MY RIVERSIDE CEMETERY TOMBSTONE
INSCRIPTIONS SCRAPBOOK
By Jonathan K. T. Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 1992
NOTES BY LOT
POSSIBLY LOT NO. 202
In 1937, the Riverside copyist reported the following tombstone inscription from a stone in the Milton Boyd lot:
CHARLIE, son of J. A. & M. A. ROBERTSON, May 23, 1850-June 20, 1856.
The 1975 copyist evidently found only the lower portion of the stone, sans name. By the time I read it years later this stone, what was left of it, was in three shattered pieces: J. R. & M. A. ROBERTSON, Born May 2, 1850. Died. I left these pitiful remains on a solid slab in the nearby Campbell lot. The three pieces I found were on 6th street, likely to be thrown away.
The J. R. is incised thusly on the stone (and I say this as in 1937 the stone was given as J. A. when it definitely isn't an A):
J. R. Robertson bought the Findley lot in Jackson, May 16, 1857 for $1300, from Geo. Snider. (Madison Co. Deed Bk. 19, page 609) Curiously, J. R. Robertson sold this place, whereon he then lived, February 1857. (Ibid., 19, pages 401, 426) He was in debt, for one thing, but as for the full story, that's for someone else to untangle. A J. R. and Mary A. Robertson were in Hardeman Co., Tn., 1860 census. Joseph R. Robertson md. in that county to Mary A. Craig, 1840.
BEVERIDGE LOT, NO. 288½
ANN
Wife of
Thos. Beveridge
Born in
York Co. Va
Died in
Jackson, Tenn.
May 3, 1876
THOS. BEVERIDGE
Born in
Gloucester
Co., Va.
Nov. 2, 1801
Died in
Jackson. Tenn.
May 5, 1876
THE JACKSON SUN, May 5, 1876:
Died. Ann Beveridge, at son, J. T. Beveridges, May 2; consort of Thos. Beveridge. Born York Co., Va., Nov. 12, 1791, to Tenn. 1830s. Meth.
IBID., May 12, 1876:
Died. Thomas Beveridge, "Uncle Tommy," died May 5, 1876. Born Gloucester Co., Va., Nov. 2, 1801. Married Ann Newstep, 1823, one daughter, Mrs. Young. Married Ann Ratcliffe, 1829, mother of J. T. Beveridge.
SOUTH SLOPE
Near SW corner of the cemetery
[Listed with Lot 507-A in Tombstone Inscriptions]
In
Memory
of
ELDRIDGE NEWSOM
Died Sept, 18th
1826
Aged 57 Yrs.
Newsom was living in Davidson Co., Tenn., 1820; moved to Madison County, by July 1825 (Madison Co. Deed Book 4, page 416); transacted business in the county court, August 1826 (Ibid. County Court Minute Bk. 1, page 91), and Herbert Newsom then qualified as administrator of his estate, Nov. 6, 1826 (Ibid., page 127); his widow was Mary Newsom, and they had lived on a 500-acre farm just south of Jackson, lands on both sides of Meridian Creek. Ibid. :Deed Book 5, pages 418, 419.
In
memory
of
HERBERT NEWSO(M)
Died Jan. 11th
1837
___0 Years
(This is a broken stone; the lower portion of this stone is missing.)
Herbert Newsom was a person of political influence in early Madison County; the 1830 census indicating that he was aged 30-40. Thus, he was likely, 40 years old at his death, as the last digit of his age on the tombstone was a zero. His LWT was executed by him in December 1836 and proven in court, April 3, 1837 (Madison Co. Court Minute Book 4, page 474; Will 300k 2, page 226).
NEELY LOT, NO. 286
[Lot 286½ in Tombstone Inscriptions
SAMUEL NEELY
Born
in Mecklenburg Co., Va.
Died
Aug. 25, 1867
Aged 75 years
MRS. ROSANNA H.
