African American family honored as pioneers of Tennessee county
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The Hatcher family is officially a “Pioneer Family” in Williamson County.
That designation, bestowed by the county library after exhaustive research, means the family’s roots stretch back to at least 1850. It’s among the reasons the Hatchers have been honored in recent weeks.
Another is this: In less than a century, the descendants of Ned and Maria Hatcher — slaves to white landowner John Hatcher — transitioned from a background of enslavement to become the owners of almost 200 acres in the picturesque College Grove area of Williamson County.
The land was owned by Meredith Hatcher, son of Ned and Maria. Meredith’s grandson recalled the man, giving a glimpse into how he was able to achieve so much in the segregated South.
“At the time my grandfather Meredith Hatcher bought the farm, it was unusual for Blacks to own their own farms,” wrote grandson Elder Hatcher, noting Meredith bought the 183-acre farm for about $25,000 in the 1920s. “So it was very unusual for a Black to be able to purchase that much land and borrow that much money to purchase a farm.”
Elder described Meredith as “good-hearted” and “hard-working” as well as “very tight.”
“If he had a dollar, he would save half of that dollar,” Elder said. “He always talked about being productive and saving and putting up things for the rainy day, as he would call it.”
The Hatchers’ land ownership is a success story amid a history of Black families losing millions of acres of land within a few generations.
The Hatcher family was honored this month at the 22nd Annual Black Tie Affair, a Franklin fundraiser presented by the African American Heritage Society of Williamson County.
The county library also has a pictorial history display set up with the help of family and the library’s special collections department.
The stated mission of the African American Heritage Society, established in 1997, is to “collect, preserve, and interpret artifacts pertaining to Williamson County’s African American culture and increase understanding and appreciation of our heritage for future generations.”
Annually, the African American Heritage Society researches and compiles records “without blame or malice” to tell the entire story, according to Alma McLemore, the society’s president. This year the spotlight was on the Hatcher family, which recently visited in groups at the Williamson County Public Library to see their family’s honorary display.
Rev. Jasper Hatcher Sr. bought more land in the 20th century, bringing his family’s total land holdings to more than 200 acres.
Jasper Hatcher was honored in September with a highway memorial on Murfreesboro Road in Arrington. The reverend talked about his family and their values before his 2020 death.
“They had a will to live, to work, mostly to work. And they had love for the family. They had time for their neighbor … to help a neighbor,” Jasper Hatcher said.
The Hatcher family pictorial exhibit can be viewed at the Williamson County Public Library at 1314 Columbia Ave. in Franklin.