Shirley Wood Merritt brought some records of the Green’s Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian Church to Sunday’s Charleston/Calhoun/Hiwassee Historical Society meeting at the church.CHARLESTON, Tenn. — The Cherokee Removal didn’t sweep up just Native Americans. Black people were taken, too.
About 300 slaves left Charleston on the Trail of Tears along with thousands of Cherokees in 1838.
The Charleston/Calhoun/Hiwassee Historical Society held its February meeting Sunday at one of the historic black churches here, Green’s Chapel Cumberland Presbyterian. February is Black History Month.
“Charleston is not just about the Trail of Tears or the Civil War,” said historical society board member Connie Hayden.
As the society works toward opening its Hiwassee Heritage Center, members want to know more about all of the river region’s history.