Nashville City Cemetery
Tombstone Inscription Project
2005 – 2006

Project of the Nashville City Cemetery Association

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Recording of Tombstone Inscriptions
Major recordings of the Cemetery City tombstone inscriptions were conducted in 1908 and again in the 1960’s. During 2005-2006, 135 Volunteers participated in a NCCA project to once again record inscriptions. Every tombstone had been assigned an identification number. Volunteers inspected every tombstone. The final count was 1,950 tombstones and 15 historical markers surveyed during this project.  On a survey form, a volunteer wrote down the inscription, line by line, exactly as it was inscribed on the tombstone. Another 1,000 tombstones did not have legible inscriptions because the names and dates had been worn away or cracked off or were covered with lichen.  See the Resource Maps section for more information on how the documentation was accomplished over the years.

All Name Alphabetical Index
For access to the Inscriptions, visit the index for Names, Sections, ID Numbers and Notes.

For Removal Information
See the lists of those removed to other cemeteries.

Documentation
Many inscriptions in this current project could not be completely read because of deterioration of the tombstone due to age and weathering. To verify and to add to the data recorded, research resources were consulted. In many cases, additions were possible and provided more information. Since these resources are only available in local libraries and archives, a summary of the Documentation has been provided for every inscription which could be researched.

Research Resources listed in Documentation
1908 Plat
“Old City Cemetery, Nashville, Tenn.”
Section Plat Maps with Lots and individual names on Lots.
Smith & Drake, Engineers. Published October 9, 1908.

1909 List
“Alphabetical List of the Dead in the City Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee. As Shown on Existing Monuments and Headstones.”
Names, Sections and Lot numbers were shown on the List
Compiled by Felix Randolph Robertson Smith, Engineer. Published 1909.

1911 Supplement
Names with Section and Lot numbers.
Also compiled by F. R. R. Smith, Engineer. Published Nov. 20, 1911.

Interment Records 1846 – present
The original Interment Records are the property of Metropolitan Governmental Archives, Nashville. The earliest records of burials, between 1822–1846, were lost during the Civil War years. A project to transcribe all the data in the Interment Records (1846-present) of the 20,000 people buried in the cemetery is nearing completion. Watch this web site for updates. An Index for adult burials has already been prepared and was used in this Documentation. For unnamed infants and young children, in some but not all cases, reference was made to the Interment Books to help identify these children.

Smith 1908
List of Inscriptions corresponding with the 1908 Plat Maps.
Published in Acklen, Tennessee Records, 1933.

Supplement 1911 Listing
List of Inscriptions corresponding with the 1911 Supplement.
Published in Acklen, Tennessee Records, 1933.

Acklen 1933
“Additional List copied from Stones by Mrs. Acklen, Mrs. Noel and Mrs. Darden” was published in Tennessee Records: Tombstone Inscriptions and Manuscripts, compiled by Jeannette Tillotson Acklen, published Nashville, 1933.

Garrett
Jill K. Garrett and Iris H. McClain worked on recording the cemetery inscriptions between 1954 & 1970. A limited edition, entitled Old City Cemetery Tombstone Inscriptions, was printed in 1971.

Some Matters of Importance

• Epitaphs were seldom recorded by Smith 1908, Acklen 1933 or Garrett. Epitaphs are very difficult to read because they were written in cursive style. Wherever possible, in this current project, epitaphs were recorded by the volunteers.

• Interment Date is date of burial at the City Cemetery, not the date of death. Burials usually took place within a few days of death, but in some cases there was delay because the person died out of town or the original placement was in the City Vault before burial on the lot.

• Death Date might be in error because of a stone carver’s mistake or because the tombstone was placed on the lot many years after the person’s death and the exact date of death was lost to memory.

• Age of the Person at Death often inscribed on an individual’s tombstone, in the 19th century, was the age the person would have reached in the year of his death, such as “In the 57th Year of His Age”

• Difference in Spellings often exist between the names inscribed on the tombstones and the names written in the Interment records. These differences are due to the stone carver or to the City Cemetery Sexton who wrote the names in the Interment Books. Sometimes the spellings of family names differ on the tombstones in the same family lot.

• Tombstones fallen face down, broken or below ground or illegible because of lichen. In the future, it may be possible to read some of these tombstone inscriptions when they are re-set, conserved or repaired. Additional inscription data will be added to this web site when available.

• Research Helped to Fill-in the missing portions of inscriptions. Additional information has been typed in bold in the Inscription write-up, for example:

(Inscription worn away except letters “Wet”)

Lewis Wetzel
Born
March 31, 1804
Died
April 14, 1848

By using the 1908 Plat, the Section and Lot were located and a tombstone on that Lot was named “Lewis Wetzel Died 1848” The Interment index listed his burial as April 16, 1848. Smith 1908 listed the entire inscription. All these together made it possible to complete the original inscription as shown above.

Fletch Coke
Nashville City Cemetery Association
Coordinator Tombstone Inscription Project
7-28-2006

Those interested in the tombstones in City Cemetery will find this article illuminating - click on title to visit website

Adolphus Heiman's Cemetery Stonework, By John S. Lancaster