Trenton Cardwell
Dr. Hinton
History 2010-S17
November 16, 2017
Historic Site paper
Sam Davis Home
The historic site I decided to visit was the Sam Davis Home located in Smyrna, Tennessee. I prepared for this visit by going to the Sam Davis Home website and reading about the home and the significance of the people that had lived there during the civil war. The home had roughly fifty-one slaves that worked the fields and did other tasks on the farm. There was a “boy” that lived that that was accused of being a spy and a currier for the confederate states during the civil war. The boys name was Samuel Davis which correlates to the name of the home where he grew up. He worked as a spy behind enemy lines gathering troop information and relaying it back to the confederate troops. He did this up until he was captured by union troops that caught him with troop movements and other detailed information. He was later sentenced to be hung for his treasonous crimes and was asked who he had gotten the information from to spare his life yet he refused to give up the name of who he got the information from and that’s where we got the quote “I would die a thousand deaths than to betray a friend” and that was why the confederates called him “boy hero of the confederates” because he was tasked with an important job and he refused to give the name of the person that gave him the information that by doing so would ultimately spare his life.
The Sam Davis Home is located in Smyrna, Tennessee on roughly one hundred and sixty acres of land which was originally eight hundred and thirty acres. The house is a big beautiful home located near the front entrance and has multiple out houses that sat to the right side which was where the slaves had stayed. The houses or huts were extremely small and look like it could be considered a bedroom for many people today, but there were multiple families living within these outhouses. The outhouses had two rooms on each side and a pathway outside that was covered by the roof and connected to the other room. Also located on the property was a large cotton field that still grows cotton today by looking at that field it helps me picture what the slaves went through having to walk the field and pick cotton by hand. There was also a smoke building on the left side of the house that was used to smoke and store meat. Smoking meat was helpful by slowing the growth of bacteria and killing insects that likes to feed on the meat. These buildings were often separated from the house so that if it were to catch on fire it would not burn down the home and anything else located on the property.
While visiting the site I was impressed by how well they were able to preserve everything. The home was in great condition and looked as if it was the exact same as if it were back in the civil war. By them keeping it in such great condition it helped me imagine what it was like back in the mid to late 1800’s when Samual Davis still lived there along with his 50 plus other slaves. While walking around the grounds of the home there was a relaxing kind of feel to it and it made it seem as though you were taking a step back into time during the late 1800’s and how it was leading up to the war and throughout the civil war.
I would recommend visiting this historic site to a friend because it gives everyone that visits an insight into the lives of slaves that lived in their tiny outhouses versus the lives of the slave owners and their huge homes and what all went into the daily lives of the inhabitants of the home. It was also a very interesting place to visit and it had lots of plaques with information and many buildings to look at and walk around in and experience what it was like back during the civil war. Even though this historic site is located in Smyrna it still had that feeling that it was out in the woods somewhere and it was very peaceful to be able to walk around and look at the historical significance of the site.
This site should remain preserved for future generation because it was a great secluded spot to go and learn lots of interesting things without going to an actual museum. It also gave insight into what the slaves experienced at that specific location and was not a generalization as to what most slaves had to deal with it was what the slaves that lived on the property had to deal with and what they did on a daily basis along with where they had to sleep at while they were a slave. This home was also where Davis was later burned after his family retrieved his body after being hung for his crimes of being a spy. Also by preserving this site it also gives people a chance to remember what this country has gone through during the civil war and how terrible of conditions the slaves had to live in while the slave owners got to live in a such a large home and had personal servants to do everything for them.
While doing this paper I was dreading to have to go and visit a historic site because the last time I went to one was when I was little and had little knowledge of the significance of the site or the reason why it was even there. Now that I am older however I now understand the meaning and the significance of historic sites and why they should be preserved for future generations. It was a great experience visiting the home and being able to walk around and be able to see the harsh conditions that slaves used to live in along with the lovely conditions the slave owners had. Now that I am older I wish to be able to travel and be able to visit more historic sites and learn to appreciate history a little more.