Pleasant Forest Cemetery History - P3

In 1871, under the leadership of Elder John Steele Campbell, a new frame building was erected at the site of the old Pleasant Forest Church, replacing the brick structure.  This congregation did not prosper and in 1892 regular services were discontinued. In 1910, the remaining members were officially transferred to Concord Presbyterian  Church (North) which was formerly a Cumberland congregation. time Concord resident Elmer Henry reported to Mac Abel that as a boy he had assisted his father in dismantling the church, marking pieces to be reassembled as a barn on the Moser farm (behind the Farragut Kroger store) where it still stands (1994) as the smaller of two horse barns.

Southern sympathizers of Pleasant Forest Church reorganized themselves as Pleasant Forest (South) in 1866 and moved to the “new” village of Concord, where they first met in homes, later in the original Masonic Hall on Front Street (Now Lake Ridge). From 1870 to 1877 they accepted the hospitality of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church which at that time stood in what is now Concord Masonic Cemetery. In 1877 the Southern group moved into their new sanctuary (the existing sanctuary of Concord Presbyterian Church) and adopted a new name, Concord Presbyterian Church. The record indictes that as congregations dissolved, there was always a remainder who found welcome among those with whom they had once strongly disagreed.

The person of greatest prominence in Tennessee history to be buried in Pleasant Forest Cemetery is Archibald Roane (1759-1819). Roane's parents died while he was quite young and he was raised by his uncle, Reverend John Roane, who provided an excellent education. He joined the Continental Army and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781. After the war he continued his education at Liberty Hall Academy at Lexington, VA and remained as professor of languages and mathematics. He moved to Tennessee (then North Carolina) in 1788 where he was licensed to practice law. After serving as attorney general for the Hamilton District of the Territory South of the River Ohio, and representing Jefferson County at the Constitutional Convention at Knoxville when Tennessee became a state in 1796. He served as a superior court judge for six years and was elected second governor of Tennessee in 1801. Running for re-election in 1803, he was defeated by John Sevier.

Archibald Roane died January 4, 1819, at his home near Campbell's Station (later the home of of Christopher Stoltzfus, the Shultz family, the William Cottrell family and presently, 1994, the home of J.A. and Barbara Beeler on Admiral Drive.) He was buried at Pleasant Forest and his grave remained unmarked until 1918 when the state of Tennessee erected a monument and honored him with an elaborate ceremony.

The following is from the Western Monitor Jan 22 1819: Died – At his seat in Grassy Valley, on Monday the 4th instant, about 2 o’clock, Archibald Roane, Esq., one of the Judges of our Supreme Court. In the death of this excellent citizen, both civil and religious society will feel a loss. He had served his country as a Legislator, Judge and Governor, with irreproachable fidelity and the most uniform attention to the duty of his various offices. He was a native of Virginia, came early to this country, and was one of the fathers of our civil institutions. He died as he had lived, in peace with all men and with his God. He had for many years been a professor of religion in the Presbyterian Church, and on his deathbed, spoke to the last of his high hopes and established confidence in the promises of the everlasting Gospel. He has left an affectionate family long to lament their irreparable loss. To say more, might be deemed eulogy, to say less, would be unjust.

Sources:
East Tennessee Historical Society, Publication “Some Founders of Campbell Station Tennessee A Genealogy of Alexander, David and James Campbell,” compiled by Laura E. Luttrell, 1953 pp 89-110, and 1954, No. 26, pp 107-131.
Rothrock, Mary U. Editor, “The French Broad Holston Country,” East Tennessee Historical Society, 1946,pp 474-75.
Hassall, Harry S., “ history of Concord Presbyterian Church, Concord, Tennessee. The Letter Shop, Knoxville, Tenn. 1963

 

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