Vine Hill (Maury Co.)

3331 N. Cross Bridges Rd. Columbia, TN

Circa 1836. Greek Revival style home

Vine Hill is located in the Cross Bridges area and built by James Henry Webster (1808-1873) and Sarah Jane Weakley Webster (1818-1894).

They were the first white settlers in Maury Co. after it was established. They married the same year. He grew cotton, wheat and raised thoroughbred horses. By 1860, it was enlarged to 418 acres. James was one of the first persons in Maury County to use mules. He had holdings in Lewis County, in Arkansas, and in Mississippi. After the Civil War, the land was regularly reduced and divided.

James Henry “Pooky” Jones, Jr. (1920-2010) reportedly grew up at Vine Hill. He returned to Columbia after military service and purchased Walnut Grove. His spouses were Jean Jones Jones (1926-2011) and Virginia Crozier Jones (1923-2019). The house itself was abandoned for much of the twentieth century.

Charles Deer Wiman (1892-1955) and Patricia "Pattie" Southall Wiman (1895-1976) were the last owners. They met while returning from Europe and wed in 1920 and resided in Illinois where he was a director of Deere Co.. Charles' maternal grandfather was John Deere who founded Deere Co. Pattie Wiman, a Maury Co. native, was the last of the Webster family to own the home. Having no children, she bequeathed Vine Hill to the Maury County Historical Society in 1971. The organization used the house for twenty years. The Wimans also donated their Illinois home called the Deere-Wiman home to the William Butterworth Foundation.

In 1993, Randolph Scott “Randy” and Martha Smith Jackson decided to return to Maury Co. (having resided in Houston, TX for years) and purchased the home and property. Martha was a Mt. Pleasant native. Vine Hill is located on about 26 acres. Webster named the house Vine Hill. NRHP 1983 See also Webster Hall/Farm, George Webster House, Walnut Grove

Sources:

http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=ed874598-eff6-4297-9aa0-9764340ed4ac

http://historicmaury.com/homes.html#vinehill