The Colonel John Williams House in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, United States, was built in 1825–1826 by the slaves of Melinda White Williams, wife of Colonel John Williams,Knoxville's Fragile Fifteen
, ''Knox Heritage Quarterly'', Summer 2007, page 8. while he was away serving as Chargé d'Affaires to

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

for President

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

. (Melinda White was a daughter of Knoxville's founder, James White.) The home is designed in the Federal style, with a noteworthy pediment with a fanlight at the roofline. Col. Williams was originally from

Surry County, North Carolina Surry County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,359. Its county seat is Dobson, and its largest community is Mount Airy. Surry county comprises the Mount Airy, NC Micropol ...

. He was the fourth son of Colonel Joseph and Rebekah Lanier Williams. He served as Tennessee's Attorney General from 1807 to 1808, was a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

representing Tennessee from 1815 to 1823 and was the hero of the

Battle of Horseshoe Bend The Battle of Horseshoe Bend (also known as ''Tohopeka'', ''Cholocco Litabixbee'', or ''The Horseshoe''), was fought during the War of 1812 in the Mississippi Territory, now central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Indian ...

in 1814 (Jackson's first military victory.) His Senate career ended in 1823, when General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

won the seat. Colonel Williams also served as a trustee of East Tennessee College (now the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

). Colonel Williams died in 1837, and Melinda died eight months later. Both are buried in the

First Presbyterian Church Cemetery The First Presbyterian Church Graveyard is the oldest graveyard in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Established in the 1790s, the graveyard contains the graves of some of Knoxville's most prominent early residents, including territorial go ...

. The house and property were sold to Abner Jackson, co-owner of A.G. Jackson & Company, a dry goods store, in 1855. He owned the house until his death in 1869. Beginning in 1883 it was leased to the state of Tennessee for use as the Colored Deaf and Dumb School. The state purchased the building in 1885, and enlarged it. It was rehabbed by the state in both 1923 and 1948. In the latter it was turned into classrooms for students and was last used in approximately 1982. For many years it was vacant while adjoining buildings were used for the Sertoma Learning Center. After

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

was found in those other buildings, Sertoma moved to other quarters and the state abandoned the property in 1991. The property was purchased by descendants of the former owners in 1998 and has been restored. The house and some of the original acreage is still owned by the descendants. The other land surrounding the home is owned by The First Tee of Greater Knoxville which operates an 18-hole par 3 golf facility, named Williams Creek Golf Course . In 1842, Williams' son, also known as "Colonel John Williams", built another Federal-style brick house in the vicinity that still stands, the Williams-Richards House at 2225 Riverside Drive.Ask Doc Knox: A Rare Antebellum Manse on Riverside Drive
''

Metro Pulse ''Metro Pulse'' was a weekly newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1991 by Ashley Capps, Rand Pearson, Ian Blackburn, and Margaret Weston, and was a member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. In 2007, ''Metro Pulse' ...

'', April 12, 2010. Accessed at the Internet Archive, 5 October 2015.

References

* ''Knoxville: Fifty Landmarks''. (Knoxville: The Knoxville Heritage Committee of the Junior League of Knoxville, 1976), page 17. *
The Future of Knoxville's Past: Historic and Architectural Resources in Knoxville, Tennessee
' (Knoxville Historic Zoning Commission, October, 2006), page 20.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John, House Houses in Knoxville, Tennessee Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Knoxville, Tennessee