As the Civil War unfolded, Murfreesboro became hotly contested by Confederate and Union forces. Both sides occupied the town for significant periods, with power changing hands as the fighting raged. Punctuated by events like the wedding of General John Hunt Morgan and Martha Ready, wartime Murfreesboro saw no shortage of drama. Through five decades of research, the program “Martha Ready Morgan, From Wife to Widow in 360 Days” comes to life. Author and Civil War historian Shirley Farris Jones will recount the compelling story of General John Hunt Morgan and his bride, Mrs. Mattie Ready Morgan in the elegant parlors of Oaklands Mansion on Friday, August 1st at 5:30 pm.
Shirley Farris Jones, a lifelong resident of Murfreesboro and graduate of Knox Business College, is a Civil War historian and community activist, retired from Middle Tennessee State University where she had been on staff for more than thirty years. An active author, Shirley is also a founder of the Middle Tennessee Civil War Round Table, former president of the Rutherford Historical Society, the Rutherford County Chapter of the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities, the Friends of Stones River National Battlefield and the Martha Ready Morgan Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Admission to Jones’ discussion is $10.00 per person with reservations required. Tickets may be purchased by phone, on our website, or in person at Oaklands’ Visitors Center. Copies of Jones’ book, The Un-Civil War in Middle Tennessee and Murfreesboro in the Civil War, which was co-authored by she and Dr. Michael Bradley are available in the Oaklands Museum Shop.
In honor of Mattie Ready Morgan, her gown and undergarments will return to exhibition in Oaklands Mansion for Jones’ discussion and will remain for a brief time on exhibit during museum tours Monday-Saturday 10:00am-4:00pm and Sundays 1:00-4:00pm.
Oaklands Mansion, located at 900 North Maney Avenue in Murfreesboro, Tennessee is a nationally registered historic landmark that reflects a time of prosperity in the Old South, as well as the hardships suffered during the Civil War. For more information contact Oaklands at(615) 893-0022 or email info@oaklandsmansion.org.
