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Date: | Tue, 11 Feb 2003 09:21:58 -0600 |
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If I remember correctly (not always a safe bet), the Gowen Farmstead site in Nashville had a small
family cemetery enclosed by a low stone wall, and outside the wall there were several burials
believed to be the family slaves. Also buried around this cemetery were the African-American
patients from the Tennessee Central Hosptial for the Insane (later Central State Psychiatric Hospital
then Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute). The hospital took over the Gowen property in the
1850s and began admitting black patients after the Civil War. They maintained segregated cemeteries. Today the property is owned by the Nashville International Airport and Dell Computers.
Also, in Tazewell (Claiborne County), Tennessee, early settler Captain David Chadwell (1733-1833)
requested that he be buried with his slaves instead of his family. The story is that he liked the slaves
better. The cemetery, known alternately as Breastworks Cemetery and Brown Cemetery, has been used by the local African-American community into recent times. The Union Army fortified the hill
during the Civil War, disturbing many of the burials and markers.
Ben
Benjamin C. Nance
Historical Archaeologist
Tennessee Division of Archaeology
[log in to unmask]
(615) 741-1588 Ext. 21
Fax: (615) 741-7329
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