Oak Hill Cemetery, located in the heart of Johnson City, is as old as the city itself. The cemetery was established in 1870 when COL. Robert Love and Samuel Miller made a bond on May 2, 1870 to trustees T.A. Faw, James M. Gentry, William H. Taylor, J.M. Johnson, J.W. Seehorn, Landon H.P. Lusk, J.L.C. Nelson for title to 1/2 acre (Love) and 1/4 acre (Miller) to establish a cemetery located at what then was the edge of the town. Each man reserved a lot for his family with the only condition being that the trustees build a plank fence around the cemetery to be called Oak Hill Cemetery which became the city’s first public cemetery.  Among persons of historical note buried at Oak Hill are Henry Johnson, founder of Johnson City; former Congressman Sam R. Sells, and founder of General Shale Brick; East Tennessee Western North Carolina Railroad (Tweetsie) Vice-President George W. Hardin; C. H. Lyle, owner and editor the “The Johnson City Comet” newspaper from 1889 until 1918; Tipton Jobe, an early developer of several businesses in Johnson City;  Rev. Samuel H. Millard, first pastor of the First Christian of Johnson City; Joseph Burts, (Maj, CSA) first postmaster of Blue Plum (which became Johnson City); Thomas Ambrose Faw, Depot Agent at Johnson’s (Railroad) Depot (which later became Johnson City) during the Civil War and one of the founders of the Western Extension Railroad Company; COL. LeRoy Reeves, designer of the Tennessee State Flag; and, John Alan Maxwell, an internationally known book and magazine illustrator who has several paintings hanging in the State Capital in Nashville.  Records of Oak Hill Cemetery at the Archives of Appalachia, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Tennessee shows that more land was added in 1896, 1898, 1901, 1914, 1918, 1938 and 1986. The original deed was recorded at the courthouse by Mrs. Mary Hardin McCown in 1946. Mrs. McCown operated the cemetery for 30 years and was known as the unofficial Historian of Johnson City.   The cemetery, covering eight and half acres, was surveyed by The Cemetery Survey Team of North East Tennessee from 2009 to 2011. They recorded 3,758 marked graves and 458 unmarked graves.  Veteran’s graves include:  One from War of 1812; 77 from the Civil War (10 Union and 67 Confederate); 10 from the Spanish-American War; three from the Philippine-American War; 58 from World War I; and, 46 from World War II.  Most of the Confederate veterans are in one corner marked by the official flag of the Confederate States. This area was provided by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  The cemetery has had its ups and downs since it was established in 1870. Several groups of concerned citizens over the years have come forward to raise funds to take care of the cemetery. Most of the funds that were raised went for the cutting of grass at the cemetery and fencing the cemetery to keep farm animals out. A committee/ organization was established in the 1930’s that took control of the cemetery. They established an ongoing funding campaign that allowed them to maintain the cemetery till 2003. During this time they established an overall burial plan for the cemetery; put a six foot high change link fence around the cemetery; and, built a two foot (+) high retaining wall along part of the south side of the cemetery. In 2003 the cemetery was sold (due to the board of directors of the organization not being physically able to continue to operate it) to an individual. This sale changed the cemetery’s status from a non-profit cemetery to a for-profit cemetery.  About a year before the sale the cemetery began to physically deteriorate (grass not being cut regularly, vegetation growing up into the fence causing damage to the fence; and trees and shrubbery not being trimmed). The cemetery was not secured at night. By the time of the sale, the cemetery had further declined and homeless people began “camping out” in the cemetery and some vandalism of headstones began to occur. The new owner only tried to keep the cemetery mowed and locked up at night. The new organization, Oak Hill Cemetery Friends and Volunteers (OHCF&amp;V), began work in late 2004. We developed a donor list and began collecting donations for the up keep of the cemetery. In 2005 we led the effort to clean up the cemetery. Residents of Johnson City and vicinity came together to trim trees and shrubbery; repair the old storage building. The city assisted by hauling all of the debris away on an almost daily basis. Our work continued into 2006 with the repair and cleaning of headstones and conducting a survey of the cemetery. In 2007 the cemetery was resold. The