One mile east stood the former home of Colonel William Henderson French (1812-1872), a local legislator, land dealer, and soldier. He was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1842, 1843, and 1845, later became a captain in the Confederate cavalry in 1861, and was promoted to colonel in 1863. He was a large landholder in the region and once owned the entire site of the town of Athens.