Randal McGavock (1766–1843) was an American politician and Southern planter in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

.Friends of Metropolitan Archives of Nashville and Davidson County, TN
/ref>Nashville Library
/ref>
/ref> Identifying as a

Jeffersonian Republican The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...

, he served as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

from 1824 to 1825. His daughter Elizabeth married

William Giles Harding William Giles Harding (1808 – December 15, 1886) was a Southern planter, attorney, and horse breeder who was made a Brigadier General in the Tennessee militia before the American Civil War. He took over operations of Belle Meade Plantation near ...

of Nashville in 1840; he was a young widower and son of planter John Harding. He was running the 5300-acre

Belle Meade Plantation Belle Meade Historic Site and Winery, located in Belle Meade, Tennessee, is a historic mansion that is now operated as an attraction, museum, winery, and onsite restaurant together with outbuildings on its 30 acres of property. In the late 19th ...

and managing his father's slaves; in 1850 his father was ranked as the third-largest slaveholder in Davidson County, Tennessee. table URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/42626919 W. Ridley Wills II, "Black-White Relationships on the Belle Meade Plantation" ''Tennessee Historical Quarterly'' Vol. 50, No. 1 (SPRING 1991), pp. 17-32; accessed 10 August 2018 via JSTOR

Early life

Randal McGavock was born on June 20, 1766, in

Rockbridge County, Virginia Rockbridge County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,650. Its county seat is the city of Lexington. Rockbridge County completely surrounds the in ...

. His father was James McGavock Sr., and his mother, Mary (Cloyd) McGavock.

Career

McGavock served as Mayor of Nashville from 1824 to 1825. In 1815, McGavock built

Carnton Carnton is a historic home and museum in Franklin, Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The plantation played an important role during and immediately after the Battle of Franklin during the American Civil War. It is managed by the no ...

. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, Carnton served as a field hospital after the Battle of Franklin. On December 1, 1864, four dead Confederate generals were laid on Carnton's gallery: Patrick R. Cleburne, Hiram B. Granbury,

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

, and Otho F. Strahl.

Personal life

In February 1811, McGavock married Sarah Dougherty Rodgers, whose brother-in-law was

Felix Grundy Felix Grundy (September 11, 1777 – December 19, 1840) was an American politician who served as a congressman and senator from Tennessee as well as the 13th attorney General of the United States. Biography Early life Born in Berkeley Cou ...

(1775–1840), U.S. Congressman from Tennessee, from 1829 to 1838, and 13th

United States Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...

, from 1838 to 1839.Col. Randal William McGavock, 1826 ~ 1863

Sons of Confederate Veterans The Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) is an American neo-Confederate nonprofit organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers that commemorates these ancestors, funds and dedicates monuments to them, and promotes the pseudohis ...

They had four sons, James R., William, John, an unnamed infant son, and three daughters, Elizabeth, Mary Cloyd and an unnamed infant daughter. In 1840, their daughter Elizabeth married Gen.

, heir and later owner of the

, which was 5400 acres. Their son

John McGavock Col. John McGavock (1815–1893) was an American heir and Southern planter.William S. Speer, ''Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans: Containing Biographies and Records of Many of the Families Who Have Attained Prominence in Tennessee'', Genealogical P ...

(1815–1893), who married Carrie Elizabeth Winder (1829–1905) in December 1848, inherited the Carnton plantation. His great-nephew, Randal William McGavock (1826–1863), the grandson of his brother Hugh, also became a politician. He served as Mayor of Nashville from 1858 to 1859, and died as a Confederate Lt. Col. in the

Battle of Raymond The Battle of Raymond was fought on May 12, 1863, near Raymond, Mississippi, during the Vicksburg campaign of the American Civil War. Initial Union attempts to capture the strategically important Mississippi River city of Vicksburg failed. Beg ...

. His nephew, James McGavock, built Blue Fountain, now known as the

McGavock-Gatewood-Webb House The McGavock-Gatewood-Webb House, also known as Blue Fountain, is a historic house in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. It was built in the 1840s. Location The house is located at 908 Meridian Street in Nashville, the county seat of Davidson County, Te ...

East Nashville East Nashville is an area east of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville in Tennessee across the Cumberland River. The area is mostly residential and mixed-use areas with businesses lining the main boulevards. The main thoroughfares are Gallatin ...

Death

McGavock died in September 1843. He is interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.

References

Sources

*''Carnton Plantation and Battlefield''. Franklin, TN: The Battle of Franklin Trust. 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:McGavock, Randal 1766 births 1843 deaths People from Rockbridge County, Virginia Mayors of Nashville, Tennessee Tennessee Democratic-Republicans American planters McGavock family American slave owners