Brian Allison - Notorious Nashville: Scoundrels, Rogues & Outlaws

Published by The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2019 by Brian J. Allison

All rights reserved

First published 2019

E-book edition 2019

ISBN 978.1.439.66637.1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018963527

print edition ISBN 978.1.46714.124.6

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As always, a project like this takes many helping hands, and my sincere thanks go out to all who made it possible. First off, of course, are Chad Rhoad, Jonny Foster, Crystal Murray and the rest of The History Press, who have been so supportive of this and other projects. Thanks for giving me a platform to share these stories with others. Also deserving of my thanks are the libraries and other institutions such as the Tennessee State Library and Archives and the Nashville Public Library, as well as Ken Fieth and his crew at the Metro Archives, Claire Horton at the Indiana State Archives and Elizabeth Odle at the Nashville Room.

Im stunned by the generosity of many of the other authors and researchers who agreed to help me even when they didnt have to. Some of the leading experts on the Wild Bunch took the time to discuss Annie Rogerss story with me, especially Dan Buck, Sylvia Lynch, Donna Ernst, Donna Donnell, Wayne Kindred and Mark Smokov. Ive been a fan of your work for years, and it was a thrill to kick ideas around with you all. Through their combined efforts, I believe that one day soon the mystery about who she was and where she ended up will finally be solved.

To the very dedicated local researchers and authors around me, my thanks as well. Tom Vickstrom shared his incredible knowledge about the Hermitage Hotel. Elizabeth Goetsch gave her valuable insight into the citys past. And Nikki Nelson Hicks helped me dissect several of the cases and gave me new theories to pursue.

Then there were the property owners who allowed me to tramp across their yards and intrude on their privacy in order to visit and photograph some of the scenes of these long-ago events. Martin Wiley, Nancy Yonko and others, thank you for your time. I appreciate your kindness and hospitality.

To my family and friends, thank you for putting up with all the nonsense that goes into writing one of these things. I know it can be a pain sometimes.

To those who just enjoy hidden places, unsolved mysteries and obscure history, I thank you for sharing an interest and giving me an excuse to explore the sometimes murky past of the city I call home.

And finally, to you, the reader. Thank you for picking this up, and I hope you enjoy it. If you have half as much fun reading it as I did writing it, then its all worthwhile.

INTRODUCTION

Greetings, and welcome to Nashville, Tennessee.

In the past few years, its become one of the hottest tourist spots in the country, with tens of thousands of visitors swarming in every summer in search of country music, hot chicken, good barbecue and cold beer. Go downtown on a raucous Saturday night (if you dare), and youll see a press of literally thousands of people roaming the sidewalks at all hours while pedal taverns glide by, full of partygoers shouting the infamous woo-hoo that some locals have come to dread. Its a place where the party never seems to stop.

Of course, thats the Nashville of the guidebooks. Thats the vacation getaway where the lights never go out. But like all cities, this one has some very dark alleys in its past, and to truly get to know a place, you sometimes have to venture away from the light.

Nashville is a historic city, and for those who want to know more, there is a wide selection of attractions on offer. There are the old antebellum houses and Civil War battlefields surrounding the city, along with sites that talk about the early settlers and Native American presence here. Downtown tours point out the few remaining historical buildings, and a state-of-the-art State Museum is about to open as of this writing, with artifacts from ancient Mississippian bowls to the banners of suffragists who won the right to vote in 1920. Another museum tells the story of the music scene that put the city on the map in the first place. All of these experiences will introduce you to Nashvilles colorful native sons and daughterspresidents, politicians, soldiers, musicians and settlers who left a positive mark on the city.

This book is about people whose contribution to the narrative was a bit more dubious.

In the following pages, were going to look at the city that once was and hear some of the stories that locals once only whispered about. It seems that just about everyone loves a good mystery, and there are several on offer here. The stories are true, but many of them are not very well known today, even among longtime residents. In these pages, youll meet some of the more prominent miscreants who once strode across the stage. Jesse James, John Dillinger, the Wild Bunch and other semi-legendary figures in the nations folkloreall of them passed through or called the city home at one time or another, and Nashville played a surprisingly prominent role in their legends.

Youll also get a look at some of the more mysterious doings that captivated the city from its founding up until 1940, such as a prisoner who seemed to pull an absolutely perfect escape, only to turn up in a shocking manner twenty years later, and a well-respected woman who gunned a man down in broad daylight and ended up paying for the crime in a most curious fashion. There are mysterious murders that went unsolved, along with seemingly innocent people accused of shocking crimes. Some of the places youll visit within, such as Union Station, the Tennessee State Prison or the Hermitage Hotel, are still standing today. Others, like the long-forgotten gallows field, have been completely obliteratedperhaps understandably.

This is a book for those who like to explore the forgotten ends of history, for those who love a good mystery and for those who want to hear about characters on the fringes of society whose stories dont often make it into the record.

Nearly 700,000 people live here today, but whether you were born here or youve just arrived, this book will take you on a tour of the back alleys of centuries past. Were going back to before Nashville was Music City, USA, to see a side of the town where decent folks once feared to tread. So settle into your favorite chair, turn down the lights and get comfortable. It should be an interesting journey, so lets get started.

CHAPTER 1

UNTIL YOU ARE DEAD

Nashville is a city of secrets and hides them well. Oftentimes the most unremarkable neighborhoods were once the scene of life-and-death drama, and many modern residents would probably be surprised to find out what once occurred where their homes or businesses now stand. So it should come as no surprise that a quiet side street studded with modern businesses stands on the location of one of the most infamous sites in the citys history: the public gallows field. As is always the case, many sad spectacles once took place here, but arguably the most dramatic was a quartet of executions that took place in the winter of 1843.