Tombstone Inscriptions in Historic Riverside Cemetery in Jackson Tennessee (Revised Edition)
by Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith
Copyright, Jonathan K. T. Smith, 1998REMARKS
(Pages 1-2)
Researchers in local history and genealogy frequently turn to cemeteries for information about "notable" persons and/or relatives, that which is recorded on tombstones; some people have an aversion to vital statistics but plainly without chronology a deceased person cannot be reliably placed within a background in time. People, the living and dead, do not exist in a vacuum; chronology to assist in establishing perspective is essential.
RIVERSIDE CEMETERY in Jackson, Tennessee is vitally historic; the generations of persons buried there represent the dynamic and ever-unfolding historic development of the community. Many persons who have constituted the population of the city over time have a final resting place there. By remembering the dead, either celebrated or obscure, especially those who have achieved worthwhile lives, we honor the best in our natures. It is also a place in which many people may think and feel something of the "ultimates" in life, where we may individually take stock of the meaning and worth of life and its transitory nature.
A survey of vital information from the tombstones in Riverside Cemetery was conscientiously made in 1937 by William James Ingram, as an employee of the Works Progress Administration. Years later, in 1975, several members of the Mid-West Tennessee Genealogical Society read the tombstones inscriptions again and published the results in a reliable book form. In the l990s the present writer published in scrapbook format seven booklets in which selected tombstone inscriptions were reported along with information about the lives of the persons the inscriptions commemorate. Still, there has been a need for as complete a reading of the tombstone inscriptions as seems probable along with establishing these tombstones in the numbered family lots or individual graves. Those are the two primary purposes of the present publication. It has been a task that has consumed many hours primarily because the extent of pollution damage to the tombstones has been considerable. Only with the help of cleaning with water and brush, aided by occasional white chalk, has it been possible to read these inscriptions.
The inscriptions as reported in this publication convey as nearly as possible the original data in the inscriptions from surviving traces on the tombstones and from reliable previous reading of the inscriptions. Although the present writer has gratefully benefited from the labors of his predecessors in this task, he has read these tombstones for himself, interpreting as best he could what he saw on these stones. In a few instances the latest readings on the inscriptions have resulted in a new interpretation of the data which is almost inevitable when one deals with problematically worn tombstone inscriptions. Only the names, family relationships, vital dates and some occasional other information have been gleaned for reporting in this publication.
Piositic epitaphs have their relevance in cemetery lore but it is the essential biographical information which has been read and reported herein. The numbering of the grave plots/lots has been taken from the official and semi-official records; some persons may find a variance with the numbers on their particular deeds for lots because of subsequent subdividing of lots or else date to decades ago since which time some lots have been renumbered but the numbers have been examined closely for reliability and such minor variances should cause no undue concern about the fact of ownership in any particular case. Where the dimensions of the lots are known from the records this information is given. Double tombstones as husbands and wives (and sometimes other relatives) often share in cemeteries is noted herein with the abbreviated form: DM.
Several persons have been especially helpful or have had a meaningful influence on the present writer/copyist in the course of his work at Riverside. Mr. W. Ed Terry has for many years consistently assisted in the efforts to preserve the heritage and the physical aspects of the cemetery; Mr. Gary M. Leforgee, grounds supervisor of the Jackson Parks and Recreation Department, has lent vitally to the morale of the writer in his work and he has given conscientious supervision to the maintenance of the cemetery grounds; Mrs. Margaret Holder (now retired) and Mrs. Brenda Jones, of the trust department of First American Bank in Jackson have been patient and also thoughtful in providing the writer with access to the original papers regarding the cemetery, those which are kept in the files of this institution; Mr. Jack Darrel Wood, especially, and Mr. Robert D. Taylor, Jr., librarians, Tennessee Room in the Jackson and Madison County County Library have also provided assistance in the writer's efforts to gather information relative to the cemetery itself and the lives of many of those persons buried there; Mr. Russell B. Truell, Jackson city recorder, has allowed generous access to the official records of the city; the obliging staff members of the George A. Smith and Sons, Lawrence-Sorenson and Griffin funeral homes have made it possible to "get at" data from their files relative to the study at hand; helpfulness of staff members of the Tennessee State Library and Archives and the Memphis-Shelby County Public Library and Information Center have rendered similar services. Mr. Fred Johnsey, Jr., Mrs. Joan Moody Birmingham and Mr. Charles Richards, all of Jackson, have given useful assistance as have numerous other individuals over a period of several years. The local United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans have contributed to the preservation of the cemetery and its viable role in educating the citizenry to "the best of what has gone before us in local history."
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