Title	Bills Cottage
Alternate Title	Cottage at The Pillars
Date	ca. 1863
Genre	architecture
Description	Small white wooden building with side gable roof, off-center front door topped by a rectangular paneled glass window and shuttered front window.
Historical note	This white wooden cottage, with carved scrollwork detail below gabled eaves and and gothic arches adorning the square hoods over its single front window and door, was built during the Civil War by John Houston Bills. Bills, a prominent cotton factor, had been a close associate of President James K. Polk. An anti-war Unionist, he built this cottage in the yard adjoining his home, The Pillars, so that his daughter, who was married to Confederate officer Marshall Polk, a relative of James and Sarah Polk's, could move back into town while her husband was away. Sarah Polk's influence assured that Marshall Polk would receive special care and attention after he was wounded during the war. Emmaline and Marshall presented a gold-tipped cane to Sarah Polk in appreciation.
Subject	Architecture, Domestic; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; Bills, John Houston
Theme	Holding Fast to Beauty
Story	Sarah Polk
Geographic Location	United States -- Tennessee -- Bolivar
Time period	1860-1869
Contributing Institution	The Pillars
Credit line	The Pillars, photograph by Ken Kowen
Type	Still image
Format	image/jpg
Digital Publisher	Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
Archival file	shades3/shades_pill_0001.jpg