Roadman Cemetery
Newport, Cocke County, Tennessee, USA
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LAST BURIAL: August 1928
PLEASE DO NOT ADD NAMES TO THIS CEMETERY!
Unless you can provide proof of the burial!
This record has been verified against all previous sources.
All tombstone inscriptions were recorded twice during the early 1960's. A photographic record of all tombstones was made in 2011 with most stones being located. Only a few could not be relocated from the previous readings. In the process of photographing the cemetery, two previously unknown tombstones were located and added to the record.
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LOCATION:
The cemetery is located at the top of a hill on the north side of the French Broad River, on highway 35/321 just past the intersection with highway 160.
In 1991 a gravel road lead back to a small building with two satellite dish. These sat just in front of the woods that contained the cemetery.
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The grounds have long been abandoned and overgrown with underbrush. The last burial occurred in August 1928 with the interment of Octavia Kendrick. Her large tombstone was standing in the late 1960's but had fallen over by 1991.
When family members visited the grounds in about 1967, many stones had been toppled and trampled by cattle that were allowed to graze in the adjoining fields. The land owner informed us that we could erect a fence around the grounds, unfortunately there was no one able to do so at that time. When the grounds were revisited in 1991, the site was in very bad shape. Thorns and undergrowth made it difficult to located but a few stones. (See the photos). The large tombstone of Octavia Kendrick had fallen with the inscription buried in the ground.
The stone of Peter Fine, a Major in the N.C. Militia during the Revolution and also considered the founder of Newport, was at the edge of the grounds behind a building. It had been rescued by the DAR several years ago and they placed a military marker adjacent to the original tombstone. They held a ceremony and an article appeared in the Newport Plain Talk newspaper.
Also buried here is Edom Kendrick, Sr., a veteran of the Revolutionary War, who came to Cocke County from Virginia after his sons first settled here. It is highly possible that several generations of this family are also buried here, although no tombstones are recorded in readings of the grounds.
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From "Sacred to the Memory: Cocke County, Tennessee, Cemetery Records, Volume 3." by Duay O'Neil and Nan O'Neil.
"Located in Oldtown. From Newport take the Greenville Highway north across the Oldtown Bridge. Turn left. The cemetery is on the highest hill behind the second house on the right. It is called Graveyard Hill...It is the opinion of some local historians that this cemetery was the original town cemetery for Newport since the original settlement of Clifton was in this area. There are several graves marked by plain field stones. There was much undergrowth and it is possible that other stones were missed."
-----------------------------------------
Note: The thorns were very thick making walking difficult and no thought given to the possibility of snakes! I could not read some of the smaller stones that where located. I am sure that there are more stones than what I saw. Many more have probably fallen and been buried over time since the readings taken in the late 1960's. Due to an approaching thunderstorm I did not have sufficient time to explore this cemetery in 1991. It is sad that the final resting places of so many Cocke County's earliest settlers are untended. If anyone has further information, please contact me.
---------------------------------------
UPDATE JANUARY 2011: Almost all tombstones have been located that where in previous readings. I am grateful to Victoria Whitlock for her recent photos of the tombstones in this cemetery. These photos have helped correct the errors in previous readings of this burial ground.
Family members told me the grounds had been cleared but Victoria sent the following message to another member of this site:
"The cemetery has not been cleaned up it just appears more open because it is winter and the underbrush has died down. In spring it will be hard to see most of the monuments and the ground is very uneven and many of the graves have sunken in. It's a shame with so many historical markers that the Cocke County Historical Society has not attempted restoration of this cemetery. It is my understanding that this is one of the oldest graveyards in the area which makes sense because it is right above the river port where "Newport" got it's name."
This description & history written by Find A Grave member:
tombstone2c (#47280299)
LAST BURIAL: August 1928
PLEASE DO NOT ADD NAMES TO THIS CEMETERY!
Unless you can provide proof of the burial!
This record has been verified against all previous sources.
