Myrtle Hill Cemetery
Encyclopedia
Myrtle Hill Cemetery, also nicknamed "Where Romans Rest", is the second oldest cemetery in the city of Rome, Georgia
. The cemetery is at the confluence of the Etowah River
and Oostanaula River
and to the south of downtown Rome across the South Broad Street bridge. Myrtle Hill is one of the seven hills of the city and was named for its crepe myrtle shrubs
on a hill
. The cemetery covers 32 acres (129,499.5 m²) on 6 terraces and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
. Three of Rome's seven hills were chosen as burial grounds - Lumpkin Hill, Myrtle Hill and Mount Aventine because of the flooding of Rome’s three rivers - Etowah, Oostanaula and Coosa
. Myrtle Hill cemetery is the final resting place of more than 20,000 people including doctors, politicians, football heroes, soldiers, wealthy men, and Rome founders.
and his 800 men on an unauthorized mission, chased 1,000 Cherokees who had scalped and killed thirteen people at Cavett's Station, near Knoxville
to Georgia. Sevier's men caught the Cherokee at the village of what he called Hightower (Etowah, or Itawayi), which is near the present-day site of Cartersville, Georgia
. The Cherokee created a defensive position on Myrtle Hill and used a guard to try to prevent Sevier from fording the rivers.
Sevier left a written account of the battle, in which he described an attempt to cross the Etowah River about a mile south of Myrtle Hill, drawing the Cherokee defenders out of their prepared positions, then galloping back to Myrtle Hill to cross there. The Cherokee rushed back to contest the crossing of the Etowah, but failed. When the Cherokee leader, Kingfisher, was killed, the remaining warriors fled, and Sevier burned the village.
Evidence of the battle was found in the form of Cherokee bones and relics in the crevasses of the hill. In 1901, the Xavier chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution
erected a stone monument to Sevier which describes the battle to honor Sevier and the battle. The monument is located between Myrtle Hill Cemetery and the Etowah River by the South Broad Street bridge.
gold discovery (gold rush
) in 1829 then brought white settlers into this part of Georgia. Between 1830 and 1838, Indian Removal
or the Trail of Tears began which forced the Cherokees to leave their homes and white settlers then took the Cherokees' lands. The founders of the new city of Rome in 1834 were Colonel Daniel R. Mitchell, Colonel Zacharia Hargrove, Major Phillip Hemphill, Colonel William Smith, and John Lumpkin
. Rome's first cemetery, Oak Hill Cemetery, opened in 1837. Thirteen years later, when Oak Hill Cemetery was nearly out of lots, Rome had decided to begin a new one.
In 1850, after considering several properties, Colonel Thomas A. Alexander and Daniel S. Printup chose a hill near the rivers. The hill was originally owned by Colonel Alfred Shorter and Cunningham Pennington, a civil engineer. Shorter is the name for Rome Female College (later renamed Shorter University) in honor of the Colonel and his wife Martha in acknowledgment of their donation. Pennington designed the plan for the interments on six levels of the steep terrain as a 19th century “picturesque” rural cemetery
. The roads circle the hill and combine with the necessary terracing to create a layered, “wedding cake" look. The new cemetery was opened in 1857 as Myrtle Hill Cemetery. "Myrtle" was chosen because of the myrtle (vinca minor) or "Flower of Death" that grew wild over the hill. The original Cemetery of 11 acres (44,515.5 m²) was at the top of the hill. One of first graves was of John Billups who died in 1857.
Army during the American Civil War
. Three forts were completed in October 1863 as Confederate
soldiers were ready to take their duties in the three forts. Union raiders who tried to seize Rome had their focus on the Noble Foundry located in the city on the Etowah River across from the cemetery in order to cripple the Confederate war machine. The fort was constructed on the crest of Myrtle Hill and called Fort Stovall, named after Confederate soldier, George Stovall, who was killed in the Civil War. Other forts, Fort Attaway (named for Thomas Attaway) and Fort Norton (named for Charles Norton), were opposite the location of Fort Stovall. It was described as a bracket-shaped linear earthwork near the top of Myrtle Hill as shown on the map. Its line faced northwest, defending the western approach to Rome as well as the Coosa River. It was made with several faces, which provided maximum coverage along its front. The zigzag
shape permitted defenders to direct enfilading
(from the side) fire on any men who approached the line.
