Last Saturday, as the temperatures dropped and ice pellets fell, members of area chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, and local units of the Sea Cadets converged on Brainerd Mission Cemetery to clean up winter’s dead fall.
The cemetery is the only remaining grounds of an Indian mission school established in 1817 by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions. Along with establishing relationships with the Cherokees, the missionaries who serve at Mission and School were to introduce the Christian faith and culture, in hopes of integrating the Cherokees peaceably with the westward movement of the white settlers. They were also to teach agricultural skills and educate and civilize the Cherokee.
The mission, named in memory of a revered New England missionary David Brainerd (1718- 1747), remained active until 1838 when the last journey of the Cherokees left this area and were sent westward on the Trail of Tears.
Members of the Chickamauga Judge David Campbell and Nancy Ward NSDAR chapters and the John Sevier SAR Chapter were present to help rake and remove dead fall from the cemetery.
The Brainerd Mission Cemetery is in the 5700 block of Brainerd Road and surrounded by the Eastgate Mall complex. The mission cemetery was added to the National Register of Historical Places on Dec. 6, 1979 and is listed on the Certified Sites on the Trail of Tears National Historical Trails.
For more information on Brainerd Mission Cemetery, visit www.tndar.org/~davidcampbell/brainerdmission.pdf.