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Charles Clay Trabue
Mayor of the City of Nashville
1839-1841

Charles Clay Trabue was born on August 27, 1798 in Woodford, Kentucky, the son of Edward Trabue and Jane Clay Trabue. At the age of 17, he became a Sergeant in a company of Kentucky riflemen, and joined General Andrew Jackson and his forces in Florida to fight against the Indians and Spanish insurgents. Trabue completed his military enlistment in 1818, having served as one of Jackson’s Lifeguards, a small elite group of selected soldiers who were assigned dangerous missions.

Following his military service, Trabue took a position with the Nashville branch of the United States Bank. On July 5, 1820 he married Agnes Green Woods of Nashville and they became the parents of nine children.

Following their marriage, the Trabues moved to Missouri where they lived for 10 years. In 1824, Charles was elected and served one term in the Missouri House of Representatives. Upon returning to Nashville, he was elected to the Nashville Board of Alderman in 1836 and reelected in 1837.

An active member of First Baptist Church of Nashville, Trabue served as a Trustee of the church and was on the building committee for a new-house-of-worship which was built on Summer Street, now Fifth Avenue. Additionally, Trabue was instrumental in forming the first Tennessee Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

During his second term as Mayor, at the young age of 42, he was stricken with an illness described as “brain fever,” which left him incapacitated for over a decade. He died on November 24, 1851 and is buried in the historic Nashville City Cemetery.

Note: The official website of the Secretary of State of the State of Missouri indicates that the spelling of Mayor Trabue was Trabeau when he served in the Missouri General Assembly.

Research completed by Lynn Maddox McDonald, a Public Service Management graduate student at Cumberland University.

Posted 05/11