MADISON – Last week’s article looked at the beloved Madison schoolteacher Nancy Hesseltine Gillespie Farley ‘Miss Hessie’s’ life. This week continues that exploration by highlighting the unique house she built in Madison.
As mentioned in last week’s article, Miss Hessie moved to Tuscumbia, Alabama after her husband’s death. However, she returned to Madison to care for her sister, Miss Nora, after her father died in 1910. When she returned, she built a house a 313 Church Street, which is now one of the most identifiable and unique houses in the historic district.
“She had a unique house constructed for herself, her daughter, and her sister at 313 Church Street, while the family farm was rented to a nephew, Clark Patton Gillespie,” writes Madison historian John Rankin in an April 13, 2007 Vintage Vignette…