During the War Between the States, the Todd’s youngest daughter Susan and her husband, attorney and Tennessee State Senator Abraham Looney occupied the home. He commanded the famous Company H of the Maury County Grays. Looney was an outspoken Southerner, and this almost resulted in the loss of Elm Springs. In November of 1864, Confederate Units of the famed Army of Tennessee began the march north for Nashville in what would be known as the  Franklin Nashville Campaign. The Federal Army, which had occupied Maury County for several months, was preparing defensive positions ahead of the oncoming  Confederate troops under Gen.
John B. Hood. Their line of defense extended from the Mooresville Pike to the Mt. Pleasant Pike. As Union forces under the command of Major-General John M. Schofield began their hasty withdrawal from Columbia, many of Maury County’s majestic antebellum homes fell victim to the torch. Many houses were
burned during those days and Elm Springs was slated to be destroyed also. In an act of retribution, the historic home of Confederate Lieutenant Colonel Abraham M. Looney was selected to be destroyed by fire as the last Union troops left Columbia. Responding to pleas of assistance from local citizens, Confederate Brigadier General Frank C. Armstrong dispatched a squad of mounted infantry to insure the safety of Lt. Col. Looney’s home and property. A Union soldier placed a burning
broom under a stairwell, but a female servant removed it before it could do any major damage. Fires were started that might have burned the house except for the opportune arrival of Confederate troops who extinguished the flames.

Susan Kelso Todd, born 1824 in Crockett County, TN, married Abram McClelland Looney on 27 Nov 1844 in Maury County, TN, died 1886 Tennessee Marriage Records have Abraham M Looney married Susan K Todd on 27 Nov 1844 in Maury County. Susan and her family came to live at Elm Springs to live with her father Christopher Todd who died in 1868. He is buried at Elm Springs.

From this time on, the house was identified with the Looneys. The Looney family were Christians of the Presbyterian faith.

Tennessee Governor John Calvin Brown

Following the Battle of Franklin where he had been wounded, General John C. Brown, C.S.A., was brought here and remained here for several weeks until the Federal troops came back into the county. Born in Giles County on January 6, 1827, John C. Brown was one of nine children & the brother of Governor Neill S. Brown, who was thirteen years his senior. He was one of the best-educated men the State has ever produced and was a graduate of Jackson College, Columbia. In 1848 he began the practice of law. In politics, he was a Whig and made a brilliant canvass of the State as an elector on the Bell and Everett ticket, 1860. He opposed secession, but when the State voted to go with the Confederacy he went with her. With no military training, Brown entered the service of his state in 1861 as a Private and was quickly elected Captain, then Colonel of the 3rd Tennessee Infantry. He commanded his regiment in their invasion of Kentucky and Fort Donelson, where he was captured and sent to a northern prison. When released, he was promoted to Brigadier General and later to Major General. At the battle of Perryville, he was shot in the thigh and on leaving the hospital reported for duty while yet on crutches. His horse was shot from under him in the battle of Missionary Ridge, and at the battle of Franklin, he was shot from his horse while leading a charge in which the severe wound ended his military career. However, he did rejoin his men in North Carolina in April 1865 and was paroled at Greensboro.

Brown returned to his law practice in Pulaski, was elected to the Legislature, in 1869, and was the moving spirit in the Constitutional Convention of 1870. This same year he was elected Governor, defeating William H. Wisener; and in 1872 A. A. Freeman. Among the most important acts of his administration was the funding of the State debt, and the establishment of the present school system. He was President of the Texas & Pacific Railroad and at his death was President of the Tennessee Coal, Iron & Railroad Company. As a Master Mason, Brown was Worshipful Master of Pulaski Lodge, No. 101, and also served as Grand Master of Masons of Tennessee. A benefactor of the Church of the Messiah in Pulaski, “He was a faithful man and feared God above many.” Upon his death on August 17, 1889, Governor John C. Brown was laid to rest in Maplewood Cemetery at Pulaski, Tennessee, where a life-size statue, sword in hand and facing the South, marks his resting place. Carved on his monument appears a fitting inscription: “He was successful in every undertaking and faithful to every trust.”