new owner was able to keep the cemetery mowed; and, built a new storage building that was capable of storing riding mowers. He also installed a new main iron gate that replaced a chain link gate; added a road; and, put in gravel walking paths to make it easier for people to traverse the cemetery. His work allowed the OHF&amp;V to use the funds we collected to pay for material and supplies for the cemetery; and, pay for a person (part time) to repair/reset some headstones and open and close the gates of the cemetery. The combined efforts of the owner and the OHF&amp;V resulted in receiving a preservation award in 2007 from the Heritage Alliance of Northeast Tennessee &amp; Southwest Virginia. The current owner inherited the cemetery in 2007 upon the death of his father. The current owner does not have the financial resources his father had and also inherited part of the debt his father incurred from his efforts to restore the cemetery. For the past 10 years we have on the average raised $7,680.00 per year for the cemetery. We have given all but about $150.00 per year of the funds we raise to help him keep the cemetery in good repair. The money we keep back is used for printing of our annual newsletter/request for donations and postage. The owner does all the manual labor in upkeep of cemetery.  Recently, we have been able to have some students from a nearby college come out to help us on a very limited basis.  During the month of October 2016 the cemetery was added to the Historic Downtown District of Johnson City and was identified as one of the most endangered properties on the Tennessee Preservation Trust 2016-2017 Annual Ten in Tennessee Most Endangered List. The Oak Hill Cemetery Friends and Volunteers is composed of families who have relatives buried in the cemetery and who want to raise money in order to help the owner keep the cemetery in good working order.  Sales of burial plots currently range from one to four plots a year.  Plots range from $500.00 for one plot to $1,600.00 for four plots.  At least ten percent of the money from the sale of plots must be put into a perpetual care fund and only the interest earned can be used for annual upkeep. The funds we are trying to raise will be used in two ways.  Most of the money will be used to enhance the appearance of the cemetery and repair/reset headstones.   The remainder of the money will be used to replace equipment such as mowers that are quickly deteriorating.  One of the major enhancements to the cemetery will be a new ornamental steel fence that matches the four vehicle gates we have installed over the past five years.  The fence will cost about $94,000.00.  It will take about 2,500 feet of fencing to go completely around the cemetery. It will be six feet high with picket tops.  The new fence would also match the fencing Johnson City has put around a park adjacent to the cemetery.  A second major enhancement would be the repair of the retaining wall along one side of the cemetery to include facing the wall with a stone veneer.  Estimated cost for this is about $10,000.00.  The repair of the gravel walkways in the cemetery is about $5,000.00; and, the cost for resetting and repair of headstones may run as high as $20,000.00. The high estimate for the repair/reset of the headstones is due to the number and in many cases the size of the headstones. Several of headstones will require the renting of a heavy duty crane to reset them and the pouring of a concrete base. The remainder of the money will be used to buy new equipment such as mowers as needed (in order to keep the appearance of the cemetery up we need at least three good mowers).   Funds are urgently need; $6,000.00 is especially needed for mowers.  The remainder is needed within the next 12 to 18 months. The upkeep of this cemetery is extremely important to our organization for several reasons.  First of all, we have family members (grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins) buried here.  The founder of the city and many the early city fathers are buried here.  The designer of the current Tennessee State Flag is buried here.  Many veterans are buried here.  We want to keep the history of Johnson City shining by remembering those who made our city a great place to live. Donating to our cemetery would not only make The Oak Hill Cemetery Friends and Volunteers and the citizens of Johnson City very thankful for your support.  It would prove that people care about how those that have died are honored.

Ronald Sizemore

Betty McCombs

L.M. BUTCH POST

Anonymous

Historic Oak Hill Cemetery Upkeep

Still $43,625 to go. Help us build momentum.