Adelicia Acklen was considered an old maid at age 22 in 1839 when she was married off to the notorious slave trader Issac Franklin. Issac was the largest slave owner in the southern states, and owned numerous plantations in Louisiana (including Angola, which would become Angola Prison). Prior to the Civil War, the pair was in New Orleans when Issac suddenly died. It was the dead of summer, so Adelicia stuffed him in whiskey barrels to preserve his body on the long ride up the Natchez Trace back to Nashville for burial. With his death, she inherited the equivalent of one million dollars, 70,000 acres of land and 750 slaves. She remarried several times, and later built Belmont Mansion, which became Belmont University.
Take me home Adelicia lay me down so I can sleep
take me home Adelicia take me home
I’ve been running I’ve been working too hard on the wrong things
it’s like a bad dream when you can’t cry out and you can’t breathe
it’s got me thinking about the one I love
and the reasons for the damage I’ve done
can’t shake the feeling that I’m never coming back again
Take me home Adelicia lay me down so I can sleep
take me home Adelicia take me home to Tennessee
take me home Adelicia get me out of New Orleans
take me home Adelicia home to Tennessee
I might be a liar a fool or a saint or everything
I’d trade the devil hell I’d trade it all for the light you bring
and in the Quarter they drink their bourbon neat
but around here they got nothing on me
and there’s a good book but it’s not what I believe
Take me home Adelicia lay me down so I can sleep
take me home Adelicia take me home to Tennessee
take me home Adelicia get me out of New Orleans
take me home Adelicia home to Tennessee
