BURLESON-WALSH CEMETERY

Burleson-Walsh Cemetery
2003

Located behind the house at 507 Nunley Dr., Johnson City, TN. The cemetery has been recently cleared of brush. There were 34 graves marked with fieldstones.

GPS Location: 36.18.20N  082.24.15W Elevation 1643 ft.

Surveyed, transcribed and donated to the Washington County TNGen Web 11 Jun 2003 by Donna Cox Briggs and Betty Jane Hylton, members of the Cemetery Survey Team of Northeast Tennessee.

Copyrighted 2012 by the Cemetery Survey Team of Northeast Tennessee. No part may be copied without written permission from the Cemetery Survey Team.

From Washington County Tennessee Tombstone Inscriptions by Charles M. Bennett and the Watauga Association of Genealogists, V. 1, p.164-165, with permission from Loraine Bennett Rae:

The following were found in 1976 but not 2003:

Heney, W.

Onks, Sarah E.

Burleson, Henry, 15 Aug 1885 – 2 Aug 1886, son of J.C. & Emma Burleson.

WCCL: This was probably established by Elber Bell, who died April 10, 1852, as this is the oldest inscription. There are 28 graves marked with inscriptions and 53 fieldstones. Families buried here are: Walsh, Nunley, Patrick, Griffith, Onkst, Burleson, Illey, and Patterson. [This information was recorded in the 1930’s.]

From Washington County, Tennessee Death Record Abstracts 1908-1916 by Eddie M. Nikazy:

P.20 Cary B. Patrick, age: 21 years, married, death cause: “Consumption,” died: 5 Jul 1910, record (1908-12): 92310.

P.230 Alice Patterson, born: 12 Mar 1859, married, parents: Jefferson Burleson (NC) and Sarah Belle __, death cause “myo carditis,” informant: M.S. Patterson (Johnson City), buried: Burleson Cemetery, died: 20 May 1916, death record (1916): 237.

P.232 Charles F. Patterson, born: 2 Mar 1892, single, parents: S.L. Patterson and Alice Burleson, death cause “typhoid fever,” buried: Burleson Cemetery, died: 12 Jun 1916, death record (1916): 253.

According to her great-grandson, Ronnie Breeden and her Tennessee Death Certificate, Rebecca Elizabeth Ward Walsh borne 4 Feb 1873 in North Carolina and died 7 Feb 1954 in Johnson City, Tennessee is buried here in an unmarked grave. Her father was Nathen Ward and mother was Rebecca E. Osborne. Her husband was John Franklin Walsh.

From Washington County, Tennessee Marriages, 1780-1870 by Goldene F. Burgner:

P.114 April 14, 1858 Jefferson Burleson – Sarah Ann Bell – md. 14 April 1858 – L. Bowers.

P.78 Dec. 28, 1847 John Kelly – Eliza Jane Bell – md. 20 Dec 1847 – William Cate, M.G. [More information on the Kelly/Killey family <http://www.rootsweb.com/~tnwashin/cemetery/cemKilley.htm>

P.114 Par. 14, 1858 Jefferson Burleson – Sarah Ann Bell – md. 14 April 1858 – L. Bowers

Washington County, Tennessee 1870 Census:

Dist. 4 # 42 Morefield, William 36, Melvina 22.

Dist. 8 # 57 Kelly, John 43, Eliza 43, Mary C. 21, Madison 15, Elizabeth 17, William 12, Ann 8, Esther 6, Judson 3.

Dist. 8 #55 Burleson, Jeff 30, Sarah 38, Alice 10, Jas. C. 7, John J. 4, Elizabeth 1; Bell, Sarah 77.

A picture of Jefferson Burleson and more about this family can be found on page 273 of the History of Washington County, Tennessee, 1988 by the Watauga Association of Genealogists.

This burial ground has been known by several names.

DEEDS –

Deed Book 42, Page 313 (1868) – Heirs of James Bell, deceased, to Eliza Killey. 55 acres.

Deed Book 102, Page 1 (1902) – Eliza Killey to T.A. & Mary Walsh. 6-3/4 acres.

Deed Book 185, Page 169 (1928) – J.F. Walsh and J.B. Walsh, Mary Johnson, G.R. Walsh, Mrs. J.C. Minnick, Mrs. J.W. Marshall to N.C. & Stella Faust. 6-3/4 acres. Within the body of this deed the following is found. “…..right is reserved forever to the Killey cemetery which is in this tract conveyed by this deed; the right reserved is of ingress and egress and also to bury the grantors, their heirs and all relatives, eight of those now buried or to be buried, this right is reserved forever and is to run with the land.”

Deed Book 193, Page 83 (1930) – N.C. & Stella Faust to Harvey W. & Zuia George. 6-3/4 acres. Same sentence of graveyard reservation is present, however, the number shown is 18, not 8.

Deed Book 202, Page 112 (1937) – Zuia George to Joseph S. & Ida Britt. 6-3/4 acres. Same sentence of graveyard reservation is present, however, the number shown is back to 8. An added sentence is also found. “All the land included in and belonging to the Killey Cemetery, which is more or less rectangular in shape and approximately fifty (50) feet wide by eighty (80) feet long, is enclosed by a wire fence.”

Deed Book 427, Page 529 (1969) – Joseph & Ida Britt to Elizabeth Valentine. 4.1 acres. A few small parcels were cut off and are not pertinent to the graveyard. This deed also bears the same sentences as DB202/112.

Roll 115, Image 590 (1997) – Elizabeth Valentine to Monte & Christine DeWitt. 4.1 acres. Graveyard reservation sentence was changed slightly. “The right of ingress and egress to the Killey Cemetery, which is a part of land here conveyed, is reserved forever; also the right to bury eight members of the Walsh family, whose names appear in a deed by J.B. Walsh, etal, to N.C. Faust and wife, dated March 28, 1928, recorded in the Registrar’s Office for Washington County, Tennessee, in Deed Book 185, Page 169, to which deed reference is here made.”

Roll 214, Image 1550 (2000) – Monte DeWitt quit claims his interest to Christine DeWitt.

Roll 298, Image 1331 (2002) – Christine DeWitt to Daniel J. & Linda Nunley. 4.1 acres. Same reservation as Roll 115, Image 590.

Although no metes and bounds are specifically noted for the burial ground, Washington County tax parcel 053G A 020.00 has been assigned to the graveyard proper. The 4.1 acre parcel is tax parcel 053G A 009.00 and includes the subject graveyard.

Deed research donated to the Washington County TNGen Web August 2016 by Gordon M. Edwards, member of the Cemetery Survey Team of Northeast Tennessee.

Copyrighted 2016 by the Cemetery Survey Team of Northeast Tennessee. No part of this work may be copied without written permission from the Cemetery Survey Team.

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