This is not a game most people play, but if you’re a cemetery hopper like me, it comes up more often than you might think. It’s called Guess Who’s in the Mausoleum.

While doing research on Forest Hills Cemetery’s mausoleums, I found myself eye-deep in this game. That’s understandable because they’re locked up and it’s sometimes difficult to see inside. As I did last week, I had to use Forest Hills’ online records (which includes pictures of the actual ledgers with details on who was put where and when). It was fascinating to read the notes.

The figure on the door of the Price mausoleum has an Art Deco feel but from what I could figure out from the records, the mausoleum wasn’t completed until June 1953. Some Prices who’d died earlier were disinterred from their graves and moved into the mausoleum at that time. I was curious to learn who made it inside.

Born in 1840, Dr. Samuel Vance Price was a native of Tennessee who spent his adult years in Walker County, Ga. He married Sarah Jane Bonds a few years before serving in the Confederate Army. Together, they had 12 children and only one died in infancy.

The Doctor Meets a Violent End

Dr. Price’s life was cut short at the age of 45 after he presented a bill to a patient, named William Powell. According to a Jan. 26, 1886 newspaper article, “Powell was shot in the abdomen and Price’s skull was crushed with a billet of wood. Both are fatally injured.”

Dr. Price died about a month later on February 27 and is buried at Garmany Memorial Gardens in Walker County, Ga. Sarah did not remarry but lived another 40 years, dying in 1926. She is buried at Forest Hills but not in the Price mausoleum.

Some of the brothers remained in the North Georgia/Tennessee area, but three headed west to (then) Oklahoma territory and two married Native American brides. The youngest of the Price children, Paul, met a tragic end. He married and divorced, running a pool hall in Chattanooga in his final years. He committed suicide at the age of 47 in 1932. He is buried at Forest Hills in Section K with his mother, Sarah.

Second son Samuel Sterling Price, who married Lula Hixson in 1896, was operating a saloon in Chattanooga by 1900. His mother, a sister and two brothers (one of who helped him in the saloon) were also living with them.

A Young Life Cut Short

Sam did well, operating as a liquor dealer in his later years, having four children with Lula. Their youngest son, James died in 1925 at the age of 18 while attending the Tennessee Military Institute in Sweetwater. He and his classmates were on the firing range when a student accidentally discharged his weapon, striking and killing James. Sam died in 1948 at the age of 86 and Lula died in 1958 at the age of 82.

So who actually rests in the Price museum? Inside are Samuel S. Price, his wife, Lula, his sons, James, Henry, and Charles, and Charles’ wife, Elsie. I did find it interesting that after the mausoleum was built in 1953 that his mother, Sarah, was not moved inside. When his unmarried sister, Fannie, died in 1959, she was buried with their mother, Sarah, and brother, Paul, in Section K. My guess is that there simply wasn’t enough room.

A Look Through the Glass

In the case of the Wills mausoleum, there are only two occupants. I figured that out by looking through the door. William Frederick Wills and his wife, Eva “Elsie” Wills are interred within. He was an auto parts supplier and later worked in finance. Elsie died in 1965 in Chattanooga and William died in 1970 in Florida. Census records don’t indicate they had any children.

The outside of the Wills mausoleum has some beautiful scroll work on the doors. But when you look inside those doors, you can see that the stained glass looks quite a lot like the Price mausoleum but Jesus is praying in the opposite direction. Even the Bible verse at the base of the glass are the same. It’s highly possible they were made by the same company.

Despite their immigrant origins, the Scholze family had deep roots in Chattanooga. Wilhelm Robert Scholze, born in 1843 in Germany, emigrated to America with his family to Pittsburgh, Pa. He and his bride, Anna, operated a dairy before opening a tannery in Chattanooga. His brothers, Ernst and Julius, ran other businesses nearby, including a soap factory, an ice plant and a packing house.

Pillar of the St. Elmo Community

Robert and Anna had five children together and the business prospered. He was known as a generous employer and once quietly purchased a debt-laden Lutheran church about to be auctioned off, giving it to the congregation as a gift. He was also one of the St. Elmo schools’ directors, often helping financially.

