WHITE HALL

By Kathy Fox in collaboration with Scott Smith

It all began four years ago when Wesley Marshall was metal detecting looking for historical treasures when he found a Union Civil War belt buckle near the back porch of White Hall in Spring Hill. If you are unfamiliar with White Hall, it is recognized for its historical significance and its Greek Revival classical architecture. The house was registered in 1984 in the National Register of Historic Places and, to this point, had retained its original interior elements and not been radically altered.

Fast forward to November 2022, Marshall was passing by White Hall when he observed work being done to the house and his curiosity got the best of him. He decided to stop in when Danny Humphrey the carpenter approached him and explained the new owners were renovating. During the conversation, it was discussed that it appeared a lot of historical items were being thrown away. Looking around, Marshall saw an 1855 Bradbury square grand piano that was going to be thrown away and Humphrey mentioned there were also boxes with a wedding dress and veil from Paris, other dresses, bonnets, and samplers that were all going to be discarded. “I don’t even play the piano, but I really cared about the historical value of ALL these items and knew I had to preserve them,” Marshall exclaimed.

Scott Smith, a resident of Spring Hill and antique expert and local historian, was contacted by Marshall after the items had been procured. Smith recalled, “I couldn’t believe it when Wesley called and began enumerating the items and giving the details, I realized he had hit the proverbial jackpot. Not so much in a financial way, rather, historically speaking it is a cache of truly priceless artifacts documenting one of the most influential families of Maury County.”

White Hall on Duplex Road, in earlier times Mt. Carmel Road, was built circa 1842 for Dr. Aaron White by his younger brother Henry. This residence is one of the best vernacular adaptations of the prevailing Greek Revival in this part of the county. The border of the estate was beyond current-day Kedron Road and Dr. White donated lots for early academies to serve this hamlet. He was a key player in the early success of Spring Hill. A graduate of the University of New York and a doctor of medicine, White was also a large landowner in Maury County. Following the death of his wife Eliza Fain, Dr. White married her cousin Margaret to whom most of these items are connected.

Smith reached out to Samuel Holden II who was a former owner of White Hall and an expert on its history. Holden explained, “Spring Hill had a very small population in the 1840s. To think of this home having the best Philadelphia wallpapers on the walls, the finest faux bois graining on the doors, and the grandest furniture and fixtures, including the costly hand-forged British brass locks, all showing a new aristocracy that developed in this area in the antebellum period. The clothing in this collection alone is mute testimony to the exuberance of the times and the expense of an elite family who were trendsetters of their day. The earlier laces attest to the fact that her family had been well-to-do for generations and that the issue going forward all valued their family heirlooms. Thank heavens Wesley came along and recognized their importance in a community where very little of whichever was, much less survive. It allows documentation for historical research that is invaluable in a very exciting and tactile way.”

“During the Civil War, both the Confederate and Union forces were camping near the Whites. Platters of fried chicken, biscuits, and pitchers of buttermilk were sent cleverly to both sides and not a leaf was disturbed on their place,” said Holden. White Hall eventually became the headquarters of Confederate General Earl Van Dorn. It was alleged that this dashing officer was having an affair with the alluring Mrs. Jessie McKissack Peters who was the wife of Dr. George Peters of Spring Hill and the sister of Susan McKissack Cheairs of Rippavilla. Jessie came to visit the general and went up into his private quarters to the protest of Mrs. White who begged her husband to remove Van Dorn from White Hall. The general relocated to the Martin Cheairs home known today as Ferguson Hall. Dr. Peters assassinated the general at this location less than a week later and was subsequently acquitted of any wrongdoing as his honor had been properly avenged justice was often swift in those days. Meanwhile, White Hall would remain in the White family until the 1960s.

“The sampler done by Margaret Fain shows the early education of the woman that would become Mrs. Dr. Aaron White. Her children grew up and married into pioneer families like the Cheairs of Rippavilla. This finding alone is quite exciting. But then Marshall brings out an 1850s photograph of her, then the actual fingerless gloves she is wearing in that picture. Then her wedding veil, then her headdress of wax blossoms from Philadelphia and they are in their original box along with the calling card of the shopkeeper. It is all just too much jelly for one biscuit! History nerds go wild for tales such as this, particularly one so grandiose,” Smith stated.

Dr. and Mrs. Aaron White lie in repose in the family plot in the cemetery that Dr. White donated to the town just steps from their beloved home. Perhaps they orchestrated this clandestine arrangement from above, as it is far more than just coincidental. This much had not been saved by this many for this long to all just be discarded in a day. There had to be a blessing in disguise. “I never understood why blessings wear disguises anyway,” joked Smith. “If I were a blessing I would just run around naked!