Joann Jackson is spearheading the restoration of the Moses Steele Cemetery off Flat Creek Road, where her grandfather eight generations removed lies buried with other Revolutionary Soldiers
Joann Jackson's grandson Ryan Harmon, 13 months, is the 10th generation removed in Tennessee of the laban Hartley Line
( The unrestored grave of Laban Hartley in the back ground )
By Kathrin Chavez
Staff writer
Joann Jackson picked her way through waist-high brushes early this spring in an abandoned cemetery.
Her persistence was rewarded. She found her grandfather-eight generations removed - at the rear
of Moses Steele Cemetery off Flat Creek Road.
But the joy of finding the grave of the Revolutionary War soldier and Williamson County pioneer was bittersweet.
" It made me sick at the pit of my stomach. Knowing that the people who fought for us and who made possible this area and this country we live in have no more respect than this from the people today" Jackson said
When she first saw the cemetery last march, it was overgrown with weeds and brush. Livestock had once been allowed to wander over the graves
" The place was a shambles. It was all grown up, trees had fallen down and the headstones had fallen down and broken. It's been neglected for years, " she said
Jackson had gone to some trouble to find Laban Hartley's grave. She discovered it's location while researching for her ancestors on the internet. The cemetery was only four miles from her home.
Thought to be buried there are eight Revolutionary War soldiers. One is Moses Steele, who gave the land for the community cemetery.
Three graves belong to the Gillespie brothers - all Revolutionary veterans. Their sister was the grandmother of James Knox Polk, the country's 11th president.
And there is Hartley himself. Born in 1742 in Maryland, he settled Cross keys and donated land there for a cemetery. But he chose to be buried in Flat Creek, either to be with his fellow soldiers or to be with his wife, Jackson said
The historic cemetery is barely visible from the road a few yards away. Jackson herself had driven by many times and did not know it existed.
Now that she knows, she cannot forget. Appalled at the cemetery condition, she and her family are working to give the land, and those interred there,
the remembrance they deserve.
" To me, some great men were buried here. They were related to us.
They lived right here in our own community and they gave us this country.
If you don't respect the dead, how are you going to respect the living " she said.
Jackson, her husband Dan, and her brother James Anglin began by clearing away the brushes and then mowing the grass. They cut up trees. They uncovered fallen tombstones and cleared the lettering of decades of accumulated dirt and leaves.
" It's nothing glamorous right now. It never will be anything glamorous, but it represents people who developed and settled this area and fought for our country, " she said.
Jackson figures the cemetery has at least 100 graves, including several sandstone markers in the back corner that she belives may have been those of slaves, Sandstone, which was cheaper, was commonly used to mark the graves of slaves, she said. The most recent grave is dated 1916
The names on the graves repesent real people to her. She has located several descendants, but is troubled that she cannot find any trace of the Rogers family.
The Moses Steele Cemetery Fund
There are three or four Rogers graves, including the cemetery's most ornate stone. Heavily carved
and inscribed with two Biblical phrases, the tombstone marked the grave of Harriet Rogers,
who died in 1872
Harriet Rogers has the most decorative marker, but Laban Hartley has the most interesting.
Known as the "Old Scotsman " during life to reflect his heritage, he and his wife Sarah are buried underneath a carin. Under scottish tradition, people attending
a funeral bring stones, which are stacked on the grave.
Later visitors also add stones.
The Hartley's names are carved on a flat stone on the side of the cairn. Some stones on the 3 - 4 foot tall cairn have fallen and the once-neat stacks are in disarray, but Jackson has decided not to have them restacked.
" It would take away the age of it. I plan to put a concrete bench in the corner by it, so when I get tired, I can sit down and see the lettering on their head rock, " she said
Others have helped work on the cemetery, Nearby property-owner R.C. and Dor Edmondson allowed access across their land and built a gate. County highway superintendent Charles Meek installed a culvert so vehicles could be driven to the cemetery. Last week, neighbor Tom Mefford brought a bulldozer and cleared heavy brush and trees along the perimeter.
Help is still needed - particularly a small tractor with a front loader to help right the heavy toomstones.
Jackson occasionally brings her daughter, Laura Harmon, and grandson 13-month-old Ryan to the cemetery.
" My daughter is 23. If she didn't see me doing something like this, she wouldn't have any reason to care. I learned this from my mother. If my mother could, she would be right out here too, but she's 83 and bedridden," she said.
Jackson plans a barbecue dinner with gospel music next month to raise money for a perpetual fund to ensure the cemetery's care in the future.
" If it takes 10 years to raise enough money, then that's what it takes. It's not right to get it cleared up and have it abandoned again. People have always told me I'm a big dreamer, but you never get anywhere if you don't dream big. **
