1786- Anderson-Gouffon Cemetery

Location: 5116 Tazewell Pike, Knoxville

The website FindAGrave.com describes the location: "Going north on Tazewell Pike, after passing Clearbrook Drive, go a short distance to a brick mailbox and turn right on to an unimproved road. Follow that unimproved road; it goes eastward and then curves northward before running into the cemetery."

The website FindAGrave.com has a page for the Anderson-Gouffon Cemetery. There are 474 interments listed there, the oldest of which is for Mary Shannon McCampbell. She was born in 1720 in Dublin, Ireland and died in 1786 in Knox County, TN. The site has a picture of McCampbell's grave marker, and it reads, "Mary Shannon McCampbell, Widow of James McCampbell, Daughter of Samuel Shannon, who was in the Siege of Londonderry, Ireland, 1689."

A couple of the other oldest interments are for Isaac Anderson and his wife, Margaret Evans Anderson. Isaac Anderson's grave marker reads, "Isaac Anderson, Born in County Down, Ireland, 1730, Died 1811, his wife, Margaret Evans." The website says that Margaret Evans Anderson was born in 1734 in Ireland, and died in 1800 in Knox County, TN.

From what I can tell, Isaac Anderson had a grandson, also named Isaac Anderson, who in 1802 built a log house that still stands a short distance to the east. Isaac, the grandson, was also the founder and first president of Maryville College in Maryville, TN.

For some reason, the sign at the cemetery says it was established in 1811, despite the fact that FindAGrave.com says that the oldest internment dates back to 1786. I'm not sure how to account for the difference.