Wessyngton is a historic mansion on a former tobacco plantation in
Cedar Hill, Tennessee
Cedar Hill is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 301 at the 2020 census.
History
Jo Byrns, who became Speaker of the House of Representatives, was born in Cedar Hill on July 28, 1869. The local elementar ...
, U.S. It is listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
History
The house was built in 1815 for Joseph Washington, his wife Mary née Cheatham, and their infant son
George Augustine Washington
Colonel George Augustine Washington (1815 – December 4, 1892) was an American tobacco planter, slaveholder, company director and politician. He was "one of the world's largest tobacco growers" by 1860, and served in the Tennessee General Ass ...
(1815-1892). Washington, who, was the second cousin of George Washington, President of the United States developed it as a tobacco plantation, and his son continued to operate it for that commodity crop.
[ With .]
George served in the
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...
from 1873 to 1875. His son
Joseph E. Washington
Joseph Edwin Washington (November 10, 1851 – August 28, 1915) was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives for the 6th congressional district of Tennessee.
Early life
Washington was born on November 10 ...
followed him into politics, serving in the
United States House of Representatives from 1887 to 1897.
In 1860 George owned 274 slaves, who cultivated thousands of acres of land. After the war and emancipation, most of the
freedmen stayed on the plantation, with some working as domestic servants for the family, and most as
sharecroppers.
In the 1890s, Joseph Washington and his wife commissioned portraits of some of their servants from noted artist
Maria Howard Weeden
Maria Howard Weeden (July 6, 1846 – April 12, 1905), who signed her work and published as Howard Weeden, was an American artist and poet based in Huntsville, Alabama. After the American Civil War, she began to sell works she painted, which inc ...
of Huntsville, Alabama.
After Joseph's death, his widow Mary Bolling Kemp Washington owned the plantation from 1915 to 1938. After her death, it passed to their three children.
The Washingtons grew tobacco on the plantation, which was known as the largest tobacco plantation in the United States.
In 1976, it was recognized as a
Century Farm.
Architectural significance
The house was designed in the
Federal architectural style.
It has been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places since May 6, 1971.
Further reading
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References
External links
Wessyngton Plantation: A Family's Road to Freedomon
Nashville Public Television
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee
Federal architecture in Tennessee
Plantation houses in Tennessee
Houses completed in 1815
National Register of Historic Places in Robertson County, Tennessee
Century farms
Tobacco plantations in the United States
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