CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.- (CLARKSVILLENOW) Members of the Mount Olive Cemetery Historical Preservation Society and Fort Defiance hosted a presentation of Clarksville’s United States Colored Troops on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018.
Members of the society shared three biographies of men who joined the United States Colored Troops during the Civil War and are now buried at Mount Olive, as well as the history of the cemetery.
According to Phillis, a society member, ownership of the cemetery has changed at least 11 times since 1880. In news articles from the time period that were found in research Mount Olive was referred to as the city of Clarksville’s black cemetery. The first burial that the society has record of occurred in 1817 and the last on 1958.
Mount Olive Cemetery Historical Preservation Society, with the help of Austin Peay State University and the University of Tennessee, was able to conduct an underground radar survey and found an estimated 1,350 citizens buried at Mount Olive Cemetery. Out of those citizens 23 have been identified as Civil War U.S. Colored Troops.
The society spoke of one U.S Colored Troop, Chesterfield Dabney, who was born in Montgomery County in 1846 and served in the 16th regiment of U.S. Colored Troops. He was stationed in Chattanooga, TN and returned to Clarksville when he left the army. Two other U.S. Colored Troops buried in Mount Olive were living on College St. and Marion St. in Clarksville at the time of their deaths.
The mission of the Mt. Olive Cemetery Historical Preservation Society is to emphasize the influence and contributions of African-Americans regarding the history, education, development, growth and culture of Clarksville, Tennessee.
Mount Olive Cemetery Preservation Society president Arthur Nicholson shared the vision of having a Community African American Cultural Center on the property next to the cemetery. Nicholson says this vision is in the five-year plan. When asked what the first step toward this plan would be Nicholson says, “I think right now we just need to get people to help us with the preservation and cleanup of the cemetery.”
The society meets every third Thursday of the month at the Clarksville- Montgomery County Library from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. Anyone interested in joining the society can attend these meetings or apply online. For more information or to apply for membership visit the Mount Oliver Cemetery Preservation Society website.