The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1909-12-30
mrs. |. A. CARTER DEAD REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS.
Three Hundred and SixtY-Seven
Buried IN Fifty-Two Counties
in the State of Tennessee.

in the State of Tennessee.
For more than seven years | have
been trying to locate all, or as many rs
| could, of the revolutionary soldiers
buried in Tennessee. Ny desire and
work has been two-fold, that their
names might have the honored place
they richly deserve on Tennessee mar.
BILE, put there by their descendants who
keenly felt, or should, the debt of love
and gratitude they owed them for life,
liberty and happiness; and, that their
biographies and military records should
be collected through the descendants
now living, and these records bound
not printed-in books and put in our
state archives for the benefit of their
descendants, that will be, in the on
coming generations, that they, too, may
know who and what their ancestors
were and did. The work is now done
aS regards the monument, and well
under Roadway as to the keeping of
the soldiers records, as the first book is
in my home and commenced, Three
hundred and forty-seven names have
been given the engraver for the monu-
ment. These three hundred and forty
seven revolutionary soldiers graves
have been located in forty-nine counties
of the state.
There was found to be, by the census
of 1910, 76l revolutionary pensioners in
sixty-seven counties of the state. Some
few counties had only one pensioner,
while Roane had twenty-seven, Sulli-
van like number, White twenty.six,
Knox twenty-nine and Hawkins thirty
eight; and, strange TO say, only four
soldiers have been located in White
county, three in Sullivan-Col. Evan
Shelby, Capt. Moses Shelby and Robt.
Allison-ten in Knox, twelve in Roane.
1t can not be that all of the many sol.
diers of Washington, Greene, Hawkins,
Jefferson and Sullivan countieS-those
first settled-could have moved away.
| am sorry to say feel it is q reflection
on that part Of the state that no inter-
est has been evinced in this patriotic
work of the entire state.
Williamson county has fifty-six SOL
diers buried in her bounds, Davidson
twenty-eight and Sumner twenty-one.
wish all who can to send me all
the data they have of their revolution
airy ancestors, and especially the in
scriptions from their tombs, dates of
births and deaths as found in their
family Bibles. This will paste in the
books | have, and shall have made,
and when book is completed it will
be placed in the state archives.
There is at present no such books in
any state library, and this series will
be of untold value and benefit to those
who will come after us. We have seen
the need of this work is the reason it
was undertaken-it is not my work.
but the entire states, as a gift to pos
terity and memorial to their revolu-
tionary ancestors.
Since sending in the list of revolu-
tionary soldiers graves-347, found in
forty-nine counties--have been located
twenty others, making 367 revolution
airy soldiers graves in fifty-two coun-
ties of the state, being about one-half
of the number of known pensioners in
the year 1910; but such work is neces-
sarily slow, and to be of use, it takes
time to investigate the data relating to
the soldiers and their resting places.
Even when one has used every pre-.
caution, errors will creep in--as have
found in placing Col. Isaac Bledsoe as
a revolutionary soldier. can find nc
record of such service, so far, but find
that he was a colonel of militia. His
recently erected monument would Ger.
tainly state that fact if it were so, bu
it does not. If any one can furnish MI
his revolutionary record | will be 81
glad to receive it.
Col. Evan Shelby's name will be OF
the d. A. r. monument, even though
his body rests now in Virginia's soil
for his first burial was in Tennessee
soil, He came from Wales, and locates
! in Frederick county, Md, in I'LL. H
brought his family TO Brixtnt the
"Sapling Grove" in 1779. This part @
Virginia was found to be in North Cal
DINA, and the division threw his estat
in Sullivan county.
Gov.Caswell appointed him brigade
general, being the first to receive muc
military rank on the western Wa
tiers. He died at his home, "Traveler'
Rest, " in 1894, and was buried in Bri'
4 toll, Tenn. In 1872 he was exhume
y and his poor bones started on pilgrim
: age of unrest--five times have the
been moved. When first exhumed the
: were placed in the calaboose--for sal
keeping-until carried to the cemetery
, again removed and placed in the pos
office, from which they were taken an