21 December 2022<\/p>\n
Contact: David Talley (615-496-1768)<\/p>\n
davidctalley@gmail.com<\/p>\n
Revolutionary War Patriot Grave Re-discovered<\/strong><\/p>\n The long-lost remains of an American Revolutionary War Patriot were recently found due to the combined efforts of four members of the Perry County Historical Society.<\/p>\n The Patriot, John Talley, was a member of the 3rd<\/sup> Continental Light Dragoons.\u00a0 He served from 1781 through 1783.\u00a0 He fought in the Southern Campaign and at the Battle of Yorktown, the last major land battle between the American and British forces.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In the 1840 U.S. Census, Talley was one of ten Revolutionary Patriots living in Perry County.\u00a0 He died there on November 28, 1843.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to local lore, his grave was on private land.\u00a0 However, where was uncertain.\u00a0<\/p>\n That changed several years ago when the Perry County Historian, Jessie Ruth Tiller, accompanied by the late James Tucker, a member of the historical society, sought to account for all the Revolutionary War Patriots buried in Perry County.\u00a0 Of the twelve known Patriots, they found all but two.\u00a0 Talley was one of the missing.<\/p>\n As a young boy in 1941, Tucker accompanied his grandfather, a fishing guide, on a fishing trip on the Buffalo River.\u00a0 They stopped below a bluff his grandfather called \u201cgraveyard bluff\u201d for the graves at the top.\u00a0 The graves had markers then. \u00a0One was for John Talley. \u00a0\u00a0Years later, Tucker and Tiller returned to the site, now known as Buffalo Heights Subdivision, searching for the graves.\u00a0 They found none. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In April 2021, David Talley, a lineal descendant of John Talley, and a member of the historical society, continued the search as part of a project with the Sons of the American Revolution.\u00a0 Using information from the county archives, land deeds, satellite imagery, and Tucker\u2019s boyhood memory of the site, he narrowed the location.\u00a0<\/p>\n That led him to property owned by Philip Tatum, CEO of the Perry County Medical Center.\u00a0 Tatum is also a member of the historical society.\u00a0 When shown evidence of the possible location of the graves, he agreed to a scan of the area in question using ground penetrating radar (GPR).<\/p>\n GPR is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface.\u00a0 The non-destructive electromagnetic radiation waves detect reflected signals from subsurface structures.\u00a0 The waves can reach as deep as ten feet, depending on the type of soil.\u00a0 The scan was conducted by UnderGround Detective, Inc.,<\/p>\n The GPR scan revealed four graves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey were very much where Jim Tucker told me they would be,\u201d Talley said.\u00a0 \u201cI can hear him saying, \u2018I told you so.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Finding the graves solves a long-standing mystery.\u00a0 As for the future deposition of the graves, that remains to be determined.\u00a0 For now, according to Talley, knowing the graves exist and are properly\u00a0 noted on the public record is an important first step to ensuring they are never lost again.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n SIDEBAR<\/strong><\/p>\n Human remains found in Tennessee are protected under state law<\/strong>.<\/p>\n However, according to Jessie Ruth Tiller, the Perry County Historian, desecration of early pioneer cemeteries in Perry County remains a problem.\u00a0 Logging and land clearing operations account for much of the damage.\u00a0 Some gravesites are difficult to locate.\u00a0 Nonetheless, Tiller said certain signs often indicate the presence of graves.\u00a0 These include plain stone markers, vinca minor or cemetery ivy, and sunken areas oriented east and west.<\/p>\n Desecration of a gravesite is a Class A misdemeanor. \u201cIf anyone encounters or accidentally exposes human remains or gravesites, they are required by law to stop all work in the area and notify law enforcement,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Ground Penetrating Radar <\/strong><\/p>\n The GPR scan was conducted by Underground Detective, Inc. \u00a0Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, the firm provides a variety of ground surveillance services for contractors, surveyors, excavators, and homeowners.\u00a0 Besides locating lost graves, the firm conducts pipe inspections and locates buried utilities, among other services.\u00a0 A complete list can be found at UndergroundDetective.com.\u00a0 Or call (888) 747-3799.\u00a0<\/p>\n