The next stop on my Knoxville cemetery adventure turned out to be a big step back in time. The truth of it is, I looked on Google maps and noticed it was only six miles from Calvary Catholic Cemetery. It’s located on a tight bend on Asbury Road. If you blink, you’ll miss it.

I didn’t know when I picked out Lebanon in the Fork Cemetery that I would be going to one of Knoxville’s oldest burial grounds. It’s likely the oldest in Knox County. With only 77 recorded memorials on Find a Grave.com, Lebanon in the Fork is not a a very big cemetery. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in historical significance.

Lebanon in the Fork Cemetery is also known as Three Rivers Cemetery. That’s because it’s located on land overlooking the confluence of the Holston River with the French Broad River, where the “fork” and beginning of the Tennessee River is formed. The picture I took with my back to the cemetery (below) enables you to catch a glimpse of the water beneath the railroad bridge.

Tennessee Not Yet a State

As the first Presbyterian church in Knox County, Lebanon In The Fork Presbyterian Church was founded around 1791 by the Rev. Samuel Carrick. Tennessee wouldn’t officially become a state for another five years so things were still a bit untamed. William Blount, a Revolutionary War veteran from eastern North Carolina and signer of the U.S. Constitution, was appointed governor of the Southwestern Territory.

As President George Washington’s representative, Blount came to White’s Fort in 1791 to negotiate the Treaty of the Holston with a convention of about 41 Cherokee leaders to determine the future of U.S.-Cherokee relations, at least for the time being. Blount established his permanent capital at White’s Fort. Its location on top of a bluff provided a defensive advantage and kept it safe from flooding. He named it Knoxville, in honor of his immediate superior and a former general in the Revolution, Secretary of War Henry Knox. I visited Knox’ grave in Thomaston, Maine back in 2017.

This stone gives you a little bit of the cemetery’s history, thanks to the Bonny Kate chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Bonny Kate Sevier was the wife of Tennessee’s first governor, John Sevier.

From what I’ve read, the land that the cemetery is situated on was already being used for burials before 1791. Not only for people but for hunters burying animals. So I have no doubt there’s far more people (and game) buried here than the 77 memorials on Find a Grave. Tennessee pioneer Francis Alexander Ramsey, father of historian Dr. J. G. M. Ramsey, donated the nine acres of land the church was on (now gone) and where the cemetery remains. I’ll get to those gentlemen in Part II.

The first Lebanon In The Fork Presbyterian Church at this site was constructed near the crest of the hill and made of rough logs. This structure was replaced by a larger building in 1903, which served the church until it burnt down due to a fire in 1981.

The bell and some columns from the 1903 church were recovered and are in the cemetery, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 2010.

The Carricks Come to Knoxville

Let me back up and return to Rev. Carrick, who founded the church. He’s not buried in the cemetery but his first wife is. A native of Pennsylvania, Rev. Carrick married Elizabeth Moore in Virginia in 1779. The couple had their first child, Elizabeth, in 1783. They would move to Tennessee in 1791 when he helped establish the church.

Rev. Carrick was also president of Blount College, formed when Carrick opened a seminary in his home for Knoxville students seeking a classical education in 1792. The school would become East Tennessee College and eventually the University of Tennessee. So Rev. Carrick is known as the University’s first president. He would also serve as the first pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Knoxville, located downtown. Rev. Carrick’s congregation included such notables as Knoxville’s founder James White, Tennessee’s founding father John Sevier, and William Blount (whom I mentioned earlier).

Sadly, Elizabeth Carrick did not live to see her children grow up. After suffering poor health for some time, she died on Sept. 24, 1793 at the age of 33. Her death and burial are written about in a book by Dr. J.G.M. Ramsey (I mentioned him earlier), and it reminds us how unsettled Tennessee still was at the time. Rev. Carrick and the men of the community were in the city trying to hold back an Indian attack so he was not with her when she passed away.

A Funeral Amid an Impending Attack

It occurred on the day of the contemplated attack upon the infant Knoxville by the Indians, Sept., 1793.  All the inhabitants who would bear arms had gone to its defense, and relations and remains of Mrs. Carrick were brought down in a canoe, on the Holston River and deposited in the church yard, attended and buried by women only.

