Embedded Files
Greenwood Development Corporation is the community development arm of Greenwood AME Church
Greenwood Church originated as a brush arbor church north of Mulberry Road in either 1874 or 1878.
A wood frame building which faced the east was constructed. At that time, Mulberry Road was a dirt road and the road to the church was a long and steep trail. Due to the difficulty in reaching the church grounds, the building was torn down in 1924 and the lumber was used to construct a new church at the current site of the Greenwood A.M.E. Church at 8005 Donnell Road, a more accessible location.
This photograph was taken at the dedication of a new brick Greenwood A.M.E. Church building in 1954. The church stewards and stewardesses have the responsibility of preparation of communion, which is served the first Sunday of each month. Note the distinctive hats worn by the members of Stewardesses Society.
The brick building, which still stands, replaced a wooden frame building, which had a steeple bell tower. The Greenwood Church is the historic church home of both the Strong and Stewart families.
Aunt Carrie Stewart is second from the right in this Greenwood Church dedication photograph of minister, stewards, and Stewardesses Society members taken in 1954. John Strong, Sr., her nephew, is on the third row in the photograph. Front Seated: Rev. I.W. Williams, standing (L to R) Missouri Brooks, Elnora Holmes, Amanda Richards, Emma Payne, Carrie Stewart, Hattie Stewart. Second Row, standing (L to R) Jasper Payne, Stillman Smith, Frank Smith, Lomas Payne, Sr., L.D. Stewart. Third Row, (L to R) Roosevelt Donahue, Thomas Jones, Sr., Brooks Jones (child next to Thomas Jones, Sr.), Fannie Jones, John Will Waller, John Vann, John Strong, Sr., Wallace Hicks. Fourth Row, (L to R) Clara Donahue, and Jennings Richards.
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, August 7, 2021
Inscription At the turn of the 20th century John Wesley Stewart, an African-American farmer, began lobbying for a school to educate African-American children in the Greenwood community. At the time the children were either taught by itinerant teachers or they walked to Tipton County schools. In 1925. the community became part of Shelby County in a boundary shift. In 1927 the family of Paul Barret, a county school board member, sold a tract of family land for the school. A year later a two-room building was opened and named Anthony Chapel Elementary School for Anthony R. Barret, an early settler of the area and Paul Barret's grandfather. Near this site was the original brush-arbor Greenwood AME Church, established in 1874. Also nearby is Greenwood Cemetery with graves of individuals born before the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
The Cemetery was located immediately to the north of the church building and now extends northeast and due east of the original site.
The cemetery remains in use and includes the graves of individuals born before the Emancipation Proclamation. Those include Millie Stewart (1821-1916): Dora Greer (died 1909 at age 55), wife of Ike Greer, Charley Smith (January 6, 1856-March 16,1913: James White Morgan (August 24, 1829- September 15, 1883), son of J.C. and Willie Morgan and Menervie Billings (1829-1881). Existing grave markers go back to 1881 and include the marker for Pvt. Edward Thurman, U.S. Army, who died in July 1919.
The private road leading from Mulberry Road to the cemetery is named for John Everett Strong, Sr. The cemetery has sustained some vandalism. Specifically, some stones were removed. A portion of those stones have been recovered- they were found being uses as “home plates” for softball and baseball diamonds in county recreational parks. Other stones were recovered from the Shelby County Correctional Center (the Penal Farm).
The gravel road leading to the cemetery has now been designated as a private road named John Everett Strong, Sr. Road. A complete census is available on Cemetery CD.
There are a number of unmarked graves. Located on a hill just west of Austin Peay Highway south of the Tipton/Shelby County line is Greenwood Cemetery. Many of the markers in the cemetery contain no birth or death date such as the Betsie Bobo marker (left) which indicates “aged 54 years.”
The monument for Shannon Hutchison (right) shows the open bible at the top of the monument. He died on October 8, 1918, one month and three days before the Armistice in World War I. His marker says “Rest Soldier Rest Thy Warfare is O’er.” Other veterans buried at Greenwood include Clarence Greer, Jr. (Sgt. U. S. Marine Corps) and Edward R. Brown (PFC U.S. Army). A single stone (center) engraved on two sides are the resting places of Bertina and V.E. Thurman, daughters of E. D. and J. Thurman. V.E. died on January 6, 1910, and Bertha died on March 25, 1910. Under the date of Bertha’s death are the words “Budded on Earth to bloom in Heaven.” Pvt. Thurman’s Tipton County WWI draft registration card shows that he was born in Rosemark, Tennessee; that he was single, his occupation was “farmer” and he worked for his father, Edward Thurman, Sr. in Tipton County. Millie Stewart’s stone (upper right) is engraved with “Sleep my dear and take thy rest, in Jesus’ arms for ever blest.” Dora Greer’s stone (lower right) is engraved with, “Though lost to sight, to memory dear.”
All of the above information is from the Historic Archives of Rosemark located at 6177 Mudville, Millington, Tennessee 38053. Photos and excerpts are from the book “Illustrated History of the People and Towns of Northeast Shelby County and South Central Tipton County. Please visit http://rosemarkhistorybook.com/ to order a copy of this book or for more information. This information, photos, and images may not be redistributed in any way without express permission from the Historic Archives of Rosemark.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse