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Candlelight cemetery tour returns




The Sumner County Museum’s 22nd annual Candlelight Cemetery Tour will be held at the Gallatin City Cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 6. SUBMITTTED

The Sumner County Museum’s 22nd annual Candlelight Cemetery Tour will be held at the Gallatin City Cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 6. SUBMITTTED

History will come alive for one night as part of the Sumner County Museum’s 22nd annual Candlelight Cemetery Tour next month.

The event, which is the museum’s primary fundraiser each year, will take place at the Gallatin City Cemetery on Saturday, Oct. 6 from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. The approximately hour-long walking tour will feature reenactors portraying notable local residents buried on the property.

“This is a unique way to learn about some of the most interesting people from this county that you really can’t get anywhere else,” Sumner County Museum Executive Director Ryan Baker said. “A couple of these characters have been done before, but a lot of them haven’t.”

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the first recorded burial at the cemetery.

At the start of each tour, groups will be greeted by an actor portraying John William “Bud” Rogan. Born in 1868, Rogan is most known for developing acromegaly at the age of 13, which resulted in him becoming the tallest black man in the world at 8 foot 6 inches in height.

Additional Sumner County residents featured during this year’s tour are:

  • William Hutch Wemyss – Born at Maple Shade on Scottsville Pike in 1869, Wemyss went on to co-found Genesco Corp., which became the world’s largest apparel factory. He and his wife Ellen also restored Fairvue Planation in 1939.
  • Mary McAulay Calgy – Born in Ireland, Calgy came to America after the death of her brother Daniel McAulay in 1842. Another one of her siblings, Neal McAulay, became the first known person to be buried in the cemetery in 1818.
  • Capt. William Gillespie – Born in Virginia, Gillespie is one of four soldiers from the Revolutionary War that are buried in the cemetery. Prior to his death, he lived at the corner of Nashville Pike and Cages Bend Road.
  • Silas Wright Love – A descendent of the early families of Sumner County, Love was a local saloon owner until liquor was outlawed. In later years he became an ice and coal dealer prior to his death in 1914.
  • Nancy Jane Miller Alexander – She was the daughter of Gen. Joseph Miller who moved to Gallatin and purchased a large stone house adjoining the cemetery in 1836. She was also married to Col. James Alexander who was a building contractor and president of Sumner Deposit Bank.
  • Mattie (Surber) Harris – Born in 1874, she built a large funeral home business on East Main Street with her husband John R. Harris, which is now called Anderson Funeral Home.
  • Dr. James Franklin III – Born in 1816 at Bellevue Planation on Upper Station Camp Creek Road, Franklin fought in the Seminole War of 1836 before going to California during the gold rush of 1849.
  • Col. James Jones Turner – The Sumner County native graduated from Cumberland Law School in 1853 before becoming an eminent lawyer in the area. He also lived at Stonewall on East Main Street, which is now owned by the Sumner County Museum.

Tickets for the 22nd annual Candlelight Cemetery Tour are $10 for attendees ages 6 and older and can be purchased online at www.sumnercountymuseum.org or in person at the Sumner County Museum, the Gallatin Area Chamber of Commerce and Perkins Drugs & Gift Shoppe. Children younger than 6 years old do not need a ticket. For more information about the event contact the Sumner County Museum at (615) 451-3738.

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