Was near current 4510 Granny White Pike (former Middle Franklin Pk) Nashville, TN
Circa 1800.
Capt. John Bradford (1762-1827) and Elizabeth Blackwell Bradford (1767-1837) married about 1785. Because of John’s service in the 8th Virginia Regiment in the American Revolution, he received at least a 640-acres land grant and moved to Middle Tennessee. Their land ranged along Middle Franklin Pike (now Granny White Pike). They built a home about 1800 called Woodstock about 6 miles from downtown - between the present Lipscomb and Biltmore Drives near the site of the current Lipscomb Academy Lower School.
Capt. Bradford had gone to Mississippi and Arkansas where he established large cotton plantations and made his fortune. After Elizabeth’s death, their son, Edward Bradford (1802-1870), and Virginia Austin Campbell Bradford (1814-1895) lived at Woodstock. They wed 1835. Edward went the same route - moving to Mississippi and making his fortune as a cotton planter. According to family lore, after the first day of the Battle of Nashville, Virginia and their daughter Mary Elizabeth Bradford (1836-1913) went out and tried to rally retreating Confederate troops. Afterward, Confederate forces got support from Mary and were deferential to her during and after the Civil War.
A great-granddaughter, Martha Bradford “Mattie” Nichol Foster (1867-1952), married Chauncey C. (C.C.) Foster (1864-1933), a New York engineer in 1852. They resided on West End Ave. and summered at Woodstock. Mattie and C.C. Foster were the grandparents of Alva Herbert (Mrs. Frank A.) Wilk, who has done much to preserve Nashville history and whose son, Frank, was an MBA classmate of mine. In the early 1900s, Woodstock burned, and the property was sold out of the family. The Foster family built a new home Fairview on Hillsboro and Abbott-Martin. Rd. (lately a Walgreens, now a Trader Joes).
In 1911, Kate T. Kirkman sold 51.6 acres to Josephine Hirsig. The tract is a few miles northeast of Kirkman's Oak Hill estate. [Land was originally part of Felix Compton estate, sold to Emily Compton, sold to Kate Kirkman of Oak Hill.]
By 1913, Josephine McBryde Hirsig (1873-1932) and William Grimm (W.G.) Hirsig (1867-1924) purchased the property. They built a 2 story house with a 2 story front porch and named it Zenaida. One of the meanings of Zenaida comes from Persian and Greek origins: “ a lady given life by God.” They married in 1893. Hirsig was a partner of Deeds & Hirsig, dealer of buggies, carriages, wagons, automobiles and manufacturer of buggies and wagons. It was one of the largest dealers in the South, and Hirsig was a partner from 1887-1913. In 1910, Hirsig became principal owner and president of the Nashville Base Ball Association and president of the Nashville Vols. He also had a group that built Sulphur Dell baseball park. Hirsig was a Board member of Tennessee Bank and Trust Co. In 1918, the home was destroyed by fire. Afterward the Hirsig tract was reduced to about 11 acres by 1936. In 1970, C. C. Frank had built a frame home on the foundations of the old houses. See Fariview
Sources:
Nashville Pikes, Vol. 1, pp. 337-340
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