Rutherford County, Tennessee - Benevolent Cemetery Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by Jim Walker - J-Walker@worldnet.att.net From RUTHERFORD TODAY 1100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 fax # 259-8093 By Trine Tsouderos, Rutherford Today Murfreesboro - A person could pick his way through the scrubby field off Highway 231 and never know he was stepping on and over the remains of 320 souls. Johnson grass and other weeds obscure the stones marking hundreds of graves, mostly of African-Americans, in the Benevolent Cemetery. Pushing aside the weeds, the names on some of the stones are difficult to read. Some date back 100 years to when the cemetery was new and its owners, the members of the Benevolent Lodge No. 11, were many and strong. The Benevolent Lodge was an African-American club in Murfreesboro made up of members who agreed to care for one another in illness and in mourning. Part of the lodge's legacy - the club itself is defunct - is its cemetery, which was deeded over to Allen Chapel AME Church by one of the lodge's oldest living members, Mary Goodman. The Rev. Melvin E. Hughes of Allen Chapel said his congregation periodically received checks from local funeral homes because they had buried someone in the Benevolent Cemetery. That helped pay for the upkeep, Hughes said. But a few years ago, funeral homes stopped burying people in the cemetery, and the checks stopped coming. Since then, the weeds have grown tall, the graves have become obscured, and it has become easy to dismiss the cemetery as a field of weeds. Hughes bemoans the state of the cemetery. The church is in the midst of a major building program and simply does not have the money to keep up the cemetery. Donations or some kind of grant money is needed, he said. "At least to insure it and keep it up," Hughes said. He estimates it would take about $50,000 to insure the cemetery and maybe put a fence up. Several people have made offers to buy the cemetery land for business uses, which lies in a well-placed spot right off Highway 231. So far, the church has turned them down. But Hughes said he has contacted some local franchises about buying the cemetery. One half of it is still available for burial, Hughes said. So far, there has been little interest in using the cemetery for future burials, Hughes said. Hughes said he hopes interest in the cemetery's history and importance to the county's African-American community will spark donations to help pay for its upkeep. Or perhaps people will start researching who is in the cemetery. If some kind of historical significance can be attached to it, the church may be able to obtain some kind of grant, he said. For instance, several people buried in the Benevolence Cemetery apparently served in the Spanish-American War, in which the United States joined Cuban rebels in the island's fight for independence from Spain in 1898. For more information about the Benevolence Cemetery, call Allen Chapel AME Church, 893-7842. The following names were taken off the tombstones in Benevolent Cemetery in Murfreesboro and published in A History of Rutherford County's African-American Community by the Rev. Melvin E. Hughes Sr. Some of the information is incomplete because of deterioration of the grave markers. NAME BIRTH DEATH COMMENTS =============================================================================================== Walter Rucker Oct. 23 1924 September 24 1926 Savannah Rion Feb. 20 1898 Oct. 2 1899 Ellen Alexander 1831 Oct. 30 1911 Samuel and Minnie Shanes Family Edgar Shane Joe Shane Willie Shane Nexie Virginie Murfree March 2 1884 Nov. 1 1903 John B. McClellan Jr. Nov. 26 1894 May 13 1934 Joe Alexander 1820 June 15 1904 Louis McDowell Feb. 23 1910 Nathan Turner Jan. 7 1847 Jan. 11 1906 Ike Foster 1864 1959 Adam Delbridge John Cheers Isaac and Fanny Fisher: Issac April 20 1904 Fanny April 4 1894 Sir Thomas Moore Sept. 24 1874 Jan. 22 1901 Nacissa Turner Hattie Newell May 27 1879 Sept. 2 1898 Mindora Carney Aug. 28 1879 Aug. 30 1898 Richard Vaughn Nov. 5 1900 Dec. 18 1912 Frances Thompson 1893 Nov. 15 1903 Deck North Sept. 7 1909 Henry Smith Belle Roberson May 10 1846 April 5 1908 Joseph R. Pickett March 12 1846 Oct. 21 1899 Rev. B.F. Anderson Feb. 15 1840 March 3 1915 Mattie B (rest of identification was destroyed) Fred Barns 1850 1926 Lidda Howse April 9 1880 May 31 1931 Charley