Dr. and Mrs. William Meredith Brown Home

The home of Dr. and Mrs. William Meredith Brown was constructed in 1944.  The present owners, J. J. Hollars and wife Amy Hollars, are the fourth family to own the home.

 

The featured home this week is located at 106 Daugherty Street here in Livingston, and is presently owned by J.J. Hollars and wife Amy Hollars, the fourth family to have ownership. Along with three children, Peter, Caroline, and Aubrey, the Hollars family also includes a dog named Daisy, and a cat named Callie.

A look back at the history of the house shows that Dr. William Meredith Brown and wife Ann (Nevans) Brown had the home built. A deed conveying property in May of 1944 shows a transaction from E. D. White to Dr. W.M. Brown for the property believed to be where the home is located. A second deed in May of 1944 from Mrs. J.S. Fleming to Dr. and Mrs. Brown also conveyed an additional nearby lot. Prior to the construction of the Daugherty Street home, Dr. and Mrs. Brown lived in a dwelling that sat where Winningham Hardware is now located. The Browns bought that home from Bedford Arnold and wife in September of 1928.
 

According to information found in Robert Eldridge and wife Mary Eldridge book on the History of Overton County, Dr. Brown, a native of Hilham, was born in 1882 and died in 1959. He was the son of George Granville Brown and wife Mary (Phillips) Brown of Hilham. His education included an M.D. degree in 1915 from Louisville Medical School. He also attended Tulane University. For 9 years, he practiced medicine at Hilham, and then moved to Livingston in 1926. He was also an optometrist. Dr. Brown and his brother-in-law, Dr. Herman B. Nevans, purchased the Sarah Preston Home located on Preston Street, formerly operated as a girls' dormitory by Livingston Academy, and opened the Lady Ann Hospital in Livingston in
1937. This hospital, named for Mrs. Ann Brown, wife of Dr. Brown and sister of Dr. Nevans, was operated for a few years and was the only hospital in the Upper Cumberland section, until World War II, when Dr. Nevans entered military service as a surgeon. At that time, the hospital
was closed, sold and made into an apartment house.

After the close of World War II, Dr. Nevans returned to Livingston and soon afterwards, a new corporation was formed to build a new hospital also named Lady Ann Hospital. That corporation was composed Dr. W.M. Brown, Dr. H.B. Nevans, J.A. Allred, J.W. Allred, W.B. Brown, A.D. McCormick, and C. R. McCormick. This new hospital was located on University Street and began with 20 beds, modern hospital equipment and trained nurses. A new wing was added in 1956. Another corporation was then formed with members listed as Dr. W.M. Brown; Dr. H.B. Nevans; G.S. Shanks; C.R. McCormick; Dr. W.E. Clark; D.A. McCormick; Dr. W.G. Quarles; Willie Mae Stroud; Dr. Joe Clark; Dr. C.E. Clark; Dr. D.D. Norris; Dr. J.R. Billings; and G.F. Winningham.

In addition to the Hollars family, others who have owned the Dr. Brown home include Charles Raymond McCormick and wife Ruby Beatrice McCormick who bought the house in 1960, and then, Danny Williams who bought it 1995.

 

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