Rev. Carrick remarried four months later to Annis McClellan, who was 26. They would have several children together. His first daughter, Elizabeth, went on to marry Hugh Lawson White and he became a Tennessee congressman from 1825 to 1840. Rev. Carrick, Elizabeth, and some of his other children are buried at the First Presbyterian Church’s cemetery in downtown Knoxville. If second wife Annis is there, her grave is unmarked.

An interesting side note. There’s a marker right beside the footplate of Elizabeth Carrick’s grave for a man named Jacob Hagar. Little is known about him beyond the fact he lived from about 1800 and died on Aug. 15, 1843. He lived in Knox County in the 1830s and 1840s with his wife, Christina. In his will, he left to her “one cow, one bed, one bedsted (sic), & furniture, one big wheel, and cards, and the cotton on hand & one flax wheel.” He left each of his two sisters $1 each.

Did Rev. Kennedy Pastor the Church?

Two markers for the Rev. John Kennedy and his wife, Mary Smith Kennedy, raised a few questions for me. Born in Ireland in 1768, Rev. Kennedy emigrated to America with his mother and six siblings. His father is thought to have died during the crossing. They settled in Pennsylvania, where Rev. Kennedy married Mary Smith of East Noddingham, Chester County, Penn. They moved to Tennessee and would have 10 children over the course of their marriage.

Their appearance in the cemetery made me think he might have pastored the Lebanon in the Fork Presbyterian Church at one point but I was unable to confirm or discard that idea. The list of pastor for the church does not include his name but research by others indicates a gap in that list between 1813 to 1836. Regardless, the Kennedys amassed property about five miles from the church according to research done by others that I found. In 1819, Rev. Kennedy also bought 80- and 90-acre tracts on Swan Pond Creek, bringing his holdings up to 444 acres.

Rev. Kennedy died on Aug. 30, 1826 at the age of 57. I did find an obituary for him in the Knoxville Enquirer, which does not mention what (if any) churches he pastored.

The Widow Files Suit

Some family-written research I found cast some light on some unhappiness that transpired between Mary Kennedy and one of her sons. She filed a suit against third child, Samuel, in 1841. The Rev. Kennedy’s will required James (21 at the time) and Samuel (then 37) to support their mother, Mary. She claimed in the suit: “Now may it please your Honour, the aforesaid Samuel Kennedy has in his possession all the most valuable part of the said Plantation, and has never contributed anything for the support of your oratrix and utterly refuses so to do.”

I’m not sure how Mary’s suit was resolved. She did not remarry and died on Oct. 11, 1853. I think she must have patched up her differences with Samuel because she did include him and her still living children, along with two grandchildren, in the will she wrote not long before her death.

Next time, I’ll have stories about the Ramsey family and the roles they played in shaping Knoxville history.

It’s time for a few more stories from Knoxville, Tenn.’s Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

As I wandered down toward the front of the cemetery, I noticed one of the larger plots had Easter lilies carved into the side of the entrance. They were, I thought, in remarkably good shape. It made me curious to know if George W. Callahan’s firm had created them. I wrote about him in Part I.

I regret that I didn’t photograph all the markers in this plot because the Condon family that occupies much of it has a great deal of history. But it was one of those days where I was photographing more randomly than usual. The most eye-catching monument in the plot is the one for Blanche Condon. Her grandfather, John Condon, is buried beside her. His obelisk is equally impressive. So I started looking more closely into the family.

From Ireland to America

A native of County Clare, Ireland, John Condon was born in 1824. He arrived in America sometime in the 1840s. He married Bridgett Gray in 1852 in Syracuse, N.Y. They would have seven children together. Eldest son Michael was born in 1846 in Springfield, Mass.

The family would settle in Rogersville, Tenn, in the 1850s. From information I found on Ancestry, it appears John Condon joined the Confederate Army to fight in the Civil War. One article I found said his fellow comrades in arms in the Third Tennessee Confederate Regiment, Engineer Corps called him the Irish Johnny Reb. John was wounded on more than one occasion. As an accomplished stone mason, his responsibilities were essentially those of a construction foreman. 

As a prisoner of war, John was sent to Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio for 10 months before being released as part of the exchange that followed the fall of Vicksburg on July 4, 1863. 

After the war, the Condons moved to Knoxville. There they founded a successful family railroad construction contracting business, with Michael learning quickly from his father. He would prove to be the most successful of the Condon children. John would continue to list himself as a stone mason in the 1880 U.S. Census.

