Elmwood Cemetery is the oldest active

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mo ...

. It was established in 1852 as one of the first

rural cemeteries A rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of cemetery that became popular in the United States and Europe in the mid-nineteenth century due to the overcrowding and health concerns of urban cemeteries. They were typically built one to five ...

in the South. A funeral scene in Paramount's 1993 legal thriller ''

The Firm The FIRM (stylized as The FIRM) is a brand of exercise videos and equipment currently owned by Gaiam. The original "The FIRM" videos are best known for popularizing a hybrid of aerobic exercise and weight training. History In 1979, Anna Ben ...

'' was filmed here.

Origins

Elmwood Cemetery was established as part of the Rural Cemetery Movement of the early-to-mid-19th century. A classic example of a garden cemetery, it is notable for its park-like setting, sweeping vistas, shady knolls, large stands of ancient trees, and magnificent monuments. On 28 August 1852, fifty prominent Memphis citizens each contributed $500 for stock certificates in order to purchase of land for the cemetery; they envisioned that this land would be a park for the living as well as the dead, where family outings, picnics, and social gatherings could occur. It was meant to be a place where beautiful gardens were tended and individual monuments celebrated both life and death. The name for the place was chosen in a drawing: several proposed names were put into a hat and Elmwood was drawn, with the stockholders stating they were "well pleased" with the selection. Ironically, they had to hurriedly order some elms trees from New York to place among the native oaks of Memphis, since there were no elms in the area. After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, the property was expanded to for another $40,000. In the 1870s, the original corporation controlling the cemetery was dissolved and it became one of the oldest nonprofits in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

.Elmwood Cemetery, About us: History
/ref> The first burial occurred on 15 July 1853, when Mrs. R.B. Berry was laid to rest. Since then, more than 75,000 people have been buried at Elmwood Cemetery, with space still remaining for about 15,000 more. The cemetery's gardens include the

Carlisle S. Page Arboretum The Carlisle S. Page Arboretum (80 acres) is an arboretum located within Historic Elmwood Cemetery, 824 South Dudley Street, Memphis, Tennessee. The arboretum contains some 800 trees (of which 400 are labeled), representing 63 species. According t ...

. Beneath the cemetery's ancient elms, oaks, and magnolias lie some of the city's most honored and revered dead; flowering dogwoods and crepe myrtles are interspersed with Memphis history, those famous and infamous, loved and feared. There are veterans of every American war, from the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...

up to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, and there are people from every walk of life and culture, including Mayors of Memphis, Governors of Tennessee,

U.S. Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

, madams, blues singers, suffragists, martyrs, generals, civil rights leaders, holy men and women, outlaws and millionaires and ordinary citizens.

Civil War burials

About 1,000 Confederate soldiers and veterans are buried in Confederate Soldiers Rest, located in the cemetery's Fowler Section. Many other Confederates are buried elsewhere in the cemetery. The first burial in Confederate Soldiers Rest was William (Thomas) Gallagher on June 17, 1861, and the last interment was John Frank Gunter on April 1, 1940. Among the Confederate generals buried there are

James Patton Anderson James Patton Anderson (February 16, 1822 – September 20, 1872) was an American slave owner, physician, lawyer, and politician, most notably serving as a United States Congressman from the Washington Territory, a Mississippi state legislator, ...

, a former U.S. Congressman who commanded the

Army of Tennessee The Army of Tennessee was the principal Confederate army operating between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River during the American Civil War. It was formed in late 1862 and fought until the end of the war in 1865, participating in ...

in 1862, Colton Greene, Preston Smith and William Henry Carroll.Cothern, John W. ''Confederates of Elmwood.'' Publisher: Heritage Books, Inc., Bowie, Md. 2001. Other burials include

Isham G. Harris Isham Green Harris (February 10, 1818July 8, 1897) was an American politician who served as the 16th governor of Tennessee from 1857 to 1862, and as a U.S. senator from 1877 until his death. He was the state's first governor from West Tennessee. ...

, Tennessee's Confederate-era governor,

Thomas Battle Turley Thomas Battle Turley (April 5, 1845July 1, 1910) was a Tennessee attorney who served as a Democratic United States Senator from 1897 to 1901. Biography Turley was born in Memphis and attended public schools and was a private in the Confede ...

, CSA private and U.S. Senator from Tennessee, and

William Graham Swan William Graham Swan (1821 – April 12, 1869) was an American attorney and politician active primarily in East Tennessee during the mid-19th century. Swan served in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War, and served o ...