Robert died on April 7, 1907, as he and his son, George, pulled out of their driveway, and their horse bolted. Robert was thrown from the buggy into a telephone pole. He died that evening of a ruptured blood vessel in his head. He was 63 years old. Anna died 30 years later in 1937 at the age of 91. Robert and Anna are buried next to each other at Forest Hills.

In his will, Scholze left the tannery and saddlery his five children. In 1931, a fire destroyed the tannery so George Scholze bought out the other shares and continued to manage it until he died in 1947. His son, George Scholze Jr., assumed control. The tannery ceased production in 1987, and the buildings were demolished.

The Scholze mausolseum has its own unique look, with four columns and seating on each side of it.

George Scholze and his wife, Elizabeth Windsor Scholze, had two children, Nell and George Jr. Nell was much loved by her parents and they were devastated when she died at the age of 24 in 1931 from a bowel obstruction. She was buried at Forest Hills.

George died on March 8, 1947 from coronary issues. According to cemetery records, his body was placed in the “public receiving vault” until the mausoleum was completed in July 1947. If this vault is located at Forest Hills, I did not see it. Daughter Nell’s remains were also moved into the mausoleum at that time.

When George’s wife, Elizabeth, died in 1951, she was also placed in the mausoleum. The other occupants are the first wife of George Jr., Virginia Reeves Scholze, who died in 1963. George Jr. died in 1972 and is also interred there. His second wife, Maurine Davis Schulze, died in 1982 and was placed in the last vacant crypt in the mausoleum.

Struck by Lightning

The outside of the Miller mausoleum isn’t particularly impressive but peeking inside, I saw a beautiful angel on the stained glass window. I also saw a bottle of Windex and a broom but oddly enough, I see a lot of those in mausoleums (including gangster Sam Giancana’s in Chicago).

I learned that Mike, a native American, was born in Oklahoma in 1896. He married Annie Williams and they lived in Chattanooga. He died on August 27, 1941 when he was struck by lightning. I could find nothing else about his death. He was buried at Forest Hills but according to records, the family mausoleum was completed in September 1962. His remains were then moved into it.

I was guessing that Annie must have died that same year but she actually passed away in Texas in 1966. Only she and Mike are interred within the mausoleum.

The last mausoleum I’m going to talk about today is the Milne mausoleum. Older than the others, it has a special charm to it.

Thanks to Harmon Jolley, I learned a lot about Walter Scott Milne. A native of Ontario, Canada born in 1864, Walter purchased the Cleveland Chair Company in Cleveland, Tenn.) in its fourth year of operation in 1893. He renamed it the Milne Chair Company. After a fire at the factory, Walter moved the operation to Chattanooga and built a new one on 35 acres in the Avondale community. He boasted in a Chattanooga Times advertisement that his factory was “the most modern electrically-equipped chair factory south of the Ohio River.”

At the factory opening in 1913, Walter’s daughter, Margaret, turned the switch to activate power throughout the plant. Guests were given chair spindles as souvenirs.

Walter married fellow Canadian Mary Butland in 1894 and together they had five daughters. Walter died after an extended illness in 1924 and the business was put in the hands of a son-in-law and a brother to manage but both died in the 1940s. The business closed in May 1951, and the auction of the Milne property included brick buildings totaling 245,000 square feet of space and 34 acres.

When Walter died in November 1924, his body was placed in a temporary mausoleum at Forest Hills  (I could not make out the name) until the Milne mausoleum was completed in September 1925. When wife Mary died in 1961, she joined him.

The other occupants are eldest daughter, Sterling Milne Morrison, who died in June 1961 shortly before her mother. Sterling’s husband, Hal Morrison, died in 1949 and is interred within. Daughter Mary Milne Holton, who died in 1975, and her husband, William Holton, who died in 2000, are also inside. Daughter Margaret Milne Record, and her husband W.D.L. Record, died within about a month of each other in 1983, are interred in the Milne mausoleum.

Part III is coming soon so stay tuned for more stories from Forest Hills.

When I think of visiting Chattanooga, Tenn.’s Forest Hills Cemetery in April 2018, it reminds me of a few things. Number one, I had my sweet and spunky mother along with me and she proved quite helpful!

