Rose Hill and Rosemount Cemeteries

Columbia, Tennessee
Ginna Foster Cannon, Michael Fletcher
and Teresa Prober
Ohio Valley History Conference
October 2014

Project Background & Scope

Background:
MTSU class project in
conjunction with CHP
CHP philosophy
Cultural landscape
approach to cemetery
districts
Scope:
Historical assessment
Preservation
considerations
Heritage development

Fence dividing Rose Hill and Rosemount

Cemeteries

Historical Assessment

History of Columbia, Maury County

Image courtesy of Google Maps

History of Rosemount Cemetery

Established August
1873
5-acre plot
purchased for $800;
$500 cash with
remainder due
January 1974
Prior, African
Americans buried at
Greenwood
Entrance to Rosemount Cemetery

History of Rosemount cont

\

Text of deed

History of Rose Hill Cemetery

Established 1853;
fashionable
alternative to
Greenwood
Land donated by
towns mayor,
Meredith Helm
Hybrid style: new
garden cemetery
movement & rural
Upland South folk
graveyard tradition

Map at entrance to Rose Hill Cemetery

Iconography: Flora & Fauna

Weeping Willow
Tree
Gospel of Christ

Flowers

Beauty & brevity of

life
Remembrance

Iconography: Celestial Beings

Angels

Messengers from God

Guardian

Angel Child with Palm

Frond
Watching over child
Triumph over death

Cherub with Broken

Column
Gatekeepers
Life cut short

Iconography: Religious
Cross with Crown

Dominion of the Lord

Victory
York Rite Masons

Figure Pointing
toward the Heavens
Heavenly sleep
Gone home to
Jesus

Preservation
Considerations

Inventory of Issues: Short-Term

Trash collection
Mower damage
Prune overgrowth

Inventory of Issues: Medium & LongTerm

Moss removal
Repair broken walls &
fences
Reset & repair
gravestones

Basic Dos and Donts

Do equip mowers with blade guard

Do remove scrub trees and prune shrubs
Do consider adding trash bins
Do remove moss from stones training
session required
Dont mow immediately next to stones
Dont use commercial herbicides around
stones

Heritage Development

Ways to Generate Awareness

Rosemount
Start a Friends of Rosemount Society
Educate public on historic, cultural, social and
artistic merits walking tours, brochure, website
and social media
Give talks at schools and civic groups
Maximize visibility on tourist sites chamber of
commerce
Have clean up days trash and removing moss from
stones

Heritage Development
Maury County African-American Heritage Tour
Guide http://www.antebellum.com/downloads/AAHbrochure.pdf
Driving tour features African-American historical
and cultural sites including Rosemount Cemetery.
Civil War Trail Marker
TN Civil War Trails Marker program in partnership
with The TN National Heritage Area erected their
first marker in 2008.

Trails & Byways

Marker program encompasses 5 states. TN driving
tour map is the most requested.
In 2012 tourist contributed 16.16 billion dollars to
the TN economy.
Generated $1 billion in state and local taxes.
Civil War Trails Marker Process.
Research, historical narrative, images, and captions.

Trails & Byways Application

Requirements
Permission for temporary easement.
Text 250-300 in Microsoft word via email or
disk.
2-4 images (Civil War period if possible).
Submit images digitally, on a CD, or flash
drive in jpeg high resolution format-300
dpi.

Trails & Byways Requirements

cont
Include printed Google map or link
including GPS coordinates where the
marker will be installed. As well as which
direction the visitor will be facing when
viewing the marker.
Printed Google map or link state and nonstate location placement for the 4
trailblazer directional signs. Be sure to
include the mile marker location.

Trails & Byways Funding

Total cost of marker $5,500 and a yearly
maintenance cost of $200. However there
are grant funds available in the amount of
$4,400.
To qualify for this grant all steps of the
application must be followed to the letter.
ADA compliance is vital to receive the
$4,400 grant.

Rose Hill Documentation

Confederate monument erected in 1882

Standing at Funeral Parade Rest

Postcard 1910

Rose Hill Documentation cont

Ledger with a list of the

dead for Columbia
National Cemetery.

Inside page of the ledger

dedicated for Union
dead interred at Rose

Rosemount Documentation

Sergeant Asa Johnson served in the 15th

the 13th regiment
regiment
the Battle of Nashville

Sergeant Frierson served in

and was wounded in

Rosemount Documentation cont

Sergeant
Johnsons
enlistment paper.

Sergeant Friarsons
enlistment paper.

Rosemount Documentation cont

USCT marching in parade Knoxville, TN 1863

Contact Information
Ginna Foster Cannon
(615) 495-9988
vfc2a@mtmail.mtsu.edu
Michael Fletcher
(615) 542-4926
michaelfletcher67@gmail.com
Teresa Ann Prober
(931) 494-0388
tproberhp@gmail.com