John died in 1885 at the age of 60. Records indicate his cause of death was due to “softening of the brain.” That could have been a stroke or from some kind of trauma. Newspaper articles indicate he hadn’t been well in the weeks that led up to his death.

Michael married Catherine Moore in 1869. They would have 13 children over the course of their marriage. Their fifth child was Blanche Marie, born on Jan. 1, 1877. You can find her name in the Knoxville newspapers, reporting her travels and her attendance of various convent schools with her elder sister, Katie. They were often accompanied by their father, Michael, who is often referred to as “Col. Condon”. By now he was also an Alderman. Blanche also appears to have attended Knoxville’s Girls High School at some point.

“She Was a Rose Most Fair”

But Blanche was attending the Notre Dame Convent’s school in Baltimore, Md. when she contracted typhoid fever. She died there on Sept. 17, 1894 at the age of 17. Her death and funeral were written about extensively in the Knoxville papers. Her father, a member of the local board of education, closed schools for the day. The cortege was said to have been one of the longest Knoxville residents had ever seen.

I found this tribute to Blanche in a Knoxville newspaper:

Blanche’s monument is beside that of her grandfather, John Condon. Unfortunately, the sun was shining so brightly behind it that it appears darker in the photo than it is.

Tragedy Revisits the Condons

Unfortunately, tragedy revisited the Condon family just six years later in 1900. On May 10, Michael Condon, his friend and work colleague, Mortimer Shea, along with their wives, were enjoying a ride in the Condon’s surrey near their home. Apparently the horses became unruly and in their distress, took a curve too fast. The surrey was thrown violently against a telephone and electric light post. The men, who took the brunt of the impact, were killed. Catherine Condon and Mrs. Shea, while injured, survived. Michael Condon was only 52 at the time of his death.

I did not photograph Michael Condon’s marker but he is buried in the Condon family plot. I noticed an article stating that following his death, Michael’s son Edward Condon and George W. Callahan would be taking over Michael’s business affairs.

The Condons’ eldest son, John “Johnnie” Condon married Fannie Crenshaw in 1893. She gave birth to a son, Robert, in 1895 a few months after the couple had moved to Macon, Ga. She died only five weeks later. Johnnie married again to Minnie Bannon in Savannah, Ga. in 1898, by then a lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He fought in the Spanish American War and according to newspaper reports, and had contracted malaria during his service. His health compromised, he died at age 31 on March 3, 1901. Robert went to live with his grandmother, Kate, in Knoxville.

Ed Condon, who was 24 when his father died, was quite successful in the railroad construction trade. But over the next few years, his mental state deteriorated. On Dec. 7, 1905, he disappeared from his mother’s home. His body was later found on Jan. 24, 1906 in the Tennessee River in nearby Concord. He is buried in Calvary Catholic Cemetery in the Condon plot.

Johnnie Condon’s son with Fannie, Robert, died from meningitis at the age of 13 on March 3, 1909. Despite facing so many family tragedies, Kate held on for many more years. At age 86, she died in 1937. Both she and her grandson are buried at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

Mary Mary?

Some names will make you look twice at a grave marker. When I saw the name of Mary A. Mary, I admit I did a doubletake.

A native of New York, Mary Ann Huhn married German immigrant Frank Mary around 1869. That’s when she became Mary Ann Mary. When I looked into the family’s background, I discovered that Frank had a sister back in Germany who was also named Mary Mary. Frank died at age 56 in 1906. His name and dates are on the other side of Mary’s marker. She died in 1910 at age 61.

There’s also a Mary D. Mary buried at CCC but I’m not sure how she’s related to the family. She was married to a man named Joseph Mary. I’m sure the teasing they both got could be intense.

Following in His Father’s Footsteps

Two graves I randomly photographed were for Daniel Joseph Corcoran and his mother, Nell. I learned later Daniel’s father and Nell’s husband, Thomas, is buried there, too. I don’t know if I just didn’t photograph his grave or he doesn’t have a marker. He didn’t have a memorial on Find a Grave, so I made one for him.

A native of Knoxville, Thomas was born in 1880 and married Ellen Margaret “Nell” Dunn in 1907. Daniel was the third of the four children they had together. Thomas joined the fire department in the days of steam-powered fire engines. He worked as a fireman for 33 years, retiring around 1935. He had been suffering from an illness near the time of his death. But it was a cigarette that caught his clothing on fire while he lay in bed that was the cause of his demise. He died at the age of 56 from his extensive burns.