The exact location of the earthworks of Fort Stovall is impossible to determine from a Civil War era "map", and no evidence of it can be seen in the cemetery. Defensive lines constructed on a hill were typically built below the very top of the hill to prevent the occupants of the line from being silhouetted against the sky and giving the enemy a better target. It also gave the soldiers a clearer line of sight down the slope of the hill. The extensive terracing necessary for burials at Myrtle Hill has eliminated any evidence of Fort Stovall on the surface. It is possible, although unlikely, that remnants of the earthwork
s survive as subsurface features. While it is clear that subsequent earth-moving activities at Myrtle Hill affected the Civil War earthworks, it is also likely the Civil War action resulted in damage to the cemetery. The top of the monument on Billups' grave, which dates to 1857, is believed to have been shot off by a musket ball during the war, but no other specific mention is made of damage to the graves. However, because of the excellent vantage point provided by the hill, there was likely considerable activity at the fort by Confederates scouting for raiding parties. The evidence is unclear about locating Fort Stovall. Some people believed it was on the top of the hill where the Confederate soldier statue is, site of Axson family, or side of the hill near Etowah.
On May 17, 1864, Confederate units defended Rome, including Fort Stovall, when Union General Jefferson C. Davis
, in command of the 2nd Division of Palmer's 14th Army Corps
, Army of the Cumberland
, approached down the west side of the Oostanaula and took up a position opposite Rome and engaged with the Confederate pickets. On reaching this position, Davis received an order to return to the 14th Corps, but as he was already engaged with Confederates and suspected a weak defense, he determined to stay on and capture Rome. Davis' considerable force was held at bay overnight by a small garrison assisted by three brigades of Polk's Corps
on their way from Mississippi to reinforce General Albert Sidney Johnston
. Fort Stovall was occupied during this brief standoff, but the main point of Confederate artillery was on Shorter Hill on the west side of the Oostanaula. The next day, when the Union forces moved to capture Rome, the Confederates had retreated. After the Confederates retreated and left Rome, Union forces likely used the fort during their occupation of Rome.
following the death of soldiers in Rome's hospitals. After 1872, more graves were added as some important people with roles in the founding of Rome were buried there. Daniel R. Mitchell (died 1876), one of the founders of Rome, Daniel S. Printup (died 1887), one of the men who selected this site of the cemetery, John H. Underwood (died 1888), a United States Representative before the Civil War, a two-term superior court judge, and lawyer in Rome, Colonel Alfred Shorter (died 1882), the former owner of the cemetery and namesake of Shorter University, Nathan Henry Bass, Sr.
(died 1890), Civil War Confederate Congressman, Augustus Romaldus Wright
(died 1891) who served in U.S. Congress with Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Robert Battey
(died 1895), who performed the first ovarian operation
, Homer V. M. Miller (died 1896), 1886 U.S. Senate in 1886, first Democrat from Georgia, Richard Vonalbade Gammon (died 1897), the University of Georgia
football player who died of the injuries he received in the Georgia-Virginia football game, and Rosalind Gammon (died 1904), Gammon's mother who saved a football from being illegal in the state of Georgia.
The Confederate Soldier statue on top of Myrtle Hill is known as "The Monument to the Confederate Dead of Rome and Floyd County in the Civil War" and was placed by the local chapter of the Ladies’ Memorial Association in 1869. The Ladies Memorial Association raised the $6,000 for the statue to be made. This was difficult during Reconstruction and the 1870 financial panics caused a delay in the placing of the statue; however, the statue's plan was complete in 1887 as the statue was dedicated. The statue still stands on top of the hill, "Crown Point". In 1874, Hines M. Smith made a new survey of the cemetery which defined what is called the Old Original cemetery. New numbers were assigned to the lots at that time. Some deeds after 1874 make reference to the old number as well as the new one. Boundaries of the Old Original cemetery are based on a copy of the Smith survey updated to 1901. Some of the lots on this map, especially in the western part of the cemetery, may have been added between 1874 and 1901. The 1901 survey indicates that the original road pattern within the cemetery was nearly identical to its configuration today. A short section of road in the south western part of the Old Original section was closed by 1901. Also, it is evident that in the western part of the Old Original cemetery, some of the original walkways between the lots were being filled in by that date. By the end of the nineteen century, the popularity of lots had been sold out to people who purchased the additions for their plans. The additions had been created and completed by Branham about 1899 on the steep bluff facing the rivers on the north side of the Old Original cemetery, Terraces A-D were added from 1908 to 1928 to near Branham's, the New Front in around 1909, The triangle “Memorial Addition” at the corner of streets and the south boundary of the Old Original cemetery in 1923 for Charles "Known Soldier" Graves, “designated representative of all the Known Dead of the Great War 1917-1918” by President Warren Harding and the Congressional Record
, Glover Vault, the New Front Terrace, and the Greystone in 1938. The lots also contains the Freedman (African-American) section set aside when the cemetery was segregated
. One of the African Americans buried at Myrtle Hill in 1915 was Tom McClintock, who had worked as a Myrtle Hill Cemetery gravedigger for 42 years.
