Col. John McGavock (1815–1893) was an American heir and Southern planter.The Battle of Franklin TrustWilliam S. Speer, Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans: Containing Biographies and Records of Many of the Families Who Have Attained Prominence in Tennessee, Genealogical Publishing Com, 2010, p. 4 Tennessee Records: Bible Records and Marriage Bonds, Heritage Books, 2009, p. 109 Jackie Sheckler Finch, Nashville, Globe Pequot, 2009, p. 148Robert S. Brandt, Touring the Middle Tennessee Backroads, John F. Blair Publisher, 1995, p. 119 Sylvia Higginbotham, Marvelous Old Mansions: And Other Southern Treasures, John F. Blair Publisher, 2000, p. 185 James A. Crutchfield, Harpeth River: A Biography, The Overmountain Press, 1994, p. 56
Early life John McGavock was born on April 2, 1815. His father was Randal McGavock (1766–1843), Mayor of Nashville from 1824 to 1825 and owner of the Carnton Southern plantation in Franklin, Tennessee. His sister Elizabeth Irwin McGavock was married to William Giles Harding, owner of the Belle Meade Plantation.
Career McGavock worked as private secretary for Felix Grundy in his Washington, D.C. office.
Upon his father's death, he inherited the Carnton plantation. He soon added a Greek Revival two-story portico at the front and a two-story gallery at the rear. Washington Bogart Cooper (1802–1888) painted his portrait circa 1850.Tennessee Portrait Project
During the American Civil War, Carnton was damaged by the Battle of Franklin and served as a hospital for the Confederacy. On December 1, 1864, four Confederate Generals lay dead at Carnton: Patrick R. Cleburne, Hiram B. Granbury, John Adams, and Otho F. Strahl. In 1866, McGavock donated two acres of land to establish the McGavock Confederate Cemetery on the plantation.
Personal life He married Carrie Elizabeth Winder (1829–1905) in December 1848. They had a son, Winder McGavock (1857–1907), and a daughter, Hattie, who married George Cowan.William S. Speer, Sketches of Prominent Tennesseans: Containing Biographies and Records of Many of the Families who Have Attained Prominence in Tennessee, Genealogical Publishing Com, 2010, pp. 359-361
Death McGavock died on June 7, 1893, at the age of seventy-eight.
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