Jackson C. Thomas – Tombstone Inscriptions

Thomas, Jackson C.
Section 28.8
ID # 281108

Jackson C. Thomas
Colored
Davidson 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:

Pages 168-169
“Name: Thomas Jackson [sic]*, age 18, born in Tennessee, occupation: barber. Convicted of petit larceny by a court in Davidson County, and sentenced to 3 years in the Penitentiary. Received Dec. 6, 1831 and discharged June 9, 1833. Notes: died of cholera. Number in ledger 86: 32.”

Research Report August 2017

* Correct spelling of name is Jackson Thomas. Name was reversed in ledger.


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