A Worthy Disinterment ?

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

For years the family grave of the man considered by many to be the father of Tennessee law and history has remained behind a car repair shop along a commercial strip in Nashville.
Now a petition in Davidson Chancery Court seeks to have the body of John Haywood, his wife and possibly more family members disintered from the site along Nolensville Pike and moved to Nashville's historic cemetery.
Hal Hardin, a Nashville lawyer who filed the petition, said the city cemetery, will be a good and better fit for the self educated former Supreme Court Justice who died in 1826 while still sitting on the bench.
Born in North Carolina in 1753, Haywood was admitted to the North Carolina bar in 1786 and later served as Attorney General and still later as a superior court judge.
He subsequently went in to private practice and was the author of legal scholarly works on the laws of Tennessee and North Carolina.
He later moved to Tennessee where he already owned land in Tusculum. After building a home and two log cabins he began teaching law to aspiring students, creating what was believed to be one of the first law schools in the region.
He was appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1816.
Citing recent trends in historical graveyards, Hardin said the petition was prompted by concerns that the graveyard might be permanently locked at its current location.
Calling Haywood "a legal pioneer," Hardin said that thus far he has only been able to identify two of the Haywood family's ancestors.
Mary Beth Hayes, one of those two, said she supports the petition.
"Yes, as a distant descendant of Judge John Haywood, I do support the re-interment of John Haywood, his wife Martha Haywood, their family members, and any enslaved people from their current site located within a commercial development near Nolensville Road to the Nashville City Cemetery," she wrote in an email response to questions.
Hardin said it is known that Haywood's wife Martha is buried at the current site along with other family members.
He said Middle Tennessee State University has agreed to analyze the remains recovered from the Nolensville Road site. He said the city cemetery has agreed to provide the site for reinterment.
"We are trying to scrape some money together to cover remaining costs," Hardin concluded. He noted that any further development at the current site is barred while bodies are buried there.
The land is owned by Polly Properties, based in Texas. The company's Tennessee lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
According to court filings legal notices of the proposed disinterment are ongoing and, thus far, no opposition has surfaced.
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