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Title
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Dr. Marvin McFerrin House
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Alternative Title
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Dr. Marvin McFerrin House
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Identifier
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Ghost steps serve as a physical reminder of turn-of-the-century Nashville
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Creator
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Joshua Shell
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Type
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This is the former site of Dr. Marvin McFerrin’s house. The style of the house and year the house was built are unknown.
Dr. McFerrin was born May 3rd, 1867 in Williamson County to a prominent middle Tennessee family. He married Ina Davies in St. Ann’s Church in 1898. They lived on 803 Woodland Avenue following their marriage.
Ina Davies McFerrin died in 1912 at the age of 38. Her obituary lists McFerrin as a prominent dentist of Nashville and notes that she was the organist at St. Ann’s Church for five years. Ten years after her passing, McFerrin married Ina’s sister, Estella, at St. Ann’s as well. She was a Nashville Public School teacher for more than forty years, spending the last twenty-five of those as a math teacher at Hume-Fogg School. After their marriage they moved to 900 Shelby Ave. Estella McFerrin passed away in 1937. In 1953, Dr. McFerrin was found by a neighbor inside his home, dying at the age of 85.
Though the home longer stands, its remaining stairs serve as a physical reminder of a family that embodied the professional class inhabitants of turn-of-the-century East Nashville.
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Source
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File #103: Lot where the house once stood
https://omeka4.mtsu.edu/files/original/ed476dde22a79c6c29391c6497620336.PNG
Source: Unknown
File #104: "Dr. Marvin in his dentist office"
https://omeka4.mtsu.edu/files/original/0d264147915dbc8247d890d079141aa9.jpg
https://tnsos.org/tsla/imagesearch/?find=marvin+mcferrin
File #105: “Estella McFerrin cir. 1907”
https://omeka4.mtsu.edu/files/original/f593a3bd62cd70b6cb6a6384b3469d76.jpg
https://tnsos.org/tsla/imagesearch/?find=marvin+mcferrin
File #106: "Ina McFerrin cir. 1895-1897"
https://omeka4.mtsu.edu/files/original/ea039229761e45d017d3c4d41e783cc9.jpg
https://tnsos.org/tsla/imagesearch/?find=marvin+mcferrin
File #107: “Marvin McFerrin cir. 1906”
https://omeka4.mtsu.edu/files/original/e428e7fff207990a4513a45f508f5907.jpg
https://tnsos.org/tsla/imagesearch/?find=marvin+mcferrin
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prefix name
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Though forgotten, he has a story to tell
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locator
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900 Shelby Ave, Nashville, TN 37206
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annotates
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Historical Records Search. “Marvin McFerrin (1867-1952).” 2020. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/marvin-mcferrin-24-4nzhwx.
“In Society: McFerrin-Davies.” The Nashville American. October 5, 1898: 3. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/hnpnashvilletennesseanshell/docview/938672907/E82F9C68143E4EC6PQ/1?accountid=4886.
“Noted Preacher Called to Rest: Rev. A. P. McFerrin, Sr., Dies At the Home of His Son in East Nashville.” The Nashville American. July 30, 1900: 3. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/hnpnashvilletennesseanshell/docview/953197644/E82F9C68143E4EC6PQ/2?accountid=4886.
“Obituary: Mrs. Ina Davies McFerrin.” Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville American. February 4, 1912: 10A. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/hnpnashvilletennesseanshell/docview/904872201/B629E66C65C04A91PQ/2?accountid=4886.
“Marriage Announcement: Miss Estella Davies and Marvin McFerrin.” Nashville Tennessean. September 17, 1922: A6. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/hnpnashvilletennesseanshell/docview/927454673/14D0C8EC9F5B47FBPQ/1?accountid=4886.
“Mrs. Marvin McFerrin, Mathematics Teacher at Hume-Fogg, Dies.” Nashville Tennessean.. February 13, 1937: 3. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/hnpnashvilletennesseanshell/docview/1899127455/D4DA183A06494CC2PQ/4?accountid=4886.
“Death Notices: McFerrin.” Nashville Tennessean. January 3, 1953: 13. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/hnpnashvilletennesseanshell/docview/1899869875/E82F9C68143E4EC6PQ/13?accountid=4886.
Sanborn Map Co. Insurance Maps of Nashville, Tennessee Vol. 1. Library of Congress. 2020. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://fims-historicalinfo-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/FIMSSD.aspx?m=08356_01_1914.
Sanborn Map Co. Insurance Maps of Nashville, Tennessee, Vol. 2. Library of Congress. 2020. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://fims-historicalinfo-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/FIMSSD.aspx?m=08356_02_1914.
Sanborn Map Co. Insurance Maps of Nashville, Tennessee, Vol. 3. Library of Congress. 2020. Accessed March 17, 2020 from https://fims-historicalinfo-com.ezproxy.mtsu.edu/FIMSSD.aspx?m=08356_03_1914.
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Bibliographic Citation
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Joshua Shell, “Dr. Marvin McFerrin House,” Bygone Nashville, accessed September 15, 2025, https://bygone-nashville.mtsu.edu/admin/items/show/38.
