Benevolent Cemetery, Murfreesboro (Rutherford County)

Benevolent Society Cemetery, Murfreesboro, January 2012 (image by author)

Tucked away in an industrial zone and virtually inaccessible by car lies the burial grounds of Benevolent Society No. 11.  Although this cemetery was once a vital part of the community, today it sits overgrown and overlooked.  According to research done by John Lodl and others at the Rutherford County Archives, more than six hundred African Americans are buried in this graveyard.  Yet the history of the group responsible for creating this cemetery is largely forgotten.

The Benevolent Society in Tennessee dates to at least 1865, when the Colored Benevolent Society was formed in Nashville.  The General Assembly soon amended the Articles of Incorporation of the group to allow for branches and lodges to be established throughout the state (A.A. Taylor, The Negro in Tennessee1865-1889, 156-157).  By 1900, lodges were located across the state, in locations such as Memphis, Jackson, Nashville, and Fayetteville.

It is not known when the Benevolent Society in Murfreesboro was organized, but it is known that they purchased land for their cemetery in 1897.  This property was located off of South Church Street (also known as the Shelbyville Highway).

The Benevolent Society in Murfreesboro must have thrived because the Nashville Globe reported in 1908 that the Fortieth Annual Session of the Delegated Assembly of the Benevolent Orders was held in Murfreesboro.  The headline boasted of "Complete Successful Four Days Work at Rutherford County Capital" (Nashville Globe, August 14, 1908).   Describing the convention, the paper stated, "The town of Murfreesboro has been all aglow with the major portion of this work with the spirit of Benevolence, having had the state assembly in their midst" (Nashville Globe, August 14, 1908).  The paper also described the event as "Historic Town of Murfreesboro overrun with Benevolent Workers."

Benevolent Cemetery, January 2012 (image by author)

    Despite the warm welcome given to the convention members in 1908, the Benevolent Society in Murfreesboro did not survive.  By 1988, the last surviving member of the organization deeded the cemetery to Allen Chapel AME Church.  Despite sporadic clean-up efforts throughout the last two decades, the cemetery remains overgrown and in poor condition.

Obscured tombstone (image by author)

View of Church Street from the cemetery (image by author)