Born in 1910, Daniel would follow in his father’s footsteps. He joined the fire department at age 20 around 1930. He served as battalion chief at No. 3 Fire Hall in North Knoxville. At the time of his death, he was acting assistant chief of the Knoxville Fire Dept.

Never married, Daniel lived with his mother, Nell. His brother, John “Ed” Corcoran, was a policeman. Daniel had a heart attack and died at the age of 41 on May 30, 1952. According to newspaper reports, Nell and other family members were at his bedside at the hospital when he passed away.

I am sure Nell was heartbroken when Daniel died. She outlived all but one of her children, Mildred “Aggie” Corcoran. Nell died at the age of 84 on Sept. 24, 1970. She is buried with Daniel and her husband, Thomas.

Next time, I’ll visit nearby Lebanon in the Fork Cemetery. It’s a much smaller cemetery than Calvary Catholic Cemetery but still full of great stories behind the stones.

During the Christmas season of 2018, we visited Knoxville, Tenn. to spend time with my husband’s family. On the days between Christmas and New Year’s, I made time to do a bit of cemetery hopping. I visited four cemeteries, each a bit different from the other.

My first jaunt was to Knoxville’s only Catholic cemetery, Calvary Catholic Cemetery (CCC). Consecrated on Feb. 3, 1869, the cemetery is cared for by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church. Founded in 1855, the church is located downtown while the cemetery, about two miles away, is in the residential Morningside Park neighborhood. According to Find a Grave, Calvary covers about six acres with about 2,300 memorials recorded.

Coincidentally, Bethel Confederate Cemetery is located next to Calvary. It is fenced and locked but visits can be made by appointment. Bethel contains more than 1,600 Confederate dead, including roughly 100 killed in the battle of Fort Sanders. In addition, around 50 Union soldiers who died as prisoners of war, 40 Civil War veterans, and several widows are interred there. It’s been privately owned since 1873. One of CCC’s residents has a tie to Bethel that I’ll share in a moment.

According to a 2017 article, Calvary is one of only two Catholic cemeteries that serve the Diocese of Knoxville. The other, Mount Olivet Cemetery, is located in Chattanooga and opened 20 years after Calvary. Together, these two cemeteries serve the 65,000-plus members of the diocese.

Immaculate Conception Parish pastor Father Ron Franco, CSP, said there are only about 50 gravesites remaining in Calvary. While Calvary is near capacity, Mount Olivet has a lot more room for future burials.

The article also pointed out that a major grounds improvement project had occurred at Calvary, including refurbishing the Stations of the Cross. I saw evidence of that myself. The Stations of the Cross are a series of 14 pictures or carvings portraying events in the Passion of Christ, from his condemnation by Pontius Pilate to his entombment.

Every Memorial Day, the priests of Immaculate Conception and Holy Ghost parishes celebrate an outdoor Mass at CCC to remember the Catholics who have died. In addition, on the first Sunday of November, the priests lead a rosary service and blessing of the graves. A number of priests dating to the earliest days of the Catholic Church in East Tennessee are laid to rest in both Calvary and Mount Olivet.

A Beloved Priest

One of those priests was Father John Joseph Graham (1855-1916). A native of Ireland, Graham came to America when he was about 14. He studied with the Holy Cross Brotherhood at Notre Dame, Ind., becoming a member and teacher of the order. He answered the call to the priesthood in 1884 and studied at a few different seminaries. He was ordained in the cathedral at Nashville in 1891.

It was in 1902 that Father Graham came to Knoxville to become parish priest of the Church of the Immaculate Conception. He became a much beloved member of the community, and his congregants held him in great affection and respect. His death notice in the Knoxville Sentinel expounded on this.

In February 1915, Father Graham’s health began to fail. He suffered from heart issues and was also diagnosed with Bright’s Disease, a kidney disorder that was often fatal in those days. He sought treatment in Nashville and rallied for a time. He returned to Knoxville in May 1915 and tried to resume his duties. He was eventually confined to bed and died on April 11, 1916. He was 61.

Father Graham does have a separate marker but I did not get a photo of it, unfortunately.

