The Cemetery Detective, Author at The Cemetery Detective™

Sandstone Gravestones In Sewanee, Tennessee

In today’s episode of The Cemetery Detective, Keith explores the cemeteries around Sewanee, Tennessee searching for Sandstone Grave Markers.

Geology and Cemetery Research

In my mind, cemetery research and geology go hand-in-hand. Understanding geology helps me understand the types of and the uses of certain gravestone materials.

Sewanee, Tennessee lies high atop the Cumberland Plateau. The Cumberland Plateau is geologically significant. With a natural sandstone cap, sandstone is locally abundant. Because of this availability, grave monument artists have used local sandstone for generations.

Not all sandstone is the same. Area sandstone comes in several varieties. The various strata include:
Rockland Conglomerate
Vandever Formation
2 Forms of Coal
Newton Sandstone
Whitwell Shale
Richland Coal
Sewanee Sandstone

Each layer has different properties based on color and granulation. Therefore some sandstone is better suited for building material and some stone is more conducive to use in gravestones.

Liesegang Rings on Sandstone Grave Markers

An aesthetic component of many sandstone is the formation of Liesegang Rings. Monument experts simply refer to these rings as “Swirls.” Liesegang Rings are formed when and Iron-rich fluid percolates through the stone after it has hardened. The more intricate the swirl pattern the more aesthetically appealing the stone.

Limestone Gravestones

Below Sewanee’s sandstone cap lies a vast layer of limestone. Since most river water is slightly (weakly) acidic, limestone dissolves into the water. This action, over millions of years, forms caves and valleys.

Buggy Top Cave is an ideal example of a limestone cave which has been dissolved by penetrating groundwater. The limestone in the area also lends to its use as a gravestone in local cemeteries. I will be exploring more about Limestone Gravestones in the Tennessee Valley in an upcoming Cemetery Research Documentary.

Cemeteries Visited

In today’s video, I explored many cemeteries in and around Sewanee.
They include:
Martin Cemetery
Unknown Cemetery
Monteagle Cemetery
Eastern Star Cemetery
University Cemetery
O’Dear Cemetery
St. Mary’s Convent Cemetery
Wise Cemetery
Sherwood Cemetery

To understand the natural occurrence of sandstone in Sewanee, I visited: Sewanee Natural Arch
Buggy Top Trail
Buggy Top Cave

I learned a tremendous amount about sandstone from experts who patiently shared their knowledge with me.

Some of the knowledge I gleaned from experts include information on Liesegang Rings, sources of sandstone, and the physical work in forming of a gravestone.

Support my Cemetery Research

If you enjoy my cemetery research, please support my efforts:
https://www.TheCemeteryDetective.com/support

All Gravestones Matter

All gravestones are important.

I believe all gravestones are important.

No matter how small. How old. In what condition they’re in.
No matter if they are in well maintained cemeteries.
Or ones that have been neglected.
No matter if the grave is of someone with whom we identify.
Or someone of a differing cultural belief.

All gravestones represent a life once lived.
And, as such, all gravestones matter.

Cemeteries and Thunderstorms

Cumulonimbus and Cemetery — Thunderstorm In A Cemetery

I Love Thunderstorms

As we roll into August, the afternoon thunderstorm cycle is intense.

Mid-day blazing hot sunshine warms the surface of the earth bringing moisture out of lakes and ponds and the ground itself. Since hot air is less dense than cold air, physics dictates warm moist columns of air rise high into the atmosphere. The sweltering summer’s day drags on. A bead of sweat forms on my forehead rolling down my face narrowly missing dripping into my eye. Surface air currents seem non-existent but high in the troposphere an enormous puffy white cloud billows to 40,000 feet.

There is a tremendous transfer of energy from sunshine to ground layer to the column of moisture rising above me. As I stare at the cloud, I can actually see it billowing, forging skyward. But, the energy that originally came from the sun cannot be contained within the cloud. All that moisture, eventually, condenses. Each drop condensates around a nearly-microscopic dust particle…trillions of them.

Two Crosses with Clouds — Thunderstorm In A Cemetery

The rising column of moist air causes friction as it rises through a surrounding, stable, air mass. These two air masses, rubbing against each other, affect the molecular structure of the air contained within each air mass. Molecular electrons are shed and a disparity of electrical charge presents itself within the cloud layer. When a big enough disparity of electrical charge occurs, lightning unleashes tremendous energy. Each lightning strike, 5 time hotter than the surface of the sun, regulates the electrical disparity.

And the rains begin. When enough droplets condense within the cloud, updrafts are no longer capable of keeping the larger moisture droplets aloft. Rain fall intensifies. With so much energy now released, torrential downpours bring all that moisture falling, violently, back to earth.

