Where Did Dr. Shacklett Live...in Shacklett?

By DJ Hutcherson - January 2025

As far as I am aware of, this is the only known photo that exists of Dr. Shacklett, or at least the only photo that I have been able to find of him in the 10 years that I have been researching his life.  This photo comes from the section of Sarah Foster Kelley's book titled "West Nashville: It's People and Environs" in which it describes the families that lived further out on the Charlotte Pike in Cheatham County, including families that lived near the Narrows of the Harpeth. Kelley's historical and genealogical book is perhaps the most incredibly informative and thoroughly researched book I have in my collection of local history books. I highly recommend grabbing a copy if you get the chance. (These books are quite rare, and depending on the condition of the book, can be rather pricey). Regarding the photo of Dr Shacklett found in the book, I would venture to say that when it was taken, he appears to have been in his 40's, possibly nearing 50. That would mean the photo was most likely taken sometime in the 1870's or early 1880's. That is just a guess however, hopefully one day I will be able to learn exactly when, where and the reason why the photo was taken to begin with.

 

So, where exactly did Dr. Shacklett and his family actually reside in the Shacklett / Dog Creek neighborhood? 

I have been trying to determine where he and his family had once lived for the past 10 years now, and was about ready to give up trying. However, there has been some new evidence that has recently been brought to my attention.  This latest evidence, along with a little ingenuity, resourcefulness, and more importantly the help I was offered and subsequently received from some very good neighbors who I am proud to be able to call my friends, has finally led me to the piece of property that I believe, after considering all of the evidence I have seen so far, is the most probable spot where Dr. Shacklett and his family built their home.

1897, which is the year when Dr. Shacklett decided to establish an officially licensed United States post office in the community and take on the position of postmaster himself, the area had always been known to the locals that had lived here their entire lives, some of them for 80 or more years, was only know as Dog Creek. 

 I always figured that his residence had to have been somewhere near the creek, and closer to the mouth of the creek than it's headwaters. There are a great number of possibilities as to where he could have had a house in the area, but unfortunately, because it has been nearly 120 years since his death, it is unlikely that there would be very many locals still living who would be able to answer the question. 

That question has been bugging me for 10 years now, having dug through boxes contaning tons of documents and spending countless late night hours searching some of the most boring government related records & archives online that you can imagine. As much as I love history research, that kind of research would have me snoozing within 30 minutes.

But, even though it took me an entire decade to find, I think I have finally had some luck. 

I took the photo below on Dog Creek Road one warm Summer morning in June of 2015. I was trying to get a nice shot of the sunlight filtering through the leaves of the enormous, and obviously very old tree by the roadside that I have started to refer to as the "Shacklett Tree". (I will explain the reason I have given the tree this name below)

This is the stretch of Dog Creek Road, just to the east of where the old Dog Creek schoolhouse once stood, and is where I now believe, after reviewing all of the evidence I have collected over the years, is the most likely location where Dr. Shacklett's residence once stood. According to long time Dog Creek resident Joey Judd, this is the location where at one time a two-story white house once stood.  Indeed, the foundations of some kind of structures are still clearly very much identifiable.

I have given this tree, which is very likely somewhere between 150 - 200 years old, the nickname of the "Shacklett Tree" because as you will see, over the past few years, I have continuously been able to locate and access a good amount of pertinent information that has come from several different credible and helpful resources. These include several different official historic documents like certain Cheatham County Land Deed Records dating back to the 1870's and 1880's. I have also used other official governmental documents containing relevant, detailed and important useful information.

Standing next to the "Shacklett Tree" as I have named it.

Also, after recently becoming capable of once again continuing my research, just within the last few weeks I have finally become confident enough in my knowledge of the history of Dog Creek, leading me to believe more and more everyday, with a high degree of certainty, that at least one of the structures that once stood in the vicinity of the " Shacklett Tree", was the building that Dr. Henry Rector Shacklett had used to establish and operate his United States Post Office out of. This particular US Post Office was officially named, appropriately enough, the Post Office at Shacklett starting in the year 1897.

