BELMONT MANSION

  

Well here we are at one of my favorite places to tour in Nashville.  The history of this place in incredible.  Adelicia Acklen was quite a woman, born in 1817, graduated from the Nashville Female Academy at 16 with honors, engaged at 17 but he died before they could be married of typhoid fever.  She waited 5 years to marry at age 22 a man 28 years her senior and had 4 children.  He died 8 years later leaving her the richest woman in Tennessee.  He didn't leave her everything but she broke the will he left and she was able to gain control of his entire estate.  He owned over 8700 acres in Tennessee but 50,000 acres in Texas and owned 600 slaves.   Her first four children died of  croup and typhoid.  Adelicia married for a second time at age 32 and had her husband sign a marriage contract leaving control of the estate in her hands and this is in 1849.  They had 6 children.  They build Belle Monte (meaning beautiful mountain) in 1853, the highest point around Nashville.  Her second husband died in 1863 so she is a widow again, he was at their holding in Louisiana because she thought she would be safer in Nashville alone.  She went through the war and somehow with the help of both the North and South got her cotton to England and had them put the profits of one million dollars in a bank in England until the war was over.  She became a very rich woman even after the war.  Did the grand tour of Europe and purchase all the stuff for Belmont over 15 months in Europe. In 1867 she married Dr. Cheatham, she is now 50 and of course he had to sign a marriage contract.  They separated after 18 years of marriage but she later was planning a move to NY and caught pneumonia and died in 1887while shopping for furnishings.  She had a fascinating life.  Belmont is now part of Belmont University.  Too Fun!