Many of Tuscaloosa’s most important and influential early citizens, including five veterans of the American Revolution, are buried in Greenwood Cemetery on Stillman Boulevard. The Chief Tuskaloosa Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has worked to dedicate restored grave markers for those veterans.
The markers were placed to identify them as Revolutionary War veterans and detail their service in the war on Saturday, according to Becky Davenport, chairman of the historical preservation committee.
“We started back in 2019 when that truck ran through the cemetery. We found that the patriot graves were not destroyed but they did need a lot of care,” Davenport said, referring to a hit-and-run driver who knocked over a fence and damaged some tombstones in the fall of 2019.
The local DAR chapter began the work of preserving those graves after obtaining some grants and donations. The group hired Joey Fernandez, a specialist in the restoration of graves, to come in and repair four of the five graves belonging to Revolutionary War veterans. The fifth grave marker does not currently require work.
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The Saturday ceremony featured local leaders as well as descendants of those Revolutionary War patriots. Markers were placed at the graves of Robert Cunningham, Richard Inge, Reuben Jones, Samuel Morrow and Richardson Owen.
“This is extremely important for people in Tuscaloosa because Greenwood Cemetery was the first burial ground in Tuscaloosa and our history starts with these people,” Davenport said.
![Becky Davenport, historic preservation committee chair, speaks at the Daughters of the American Revolution dedication of Revolutionary War grave markers, Saturday Oct. 30, 2021. [Photo/Will McLelland]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/10/30/NTTN/cebd4d7c-abd8-4d25-bf89-ca875f6456e4-TUS_NSDARDedicationWEM920.JPG?width=660&height=576&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Becky Davenport, Historic Preservation Committee chair, speaks at the Daughters of the American Revolution dedication of Revolutionary War grave markers on Oct. 30, 2021. Photo: Will McLelland, Tuscalloosa News
That history does not end with those five graves. Much of Tuscaloosa’s history is encapsulated in the cemetery, which also features three veterans of the War of 1812, including Levin Powell, the state senator who was instrumental in bringing the state capital to Tuscaloosa in 1826.
Many of the city’s earliest merchants lie there as well as three African-Americans from before the Civil War who gained prominence in the city’s history. In more recent terms, Davenport said the cemetery also includes the graves of the Rev. Charles Stillman, founder of Stillman College, and Maude Whatley, the teacher and civic worker for whom the Whatley Health Services is named.
![Violinist Jack Powell plays Amazing Grace at the Daughters of the American Revolution dedication of Revolutionary War grave markers, Saturday Oct. 30, 2021. [Photo/Will McLelland]](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/10/30/NTTN/189f6dd5-69ec-4a59-b506-87c63c3b12f4-TUS_NSDARDedicationWEM940.JPG?width=660&height=631&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp)
Violinist Jack Powell plays Amazing Grace at the Daughters of the American Revolution dedication of Revolutionary War grave markers on Oct. 30. Photo: Will McLelland, Tuscaloosa News
For the sake of the Tuscaloosa’s history, Davenport said she hopes someone will step up to create a group to help preserve the entire cemetery.
“There is a lot of work that needs to be done at Greenwood Cemetery and we (the DAR) don’t have the money to do it,” Davenport said.
–tuscaloosanews.com
