News
Cemetery Reborn As Historical Site
Date:
August 2005
By: Amy Ritchart
The Leaf-Chronicle
Daniel Holmes has been visiting Clarksville's Mount Olive Cemetery each
year for nearly 50 years.
On Thursday, he stood with about 100 others and celebrated a poignant
success: the cemetery's official dedication.
"I feel really great at this historical moment" said the man whose three
relatives -- a grandfather, grandmother and uncle -- are buried beneath
the towering trees. "I'm just overjoyed that all the elements
could get together on the momentous occasion. It's a long time
coming, and I glad to see it,"
Holmes is one of many volunteers who nearly two year ago committed to
reviving the abandoned and over grown seven-acre cemetery on Rollins
Drive where more than 1000 graves rest.
Member of the Mount Olive Historical Preservation Society -- including
Holmes -- along with elected officials, military officials and citizen
historians, have since worked toward the day people could stroll along
the main path of the cemetery.
It is home to some of the area's earliest black war veterans, elected
officials and former slaves.
The 101st Airborne Division Band played at the ceremony, designed to
honor veterans and other buried there. Lennie Street stirred the
crowd -- many veterans themselves -- as she sang the national anthem a
cappella.
"Today we honor heroes," said Mike Dunn, the event's master of
ceremonies and a professor at Austin Peay State University. "We
honor those whose spirit lives on."
"Today, maybe the definition of here is no farther than the mirror."
Childhood memories
Thomas Wilson, an Army veteran, believes his grandfather and grandmother
are buried at Mount Olive.
"It was 40-plus years ago, my father and I were going by. He said,
"Your grandparents are buried there. He just pointed out that
way," Wilson said, gesturing toward the cemetery.
Army veteran Vaughn Rushing remembers a 1953 funeral for a soldier who
had been killed in a car wreck.
"I was a little bitty boy," he said. "They had a gun salute at his
grave."
Rushing, who shared a property line with the cemetery, said the land has
been overgrown for as long as he can recall, and he's happy about the
improvements.
"It's a long time coming," he said. "I'm glad to see it."
Legends and records
Some with relatives buried on the property have said the Mount Olive
Cemetery was originally know only as the old African cemetery.
Foston Funeral Home director Larry Meriwether, who attended the Thursday
dedication, has said it was once called the slave cemetery.
Citizen historians say they have found grave markers there of veterans
of the Civil Ware and World War II.
Howard Winn, professor emeritus of history at APSU and a member of the
preservation society, said soldiers with several U.S. Colored Infantry
Units which existed during the Civil War -- are thought buried at the
site. He praised citizen preservationists, including former land
Robert Davis and board member Geneva Bell, as well as those in
attendance crediting the great strides the group has made to the
diligence of local residents.
"We have two citizens here -- one black and one white -- who have
largely made this day possible," Winn told the crowd. "This
gathering here is a recognition that the preservation of this site is
necessary for our community.
"This ceremony will, I hope, remind each of us gathered at this site to
reflect upon our responsibility as citizens."
The ceremony closed with the unveiling of the sign, the playing of taps
and a gun salute. Many then toured the site with preservation
society guides
Holmes said he likely will visit many more times -- especially now that
main cemetery path is clear and the area is accessible.
"I'll be coming out quite often," he said.
Amy Ritchart can be reach by telephone at 931-245-0247
or at
amyritchart@theleafchronicle.com.