This section contains over 370 Confederate and Union soldiers including 81 Unknown Confederates and two Unknown Union Soldiers. They lost their lives in the battles of the American Civil War from Rome and other places. Many soldiers were from Rome's buildings and churches.
These buildings and churches were used to be hospitals for fallen soldiers and were spared from General William Sherman's November 1864 order of burning buildings on Broad Street. The rest of soldiers were buried in the back yard near the main gate of the cemetery. Some of the buildings and churches, former hospitals, are still standing on the list of National Register of Historic Places. The section's graves were marked with painted wooden markers between 1863 and 1900. Sometime after 1900, their wooden markers were replaced with the present stone markers that still exist. The section is called the Confederate Cemetery.
Veteran's Plaza is a bricked site located at the corner of South Broad Street and Myrtle Street where "Confederate Park" is. The centerpiece of the plaza is the grave of America's Known Soldier, Charles Graves, 1904 water-cooled automatic machine guns
around Graves' grave, and bronze replica of a World War doughboy
enhances this site. Before Veteran's Plaza was a bricked site, it was just a grassy field with Graves' grave, the three maxim guns that were in the different positions, and shrines as memorials from 1930s to present to fallen soldiers who were involved with other wars. In beginning of year 2000, the plaza has more than 3,000 bricks honor and memorialize military veterans and civilians for their services to America in war or peace throughout all of American history. Each brick has present names of people or organization on the floor.
and his mule-equipped cavalry on their mission to capture Rome. Colonel Streight who was coming from Alabama
on May 3, 1863 was defeated by General Forrest with a small group of confederates serving with him. General Forrest had 425 men and Colonel Streight had 1,000 but Streight surrendered as his raid was caught. His monument was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy
in 1909. Forrest's monument was rededicated by the Emma Sansom Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in a ceremony on Saturday, April 18, 2009 for the 100th anniversary of the first dedication of his monument. The Women of the Confederacy Monument honors Confederate women who served as nurses in Rome to care for Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War and mothers/wives who waited while their men fought. The Confederate Women's Monument was erected by President Theodore Roosevelt
on October 8, 1910. Woodrow Wilson
wrote the inscription on the monument.
"Known Soldier" is a well known grave of Private Charles W. Graves (1893–1918). Graves was an infantryman in the American Expeditionary Force
who fought in World War I
. On October 5, 1918, Graves was killed by German
artillery
shrapnel on the Hindenburg Line
. His mother received the telegram from the War Department
that informed her about Graves' death; however, his body was not returned to America until March 29, 1922 when they brought American soldiers' remains from France
and Belgium
aboard the troopship
, the Cambria to New York
. The U.S. Government had the idea of creating Unknown Soldier and "Known Soldier" in Arlington Cemetery
to honor World War I soldiers. Graves was chosen for "Known Soldier" by a blindfolded sailor who picked Graves' name from American soldier remains list, but his mother objected to his burial at Arlington. The War Department wanted to give his body in flag draped coffin
on a parade on Fifth Avenue, New York with generals, admirals, and politicians before his mother buried Graves in the cemetery near Antioch Church on April 6, 1922. On September 22, 1923, Romans decided to relocate Graves' body from Antioch Cemetery to Myrtle Hill Cemetery as unofficial designation "Known Soldier" after his mother's death and his brother's agreement. Graves was buried a third and final time. On November 11, 1923, Armistice Day
, Charles and the other 33 young men from Floyd County who died in World War I were honored with three Maxim guns and 34 magnolia trees.
The only U.S. First Lady
buried in Georgia is buried in Myrtle Hill Cemetery. Ellen Axson Wilson, was the first wife of President Woodrow Wilson. Ellen Louise Axson Wilson was the daughter of Reverend S. E. Axson, who was a Presbyterian minister and Margaret Hoyt Axson. She was born in Savannah, Georgia
but grew up in Rome. She graduated from the Rome Female College and later studied Art at the Students' Art League in New York. In the Spring of 1883, she met Woodrow Wilson, a young lawyer from Atlanta, Georgia
. They were married in 1885 and moved to Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
where Mr. Wilson taught at the newly formed Bryn Mawr College
. After Wilson became the president of Princeton University
in 1902 and the governor of New Jersey
in 1910, he became the U.S. President in 1912. Ellen was the First Lady who had a studio with a skylight installed at the White House
in 1913, and found time for painting and the duties of hostess for the nation. With her health failing slowly from Bright's disease
(chronic nephritis), she died August 6, 1914. After her death, her body was taken to Rome by a train with five private cars for President Wilson. The procession, a two-horse drawn funeral carriage, from First Presbyterian Church to Myrtle Hill Cemetery passed down Broad Street, which was lined with Romans. As the graveside service began, rain began to fall as if the sky were weeping. Mrs. Wilson was buried with her father, her mother, and her brother. Stockton Axson.
