The Mansion

Beginning in 1815 William Dickson, a wealthy Irish merchant and Greeneville’s first postmaster, and his wife Elizabeth Douglas Dickson, began construction of a home for their only child Catharine. The house was designed and constructed by Irish craftsmen Thomas Battersby and John Hoy, and local craftsmen, probably with the help of slave labor. The home was completed in 1821. Catharine Dickson was married to Dr. Alexander Williams on August 29, 1823. Dr. Williams died in 1852 and Catharine passed in 1870. The home stayed in the Williams family until 1872. The house then went through a variety of uses for the next 100 years including an educational academy, an inn and a hospital. In 1986 the mansion became the property of Greene County Government. In 1987 the mansion was leased to the Dickson-Williams Historical Association on a ninety-nine year lease, leading to the restoration of its 1850s appearance.

Architecture

The Dickson-Williams Mansion is an example of Federal style architecture popular between 1780 – 1830. The style shares its name with its era, the Federalist Era. The architecture is also known as the Adam style for the British architect Robert Adam. The house is distinctive from the street view with double chimneys at each end. The parlor occupies the right side of the main floor, with a fireplace and intricate plaster decoration on the ceiling. The rooms on the left side of the main hallway were used as a library and the other as a dining room. A circular staircase, ascending three flights, has a mahogany railing with intricate carvings on the risers. A wing on the left houses the mansion's kitchen. Large bedrooms are located on the second floor.

Our Guests

Guests of the Dickson-Williams Mansion included several important historical figures including David Crockett, Andrew Johnson, Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Marquis de Lafayette, Frances Hodgsen Burnett, and Octavia Walton Le Vert.