History of the House

Once prime farmland, the available deeds to this property being used as a home start with G.M. Bartlett selling the one acre lot to Alexander Munn in January of 1866. Mr. Munn was the overseer of the nearby Ward Plantation and a good friend of Mr. Bartlett (who served as Munn's best man at his 1870 wedding). The house was a 2 room cabin with a double-fireplace in the center. In July of 1869, Mr. Munn sold it to Albert Shotwell, who had moved to Union Depot to be the local Presbyterian minister and run a printing business in Memphis. The Shotwells added several rooms to the house. In January of 1877, the Shotwells sold the house to Colonel Clark Russell and Mrs. Barteau.           

Colonel Barteau was originally born in Ohio, but moved to Sumner County, Tennessee in 1856. By 1858, he had become an editor of a pro-state’s rights newspaper and was a convert to the Southern causes. In October of 1861, he enlisted in the 7th Battalion, TN Calvary. By June of 1862, he was  promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second (2nd/22nd) TN Calvary and by 1863, a full colonel. He became one of General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s most trusted commanders and fought in many major conflicts in West Tennessee and North Mississippi. By December of 1864, he had been wounded so many times in battle that he was discharged from the army. He lived in Mississippi before moving to Bartlett in 1870. He practiced law there  and also served as the local prosecuting attorney. His wife ran a small school out of some attached rooms to the house. Colonel Barteau was held in esteem generally by his fellow townsfolk and considered a Southern hero. He died in his home from pneumonia on February 10, 1900 and is buried among his comrades in Confederate Circle, Elmwood Cemetery.                                                   
 

In October, 1903, Mrs. Barteau sold the house to James Tandy Dickey. The Dickeys added a large kitchen, sunroom and back porch to the house. By 1906, Mrs. Dickey was a widow but remained in the house with her children. Her youngest daughter and son-in-law inherited the home and sold it in 1949 to another sister, Sarah Barret, wife of Paul Barret. Mrs. Barret sold it in 1959 and it passed through several owners until 1977. It was then purchased by Judge Freeman Marr and used as rental property until 2005.                                                                     

That’s when it was purchased and restoration was started by Kevin and Crandall Quinn.