F. Howse George Keeble Feb. 5 1910 Sons of William and Mary L.I. Harden May 25 1856 1914 Dr. G.C. Harden Jan. 18 1856 July 28 1932 Ollie L. 1880 1954 Virgil 1884 1966 Oscar Sehorn Fannie Alexander Lytle Nov. 13 1898 Nov. 13 1936 James and America Eules Luke Malone Feb. 22 1933 July 11 1916 Mattie Pickette April 25 1897 July 17 1916 Rev. E.D. Childress April 19 1917 Matthew Thompson Sept. 18 1891 Dec. 12 Salem Jordan Sept. 27 1879 Oct. 11 1916 Annie Tilford 1870 May 27 1919 Star Chamber 399 Quite,TN Willie Jarrett Feb. 6 1887 June 16 1939 Eldres Miller 1900 1967 George Scruggs March 17 1919 Nannie G. Williams Lethia Cunningham Lizzie AUSB April 13 18? Dec. 16 19? (Remainder of information was destroyed) Seward Mattie Sue Long Aug. 25 1872 July 15 1955 Mariah 1845 1929 Hillard 1848 1918 Gustic Lasiter Jimmie Lasiter 1851 1935 Felix Avent Oct. 28 1876 Aug. 6 1961 James Childress Feb. 4 1897 April 19 1927 Roxie and H Dillard Annie Bell Butler 1898 1973 William Fletcher 1841 1926 Eugene M. 1881 1925 Fannie K. 1883 1927 Fannie Cowan 1889 1828 Winter 1831 1931 Terrie Fuggett 1886 1938 Thompson Feb. 19 1916 Dec. 5 1928 Dee Phillips Jan. 25 1928 ? Minnie B. Woodson March 20 1881 Nov. 14 1929 Robert T. Johnson July 6 1902 Oct. 17 1929 Vernon Robinson Seppie Quarles Dec. 21 1987 Mable Mitchell July 16 1988 Oscar Gordon Jr. July 19 1928 Carrie T. Weatherly Black June 9 1920 Homer Weatherly Ben Sublett Sr. Oct. 5 1894 March 6 1933 Jim Hickman April 1 1957 Joseph Alexander 1867 1932 Maranda Hodge Sept. 10 1880 Aug. 6 1933 Van Hickman Feb. 23 1938 Wyoming Smith Nov. 11 1947 Clemmie E. Price Smith Nov. 11 1947 Ed Williams 1877 1947 Zera Smith March 25 1951 Hattie M. Johnson Sept. 6 1984 Oct. 27 1948 Irene James Keeble 1864 1951 Susie Murray Lyons 1866 1949 Fannie Prim Jarrett April 18 1898 July 14 1948 Fannie Ree Woodson 1916 1948 Nora Moore 1879 1944 Rufus Brandon Feb. 6 1963 Mattie Frazier McClain Aug. 25 1881 Dec. 25 1955 Robert Hyde Aug. 1 1905 Aug. 4 1955 Johnie 1984 1962 Carrie 1897 19? Smith Eva Mai Smith Feb. 21 1970 Ruth Smith Nov. 21 1969 Charlie Smith July 4 1879 April 11 1948 Alta Bonds James Pickett 1871 1957 Eugene M. Woodson April 17 1912 May 12 1961 Frank Sublet 1876 1961 Rev. Jessie C. Alexander 1906 1968 Jim E. Gaine May 14 1964 Edna Mitchell May 1 1964 joe Robinson 1883 1963 Willie Robin King 1883 1967 Andrew King Nov. 13 1970 Joe W. McIntyre 1901 1971 Minnie H. McIntyre 1900 1966 Leana M. Jordan May 20 1870 Dec. 19 1964 Sam Ella Sanford 1910 1983 Pearline Haynes 1912 1963 Bessie Allen Oct. 12 1907 Feb. 10 1974 Armenta D. Norris May 17 1919 April 24 1974 Cora Ramsey Early McGowan Sr. 1909 1984 Mary E. Davis Dec. 20 1984 Lutisha Allen Nov. 12 1886 Oct. 20 1972 Bishop S. Jarrett 1892 1970 Ruby Lee Womack Feb. 22 1919 May 10 1974 Rev. Hugh Trimble Feb. 8 1976 Everleana Reece June 27 1976 Vella McKnight 1886 1969 Millie Bass Fannie C. Taylor Dec. 14 1906 Dec. 10 1971 Mildred Brown Jan. 18 1972 Leana Ramsey Dec. 12 1971 Annie Lou McGowan Oct. 22 1912 Dec. 24 1972 Minnie J. Hatchett 1910 1973 Nannie H. Jordan June 22 1985 Howard Moore 1900 1984 Maggie Kate Howse 1903 1984 Victoria Taylor Feb. 24 1886 Brenda Bigsby March 20 1986 Lucille Smith Nov. 10 1983 Joe M. McGuire (remainder of identification was lost) Caleph Smith 1909 1983 John Thompson Jr. July 2 1932 April 23 1983 Wayman Johnson Jan. 1 1983 Minnie Brown Jan. 19 1983 H-llum Howse (remainder of identification was lost) Leon Williams Sept. 24 1982 Cal H. Puckett May 26 1982 Johnny Crocckett May 26 1982 Hattie Crowford (remainder of identification was lost) J-h Ferguson (remainder of identification was lost) Christie Burns Dec. 5 1980 Earl Gatson Jan 1 1899 Nov. 6 1980 Bessie Nunn June 19 1919 Oct. 26 1979 Eugene Franklin Dec. 25 1927 Feb. 7 1979 Alonza Williams June 13 1978 Andy Drake March 5 1909 March 7 1978 Roosevelt Davis Feb. 13 1978 Randall Davis June 13 1989 Lizzie Maney May 26 1989 Charles Majors Jan. 17 1989 Walter Allen Dec. 3 1912 Dec. 15 1988 Goldie M. Davis 1912 1988 Joe Mosley March 31 1988 Calvin Anderson Feb. 19 1988 Mattie Mae Mullins May 14 1907 Feb. 23 1988 Lee. C. Fields Feb. 20 1903 Jan. 23 1988 Annie B. Smith June 12 1987 Henry C. Puckett Oct. 29 1932 Aug. 12 1987 William I. Brown May 18 1977 ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Jim Walker < J-Walker@worldnet.att.net > ====================================================================