At the mature stage of a thunderstorm, cumulonimbus clouds present anvil formations as their tops are blown off by upper-level winds. As the storm cell moves away, the sun, which caused the formation of the storm cloud to begin with, lights the 40,000 foot tall column of dissipating cloud. The air is, once again, still.

I love watching late summer sunsets after intense thunderstorms. Yesterday was such a day. I took these photos to share with you.

Gravestones and Thunder Clouds — Thunderstorm In A Cemetery

Cemeteries and Water Towers

A water tower overlooking a cemetery adds a whole new dimension.

I’m pretty sure I have a new fascination…water towers over cemeteries. I’ve seen quite a few, recently. I found this one while researching cemeteries around the “world’s largest tree house” also known as “The Minister’s Treehouse.” (link below).

I cannot see a water tower without thinking back to a version of the War Of The Worlds movie I saw on TV when I was a kid (maybe it was a rebroadcast of the 1953 film?) where a farmer shoots a water tower mistaking it for a martian.

Now, seeing water towers over cemeteries adds a whole new dimension.

The Cemeteries of Danbury, Connecticut

Cemetery research trip to Danbury, Connecticut

The Association for Gravestone Studies

holds their annual conference each year in June. In 2017, our group gathered in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This year, 2018, we took the studies northward to Danbury, Connecticut.

Giving myself a few extra days for travel, I visited and studied cemeteries from Polk County, Tennessee through New York City and onward to Danbury.

The range of topics at these conferences are wide and varied. This year’s offerings included many workshops including: gravestone preservation, cemetery photography, legal issues affecting graveyards, forensic studies of burials, and ground penetrating radar.

For my part of the conference, I revisited a daylong workshop I lead in 2016 on the art of cemetery mapping using various modern day technological tools including aerial 3D mapping using modern day drones. This year, my presentation was brief but quite a few people showed enough interest that I will consider leading a full-day workshop at a future conference.

Hawaii Cemeteries — Keith Presenting on the Lava Affected Cemeteries of Hawaii

During the night-time hours, academics within the group present formal lectures. Afterward, during our late-night participation, informal lectures and slide shows are given.

Cemetery Presentations

Since the volcano eruption on Hawaii is in the news this year, I presented my work during a recent trip to Hawaii where I studied lava affected cemeteries on the Big Island. I loved my trip to study Hawaiian Cemeteries and I hope to make a return trip to Hawaii one day soon.

I am involved with studying cemeteries (in some capacity) on a daily basis. The AGS Conference is the one time of the year I am surrounded by other cemetery people for a week at a time. The breadth and depth of knowledge of these cemetery researchers is truly inspiring. I come away from each conference with newfound knowledge that I try to apply to my passion.

Increasingly, Civic Organizations, Churches, and Schools are asking me to give presentations of my cemetery research. I always try to exhibit the knowledge and enthusiasm I garner from my AGS conference trips.

Driving back from Danbury, I visited quite a few cemeteries including Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery.

20 Cemeteries and a Cemetery Research Video

In all, I studied more than 20 cemeteries on this trip. At the bottom of this list is a short film I made of my travels.

Beckler Cemetery – Reliance, Tennessee
Double Springs Cemetery – Rock Springs, Tennessee
Beth El Cemetery – Harrisonburg City, Virginia
New York Marble Cemetery – New York, New York
Woodlawn Cemetery – Bronx, New York
Mill Plain Cemetery – Danbury, Connecticut
Resurrection Cemetery – Danbury, Connecticut
Kenosia Cemetery – Danbury, Connecticut
Wooster Cemetery – Danbury, Connecticut
New Haven Crypt – New Haven, Connecticut
Grove Street Cemetery – New Haven, Connecticut
Old Milford Cemetery – Milford, Connecticut
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery – Sleepy Hollow, New York
Millington Baptist Church Cemetery – Millington, New Jersey
St. Philip and St. James Cemetery – Greenwich Township, New Jersey
New Hope Congregational Christian Church Cemetery – New Hope, Virginia
Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery – Lexington, Virginia
Goodman Cemetery – Bristol, Virginia
Necessary Cemetery – Scott County, Virginia
Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery – Bristol, Virginia
Niota Cemetery – Niota, Tennessee
Cedar Grove Cemetery – Athens, Tennessee

Lyre on a Gravestone

I first notice her shoes.

The heel on her left shoe. Substantial. Contacting the ground with stability.
And her right shoe. The delicate way its laces peek out from beneath her dress…a dress with sleeves flowing from elbow to thigh.

And her lyre.

An antiquated instrument often depicted with 7 strings but her’s has only 5. Or, at least, it has fittings for 5 strings if it ever had strings at all. Which brings into focus the name on the gravestone behind her. “Strang” the past-tense of string.

I smile, bemused, wondering if anyone else would notice such a thing.

