Attention Descendants of Waterhouse, Brady, Broyles, Brown, Roddy, Holloway, Thompson, Sweeten, Tyson, Garrison, Smith, Locke Families.
We are forming an association for the Waterhouse/Brady Cemetery in Spring City to try and correct many, many years of neglect. Cattle have basically destroyed all but 3 stones. It is deplorable.
Our goals are to clean it up, re-mount the stones, and get it fenced. We're looking for the Waterhouse, Brady and other family descendants in hopes they will be willing to help, physically or financially, all help appreciated.
If you can help, please contact me. I hope this is the first of many cemetery cleanups done here in Rhea. As I understand the law, as long as there is some evidence of it being a cemetery, the descendants have a right to maintain, beautify and protect it. After these last 3 stones are gone, I don't know how the law would handle that. It needs doing now.
Donations may be sent to:
First American Bank
Picadilly Ave
Spring City, TN 37381Or:
Edna Clack
302 Antique Lane
Spring City, TN 37381PLEASE make checks payable to the Waterhouse/Brady Cemetery Association.
Cemetery Update I've had many requests to keep the public informed as to the progress in gaining access to the Waterhouse/Brady Cemetery in Rhea County, TN.
We've had two appearances before the judge concerning this matter. In the first, he issued a restraining order against the property owners to cease any further damage to the cemetery. In the second appearance, he kept the restraining order in place and provided us legal grounds to enter upon the premises by driving across the field to install a fence around the cemetery at our expense.
As the trial has not been held yet, he could not order the defendants to use their own means to keep his cattle out of the cemetery. If we prevail, we're hoping to get reimbursed for the fence and other items. Thank all of you for your interest and maybe our actions here in Rhea will someday help others with their struggles to preserve our cemeteries.
Edna Clack
Cemetery Update - March, 2000 As promised, here's an update on the situation with the Waterhouse/Brady Cemetery in Rhea County.
In December, the Judge ruled that the restraining order against the property owners was to remain in effect and we could go in there by vehicle and install a fence to protect the cemetery and prepare for litigation.
It took a month to get the order signed because the defendants refused to sign it. In Jan., we installed the fence around the area of the burials. They then filed a contempt of court charge against us for going in there before the case was settled. Remember, the judge signed the order and I took a certified copy of that order with me, but still they say we were in contempt of court??.
A couple of weeks ago, we could see that the gate we had installed had been pushed over. We went through proper channels as specified in the court order and went in there to fix the gate. Upon arrival, we could see that about half the fence was in a state of disrepair. Some of the posts had been pulled up, some broken off and many, many of them bent over. The wire had been stretched to the point of no longer being useful, the gate had been bent and pushed over and the corner supports had been removed.
After taking pictures, we began to try and repair the fence. Within a few minutes, a deputy sheriff came over and ordered us out. No amount of talking would convince him we were in there legally. The property owner had called them and ask for us to be removed. We left.
I called the sheriff, asked him what was going on and he told me to take a copy of the court order, get a deputy and go back over there. Two parts of that I did. I took the court order to a deputy, we went over there, he (the deputy) spent about 32 minutes out of my presence with the property owned then decided that he and the lawn-mower-repair-shop-self-educated-backyard-attorney didn't think it meant what the judge meant it to mean. I was told I couldn't go in and repair the fence or do anything to prepare for trial.
So, it's back to filing more papers, this time 4 counts of contempt of court against them, then back to court to find out what the judge thinks of his orders being overruled in the field. This all takes time but I do believe that it's the survival of the fittest in one sense. We have a good TN law on our side and must just hang in there until this is resolved.
The press in Rhea County has done a good job of keeping the public informed of this situation. Maybe it will help stop someone else from destroying some other cemetery.
Apparently, the Sheriff's department has no authority to over rule a property owner nor any obligation to enforce a Court Order. This has been most educational and hope it helps others who also have problems concerning the protection of a cemetery somewhere. Don't let our problems prevent you from taking steps to protect other sources of valuable genealogical information and the burial sites of our ancestors.
Thank you for all the kind words of support. We are, and will continue to pursue this matter, it's just slow going.
Edna Clack
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