Consort of
SAMUEL NEELY
Born
Dec. 27, 1791
Died
June 26, 1857
HOWLETT LOT, NO. 420
[Lot 419-A in Tombstone Inscriptions]
One Tombstone:
W. R. ROWLETT
Born
April 23, 1819
Died
July 14, 1893
ANN ELIZA
Wife of
W. R. HOWLETT
Born
Nov. 5, 1828
Died
Apr. 5, 1887
W. R. Howlett and
A. E. Dickson
were married
Oct 2, 1843
William R. Howlett's parents were Isaac and Elizabeth Ramsey Mowlett. His LWT was proven September 16, 1893 (Madison Co. Court Min. Book 20, page 274).
REV. S. G. HOWLETT
Born
Feb. 12, 1848
Died
May 29, 1887
(This is the Rev. Sterling Howlett.)
BISHOP LANE LOT, NO. 146
BISHOP ISAAC LANE
MARCH 3, 1834
DEC. 5, 1937
CHRISTIAN MINISTER FOR
EIGHTY TWO YEARS
A BISHOP OF THE CHURCH
FOR SIXTY FOUR YEARS
FOUNDER OF LANE COLLEGE
ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS AND
FOUNDERS OF THE COLORED
METHODIST CHURCH.
HIS PHILANTHROPY KNEW NO
RACE AND HIS MINISTRY WAS
TO ALL MANKIND.
"Bishop Lane Rites Set for Wednesday Afternoon in City," THE JACKSON SUN. DECEMBER 6, 1937:
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Among the many white admirers of Bishop Lane to pay tribute to him today was Mayor A. B. Faust of Jackson, who said, 'As the founder of Lane College in which institution thousands of his race have been educated and made better citizens, and in being a leader in the founding of the C. M. E. Church, which has in its membership several hundred thousands colored people, Bishop Lane has been a great benefactor of his race and he won the right to be considered one of the really great men of his generation.' |
In his Tennessee death certificate, Bishop Isaac Lane is stated to have died December 5, 1937 at age 103 years, 9 months and 2 days. His mother's name: Rachel Lane. Father's name: DK (don't know). Informant, Mrs. Ida Burrows of Jackson. Tenn.
"One of the really great men of his generation, "THE JACKSON SUN, December 6, 1937:
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Surely mishap Isaac Lane (1634-1937) is deserving of this description because of his positive influence in the lives of many thousands of fellow human beings. At the time of his death, Mayor A. B. Foust is quoted as having said this about Bishop Lane, 'As the founder of Lane College, in which institution thousands of his race have been educated and made better citizens, and in being a leader in the founding of the C. M. E. Church, which has in its membership several hundred thousands colored people. Bishop Lane has been a great benefactor of his race and he won the right to be considered one of the really great men of his generation. In Jackson, where he was best known, he was appreciated and honored by the people of both (black, white) races and of all creeds. His great influence was always used toward promoting a better understanding between the races. . . .' |
Bishop Lane served in that responsible clerical role in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, 1873-1914. Colored was changed to Christian in the name of this church several years after Bishop Lane's demise.
In Horace C. Savage's biography, LIFE AND TIMES OF BISHOP ISAAC LANE (Nashville, 1958), it is stated by the author as a factor in Lane's family that he was in fact the son of a slave (at the time of her son's birth) named Rachel, with her master, a respected, well-circumstanced farmer of Madison County named Cullen Lane. (Page 17)
This 1958 biographer wrote (Page 21) that Bishop Lane spoke of Cullen Lane, 'He was a good, true man, faithful to God and obligations and I pay . . . tribute to him from my heart.'
Cullen Lane was an active Methodist and encouraged Bishop Lane when young in a religious life. I came across a death notice of Cullen Lane in the Jackson WHIG AND TRIBUNE, Nov. 9, 1872, in which it is stated that he was born in Wayne Co., N.C., Jan. 12, 1782: moved to Madison County early in 1830. He died November 4, 1872. (Lane was long married but had no children with his wife.)
