William R. Elliston (1815–1870) was an American planter, slaveholder and politician. He served as a member of the

Tennessee House of Representatives The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. Constitutional requirements According to the state constitution of 1870, this body is to consis ...

from 1845 to 1847. He owned Burlington Plantation in what is now Nashville, Tennessee. An investor in railroads and real estate, Elliston entered his horses in equestrian competitions. The former plantation property was later developed as modern-day Centennial Park,

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

and West End Park.

Early life

Elliston was born in 1815. His father,

Joseph Thorpe Elliston Joseph Thorpe Elliston (1779 - November 10, 1856) was an American silversmith, planter and politician. He served as the fourth mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 1814 to 1817. He owned land in mid-town Nashville, on parts of modern-day Centennial ...

, was a silversmith and planter who served as the fourth mayor of Nashville from 1814 to 1817. The young Elliston grew up on Sixth Avenue in Downtown Nashville. In the twentieth century, the

Tennessee Performing Arts Center The Tennessee Performing Arts Center, or TPAC, is located in the James K. Polk Cultural Center at 505 Deaderick Street in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It occupies an entire city block between 5th and 6th Avenues North and Deaderick and Unio ...

was built on this site.

Career

Elliston was a member of the Whig Party. He was elected and served one term as a member of the

from 1845 to 1847. Elliston inherited Burlington Plantation from his father in 1856. The land included 208 acres in "what is now 20th Avenue to a line covering part of Centennial Park, and from a line well within the Vanderbilt campus today to

Charlotte Avenue Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populou ...

", as well as 350 acres "along what is now Murphey Road, including the Acklen Park est End Parkarea." It ran across what is today

West End Avenue West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

. Elliston and his wife Elizabeth arranged to build a new mansion in 1859 to replace his father's plantation house. Elliston continued to depend on slave labor to operate the plantation. 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 th ...

of 1861–1865, the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

used the west wing of the Burlington mansion as a base, after it had occupied Nashville . Elliston had hid "the valuables of Nashville merchants" in his basement. After the war, Elliston was among several businessmen who called for the construction of a chapel in Lexington, Virginia, in honor of

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...

. Elliston invested in the

Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

, the

Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad 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 t ...

, and the

Tennessee and Pacific Railroad The Tennessee and Pacific Railroad was a 19th-century American company that operated a rail line from Lebanon, Tennessee, to Nashville, Tennessee. The state of Tennessee chartered the railroad on May 24, 1866. The original plans were to build a l ...

. He was an investor in the Richland Turnpike Company in Nashville as well as

municipal bond A municipal bond, commonly known as a muni, is a Bond (finance), bond issued by state or local governments, or entities they create such as authorities and special districts. In the United States, interest income received by holders of municipal ...

s for the city of

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. He was also a shareholder in the Union Bank, the Commercial Insurance Company, the Old Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Company, and the New Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Company. Elliston was a horsebreeder, and he entered his

stallion A stallion is a male horse that has not been gelded (castrated). Stallions follow the conformation and phenotype of their breed, but within that standard, the presence of hormones such as testosterone may give stallions a thicker, "cresty" nec ...

s in equestrian competitions such as the ones held by the Tennessee Agricultural and Mechanical Association, on whose board he served until 1870.

Personal life and legacy

Elliston married Elizabeth Boddie. She was a granddaughter of his stepmother. They resided at the Burlington mansion, which they had built in 1859 to incorporate a house built by his father Joseph. Then within a 208-acre plantation, its former site is on what is today modern-day Elliston Place. Their children included a son Elijah Boddie Elliston and daughter Lizinska (see below). Their son Elijah Boddie Elliston (1841–1879) married Leonora née Chapman (1846–1899). Among their children was William R. Elliston (1872–1909), named for his grandfather. He married Selene Harding Jackson, a daughter of General

William Hicks Jackson William Hicks "Red" Jackson (October 1, 1835 – March 30, 1903) was a career United States Army officer who graduated from West Point. After serving briefly in the Southwest and resigning when the American Civil War broke out, he served in th ...

. The younger Elliston was active in competing in trap shooting, with tournaments being held at private sporting clubs."Cracks at the Traps"
''The Tennessean'' (Nashville), 17 Oct 1898; accessed 09 Aug 2018 Their daughter Lizinska married Edward Buford, a Confederate veteran, in November 1875. They had five children, four of whom survived to adulthood, including Edward Buford III. Elliston died in 1870. His and Harding-Jackson descendants lived in the mansion until 1932, when it was razed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliston, William R. 1815 births 1870 deaths People from Nashville, Tennessee Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Tennessee Whigs American planters American slave owners Horse breeders