Circle Cemetery

Beautiful and sad at once.

Circle Cemetery is very unusual and has a very unorganized and almost awkward feel.

The hand carved stone of  Nancy Jane Woody.

An  unique and special marker for a special brother.

The sign marking the The Cross Mountain Miners' Circle.

On December 9th, 1911, a mine explosion believed to be caused by a gas ignition killed 84 miners near the small town of Briceville in Anderson County, Tn. 

This is the The Cross Mountain Miners' Circle. Twenty plus of the killed miners were buried here as a memorial to the disaster. It became listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

"In memory of the miners who lost their lives in Cross Mountain Mine disaster Dec. 9, 1911"

Albert Roland

Thomas Marlow

James White

"Dearest father, thou
hast left us
Here thy loss we deeply feel
But 'tis God that hath
bereth us,
He can all our sorrows heal."

Ed Risden

Melvin McKamey

C.E. and Oscar Olvey, brothers.

"But only loving parents who have lost their darling ones know how hard it is  to stay. Oh Lord, thy will be done."

S.H. Miller

"Oh dear papa how we miss you,
None but us can tell.
God who loved you better,
has taken you home to dwell."

Emmett Miller

"You are gone but not forgotten'
Your memory shall never fade.
Lonely hearts shall always linger,
Where our dear brother is laid."

J.T. Cardon

Henry Burton

Sill Hutson

"Though grief it gives us much the best to say thy will be done."

Ben Gallaher

Charley Whitted

"Thy will be done.
God, not mine."

John Allen, Jr.

Eugene Ault was one of the miners not buried in the circle but instead buried at the rear of Briceville Cemetery near a large beech tree.  Before suffocating in the Cross Mountain Mine, he wrote: 

“Dear father, mother, brothers, and sisters, I guess I come to die. Air is not much now. Well, all be good and I aim to pray to God to save me and all of you.  I guess I'll never be with you any more, so goodbye.  Give Bessie Robbins a stickpin of mine. Tell her goodbye.”  

This picture shows the aftermath the day after the explosion with family members and townsfolk waiting to here the fate of their loved ones.

The names of all 84 miners lost.

This final photo of rescuers was taken a few days after the explosion. The man in the center is holding a caged canary to test the air for dangerous gases. 

Where is it?

 The cemetery is located at 107 Circle Cemetery Rd. in Briceville, Anderson County.

GPS Coordinates: Latitude: 36.171606, Longitude: -84.186496 

Who's here?

    

There is nearly a thousand interments in the Circle Cemetery. Below is listed those 
that were killed in the Coal Creek Mine explosion.


Allen, John, Jr.
Jul. 26, 1889 - Dec. 9, 1911


Burton, Henry William
Oct. 15, 1892 - Dec. 9, 1911


Carden, J.T.
Aug. 7, 1882 - Dec. 9, 1911


Duncan, Aaron
Jul. 10, 1880 - Dec. 9, 1911


Duncan, E.F.
May 13, 1872 - Dec. 9, 1911


Gallaher, Ben L.
unknown - Dec. 9, 1911 


Gammon, W.A.
unknown - Dec. 9, 1911


Hunter, Robert
unknown - Dec. 9, 1911


Hutson, Sill
Dec. 1, 1876 - Dec. 9, 1911


Irick, William Henry
Apr. 19, 1881 - Dec. 9, 1911


Lester, Richard Jefferson "R.J.", Jr.
1850 - Dec. 9, 1911


Marlin, Charles
unknown - Nov. 9, 1911


Marlow, Michael "Mike"
1882 - Dec. 9, 1911


Marlow, Thomas
May 7, 1880 - Dec. 9, 1911


Marshall, John
unknown - Dec. 9, 1911


McKamey, Melvin
Mar. 11, 1887 - Dec. 9, 1911


Miller, Emmett
Jul. 15, 1894 - Dec. 9, 1911


Miller, S.H.
Sep. 28, 1870 - Dec. 9, 1911


Olivey, C.E.
Jul. 1, 1891 - Dec. 9, 1911


Olivey, Oscar
May 26, 1894 - Dec. 9, 1911


Olvey, Charles Edward "Ed"
Jul. 1, 1891 - Dec. 9, 1911


Olvey, James Oscar
May 26, 1894 - Dec. 9, 1911


Phillips, Daniel
Feb. 28, 1884 - Dec. 9, 1911


Risden, Ed
Oct. 18, 1878 - Dec. 9, 1911


Robbins, Dave
unknown - Dec. 9, 1911


Robbins, Ewens
unknown - Dec. 9, 1911


Robbins, James
Jul., 1854 - Dec. 9, 1911


Roland, Albert W.
Jul. 16, 1891 - Dec. 9, 1911


Roland, William
May 11, 1885 - Dec. 9, 1911


Rolland, Albert
unknown - Dec. 9, 1911


Rolland, W.P.
unknown - Dec. 9, 1911


Smith, Arthur
Aug. 8, 1887 - Dec. 9, 1911


Whited, Charley
Dec. 22, 1893 - Dec. 9, 1911


Whitted, Charles L.
Dec. 22, 1892 - Dec. 9, 1911


Wood, Martin Luther "Luther"
May 4, 1876 - Dec. 9, 1911

Visited March 22, 2015

Thanks for visiting this page. If you have any additional information about this, or any other, cemetery in the Smokies, please let me know.

Keep on creepin' and always be respectful!