Rome, Georgia
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...
. The cemetery is at the confluence of the Etowah River
Etowah River
The Etowah River is a waterway that rises northwest of Dahlonega, Georgia, north of Atlanta. Its name is the Cherokee version of the original Muskogee word Etalwa, which means a "trail crossing". On Matthew Carey's 1795 map the river was labeled "High Town River"...
and Oostanaula River
Oostanaula River
The Oostanaula River is a principal tributary of the Coosa River, about long, in northwestern Georgia in the United States. Via the Coosa and Alabama rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mobile River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico. Its name is said to come from a Cherokee Indian term...
and to the south of downtown Rome across the South Broad Street bridge. Myrtle Hill is one of the seven hills of the city and was named for its crepe myrtle shrubs
Vinca minor
Vinca minor, Lesser periwinkle and Dwarf periwinkle, is a plant native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic States, and east to the Caucasus, and also in southwestern Asia in Turkey...
on a hill
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills often have a distinct summit, although in areas with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to a particular section of flat terrain without a massive summit A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. Hills...
. The cemetery covers 32 acres (129,499.5 m²) on 6 terraces and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Three of Rome's seven hills were chosen as burial grounds - Lumpkin Hill, Myrtle Hill and Mount Aventine because of the flooding of Rome’s three rivers - Etowah, Oostanaula and Coosa
Coosa River
The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about long altogether.The Coosa River is one of Alabama's most developed rivers...
. Myrtle Hill cemetery is the final resting place of more than 20,000 people including doctors, politicians, football heroes, soldiers, wealthy men, and Rome founders.
Battle of Hightower
Before becoming Myrtle Hill Cemetery, the hill was normal and untouched until September of 1793, when General John SevierJohn Sevier
John Sevier served four years as the only governor of the State of Franklin and twelve years as Governor of Tennessee. As a U.S. Representative from Tennessee from 1811 until his death...
and his 800 men on an unauthorized mission, chased 1,000 Cherokees who had scalped and killed thirteen people at Cavett's Station, near Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
to Georgia. Sevier's men caught the Cherokee at the village of what he called Hightower (Etowah, or Itawayi), which is near the present-day site of Cartersville, Georgia
Cartersville, Georgia
Cartersville is a town in Bartow County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 19,7314. The city is the county seat of Bartow County.-Geography:Cartersville was named for Colonel Farish Carter....
. The Cherokee created a defensive position on Myrtle Hill and used a guard to try to prevent Sevier from fording the rivers.
Sevier left a written account of the battle, in which he described an attempt to cross the Etowah River about a mile south of Myrtle Hill, drawing the Cherokee defenders out of their prepared positions, then galloping back to Myrtle Hill to cross there. The Cherokee rushed back to contest the crossing of the Etowah, but failed. When the Cherokee leader, Kingfisher, was killed, the remaining warriors fled, and Sevier burned the village.
Daughters of the American Revolution
The Daughters of the American Revolution is a lineage-based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States' independence....
erected a stone monument to Sevier which describes the battle to honor Sevier and the battle. The monument is located between Myrtle Hill Cemetery and the Etowah River by the South Broad Street bridge.
Cemetery Named Myrtle Hill
After the Battle of Hightower was over in 1793, the hill was again left undisturbed until white settlers came to Georgia in search of gold. The Dahlonega, GeorgiaDahlonega, Georgia
Dahlonega is a city in Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States, and is its county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 5,242....
gold discovery (gold rush
Gold rush
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.In the 19th and early...
) in 1829 then brought white settlers into this part of Georgia. Between 1830 and 1838, Indian Removal
Indian Removal
Indian removal was a nineteenth century policy of the government of the United States to relocate Native American tribes living east of the Mississippi River to lands west of the river...
or the Trail of Tears began which forced the Cherokees to leave their homes and white settlers then took the Cherokees' lands. The founders of the new city of Rome in 1834 were Colonel Daniel R. Mitchell, Colonel Zacharia Hargrove, Major Phillip Hemphill, Colonel William Smith, and John Lumpkin
John Henry Lumpkin
John Henry Lumpkin was an American politician, lawyer and jurist.Lumpkin was born in Lexington, Georgia, and attended Franklin College, the initial college of the University of Georgia in Athens, for some time and then attended Yale College in 1831 and 1832...
. Rome's first cemetery, Oak Hill Cemetery, opened in 1837. Thirteen years later, when Oak Hill Cemetery was nearly out of lots, Rome had decided to begin a new one.
