Sons of Zion (Memphis and Shelby County)

There were apparently a number of African American fraternal and benevolent groups in Tennessee with "Zion" in the name.  In Memphis alone, there are references in city directories and newspapers to the Daughters of Zion, Sons of Zion, Sisters of Zion, and United Sons of Zion (apparently different from the Sons of Zion). I have even found mention of a Sons of Zion as far east as Greeneville, Tennessee in 1871.  To be perfectly honest, I am still puzzling out the links, if any, between the groups.  Here goes my best guess, at this point, about the Sons of Zion, the group that formed Zion Christian Cemetery (http://tn-africanamericanlodges.blogspot.com/2014/09/zion-christian-cemterysons-of-zion.html).

A mention of the Sons of Zion in the Jonesborough Herald and Tribune, August 10, 1871.

According to G.P. Hamilton, in The Bright Side of Memphis, the Sons of Zion in Memphis organized in 1867, and at the time of his writing, consisted of one lodge, no endowment, and 200 members.  Hamilton describes the group as, "One of the earliest societies in Memphis, it has done much for the welfare of our people. Their leaders have been men of foresight and judgement . . ." The 1874 Boyle Chapman Memphis Directory lists the Sons of Zion as meeting on Rayburn Avenue with 200 members while the United Sons of Zion met at Beale Street church and had 270 members. 

Memphis Daily Appeal, March 23, 1874

The Sons of Zion were active in Memphis.  In 1874, they, along with other groups, took part in funeral ceremonies in Memphis to mark the death of Charles Sumner, former abolitionist and politician.  They participated in July 4th celebrations.  They took responsibility for burial of the dead, as when Joe Morgan, a black man, drowned in the Wolf  River. After his body was recovered, they took charge of his remains and buried him.

Memphis Daily Appeal, October 8, 1879.  Discusses the drowning and burial of Joe Morgan.

Brian D. Page has a great article in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly that discusses the different benevolent and fraternal groups in Memphis following the Civil War.  It is ""Stand by the Flag": Nationalism and African-American Celebrations of the Fourth of July in Memphis, 1866-1887," and it is located in Volume 58. number 4 (Winter 1999): pages 284-301.

Odd Fellow's Cemetery, Knoxville, Knox County

Odd Fellows Cemetery, Knoxville

Located on Bethel Avenue in East Knoxville since c. 1880 is the Odd Fellows Cemetery, an African-American fraternal and benevolent cemetery.  The Odd Fellows, the Daughters of Zion, and the Good Samaritans purchased the property to create the joint cemetery.  Oddly enough, the cemetery is located on the same street as Bethel Confederate Cemetery, showing that the lines of segregation where not always drawn as rigidly in the decades following the war as they were in the early twentieth century.

According to Robert J. Booker, the Banner Lodge Chapter of Odd Fellows purchased the first section of the cemetery before 1881.  The Daughters of Zion purchased a section adjacent to this in 1881.  In 1884, the third section of the cemetery was purchased by Rebecca Lodge Chapter of the Independent Order of Good Samaritans and Daughters of Samaria (Robert L. Booker, Two Hundred Years of Black Culture in Knoxville, Tennessee, 1791 to 1991, p. 90).  It is not surprising that these groups purchased a cemetery together as the Rebecca Lodge and Banner Lodge of Odd Fellows shared lodge space, both meeting at Odd Fellows Hall on 92 Gay Street (1887 Knoxville City Directory, p. 29).

Odd Fellows Cemetery, Knoxville

The cemetery is in mixed condition.  It is apparent that there have been recent efforts to clear part of the vegetation at the site and to set upright fallen tombstones. The section belonging to the Daughters of Zion looks largely abandoned.

A partial transcription of the cemetery is located here.