Alexandria Historic Cemeteries District

What’s in a Name?

In genealogy, we often begin with our own families — following the threads of our parents, grandparents, and the stories passed down through generations. But every family was part of something bigger. Every life, no matter how brief or how forgotten, helped shape the soul of our community. Preserving history means remembering them all.

Tucked within the Alexandria Historic Cemetery District lies the African American Cemetery — a sacred and nearly silent place where an estimated 400 to 500 souls rest. Today, only 59 stones still stand to tell their stories. The rest have never existed, vanished to time, weather, and neglect. Through careful research and compassion-driven detective work, we have so far identified 182 names of men, women, and children who almost certainly lie in those unmarked graves beside the Seay Chapel.

Countless more are still unknown. Many were children — little lives lost in an era when nearly one in four children did not live to see their fifth birthday. These children may never be known by name, but they deserve to be remembered, to be claimed by the community they helped build with their brief and precious time on earth.

We are determined to give them that, and those we can not name, nor know their dates, will be provided a stone near the completion of the larger project.  Alongside this is work waiting to be done, we also plan to mark the forgotten graves in the Eastview section — the same hallowed ground that holds leaders like John Fite Goodner and W.B. Stokes.

We are partnering with Kurt Bass of Bass Funeral Homes to create memorial stones that will bear the names of 100 souls each. Each stone costs $2,400 to create. The first list of names is ready, and now we turn to you — our neighbors, descendants, and friends — to help us honor these lives. Every contribution brings us closer to lifting their names from the shadows of silence and setting them permanently in stone. Any funds raised beyond the first $2,400 will go immediately toward the second stone, which is already taking shape.

If you would like to donate, have questions, would like to assist with research, helping with the cemetery work, or simply want to learn more about the lives we are working to restore to memory, please contact us at:

🌍https://alexandriahistoriccemeteriesdistrict.com/
📧 alexandriahistoriccemeteries@gmail.com
📞 615.484.8189
📬 P.O. Box 14, Alexandria, TN 37012
🪦Go Fund Me Link – https://gofund.me/32eef774b

If your heart is moved to help, donations can be made directly to Kurt Bass at (615) 683-8212 or (615) 735-1212, or mailed to Bass Funeral Homes at 71 E. Main Street / P.O. Box 248, Gordonsville, TN 38563. Please include a note that your gift is for the Alexandria Historic Cemeteries or Seay Chapel Tombstone project.

Let’s give them back their names. Let’s give them back their place in our story. Our first 100 names for the first stone are:

America (Sellars) Allen (abt.1856-1931)
Will M Allen (abt.1867-1919)
Pat Baily (1831-1911)
Anetta Stark Bates (1890-1919)
Helen Bates (abt.1867-1929)
Jane Beasley (abt.1840-1923)
Infant Bell (1928-1928)
Infant Bounds (1909-1909)
Dibrell Burks (1883-1951)
Era (Johnson) Burks (1893-1937)
Edgar Doss (abt.1879-bef.1948)
Hattie (Foutch) Doss (1884-1942)
Tobe A Doss (abt.1848-1918)
Burg Dowell
Clarene (Williams) Dowell (1898-1917)
Everett Dowell (1890-1924)
Joe Dowell (abt.1866-1951)
Laura Dowell (abt.1897-1914)
Lewis Dowell (1858-1911)
Stocia (Johnson) Dowell (abt.1884-1943)
Zora (Berry) Dowell (abt.1863-1914)
Willette (Thomas) Ezel (1909-1937)
A. E. Floyd (abt.1879-1908)
Charles Floyd (1837-1916)
Eliza (Preston) Floyd (1846-1925)
Ida Floyd (bef.1868-1936)
Thomas Floyd (1849-1934)
Grant Ford (1866-1945)
Isaac Ford (1874-1876)
Roland Ford (abt.1863-1863)
Shay Foutch (abt.1840-1914)
Nellie (Jarmon) Fulce (1891-1970)
Caleb Goodner (abt.1815-abt.1900)
Hugh Goodner (-1896)
Phillis Goodner (abt.1810-abt.1899)
Stephen Goodner (1853-1918)
Henry Grimmet (abt.1854-abt.1929)
Bonnie Lee Hancock (1919-1934)
Josie (Stokes) Hurd (1875-1939)
Willie James (1885-1952)
Clara (Neal) Jennings (abt.1902-1936)
Hobert Jennings (1901-1909)
John Bill Jennings (1898-1927)
Letha (Miller) Jennings (1882-1941)
Lucian Jennings (1903-1938)
Simon Jennings (1864-1942)
Lula (Dowell) Johnson (1897-1919)
Bessie (Tubb) Johnson (1896-1926)
Queene Lyons (1897-1947)
Infant Lyons (1919-1919)
Pearl (Smith) Lyons (1902-1936)
Richard Henry Malone (1880-1931)
Henry Moore (1851-1912)
Ethel (Betty) Neal (1882-1959)
Louise Patton (1891-1910)
Marshall Patton (1891-1940)
Sally Dean Patton (1933-1944)
Emma Phillips (1868-1897)
Estelle (Whitley) Phillips (1891-1919)
Fannie (Sneed) Phillips (1860-1914)
A C Porter (1900-1900)
Robert Preston (abt.1870-1935)
Dora (Foutch) Preston (abt.1870-1938)
Unnamed Infant Preston (abt.1908-abt.1908)
Henretta Preston (abt.1909-1919)
Annie (Porter) Rhea (1892-1918)
Harriet Robinson (abt.1844-1924)
John Braden Robinson (1910-1925)
Allie (Foutch) Rollins (1879-1914)
George Rollins (1856-1909)
Anna (Hancock) Rutland (1879-1939)
Charlie Rutland (abt.1870-1940)
Emmett Rutland (1908-1928)
Hattie (Parker) Rutland (1883-1967)
Etta T Rutland (1905-1911)
Notie (Floyd) Rutland (abt.1871-1959)
William Rutland (1898-1934)
Addie (Lyons) Seay (1885-1934)
Virgie Seay (1892-1919)
Alice (Ford) Smith (1865-1941)
Barbara Ann Smith (1951-1951)
Alice (Ford) Smith (1865-1941)
Carrie (Burks) Spicer (1893-)
Fannie (Tubb) Stark (1883-1932)
Aaron Bass Stokes (1912-1946)
Abel Stokes (1908-1909)
Henry Stokes (1871-1945)
Robert M Stokes (1918-1941)
Cenera (Whitley) Stokes (1884-1943)
Vaxter W Stokes (1940-1963)
Whitley Stokes (abt.1881-1963)
Ethel Mai Teal (1924-1946)
Jake Tubbs (1859-1929)
Pattie (Whitley) Tubbs (1887-1916)
Benjamin Franklin Whitley (1901-1961)
Buford Whitley (1855-abt.1905)
Luther Whitley (1890-1918)
Sam Williams (1865-1931)
Beatrice (Whitley) Williams (1890-1961)
Harriet Wright (abt.1853-1926)