October 10, 2019, The Daily News Journal, Scott Broden
A bulldozer pushed hidden tombstones into a large pile of debris during construction of two gun businesses last week.
“I was very disturbed about that,” said cemetery preservationist Allen Gooch said. “I view any burial ground as being sacred ground, and it’s something we should respect and something we should maintain.”
A Smyrna resident, Gooch spotted what happened on Saturday after notifying a contractor four days earlier about where the tombstones were located.
The graves are below a large billboard by the future Murfreesboro Indoor Range and The Outpost Armory for a gun store to be relocated to Beasie Road, northwest of the nearby Interstate 24 interchange with New Salem Highway.
“We have a lot of old family cemeteries that have fallen into a state of disrepair,” said Gooch, who’s active with the Rutherford County Historical Society.
Recovering tombstones
Developer Gary Semanchik said Tuesday the tombstones were bulldozed by mistake by one of the contractors using official project plans that exclude mention of a cemetery hidden by a bunch of rocks and weeds.
“The site guy did not know the cemetery was there,” said Semanchik, who will own the shooting range and lease the gun shop space. “None of the remains were disturbed. We are doing whatever steps are necessary to correct the mistakes.”
Semanchik’s contractors have been working to recover tombstones after the Murfreesboro Building and Codes Department placed a stop work notice Monday on the project.
Construction foreman Sammy Beshearse was operating an excavator Tuesday to scoop up tombstones from the debris pile, haul them across the 2-acre property and place them into a small area bounded by silt fencing usually meant to protect storm water drainage.
Relocating cemetery option
Once the cemetery is restored, the development can be completed within 120 days, said Don Smith, who recently took over as the project manager. The work will include tearing up a large concrete pad that was installed incorrectly, Smith said.
The development is close to where a planned Costco may open. A proposed factory for a yet-identified aerospace company may also be relocating from California to near the planned gun businesses.
A construction company knocked over grave markers at a family cemetery when clearing land for the future site of The Outpost Armory and Murfreesboro Indoor Range. Sammy Beshearse with Marshall Construction returns stones to a pile of found cemetery items, on Tuesday Oct. 8, 2019.
A construction company knocked over grave markers at a family cemetery when clearing land for the future site of The Outpost Armory and Murfreesboro Indoor Range. Sammy Beshearse with Marshall Construction returns stones to a pile of found cemetery items, on Tuesday Oct. 8, 2019.
If possible, the cemetery will be relocated from the 2-acre commercial property to nearby land away from businesses, said Derek Hall, who oversees development projects for Semanchik.
“I can’t image a family wanting their loved ones in a parking lot for a shooting range,” Hall said.
Notifying officials about cemetery
State cemetery laws require a court order prior to removing a human burial, said Kim Schofinski, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
“The actual relocation of burials or cemeteries is conducted by funeral homes or private archaeological consultants,” Schofinski said. “Additional state laws pertain to burials of prehistoric Native American remains.”
If a burial is uncovered during development or construction, work must be stopped, and local law enforcement, the medical examiner and TDEC’s state archaeologist must be notified, Schofinski said.
“TDEC may assist the builder or landowner in considering options to avoid the burial,” Schofinski said.
Honoring those buried
Murfreesboro City Councilman Eddie Smotherman learned about the tombstones being bulldozed by Gooch.
“You can’t desecrate a cemetery,” said Smotherman, adding that he was unable to spot the dates Tuesday from the recovered tombstones.
The graves include ones for Catherine Thompson Warren, who died in 1832, and her husband, William Warren, who died in 1852, Smotherman said.
“Her father, Col. (John) Thompson, was one of the original petitioners to establish Murfreesboro,” said Smotherman, who, like Gooch, is active with the local historical society.
The councilman proposes that a historic monument be placed at the cemetery.
The colonel was a Revolutionary War veteran who settled in Tennessee with a 400-acre land grant, said Alice Warren Valle, the great-great-granddaughter of the couple buried at the cemetery.
“I like the idea of a historical marker,” said Valle, a physician who lives in the Boston area.
Gooch also hopes those buried around the development will be honored.
“I think anybody with one iota of respect would want the same thing,” Gooch said.
What should be done to preserve cemeteries? Reach Scott Broden at [email protected] and 615-278-5158. Follow him on Twitter @ScottBroden.