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Posted by Margaret J. Johnson <johnson.mjordan@worldnet.att.net>
on Tue,
22 Feb 2000
Surname: Ready
Charles Ready, Sr. was born April 1, 1770 in
Salisbury, Wicomico, Maryland. His father, Aaron, died when Charles was 6 years
old and his mother, Elizabeth Dulaney, moved with her two sons to NC to be near her
sister. He emigrated to Tennessee in 1797. In 1802 he purchased a large tract of
land on the east fork of Stone's River from Gen. Griffith Rutherford. This land in Davidson
County became a part of Rutherford County in 1804.
Colonel Ready "was a religious man, a staunch
Presbyterian and, although a fine and genial host, never neglected the spirtual
aspect of family life. Every day at dusk, the family and slaves gathered for prayers which
the master would pronounce in measured tones." (The Corners Built by Colonel Ready
Was Famous Seat of Hospitality Here)
In 1811 the Federal Government established
a Post Office there, named it "Readyville," and appointed Charles Ready the first Postmaster. Readyville is located on the East Fork of Stones River, twelve miles east of
Murfreesboro on Highway 70S, which was the original Stage Coach Road from Knoxville
to Nashville, also called "The Immigrant Trail," and the "Trail of Tears."
He was one of seven commissioners appointed
by the Legislature in 1811 to choose a permanent county seat. Colonel Ready tried
very hard to get Readyville chosen, but he lost by a three to four vote, and Murfreesboro
became the County Seat.
Goodspeeds' History of Tennessee says "the
home, built by Colonel Ready, was one of the first brick houses in the county. It
was a large three story Colonial type redbrick house, with walls eighteen inches thick. It
had a portico with white columns in front. Colonel Ready named it "The Corners," as it
was located in the corner where two roads crossed. The wide wainscoated hall,
with a winding stairway, separated the tall-ceilinged parlours from the dining room
and family room. In 1836 when Cannon County was formed, the line separating Rutherford
and Cannon counties was drawn down the center of this hall, making part
of the house to be in Rutherford County and part in Cannon County."
There has never been a church in Readyville,
although it has always been known to be a religious community. First settlers, Charles
Ready and his wife, Mary (Polly), attended Stones River Presbyterian Church,
three miles over Bivins Hill Road. Prior to the Civil War feelings were strong for or
against slavery. During the early 1830's a young 22 year old preacher, Tolbert Fanning,
strongly opposed slavery. At that time slaves and slave owners worshipped together
at the Christian Church. The slaves usually sat in the back of the building and
some of the household slaves sat with the families. One week a prominent member of the
Church sold a slave, and member of the church, at public auction; the slave was sold,
taken to Mississippi and never heard from again. The sale of the slave angered Fanning
to the point that his next sermon was a condemnation of the slave owner for selling
his brother away from his family.
Fanning's sermon caused enough conflict in
the group that the elders fired him and the slave owner had him arrested for inciting
slaves to revolt. Charles Ready, a prominent lawyer of Rutherford County, volunteered his
services to Fanning, and won the case. Fanning became a very famous Restoration preacher
in the Nashville area, and also was the State Secretary of Agriculture for
several years.
SOURCES:
Goodspeeds: History of Tennessee
Hughes: Hearthstones
Registrars Records of Rutherford County
Sims: History of Rutherford County
Ready is said to have remained in the same
house, the same office and carried the same green satchel for fifty-three years. During
this time he also served several terms as mayor of Murfreesboro. (Hearthstones, The
Story of Rutherford County Homes) He died August 3, 1859 "in the 90th year of his
age".
Obituary from the Murfreesboro
News, dated August, 1859)
Charles and his wife, Mary Palmer, had ten
children: Nancy, Carolyn, Aaron, Charles (twin of Aaron), William, Eliza, Mary, Lucinda,
Susanna Maria, and Jane Campbell.
Nancy "married Joshua Haskell and became the
mother of Gen. William T. Haskell, one of the most gifted and brilliant orators
this country has ever produced." Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans by William S.Speer.
Charles, Jr. was a U.S. Congressman from Tennessee
prior to the Civil War. His daughter, Martha (Mattie), married Brig. Gen.
John H. Morgan CSA in December 14, 1862. The marriage was solemnized in the presence
of Bishop (Lt. Gen. CSA) Leonidas Polk. Five Confederate Generals were
in attendance. The mansion in which the wedding took place no longer stands, but
a metal marker denotes the site that stood on Main Street in Murfreesboro.
Morgan was known as the "Thunderbolt of the
Confederacy" because of his lightening-like raids on Union forces. He
led his raiders farther north than any other unit in the Confederacy. In July of 1862 cavalry
raiders Morgan and Nathan Bedford Forrest destroyed military supplies and captured
Northern troops in forays through Kentucky and Tennessee. He was shot in the
back, trying to escape a Union raiding party in the streets of downtown Greeneville,
TN. (Information from Civil War Sites by Tom Weil, 1994)
Charles, Jr. and his wife Martha Strong, had
eight children: Aaron F., Mary, Charles Edmond, Joseph Strong, Horace, Martha, Alice
and the youngest, Ella Love who married Leland Jordan, son of Edward Leland
and Martha Fletcher. Ella and Leland had two sons, Charles Ready and Edward Leland.
She died October 8, 1847 and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in the same plot
as her parents and son, Charles.
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