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Carrie Winder McGavock

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Portrait photo of McGavock (Confederate Veteran, 1905)

Carrie Winder McGavock (née Winder; 1829-1905) was an American slave owner and the caretaker of the McGavock Confederate Cemetery at Carnton, a historic plantation complex in Franklin, Tennessee.[1][2] Her life was the subject of a 2005 best-selling novel by Robert Hicks, entitled The Widow of the South.

Early life and education

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Caroline (nickname "Carrie") Elizabeth Winder was born near Natchez, Mississippi, September 9, 1829. Her mother was a daughter of the Hon. Felix Grundy, thirteenth United States Attorney General. As an infant, she removed with her parents to their plantation in Louisiana, west of New Orleans, where she was brought up. McGavock enjoyed the advantages of wealth and a high social position.[1]

She received her education training through the Presbyterian Church.[1]

Career

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On December 6, 1848,[3][4][5] she married Col. John McGavock, son of Randal McGavock, of Franklin, Tennessee, and came to his home, Carnton, where she spent the remainder of her life, nearly sixty years.[1] Five children were born to them: Martha (b. 1849), Mary (b. 1851), John (b. 1854), Harriet ("Hattie") (b. 1855), and Winder (b. 1857),[6] with only two surviving to adulthood,[3] a son, Winder McGavock (1857–1907),[4][7] and a daughter, "Hattie", who married George Cowan.[8]

Mariah Reddick was held as a slave by Carrie's parents, Colonel Van Perkins Winder and Martha Grundy Winder of Ducros Plantation in Schriever, Louisiana.[9][10] In December 1848, Reddick was given to Carrie as a wedding present, working for her as a personal house slave at Carnton and at St. Bridget, the McGavock's sugar plantation in Louisiana.[2] Reddick worked for four generations of the McGavock family at Carnton as a nurse, maid, midwife, and head of the household staff.[9] In 1853, Van Winder gave Carrie four additional slaves.[2]

McGavock Confederate Cemetery with Carnton in the background

It was around Carnton that the Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864. The home became filled with the wounded, to whom Col. McGavock and his wife ministered with all their resources. Mrs. McGavock was expected to take on the responsibilities of a nurse, assisting with the wounded soldiers.[6] She led the efforts, supervising the logistics, and ordering her enslaved African-American workers to assist. She donated food, clothing, and supplies to care for the wounded and dying. Carrie's two surviving children, Hattie (age nine) and Winder (age seven), served as medical aides throughout the evening as well. On the morning after the battle, five Confederate generals lay dead on the wide gallery of the house. For weeks, the McGavocks nursed the wounded, cared for the dying, and buried the dead.[1]

When the war was over, Col. McGavock gave part of the ground of Carnton for the McGavock Confederate Cemetery, in which were gathered the bodies of the Confederate Army soldiers who died on that field. The care of this cemetery became Mrs. McGavock's duty.[1] She managed the maintenance of the cemetery with African-American workers until her death in 1905. She preserved the inscriptions recorded on the grave markers in her Cemetery Record Book.[11]

Personal life

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She was an active member of Franklin's Presbyterian Church for 59 years.[1]

In addition to her own children, McGavock brought up thirteen orphan children in her home.[1]

Death and legacy

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Caroline McGavock was in failing health the last eighteen months of her life. She died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. George L. Cowan, on the Lewisburg Pike,[3] near Franklin, Tennessee, on February 22, 1905, age 76. She was buried in the family burying ground at Carnton, near the graves of the Confederate dead.[1]

McGavock's life was the subject The Widow of the South, a 2005 novel by Robert Hicks.[12]

Selected works

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  • Cemetery Record Book

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i McNeilly, James H. (April 1905). "Mrs. Caroline E. W. McGavock". Confederate Veteran. 13 (4). Nashville, Tenn.: S.A. Cunningham: 177–79. Retrieved 24 November 2024. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ a b c "The Enslaved at Carter House & Carnton". The Battle of Franklin Trust. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  3. ^ a b c "Obituary for Caroline Winder McCavock". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. 23 February 1905. p. 5. Retrieved 25 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ^ a b Tennessee Records: Bible Records and Marriage Bonds. Heritage Books. May 2009. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-7884-2121-1. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  5. ^ Finch, Jackie Sheckler (2009). Nashville. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-7627-5567-7. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  6. ^ a b Moore, MariJo (2008). "Carrie McGavock, the High Priestess of the Temple of the Dead Boys, by Deborah A. Bowles". Birthed from Scorched Hearts: Women Respond to War. Fulcrum Publishing. p. 65. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  7. ^ Allison, John (1905). Notable Men of Tennessee: Personal and Genealogical, with portraits. Atlanta, Georgia: Southern historical Association. pp. 132–134. OCLC 2561350 – via Internet Archive.
  8. ^ William S. Speer, Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans: Containing Biographies and Records of Many of the Families who Have Attained Prominence in Tennessee, Genealogical Publishing Com, 2010, pp. 359-361 [1]
  9. ^ a b Gilfillan, Kelly (2015-02-01). "WillCo History: Meet Mariah Reddick". The News. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  10. ^ Buffie (2022-03-08). "Linda Mora is the "Grave Walker" for Franklin, Tennessee's Cemeteries". Lovely Franklin. Discover Historic Franklin Tennessee. Retrieved 2024-01-26.
  11. ^ Hicks, Robert (30 August 2005). The Widow of the South. Grand Central Publishing. p. 407. ISBN 978-0-7595-1443-0. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  12. ^ Risen, Clay (March 2, 2022). "Robert Hicks, Blockbuster Author and Battlefield Savior, Dies at 71". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
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