Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association conducts grave, tomb study

Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association executive director Gerald Hodge talks about a project to document the oddest and most unusual graves and markers in McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties. Here, Hodge talks about the looted grave of what was could be a Cherokee or Creek chief who was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Athens, Tenn., around 1840. Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association executive director Gerald Hodge talks about a project to document the oddest and most unusual graves and markers in McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties. Here, Hodge talks about the looted grave of what was could be a Cherokee or Creek chief who was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Athens, Tenn., around 1840.

By Ben Benton September 13, 2015 5 min read

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Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association conducts grave, tomb study

Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association executive director Gerald Hodge looks closely at the detailing on a Woodmen of the World marker at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Athens, Tenn. The association is conducting a study of odd and unusual graves in McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties.

This grave at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Athens, Tenn., is one of the sites included in a study conducted by the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association this summer. This grave, like many of the most unique, comes with an interesting story.Staff Photo by Ben BentonThe looted grave of what could be a Cherokee or Creek chief who was buried at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Athens, Tenn., around 1840.

The grave of a child is designated with a cast iron marker at Cedar Grove Cemetery in Athens, Tenn. The Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association is conducting a study of odd and unusual graves in McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties.

At Shady Grove Cemetery in Monroe County, Tenn., Danny R. Roberts, who was killed in Vietnam War in 1970, leaves his burning last words for all to read. The Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association in Etowah, Tenn., is conducting a study of odd and unusual graves in McMinn, Monroe and Polk counties.

To help

Contact the Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association in Etowah, Tenn., at info@tennessee overhill.com or call 423-263-7232 or 1-877-510-5765 to pass along information about any odd, unusual or mysterious graves and markers.

ATHENS, Tenn. – Some are majestic, grand monuments to the dead; others so simple they appear part of the natural earth.

In one, the deceased seems to call out from the grave.

The Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association in nearby Etowah, Tenn., is conducting a study of the “odd, unusual and mysterious” grave sites in the Tennessee counties of McMinn, Monroe and Polk in the Appalachian foothills. Officials are cataloguing them, searching out their histories, trying to learn their stories and urging maintenance of the final resting places.

“We’ve done our field work, [but] it’s not completely over with,” said Gerald Hodge, executive director of the association and leader of the project. He’s working with Western Kentucky University intern Sydney Verajon, who got her bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Wesleyan College.