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A Spot on the Hill Returns to Old Jonesborough Cemetery

A Spot on the Hill, the original, research-based play returns this October to the Old Jonesborough Cemetery. Now celebrating its ninth season, this edition features new characters. New stories include Miss Ethel Brown who was a teacher at Booker T. Washington School and Jonesborough Elementary School, brick and stonemason John Rhea, Dr. William R. Sevier who was instrumental during the cholera epidemic of 1873, and Samuel Irvin who has the oldest marker in the cemetery. Irvin’s marker is even older than the cemetery itself. You’ll meet them and many more! Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs to sit on. Seats are not provided at the cemetery. Come and listen to real stories of real lives among real tombstones.

Performances for A Spot on the Hill will take place at 6:30 p.m. on October 13th, 14th, 20th, and 21st. There will be a 2:00 p.m. matinee performance on October 14th in the Jonesborough Visitors Center and a 2:00 pm matinee in the cemetery on October 21st. At the outdoor matinee, there will be ASL interpretation provided by BridgeEAST. The indoor performance on October 14th is ADA accessible. Tickets are limited, and sell out fast, so make sure you buy yours today. Tickets are $10.00 and proceeds benefit the Heritage Alliance’s educational programs and initiatives, including ongoing programming in Jonesborough’s historic cemeteries.

Audience members should arrive 15 minutes prior to show time. Parking is available at the First Baptist Church and downtown. It is a short walk up East Main Street to the cemetery from the First Baptist Church lot. A golf cart courtesy shuttle will be available for guests who need it. This program is not suggested for children less than 10 years of age. In case of inclement weather, the show will be canceled and audience members will be notified in advance.

To purchase tickets, please call the Jonesborough Visitor’s Center at 423.753.1010. Tickets can also be purchased online at jonesborough.com/tickets.

Re-Discovering History: The Mass Grave from the Cholera Epidemic of 1873

One of our favorite parts of working in the history field is the fact that we are always learning something new. Sometimes that means learning when we got it wrong. Over the past few seasons, cemetery volunteer extraordinaire Gordon Edwards has been using GPR technology in the Old Jonesborough Cemetery. His most recent partnership was with Dr. Robert Jones, owner of the DeVault Tavern and the Tilted Tavern Animal Sanctuary. GPR can tell you a lot about what’s underground. One of the things Gordon has been hunting for is the long whispered about mass grave from the cholera epidemic of 1873. Around 35 of Jonesborough’s residents perished between mid-July through mid-August of that summer. We know where some of them are buried, but we do not know where a lot of them are buried. The Herald & Tribune did a remarkable job of covering the epidemic, but they never mentioned a mass grave, or really any kind of final resting place for the victims.

Snippet from a 1969 newspaper article that mentions the location of the mass grave.

Honestly, the Heritage Alliance was inclined to say it was just rumor, a myth. In fact, we even included it in our “mythbusting” tour as potentially busted. However, a few tidbits through time kept Gordon searching. There were some remarks from other papers in the 20th century that there was a mass grave near the “bend” or “trench” of the cemetery. That hunch led him to clear a section of the cemetery right along the back slope. His hunch paid off and the GPR lit up that area in March of this year. There may by up to 15-20 people buried in the grave.

To access Dr. Jones’ full report on the grave, click here.

The question remains if the mass grave was integrated. That’s a good question, but also a complex question. Cholera does not discriminate. When the Rocky Hill cemetery, now commonly referred to as the Old Jonesborough Cemetery, was expanded in the 1840s, the back section was reserved for the burials of “strangers and colored people.” In 1890, the Colored Peoples Cemetery Society established College Hill Cemetery as the burial grounds for the Black community. It is possible that the mass grave was segregated based on these other examples of segregation in the cemetery. That brings up another question, would there be a separate mass grave for the members of the Black community who perished in the 1873 epidemic? That is another possibility, but we unfortunately do not have any hints to go off of for another mass grave.

On the other hand, the grave might have been integrated because people were dying so quickly and there was so much fear surrounding cholera and its level of contagion. We suspect this is why the Herald & Tribune never said anything about the mass grave. It was remembered privately, a piece of mourning that was kept to Jonesborough and the people who had lived through it.

Currently, stakes mark the area, and we recently placed a temporary marker at the location. The Heritage Alliance will work with the Town of Jonesborough on a permanent memorial.

Once the location was re-discovered, we were able to compare it against a photo in our archives from an early 1900s funeral at the Lampson plot. There is a fence in the back of that photo, a fence whose position matches that of the mass grave. We believe it marked off the grave but it was lost to time and then nature as the woods crept up the hill.

We will never be 100% sure, not without excavation, but we have enough evidence to feel 99% sure, and we do not advocate for excavation. It is time to remember the dead and let them continue to rest. This year marks 150 years since that epidemic. I fully believe the spirits send us messages from time to time. We are honored and sobered to have re-discovered this piece of Jonesborough’s history.