Cemeteries of Bridgeport, Alabama and Haletown, Tennessee

The Cemetery Detective explores cemeteries between Bridgeport, Alabama and Haletown, Tennessee.

I first became fond of trains while visiting Great Britain the year after I graduated college. That summer, I rode trains all the way to the northern-most reaches of mainland Scotland to a small town called John O’ Groats. Only recently have I rediscovered my love of trains with my exploration of cemeteries around the TAG (Tennessee – Alabama – Georgia) Railroad line leading from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Gadsden, Alabama.

After the TAG Cemeteries Documentary was complete, I further investigated railroads and their relation to nearby cemeteries. As such, I began investigating a railroad line which runs from Haletown, Tennessee to Bridgeport, Alabama. Though I’ve driven under the Running Water Creek Railroad Bridge hundreds of times, I had not investigated its origin. When I began researching this bridge, I found a fascinatingly long history through several iterations of railroad bridges in this area. Below is my Cemetery Documentary on this railroad bridge, U.S. Civil War actions that affected previous bridges, the land of the Cherokee before Euro-Americans moved into the area, a local cornbread festival, and, of course, the culturally significant cemeteries that dot the surrounding landscape.

If you enjoy my cemetery research, please send me a message to let me know of your favorite cemetery. Perhaps I will visit it one day soon.

Best regards:

Keith

The Cemetery Detective explores cemeteries between Haletown, Tennessee and Bridgeport, Alabama.

Join Keith as he not only explores the cemeteries of this historically significant swath of Tennessee and Alabama but also delves into the history of the local communities.

Keith begins at the current Running Water Creek Railroad Bridge. The original bridge was built not far from here prior to the War Between The States. That bridge was demolished by Confederate Soldiers in an effort to stem the advance of Union forces moving into the area to take control of Chattanooga, TN. The bridge has lived through several iterations that fell victim to flood or old age. The current bridge was built in 1968. It is in daily use.

Keith also takes us to Whiteside, Tennessee. Prior to it being called Whiteside, the community was called Running Water. Determined Cherokee Tribal Leader Dragging Canoe lived here the final 10 years of his life. Dragging Canoe staged his struggle against Euro-Americans who were streaming onto Cherokee lands via the Federal Road.

Cemeteries dot the landscape within short distance of the railroad track that cuts through the countryside.

Hale Cemetery
Hale Cemetery
Ladds Switch Cemetery
Graham Cemetery
Clouse Cemetery
Burnett Cemetery
New Hope Cemetery
Whited Family Cemetery
Harris Chapel Cemetery
South Pittsburg City Cemetery
Patton Cemetery
Patton Cemetery Annex
Gunter Cemetery
Abbot Cemetery
Mount Carmel Cemetery
Rocky Springs Cemetery
Bonaventure Cemetery

While in Bridgeport, Alabama, Keith explores the Bridgeport Railroad Museum and is fascinated with the Bridgeport Lift Bridge.

Having crossed Running Water Creek Railroad Bridge earlier in the day, the train enters Bridgeport by crossing the Tennessee River only a few feet from a 1/4 mile long walking bridge.

As a final stop, Keith visits the Virgin of the Poor Shrine in New Hope, Tennessee.

Lunch Time Hunt For An Abandoned Cemetery

I sped away from the city at lunchtime to search for an abandoned cemetery.

This is a selection on the Hunt for an Abandoned Cemetery from the JUNE 2018 Edition of “The Cemetery Detective” Fan Club Newsletter.
Fan Club subscription fees help Keith with expenses associated with his cemetery research, documentation, and cleanup efforts.
Join the Fan Club here: The Cemetery Detective Fan Club

A One Hour Abandoned Cemetery Hunting Trip

I speed away from the city for lunch,
venturing deep into rural Tennessee.

Onto an abandoned government road.
Ducking beneath a locked barricade.

Asphalt gives way to the constant creep of nature.

I scramble through brambles.
Briars cling to my clothing as if to grasp and keep me for their own.
Pricks and thorns dig into my skin as if to taste the pinprick drops of blood they elicit.

Clawing my way through scrub so dense a fox would not venture even if trying to outwit a pack of hounds, I am not deterred from my destination.

I find myself in an aromatic thicket of honeysuckle swarmed by bees.
Non-threatening buzzing alerts me to their presence.
They mind me not. I mind them not.

Honeysuckle gives way to field daisies.
Field daisies give way to periwinkle.

And, as nature opens up, I find my quest.

There, beyond the confines of an imperfectly laid stone wall, a single grave marker rises above the dense greenery.

I stand amazed at the splendor.
Transfixed by what I have found.
But, alas, a bee’s buzz and strong wafting honeysuckle fragrance
reminds me; lunch is almost over, I must get back to the city.

