HERMITAGE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Behind orange fencing at a construction site in Hermitage is a plot of land that Sidney Williams considers hallowed ground.
"We believe that dates back to the early 1800s," said Williams.
It's an old family cemetery that may have historical significance, and if her research is right, a personal one too.
"I firmly believe they’re founders of the Hermitage area," said Williams. "We don’t want people living on top of the final resting place of my ancestors."
The land is no longer a family farm. It's the future site of a massive neighborhood under construction by developer Meritage Homes. Meritage isasking the state of Tennessee for permission to relocate the remains elsewhere on the property.
"These old cemeteries that are on family farms, someone stood over those graves and cried. Just because they don’t have a name doesn’t mean they’re not important," said Williams.
But that's where things get a little tricky. In pictures Sidney and other supporters of the cemetery took, you can see how none of the grave markers have names on them. Williams says, that's for a good reason. "Someone buried their loved ones and they marked their graves with a simple field stone. That’s what they had. It was a day’s ride to Nashville from where they are," she said.
Sidney created a Facebook group calledHistoric Tulip Grove Cemetery and members of the page say their opposition has nothing to do with Meritage Home's massive development coming in. It has to do with respect for the dead. "We can help create a picture of what their life was like. And if they’re ever moved, that is erased forever and no one will ever know," said Williams.
That's why Sidney hopes the developer will keep the cemetery where it is and build around it, so that the ground she considers hallowed remains untouched. "I want them to show that this is a part of the history of that neighborhood," she said. "These people deserve to be, to rest in peace like they were laid to rest initially."
The group has until Feb. 27 to challenge the cemetery relocation request in court. Williams tells us they're still figuring out their next steps.
We reached out to Meritage Homes for a statement, but so far, we haven't heard back.
