A.N.C. Williams was Franklin's first Black business owner. A new marker honors him

Alma McLemore and other organizers welcomed visitors outside the over 100-year-old downtown Franklin building.

Moments before, McLemore, who is the president of the African American Heritage Society of Williamson County, and society members had wrapped up the organization’s longtime annual Juneteenth celebration.

Now, McLemore smiled amid supporters and pedestrians gathered at 418 Main Street, standing in front of the site where the city’s first Black business owner, A.N.C. Williams, built a thriving store – with both white and Black patrons – amid the reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.

“This is a good day to do this, right?” asked McLemore, wearing a Juneteenth T-shirt. “(Williams) brought more people together. Don’t we need more people in America together?”

She was joined by longtime Franklin leader and preservationist Mary Pearce, as well as city elected officials, in unveiling the marker for Williams at the building where he ran a successful shoe repair and later a general merchandise store for 64 years.

Williams retired in 1928.

Pearce explained how more than 200 people turned out for Williams’ funeral, requiring a move to the larger white Church of Christ building in Franklin. Williams was held in such high regard, he was able to obtain a bank loan, which was nearly unheard of for a Black person during that time, Pearce said.

The historical marker was the first set up by the heritage society, McLemore said.

The building's owner, Travis Anderson, said he was happy the heritage society set up the marker.

Williams also had a street named in his honor two years ago.

From shoes, to pies, to general store: A.N.C. was an entrepreneur

Allen Nevils Crutcher Williams was born into slavery in Spring Hill  in 1844. He later moved to Franklin after being sold to D.R. Crutcher at the age of six.

When he was 18 years old, he was sold to Capt. Andrew Jackson Williams of the Confederate Army for $1,500, Tennessean archives show. The Confederate captain taught Williams to read and write, which he had begun to learn by tracing scraps of paper.

Following his emancipation from slavery in 1863, Williams opened the first black-owned business in Franklin, which was a shoe repair shop. His store was destroyed during the Battle of Franklin in 1864. With his store destroyed, he sold pies on the street, according to an article included in county historian Rick Warwick's book, "Williamson County: In Black & White."

Later, Williams secured a lease on Franklin’s Main Street to operate his business which he later expanded into a general merchandise store.

Williams was the founding minister of the Cummins Street Christian Church, Tennessean archives show. He also preached at Fourth Avenue Church of Christ, then a white church.

He purchased property in what would later become the Natchez Street community, where he sold lots to other Black families for homes.

The Merrill-Williams House in the Natchez neighborhood, where his grandchildren and great-grandchildren lived, was purchased this year by the African American Heritage Society of Williamson County. The goal is to transform it into a public learning center of Black history.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: A new Franklin marker honors city's first black business owner