Hows-Hutton House/ Hows-Madden
Updated: Aug 6
The 7401 Huntwick Trail (off Hwy 70) Nashville, TN
Circa 1790 long house/ addition 1830 into a 2-story frame home
The Hows Home is located near Hwy 70 (current 7401 Huntwick Trail) in the Bellevue area. The original portion of the Hows-Hutton House was started in 1790 as a cabin; in 1830, it was expanded into a 2- story frame.
(Horation) Rasa Jerome Hows (1806-1858) purchased 361 acres along Buffalo Creek in 1829 and settled on the land. The land was bought from Jordan Reeves, a brother of Charlotte Reeves Robertson - the Reeves family had moved onto Hickman Co. Hows married Nancy Lovell Hows (1815-1888) in 1837. His first wife was Caroline Pitts Hows (?-1831). By 1835, Hows purchased all the land between his house and the Harpeth River - about 600 acres but only 100 cultivated.
In 1850, they had amassed about 3,000 acres. A relative, John C. Hows, had also bought a tract nearby along the Big Harpeth River. He owned 5,000 acres himself and shared 8,000 acres with the John and and Nancy. The family was the most prominent landowners in the area in the late 1800s. In 1873, 800 acres remained in family and was subdivided among family. Francis "Frank" H.(?-1921) got the home and 101 acres and lived with his mother.
After Francis Hows died, William D. Hutton (1802-1858) and Virginia Ferebee Hutton (1816-1911) purchased the property and held it until 1963. They wed in 1836. The Hutton family owned Pegram Station and the land in the area.
There were several owners until 1976 when the Madden family purchased the property. From at least 1984-1995, it was owned by the the Dr. James Madden family with 9 acres. The home was included in the 1995 Bellevue Candlelight Tour of Homes. Huntwick Estates was developed around it in the 1980s. NR 1984
Sources:
Nashville Families & Homes: Selectecd Paragraphs from Nashville History, The Nashville Room, 1983/ Historic Homes Gone in Recent Years, Lawrence Trabue, p. 117
Past Remembered, Paul Clements, p. 16
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