Having just celebrated Memorial Day and our tradition of decorating
graves, West Tennessee cemeteries are colorful with beautiful flowers and
American flags – especially at the graves of our fallen veterans. With Flag Day on June 14 and Independence Day
on July 4, we can continue to enjoy the flags as they remind us of the brave
men and women who fought for our freedoms and the men and women who fight for
us today. The United States Continental
Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776; and they adopted
the stars and stripes as the national flag on June 14, 1777.
Even though Tennessee was not a colony during the American Revolutionary
War, many veterans from this war and the War of 1812 made West Tennessee their
home when they moved into the unsettled land of West Tennessee. Many of them had land grants for their military
service.
As we drive through the countryside, we often do not realize
that we are passing the final resting places of our early heroes and
pioneers. Many people were buried on
their property, and the old home-places and family cemeteries have long ago
been forgotten or overgrown.
Fenner Cemetery is nestled in a grove of trees at the top of a
small hill surrounded by a cornfield on Browns Church Road in Madison
County. Many graves are scattered among
the shade trees with unreadable stones or stones simply carved with initials
and a year. The most legible marker
states: “Mrs. Lucy M., consort of Maj.
Robt. Fenner, born March 26, 1798, died Feb. 25, 1862 – Blessed are the dead
which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may
rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.”
Lucy Maclin Saunders Fenner was the daughter of Joseph H.
Saunders and Martha J. Maclin, granddaughter of Frederick Maclin and Lucy
Rollins, and daughter-in-law of Robert Fenner Sr. and Mary Houson. Her father, grandfather, and father-in-law
were veterans of the American Revolution.
Her husband, Robert Fenner II (1794-1847), was a veteran of the War of 1812;
and he died while serving in the Mexican-American War. After his death, Lucy received a pension from
the US government. In the 1850 US
Census, Lucy lived in District 11 of Madison County with her five youngest children. Her eldest son, Robert (1816-1836), was
executed with nearly 400 other Texans in the Goliad Massacre ordered by Santa
Anna in the Texas Revolution on Palm Sunday, March 27,
1836. Her son, Joseph Frederick Fenner (1820-1896),
was one of a few who escaped the massacre.
Fenner
Cemetery is also the final resting place of Richard Fenner (1755-1828), brother
of Robert Fenner Sr. Their parents
immigrated to North Carolina from Ireland. Richard became a lieutenant in the North
Carolina Continental Infantry, and he was a prisoner of war. He later became a medical doctor and
eventually moved to the Cotton Grove area of Madison County in 1823 where he
was buried in the family cemetery in 1828.
West Tennessee counties were home to many American Revolutionary
War patriots and their families. Many of
these patriots can be found through free access to NSDAR records in the
Genealogical Research System at www.dar.org.
Several publications by Mr. Jonathan Kennon Thompson Smith contain
information about these patriots. Mr.
Smith’s work can be viewed at the Jackson-Madison County Public Library in
downtown Jackson. Also, researchers
should conduct searches on www.google.com to view his valuable online information.
Benton County became the final home for Thomas Petty who was
born in Virginia, served as a private in South Carolina, and died in Tennessee
in 1841.
Carroll County was the final
resting place for John Chambers, James Cole, Matthew Poythress Covington, James
Craig, Ambrose Dudley, James Fergus, William Flewellen Jr., James Hamilton,
Pleasant Henderson, Philemon Hurt, John McKenzie, Jonathan Montgomery, Matthew
Patten, and Samuel Woods.
Chester County was named for Robert I. Chester, and Crockett
County was named for David “Davy” Crockett.
Both men were veterans of the War of 1812. Davy died at the Alamo in the Texas
Revolution.
Patriots Jonas Belote, Samuel B. Martin, Andrew Pickens, and
John Whitten lived in Fayette County when they died.
The Jackson-Madison Chapter of the National Society of the
Daughters of the American Revolution will celebrate Flag Day and Independence
Day by honoring and remembering patriots from the American Revolution with
their ninth annual field of flags located in downtown Jackson’s Triangle Park
at the intersection of Main Street, Lafayette Street, and Airways Boulevard.
Chapter members sponsor flags, and the public is invited to sponsor
flags for a one-time fee of $20 each.
The flags will be placed on the field prior to June 14, and they will be
removed after July 4. The public is
invited to the dedication of the field on Saturday, June 14, at 10:00 a.m. Take a lawn chair and enjoy the beautiful
field of flags.
Consider joining a lineage society; such as NSDAR, NSSAR, and
NSCAR (www.dar.org,
www.sar.org,
www.nscar.org).
This article was published in The
Jackson Sun on June 1, 2014.
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| Lucy Saunders Fenner (1798-1862) |
