Freedmen's Savings Bank Registers

Although this might not seem like a post about lodges, it actually is.  The registers for the Freedmen's Savings & Trust Company are a great resource to use when trying to find out more about the officers of benevolent and fraternal lodges.  The Freedmen's Savings Bank was incorporated in March 1865 and branches of the bank were located throughout the South.  In Tennessee, there were branches in at least Memphis, Nashville and Columbia.  The Bank went bankrupt in 1874; however, the registers for the account holders of the bank still exist for some of the branches.  You can find these records on microfilm at the National Archives or at your state archives.  Also, some websites such as Heritage Quest have digitized the records and made them searchable by name.

What makes these records so fascinating is the level of detail they contain.  They often list the name of the ex-enslaved's master and mistress, where the account holder was born, who their parents were, and a physical description of the account holder.  The ones for lodges and other groups will list the names of the officers of the organization.

Ledger for Henry Burney, officer of the Benevolent Society
Nashville branch of the Freedmen's Savings Bank

As this ledger shows us, Henry Burney was the secretary of the Benevolent Society in Nashville in 1872.  He was born in Fredericksburg, Virginia and was about 34 years old.  He worked as a nursery hand and was married to Sarah.  The notation for his parents lists their names but states, "doesn't know whether he is living." The notation for his siblings reads, "don't where they are."  The ledgers bring home the impact slavery had on society, when people were separated from families and not able to locate them after the war.

Ledger for the Daughters of Zion No. 1 of Memphis
Memphis Branch of the Freedmen's Savings Bank

The ledger above for the Daughters of Zion No. 1 of Memphis is helpful in that it lists the officers of the group.  I then take these names and look for them in the census to learn occupations, where they lived, marital status, etc.

With the help of these ledgers from the Freedmen's Savings Bank, I hope to learn more about the people who were officials in lodges.

Benevolent Order No. 107, Una (Davidson County)

I grew up in south Nashville, near Haywood Lane and Una-Antioch Pike.  Imagine my surprise one day while scanning the Nashville Globe when I discovered a mention of an African American lodge in the Una community.  While I have not located where the lodge was located, I have since found several other mentions of the lodge, which I will share here.

I have blogged previously about other Benevolent lodges or cemeteries in Tennessee; this was a prolific and active group throughout the state.  I do not know when the lodge in Una was founded; the October 2, 1908 edition of the Nashville Globe states, "Benevolent Order Number 107 will dedicate its new hall on the third Sunday in October, with addresses by Grand President Swanson, Rev. Preston Taylor, J.H. Harding, B. Manier...." and a list of other officials.

Nashville Globe, October 30, 1908

The October 30, 1908 edition of the Nashville Globe contains a write-up of the grand opening under "Una Notes."  No location for the hall is given, but the article states, "The house was tastefully decorated by Mesdames Belle Cannon, Jennie Burnett, Ellen Leath, Annie Leach."

Other mentions of the lodge in the Nashville Globe throughout 1908 and 1909 mention the various entertainments and installations held at the facility.  On December 4, 1908, the paper reported that, "Quite an amusing entertainment was given by the Ladies of Benevolent Order No. 107, at their hall on Ethridge Avenue." I have not yet been able to find an Ethridge Avenue in Nashville, either on Sanborn maps from the period or on current maps.

The Benevolent Lodge No. 107 sounds like an active group, hosting a Christmas entertainment on December 29, 1908, electing officers in March 1909, and giving an entertainment in August 1909 at which Rev. C.H. Williams was the featured speaker.

Nashville Globe, December 25, 1908

Like so many other groups, this once activity community may have slowly dissipated.  It may have been struck down by the financial crises of the Great Depression.  African Americans leaving the South as part of the Great Migration may have diminished the membership.  Or it may still exist and thrive and continue to serve its purpose of creating community bonds.  I would love to know the answer one day.

