Slave turned minister, school builder had ties to Limestone

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June 21, 2008

Historic home becoming museum

By Jean Cole The News Courier Sat Jun 21, 2008, 08:50 PM CDT

The former home of a slave with ties to Limestone County is becoming a museum commemorating his life and accomplishments.

The Matt Gardner Homestead Museum will open September 2009 in Elkton, Tenn. Though currently under renovation, the museum was open June 7 to help the town celebrate its 200th anniversary.

Once completed, the museum will chronicle the life of Gardner, who was born into slavery in 1847, was owned by a Limestone County merchant, and who went on to buy land, build a homestead, launch the first school for blacks in Elkton and serve as a minister and businessman.

Visitors will be able to tour the farmhouse and grounds where Gardner lived; view handmade quilts created by his wife, Henrietta; see an early 20th century farmstead with a cow barn, chicken coop, smokehouse, well house, outhouse and garden; and understand how Gardner ran his farmstead and how it has survived for more than a century, according to the Web site.

For a preview of the attractions, Internet users can go to www.mattgardner.org and view the history of Gardner and his homestead. The Web site – created recently by Pixel Influx of Huntsville – provides Gardner’s history, a timeline, photos of his buildings, updates on restoration as well as programs and events at the museum and in the town of Elkton.

Since 1995, the Gardner house has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a significant farmstead associated with African American heritage, agriculture, commerce and architecture from 1870 to 1942.

Because the museum raises the issues of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction, education, religion, architecture and agriculture, it is a point of interest for historians, students and anyone interested in U.S. history, Tennessee history, African American history, farming life in the early 1900s – including how popcorn was popped at the Gardner house, and the roots of Primitive Baptist and Southern Baptist religion.

To schedule a visit to the museum, call after Oct. 1, 2009.