Living History Tour 2009

by Bill McKee

The early history of middle Tennessee is inextricably tied to the Nashville City Cemetery.  This sacred plot of ground located at Fourth Avenue South at Oak Street is not only a burial ground, but also this community's finest historical outdoor museum.

Each fall the City Cemetery Association welcomes the community to a Living History Tour, where local actors portray a few of the extraordinary individuals who lie here, and town criers share tales about this plot of ground.  Citizens interred at the Nashville City Cemetery in the 1800s mirrored the entire Nashville community -- black and white, wealthy and poor, slave and free.  They came from every walk of life, every religious faith, every temperament.  The Tour provides an opportunity to hear accounts of people who changed the city's future, as well as a few whose stories have been lost to history.

This year you will meet W.R. Cornelius, Nashville's leading undertaker . . . Septima Sexta Middleton Rutledge, whose father and father-in-law signed the Declaration of Independence . . . Dr. John Shelby, East Nashville land owner, medical school founder, and noted physician . . . John McNairy, middle Tennessee's first judge . . . Sally Thomas, who rose from slave to Nashville businesswoman . . . Captain  William Driver, who named the American flag "Old Glory" . . . and George Washington Campbell, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice, U.S. Representative, and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

Founded in 1822 and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the City Cemetery is a community treasure.  In an effort to preserve it for future generations, the Metropolitan Council recently funded a multi-year restoration and revitalizatioin project.  These improvements are nearing completion.  Tombstones, box and table tombs, markers, and vaults have been cleaned and repaired.  Carriage lanes were resurfaced, period lighting and fencing installed, and interpretive signage developed.  All proceeds from the sale of tour admissions are used to continue these restoration efforts.

Photos: upper right, William Driver reenactor, Living History Tour 2008; lower left, Mable Lewis Imes reenactor, Living History Tour 2008.  Photographs by Kathy Lauder.

Return to City Cemetery Table of  Contents.