Tyler Cemetery
2003
Located at the intersection of Jackson Bridge Rd. and Charlie Dillow Rd, behind 254 Jackson Bridge Rd., Jonesborough, Tennessee.
GPS Location: 36º10.48 N 082º 32.33W Elevation: 1444 ft.
There are no markers remaining in the cemetery. A utility pole sits in the middle of the cemetery. Only one tombstone remains. Residents say that the others were borrowed for a Halloween party by someone across the river and never returned. The only surviving marker is in a yard at a nearby house.
In memory of
MELINDA TYLER
born november 1/7 18??
died august 28, 18??
aged 17 years 12 mo. 23 days
Surveyed, transcribed and donated to the Washington County TNGen Web May 2004 by Elaine Scott Cantrell, Donna Cox Briggs and Betty Jane Hylton members of the Cemetery Survey Team of Northeast Tennessee.
Copyrighted 2013 by the Cemetery Survey Team of Northeast Tennessee. No part of this work may be copied without written permission from the Cemetery Survey Team.
NOTES
Mrs. McCown’s 1937 copy has one grave between the child’s and the 2nd grave and three following Wm. Tyler’s grave.
WCCL: Established by the Sevier family and has 8 graves. This is an old private cemetery. It is in bad condition, having grown over with weeds and vines. It is not known how long it has been abandoned. The cemetery has four fieldstones.
CMB: Only four stones were visible, two beyond legibility. LBR: At another place in his files I found that Samuel Sherrill, who died ca 1800, was buried in the Sherrill Cem., later known as the Tyler Cem. At Jackson Bridge. I’m assuming this is the same cemetery.
MMB: Members of the John Sevier and William Tyler families, and maybe other, buried here. Stones have been destroyed. I found Wm. Tyler’s (the only one reported) propped against a walnut tree by the side of the road.
Additional information
1850 Census Washington County, Tennessee
962/990 Tyler, William 36 b. TN, Martha 33 b. TN, Rober 6, Manerva 3, Polly Tyler 64 b. TN
1860 Census Washington County, Tennessee
Tyler, William 46, Martha 43, Robert 16, Manerva 14, Isabel 7, Madaline 4.
1870 Census Washington County, Tennessee, District 2
Tyler, William 56, Martha 53, Manerva 23, Isabelle 18, Madaline 15.
Washington County Tennessee Wills, 1777-1872 by Goldene Burgner:
William Tyler, August 13, 1820
To wife, Nancy, where I live and land I purchased from Hugh Wees. To daughter, Melinda, bureau and book case. Son, William – dest and featherbed. Dau, Phebe Tyler – featherbed. Dau, Minerva Tyler – featherbed and bureau. Dau, Betsy Tyler – bureau. Nancy had Melinda before our marriage. Melinda to get 1/2 as much as others. Dau, Polly, to live with my widow. Ira, a boy of color that I raised, to have 9 months schooling and $110 when he becomes of age. Executors: William Wilson, Joseph Crouch, wife Nancy. Wit.: Edwin West, Baly Phillips, Edwin West, Jr, James McCarroll. Signed: William Tyler.
From Washington County, Tennessee History, 1988, by the Watauga Association of Genealogists, p. 484:
The April 15, 1803 diary entry is “Came home to Plum Grove. A rainy day. Found all well.”
Wed. April 20, 1803, “We all went to Jonesboro. Allen Gillespie sold my Plum Grove plantation as late marshall of East Tennessee. John Nelson bid off same at 2,266 2/3 dollars, paid 1,500 dollars down and give his bond for 1.166 2/3 dollars payable 25 Nov. next, which bond I have assigned to Elizabeth Carter and taken her receipt. Myself and Mrs. Sevier rode up to Mrs. Carter’s. Tarried all night.”
On June 7, 1804, Robert Hays, late marshall of Tennessee district, conveyed Plum Grove to William Tyler by writ of fiere facias in U.S. District Court on the first Monday of July 1800. James Patton of Virginia, assignee, had recovered against John Sevier in the sum of $1,337.16. The deed notes William Tyler’s bid was $1,500 for the 263 1/2 acres on the north side of the Nolichucky… being the same on which said John Sevier lately dwelt.
The Washington County Historical Society is trying to get the Plum Grove site recognized for its historical value. The Tyler Cemetery is adjacent to the foundation of John Sevier’s home. Hopefully the other tombstones can be recovered and the cemetery restored.