Governor A. H. Roberts and his Donelson Farm

The two-story Victorian house that is now 3212 Freno Lane in Lincoya subdivision was the residence of Gov. A. H. Roberts (1868-1946) and his family from 1928 until 1946.

Gov. Roberts is best remembered as being the State of Tennessee’s chief executive when, in 1920, the Tennessee legislature approved the 19th amendment which granted voting rights to women.

The old house, located on the western slope of Todd’s Knob, was built in 1880 by Alex and Anna Perry. Perry’s house and large farm, called Nutwood, was across McGavock Lane from Spence McGavock’s Two Rivers farm (1). Alex Perry died in 1927 and Gov. Roberts purchased 150 acres from Perry’s heirs on July 8, 1927 (2). This was only a portion of the Perry tract. There were eight Perry children, several of whom owned tracts of land carved from their parents’ property. Roberts continued to purchase property from these heirs from time to time. A granddaughter of Gov. Roberts has written that his farm eventually comprised 600 acres, including all of Todd’s Knob, and was bounded by Stone’s River (3).

Roberts had returned to his law practice in Nashville when his two-year term as governor expired in 1921. By 1927 he was 59 years old and probably thinking of retiring when he purchased his farm. It is also possible that he was anxious to have sufficient property for his adult children to live near him. In the 1930s three of his four children owned houses on the farm.

Maurice M. and Hattie Smith Roberts built Stone Cottage, an English cottage-style house, at 3214 McGavock Lane. Sadie Roberts Capps and her husband, Paul, bought the shingle cottage at 3238 McGavock Lane from Boyd Perry (4). Nan Isbell and A. H. Roberts, Jr. built a stone house near the summit of Todd’s Knob. This house was named Fort Houston in honor of Gov. Roberts’ ancestor, Sam Houston. It was designed by McKissack Brothers, Architects (5). Helen Roberts, who married Dr. Horace Gayden, lived in Nashville on the southeast corner of Hillsboro Road and Woodmont Boulevard.

After living in Donelson for only four years, Gov. Roberts’ first wife, Nora Deane Bowden Roberts, died in 1932. On October 3, 1934 he married Irene Arnstein. Before her marriage, the second Mrs. Roberts had resided on Lauderdale Road in Cherokee Park where she owned a home dry-cleaning machine. On March 7, 1935 she had returned to her former home to dry clean some clothes when the machine exploded. She died the following day at St. Thomas Hospital (6). Gov. Roberts’ third marriage was to Mary Edwards. This marriage ended in divorce in 1944.

Gov. Roberts died in 1946 and is buried in Livingston, Tennessee (7). After his death his children sold the Victorian house and the farm to Criswell, Freeman, and Nokes who developed Lincoya subdivision. At the present time his house is owned by David P. Young. Fort Houston on Knob Hill is now the residence of Theresa and Mark Finch.

In 1950, Stone Cottage on McGavock Lane was purchased by Carrie and Ernest L. Edwards, Sr. from Hattie Smith Roberts. It is still occupied by the Edwards family. The Capps house is now the residence of Velda R. Fox.

According to Gov. Roberts’ granddaughter, Betty Capps Uffelman, who still lives in the Donelson area, there was another house built on the Roberts farm at 3210 McGavock Lane. This was the residence of Maj. Claude Daughtry and his family. Maj. Daughtry was a good friend of A. H. Roberts and had been on his staff when he was governor. This house, on the site of the Donelson Free Will Baptist Church, was razed in the 1990s.

(1)Smith, Elizabeth M. “A Nashvillian Tells Her Story.” Unpublished manuscript. Nashville Room, Ben West Public Library.
(2)Davidson County Deed Book No. 777, p. 213.
(3)The Nashville Tennessean, September 6, 1972.
(4)Author’s interview with Mrs. Betty Capps Uffelman, April 3, 2000.
(5)Aiken, Leona T. Donelson, Tennessee: Its History and Landmarks, pp. 222-224.
(6)The Nashville Tennessean, March 7, 1935.
(7)Braden, Kenneth S. “The Wizard of Overton: Governor A. H. Roberts of Tennessee.” Unpublished thesis at University of Memphis (also at TSLA), 1983.