brainerd014 1 |
Previous | 1 of 14 | Next |
|
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
Brainerd Mission Cemetery
5700 Eastgate Loop
Chattanooga, TN
Text by Sarah Jackson Martin and Carroll Van West
2006
The one-acre burial ground is situated within a cluster of mature oak trees and is surrounded by a stone wall with two wrought-iron gates constructed in 1933. The property contains the nineteenth-century remains of New England-based missionaries, their children, Cherokee students, and perhaps area slaves. A cluster of gravestones organized in two neat rows near the center of the cemetery represents the remaining original markers. Several early-twentieth century bronze interpretive markers dot also the landscape. An interpretive panel erected in 2001 explaining the site’s history and geography greets visitors at the cemetery’s entrance. The cemetery features a 1933 Colonial Revival landscape design and retains its integrity as a twentieth-century commemorative property.
Brainerd Mission Cemetery is the only extant site associated with the original mission complex. The cemetery is located on what would have been the southwest portion of the original Brainerd Mission complex, which was situated along South Chickamauga Creek. A major early roadway (now Brainerd Road / Lee Highway) passed on the north side of the mission connecting the Cherokee Agency in present-day Charleston, Tennessee, to Ross’s Landing along the Tennessee River in present-day Chattanooga. With the mission farm fields between the cemetery and roadway, the burial ground was visible to travelers along this route. Hundreds of Cherokee from John Bell’s detachment passed over this road during the Trail of Tears in 1838. This area served as the northwest boundary of the Cherokee Nation in the early 1800s.
Although the cemetery is believed to date to the founding of Brainerd Mission in 1817, the mission journal notes the first burial taking place on January 11, 1818. The earliest extant gravestone dates to 1821 and marks the former gravesite of Reverend Dr. Samuel Worcester, whose remains were disinterred in the 1840s and reburied in Massachusetts. This centrally located, six-foot tall obelisk is also the most prominent monument at Brainerd Mission Cemetery. Other early gravestones mark the burials of New England-based missionaries and their children including Joanna Fernel (d. 1829), her son Luke (d. 1829), Harriet Blunt (d. 1847) and her daughters Harriet (d. 1825) and Sarah (d. 1834), John Vail, Sr. (d. 1871), his second wife Penelope (d. 1844), his third wife Sarah (d. ?), and his daughter Mary (d. 1831). Only one gravestone, a 1950s recreation, marks the burial of a Cherokee student – John Arch (d. 1825). Historical records such as obituaries and the mission journal suggest the remains of several other Americans and Cherokee students are buried at Brainerd Mission Cemetery, however no gravestones mark their burials.
The current cemetery boundaries date to September 26, 1933, when Henry H. and Dorothy D. Hampton deeded the overgrown cemetery land to four Chattanooga chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (John Ross, Judge David Campbell, Chickamauga, and Nancy Ward Chapters), the John Sevier Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), and the Judge Howell Tatum Chapter of the Children of the American Revolution (CAR). Unsure of the original cemetery boundaries, Hampton and the patriotic societies agreed upon the current approximate one-acre border. Some
Object Description
Description
| Title | brainerd014 1 |
| Transcript | Brainerd Mission Cemetery 5700 Eastgate Loop Chattanooga, TN Text by Sarah Jackson Martin and Carroll Van West 2006 The one-acre burial ground is situated within a cluster of mature oak trees and is surrounded by a stone wall with two wrought-iron gates constructed in 1933. The property contains the nineteenth-century remains of New England-based missionaries, their children, Cherokee students, and perhaps area slaves. A cluster of gravestones organized in two neat rows near the center of the cemetery represents the remaining original markers. Several early-twentieth century bronze interpretive markers dot also the landscape. An interpretive panel erected in 2001 explaining the site’s history and geography greets visitors at the cemetery’s entrance. The cemetery features a 1933 Colonial Revival landscape design and retains its integrity as a twentieth-century commemorative property. Brainerd Mission Cemetery is the only extant site associated with the original mission complex. The cemetery is located on what would have been the southwest portion of the original Brainerd Mission complex, which was situated along South Chickamauga Creek. A major early roadway (now Brainerd Road / Lee Highway) passed on the north side of the mission connecting the Cherokee Agency in present-day Charleston, Tennessee, to Ross’s Landing along the Tennessee River in present-day Chattanooga. With the mission farm fields between the cemetery and roadway, the burial ground was visible to travelers along this route. Hundreds of Cherokee from John Bell’s detachment passed over this road during the Trail of Tears in 1838. This area served as the northwest boundary of the Cherokee Nation in the early 1800s. Although the cemetery is believed to date to the founding of Brainerd Mission in 1817, the mission journal notes the first burial taking place on January 11, 1818. The earliest extant gravestone dates to 1821 and marks the former gravesite of Reverend Dr. Samuel Worcester, whose remains were disinterred in the 1840s and reburied in Massachusetts. This centrally located, six-foot tall obelisk is also the most prominent monument at Brainerd Mission Cemetery. Other early gravestones mark the burials of New England-based missionaries and their children including Joanna Fernel (d. 1829), her son Luke (d. 1829), Harriet Blunt (d. 1847) and her daughters Harriet (d. 1825) and Sarah (d. 1834), John Vail, Sr. (d. 1871), his second wife Penelope (d. 1844), his third wife Sarah (d. ?), and his daughter Mary (d. 1831). Only one gravestone, a 1950s recreation, marks the burial of a Cherokee student – John Arch (d. 1825). Historical records such as obituaries and the mission journal suggest the remains of several other Americans and Cherokee students are buried at Brainerd Mission Cemetery, however no gravestones mark their burials. The current cemetery boundaries date to September 26, 1933, when Henry H. and Dorothy D. Hampton deeded the overgrown cemetery land to four Chattanooga chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (John Ross, Judge David Campbell, Chickamauga, and Nancy Ward Chapters), the John Sevier Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), and the Judge Howell Tatum Chapter of the Children of the American Revolution (CAR). Unsure of the original cemetery boundaries, Hampton and the patriotic societies agreed upon the current approximate one-acre border. Some |
