Alexandria Historic Cemeteries District

Where did the Big Pine Tree at 103 West Main Street come from?

A man named John Fielding Luckey moved to Alexandria from Hickman, Tennessee with his wife Martha Jane O’Neal Luckey with their four children. He also had one daughter from another relationship. He is in the census here as early as 1850’s. He was a carpenter and cabinet maker.

John was born on December 6, 1828 in Hickman Tennessee. His father, also a John, was born in Virginia, John Sr. married Rebecca who was born in North Carolina and they moved to Tennessee where they raised their family.

John Fielding Luckey served as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Civil War. Company F, 24 Regiment, TN Infantry and fought in the battle of Murfreesboro at Stones River Battle on December 31, 1862, as well as, Chickamauga near Chattanooga, TN. 

His oldest daughter was named after her mother and was also a Martha Jane, she was born in Alexandria in 1853. Daughter, Martha Jane married Lemuel Lucas and they had two children Claude and Hassie. Miss Hassie was born in 1878. She never married and had no children other than the hundreds she taught in the Turner Lawrence Academy and Alexandria Elementary schools. One of her students was Daris Jean Jennings.

Daris Jennings was born and raised in Alexandria. Her father was Charles “Chop” Jennings and mother Beulah Belle “Shorty” Mayfield Jennings. Daris, yes that’s how you spell it, married Jimmy Mullinax from Liberty and they had four daughters. Ria, Susanna (died at birth), Beki and Stacey. Ria married Ricky Baker and they had two children, Tori and Derrick who were raised in Alexandria.

Yeah, you’re thinking, “what does this have to do with the pine tree on 103 West Street”.  Well, here’s the story.

Miss Hassie’s father died right after she was born and she moved, with her mother and big brother, into her Grandfather John and Grandmother Jane’s home. When she was a little girl, her grandfather John F. took her out to the pine tree and told her he had planted it there as a young man. He said, “Hassie don‘t forget and tell your children the story of the big pine tree so they can tell their children”.

As I said, Miss Hassie never married and had no children, so when my Mom who was a little girl in the 1940’s, Miss Hassie took her to the big pine tree and told her the story of where it came from.

Yeah you guessed it. My mom Daris, took me to the tree in the 1970’s and told me the story and now I’m telling everyone!

THE BIG PINE TREE AT 103 WEST MAIN STREET WAS PLANTED BY JOHN FIELDING LUCKEY IN THE EARLY TO MID 1800’s and in 2022 it is around 200 years old.

John lived in Alexandria until he was in his late sixties. He suffered from lung issues and moved to Nashville and worked there. He died in Nashville on November 11, 1900 at age 71. J.F. is buried in Mt Olivet Cemetery in Nashville Tennessee.

Hassie Jane Lucas was born in 1879 in Tennessee, the daughter of Martha and Lemuel. She had one brother, and died on the 4th of July, 1954 in Lebanon, at age 76. She would be buried in the Eastview Cemetery in Alexandria.

Father’s Name:  Lemuel Lucas Mother’s Name:       Martha    Jane Luckey

Regiment:         24th Infantry Regiment Tennessee
Date of Organization:  6 Aug 1861
Muster Date:   9 Apr 1865
Regiment State:            Tennessee Regiment Type:             Infantry
Regiment Number:      24th

Battles:              Fought on 31 Dec 1862 at Murfreesboro, TN.
Regiment History:       Stone’s River after battle report:

Report of Maj. S. W.. Shannon, Twenty-fourth Tennessee Infantry.

SHELBYVILLE, TENN., January 10, 1863.

The following is a report of the battle at Murfreesborough, Tenn., in which the Twenty-fourth Tennessee Regt. was engaged, commencing on December 29, [1862,] and ending on January 4, 1863: We left camp on the morning of December 29, 1862; crossed Stone’s River and formed line of battle on the north side of said river, and there remained under frequent shelling until December 31, 1862, when we were ordered to advance, which we did through a corn-field; thence through a skirt of woods and across the Wilkinson pike, advancing on through a stubble field; thence into a cedar glade, where we engaged the enemy and drove him through the woods before us.

Here we sustained a loss of 9 killed, 3 of whom were commissioned officers (1 captain and 2 lieutenants), also 70 wounded, 4 of whom were commissioned officers (our colonel commanding, lieutenant-colonel, adjutant and 1 lieutenant), our colonel and adjutant mortally wounded. On arriving at the edge of an old field in our front, we were ordered back by some one representing himself as aide-de-camp to Maj.-Gen. Cheatham, which order was obeyed by falling back to the top of the hill, where we reformed, advanced, and took our former position at the edge of an old field, where we remained in line of battle under occasional heavy shelling, which position we held until ordered off on the night of January 4, during which time we lost 1 man killed and several wounded, resulting from the occasional shelling and skirmishing along our line. The officers and men acted gallantly, except a few who straggled from ranks during the engagement. The regiment left the field in good order when the retreat was ordered.

S. A. SHANNON,

Maj., Cmdg. Twenty-fourth Tennessee Regt.

Source: Official Records CHAP. XXXII.] THE STONE’S RIVER CAMPAIGN. PAGE 731-29 [Series I. Vol. 20. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 29.] Chickamagua after battle report:

Report of Col. John A. Wilson, Twenty-fourth Tennessee Infantry.

IN THE FIELD, NEAR CHATTANOOGA, TENN., September 29, 1863. [I have the honor to make the following] report of the action of the Twenty-fourth Tennessee Regt. in the battle of Chickamauga September 19 and 20: The regiment engaged the enemy in the battle of Chickamauga on the 19th instant under rather disadvantageous circumstances.

Being flanked on the right, was forced to fall back n order to prevent the capture of the regiment. On the 20th instant, the regiment was not engaged, save in then support of Gen.’s Cleburne’s and Liddell’s divisions, moving from time to time by the right flank until we reached the extreme right of the army, losing in the two days’ engagement 43 men in killed, wounded, and missing. Respectfully submitted.

JOHN A. WILSON Col., Comdg. Twenty-fourth Tennessee Regt. [Capt. J. W. JOHNSTON, Assistant Adjutant-Gen.] Source: Official Records PAGE 135-51 KY., SW. VA., TENN., MISS., N. ALA., AND N. GA. [CHAP. XLII. [Series I. Vol. 30. Part II, Reports. Serial No. 51.]

I would like to thank Ria Baker for this contribution, I always enjoy hearing the many pieces of history she has about Alexandria.