Susan Harber, Daily News Journal, August 16, 2015
Chesley Williams, “Father of Eagleville,” stands as a prominent pioneer in the history of this special town.
His Old English name is derived from the term “woodland” that is so befitting to a man, who thoroughly loved nature and thickly wooded frontier land in an isolated hamlet of Rutherford County.
He was born July 22, 1809, to James and Sarah Allison Williams just three miles north of Eagleville in then-Williamson County. His siblings included Nancy, Fletcher, Mary, Jane, Sarah Ann, Elizabeth, Elgin and Martha.
He moved to Eagleville from Triune in 1832. While living in Triune, he was a partner in the Hawkins Store.
Olden lore conveys a large eagle was taken to the ground on Sullivan Hill by Chesley in the looming Harpeth Hills behind the village, and the settlement acquired their existing name.
Chesley and Elizabeth Jordan Williams (1813-1895) had eight children: Thomas Harrison, Mary Virginia, Sarah, Sophia, James Chesley, Frances, Emma, and Robert. Chesley was 25 years old when son Thomas was born, and 50 years old when son Robert entered the world.
Chesley buried both Thomas (age 10) and Sarah; and his beautiful daughter, Sophia, died just two months after Chesley was deceased. His daughters married well known grooms, including Ransom, Lowe and Sullivan.
Chesley’s daughter, Sarah, wed Dr. William Harrison McCord, whose majestic home “McCord House” stands as a spectacular landmark in Eagleville
The McCord home in Eagleville, built 1882, is on the National Register of Historic Sites.
today. Sarah attended Mary Sharp College in Winchester and was a writer and poet. As a wedding present, Chesley bequeathed 196 acres to Sarah and William in 1868.
Chesley, a large landowner, gave each married child a gift of land to create roots in his beloved community.
Chesley, a handsome man, was a success in every venture undertaken. In 1832, he originated a general store in Eagleville that was intact until 1972. He was a Democrat and second postmaster of Eagleville (1836) a position he held for 30 years. Tennessee governor Isham Harris commissioned Chesley to procure stock for building a turnpike road from Salem in Rutherford County to Eagleville in Williamson County. As a result, $26,000 was secured, and Chesley was the main stockholder and administrator in the Eagleville-Unionville Turnpike Co.
Chesley also had an exquisite white home on the southern hem of Eagleville.
In 1876, Chesley explored running for state Senate and was endorsed by the Rutherford Herald as “one of our oldest and most intelligent citizens above the shadow of suspicion.” He did not pursue the election in the end, but he continued close ties to political involvement.
Chesley built a hotel in Eagleville in the late 1880s. The hotel was intended to provide a place for students and teachers of the Savage School to live during the school week and for visitors to enroll and sojourn with their children attending t his school.
Chesley’s daughter, Fannie, was married to George Savage, founder of the school. On June 4, 1890, Chesley, as trustee, was on hand for commencement.
After the program, Savage announced he had been elected president of Southwestern Baptist University and was resigning from Eagleville School. His father- in-law (Chesley) was so distraught that he went to bed sick. Chesley had deep emotions over family and relationships and mourned his daughter leaving his sacred community.
Chesley was a committed and dominant figure in the early community of Eagleville. He served as an administrator for estates, a treasurer and trustee for Eagleville School, and he operated a medical practice. He also maintained fine furniture. Windsor chairs signed by Chesley Williams exist today.
Chesley’s son, Robert, a Democrat, followed his father as postmaster in 1893. Moreover, he was a clerk in his father’s store.
Son James enlisted in Company C, 11 th Tennessee Cavalry and was a scout and courier for Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest in the Civil War. He was eventually captured and held as prisoner.
During this turbulent era, the Union troops burned Chesley’s store that was soon rebuilt. James was the president o f the Bank of Eagleville in 1904 and ran the family store until 1910, at which time his son E.L. Williams managed the store.
The ”Chesley Williams Papers” were donated to Tennessee State Archives and consists of 2 ,000 items from his personal collection. Included are his tollgate and store receipts, as well as accounting books and daily ledgers that provide incredible insight to early business transactions in Rutherford County. Williams, an elegant man, died Aug. 9, 1892 and is buried in Jordan Cemetery with his wife, Elizabeth, and children. He is remembered as a powerful pioneer who sought to make lives better in his cherished town of Eagleville.