Built early 1830’s

This poplar log cottage, surrounded by shrubs and trees was built by Banner Brummett on part of his 160 acre land grant signed by President Martin Van Buren. It remains as the oldest house in Nashville. The original cabin had one room upstairs and one room downstairs. Brummett built details into his cabin that were unusual for the time. There was a stairway to the upper room with a hand carved banister- not the usual ladder to a loft. The fireplace was unusually tall inside and well proportioned. Wood rafters and molding had handmade beading on the edges. The cabin had no stone foundation and was built on locust beams resting on the ground. These were in as good of shape in 1970 as they were in the 1830’s when Brummett laid them in place. The first roof was of 27 inch red oak, hand-split shingles (extra shingles were found in the cellar, they had been there since the 1830’s).

The Brummett family is traced back to Franklin County, VA where James I was born in 1746. In the early 1800’s, the Brummett families settled on Brummetts Creek in Monroe County. Brummetts Creek Road runs north from Indiana State Road 46 to State Road 45 where it ends in Unionville. It is here that many of the Brummetts were buried in the cemetery by the Unionville Baptist Church.

The county of Brown was created in 1836 by an Act of State Legislature. Banner Brummett, son of James II was already living in this area, in this log cabin. On August 8, 1936, Banner and his brother Pierson were appointed as two of the six Commissioners of the county. The name of Jacksonburg (now Nashville), was chosen for the name of the county seat. The name was suggested by Banner in honor of General Jackson, the hero of New Orleans. Brummett was given permission in February of 1837 by the County Board of Commissioners to give contracts to the lowest responsible builders for the construction of the original court house and log jail.

By 1937, Banner was operating a store for the selling of groceries and liquor. The selling of liquor seemed to be a thriving business in 1837-38. Local lore tells of Banner taking a minister in for the night who was kicked out of a local inn by an inn keeper who sold liquor for delivering a blistering sermon about the drinking of liquor.

Brummett owned the home until 1850, when he sold it to a Miss Pettgrew. Mollie Lucas owned the house from 1871 until 1932. She divided the rooms downstairs and upstairs into several "cubby holes" and added a porch on the backside of the home. The porch was enclosed in 1890 to make a dining room. Lucas ran a boarding house for “genteel young ladies” for some time and later used the rooms to store furniture for people who left town and wished to leave furniture behind. For a time, the home was known as the Mollie Lucas House.

The house was remodeled in 1871 and all the board and batten sections were added. In 1933, the entire structure was covered in asphalt siding. Mr. Troy Frame bought the house in 1971 and restored it to show the original log cabin. He removed the wallpaper and many layers of linoleum to find the original floors in good condition. When he uncovered the outside walls, he found gun ports four inches square on three sides of the cabin. Although hostile Native Americans were not in Nashville and Brown County in the 1830’s, fear must have still prevailed. The gun ports closed on the inside with little oak doors and leather hinges.

(Information from the 1972 Brown County Artist Sketchbook, Ada Jones and others)