The Winery at Belle Meade Plantation

In February, John Harding purchased a well-watered, 250-acre tract of land on the east side of Richland Creek, seven miles from Nashville. He likely saw it many times as he passed back and forth to Nashville from his father’s home on the Harpeth/Natchez Road. The property had been a part of a 640-acre preemption grant made by the state of North Carolina to Daniel Dunham in 1786. John Harding brought three enslaved individuals to the property: Ben, who was purchased in Richmond, Virginia in 1806; Dicey, who was purchased from his father; and Patrick, who he inherited in 1810 when his father died.