Lawson D. Franklin
{{Infobox person
| name = Lawson D. Franklin
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| birth_date = January 19, 1804
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| death_date = April 8, 1861
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| occupation = Planter
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| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Elizabeth Rogers
- Catherine Smith
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| children = 3 sons, 3 daughters
| parents = Owen Franklin
Elizabeth Roper
| relatives = William Allen Montgomery (son-in-law)
}}
Lawson D. Franklin (January 19, 1804 – April 8, 1861) was an American planter, slave trader and businessman in the antebellum South. He was the first millionaire in Tennessee.
Early life
Lawson D. Franklin was born on January 19, 1804,{{cite web| url=http://dlc.lib.utk.edu/spc/view?docId=ead/0012_000361_000000_0000/0012_000361_000000_0000.xml | title =Finding Aid for the Lawson D. Franklin Papers MS.0780 |publisher=University of Tennessee Libraries|website=Special Collections Online | access-date= November 22, 2015}} the son of Owen Franklin and Elizabeth "Betsy" Franklin (née Roper).{{cite web| title=Lawson D. Franklin| url=http://www.genealytreemaker.genealogy.com/forum/surnames/topics/franklin/2118/| website=genealytreemaker| accessdate=24 November 2015}} On his paternal side, he was a descendant of one of Benjamin Franklin's brothers.{{cite news| title=Fairfax: Old South Reborn |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/68961497/?terms=%22Lawson%2BD.%2BFranklin%22 |newspaper=The Kingsport News |location=Kingsport, Tennessee |date=August 4, 1966 |page=18 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = November 25, 2015 }} {{Open access}}
Career
Franklin was a large landowner and businessman. He traded animals and black slaves.{{cite book |last=Stewart |first=Bruce |date=2012 |title=Blood in the Hills: A History of Violence in Appalachia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r_g2IvUPdIcC&q=Lawson+D.+Franklin&pg=PA179 |location=Lexington, Kentucky |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |pages=178–179 |isbn=9780813134277|oclc=724674678}} He funded the Bank of East Tennessee, a bank based in Rogersville, Tennessee.
Personal life
File:Lawson-Franklin-House-tn1.jpg
Franklin married Elizabeth Rogers (1809–1846). They had three sons, Isaac W. Rodgers (1827–1866), Robert O. Franklin and Lawson D. Franklin (1841–1847), and three daughters, Elizabeth Caroline (1831–1909), Jane June and Louisa. He married a second time to Catherine Smith.
Franklin resided at the Lawson D. Franklin House in White Pine, Tennessee. He built Fairfax in White Pine for his son Isaac, and Bleak House in Knoxville, Tennessee for his daughter Louisa.
Death
References
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Category:People from Jefferson County, Tennessee
Category:19th-century American planters
Category:19th-century American slave traders
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