, a Confederate congressman and mayor of Knoxville. Union soldiers also were buried at Elmwood in the 1860s, but almost all were removed in 1868 and reinterred in Memphis National Cemetery. Two Union generals,

William Jay Smith William Jay Smith (April 22, 1918 – August 18, 2015) was an American poet. He was appointed the nineteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1968 to 1970. Life William Jay Smith was born in Winnfield, Louis ...

and Milton T. Williamson, remain at Elmwood. Also interred at Elmwood is renowned Civil War author Shelby Foote, famous for his comprehensive three volume, 3000-page history of the war The Civil War: A Narrative. He is buried beside the family plot of Confederate General

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was a prominent Confederate Army general during the American Civil War and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869. Before the war, Forrest amassed substantial wealt ...

. Forrest himself was also originally buried at Elmwood, but in 1904 the remains of Forrest and his wife Mary were disinterred and moved to a Memphis city park originally named Forrest Park in his honor, that has since been renamed Health Sciences Park.

Yellow Fever burials

There were several outbreaks of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

in Memphis during the 1870s, the worst outbreak occurring in 1878, with over 5,000 fatalities in the city itself and 20,000 along the whole of the Mississippi River Valley.Crosby, MC. 2006. The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic That Shaped Our History.

Berkley Books Berkley Books is an imprint of the Penguin Group. History Berkley Books began as an independent company in 1955. It was founded as "Chic News Company" by Charles Byrne and Frederick Klein, who had worked for Avon; they quickly renamed it Berkl ...

. Some 2,500 of the Memphis victims are buried in four public lots at Elmwood; among them are doctors, ministers, nuns, travelers, and even sex workers who died while tending to the sick.

Notable people buried at Elmwood

* Finis L. Bates, Author * Thea Bowman, Roman Catholic religious leader *

Robert Reed Church Robert Reed Church Sr. (June 18, 1839 – August 29, 1912) was an American entrepreneur, businessman and landowner in Memphis, Tennessee, who began his rise during the American Civil War. He was the first African-American "millionaire" in the Sou ...

, businessman *

E. H. Crump Edward Hull "Boss" Crump Jr. (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. Representing the Democratic Party, he was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20th ...

, politician * Shelby Foote, novelist, historian * George Gordon, Confederate Army General * Napoleon Hill, businessman *

Benjamin Hooks Benjamin Lawson Hooks (January 31, 1925 – April 15, 2010) was an American civil rights leader and government official. A Baptist minister and practicing attorney, he served as executive director of the National Association for the Advanceme ...

, American civil rights leader * Wayne Jackson, musician *

James C. Jones James ChamberlainJones's middle name is sometimes spelled "Chamberlayne." Jones (April 20, 1809 – October 29, 1859) was an American politician who served as the tenth governor of Tennessee from 1841 to 1845, and as a United States Senator from ...

, 10th TN Governor & TN Senator *

Estes W. Mann Estes Wilson Mann Sr. (September 14, 1894 – February 13, 1958) was an American architect based in Memphis, Tennessee. Several buildings he designed are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Mann was originally from Marianna, Arka ...

, prominent Memphis architect *

Maxine Smith Maxine (Atkins) Smith (October 31, 1929 — April 26, 2013) born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, was an academic, civil rights activist, and school board official. Smith's leadership in the National Association for the Advancement of Color ...

, civil rights leader and academic *

Thomas B. Turley Thomas Battle Turley (April 5, 1845July 1, 1910) was a Tennessee attorney who served as a Democratic United States Senator from 1897 to 1901. Biography Turley was born in Memphis and attended public schools and was a private in the Confede ...

, US Senator * Alfred Jefferson Vaughan, Jr., Confederate army general * Gideon Pillow, Confederate General

Visiting Elmwood

Elmwood Cemetery is located at 824 South Dudley Street, south of Crump Boulevard. The cemetery grounds are open from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm CST, seven days a week, including holidays. The cemetery office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm CST, Saturday from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm CST, and is closed on Sundays and holidays.Elmwood Cemetery Website

References

External links

*
Photo Tour of Elmwood Cemetery
* * {{Registered Historic Places Cemeteries in Tennessee Geography of Memphis, Tennessee 1852 establishments in Tennessee Cemeteries on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Tourist attractions in Memphis, Tennessee Protected areas of Shelby County, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Memphis, Tennessee Rural cemeteries Yellow fever monuments and memorials