Frank James

Alexander Franklin "Frank" James (January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915) and his wife lived in Nashville in the late 1870s under the assumed name 'Ben J. Woodson.'

In August of 1877 Woodson and his wife stayed with Ben Drake on Hyde's Ferry Pike, then briefly stayed with Drake's sister, Mrs. Ledbetter, then they lived near the present-day intersection of King's Lane and Drake's Branch Road on the Walton farm.

In his book Frank and Jesse James: The Story Behind the Legend, Ted P. Yeatman says, "Sometime in late 1878 or early 1879 Frank rented a farm known as the Felix Smith place, to the east of the Clarksville Pike, not far from the Walton Farm. It was a good location. The House stood on a knoll overlooking the pike, and one could see anyone coming for a good distance. It was to the Smith place that Jesse and family came next."

But note, I think that Yeatman is mistaken--there is no suitable knoll to the east of the old Clarksville Pike (what is now Buena Vista Pike) I think he means the knob to the east of the current Clarksville Pike, but west of the old Clarksville Pike, which would make it either the rise the Word of Life Christian Center sits on (4100 Clarksville Pike) or the hill Hummingbird Drive curved around.

Woodson farmed the Whites Creek flood plane, the flat land between Whites Creek and Hamilton Road.