Alexander Smith House/ Twenty-Four Trees/ Harmon House: One of Oldest in Williamson County
1304 Wilson PK Franklin, TN
Circa 1793. 2-story Federal style home
Alexander Smith House / Twenty-Four Trees was built on what became Wilson Pike by Sarah Jane Leiper Smith (1781-1866) and Alexander Smith (1769-1840). Sarah’s parents were Capt. James and Susannah "Susan" Drake Leiper. They were the early pioneers along with James Robertson and John Donelson who brought settlers into middle Tennessee. The Leiper wedding is credited as the first European wedding west of the Allegheny Mtn. Capt. Leiper perished defending Ft. Nashborough at the Battle of the Bluffs Indian raids, and the North Carolina General Assembly awarded his family 640 acres on the Little Harpeth River.
Their only child, daughter Sarah Jane Leiper, married Alexander Smith, a surveyor, who was charged with settling a boundary dispute between Tennessee and North Carolina. The Smiths acquired more property along what is now Concord Rd (near current Harmon property and the Twin Springs subdivision). The Smiths had three daughters to whom they gave 200 acres each: Elizabeth married Denney Porterfield Hadley and built Hadleywood/ Green Pastures; Mary Emeline married Richard Christmas and built Ashlawn; and Susannah “Susan” Drake Smith Petway who received the portion with the family home.
Susan married Thomas Maury Petway in 1832, and later Dr. Southerland Shannon Mayfield. The Mayfield family resided at the property for many years. Petway was the son of Hinchey and Susannah Petway of Franklin and Nashville (Airlie). They sold land near Franklin to create the first subdivision, Hincheyville. Dr. Mayfield's family was among the earliest settlers in the Brentwood area - his grandparents founded Mayfield Station, the first white settlement in the area. Relatives also owned the McCrory-Mayfield Home off Old Hickory BL. Dr. Mayfield was a friend and physician for Andrew Jackson.
At some point, the house became vacant and fell into great disrepair. In 1950, Glenn Alexander Noble (1912-1998), longtime Brentwood resident and restaurant-owner, and Iva Lee Lott Noble (1914-1981) discovered and restored the property. After being widowed, Noble wed Sarah Lou Hatcher Sherrod Noble (1913-2000) in 1985. He took over long-time pharmacy, Nobles, founded by his grandfather and a partner (1929) and developed it in 1947 as a longtime fixture restaurant, Noble. It was located at Old Hickory BL and Franklin Rd. After a historic home was torn down in 1967 for commercial development, Noble joined a group of Franklin residents to try to protect Williamson County historic sites: the Heritage Foundation. Noble and John Oden eventually developed Nobles Corner with a retail strip shopping center behind the restaurant. Commerce and traffic moved from Wilson Pike to the Old Hickory/ Franklin intersection in the 20th century.
Since 1966, Paul Harmon, an internationally known artist, has been the owner with about 3 acres. He called the property Harmon House. NR 2005 See also Hadleywood, Ashlawn
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