In 1850, after considering several properties, Colonel Thomas A. Alexander and Daniel S. Printup chose a hill near the rivers. The hill was originally owned by Colonel Alfred Shorter and Cunningham Pennington, a civil engineer. Shorter is the name for Rome Female College (later renamed Shorter University) in honor of the Colonel and his wife Martha in acknowledgment of their donation. Pennington designed the plan for the interments on six levels of the steep terrain as a 19th century “picturesque” rural cemetery
Rural cemetery
The rural cemetery or garden cemetery is a style of burial ground that uses landscaping in a park-like setting.As early as 1711 the architect Sir Christopher Wren had advocated the creation of burial grounds on the outskirts of town, "inclosed with a strong Brick Wall, and having a walk round, and...
. The roads circle the hill and combine with the necessary terracing to create a layered, “wedding cake" look. The new cemetery was opened in 1857 as Myrtle Hill Cemetery. "Myrtle" was chosen because of the myrtle (vinca minor) or "Flower of Death" that grew wild over the hill. The original Cemetery of 11 acres (44,515.5 m²) was at the top of the hill. One of first graves was of John Billups who died in 1857.
Fort Stovall
On July 14, 1863, Romans allocated $3,000 to construct three earthen forts to defend Rome from the UnionUnion (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
Army during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Three forts were completed in October 1863 as Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
soldiers were ready to take their duties in the three forts. Union raiders who tried to seize Rome had their focus on the Noble Foundry located in the city on the Etowah River across from the cemetery in order to cripple the Confederate war machine. The fort was constructed on the crest of Myrtle Hill and called Fort Stovall, named after Confederate soldier, George Stovall, who was killed in the Civil War. Other forts, Fort Attaway (named for Thomas Attaway) and Fort Norton (named for Charles Norton), were opposite the location of Fort Stovall. It was described as a bracket-shaped linear earthwork near the top of Myrtle Hill as shown on the map. Its line faced northwest, defending the western approach to Rome as well as the Coosa River. It was made with several faces, which provided maximum coverage along its front. The zigzag
Zigzag
A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular....
shape permitted defenders to direct enfilading
Enfilade and defilade
Enfilade and defilade are concepts in military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire. A formation or position is "in enfilade" if weapons fire can be directed along its longest axis. A unit or position is "in defilade" if it uses natural or artificial obstacles to...
(from the side) fire on any men who approached the line.
Earthworks (archaeology)
In archaeology, earthwork is a general term to describe artificial changes in land level. Earthworks are often known colloquially as 'lumps and bumps'. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features or they can show features beneath the surface...
s survive as subsurface features. While it is clear that subsequent earth-moving activities at Myrtle Hill affected the Civil War earthworks, it is also likely the Civil War action resulted in damage to the cemetery. The top of the monument on Billups' grave, which dates to 1857, is believed to have been shot off by a musket ball during the war, but no other specific mention is made of damage to the graves. However, because of the excellent vantage point provided by the hill, there was likely considerable activity at the fort by Confederates scouting for raiding parties. The evidence is unclear about locating Fort Stovall. Some people believed it was on the top of the hill where the Confederate soldier statue is, site of Axson family, or side of the hill near Etowah.
On May 17, 1864, Confederate units defended Rome, including Fort Stovall, when Union General Jefferson C. Davis
Jefferson C. Davis
Jefferson Columbus Davis was an officer in the United States Army who served in the Mexican-American War, the Civil War, and the Modoc War. He was the first commander of the Department of Alaska, from 1868 to 1870...
, in command of the 2nd Division of Palmer's 14th Army Corps
XIV Corps (ACW)
XIV Corps was a corps of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of the earliest corps formations in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.-Creation:...
, Army of the Cumberland
Army of the Cumberland
The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.-History:...
, approached down the west side of the Oostanaula and took up a position opposite Rome and engaged with the Confederate pickets. On reaching this position, Davis received an order to return to the 14th Corps, but as he was already engaged with Confederates and suspected a weak defense, he determined to stay on and capture Rome. Davis' considerable force was held at bay overnight by a small garrison assisted by three brigades of Polk's Corps
First Corps, Army of Tennessee
The First Corps, Army of Tennessee was a military unit that defended the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. It was an army corps within the Army of Tennessee, officially created in November 1862 and continued in existence until its surrender in April 1865 in North Carolina...
on their way from Mississippi to reinforce General Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston
Albert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texas Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army...
. Fort Stovall was occupied during this brief standoff, but the main point of Confederate artillery was on Shorter Hill on the west side of the Oostanaula. The next day, when the Union forces moved to capture Rome, the Confederates had retreated. After the Confederates retreated and left Rome, Union forces likely used the fort during their occupation of Rome.
