Located on Bethel Avenue and down the road from the Mabry-Hazen House, the Bethel Cemetery contains more than 1,600 Confederate dead, including three hundred soldiers who were killed in the battle of Fort Sanders. In addition, around 50 Union soldiers and 20 Civil War veterans are interred here. The monument to the Confederate dead was erected by the Ladies Memorial Association and was unveiled on May 19, 1892. The cemetery was cared for and maintained by the Winstead family for a number of years, and the last private owner, Miss Mamie Winstead who died in 1989, willed the cemetery to the Hazen Historical Museum Foundation. The white frame house located on the property was built in 1886 due to efforts of the second sexton of the property, William H. Winstead, a Confederate veteran who lost his leg in the Battle of Gettysburg.

 

The Confederate Cemetery

The history of the Bethel Cemetery began in 1859 when Knox County acquired two acres of land from brick mason Preston D. Blang for use as a graveyard. The date of the first interment is uncertain. The advent of the Civil War necessitated the use of at least part of the plot for Confederate military burials. The first documented burial of this type was that of Lieutenant J. N. Hicks of the 3rd Tennessee Regiment occurred on September 2, 1861. With the number of burials escalating, the cemetery was enlarged in 1862 by the purchase of two acres of land from Joseph A. Mabry Jr. By the time the Confederate forces evacuated Knoxville in August 1863, a total of 1465 identified Confederates were buried here.

In addition to the original 1465 graves and the 105 battlefield dead from Fort Sanders, the cemetery also became the resting place of 50 prisoners of “Union men” as well as 50 unidentified Confederate soldiers. Thus, approximately 1670 dead from the Civil War period, including Confederate soldiers from every southern state, came to rest in the county cemetery.

 

CONTACT info:

1711 Dandridge Ave.

Knoxville, TN, 37915

865-522-8661

mabryhazenhouse@gmail.com

The Mabry-Hazen House and Bethel Cemetery are owned and operated by the Hazen Historical Museum Foundation Inc. We are a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization. All donations are tax deductible.

 

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