On the Overton property in the 19th century, enslaved and later emancipated individuals shaped the social and physical landscape through their labor, skills, families, and enduring ties to descendants. John Overton owned land and also enslaved men, women, and children whose work supported his agricultural production and provided food for the residents of Travellers Rest. When Mary, a widow, became Overton's wife in 1820, she brought children from her first marriage as well as enslaved individuals whom Overton purchased from her first husband's estate. Their daily lives varied by sex and by work, including service in the house, labor in the fields, and skilled trades. Receipts and letters show that several enslaved and free Blacks worked together to construct historic structures that still survive, while others learned trades such as blacksmithing and weaving. In 1821, Overton recorded that Matilda, an enslaved woman, was hired to Joseph Wright as a weaver; in return, Overton was to receive $22 in weaving, Wright was to provide her with two full suits of clothes suitable to the season, teach her to weave plain coverlets, and furnish a loom of the kind to which she was accustomed at the end of her service. Overton's death inventory listed books, household furnishings, horses, mules, cattle, and finally 53 enslaved human beings by name and age. Within bondage, enslaved people also formed families. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, freedom in Tennessee was not finally proclaimed until October 24, 1864, when military governor Andrew Johnson declared all enslaved men, women, and children free. Those who survived enslavement then began the transition to freedom and citizenship and searched for relatives. One such search brought Claiborne Hines from Virginia to Tennessee in search of Frank, his twin brother, from whom he had been separated when Claiborne was sold to a family in Virginia. Overton family oral tradition holds that Frank was driving the Overton carriage when he saw Claiborne on the streets of Nashville. Harriet Overton, wife of Colonel John Overton, invited Claiborne to return home with the family and said that her husband would find work for him. Claiborne then operated a dairy business delivering goods along Franklin Pike and to the Maxwell House, a downtown hotel operated by Overton, and he lived at Travellers Rest until his death at age 79, after which his funeral was conducted in the Overton home.
