Love’s Young Dream: The Letters of Dr. Edward Noel Franklin to Miss Nannie Hillman–1871

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Edward came from a background of Sumner County planters, doctors, businessmen, and horse breeders. His uncles, Isaac Franklin and John Armfield, gained historic infamy as America’s biggest dealers in the domestic slave trade. Edward grew up in the Armfield household, returning in Armfield’s last years to nurse him at Beersheba Springs resort, atop the Cumberland Plateau.

Nannie was the educated daughter of industrialist Daniel Hillman, the South’s Iron King. Her brothers would be top players in the industrial development of Birmingham and Pittsburgh. When she visited Beersheba Springs in 1871, she and Edward began a courtship, and after she returned home Edward wrote regularly.

Describing the people and events at the resort, he also writes of the death of John Armfield. Moving afterwards to Nashville, Edward continued his correspondence until their wedding. Yet the occasion was preceded by tragedy–the shocking death of Edward’s brother, a four-year Confederate veteran. The brother’s will led to a family rift between Edward and his father, respected Gallatin physician, Dr. John W. Franklin. The sensational case of Franklin v. Franklin would make its way to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The Hillman family role in the industrial development of Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania is also highlighted.

Martin sets the stage for the original 27 letters, following up with an afterword on the family. 90 photos detail the history, and a selection of articles recounts the famous case, Franklin v. Franklin. Other articles on Beersheba Springs describe the celebrated resort. Martin ends with a rebuttal of slave trader John Armfield’s 1871 eulogy in order to contribute to the slave-legacy, reconciliation conversation.