Randal McGavock

Randal McGavock (1766–1843) was an American Jeffersonian Republican politician and Southern planter.^[1][2][3] He served as the Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee from 1824 to 1825.^[1][2][3]

Biography

Early life

He was born on June 20, 1766 in Rockbridge County, Virginia.^[1] His father was James McGavock, Sr., and his mother, Mary (Cloyd) McGavock.^[1]

Career

He served as Mayor of Nashville from 1824 to 1825.^[1][2][3]

In 1826, he built Carnton, a Southern plantation in Franklin, Tennessee.^[3] During the American Civil War, Carnton was damaged by the Battle of Franklin and served as a hospital for the Confederacy.^[3] On December 1, 1864, four Confederate Generals lay dead at Carnton: Patrick R. Cleburne, Hiram B. Granbury, John Adams, and Otho F. Strahl.^[3]

Personal life

In February 1811, he married Sarah Dougherty Rodgers, whose brother was Felix Grundy (1775–1840), U.S. Congressman from Tennessee from 1829 to 1838 and 13th United States Attorney General from 1838 to 1840.^[1][4] They also had four sons, James R., William, John, an unnamed infant son, and three daughters, Elizabeth, Mary Cloyd and an unnamed infant daughter.^[1] In 1840, their daughter Elizabeth married Gen. William Giles Harding, heir and later owned of the Belle Meade Plantation.^[1] Their son John McGavock (1815–1893), who married Carrie Elizabeth Winder (1829–1905) in December 1848, inherited the Carnton plantation.^[3] His grandson by his son Jacob, Randal William McGavock (1826–1863), served as Mayor of Nashville from 1858 to 1859, and died as a Confederate Lt. Col. in the Battle of Raymond.^[4]

He died in September 1843. He is interred at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville.^[1]

References

• Carnton Plantation and Battlefield. Franklin, TN: The Battle of Franklin Trust. 2010.