KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Those making their way to Tullahoma from Highway 55 will normally pass Waggoner Park and the Tullahoma Industrial Park without second thought. However, just behind Waggoner Park lies a parcel of land that is now the home of those who have long passed away, including another alleged witch, dating back to the late 19^th century: Citizens Cemetery.

Written information regarding the history of Citizens Cemetery is few and far between, but a group of eighth graders from East Middle School, led by their teacher Tommy Allen, wrote a book in 1995 titled “The Citizens Cemetery” as part of a project to not only restore and clean the old cemetery, but to provide a record to the hundreds of residents now buried there. This book, according to Community Engagement Officer Lyle Russell, resides with the Tullahoma Public Works office and is the only copy that is known of.

According to the book, the land was first used in the 1870s as a black cemetery. In addition, according to TNGenWeb.org, a genealogical and historical content covering the state of Tennessee, Henry Person, Joe Landers, Aron Hale, John Clendenon and Will Martin contracted with Mary Bobo to purchase the land for the sum of $112.50. By January 1901, the group was unable to pay the remaining balance of $44.95, so they went before the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to ask for aid in the payment. The board would agree to help on the condition that the land deed be transferred to the city, and that said land would be used and dedicated as a burying place that the group would manage and control the property.

In 1937, about 2,300 refugees from The Great Ohio and Mississippi Flood were sent to Camp Peay, a National Guard camp in Tullahoma at the time, where they fed and nursed by the American Red Cross and guarded by the Tennessee National Guard, according to the book. During this time, according to the Feb., 5, 1937 edition of the Manchester Times, an epidemic of pneumonia and influenza broke out among the refugees, killing 30. Those refugees were buried in Citizens Cemetery.

By 1940, the U.S. government would take Camp Peay and later expand it to become part of Camp Forrest, a World War II induction, training and POW (Prisoners of War) facility, which included Citizens Cemetery. During this time burials ceased and access to the cemetery, which was referred as both Camp Peay Cemetery and Camp Forrest Cemetery, was denied. Once the war ended, the military base would cease operations and the cemetery would be left behind. Neglected and unprotected, it would experience years of vandalism where the few tombstones would be broken, destroyed and defaced.

Those who enter Citizens Cemetery by the entrance way today will first be greeted by a large gravestone engraved with dozens of names of those who are known to reside there. From there, the few remaining headstones, broken or standing, are few and far between as many of those laid to rest have unmarked graves. But then, across the way from the main entrance, is the headstone of Malinda Rhoton.

While there is not much information about Rhoton’s life, what is known, according to data from the Coffee County, Tennessee Census, is that Malinda was born sometime in 1889 and her parents were William Rhoton and Catherine Waggoner. Malinda also had two sisters, Mary and Anna, and a brother Marian. Malinda died on June 26, 1914, between the ages of 24 to 25 years-old.

Written on Malinda’s gravestone is “Malinda Rhoton faithful member of Magic Circle No. 81” while the top of the gravestone as a symbol with the letters R.C.F. These markings are what led many to believe that Malinda was a witch, just like the local legend of Sadie Baker. But that is far from the truth. According to the website Waking the Witch, it says that R.C.F. stands for Royal Circle of Friends, which was an African American fraternal organization founded in the early 20^th century that was dedicated to the moral, physical, social, and economic welfare of its members, where local groups were called circles. The organization also handled the burial and expenses of members’ funerals. 

However, stories of “the witch” spread and Malinda’s gravestone has seen its fair share of vandalism, with carvings of pentagrams, the number 666 and so on. Yet, there are also offerings and tributes at Malinda’s gravestone. Similarly to Sadie Baker’s grave, those who visited have left coins and small trinkets as tribute to Malinda, though there is no known legend about leaving offerings.

The Citizens Cemetery remains as a small and unique landmark in Tullahoma. Though not much of its history is recorded and its conditions far from perfect, it remains to be an important note in the city’s history.