Mariah Reddick

Mariah Bell Otey Reddick (1832–1922) was an American midwife, nurse, and domestic worker who was held as a slave at Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tennessee. She worked for the family of Colonel John McGavock for four generations, both as a house slave and as a freedwoman. At Carnton, Reddick was the head of the household staff and also worked as a maid, nanny, and midwife for the family. During the American Civil War, she was sent to Montgomery, Alabama to stay at the home of Varina Davis' mother, Margaret Kempe Howell. During this time, she was employed as a nurse by the surgeon W.M. Gentry. After the war, Reddick was a favorite midwife of the women of Franklin's high society.

Biography Reddick was born in Mississippi in about 1832. She was held as a slave by Colonel Van Perkins Winder and Martha Grundy Winder of Ducros Plantation in Schriever, Louisiana. Reddick worked for four generations of the McGavock family at Carnton as a nurse, maid, midwife, and head of the household staff.

During the American Civil War, the McGavocks sent Reddick, who was pregnant at the time, to Montgomery, Alabama to prevent her from being freed by the Union Army.

While in Montgomery, Reddick worked for the surgeon Dr. W.M. Gentry, assisting him as a nurse. During this time, she met Bolen Reddick, whom she later married. They had one son, John Watt Reddick.