Postbellum Myrtle Hill Cemetery
The cemetery was used for fallen soldiers from several Civil War battles. A number of antebellum burials have been noted, and numerous interments had been made in the Confederate Cemetery section by 1863. Other graves were added during the Atlanta CampaignAtlanta Campaign
The Atlanta Campaign was a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864. Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman invaded Georgia from the vicinity of Chattanooga, Tennessee, beginning in May...
following the death of soldiers in Rome's hospitals. After 1872, more graves were added as some important people with roles in the founding of Rome were buried there. Daniel R. Mitchell (died 1876), one of the founders of Rome, Daniel S. Printup (died 1887), one of the men who selected this site of the cemetery, John H. Underwood (died 1888), a United States Representative before the Civil War, a two-term superior court judge, and lawyer in Rome, Colonel Alfred Shorter (died 1882), the former owner of the cemetery and namesake of Shorter University, Nathan Henry Bass, Sr.
Nathan Henry Bass, Sr.
Nathan Henry Bass, Sr. was a prominent Confederate politician. He was born in Putnam County, Georgia. He represented the state in the Provisional Confederate Congress from January 14, 1862 to February 17, 1862, replacing Eugenius Aristides Nisbet who had resigned.-External links:*...
(died 1890), Civil War Confederate Congressman, Augustus Romaldus Wright
Augustus Romaldus Wright
Augustus Romaldus Wright was an American politician and lawyer, as well as an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
(died 1891) who served in U.S. Congress with Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Robert Battey
Robert Battey
Robert Battey was born in Augusta, Georgia. He was the son of Cephas and Mary Agnes Magruder Battey. Battey was educated at schools in Augusta, Georgia and in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1856...
(died 1895), who performed the first ovarian operation
Oophorectomy
Oophorectomy is the surgical removal of an ovary or ovaries. The surgery is also called ovariectomy, but this term has been traditionally used in basic science research describing the surgical removal of ovaries in laboratory animals...
, Homer V. M. Miller (died 1896), 1886 U.S. Senate in 1886, first Democrat from Georgia, Richard Vonalbade Gammon (died 1897), the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
football player who died of the injuries he received in the Georgia-Virginia football game, and Rosalind Gammon (died 1904), Gammon's mother who saved a football from being illegal in the state of Georgia.
The Confederate Soldier statue on top of Myrtle Hill is known as "The Monument to the Confederate Dead of Rome and Floyd County in the Civil War" and was placed by the local chapter of the Ladies’ Memorial Association in 1869. The Ladies Memorial Association raised the $6,000 for the statue to be made. This was difficult during Reconstruction and the 1870 financial panics caused a delay in the placing of the statue; however, the statue's plan was complete in 1887 as the statue was dedicated. The statue still stands on top of the hill, "Crown Point". In 1874, Hines M. Smith made a new survey of the cemetery which defined what is called the Old Original cemetery. New numbers were assigned to the lots at that time. Some deeds after 1874 make reference to the old number as well as the new one. Boundaries of the Old Original cemetery are based on a copy of the Smith survey updated to 1901. Some of the lots on this map, especially in the western part of the cemetery, may have been added between 1874 and 1901. The 1901 survey indicates that the original road pattern within the cemetery was nearly identical to its configuration today. A short section of road in the south western part of the Old Original section was closed by 1901. Also, it is evident that in the western part of the Old Original cemetery, some of the original walkways between the lots were being filled in by that date. By the end of the nineteen century, the popularity of lots had been sold out to people who purchased the additions for their plans. The additions had been created and completed by Branham about 1899 on the steep bluff facing the rivers on the north side of the Old Original cemetery, Terraces A-D were added from 1908 to 1928 to near Branham's, the New Front in around 1909, The triangle “Memorial Addition” at the corner of streets and the south boundary of the Old Original cemetery in 1923 for Charles "Known Soldier" Graves, “designated representative of all the Known Dead of the Great War 1917-1918” by President Warren Harding and the Congressional Record
Congressional Record
The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published by the United States Government Printing Office, and is issued daily when the United States Congress is in session. Indexes are issued approximately every two weeks...
, Glover Vault, the New Front Terrace, and the Greystone in 1938. The lots also contains the Freedman (African-American) section set aside when the cemetery was segregated
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. One of the African Americans buried at Myrtle Hill in 1915 was Tom McClintock, who had worked as a Myrtle Hill Cemetery gravedigger for 42 years.
