Quite often, throughout history, individuals and groups of people are excluded from burial within certain cemeteries.
Yesterday, I posted a photo from Florence City Cemetery in Florence, Alabama. Here is a photo from the same cemetery. An outlaw from 1872 is buried near the center of Tennessee Street so the town’s folk can run over him every day. It’s a great story.
This notorious outlaw gang leader who boasted that no one would ever run over Tom Clark lies buried near the center of Tennessee Street where now all who pass by do run over him. In 1872 Clark, who terrorized helpless citizens during the Civil War, confessed to at least nineteen murders, including a child, and was hanged with two companions. Although graves were already dug in a nearby field, outraged townspeople interred Clark beneath Tennessee Street thus bringing his boast to nought.
Quite often, throughout history, individuals and groups of people are excluded from burial within certain cemeteries. Do you know of other examples?
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.
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.
An engulfed gravestone growing into a tree’s trunk.
Gravestone inside Tree
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.
State Line Cemetery was established in the early 1800’s.
A visit to State Line Cemetery
On a recent trip to the Nickajack Bat Cave on the shoreline of the Tennessee River, I discovered a cemetery very near the junction of the Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia borders.
State Line Cemetery was established in the early 1800’s. This coincides with the era many Euro-Americans were moving into this part of Tennessee. The land was still heavily populated and influenced by Native American culture. However, the political, economic, and cultural landscapes were changing. Additionally, the environmental landscape was changing with farmers beginning to graze livestock in the area.
Many of the early gravestones are simple fieldstones laid to mark each gravesite. These early gravestones have no discernable markings thus giving no indication of the name nor date-of-death of the interred. Other grave markers are more modern dating to recent years.
Stateline Cemetery encompasses ground very near the junction point of the Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia borders. If you wish to visit this junction, park your car at the cemetery and find a trail heading due west. The junction point lies about 100 yards from the westernmost edge of State Line Cemetery.
For added excitement to your cemetery hunting, visit the Nickajack Bat Cave at sunset. The cave can be accessed via the Maple View Public Use Area. Shortly after sunset, thousands of bats exit the cave. They flood the tree tops in search of their nightly meals consisting of various insects.
There is a short hiking trail leading to an observation platform. If you have a kayak, you viewing will be greatly enhanced as you can kayak right up to the mouth of the cave and watch the bats exit directly overhead.
The Coon Dog Cemetery tombstones and epitaphs will make any animal lover shed a tear.
Coon Dog Cemetery Sign
While I normally confine my cemetery research to those of the human variety, I can be easily lead astray when it comes to interesting cemeteries that do not contain human remains. When I heard of the Coon Dog Cemetery in Cherokee Alabama, my interest was immediately piqued. Coon Dog Cemetery? Seriously? I have visited several pet cemeteries but never an entire cemetery dedicated to one specific breed of dog.
“Alright, what the heck? This will be good for a quick laugh.” I thought as I drove Alabama’s secluded backwoods roads peering through my bug-splattered windshield for Coon Dog Cemetery Road. Maybe there will be two or three sticks in the ground marking a few crude burial sites where dog owners laid the remains of their hunting companions.
Well, I have to tell you I wasn’t laughing when I pulled into the Key Underwood Coon Dog Cemetery. There before me laid the remains of 185 beloved members of hunting families delicately honored with tombstones and epitaphs that could make any animal lover shed a tear.
There is:
Greasy’s Spot
Gypsy
Old Red
Squeek
Preacher
Hank
Daisy
Strait Talkn’ Tex
Blue Flash and Blue Flash Jr.
Tree Talkin’ Train
Papa
Lassie
So Blue Rocky
Bear
Beanblossom Bommer
Duke
Old Roy
Ranger
Ruff
High Pocket
Lulubelle
Doctor Doom
and, not to forget to mention, TROOP, the first coondog buried in the Coondog Cemetery on September 4, 1937.
Troop – September 4, 1937
The Coon Dog Cemetery is only intended for the interment of “straight” coon dogs. That means, coon dogs that spend their pursuits of game other than Raccoons are not welcome. Does your dog run rabbit, squirrel, armadillo, or deer? Then your dog is not welcome here. Is your dog part chow, Labrador, Shepard, or (God forbid) poodle? Then you best bury it elsewhere.
Florence Cemetery in Florence Alabama is the final resting place of Alabama Governors, a city Mayor, and an author or two.
Florence Cemetery – Florence Alabama
Florence Cemetery in Florence Alabama is the final resting place of Alabama Governors, a city Mayor, and an author or two. Immediately outside the cemetery walls, 6 feet under busy Tennessee Street lies a cantankerous outlaw who claimed “no one will ever run over me.” City residents saw to it his claims would prove to be false as thousands of people run over him every single day.
I visited Florence Cemetery on a warm April day. Though a brisk breeze blew, a bright Alabama sun beat down upon me. The sun burns me quickly at the beginning of the summer season and I was thankful for the copious numbers of trees which shade much of the older portions of the cemetery. Scattered throughout the grounds are groves of tall standing Juniper trees. Cemetery maintenance workers expertly prune lower branches away from tombstones and monuments making for isolated shady areas within which I enjoyed exploring tombstone engravings without the risk of an annoying April sunburn.
Nearby: When visiting Florence Cemetery, be sure to “run” over Mountain Tom Clark’s gravesite on Tennessee Street, visit historic downtown Florence, and reflect on your visit with a Panini and iced tea at Rivertown Coffee, Inc. (as I’m doing right now).