2018 Keith Harper
From The Cemetery Detective Newsletter June 2018
The Cemetery Detective Fan Club

The Cemetery on Skull Island – Hamilton County, Tennessee

The Cemetery Detective explores Bell Cemetery and Skull Island Cemetery.

In this episode, The Cemetery Detective explores Bell Cemetery and Skull Island Cemetery. Keith has become fascinated with cemeteries that are affected by flood waters both natural and man-made. Keith kayaks on the Tennessee River from Chickamauga Dam upriver to Harrison Tennessee where he investigates homesteads that were flooded in 1940 after the dam’s completion. Bell Cemetery is on a wooded hilltop on John A Patten Island. From here, Keith paddles upriver past Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant which overlooks Skull Island. Once on the shore of Skull Island, Keith investigates a cemetery and the grave sites that were moved from Norman-Eldridge Cemetery prior to 1940.

Chickamauga Dam Upriver of Chattanooga, TN

In 1936, the Tennessee Valley Authority began construction on the Chickamauga Dam a few miles upriver of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

As part of the dam’s construction and the eventual flooding and creation of Chickamauga Lake, TVA commissioned the relocation of grave sites from 24 cemeteries within this newly created flood plain. Chickamauga
dam was constructed using limestone from a nearby quarry. I am always interested in visiting area quarries. Understanding an area’s geology allows me to find similarities in rock used by local gravestone carvers.

Old Harrison, Tennessee

Chickamauga Dam was completed in 1940. The waters began to rise immediately flooding several communities. One of these flooded communities was the town of Old Harrison, Tennessee. Long before the waters came up and overtook their land, residents made provisions to move to higher ground. In the final days, town residents threw elaborate parties celebrating the fact that their land would be consumed by the lake.

One of Chickamauga Dam’s purposes is to provide downstream flood control of the greater Chattanooga area. As part of their flood control initiative, TVA lowers lake levels during winter months. Areas of Old Harrison that are submerged in summer are visible from November through mid-April. Exploring during this time of year lead to my finding abandoned foundations and a few relics of years-gone-by. In Old Harrison, I discovered an old asphalt roadbed.
The road was once in daily use. However, it now lies unusable and is underwater through much of the year. Though the outside temperature began the day fairly warm in the sunlight, temperatures dropped as the hour went by and the river water was almost ice cold. Before leaving Old Harrison, I donned additional protective foul weather gear as protection against the cold.

Bell Cemetery

Bell Cemetery rests on a wooded hilltop upon John A. Patten Island. Bell Cemetery was in use in the mid 1800’s. It now lies abandoned. Though I found indications of several grave sites, I only discovered one gravestone. For me, Bell Cemetery is a fine example of a remarkable phenomenon of abandoned cemeteries. There was minuscule evidence of a cemetery being on this land.
In a few more years, all physical indications of this being a cemetery will cease to exist.

Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant

Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant lies on the Tennessee River approximately at river mile 484. Steam rising from its two cooling towers billow over Skull Island one mile further upriver. Sequoyah first went into operation in 1981. According to TVA’s website, the fission reactor core generates steam that turns a turbine to generate enough electricity to meet the needs of 1.3 million homes in the Tennessee Valley. As I paddle past, I am reminded of a story of two young brothers buried in Skull Island Cemetery.

Skull Island Cemetery

Skull Island comes into sight. Though this island is accessible via roadway, approaching by kayak gives me a better indication of the river’s impact. Grave sites in Skull Island Cemetery were moved here from Norman-Eldridge Cemetery prior to its land’s flooding in 1940 upon the completion of Chickamauga Dam. This cemetery is in disuse and it’s only maintenance is performed by the caretakers of Skull Island or an occasion visit by area school children who take an interest in the property.

Since Skull Island contains a campground, I set up a tent and spend time practicing night time photography and light painting photography shortly after sunset.

A Tree Growing Around A Gravestone

An engulfed gravestone growing into a tree’s trunk.

Engulfed Gravestone

This is, perhaps, my favorite picture from a cemetery I visited last June outside Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
I’ve looked at this picture a dozen times. With each viewing, I imagine the slow creep of this tree’s bark. The bark engulfs the gravestone. To me, it signifies the slow creep of time. The slow creep of time that eventually engulfs our life histories. Sure enough, time (the tree’s bark) will eventually complete its encapsulation.
I wonder what will happen if the tree falls one day only to be covered by leaves and mud. Given the correct heat and pressure and moisture, will the tree eventually become petrified wood?
A tree becoming rock.
After dying.
After engulfing a gravestone.
Of a man who died.
After living a full and glorious life.
The tree, which engulfs the gravestone, protects the gravestone for millennia.
The idea gives me chillbumps.

And, then, I look at the picture again. I notice a detail I’ve not seen before in the lower left corner. The fern fronds are SO delicate. So delicate in contrast to the unrelenting force of this gravestone…slowly being engulfed.