Confederate Cemetery
These buildings and churches were used to be hospitals for fallen soldiers and were spared from General William Sherman's November 1864 order of burning buildings on Broad Street. The rest of soldiers were buried in the back yard near the main gate of the cemetery. Some of the buildings and churches, former hospitals, are still standing on the list of National Register of Historic Places. The section's graves were marked with painted wooden markers between 1863 and 1900. Sometime after 1900, their wooden markers were replaced with the present stone markers that still exist. The section is called the Confederate Cemetery.
Veteran's Plaza
Maxim gun
The Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...
around Graves' grave, and bronze replica of a World War doughboy
Doughboy
Doughboy is an informal term for an American soldier, especially members of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. The term dates back to the Mexican–American War of 1846–48....
enhances this site. Before Veteran's Plaza was a bricked site, it was just a grassy field with Graves' grave, the three maxim guns that were in the different positions, and shrines as memorials from 1930s to present to fallen soldiers who were involved with other wars. In beginning of year 2000, the plaza has more than 3,000 bricks honor and memorialize military veterans and civilians for their services to America in war or peace throughout all of American history. Each brick has present names of people or organization on the floor.
Confederate Park
Confederate Park is where two notable monuments stand are at the side corners of Veterans Plaza. They are the General Nathan Forrest Monument and the Women of the Confederacy Monument. These monuments were moved in 1952 from their original places on Broad Street at Second Avenue because they had become a traffic hazard. General Forrest's Monument was dedicated to honor him for saving Rome from Colonel Abel StreightAbel Streight
Abel D. Streight was a peace time lumber merchant and publisher, and was a Union Army general in the American Civil War. His command precipitated a notable cavalry raid in 1863, known as Streight's Raid...
and his mule-equipped cavalry on their mission to capture Rome. Colonel Streight who was coming from Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
on May 3, 1863 was defeated by General Forrest with a small group of confederates serving with him. General Forrest had 425 men and Colonel Streight had 1,000 but Streight surrendered as his raid was caught. His monument was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy
United Daughters of the Confederacy
The United Daughters of the Confederacy is a women's heritage association dedicated to honoring the memory of those who served in the military and died in service to the Confederate States of America . UDC began as the National Association of the Daughters of the Confederacy, organized in 1894 by...
in 1909. Forrest's monument was rededicated by the Emma Sansom Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in a ceremony on Saturday, April 18, 2009 for the 100th anniversary of the first dedication of his monument. The Women of the Confederacy Monument honors Confederate women who served as nurses in Rome to care for Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War and mothers/wives who waited while their men fought. The Confederate Women's Monument was erected by President Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
on October 8, 1910. Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
wrote the inscription on the monument.
Known Soldier
American Expeditionary Force
The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...
who fought in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. On October 5, 1918, Graves was killed by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
shrapnel on the Hindenburg Line
Hindenburg Line
The Hindenburg Line was a vast system of defences in northeastern France during World War I. It was constructed by the Germans during the winter of 1916–17. The line stretched from Lens to beyond Verdun...
. His mother received the telegram from the War Department
United States Department of War
The United States Department of War, also called the War Department , was the United States Cabinet department originally responsible for the operation and maintenance of the United States Army...
that informed her about Graves' death; however, his body was not returned to America until March 29, 1922 when they brought American soldiers' remains from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
aboard the troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
, the Cambria to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. The U.S. Government had the idea of creating Unknown Soldier and "Known Soldier" in Arlington Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery
Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...
to honor World War I soldiers. Graves was chosen for "Known Soldier" by a blindfolded sailor who picked Graves' name from American soldier remains list, but his mother objected to his burial at Arlington. The War Department wanted to give his body in flag draped coffin
Military funeral
A military funeral is a specially orchestrated funeral given by a country's military for a soldier, sailor, marine or airman who died in battle, a veteran, or other prominent military figures or heads of state. A military funeral may feature guards of honor, the firing of volley shots as a salute,...
on a parade on Fifth Avenue, New York with generals, admirals, and politicians before his mother buried Graves in the cemetery near Antioch Church on April 6, 1922. On September 22, 1923, Romans decided to relocate Graves' body from Antioch Cemetery to Myrtle Hill Cemetery as unofficial designation "Known Soldier" after his mother's death and his brother's agreement. Graves was buried a third and final time. On November 11, 1923, Armistice Day
Armistice Day
Armistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
, Charles and the other 33 young men from Floyd County who died in World War I were honored with three Maxim guns and 34 magnolia trees.