Nashville Globe, March 19, 1909

Mt. Ararat Cemetery, Nashville (Davidson County)

Gate to Mt. Ararat Cemetery (photograph by author)

 
Looking out of place today amidst the industrial corridor that is the Fesslers Lane area of Nashville lies one of Nashville's oldest African American lodge cemeteries.  In April 1869, the Sons of Relief No. 1 and the Colored Benevolent Society in Nashville came together to purchase the land and create the cemetery (Bobby L. Lovett, The African-American History of Nashville, Tennessee, 1780-1930, 108).  Burials have continued since that time, and to date there are hundreds of burials in the cemetery.

Cornerstone of the stone gates installed c. 1914. (photograph by author)

The cemetery has undergone periods of neglect followed by transformation.  By the middle 1910s it was a largely overgrown, neglected burial ground.  A period of revival in the 1920s was followed by another period of neglect, and by the 1970s the cemetery was overgrown and businesses such as Purity Dairy and trucking companies encroached on the space.  In 1982 ownership of the cemetery passed to Greenwood Cemetery, an African American cemetery founded by undertaker Preston Taylor in the 1880s.  Mt. Ararat is currently owned by National Christian Missionary Convention.

View of the encroachment on the cemetery.  (photograph by author)

The creation of the cemetery by two African American lodges is not its only contribution to lodge history in Nashville.  A number of people buried in the cemetery had connections to a number of other fraternal and benevolent lodges in Nashville.  Mt. Ararat is the burial site of Nelson McGavock, first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Prince Hall Masons in the state of Tennessee.  A quick reconnaissance of the cemetery also yielded a tombstone showing the symbol of the Mosaic Templars, an African American lodge founded in Little Rock, Arkansas by ex-slaves, one of which was born in Moscow, Tennessee.

Tombstone of Nelson McGavock, Grand Master of the Prince Hall Masons.

The symbol for the Mosaic Templars is located above

 the name of Lucinda Boyd.

I think Mt. Ararat is interesting also because it shows that lodges worked together to improve their communities. Places such as Mt. Ararat Cemetery I believe show the collaboration and cooperation that lodges displayed towards each other. Rather than competing for the membership and dues of the community, groups worked together to create community institutions. I also find it interesting that although Mt. Ararat has faced several threats over the years it is still an active cemetery. People continue to care for it and to find meaning in it.

The transcription for the cemetery may be found here and here.

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)

United Helping Society

In 1889, the Strength of the No. 1 United Helping Society was incorporated in Davidson County, Tennessee.  The stated purpose of the organization was "the mutual benefit and moral elevation of its members and care for those in cases of great distress" while its motto was "Christ is head over all" (Charter of Incorporation, Secretary of State's Records, Record Group 42, Book O, Page 46, Tennessee State Library & Archives).

In addition to elevating the morals of its members, the group also worked to help its members purchase homes.  An article in the October 11, 1907 Nashville Globe described the annual meeting of the group in Antioch that month.  The article stated, "Progress was reported along all lines, and the people are awakening to the importance of owning their own homes and having a bank account" (Nashville Globe, October 11, 1907).  Furthermore, the paper reported, "the purpose of the Society is to encourage its members to secure homes and to become, as far as me be, self-sustaining" (Nashville Globe, October 11, 1907).

Nashville Globe, October 11, 1907

 Beyond assisting African-Americans in purchasing their own homes, the group began to organize a separate, African-American town in Dickson County in the 1910s.  The December 16, 1911 edition of the Lexington Standard reported "Negro City Planned" and that a tact of over 1,300 acres had been purchased in Hortense, Tennessee, in Dickson County.  The paper reported, "The United Helping society of Tennessee is back of the project, having already built a number of homes for colored people at Antioch.  All available land there has been used.  At Hortense an agricultural and industrial school has been projected and a widows and orphans' home" (Lexington Standard, December 16, 1911, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83025729/1911-12-16/ed-1/seq-3/).

More research is needed to learn whether Hortense was actually planted, and if the plans for the agricultural school and widows and orphans home came to fruition.

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.

Sunshine Lodge Knights and Ladies of Honor

What follows is a transcription from the February 7, 1908 Nashville Globe describing a visit by the head of the Knights and Ladies of Honor to Nashville in 1908.  No changes have been made to the spelling or punctuation.