The remnants of the foundations and partial ruins of the structures that were once a short distance from the Shacklett Tree, which may have possibly been homes, were still easy to observe from the road, at least 20 or 25 years ago. (Which is as far back as I can remember)

The land where these structures once stood was cleared off and cleaned up several years ago, after which I was able to find several interesting small artifacts and other items that are all that remain of the structures that were once here, such as old bricks and severely rotten sections of siding.

The foundation of the structure that was once standing here can still be seen

 

After going over the area very slowly and carefully, I was surprised to be able to find several rather intricate and attractive glass bottles, such as those that would have contained perfumes, medicines or elixirs. A couple of the bottles were made of green and blue glass with tiny handles.

One day, while walking from my house and across the creek headed towards the tree, Terry Plunkett decided to come along and help. We quickly uncovered an old fashioned clothes iron that was just beneath the surface. It was the type of antique clothes iron used in the late 1800's. 

 

The clothes iron Terry Plunkett found at the Shacklett Tree

As most of the articles found were those that would have existed in the average household of the late 19th century, and after taking into account the previously mentioned historical records, for the first time I can say with some confidence that there is a very good chance that this site is very likely the location of Dr. Shacklett's residence on Dog Creek, which likely included a barn or two near the residence, which again, there is evidence for such structures of that kind remaining. 

After a few years of uncertainty, I am now confident enough to make the assertion that this was where the Shacklett home place actually was. (at least the location of one of his homeplaces, as it's still possible that he had another home in the area) 

By piecing together years of both primary resources such as the descriptions of certain parcels of land adjacent to lands owned by Dr. Shacklett, as well as studying the census records, and by being able to determine the exact locations of the homes of some of the people who appear near and are listed close enough to Dr. Shacklett's census entry, I have been able to narrow down the most likely areas where the Doctor resided.

  

Cheatham County 1877 Road Order listing the hands that  were to keep Dog Creek Road, from the "foot of Dog Creek Hill" (near its headwaters) to "the mouth of said creek" in good condition. 

Whenever I visit the location where this huge, majestic and historic tree has stood for generations, possibly for as long as 200 years or more, standing close by to this beautiful, historic old tree, I often stare at it and think of all of the history that this tree has witnessed. It's almost as if we still have a living connection to the distant past.

The "Shacklett Tree" standing beside Dog Creek Road

That tree has seen hundreds if not thousands of stage coaches and other old modes of transportation that have passed by as they went back and forth between Nashville and Charlotte along the Charlotte Pike. 

And then there were the several incidents during the Civil War when both Union and Confederate Forces describe traveling the Charlotte Pike, including the night in 1862 when Hood decided to stop for a nights rest on the Charlotte Pike near the mouth of Dog Creek, who then continued traveling along the Charlotte Pike into Nashville. And many decades after that time, the first automobiles to attempt to navigate the Charlotte Pike first started slowly rumbling by sometime in the 1910's. 

One of the primary sources I mentioned earlier, actually ended up becoming my biggest clue yet that I just happened to find by chance. It is the official application for legally establishing a United States post office that was filled out by Dr. Shacklett in 1897. On the application, Dr. Shacklett was required to estimate the distance and direction that the proposed post office would be from the nearest major river to which Dr. Shacklett wrote 'Approx. 1/8th of a mile directly to the east of The Harpeth River". Another question was similar, though it was referring to the nearest creek to the post office and from which direction it came from.

Dr. Shacklett wrote down that the proposed post office would be located about 50 yards to the north of Dog Creek. In trying to estimate the distance from the Harpeth River to "The Shacklett Tree" I would say an eigth of a mile is close enough, however, we have to take into consideration this could have been a bad estimate. And as for the question regarding the distance from the nearest creek, I would say that Dog Creek is about 50 yards to the South of that spot.

The application for establishing a new post office, that was filled out by Dr. Shacklett. 

The Gravetone of Dr. Henry Rector Shacklett at Dog Creek Cemetary
in Cheaham County, Tennessee.