The house was built in 1832 for Benjamine Rucker, who inherited 300 acres from his father, settler James Rucker.[2] Rucker was the owner of 200 slaves.[2] During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the house was ransacked by the Union Army.[2] After the war, it was inherited by his daughter Sophie and her husband, Colonel William Francis Betty.[2] Their daughter, Willie Betty Newman, became a painter in Paris and Nashville.