African-American cemetery to receive major restoration

By JAKE LOWARY • The Leaf-Chronicle • January 18, 2010

After a tour of the grounds at Mt. Olive Cemetery, local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were struck by the beauty of the 7.3 acres."It's just beautiful out there," said Llewanne Bass, a member of the Latter-day Saints and one of the 500 volunteers expected to help restore the grounds to pristine condition in April. The effort is part of the church's annual community service project held in conjunction with a national Latter-day Saints day of worship on the fourth Saturday of April.

Bass said Latter-day Saints members from across Clarksville and Hopkinsville will participate in the effort, which includes clearing overgrowth, making and mulching walking paths, fencing property lines, marking lost gravesites, creating a bird sanctuary and building a bridge over a ravine.

All of the work is long overdue at the nearly 200-year-old African-American cemetery, said Geneva Bell, executive director of the cemetery's historical preservation society.

"It's in need of a lot of work," Bell said, who noted it was 40 years before anyone discovered the hallowed grounds. "Naturally, it needs a little TLC."

The cemetery houses gravesites dating back to the Civil War, and the graves of African-American soldiers, Bell said.

"That alone should make the African-Americans (in Clarksville) want to participate in this," she said, but hopes anyone and everyone will join the effort.

Project's beginning

The Latter-day Saints came upon the project after meeting with County Mayor Carolyn Bowers, Bass said. Bowers suggested the cemetery as a community service project.

"It just touched our hearts," Bass said.

Bell also has been touched, reaching out to the community for years to get the restoration work done. She said many efforts from Clarksville have been offered and completed, but an effort of this magnitude is a new precedent.

"It reinforces my faith in Clarksville," Bell said. "It seems God always knows."

Bell also is particularly touched by the commitment to a bird sanctuary and a bridge, both big goal's for the cemetery.

"To build a bridge — oh, my God," she said.

Bell also is hopeful the outpouring of effort is encouraging for others to join, which she said will undoubtedly make the cemetery "one of Clarskville's finest."

"Geneva Bell's asking where you at," she joked. "I'm hoping you come out and take part."