B. H. HUBBARD LOT, NO. 256B
[Lot 256½ in Tombstone Inscriptions]
Rev. B. H.
HUBBARD DD
Died
May 2, 1853
Asleep in Jesus.
MARY JANE
MARTIN
Wife of
Rev. B. H.
HUBBARD DD
Born
Dec. 19, 1809
Died
Mar. 23, 1887
NASHVILLE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, June 30, 1853. Died. Rev. Benjamin Harrison Hubbard , May 2, Jackson, Tenn.; moved to Gibson Co., Tenn. 1822; md. Jan. 30, 1834 to Mary J. M. Richardson; licensed to preach 1835.
HISTORY OF METHODISM IN TENNESSEE, by John B. McFerrin (Nashville, 1879), volume 3, page 451:
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Benj. H. Hubbard, DD, licensed to preach, 1835; filled these appointments in Methodist Ch.: Hatchie Circuit, Gallatin and Cairo Station, Huntsville, Ala., Trenton. Tenn., Somerville and Athens, Ala. At last mentioned place he was president of the Tenn. Conference Female Institute, 1849-1852; Nov. 1852-May, 1853 min. at Jackson Meth. Church and professor at the Memphis Conference Female college. He died "in full hope of heaven, on the 2d of May 1853 in the forty-second year of his age. He had conferred on him the degree of D.D. because of his scholarly and theological attainments. |
NASHVILLE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE, Oct. 1, 1847. Died. Mrs. Elizabeth Hubbard, consort of Joseph Hubbard, Esq. of DeSoto Co., Ms., mother of Rev. B. H. Hubbard; she was born Feb. 7, 1786, Person Co., N.C.; md. Dec. 1, 1807, died August 13, 1847.
Robert H. Cartmell, in his diary, volume 1, under date of May 2, 1853, that he had heard of the death, that day, of the Rev. B. H. Hubbard, and praises his memory. Under May 3, "Went to town to attend the burial of Mr. Hubbard but got in too late. thought to be the largest procession ever witnessed in the place of such an occasion."
PATTERSON AND CLARK LOT, NO. 441A
[HTML editor's note: In the Scrapbook, information for this lot is presented in a four-column table typed landscape across the page, with each row running down a column. I am unable to reproduce it this way in HTML.]
Row One
MARTHA OUTERBRIDGE
(1826-) March 1846)*
JAMES PATTERSON
3/15/1838-91908
DRUCILLA J., w Allen L.
PATTERSON
121800-21839
ALLEN L. (LONG) PATTERSON
3/8/1792-91857**
JOHN KEMP PATTERSON
s AL & D Patterson
8//5/1818-9/16/1832
DRUCILLA J. PATTERSON
d AL & D Patterson
81833-51836
THOS. H. CLARK
101853-8/5/1915
*I can still read the OUTERBRIDGE name but had to rely on the 1937 copyist for the other information except the death month, March.
**This tombstone is broken, the break line running through the middle of Patterson's death date, September 29, 1857. However, the burial record of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Jackson, states that ALLEN LONG PATTERSON died September 29, 1857.
Row Two
CALVIN HENDERSON
Died 10/11/1842
age 29 Yrs.*
EIIZA HENDERSON
w Calvin Henderson
81822-6/11/1887
THOMAS A. HENDERSON
s Calvin & E. Henderson
9/2/1842-1067
EDWARD P. CLARK
41855-3/10/1915
MARION HENDERSON
w Thos. Henderson
21829-101858**
THOMAS CLARK HENDERSON
s Thos. & Marion Henderson
31856-9/5/1857***
RICHARD HENDERSON
s Thos. & Marion Henderson
died 9/2/1856
*Lower pert of this stone missing; date from 1937 copyist.
**According to St. Luke's Episcopal Ch. records, this person died in New Orleans, along with her child Erasmus Fenner Henderson; both interred in Riverside, 3/12/1859; perhaps the infant is buried with its mother.
