OVERTON CEMETERY (REMOVED)
TRAVELLERS REST
OH-33: NASHVILLE, DAVIDSON COUNTY, TN. Original location was at
Travellers Rest, the home place of Judge John Overton and the Overton family.
Travellers Rest Plantation , located on Farrell Parkway, is open to the public.
Reburials from the Overton Cemetery at Travellers Rest occurred in 1868 and 1951.
Mrs. Mary M. Overton outlived her husband, Judge John Overton, by 29 years. Judge Overton died on April 12, 1833, and was buried in the family cemetery at Travellers Rest. Mrs. Overton continued to live at Travellers Rest with her family until her death on December 12, 1862. Mrs. Overton wrote her will on October 18, 1861, and her will was recorded in Davidson County on February 26, 1863. By her will, her executors were requested to carry out the following:
“My executor is to purchase a lot in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, there myself to be buried
and thither to be removed the remains of my husband Judge Overton, my brother-in-
law Samuel Overton, my children Ann O. Brinkley and Jackson May, and my son-in-
law Richard Barry and his children, and for that purpose one thousand dollars is to be
appropriated and any balance of the fund is to be applied towards erecting
monuments and improving the lot…” Davidson County Will Book 19.
According to List of Interments at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, on December 14, 1862, Mary M. Overton was buried in Lot 83 Section 1, on the lot purchased by Archibald Waller Overton, a nephew of Judge John Overton who had been buried there on October 6, 1857. Mt. Olivet Cemetery opened in 1855. Mary M. Overton was re-interred, in 1868, on
Lot 141 Section 1, with her husband and family.
According to Lot Records and Owners at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Lot 141 Section 1 was purchased, on December 29, 1862, by the Estate of Mary M. Overton. On November 20, 1868, in accordance with the wishes of Mary M. Overton, the following seven were “transferred from private grounds,” at Travellers Rest to Mt. Olivet Cemetery:
Judge John Overton
Samuel Overton
A. J. May
Mrs. Annie O. Brinkley
Richard Barry
M. Barry
H. L. Barry
According to Lot Records and Owners at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Lot 52 & Lot 53
Section 3 were purchased by Col. John Overton, son of the deceased Mary M. Overton, on December 29, 1862. On November 21, 1868, in Lot 53 Section 3, Mrs. Rachel Overton and her infant and three other (unidentified) infants were “transferred from
private grounds,” at Travellers Rest to Mt. Olivet. Rachel Harding, daughter of Thomas Harding, married John Overton in 1841. She died on September 21, 1843.
In 1969, descendants of Judge John Overton were interviewed by Fletch Coke about the existence of a cemetery, probably very overgrown, which might have still existed, with a few graves, in the 1930’s and 1940’s. No one recalled a cemetery site. However, the last resident of Travellers Rest, Dr. John Youmans (1940-1951), did remember seeing two or three small gravestones in the area of the former cemetery. In 1951, Dr. Youmans sold the property, the house Travellers Rest and surrounding acres, to the L&N Railroad. When the L&N Railroad expanded Radnor Yard, bulldozing, on the sloping front lawn, exposed graves. Between 9 and 12 graves were uncovered during the bulldozing operation. Reburials, of these unknown persons, took place at Woodlawn Cemetery. In 1954, the L&N Railroad gave Travellers Rest to the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Tennessee. In 1961, the L&N gave an additional ten acres, including the land on which the original cemetery would have been located.
A small tombstone was found on the property in the ensuing years:
Washington
Son of Samuel Overton
Born Apr. 13, 1813
Age 35 Years
At this time, Washington Overton has not been identified, other than his birth date on April 13, 1813 and his age 35 years at death in 1848.
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Mt. Olivet Cemetery records of Lot Records & Owners, List of Interments and Lot Burials are available to the public and may be researched on microfilm at the Metro Archives, Nashville Room of the Public Library or Tennessee State Library & Archives.
Report. 4-5-2004
Return to The Davidson Co Cemetery Survey Page