Ellen Axson Wilson
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
buried in Georgia is buried in Myrtle Hill Cemetery. Ellen Axson Wilson, was the first wife of President Woodrow Wilson. Ellen Louise Axson Wilson was the daughter of Reverend S. E. Axson, who was a Presbyterian minister and Margaret Hoyt Axson. She was born in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
but grew up in Rome. She graduated from the Rome Female College and later studied Art at the Students' Art League in New York. In the Spring of 1883, she met Woodrow Wilson, a young lawyer from Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. They were married in 1885 and moved to Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr from Welsh for "big hill") is a census-designated place in Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue and the border with Delaware County...
where Mr. Wilson taught at the newly formed Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
. After Wilson became the president of Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1902 and the governor of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in 1910, he became the U.S. President in 1912. Ellen was the First Lady who had a studio with a skylight installed at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
in 1913, and found time for painting and the duties of hostess for the nation. With her health failing slowly from Bright's disease
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that would be described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. The term is no longer used, as diseases are now classified according to their more fully understood causes....
(chronic nephritis), she died August 6, 1914. After her death, her body was taken to Rome by a train with five private cars for President Wilson. The procession, a two-horse drawn funeral carriage, from First Presbyterian Church to Myrtle Hill Cemetery passed down Broad Street, which was lined with Romans. As the graveside service began, rain began to fall as if the sky were weeping. Mrs. Wilson was buried with her father, her mother, and her brother. Stockton Axson.
Notable burials
- Stockton Axson, Secretary of the American Red Cross in World War I.
- Dr. Robert M. BatteyRobert BatteyRobert Battey was born in Augusta, Georgia. He was the son of Cephas and Mary Agnes Magruder Battey. Battey was educated at schools in Augusta, Georgia and in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1856...
, who performed the first bilateral oophorectomyOophorectomyOophorectomy is the surgical removal of an ovary or ovaries. The surgery is also called ovariectomy, but this term has been traditionally used in basic science research describing the surgical removal of ovaries in laboratory animals...
as known as Battey's Operation. - Nathan Henry Bass, Sr.Nathan Henry Bass, Sr.Nathan Henry Bass, Sr. was a prominent Confederate politician. He was born in Putnam County, Georgia. He represented the state in the Provisional Confederate Congress from January 14, 1862 to February 17, 1862, replacing Eugenius Aristides Nisbet who had resigned.-External links:*...
, Civil War Confederate Congressman. - Thomas and Frances Rhea Berry, Martha BerryMartha BerryFor the Cherokee bead artist, see Martha Berry Martha McChesney Berry was an United States educator and the founder of Berry College in Rome, Georgia.-Early years:...
's parents. - Confederate Cemetery, 377 Floyd County soldiers lost their lives in American Civil War.
- Helen Bones, Woodrow Wilson's cousin and Edith Wilson's White House secretary.
- Richard Vonalbade Gammon, the University of GeorgiaUniversity of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
football player. - Rosalind Gammon, Gammon's mother who saved Georgia's football.
- Private Charles W. Graves, "Known Soldier".
- Dr. Robert Maxwell HarbinHarbin ClinicWith over 141 doctors specializing in 32 different medical specialties, the Harbin Clinic is the largest privately-owned multispecialty medical clinic in Georgia...
, one of Harbin Hospital (later Clinic in 1948) founders. - Dr. William Pickens HarbinHarbin ClinicWith over 141 doctors specializing in 32 different medical specialties, the Harbin Clinic is the largest privately-owned multispecialty medical clinic in Georgia...
, one of Harbin Hospital (later Clinic in 1948) founders. - Colonel Zachariah B. Hargove, one of Rome founders.
- Henderson Lovelace LanhamHenderson Lovelace LanhamHenderson Lovelace Lanham was an American politician and lawyer.Lanham was born in Rome, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia in Athens where he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity, and graduated with an Bachelor of Arts in 1910 and Bachelor of Law degree with honors in 1911...
, US Congressman. - Homer V. M. Miller, 1886 U.S. Senate, first Democrat from Georgia after Civil War.
- Colonel Daniel R. Mitchell, one of the founders of Rome.
- John W. MaddoxJohn W. MaddoxJohn W. Maddox was a U.S. Representative from Georgia.Born on a farm near Gore, Georgia, Maddox attended the common schools....
, Civil War Veteran US Congressman. - Julia OmbergRobert BatteyRobert Battey was born in Augusta, Georgia. He was the son of Cephas and Mary Agnes Magruder Battey. Battey was educated at schools in Augusta, Georgia and in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in 1856...
, first Dr. Battey's oophorectomy patient. - Colonel Cunningham M. Pennington, who designed the cemetery.
- Daniel S. Printup, who helped select the site of the cemetery.
- Colonel Alfred Shorter, Shorter University's namesake.
- John H. Underwood, a United States Representative, superior court judge.
- Ellen Axson Wilson, first wife of President Woodrow WilsonWoodrow WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
. - Augustus Romaldus WrightAugustus Romaldus WrightAugustus Romaldus Wright was an American politician and lawyer, as well as an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
, who served in the U.S. Congress with Abraham Lincoln.