Lawson D. Franklin

Lawson D. Franklin (January 19, 1804 – April 8, 1861) was an American planter, slave trader and businessman in the antebellum South.

[2] On his paternal side, he was a descendant of one of Benjamin Franklin's brothers.

[3] Franklin was a large landowner and businessman.

They had three sons, Isaac W. Rodgers (1827–1866), Robert O. Franklin and Lawson D. Franklin (1841–1847), and three daughters, Elizabeth Caroline (1831–1909), Jane June and Louisa.

[1] He built Fairfax in White Pine for his son Isaac, and Bleak House in Knoxville, Tennessee for his daughter Louisa.