All tombstone inscriptions were recorded twice during the early 1960's. A photographic record of all tombstones was made in 2011 with most stones being located. Only a few could not be relocated from the previous readings. In the process of photographing the cemetery, two previously unknown tombstones were located and added to the record.
---------------------------------------
LOCATION:
The cemetery is located at the top of a hill on the north side of the French Broad River, on highway 35/321 just past the intersection with highway 160.
In 1991 a gravel road lead back to a small building with two satellite dish. These sat just in front of the woods that contained the cemetery.
---------------------------------------
The grounds have long been abandoned and overgrown with underbrush. The last burial occurred in August 1928 with the interment of Octavia Kendrick. Her large tombstone was standing in the late 1960's but had fallen over by 1991.
When family members visited the grounds in about 1967, many stones had been toppled and trampled by cattle that were allowed to graze in the adjoining fields. The land owner informed us that we could erect a fence around the grounds, unfortunately there was no one able to do so at that time. When the grounds were revisited in 1991, the site was in very bad shape. Thorns and undergrowth made it difficult to located but a few stones. (See the photos). The large tombstone of Octavia Kendrick had fallen with the inscription buried in the ground.
The stone of Peter Fine, a Major in the N.C. Militia during the Revolution and also considered the founder of Newport, was at the edge of the grounds behind a building. It had been rescued by the DAR several years ago and they placed a military marker adjacent to the original tombstone. They held a ceremony and an article appeared in the Newport Plain Talk newspaper.
Also buried here is Edom Kendrick, Sr., a veteran of the Revolutionary War, who came to Cocke County from Virginia after his sons first settled here. It is highly possible that several generations of this family are also buried here, although no tombstones are recorded in readings of the grounds.
-----------------------------------------
From "Sacred to the Memory: Cocke County, Tennessee, Cemetery Records, Volume 3." by Duay O'Neil and Nan O'Neil.
"Located in Oldtown. From Newport take the Greenville Highway north across the Oldtown Bridge. Turn left. The cemetery is on the highest hill behind the second house on the right. It is called Graveyard Hill...It is the opinion of some local historians that this cemetery was the original town cemetery for Newport since the original settlement of Clifton was in this area. There are several graves marked by plain field stones. There was much undergrowth and it is possible that other stones were missed."
-----------------------------------------
Note: The thorns were very thick making walking difficult and no thought given to the possibility of snakes! I could not read some of the smaller stones that where located. I am sure that there are more stones than what I saw. Many more have probably fallen and been buried over time since the readings taken in the late 1960's. Due to an approaching thunderstorm I did not have sufficient time to explore this cemetery in 1991. It is sad that the final resting places of so many Cocke County's earliest settlers are untended. If anyone has further information, please contact me.
---------------------------------------
UPDATE JANUARY 2011: Almost all tombstones have been located that where in previous readings. I am grateful to Victoria Whitlock for her recent photos of the tombstones in this cemetery. These photos have helped correct the errors in previous readings of this burial ground.
Family members told me the grounds had been cleared but Victoria sent the following message to another member of this site:
"The cemetery has not been cleaned up it just appears more open because it is winter and the underbrush has died down. In spring it will be hard to see most of the monuments and the ground is very uneven and many of the graves have sunken in. It's a shame with so many historical markers that the Cocke County Historical Society has not attempted restoration of this cemetery. It is my understanding that this is one of the oldest graveyards in the area which makes sense because it is right above the river port where "Newport" got it's name."
This description & history written by Find A Grave member:
tombstone2c (#47280299)
Nearby cemeteries
Newport, Cocke County, Tennessee, USA
- Total memorials33
- Percent photographed21%
- Percent with GPS0%
Oldtown, Cocke County, Tennessee, USA
- Total memorials71
- Percent photographed0%
- Percent with GPS0%
Oldtown, Cocke County, Tennessee, USA
- Total memorials2
- Percent photographed0%
Cocke County, Tennessee, USA
- Total memorials13
- Percent photographed0%
- Percent with GPS0%
- Added: 2 May 2010
- Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2352764
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