement that gave her control of all her assets, which had been valued at $1 million when she inherited them. She also had Dr. Cheatham sign a prenuptial agreement.

When her husband died in Louisiana during the Civil War, the Confederate Army was about to burn 2,800 bales of cotton in Louisiana, sending her into financial ruin. Adelicia convinced the Confederates not to burn her cotton and Union officials to let her transport it to New Orleans, where she ran the blockade and sold it to London financiers for 960,000 in gold.

Some historical accounts mention that Adelicia and her children toured Europe after the War, while others explain that they traveled to England within 3 weeks after the surrender at Appomattox to secure the cotton money.

View attachment 63851

This painting is such a treasure trove of detail that gives insight into the lives of wealthy Southern women in the mid nineteenth century. From the unusual double parting in her hair to the embroidery on the saddle cloth to the ridiculously thin calf(?)skin of her gloves, each detail shows the wonderfully understated elegance of Adelicia and her world. The horse is beautiful, as well! I especially love the red bridle and reins. Would this just have been for the portrait or would it have actually been used?

 

[18thVirginia]

Angola Plantation in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, a part of the Acklen estates in Louisiana (now owned by the penitentiary)

http://haygenealogy.com/hay/patriots/civilwar/plantationbios.html

 

[18thVirginia]

Joseph Smith Acklen

http://haygenealogy.com/hay/patriots/civilwar/plantationbios.html

View attachment 63939

 

[Northern Light]

View attachment 63854

Angola Plantation in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, a part of the Acklen estates in Louisiana (now owned by the penitentiary)

http://haygenealogy.com/hay/patriots/civilwar/plantationbios.html

Oh my, what would Adelicia think of that?!

 

[18thVirginia]

Actually, she sold her Louisiana plantations, the 8,000 acres, to a former Confederate major named James, who was the contractor for the Louisiana prison system for 31 years.

 

[Northern Light]

Actually, she sold her Louisiana plantations, the 8,000 acres, to a former Confederate major named James, who was the contractor for the Louisiana prison system for 31 years.

Oh, I guess she was a very practical rather than a sentimental woman. I hope she got a good price for it.

 

[18thVirginia]

Isaac Franklin, Adelicia's first husband, was 50 when she married him at age 22. He'd made his fortune as a slave trader in the new Southwest. At the peak of his business, he and a nephew had agents in every major city in the South. They sold approximately 1,200 slaves each year in the Southwest, at a profit of $100,000. They owned a fleet of ships and regional offices in New Orleans and Natchez, with a headquarters in Alexandria.

Franklin retired from the slave trade in 1836, having purchased slaves and plantations in Louisiana and Tennessee. He estimated that he'd made a million dollars out of the trade.

Isaac Franklin's Estate in Gallatin, Tennessee

 

[Mike Serpa]

...Italian style villa with 36 rooms and 1900 sq. ft. of space...

http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=1[/QUOTE]
Tell me it's 19,000.

 

[18thVirginia]

Whew, that was a bad typo wasn't it? I expect that the zoo wasn't part of the 19,000 sq. ft., but they had conservatories and bowling allies and guest houses that were.

Here's a photo of the Mansion during the Civil War.

http://belmontmansion.com/about-us/

This photo was taken by a Union soldier. http://www.tameraalexander.com/belmontmansionnovels.html

 

[18thVirginia]

The watertower and greenhouse at Belmont Mansion.

 

[Northern Light]

It makes it very difficult to admire this lovely house when you know from where some of the money that built it came. Sigh,......but I guess it isn't the house's fault. Thanks for posting this interesting thread.

 

[donna]

She was a beautiful southern lady. The house is beautiful and so grand.

A very interesting thread.

 

[18thVirginia]

It makes it very difficult to admire this lovely house when you know from where some of the money that built it came. Sigh,......but I guess it isn't the house's fault. Thanks for posting this interesting thread.

It's an interesting history partly because so few of the grand southern houses revolved around the life of a woman and it was Adelicia Acklen who built and maintained Belmont and who kept the family fortune together during the Civil War. She was apparently engaged at age 17, but the fiancé died of typhoid. Adelicia's father was a prominent lawyer and planter in Nashville.

Also interesting as Adelicia married successful men who helped maintain and even enhance her fortune. It's estimated that Joseph Acklen increased her wealth threefold while he was managing the plantations in Louisiana. The family apparently lived in Louisiana during the winter and came back to Nashville during the summer.

 

[Allie]

This painting is such a treasure trove of detail that gives insight into the lives of wealthy Southern women in the mid nineteenth century. From the unusual double parting in her hair to the embroidery on the saddle cloth to the ridiculously thin calf(?)skin of her gloves, each detail shows the wonderfully understated elegance of Adelicia and her world. The horse is beautiful, as well! I especially love the red bridle and reins. Would this just have been for the portrait or would it have actually been used?

I'm so glad you pointed out the tack, I hadn't really given it a close look. One of my occasional hobbies is reproducing tack in miniature and I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before. The bridle looks like woven cords with leather ends. It's more like Spanish or Western tack than anything used in English style riding today. And that is one heck of a harsh bit - or two bits, I can't tell. I'm going to invite some tack expert buddies over here to tell me what I'm looking at!

I don't think you're seeing a saddlecloth, that looks like an embroidered inset on a leather piece over the top of the saddle. Or possibly painted leather tooling. Again I would love a second opinion. Hopefully there's something similar still in existence somewhere!

 

[donna]

She has Memorial on find a grave. It is at:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7742953

 

[donna]

A part of painting I like is the brooch she is wearing. I love old jewelry.

 

[18thVirginia]

A younger Joseph Alexander Smith Acklen.

Joseph A. S. Acklen was a veteran of the Texas Revolution and a successful lawyer from Huntsville, Alabama, where his father had also been a lawyer, when he married Adelicia Hayes Franklin. Sources say that she presented him with a pre-nup just two days before the wedding.

Acklen managed her estates in Louisiana, including the four plantations that would become Angola. According to an online biography of the largest slave owners in the South, Joseph increased Adelicia's fortune threefold and was known to be a benevolent slave owner. In his last letter before his death in September 1863, Acklen wrote that he had little hopes for the South's success in the War and he would be happy to see the end of slavery.

However, he did finance a company in the Civil War--the Acklen Rifles in East Tennessee--and had been a supporter of William Walker's schemes to expand into Central America.

Many of the large plantation homes that we see preserved in Louisiana were sugar plantations, but the Acklen's were apparently cotton planters. Their land must have bordered the Mississippi River in Louisiana, which is incredibly rich cotton growing country. The current penitentiary encompasses 18,000 acres, so it was greatly expanded from the original size of the plantation purchased from Adelicia.

 

[Allie]

I think the saddle flaps are probably like this one (only it might have one pommel instead of two at this date):

Public domain wikipedia

You can see the inset. It looks like velvet on this one.

Edit: I'm pretty sure you can see the single horn or pommel sticking out under her arm. The double horn was invented in 1830 but single horns continued in use until the middle of the century.

I found a photo of something that looks like that bit but it's small and I still don't understand it. Normally the point of double reins is one shanked bit and one milder not-shanked bit, or a Pelham which has only one bit but one set of reins going to a ring and another to a shank. This looks like two sets of reins going to two different shanks.