Ferguson Hall, Spring Hill, Tennessee [2020]
Address: #5350 Main St., Spring Hill, Tennessee 37174
Phone: (931) 486-2274 ext. 227
Website: https://www.springhilltn.org/CivicMedia?VID=Ferguson-Hall-Historic-Video-Series-25
Map link:
The beautiful Ferguson Hall is on the campus of the Tennessee Children's Home in Spring Hill. Moreover, the antebellum property next to the Tennessee Children’s Home is for sale. This 1853 mansion is on the National Register of Historic Place.
Ferguson Hall is a state plantation home in Spring Hill, TN. Martin Cheairs built and owned the hall in 1853, and a brother of Nathaniel Cheairs, original possessor of the adjacent Rippavilla Plantation.
Ferguson Hall Outside View Photos
Why is it Called "Ferguson Hall"?
William C. Branham and William Hughes started a school in Spring Hill in 1897. The following year, they got the property of what had been Spring Hill Male College. In 1905, they bought the old Martin Cheairs place with its 57-acre land and the mansion.
The property was given the name 'Ferguson Hall' in honor of a friend Branham. Branham and Hughes School became very famous widely as an outstanding educational institution.
When the Great Depression hit the country in the 1930s, they were forced to close the school. In 1934, the property was given to the Trustees of Tennessee Orphans Home and is now an institution for caring for the needy children. Eventually, its name was changed to Tennessee Children's Home and is now a ministry of the Churches of Christ.
Ferguson Hall Living Room Photos
Ferguson Hall Events
This Ferguson Hall can be used for special events such as weddings, receptions, gatherings, and meetings.
Ferguson Hall Bedroom Photos
Ferguson Hall Tours
If you like to have tours, they are available by appointment from Monday through Friday from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M.
Get a tour of the historic Ferguson Hall. This wonderful antebellum home has a story waiting to be told.
Learn about the curiosity-seeking stories surrounding General Van Dorn and the doctor's wife, Jesse McKissack Peters.
Ferguson Hall Dining and Kitchen Area
Ferguson Hall, Spring Hill, TN History
The hall's construction started in October of 1852 and was finished by December of 1853.
Additionally, Ferguson Hall is most famous for an event that happened there in 1863. When the Battle of Murfreesboro was finished, Confederate General Bragg's troops drew back to find more bases to the south. Gen. Earl Van Dorn was commander of Bragg's cavalry. As his headquarters, He led his people to Spring Hill and chose Ferguson Hall (known as the Cheairs Home at the time).
Regardless of whether the hearsay him being as a womanizer was true or not, it has been discussed for many years. However, there was a rumor that Jesse McKissack Peters and him had an affair, the wife of Dr. George B. Peters, a local physician.
They commented that Mrs. Peters was seen coming to the Cheairs House at odd hours. Meanwhile, Dr. Peters knew these rumors. He passed by to the headquarters of Gen. Van Dorn on the morning of May 7, 1863.
The details that transpired that day were few, but in the end, Van Dorn was seen at his desk with a gunshot wound at the back of his head. Dr. Peters disappeared. Evidence seemed to point it was a justifiable murder, and the doctor never faced a trial.
