[1] In 1840, Acklen was appointed United States Attorney for the North Alabama Judicial District.

[1] In 1847, Acklen visited Nashville to attend a ball hosted by John Bell, where he met the recently widowed Adelicia Franklin,[1] and they were soon engaged.

[1] Joseph and Adelicia Acklen resided primarily at the Louisiana Estates that she inherited from her first husband, Isaac Franklin, however, they also built a summer home, the Belmont Mansion, completed in 1853.

[5][dubious – discuss] In 1863, when Acklen was nearing the end of his life and was already too weak to write on his own, he dictated what turned out to be his last known letter to his wife, where he expressed his pleasure at the end of slavery, believing that the North would soon win the war.

After the capture of Nashville in February 1863, Acklen returned to Louisiana to tend to the estates, at the request of Adelicia.