That week, Mom and I were I supposed to have gone to Ohio on a cemetery/family visit but our plans didn’t work out (it finally happened in October). We decided on an overnight stay in Chattanooga after dropping off my son with my awesome mother-in-law, Sue, so he could enjoy his spring break in Knoxville.

Number two would be some things are not always what they seem, which played out while doing research for this blog post.

Mom and I enjoyed a terrific massage at Natural Body Spa (shameless plug), which was within walking distance of our hotel. They treated us like celebs. But she knew I wasn’t leaving Chattanooga without visiting at least one cemetery! We headed to Forest Hills the next morning after we checked out.

Located in the St. Elmo neighborhood at the foot of Lookout Mountain, Forest Hills Cemetery was established in 1880 by a group led by Col. Abraham Malone Johnson.  A Georgia native, Col. Johnson and his wife, Thankful, are considered St. Elmo’s founders. Besides Forest Hills, Col. Johnson played a role in forming other local organizations and companies, including the water company that would become Tennessee American Water and Chattanooga Medicine Company (now Sanofi).

Originally named “Oakland,” the cemetery name was changed to “Forest Hills.” The first burial took place in August 1880. Englishman Walter Hayter, who was hired to survey the cemetery, died suddenly and was buried in Section 1, Lot 1. I did not see his grave on our visit.

Spring at Forest Hills Cemetery

With about 45,000 burials, Forest Hills Cemetery covers about 100 acres so it is definitely big. Since spring was starting, trees and flowers were just starting to come out of their winter hibernation.

Col. Johnson’s family monument is one of the largest at Forest Hills, not surprising considering his wealth and influence. But his origins were humble in nature. Johnson was working as a tinsmith and railroad postal agent when he met Thankful Whiteside in 1857.

The Johnson union (they married the year they met) was frowned upon by Thanksful’s father, Col. James Whiteside. She eloped with Johnson two days before her marriage to a law student. Col. Whiteside reportedly did not speak to his daughter until after she gave birth to her first two children about a year later, a set of twins named Anderson and Minnie.

The Colonel Who Wasn’t a Colonel

While one source I saw reported that Johnson rose to the rank of colonel in the Confederate Army, I found no records confirming he ever donned a uniform. More likely, it was honorary. Johnson operated several railroads in Georgia serving under the Confederate government. The title “Colonel” is also nowhere to be found on Johnson’s monument, either. These honorary designations were not uncommon during the era, “Major” Eugene Lewis being another example of a railroad magnate who garnered a military title he never earned.

The Johnsons had seven children and all of them but Anderson are accounted for on the monument. One account I read was that Anderson was in a fight over a woman that resulted in a friend being cut in the neck, and the man died of infection two weeks later. Fearing he might be charged in the man’s death, Anderson fled Chattanooga and became a drifter of sorts. The last record I could find him listed on was the 1880 U.S. Census.

Thankful Whiteside Johnson was in poor health in her later years as the result of the hardships she suffered during the Civil War, the 1878 Yellow Fever epidemic, and child birth. At age 51, she died on Jan. 28, 1890. Abraham died on April 21, 1903 at the age of 73.

There was a grave at Forest Hills that I was keen to find, and it took Mom and I quite a while to locate. It is tiny compared to the Johnson monument but the story of the woman who rests there has a place in the history books.

No Flash in the Pan

A native of Chattanooga, Virne Beatrice “Jackie” Mitchell grabbed local attention as a young pitching star when she was signed in 1931 by Joe Engel (also buried at Forest Hills). He owned the Chattanooga Lookouts, a double-A minor league team in the Southern Association that still exists today. Baseball did not look kindly on women players at the time so Jackie was often regarded with scoffing and amusement.

But Jackie was the real deal, the 17-year-old having been coached by her neighbor future Baseball Hall of Famer Charles “Dazzy” Vance when her family lived in Memphis. Her father, an optician, encouraged his daughter to play ball at a tender age.

On April 2, 1931, Jackie took to the mound during an exhibition game the Lookouts played against the New York Yankees. She followed pitcher Clyde Barfoot, who had given up a double and a single. Wearing a custom-made uniform, she stared down the already legendary Babe Ruth. Her first pitch was a ball, he swung at the next two, then the fourth pitch was called a strike.

