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Who
Was Isaac Litton?
 Who
Was Isaac Litton?
by Paul L. Rawls, Class of 1951
Many
who went to Isaac Litton High School were aware of a connection between
the school and a Davidson County politician named Litton Hickman. Hickman
was Davidson County's elected County Judge when our high school was
built and Isaac Litton was Judge Hickman's maternal grandfather.
Questions:
Was naming the school a political favor for the Judge? Did Judge Hickman
think he'd be better remembered with his granddad's name over the school's
main entry? Or was Isaac Litton a noted-enough Davidson Countian to
deserve his name in concrete even if his grandson had never been elected
county judge?
Well, Isaac Litton was not a native of Davidson County
nor even the United States. He was born in Dublin, Ireland on January
30, 1812; one of Catherine and Joseph Litton's nine children. The family
came to the Nashville area in around 1817.
Isaac's first wife was Pamela Parker, however she
died during the birth of her first baby. The infant died as well. Next,
Isaac married Rebecca Smith when he was thirty-one. She died six days
after giving birth to a son, George.
By age 35, Isaac was remarried to the 24-year-old
Lucinda Callaway Tyree. Lucinda bore Isaac six girls and one boy.
 Isaac
Litton was engaged in two businesses, concurrently, of which I am
aware:
•
The West Nashville Planing Mills and Lumber Company (the sign on which
said: "Rough & Dressed Yellow Pine, Poplar, & Cedar Lumber,
Shingles, Etc.").
• Litton and Pulliam Undertakers and Casket Dealers (his
partner was J. M. Pulliam).
It is rather obvious that Isaac prospered. He came
to own 120 acres northeast of Nashville and subsequently, he gave
land to his grandson, Litton Hickman, along Gallatin Road.
During the post-Civil War period, however, Isaac
was in trouble: he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United
Sates. As punishment, the military authorities shipped him "south
of the lines of the National Army." In time, though, Isaac returned
home for good.
He was a justice of the Davidson County Court in
1880 and at age eighty-two, he died on December 21, 1894. My own dad
was four years old by then.
My Conclusion: I'd say that Isaac Litton was a rather prominent citizen
after all, and I think he'd have been proud of the achievements of
the former faculty and students of the high school that was named
in his honor.
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