***The death date IS 1857; the last digit sometimes given as "6." The digit right above it is a "6."
Row Three
CALVIN CLARK
s Thos. Clark
10/2/1856-10/15/1857
THOMAS CLARK PYHAS
9/8/l875-11/1/1875
JAMES P. CLARK
71846-8/12/1870
(Others with later legible tombstones)
The 1937 copyist reported another stone at this location: ELIZAHETH PATTERSON CLARK, 10/5/1862-8/8/1863. I could not locate it.
Row Four
FRANCES B. CLARK
w Thos. Clark
101824- 71888
THOMAS CLARK
51821-9/12/1900*
Thomas Clark's LWT executed Feb. 1, 1889 and proven Jan. 17, 1901, Madison Co. Will Book B, page 112
* * *
Pertinent marriage records, in Madison County:
THOMAS HENDERSON married MARION PATTERSON, November 2, 1852
NATHANIAL HENDERSON married SUSAN PATTERSON, November 2, 1859
CALVIN HENDERSON married ELA (Eliza) PATTERSON, March 18, 1842
MARINA PATTERSON married STEPHEN OUTERBRIDGE, August 19, 1845
FRANCES PATTERSON married THOMAS CLARK, August 19, 1845
From St. Luke's Episcopal Church records:
THOMAS CLARK HENDERSON died September 5, 1857.
MARION HENDERSON died in New Orleans, Oct. 1858, as did her infant son, ERASMUS PENNER HENDERSON, and both were buried in Riverside, March 12, 1859.
NATHANIAL HENDERSON married SUSAN PATTERSON, at Thomas Clark's, November 2, 1859.
THOMAS HENDERSON married MARY O. BUTLER, June 6, 1865.
SUSAN PATTERSON, daughter of Thom. and Marion HENDERSON, was baptized September 16, 1855.
JACKSON GAZETTE, Sept. 15, 1832: Died. In this vicinity on Thursday, 11th inst., James K. Patterson, son of Mr. Allen L. Patterson.
ELIZABETH DIXON
Died
Feb. 27, 1863
LAKE LOT
Adjoining LOT NO. 351
[Lot 353-A in Tombstone Inscriptions]
EBENEZER F. McKNIGHT
Died
January 28, 1877
Aged
About 71 Years
The McKnight tombstone is an impressive, obelisk-type monument.
THE JACKSON SUN, Feb. 2, 1877:
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Died. McKnight. At the residence of Jno. S. Miller in this city, on the 26th ult., Ebenezer F. McKnight, age about 71 years. He has been a most excellent and highly esteemed citizen of this city for 45 years, uncorruptible and upright in all his dealings and strictly an honest man. He was for many years cashier of the Union Bank here in antebellum days and it was whilst he was in control in 1859, the Bank clerk, Geo. S. Miller, was murdered and the vaults robbed. Mr. McKnight was newer married and left no relations in this state. Thus one by one the old landmarks fade and the good are called to their last sleep and only the memory of their deeds remain. |
Madison Co., 1880 Census, CD 15, page 225:
E. McKnight, age 45, born in Pennsylvania.
Madison Co. Court Min. Bk. 14, page 244, Feb. 5, 1877:
D. H. King appt'd. adm. of McKnights estate. This record states that he died in Jackson, Jan. 27, but his tombstone and obit. state January 26.
