Description:Col. Joel A. Battle in his later years, with a long grey beard and mustache, wearing a dark suit.
History:Donated to the library by the Fannie Battle Day Home in 2007. The frame does not appear to be original and had work done to it in 2003.
Notes:Joel A. Battle was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, Sept. 19, 1811. His first wife was Sarah Searcy, who died two years after their marriage. Battle later married Adeline Sanders Mosely. Battle served as a colonel in the Twentieth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. During the war, two of his sons were killed and Battle himself was taken prisoner at Shiloh in April 1862. After his exchange in September 1862, Gov. Isham G. Harris appointed him State Treasurer of the State of Tennessee, a position he held until the end of the war. In 1872, Battle was appointed Superintendent of the State Prison, a position that he held until his death later the same year. A Knights of Pythias Lodge was named in his honor near Vanderbilt University. Joel Battle was the father of Mary Francis "Fannie" Battle (1842-1924), a Nashville humanitarian and social worker who was known during her lifetime as "The Angel of the Poor" because of her great humanitarian spirit and compassionate service to benefit underprivileged children.
