Joseph Thorpe Elliston | |
---|---|
Born | 1779
Culpeper, Virginia, U.S. |
Died | November 10, 1856
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Resting place | Mount Olivet Cemetery |
Occupation(s) | Silversmith, planter, politician |
Spouses |
|
Children | 2 sons (including William R. Elliston), 3 daughters |
Relatives | Alexander Little Page Green (son-in-law) |
Joseph Thorpe Elliston (1779 – November 10, 1856) was an American silversmith, planter and politician. He served as the fourth mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, from 1814 to 1817. He owned land in mid-town Nashville, on parts of modern-day Centennial Park, Vanderbilt University, and adjacent West End Park.
Elliston was born in 1779 in Culpeper, Virginia. [1] [2] He moved to Lexington, Kentucky, where he was trained as a silversmith by Samuel Ayers from 1795 to 1798, [2] when he moved to Nashville, Tennessee. [3]
Elliston began his career as a silversmith in Nashville in 1798. [1] He was the owner of a store on the corner of Union Street and 2nd Avenue in modern-day Downtown Nashville, which he ran with his nephew, also called John Elliston. [1] The store burnt down in March 1814, but he opened a new one shortly after. [1] He designed cutlery for President Andrew Jackson, which later became part of the collection of The Hermitage. [1] He also designed jewelry with silver and gold. [1]
In 1811, Elliston purchased 208 acres for $11,435.75 in mid-town, from "what is now 20th Avenue to a line covering part of Centennial Park, and from a line well within the Vanderbilt campus today to Charlotte Avenue." [1] He subsequently purchased 350 acres "along what is now Murphey Road, including the Acklen Park [West End Park] area." [1] It ran across West End Avenue, which had not yet been built. [3] Elliston built a small house, and he named it Burlington "after the Elliston homestead in Kentucky." [4] The house stood on modern-day Elliston Place. [5] [6]
Elliston as a city alderman from 1806 to 1814. [1] He served as the fourth mayor of Nashville from 1814 to 1817. [2] He also served on the committee for the construction of the Tennessee State Capitol, [3] and he was a co-founder of the Nashville Female Academy and the McKendree Methodist Church. [1] [2]
Elliston married Louisa Mullen on August 20, 1800. They had two sons, William and Joseph, and three daughters, Jane, Harriet and Adeline. [7] She predeceased him in 1816, [8] and Elliston married Elizabeth Odom, [7] widow of Charles Elliott and Rev. Learner Blackman. They resided on Sixth Avenue in Downtown Nashville, where the Tennessee Performing Arts Center was later built. [1] His son-in-law, Alexander Little Page Green, was a Methodist minister. [1]
Elliston died on November 10, 1856, in Nashville. [2] [8] His funeral was conducted by John Berry McFerrin at the McKendree United Methodist Church. [8] He was first buried in the Nashville City Cemetery and later in the Mount Olivet Cemetery. [2]
Elliston's son William R. Elliston married Elizabeth Boddie, a granddaughter of his stepmother, [7] inherited the Burlington plantation, and served as a member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Elliston's portrait, done by Washington Bogart Cooper, is in the Nashville Public Library. [2]