To read all about the cholera epidemic as recorded in the 1873 Herald & Tribune, click here.

Summer Social in the Cemetery

The Heritage Alliance is hosting a Summer Social in the Old Jonesborough Cemetery on Saturday, August 12th from 6:00-8:00 pm. “It used to be a common thing for families and friends to gather in the cemetery and picnic, share stories of their loved ones, and relax,” shares Executive Director Anne Mason. “There was nothing odd about it. Cemeteries are sacred spaces, but they’re also public spaces, and we want people to come and tour the cemetery and learn more about the community they live in.”

 

Tour guides and people in period costume will be on hand to answer questions and share history from the Rocky Hill and College Hill cemeteries. Ice cream will be available for $2.00 a scoop courtesy of MOM’s Ice Cream with Munchies on Main. Ice cream sales will benefit the historic preservation of the cemeteries. You can also help hand crank your own ice cream for $2.00. Parking is available at the First Baptist Church located at 201 E Main Street in their side parking lot. There is no parking at the cemetery. The cemetery is a short walk up from the church parking lot. We’ll also have a golf cart shuttle available throughout the evening from the First Baptist Church parking lot.

 

During the evening, the Heritage Alliance will unveil a temporary marker honoring the victims of the 1873 cholera epidemic and marking the mass grave from that historic event. The mass grave was re-discovered this March by Heritage Alliance volunteer Gordon Edwards and Dr. Robert Jones with the Tilted Tavern Animal Sanctuary. They used ground-penetrating radar to locate the mass grave. The cholera epidemic moved through Jonesborough from mid-July to August of 1873, 150 years ago exactly. More information about the mass grave and the search to locate it will soon be included on the Heritage Alliance’s website at heritageall.org.

 

We hope you can join us on August 12th for the Summer Social in the Cemetery.

A Spot on the Hill Shares New Stories in the Old Jonesborough Cemetery in October

A Spot on the Hill, the original, research-based play returns this October to the Old Jonesborough Cemetery. Now celebrating its eighth season, this edition features new characters. New stories include Ella Ford Freeze who ran the Dew Drop Inn Restaurant in Bristol, Zachariah Lyle Burson who donated the bell to the First Baptist Church, and James Edward Shipley who died in a tragic and bizarre accident.  You’ll meet them and many more! Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs to sit on. Seats are not provided at the cemetery. Come and listen to real stories of real lives among real tombstones.

Performances for A Spot on the Hill will take place at 6:30 p.m. on October 14th, 15th, 21st, and 22rd. There will be a 2:00 p.m. matinee performance on October 15th in the Jonesborough Visitors Center and a 2:00 pm matinee in the cemetery on October 22nd. The indoor performance on October 15th is ADA accessible. Tickets are limited, and sell out fast, so make sure you buy yours today. Tickets are $10.00 and proceeds benefit the Heritage Alliance’s educational programs and initiatives, including ongoing programming in Jonesborough’s historic cemeteries.

 

Audience members should arrive 15 minutes prior to show time. Parking is available at the First Baptist Church and downtown. It is a short walk up East Main Street to the cemetery from the First Baptist Church lot. A golf cart courtesy shuttle will be available for guests who need it. This program is not suggested for children less than 10 years of age. In case of inclement weather, the show will be canceled and audience members will be notified in advance.

To purchase tickets, please call the Jonesborough Visitor’s Center at 423.753.1010. Tickets can also be purchased online at jonesborough.com/tickets.

A Spot on the Hill Returns to the Old Jonesborough Cemetery in October

A Spot on the Hill, the original, research-based play returns this October to the Old Jonesborough Cemetery. Now celebrating its seventh season, this edition features new characters. New stories include members of the Panhorst family, John Simpson who owned the Mansion House, Spanish American War veteran William Armstrong, and Lucy Stuart who has a secret she’s been keeping.  You’ll meet them and many more! Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs to sit on. Come and listen to real stories of real lives among real tombstones.

Performances for A Spot on the Hill will take place at 6:30 p.m. on October 15th, 16th, 22nd, and 23rd. There will be 2:00 p.m. matinee performances on October 16th and 23rd. We have made some changes this year in light of the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, and there will be no indoor performances. Tickets are limited, and sell out fast, so make sure you buy yours today. Tickets are $8.00 and proceeds benefit the Heritage Alliance’s educational programs and initiatives, including ongoing programming in Jonesborough’s historic cemeteries.

 

 

Audience members should arrive 15 minutes prior to show time. Parking is available at the First Baptist Church and downtown. It is a short walk up East Main Street to the cemetery from the First Baptist Church lot. A golf cart courtesy shuttle will be available for guests who need it. This program is not suggested for children less than 10 years of age. In case of inclement weather, the show will be canceled and audience members will be notified in advance.

To purchase tickets, please call the Jonesborough Visitor’s Center at 423.753.1010. Tickets can also be purchased online at jonesborough.com/tickets.

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