Thomas Boyd Revolutionary War Soldier Thomas Boyd was born in 1754 in North Hampton County, Pennsylvania, and he married Nancy Ann Martin. Thomas served as a third lieutenant in Capt. Henry Shade s company, Pennsylvania Rifle Company, commanded by Col. Samuel Miles. Thomas was promoted to second lieutenant while serving in Capt. Brown s company. He resided in Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War. His tombstone states that he was a captain under General Washington. He moved to Tennessee in 1780. Boyd died before Congress made pensions and bounty lands available to soldiers who fought in the revolution. He died in 1814. His son, Thomas (born in 1801), built a brick home on Harvey Road that was restored in early 2000 and is referred to as the Boyd-Harvey house. In the mid-1800s, a school named for the family was built on North Shore Drive. A railroad station named Boyd Station was built around the same time. William Cottrell Farragut Historian William Cottrell (1924-1988) was a nuclear safety expert at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and an active historian for Concord United Methodist Church. He came to Oak Ridge in January of 1944 and was first employed by Eastman Kodak Company and the Army Corps of Engineers in connection with the Manhattan Project. He was later inducted into the Army and assigned a role that allowed him to continue work with the project. In 1950, he joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory and became involved with reactor safety. From 1964 to 1973, he was director of ORNL s nuclear safety program and was founder of the Nuclear Safety Information Center. From 1973 until his retirement in April 1984, Cottrell was director of the Nuclear Operation Analysis Center. In the fall of 1984, he began a history of Concord United Methodist Church, The History of the Church and its Environment 1865 1985. Cottrell s work includes a thorough discussion of the development of west Knox County during the period preceding the church (established in 1865), including how it was populated as the early settlers migrated westward and how it was impacted by the Civil War. This work is an extensive history of the local area and can be found in the library at Concord United Methodist Church. For many years, the Cottrells lived on land originally own by the second governor of Tennessee, Archibald Roane. The property is just east of Farragut Middle School and Intermediate School on Admiral Drive.
Joe Davis First Janitor at Farragut High School Joe Davis mother was from North Carolina and his father was from Tennessee. His childhood is unknown, but until he took the position of janitor at Farragut High School, he worked in the local quarries. He started as a laborer and worked his way up to a skilled position of stone cutter. After all those grueling years in the quarries, it must have been quite attractive to take the position in the new school. (Since Joe Davis was an African American, we would prefer that he be portrayed by an African American.) Christopher Georges World War II Veteran Christopher Georges was born on July 1, 1922, in Lowell, Massachusetts. He attended Lowell High School, where he excelled in football and track and was dubbed the triple threat by the local newspaper. After high school, he attended Bridgton Academy in North Bridgton, Maine. Entering the U.S. Marine Corps in May 1943, he participated in action in the Bonins, the Marianas, and the Western Pacific. After the war, Georges played football at Brown University and Indiana State University, and attended the University of Miami. He met his wife, Mara Owens, on a blind date in Miami. He was a 17-year district sales manager for Pipe Line Services in Atlanta before moving his family to Knoxville in 1971, where he was named sales manager for Exton plastic pipe division of Pipe Line Services. In 1979, he started his sales agency, Chris Georges Sales Company. He retired in 2010. The Georges family attended Church Street United Methodist Church. His wife and daughter, Myra Georges Allen, are buried with him. Mara Georges was very active in the local garden club, and the club donated several trees to the cemetery after her death. A tree dedicated to Myra Allen is on the site of Pleasant Forest Church and School. Georges is considered a war hero and a very successful businessman in the local community. He is survived by his daughter, Joy Georges McCabe.
Robert Leonard First Mayor of Farragut Bob Leonard was born in South Knoxville on November 19, 1924. He graduated from Young High School in 1942. He graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.A. in 1946 and a law degree in 1947. He joined a law firm with his father and served as general counsel for First Utility Districts of Knox County for 55 years. He practiced law for 63 years until his retirement in May 2010. Leonard was the first mayor of the Town of Farragut. He served six terms from April 1, 1980, until April 23, 1993. He was honored by the Tennessee Municipal League as Tennessee Mayor of the Year in 1991. He was also honored by the Town of Farragut through the naming its second public park Mayor Bob Leonard Park. He was on the board of Pleasant Forest Cemetery for two decades. Mayor Leonard died on November 12, 2012. Archibald Roane Second Governor of Tennessee Archibald Roane was born in 1759 in Pennsylvania. His parents died while he was quite young and he was raised by his uncle, the Rev. John Roane, who provided an excellent education. He joined the Continental Army and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis in 1781. After the war, he continued his education at Liberty Hall Academy at Lexington, Virginia, and remained as a professor of language and mathematics. In 1788, he moved to Tennessee, where he was licensed to practice law. He served as attorney general for the Hamilton district of the Southwest Territory, and represented Jefferson County at the constitutional convention at Knoxville when Tennessee became a state in 1796. He served as a superior court judge for six years and was elected the second governor of Tennessee in 1801. Running for re-election in 1803, he was defeated by John Sevier (also the first governor of Tennessee). Archibald Roane died January 4, 1819, at his home, just east of Farragut Middle School. He was buried at Pleasant Forest Cemetery and his grave remained unmarked until 1918, when the State of Tennessee erected a monument and honored him with an elaborate ceremony.
J. Frank Russell Sr. World War I Veteran Frank Russell was born on April 6, 1897, the son of Matthew Russell and Julia Russell. (Both are also buried in the family plot). He grew up on the family farm across from Farragut School on Kingston Pike. The family raised cattle, grew tobacco and ran a country store. They lived in the historic pre-civil War house just a few hundred feet west of the grocery store. He entered the naval service on July 23, 1917, and was assigned to a U.S. receiving ship at New Orleans. He received training at Camp Nelson, Louisiana, and was placed on inactive duty February 22, 1919, with a rating of seaman. After the war, Russell returned to the Farragut area and helped with the family s farm and store. He took over the business after his father died on February 8, 1924. The family sold Pleasant Forest Cemetery plots at the store. He was active in the Concord/Farragut community and was a squire on the County Court. He passed away on July 11, 1974. After serving in Korea, his son, Frank Russell Jr., continued to run the store until it closed the late 1970s. Beulah G Starkey Farragut Schoolteacher Beulah Starkey, often referred to as Aunt Bute, was born January 13, 1901. Her father built a stone house just south of the cemetery on Concord Road. She was a longtime member of Concord Presbyterian Church and taught fifth grade at Farragut Elementary school for many years. She was a beloved teacher who passed away on May 8, 1990. She inherited her father s house and walked to school each day. Ernest Wallace Coal Miner Ernest Wallace (1872-1902) was killed in the Fayetteville mine explosion. The disaster occurred on May 19, 1902, near the community of Fayetteville, Tennessee. Two hundred and sixteen minors died as a result of the explosion, either from the initial blast or from the after-effects, making it the worst mining disaster in the state s history. The explosion was likely caused by a buildup of methane gas that leaked from an adjacent unventilated mine.
The community of Fayetteville was devastated by the disaster. The town lost all but three of its adult males. Hundreds of women were widowed, and roughly 1,000 children were left fatherless. Eighty-nine of the deceased coal miners are buried in the Fayetteville Miners Circle in Leach Cemetery in the nearby town of Coal Creek. A monument at the center of the circle bears the names of all 184 miners who were identified. Wallace likely had relatives in the Farragut area that brought his body back to Pleasant Forest Cemetery for burial.