Lawson D. Franklin was a landowner, trader of animals and slaves, and businessman from Jefferson County, Tennessee. He was born January 19, 1804 and died April 8, 1861. Franklin’s many business interests, including plantations and merchandising stores throughout the Southeast, a railroad company to Leadvale, and the Rogersville Bank, eventually made him East Tennessee’s first millionaire.
(There are conflicts over Franklin’s date of birth. 1801 is stated in Howard L. Hill’s The Herbert S. Walters Story but most genealogical sources list it as 1804.)

Franklin’s papers cover the period 1809-1874.  They are deposited at the University of Tennessee.

Click here to view the Finding Aid for the Franklin Papers.