ROZELL LOT, NO. 439A
DR. B. L. ROZELL
Born Aug. 5, 1818
Died Aug. 13, 1903
GOODSPEED'S HISTORY OF TENNESSEE (MADISON COUNTY EDITION, 1887), pages 900-901:
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Col. Black L. Rozell was born in Maury County, August 5, 1818, and moved to Henderson County, West Tennessee, in the fall of the same year. The father and mother were natives of Maryland and North Carolina respectively. The father lived in different States until the beginning of this century, when he located in this State, and in 1831 moved to Memphis. The city was almost the daily rendezvous of the Indians, and he witnessed them crossing the Mississippi River in 1832. The father was a prosperous planter, becoming very wealthy. He died on his plantation near Memphis, in August, 1856, his wife following him in 1864. The father was eighty years of age, and the mother eighty-five. Our subject was reared on a farm, and in 1844 moved to Mississippi (being one of the judges of election when Jas. K. Polk was elected President), and engaged in farming. In 1846 he graduated in the medical college at Cincinnati, and practiced for a number of years in Mississippi, and conducted his plantation at the same time. In 1861 he was elected colonel of the Third Mississippi Regiment, remaining with them twelve months, when he received authority from headquarters to raise a regiment, which he at once proceeded to do, but after having succeeded in raising the sixth company he was taken with severe sickness, and before he could recover, his companies had been mustered into service. He then was stationed as watch on the river in Coahoma Co., and remained there till close of the war; returned to his plantation and remained until 1871, when he moved to this city, but still retains and runs his Mississippi plantation. In 1850-52 and 1854 he served in the lower house of the Mississippi State Legislature, and was nominated for the Senate for the following two years, but declined to accept. In 1882 he served the people as mayor of this city. In February, 1855, he was united in marriage to Miss Lizzie C. Lyon, of this city, and daughter of James S. Lyon. She was born in this State, August 30, 1830. He and wife are members of the Methodist Church. Mr. Rozell is in politics Democratic. He is the only surviving member of his father's family, his brother, who resided near Nashville, having died lately in his eighty-fifth year, and having been a minister for sixty-eight years. |
LANCASTER LOT, NO. 276
In memory of
SAMUEL LANCASTER
Son of
John & Drusilla Lancaster
of Cumberland Co. Va.
Born
April 13, 1799
Died
March 2, 1859
ANNA TERRELL
Wife of
Samuel LANCASTER
and daughter of
John & Anna Lynch
of Lynchburg. Virginia
Born
April 13, 1801
died
Oct. 21, 1858
ANNA ELIZA
Consort of
Thomas HENDERSON
and only daughter of
Samuel & Anna T. Lancaster
Born Aug. 9, 1827
Died Aug. 1, 1850
Anna Lancaster married Thomas Henderson, July 25, 1846.
Beside Anna Lancaster Henderson's slab tombstone to the south, is another similar stone, the right side of the inscription being completely disintegrated The following, thou, is read certainly:
(Sacred)
to the (memory of)
JOHN
youn(gest?
July
9th of
This may be the tombstone of the youngest son of Geo. Snider, John F. Snider, aged 2 in 1850 census. To the south of this stone is that of little Kate Snider, 1856-1860.
WOOLFOLK LOT, NO. 220B
JOHN R. WOOLFOLK
Born
in Spotsylvania Co., Va.
Aug. 9, 1819
Died
Feb. 6, 1887
(east side of stone)
DIGNUS OUI AMETUR
(south side of stone)
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus shall he also bring with him. ['referring perhaps to the Resurrection]
Woolfolk, a sometime magistrate, surveyor and sheriff of Madison County had an English name pronounced wool-fork. My sound authority for this statement is Bennett V. Green, WORD BOOK OF VIRGINIA FOLK SPEECH (Richmond, 1899), page 16.
STODDERT LOT, NO. 343
[Lot 434-A in Tombstone Inscriptions]
WILLIAM STODDERT
who departed this life
January 14, 1839
in the 43rd year of his age
William Stoddert (1796-1839) was married to Mary Jane Mason (Aug. 5, 1811-June 2, 1892), a daughter of Daniel Mason of Reynoldsburg and Paris, Tennessee. See Humphreys Co., Tenn Deed Book E, pages 583, 586, 588 and 591 for these Mason relationships. (Her brother, Henry O. Mason, lies under a slab stone not far from the Stoddert lot.) Buried in this same lot, according to the St. Luke's burial register: Mary Jane Mason Stoddert and her daughters: the Misses Wilhelmina (Willie) Stoddert, June 1837-July 29, 1906 (died in San Diego, Cal. and her remains returned to Jackson); Harriet C. Stoddert, May 1832-November 4, 1916 (died in Sacramento, Cal. and her remains returned to Jackson). Their sister Mary Jane Stoddert, born about 1835, was married to William Caruthers, June 7, 1859 and they had several children. This family moved to California.
