Yesterday, exploring the northwestern end of the county, we stumbled on a lot that used to have a Methodist church and still has graves of union soldiers. It is a little hard to access as there is no off street parking, but there is an historic marker outlining who is buried there. The graves aren't marked; possibly the names have worn off. The earliest graves are of veterans of the American Revolution in the 1700s- specifically, Samuel Vance and John Lowrey.. Also buried there is Civil War veteran James Gray Lowrey, who likely was the son of John Lowrey. According to the historic marker, Allen Lowrey was founding trustee and land donor for Oak Ridge Institute. He was born in 1809 and died in 1882 at the age of 73. We're not sure where the Methodist Church would have been located. The property is full of trees and stumps from trees that have been removed.
This property is on East Harrell Road; it splits off of Highway 150 and connects to Highway 68. That is one interesting road. Across from this Union cemetery is a house with a Confederate flag and just on down the road, a state trooper parks his car at the road, reminding all of us to honor the speed limit. There is also an old tobacco barn. History is so important. We are grateful that this property has been kept, honoring people who lived as long as 300 years ago. The shadows from the late afternoon sun accentuate the gravestones, some of which are nothing more that upturned rocks.
Happy Sunday!
Nature can reclaim quickly.
Posted by: William Kendall | Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 03:30 PM