From Stone Cutter to Railroad Builder and Banker

Two monuments standing side by side got my attention early into my stroll. I noticed a tall monument topped by a female statue and was surprised to find that it was for an infant. The one beside it was for his two sisters, twins, who died on the day of their birth. I wanted to know how their story.

The children were born to George Washington Callahan and his wife, Carrie. A native of Penn., George was born to James and Susan Evey Callahan in 1862 and came with his parents to Knoxville as a child. One of his first jobs was working as an apprentice stone cutter for George Fenton, president of Fenton Construction Co. and vice president of the Gray Knox Marble Co. The two Georges went into the monument business together in 1880.

Around 1890, Fenton sold his half and it became Geo. W. Callahan & Brothers with his siblings John and Simon. The firm actually provided the Confederate monument that still stands next door in the Bethel Cemetery, placed in 1892. Their work can be found throughout the Southeast,

From there, George eased into railroad construction and found success quickly. His obituary would note that he “had the distinction of building more railroad mileage than any other man in Knoxville, or probably in East Tennessee.”

In 1892, George (by then an alderman for the city) married another Pennsylvania native, Caroline “Carrie” Grau. Her father was a railroad engineer. Their first child, Agnes, was born in 1892, followed by Lauretta in 1894. Both would grow up, marry, and live long lives.

A Double Tragedy

When I looked up the family’s past on Newspapers.com for 1898 concerning the twins, I noticed that amid their birth and death on Aug. 15, 1898, George was embroiled in a major civil court case that year concerning $4,000 owed to him by the Ohio-based Knight Bridge Company. While he won the case in July, the death of the twins a month later must have dimmed any joy he felt at that victory.

The monument of two little angels playing around a flower-laden cross is a fitting tribute for the children, perhaps echoing a belief that they are together in Heaven enjoying each other’s company.

George and Carrie’s son, George Francis, was born on Dec. 29, 1899. But a bout of scarlet fever ended his life on Nov. 11, 1901. By this time, his father and Simon had retired from the monument business and brother John was in charge. I am sure it was he who placed the lovely monument for little George on behalf of the firm.

George continued to build his fortunes in the railroad business, expanding into banking as well. He and Carrie had another daughter, Katherine, in 1902. She eventually became a nun, dying in 1987 at age 84. Youngest daughter Alberta, born in 1904, died in 1965. George died in 1927 at age 65, spending the last five years of his life in retirement as a gentleman farmer. Wife Carrie died in 1956 at age 84. George, Carrie, and Alberta are all buried at Calvary, along with George F., Margaret, and Mary.

George’s parents, James and Susan Callahan, are also buried at CCC. I suspect their sons provided the two handsome monuments for them. It is curious, I noted, that the death year for James is incorrect on his monument. He died in 1890. Not 1889. Susan Callahan died in 1917.

A Soldier’s Story

I’ll close with the story of Richard A. McGuire, a soldier who spent most of his life in Knoxville. Like the Callahans, the McGuires were a close family. But unlike many of the men I write about, Richard never married or had children. Sadly, I believe his war years injured him in a way both physically and emotionally that he never recovered from.

Born in 1881 to Irish immigrants John and Mary McGuire, Richard was one of five siblings. His father and two of his brothers were saloon keepers when he was growing up. He worked as a salesman at one point but also as a bartender, most likely for his father or one of his brothers. He must have been close with his sister, Annie McGuire Gallagher, because he always listed her as his primary contact on his military records.

Richard enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private on June 29, 1917 in Knoxville, serving with the 120th Infantry, 30th Division. With the 30th Division, the 120th fought in the Somme Offensive, the Ypres-Lys Offensive, and the Flanders campaign during the war.

An item in the Dec. 15, 1918 Journal and Tribune describes a letter that Richard sent to Annie while overseas in France:

Richard mustered out of service on April 21, 1919. He struggled to find his place out of the military and his health was poor. More than once, he lived at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Johnson City, Tenn. called Mountain Branch. His last home was at the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Hampton, Va. It was there that he died on Sept. 20, 1923. His records indicated he died of bronchial pneumonia and alcoholism.

His remains were sent home to Knoxville and he was buried at Calvary Cemetery with his parents, and brothers John and Cornelius. His beloved sister, Annie, died in 1934 and joined him in the family plot.

Want more stories from Calvary Catholic Cemetery? I’ll have more for you soon.