"Madison County," by Jay G. Cisco, THE AMERICM4 HISTORICAL MAGAZINE, volume 8 #1 (January 1903), pages 47-48:
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William Stoddert was born in 1796 in Bladenburg, Md., of English ancestry. He received his education in Georgetown, District of Columbia. In 1822 he came to Tennessee, and to Jackson where he decided to locate. He was a lawyer, a man of scholarship and greater learning in his profession than any other member of the Jackson bar during his lifetime. Some of his briefs, which are found in the State reports, attest his ability as a lawyer. He was a man of great purity of character, and, though comparatively a young man when he died, he left a reputation for high character as a citizen and as a lawyer second to none. |
VIRGINIA GENEALOGIES, by Horace S. Hayden, 1931 Reprint, page 348:
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"Hon. Benjamin Stoddert was the son of Captain Thomas Stoddert of Maryland, who was killed at Braddock's defeat, 1755, and grandson of major James Stoddert, who came from Scotland to Maryland, 1675. Benjamin was a merchant, but entered the Continental Army in 1776 as captain of Cavalry and was in active service until the battle of Brandywine when holding the rank of Major he was so severely wounded as to unfit him for active service. As Secretary of the Board of war he remained with the Army until the latter part of 1781. When peace was decalred he became a successful merchant in Georgetown, D.C. Pres't. John Adams appointed him Secretary of the Navy 21, 1798; he remained so until March 4, 1802. After Hon. James McHenry was removed as secretary of war, Mr. Adams, May 26, 1800, placed Mr. Stoddert in charge of the war office, with full power as Secretary, to serve until a successor should be regularly confirmed and present to relieve him. He relinquished the office to Hon. Samuel Dexter. When the navy department was created in 1798, the frigates "Constitution," "Constellation," and "United States" constituted the bulk of the American navy. By the latter part of 1799, five frigates and twenty-three sloops of war were in commission. Mr. Stoddert's experience in the merchantile marine, coupled with tact, industry, and judgement were valuable in the formation of this naval force, through which the hostilities with France were so soon terminated. That he possessed the confidences and friendship of President Adams is shown by his official and private correspondence. At the close of the Adams' Administration he returned to private life, settling his business affairs which during his absence had become so entangles as to cause serious losses." (App. Cyc. Am. Biog.) |
McKINNEY LOT, NO. 286½
WILLIAM PLUMMER
eldest son
of
Rev. C. &. M. P. McKINNET
Died March 13, 1853
Aged 11 Y, 7 M, 5 D
This slab stone bears a many-lined epitaph in lettering too delicate to be read, now.
HARKINS LOT, NO. 55
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EDDIE |
WILLIE |
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Sons of Earnest & Mary HARKINS |
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In an article written in 1912 by Captain Thomas x. Gates of Jackson, in one of the newspapers of the city, entitled, "A Day Spent Among the Tombs," he tells his reader a tragic story about Willie and Eddie Harkins:
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Just as you enter the driveway in Riverside cemetery, you will see a slab covering the remains of two little brothers, Eddie and Willie Harkins. Many of the citizens of Jackson will remember the sad death of these two little brothers. The last of December, 1889, or the first day of January, 1890, these two little boys, together with a little son of Mr. James Grogan, were playing in the sand-bank, corner of Lexington and Hays avenues, when suddenly the bank caved in on them, and when found, several hours afterwards, they were just alive, and both died the next day. Also the little son of Mr. Grogan died. It has been twenty years since Mr. and Mrs. Harkins left Jackson, but every year the mother sends to the sexton of Riverside $3.00 to keep in order the graves of her darling little boys. |
(Little Loyd Tolson died Dec. 31. Little Jimmie Grogan died Dec. 30.)
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