"Sunshine Lodge Knights and Ladies of Honor

Dr. E. A. Williams, of Cincinnati, O., Supreme Director and Protector of the Knights of Honor and the Knights and Ladies of Honor of the World, spent two days in the city last week the guest of Miss Emma Joe Cockrill, of 1221 Third avenue, South.  Dr. Williams was here for the purpose of looking after the endowment of the Knights and Ladies of Honor in Tennessee, there being four lodges in this State.  Sunshine Lodge, No. 843, at Nashville; Woodlawn Lodge, No. 84, at Brownsville; Greenleaf Lodge, No. 805, at Keeling, and Rising Sun Lodge, No. 78, at Decaturville.

Sir W.S. Thompson, Past Protector of Sunshine Lodge, No. 843, has been given power of attorney by Dr. Williams to look after the Endowment and secure the State Charter of Incorporation.

The members of Sunshine Lodge were very enthusiastic over the visit of their Supreme Protector, and never in the fraternal history of Nashville has the head of an organization received the courtesy and attention which was lavished upon Supreme Protector Williams by the subordinate members.  Notwithstanding the severe weather they tendered him a banquet at Miss Emma Joe Cockrill's on Saturday evening and the Lodge members and their friends were out in gala dress to do honor to the doctor.  Quite an elaborate menu was served and all present enjoyed themselves.  One could not realize that Nashville was in the throes of hard times could that one have seen the sumptuous repast which was served by the members of Sunshine Lodge.

Protector Sir A. W. W. Upshaw in a very modest speech informally introduced the Supreme Dictator, Dr. E. A. Williams, who in his eloquent way thanked the Lodge for the honor which had been shown him, and outlined the efforts and purpose of the Order.  Past Protector Sir W.S. Thompson responded and thanked the Supreme Protector for the honor which had been shown to Nashville in electing Miss Emma Joe Cockrill Secretary-Treasurer of the Supreme Endowment Board, and assured him that no wiser election from any point of view could have been made.  The notification of her election came to Miss Cockrill during the holidays and was quite a surprise.  Miss Cockrill was appointed Deputy of the Knights and Ladies of Honor by Dr. Williams while attending the Supreme Conclave Knights of Pythias in Louisville, Ky., September, 1907.

Dr. Williams is Past Supreme Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and Past Supreme Counsellor of the Courts of Calanthe. He organized the first Court of Calanthe in Tennessee, which was brought about by the famous "Red Letter," which Capt. A.M. Cockrill, then C.C. of Damon Lodge, No. 2, wrote Dr. Williams.  Miss Cockrill, then a school girl, took the reins of authority from her brother, being his secretary, and with that modesty and refinement of speech which is characteristic of her, poured oil upon the waters and the result was that the Supreme Chancellor not only restore Damon's rights, but in time gave to Nashville our first Court of Calanthe, which was "Ivy leaf," with Mrs. M.J. Strong as W.C.

Had not Dr. Williams visited Nashville many persons who have been misled would never have known that through Capt. Cockrill and Miss Emma Joe's efforts Nashville got ehr first Court of Calanthe, and that Sir Aaron Dodd was the first Deputy Supreme Commander.

The Knights and Ladies of Honor bid fair to be quite a strong organization in the State of Tennessee as it is in other States, and with such a matchless leader as Dr. Williams it cannot do otherwise than prosper.

We are proud of a leader who is a man, with all the elements of true manhood, and one who will not stoop to the small things which have been a drawback to so many Negro organizations.  We are proud of him because he recognizes ability and will compromise with nothing else and, like the gallant Knights of other races, believes in first, last and always pushing to the front the women of his race."

Notes
Miss Emma Joe Cockrill was a teacher at the Knowles School (an African American school) in Nashville (Annual Report of the Public Schools, Nashville, Tenn., 1906, p. 61). She died in 1923 and is buried in Mt. Ararat Cemetery (Davidson County Cemetery Survey Project, http://www.davidsoncocemeterysurvey.com/home/cemeteries-m-o/mt-ararat-new-section-cemetery)

Clipping from the Nashville Globe, February 7, 1908