GIDDENS CEMETERY, Lusk Road, MAURY COUNTY TENNESSEE

Mapping the Location

Area view photos of the cemetery: 6430/6431/6432/6433/6434
Old Stage Coach Inn that existed here from early times - photo from latter years in bad state of repair also see below. History and Recent Photo

CRAIG, Eliza Harriet Ann. 28 Sep 1842 - 6 Mar 1874. 32 yrs 5 mos & 6 days. (TS broken, top missing - 2012.)  6421/6422
FLEMING, Albert E., 1859 - (21 Jul) 1898. (Son Alfred & Tirza Catherine Ramsey Fleming.) 6418/6419/6420
FLEMING, Caroline G., 1861 - 1901.(nee Giddens; d/o J. M. & C. A. Giddens.)  6418/6419/6420
FLEMING, Dennis Praytor, Infant. (No dates given.) 6418/6419/6420
GIDDENS, James Monroe, 23 Mar 1816 - 8 Oct 1894. (Son of James & Priscilla Buford Giddens of Va.) (Tall shaft.) 6414/6415
GIDDENS, Caroline A., 24 Dec 1816 - 6 May 1880. 63 yrs 4 Mos & 12 days. (nee Thomason; mar. J. M. Giddens, 21 Sep 1837);(Top broken out, missing name - 2012) 6416/6417
GIDDENS, Josephus T., 15 Nov 1844 - 9 Nov 1861. "Son J. M. & C. A. Giddens." (tall Shaft) 6425/6426
GIDDENS, Marcus Tullus, (16 May) 1854 - (17 Apr) 1900. (Son of James Monroe & Caroline A. Giddens.) 6413
GIDDENS, Thomas, b. & d. 15 Aug 1856. "Son of J.M. & C.A. Giddens" (tall Shaft) 6424/6426
GIDDENS, Sidnee. 13 Jan 1867 - 20 Jan 1867. 7 days. (TS broken, top missing - 1987.) 6423
GIDDENS, William M., 4 Dec 1868 - 14 Nov 1879. 10 yrs 11 Mos & 10 days. (stone broken but all parts are still present). 6427/6428

Fieldstones marking graves 1 found there may be others: 6429


The groundhogs have undermined this small fenced-in plot so badly that it is dangerous to walk around in it. Some of the monuments are in the process of being toppled into the holes. [19 Feb 1988 Fred L. Hawkins.]
What I found  in 2012 was the same groundhog damage. However three stones, the Carolina A. Giddens; William M. Giddens and the Eliza Harriett Ann Craig,  were all broken and the top broken out. The upper part with the names were missing. We matched the dates with the name according to the way past researchers have found this cemetery but cannot guarantee the correctness of the inscription using that approach. [CWA 2 Apr 2013]

James Giddens (the father? of the above James Monroe Giddens 1816-1894) was Capt. of 21st Reg. of Williamson Co. ,Tn Militia Commissioned on March 20, 1810 according to Ancestry.com
There is a picture of Stagecoach Inn @ the Mt Pleasant, Tennessee, history Museum. The location used to be in the clump of trees near Gidden's Cem. Mr. Woodard said his Uncle burned it down. So Sad. It would have made a great piece of history. Apparently James Gidden's Sister ran both the one at Thompson's Station and the one on Lusk Road. [Kathy Overstreet 28 Nov 2012]

GIDDENS FAMILY <http://tngenweb.org/williamson/history/tsfamhisEFG.html>
 

Francis Giddens was born April 1, 1753 in Virginia and died May 11, 1830 in Thompson's Station. He was the son of James and Margaret Giddens, Sr. He married Mary Pointdexter White on October 3, 1782 in Louisa County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Moses and Elizabeth Pointdexter White of Louisa County, Virginia. He served in the American Revolution (1775-1783). He applied to the government for pay due him for repairing a large number of public arms on Feburary 24, 1784 in Louisa County.

The children of this couple were Elizabeth (1780-1832) who married Spencer Buford December 9, 1801; Sarah (born 1786), who married Charles Buford October 27, 1804; Mary (1790-1853), who married James Buford, Jr. October 6, 1812; James (1784-1818) who married Priscilla Buford April 3, 1806; Nancy (1790-1851) who married Samuel Word; Francis, Jr. (1795-1829) who married Rachel Gilchrist; and Marcus (1800-1821).

Francis and Mary Giddens sold their land in Virginia in 1800 and moved, with other family members, to the area now known as Thompson's Station.

Shortly after arriving, Francis Giddens purchased land along Murfree's Fork. This creek, like Murfreesboro, was named after Colonel Hardy Murfree. It is one of the largest tributaries of the West Harpeth River, beginning in the vicinity of Thompson's Station.

Also in the area at the time were three of Mary White Giddens siblings: Chapman White, William White and Mrs. Caleb (Nancy) Manley and their families. Giddens built a log house in which the family lived until their plantation house "Homestead Manor" was completed in 1819. The original house was replaced in 1870 by Mrs. W. D. (Nannie) Lavender and now occupied by the Benson family.

In 1819, Francis Giddens was granted a license as "owner and proprietor and keeper of the mails" of an "ordinary" or inn for $2,500 for the entertainment of man and beast south of Nashville. The place was called "Giddens", or sometimes "Stagecoach Inn", by travelers and drivers from the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico. Weary travelers could find good food, bedding and stables for their horses here. *

Owners of this house, after Francis and Mary Giddens, were: their daughter, Mrs. Samuel (Nancy) Word; Mrs. Charles (Mary) Lyle, daughter of Nancy; Major James and Sophia Kernan Akin; Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Jefferson Timmons; Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Naff, daughter and son-in-law of the Timmons; Mrs. Jim (Mary C.) Tanner and her sister Miss Winifred Hagerty; and, Mrs. Hazel Giddens Morton who sold to the Darbys.

Dr. and Mrs. Darby have restored the house to its original splendor and added a modern kitchen wing to the back of the house. In 1974 they moved the old West Harpeth School house approximately 100 yards north of the manor house. This building was restored and serves as farm and professional office for the present owners.

A cemetery on the back of the property is the "burying ground" for members of the Giddens family and extended family relatives.

A complete description of the house and other interesting information is found in the Williamson County Historical Society Journal No. 15.

Note: Some confusion exist in this reported history as to where the Stage Coach Inn reported in two places above existed. Was it in Thompson's Station in Williamson County or east of Mt Pleasant in Maury County or were there two Stage Coach Inns run 1t by Frances Giddens then later in Maury County by James Giddens meaning different members of the Giddens family at different intervals. However instead maybe the Francis Giddens above actually founded the extinct Stage Coach Inn which was on Lusk Road in Maury County and that fact was lost in the history above. More research needed. [CWA 2013]

This cemetery was photographed and transcribed by C. Wayne Austin 27 Nov 2012. Added to this site 3 Apr 2012.  Originally published in Maury County Tennessee Cemeteries, by Fred Lee Hawkins, Jr. page 607. A few of Mr. Fred's notes were included, Also before that published on page A-61 of the book They Passed This Way in the 1964 by Marise P. Lightfoot & Evelyn B. Shackleford. I was accompanied that day by out of town visitors. Present were myself, Pat Wiggins & husband, from Texas, and Kathy Overstreet, from Murfreesboro who served as the official guide. CWA.