Richardson Cemetery, Smyrna, Rutherford County, TN

I have my daughter to thank for finding this small graveyard. It is located along her bus route, and one day she came home to say she thought she had seen some headstones. At first I dismissed her claim, as I knew there were no cemeteries at all in the vicinity of her school. After she later insisted that she had indeed seen headstones(that's my girl!), I had to check it out.

This small burial area is located just off Old Nashville Highway on Todd Lane. There are eight marked graves and an unknown number of unmarked. Only 2 of the graves have actual headstones, one being a military marker and the other a modest small flat granite marker.

The military marker belongs to Leonard S Richardson, 2nd Lt US Army, who died May 23, 1999. The other marker is for Larry Crawford Jr, who died April 18, 1984. The other markers are all funeral home markers. The surnames(that I could read) include Richardson and Davis. The most remarkable one is for Michael R Davis, who died May 23, 1974. His funeral home marker has been fixed onto a concrete slab, and it still lovingly reads "Pork and Beans" in the type at the top.

Brown and Elder Cemetery, Leanna, Rutherford County, TN

This African-American cemetery is located just east of State Route 840 on Joe Brown Rd and north of the exit to Sulphur Springs Rd. As it is still a fairly new cemetery, I did not photograph most of the markers. Many were simply funeral home markers. There are probably 50-75 graves, maybe more unmarked. Many of the surnames are Brown and Elder, with Alexander, Finney, Gooch and Smith also. I'm not certain if I had found the "Joe Brown", but there was a marker that was a small homemade concrete cross with letters bought from a supply store-but most had faded and could not be read.

The main sign was down when I visited, I hope to get back one day and get a better photo of the entrance.

Zack Taylor Batey Cemetery, Blackman, Rutherford County, TN

I found this small cemetery by searching zoning maps. It is located at the back of a yard of a home. It is surrounded by a low thick brick wall. There appears to be about 8-10 burials here. The large marker in the middle has a listing of the members of this family that are buried here. All the rest of the markers that I could see were fieldstones except for one. The one marker with an inscription is a small modest marker that says:
Jennie O Pishan McGuire Nicks Sep 25, 1877-Dec 16, 1931
The family marker lists the following names:

Zack Taylor Batey Nov 18, 1848-Dec 9, 1920
Katherine Richardson Batey Mar 2, 1859-Feb 22, 1923
Albert Green Batey Dec 6, 1879-Aug 5, 1929
Evelyn Macklin Batey Sep 7, 1899-Oct 11, 1899
James LaFayette Batey Jr Feb 16, 1925-Jul 18, 1926
Lorena Lynne Batey Sep 11, 1954-Sep 13, 1954
Lola Katherine Tramel Sep 15, 1964-Sep 15, 1964

According to some sources, Zack Batey is the grandson of Captain William Batey, a Revolutionary War soldier who settled near Blackman and is buried a few miles south of here. Zack's father is listed as Benjamin Bass Batey, whose grave I have not located, though a wife and another son, James M. Batey, are said to be buried in another small cemetery a few streets over. However that cemetery can not be found at this time.

James Cemetery, Smyrna, Rutherford County, TN

Located on the small rise in the yard near the bush shown in the photo. Tarrytown Drive. All markers are down, broken and flat.

The family that are buried here once lived in the beautiful old home that is one street north, Carter Lane. After the elder James' passed away, one of the daughters, Mollie James(who never married), sold the home to Houston Carter(for whom the street is now named).

William R James 1808-1897
Elizabeth Caroline James 1819-1874
Nannie R James White 1843-1903
Garrett T James 1845-1874
Mary T Walpole 1821-1892

Adkerson Cemetery, Rutherford County, TN

A cemetery within a cemetery. These headstones are actually located at Mt Juliet Cemetery in Wilson County, Tennessee. They once belonged in Adkerson Cemetery which was located near the Stones River off of Harbor Drive which still runs north from Jefferson Pike east of the Lake.

The Lake, J. Percy Priest Lake, was formed when the Stones River was damned. The dam was built between 1963 and 1968. In that time, hundreds of graves from Rutherford, Davidson and Wilson counties were relocated, as well as hundreds of people who lived along the river. The whole town of Jefferson was removed-as if it never existed.


This small family graveyard is just one of many from Rutherford County that was relocated to Mt Juliet. According to the Army Corps of Engineers, those responsible for the move, this graveyard had these 2 headstones and 17 more unknown whose graves had not been marked.

The two we do know the identity of are Samuel P Tucker, Nov 12, 1846-June 13, 1870; and Maud Rose, twin daughter of John H and Sallie Adkerson, Feb 17-Sep 12, 1872.

Morton Cemetery, Rutherford County, TN

Morton Cemetery, located on Poplar Wood Rd, just east of the intersection with Rocky Fork Rd. Smyrna, Rutherford County, Tennessee.

I wanted to go from the big to the small for my 2nd cemetery of the day. This is a small cemetery not far from where I live. And I have mixed feelings about it. A few years ago I had searched for this cemetery but didn't find it as it was hidden deep in some woods behind a private home. And then along came the Rutherford County Schools. The home had actually been vacant at the time(if I had known, I probably would have poked around more), and the land was bought for the building of a new elementary and middle school.
So on one hand, the cemetery was found, moved and saved. It was moved to a spot at one of the entrances to the schools. Unfortunately, the beautiful old Morton home(pictured below) did not survive- though the core of the home, the original log house, was saved and relocated to Rock Island, Tennessee(I've been there recently and couldn't find it-I should ask a park attendant next time).

A nice new monument to those known buried here was also added. The names on it are the same as the markers that are mostly broken and laid flat in the newly fenced area. There are 4 average stone markers and 1 box tomb that is laid flat in many pieces.

Those buried here are:
GW Morton July 24, 1839-March 14, 1869
James Wilson Morton Feb 1, 1811-Feb 11, 1868
Anna Eliza Hicks Morton Nov 19, 1828-Oct 24, 1878
James Wilson Morton Nov 25, 1785-Apr 10, 1859(the large box tomb)
Nancy Newsom Morton 1789-Jan 26, 1869 wife of James Morton

Many reports came out at the time of the moving that this was possibly the resting place of a Revolutionary War soldier, however there is another Morton Cemetery just west of here on the top of a hill that is supposedly the true resting place of Revolutionary War Soldier, James B Morton. Most likely they are related, but I cannot confirm this at this time.

Many thanks to Rutherford County for at least saving this cemetery, unlike the many that have been simply bulldozed for subdivisions and "progress". I hope to see more like this as our county continues to grow.