Fall 2025 Lifelong Learning Special Gathering: “Montgomery Bell: Tennessee Frontier Capitalist”

Friday, November 7, 2025 12:00 PM-1:30 PM

Longview Mansion

Join Nashville author and attorney John Williams for “Montgomery Bell: Tennessee Frontier Capitalist” on Friday, Oct. 24 at Longview Mansion presented by the Lifelong Learning program.

 

“Montgomery Bell: Tennessee Frontier Capitalist” is the first biography of the legendary Tennessee ironmaster, whose generous bequest enabled the founding of Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) in 1867. 

 

A 1965 MBA graduate, Williams wrote the book which highlights the major events in Bell’s life—from his childhood in Pennsylvania during the American Revolution, to his first career as a hat-maker in Lexington, Kentucky, through his half century as the most prominent operator of iron furnaces and forges in Tennessee. 

 

The book includes details of the many other ventures that were part of his business career, including his land development activities in Kentucky and Tennessee and his ownership of the first spa resort in Kentucky. Bell had business dealings with several of the most prominent men of the 19th Century, including Nashville founder James Robertson, General Andrew Jackson, two-time presidential candidate Henry Clay, Belle Meade Plantation owner John Harding, and Nashville attorney Francis Fogg (for whom Hume-Fogg High School is named).

 

One of the most popular state parks in Tennessee, Montgomery Bell State Park, is named for Bell. Bells Bend Park in Davidson County is also named for him.

 

Cost is $45 per person and includes lunch. Registration is required by Nov. 4. Free parking is available on site. 

 

REGISTER

QUESTIONS? Contact amy.hamar [at] lipscomb.edu (Amy Hamar) for more information about this fall’s Lifelong Learning program.