John Dougan – Tombstone Inscriptions

Dougan, John
Section 28.8
ID # 281097

John Dougan
Franklin Co.

Nineteen Penitentiary inmates died of Cholera during the June 1833 Epidemic in Nashville. They were buried at Nashville City Cemetery. In 2016 wooden markers were placed at the cemetery for these Cholera victims.

Fred Zahn of the Metropolitan Historical Commission was responsible for the carving of the inscriptions on the 19 wooden markers and locating where to place them at the Nashville City Cemetery. To read about his work on the project, click here.

To read the account of John Hill, a contemporary of these men and survivor of his time in the penitentiary, click here.

For more information, and to see a listing of the inmates’ names & counties of residence prior to incarceration, please see the following newspaper article in the Nashville Republican and State Gazette, Friday, July 5, 1833.

Charles A. Sherill has given permission to quote from Tennessee Convicts: Records of the State Penitentiary, Vol. I. 1831-1850, by Charles & Tomye M. Sherrill, published 1997:

Page 24
“John Dougan was received in the Penitentiary 27 January 1831. He is 45 years of age, 5′ 10” high. Dark hair, somewhat gray, dark complexion and gray eyes, weighs about 180 lbs. Scar on the inside of the left foot and one on the right hand. Was born in Randolph County, North Carolina, and brought up in Warren County, Kentucky, on the waters of Gaspers [sic,] River. His father, mother, and wife live in Franklin County, Tennessee. One brother in Dickson County and an other [sic,] in Fayette County in this state. Was found guilty of man slaughter [sic,] at the Circuit Court of Franklin County and sentenced to ten years confinement in the Jail and Penitentiary House of the State of Tennessee. John Dougan died of cholera on the 14th day of June 1833. First from Franklin Co. [Ledger 45, page 29]”

Research Report August 2017


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