In Search of Nannie Tyler: A 100 Year History of a Family Who Helped Shape Clarksville

Spanning one hundred years from 1820 to 1920, the Tyler family impacted the emerging town of Clarksville, Tennessee in ways unimaginable. Memories of this family resurfaced when a single, deplorable theft one summer night in 1996 involved the graveside statue of the daughter of the notable Clarksville Judge Charles Waller Tyler. This beloved little girl had died suddenly at age four from a disease easily prevented today. Public reaction to the theft was so immediate and demonstrative that the story became a national news item. Against all odds, the statue reappeared, hundreds of miles from its origin, to the relief of Clarksville citizens. This is the story of Nannie Tyler, her family, her stolen statue, and the people of a southern town who loved her.