SDBurtonWillis House

STEPHEN DECATUR BURTON
1813-1892
of White Plains, Tennessee

Once upon a time in the old South many plantations
became communities of homes of family and friends
of the original owners.  Often there were stores,
blacksmith shops, taverns, inns, post offices, churches and schools.

And so it came to be that a man named
Stephen Decatur Burton owned a home in such a
place, the White Plains Community.  His
grandfather, William Pennington Quarles, the owner
of the White Plains plantation, had been dead for
many years.  Stephen's mother, Elizabeth Quarles
Burton, had also died shortly after her father, leaving
behind her little daughter, Frances, a toddler, and
her infant son, Stephen.

Their father, Charles Burton, had turned the raising
of the children over to their grandmother, Ann
Hawes Quarles.  And so, Stephen Decatur Burton, or
S. D., as he was also known, grew up at White Plains
and eventually owned a home of his own near there,
near his mother's family.

As a young man, he married and raised a family.  He
farmed and owned the Burton General Merchandise
Store there at White Plains.  From all accounts he
was a prosperous and prominent member of the
community; a man who was highly respected by his
family, friends and neighbors.

There have been many changes at White Plains,
Tennessee during the last 200 years. Family
tradition says that the original White Plains
plantation home was destroyed by fire sometime
before the Civil War.  The old school, church, post
office, blacksmith shop, inn, and numerous other
buildings are no more.  They have been replaced by
modern residential neighborhoods, a country club
and several new roads.

But the old Quarles Road (now called the Qualls
Road), the Old Walton Road, and the Burton's Cove
Road still lead us home.  There on Walton Road near
the intersection of the Quarles and Burton Cove
Roads, is the Quarles-Burton Cemetery where
William Pennington and Ann Hawes Quarles lie
resting in peace among their children, their grand
and their great-grandchildren.  It is a fitting place for
their descendants to gather and pay their respects.

S. D. and Mary Davis Goodbar Burton are buried
there also, and just down the Old Walton Road, a
short distance from the cemetery, stands their
gracious ante bellum home. The house has also
undergone changes that have contributed to her
preservation and she has defied the ravages of time,
thanks to the care of her owners, past and present.
We, the White Plains descendants, are grateful to
them.

   Stepping onto the front porch of the old Stephen Burton home on the Old Walton Road
is like taking a step back in time to an era that is no more, but of which a fragment still
exists.  The earliest days of the grand old home seem long ago, almost lost in time, but no
matter how remote they may be, its history belongs to its children of today.

    The Stephen Decatur and Mary Goodbar Burton descendants cherish their ancestral
home as one should cherish a priceless heirloom.  Many of their lives are centered in the
childhood memories they have of visits there and stories from earlier days told at the
dinner table by parents, grand, and great grandparents.

    How fortunate they are that, when the time came for the old house, which had fallen
into a sad state of neglect, to leave the possession of their family in the late 1950's, it
came into the hands of Harvey Draper who began its restoration.  His daughter, Mildred
Summers, and now his granddaughter, Martha and her husband, Tom Willis, have
continued the work.  It is really no hobby to them; it is their art.  Not only has their time
and fortune gone into the care of the house, but they have given the old place their
hearts. It may sound a bit romantic, but that's alright because, after all, it is a love
affair.  The old Burton house is now the Willis Home and they have carried on their own
family traditions there now for five generations.

    Once you've been there, you will easily remember Martha Willis' first words,
"I'm so glad ya'll are here.  Come in."   How lucky we all are to find such gracious
Southern hospitality from this genteel family as they welcome us into their home.

NOTES:
    Before Harvey Draper and his family restored the Burton House in the late
1950's, there were nine rooms, four up and five down, each with its own unique
fireplace.  All joints in the house were mortised.  Much attention had been given
to other interior details of the period design.  There were two large porches on
the front of the house.  The kitchen was in a separate building.  The exterior
structure was poplar plank siding.

    Several major changes were made during the restoration of the house.  Most
obvious were that wings were added on both sides of the house; the house was
bricked [1958]; and the double front porch was replaced with a very attractive
portico with full-length columns and recessed second story balcony.

    Narratives are by Paula Phillips.  Material regarding the house for "A Visit to
the Burton Home, White Plains, Tennessee, November 16, 2007" furnished by
Tom and Martha Willis.  Photo of Stephen Decatur Burton and the
"pre-restoration" photo of his home are courtesy of his great-great-grand-
daughter, Eunetta F. Jenkins.  All other photos of the Burton House are
courtesy of Roy Harrell Phillips.

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