Bryan-Drinnen-Cate Cemetery, Sevier County, Tennessee

The following narrative appeared in "Kodak Centennial Historic Cookbook, Kodak, TN 1892-1992."

page 7
Lucy Bryan Drinnen, born December 1, 1831, donated the land for the cemetery from land given to her by her father, Thomas Bryan who was the first son of Peter Bryan.  The first people buried in the cemetery were two slaves.

The story is told that Lucy Bryan Drinnen thought the top of the hill was such a beautiful place that she wanted to be buried there.  Her wish was carried out on September 2, 1872.

The cemetery is fenced and kept neat.  Decoration is held every year on the third Sunday in May.  Several graves have large stones, some have only field rock markers and others have no markers at all.

In 1977, the Spencer Clack Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, assisted by descendants of Peter Bryan, dedicated a marker in his memory.  Peter Bryan a Revolutionary War Soldier, Tennessee legislator, and outstanding pioneer was shown by tax records of 1814 to own over 688 acres of land.

Lucy Bryan Drinnen's father Thomas C. Bryan Sr. died on 30 Aug 1867.  To the extent that the narrative above is accurate (and I believe it is), the date of Thomas's death informs us about the date the cemetery might have been founded because Lucy received the land in her father's will.  Because Thomas died shortly after the Civil War was over, if the first people buried in the cemetery were two slaves then they must have been former slaves.

One mystery is where Thomas himself is buried, as well as where his wife Nancy Cate is buried.  It seems likely to me that they were buried in the Bryan-Drinnen-Cate cemetery.  If so, I don't know why they wouldn't have stones.  On the other hand, if they were buried somewhere else then I don't know why they wouldn't have stones somewhere else.  There are field stones in the middle of the cemetery, next to the stone for Lucy Bryan Drinnen.  It seems likely to me that those field stones represent the burial locations for Thomas and Nancy.

#1 Margaret M. (Maggie) Bryan, daughter of my third great grandparents Peter Hubbard Bryan and Mary Ann (Polly Ann) Cate.  Maggie married first Stewart Erastus Trotter, married second Henry Randolph.

#2 infant of John Amos Underwood and Clauda Bryan (daughter of Joshua Bryan and Adda Mynatt).  Clauda was raised by her grandparents Peter Hubbard Bryan and Mary Ann (Polly Ann) Cate, so Clauda's infant was buried next to the grandparents who raised her.  There is something not quite right about this stone.  Clauda died 7 April 1919, and John Amos Underwood married Clauda's cousin Lola Helen Bryan on 22 September 1921.  I don't know if the infant was really Lola Helen Bryan's child, or if the date of 1923 on the stone is incorrect.

#3 My third great grandmother Mary Ann (Polly Ann) Cate, daughter of Joshua Cate and Elizabeth Wilhite.

#4 My third great grandfather Peter Hubbard Bryan, son of Thomas C. Bryan Sr. and Nancy Cate.

#5 Adeline (Ada) Bryan, daughter of my third great grandparents Peter Hubbard Bryan and Mary Ann (Polly Ann) Cate.  Ada never married.  Her obituary says she died on 2 July and was buried on 3 July.

#6 James P. Bryan, son of my third great grandparents Peter Hubbard Bryan and Mary Ann (Polly Ann) Cate.  Uncle Jim never married.