The Grave Mystery of Cedar Grove Cemetery

“Hidden History”

Joe Guy

For years, the story has been told by older residents of Athens, Tennessee.  Pointing their finger toward the lonely old grave in the city’s Cedar Grove Cemetery, the tale was always much the same: “Here,” they would say, “is where an unknown Indian Chief is buried.”

The grave, lying in the oldest part of the cemetery, is covered with broken stones that were once part of a solid concrete covering.  A blank headstone still rises over the head of the grave, and it is told that at some time in the distant past the grave was desecrated.  For years, rumors have floated around about the grave, and much speculation has occurred about its unknown inhabitant. With the Cherokee Removal having taken place in the late 1830’s, the grave would have to be at least 170 years old.

But hidden history is a funny thing. It can lie sleeping, much like a grave, for decades before it is called forth.  Recently, this was the case involving the mysterious chief buried in Cedar Grove.

Local historians Bill Akins and Kenneth Langley have been working on a project to write a comprehensive book about McMinn County during the Civil War.  As part of their work, Mr. Akins and Mr. Langley have read numerous personal memoirs and interviews of Civil War veterans, some written several years after the war.

One such interview was found in a local family scrapbook by Mr. Langley, that of Alford M. Hacker, a Union veteran, possibly the last Union veteran to pass away in McMinn County.  In the newspaper article from the Chattanooga Times on July 28, 1935, the 95 year-old Mr. Hacker makes reference to his father, Alford M. Hacker Sr., who was a stagecoach driver in and out of McMinn County during the years of the Cherokee removal.  Mr. Hacker recalled that his father was driving the coaches in 1836-37, when General Winfield Scott was directing the “rounding up” of Cherokees who had refused to migrate westward.  One of the Cherokees, an old “chief” named Deerhorn, escaped the roundup near Cleveland and climbed aboard Mr. Hacker’s stagecoach.  As the old Cherokee was ill, Mr. Hacker drove him to the post house in Athens where the Living Heritage Museum now stands.  That Mr. Hacker would take pity on the old Indian is understandable, as his grandfather Julius Hacker had been involved in working with the Cherokees to construct the Old Federal Road through eastern McMinn County in 1806.  Deerhorn’s illness must have been quite severe, as he died at the post house and was buried in Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Upon discovering the old newspaper clipping, the connection of the Deerhorn story to the grave in Cedar Grove was the first thing on Kenneth Langley’s mind.

            “I believe it’s Deerhorn,” said Mr. Langley. “It’s just about got to be.”

And so, it appears a longstanding legend and mystery has been solved.  The resident of a lonely, unknown grave in Cedar Grove is now known, along with its connection to the terrible removal of a native people from their home, and a small cup of mercy given a sickly old Indian so many years ago.

Joe Guy is an author, columnist, and historian residing in McMinn County, TN. He may be reached via email at guyjd@hotmail.com or at PO Box 489 Englewood, TN 37329.