LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — The Moore County Historical Society will meet on Sunday, March 16 at 2 p.m. at the Masonic Lodge in Lynchburg. The speaker will be John Parkes and the topic will be the Old Bethel Cemetery in Lynchburg  

The Bethel Cemetery sits near the entrance to The Jack Daniel Distillery’s main entrance. It once existed as part of the Bethel Church, which no longer exists. It’s also the final resting place of Thomas Rountree, who founded Lynchburg in 1812.  Lynchburg wasn’t incorporated by an act of the General Assembly of the State until 1841-42. By 1885. At the time, it boasted five dry goods stores, a drug store, three saloons, two flour mills, a tannery, a boot shop, a saddle and harness factory, and three blacksmiths, according to Tennessee Genealogy.

Born in South Carolina, Rountree moved to what eventually became Lynchburg around 1812 from Lincoln County. According to online genealogical records, he was one of 13 children born to Captain Richardson Rountree, who served in the American Revolution.

The Bethel Cemetery once sat adjacent to the Bethel Church which has been gone for many years.  The church was originally founded about 1812.

On Sunday, a direct descendent of Rountree, John Parkes will discuss several early settlers of Lynchburg that are buried in Bethel Cemetery in both marked and unmarked graves. No one’s been buried in the historic cemetery for over 100 years. Parkes will offer both biographical and historical information on the burials.

Recently the Distillery employed Sentry Mappers to survey the cemetery using ground penetrating radar (GPR). 

The meeting is free and open to the general public.  For further information contact Michael Northcutt at [email protected] or phone 931-434-5797 or George Stone a [email protected] or phone 931-581-2621. •

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