Ruth reportedly threw his bat down, argued with the umpire, then stormed back to the dugout. Next up was “Iron Horse” Lou Gehrig, who swung and missed all three pitches.

“Too Strenuous” For Women

After Jackie got a standing ovation, she walked the third batter and was pulled from the game. The sensational story was quickly reported across the country. Days later, her contract was voided by Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis with the reason given being that baseball was “too strenuous” for women.

Some have argued that Jackie’s defeat of the Babe and Iron Horse that day was a set up, but sports writers and historians tend to support that it was real. Knowing what happened later in her life indicates to me that Jackie took her talent seriously and wouldn’t have agreed to such a thing.

Jackie kept playing in exhibition games before retiring from baseball at the age of 23 in 1937. She was fed up with being used as a side show, once being asked to pitch while riding a donkey. She took an office job at her father’s company, and refused to come out of retirement when the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League formed in 1943.

Although her professional career lasted only two-thirds of an inning, her story has become legend in both baseball and women’s sports history. In 2000, a book about her story called “The Girl Who Struck Out Babe Ruth” was published. She died in January 1987 at the age of 73. Her stone is small and worn, with the last name of “Gilbert” on it. I could find no record of her marriage or if they had children.

Rare White Bronze Marker

The last marker I wanted to talk about is this white bronze (zinc) one, a rarity in a Southern cemetery. Finding information about the family proved difficult but I finally sorted it out. Where there were thought to be three sons, however, there is only one.

Three people are memorialized on this marker. John Timberlake Jackson (1859-1883) and Stonewall Jackson (1863-1896) were sons of William Jasper Jackson, a lumber merchant from Rutherford County, Tenn. who spent his later years in Jackson County, Ala. His first wife, Judith Primm Jackson, was the mother of John and Stonewall (and other children). She died in 1882 and is buried in Jackson Cemetery in Rutherford County.

Remarriage in Alabama

William remarried in 1883 to wealthy widow Paralee Edwards Moody in Alabama. Her son, Jesse Moody, born in 1869 during her first marriage to Alexander Moody, is the third person on this monument. He grew up in Scottsboro, Ala. and lived with his mother and step-father, William, after their marriage in 1883.

John T. Jackson died in August 1883 at the age of 24, I could find very little about him. Stonewall worked closely with his father at his lumberyard in Langston, Ala. and died there suddenly at the age of 32 in 1896. His obituary notes he was buried in Langston but does not specify a cemetery by name.

According to his obituary, Jesse died as a result of exposure and a fever he contracted while a soldier serving in the Philippines. The Spanish American War that only lasted a few months in 1898 dragged on into the Philippine American War, and it appears Jesse took part in both. His obituary notes that he’d only been back in America a short time when he died at the Jackson home in Chattanooga on Jan. 23, 1902. His official Tennessee death record lists “consumption” as his cause of death.

William died in 1913 and is buried in Langston Cemetery in Alabama. Paralee died in 1925 at the age of 84 of pneumonia in Scottsboro, Ala. While Find a Grave does not have a photo of her grave, her obituary notes that her remains were “carried to Chattanooga” for burial beside her son. She left a substantial sum of money in her will to endow a Jesse Moody Chair of Mathematics at what is now Bethel University in McKenzie, Tenn.

Three Names But Only One Grave

What puzzled me was how brothers John and Stonewall Jackson ended up buried at Forest Hills when they seemed to have few ties to Chattanooga, beyond a family home mentioned in Jesse’s obituary, which may have been the home of a relative. Stonewall’s obituary specifically notes he was buried in Alabama following his death in 1896, but does not mention which cemetery.

I solved the mystery by looking up Forest Hills’ extensive online burial records, which revealed no record of their burials there. Paralee and Jesse’s burials, however, are recorded. My guess is that Paralee memorialized her step-sons on the marker when she had it made for Jesse in 1902 as a loving gesture to her husband, William.

There’s a lot more to talk about at Forest Hills Cemetery. I’ll be back to share additional tales.