“Love’s Young Dream”

The Letters of Dr. Edward Noel Franklin to Miss Nannie Hillman-1871

Edited with Introduction and Afterword by Terry L. Martin

Summary of “Love’s Young Dream”

Edward came from a background of Sumner County planters, doctors, businessmen, and horse breeders. His uncles, Isaac Franklin and John Armfield, gained historic infamy as America’s biggest dealers in the domestic slave trade. Edward grew up in the Armfield household, returning in Armfield’s last years to nurse him at Beersheba Springs resort, atop the Cumberland Plateau.

Nannie was the educated daughter of industrialist Daniel Hillman, the South’s “Iron King.” Her brothers would be top players in the industrial development of Birmingham and Pittsburgh. When she visited Beersheba Springs in 1871, she and Edward began a courtship, and after she returned home Edward wrote regularly.

Describing the people and events at the resort, he also writes of the death of John Armfield. Moving afterwards to Nashville, Edward continued his correspondence until their wedding. Yet the occasion was preceded by tragedy—the shocking death of Edward’s brother, a four-year Confederate veteran. The brother’s will led to a family rift between Edward and his father, respected Gallatin physician, Dr. John W. Franklin. The sensational case of “Franklin v. Franklin” would make its way to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

The Hillman family role in the industrial development of Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania is also highlighted.

Martin sets the stage for the original 27 letters, following up with an afterword on the family. 90 photos detail the history, and a selection of articles recounts the famous case, “Franklin v. Franklin.” Other articles on Beersheba Springs describe the celebrated resort. Martin ends with a rebuttal of slave trader John Armfield’s 1871 eulogy in order to contribute to the slave-legacy, reconciliation conversation.

Praise for “Love’s Young Dream”

Joshua D. Rothman

Professor and Chair, History Dept., University of Alabama. Author of several books, including Flush Times and Fever Dreams: A Story of Capitalism and Slavery in the Age of Jackson, University of Georgia Press, 2012.

“The letters collected here shed light on a number of interconnected families of Middle Tennessee, but they also provide a rare first-hand account of the final days of John Armfield, one of the most notorious domestic slave traders in American history. They are of great value to both genealogists and historians alike, who will be grateful to Martin for having carefully compiled and annotated them here.”

Judith Hillman Paterson

Instructor 20 years, Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Author of several books, including Sweet Mystery: A Book of Remembering, University of Alabama Press, 2001.

“Using the letters, Martin has written a charming tribute to two families and the heritage they perpetuated. Along the way, the book becomes a story rich in the history of a time and place and does not skimp on the rough spots. The magnificent, annotated collection of photographs fleshes out the story of additional generations. The Preface to ‘Love's Young Dream’ addresses the much-neglected problem of writing about families ensconced in a culture dominated by slavery and Jim Crow.”

Betsy Phillips

Writer/contributor, The Washington Post and Nashville Scene. Author of A City of Ghosts, Createspace Independent Publishing, 2010.

"Readers will see the Franklin family as the real, complicated people they were—vital and passionate, deeply caring and yet, clearly, people of their times. The letters are a treat, but the usefulness to historians and others comes from Martin's masterful command of the context. He does a great job of making sure that even the passing references in the letters are clear to readers. This is a must-have for anybody interested in Middle Tennessee history."

Kenneth Calvin Thomson, Jr.

Historian of Sumner County. Author (with Dee Gee Lester) of Around Gallatin and Sumner County, Volumes 1 and 2, “Images of America” series, Arcadia Publishing, 1996.