Gallatin in Sumner County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Peter Vertrees
1840-1926
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 10, 2020
1. Peter Vertrees Marker
Obverse side
A prominent African-American soldier, minister, and educator, Peter Vertrees was born December 16, 1840, in Edmondson County, Kentucky, as Peter Skaggs. At age five he was apprenticed to Jacob Vertrees whose name he assumed. From 1861-1865, he was a cook and bodyguard under Dr. John L. Vertrees in the Orphan Brigade, the Sixth Kentucky Infantry C.S.A., for which he received a pension from the State of Tennessee. After the war, Vertrees came to Gallatin where he began a sixty-one year Baptist ministry establishing churches area wide.
Reverse:
In each church he established a chapter of the Sons and Daughters of Charity to defray members' medical and burial expenses. In 1875 he organized the East Fork Missionary Baptist Association. Educated at Roger Williams University in Nashville, he opened a subscription school in the 1880s and with funding from the Rosenwald Foundation established several public schools. One block east of here, he built a Victorian Cottage in 1888. The Reverend Peter Vertrees died January 18, 1926, and was buried in the Gallatin Cemetery.
Erected by Tennessee Historical Commission. (Marker Number 3B 67.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans
this page online
Location. 36° 23.189′ N, 86° 26.737′ W. Marker is in Gallatin, Tennessee, in Sumner County. It is at the intersection of South Water Avenue and East Bledsoe Street, on the right when traveling north on South Water Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Gallatin TN 37066, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Middle Tennessee and in Greater Nashville. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Tennessee's First African-American Civil War Volunteers (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Downtown Square (about 800 feet away); Gallatin Public Square (approx. 0.2 miles away); Gallatin Founded 1802 (approx. 0.2 miles away); Gallatin, Tennessee (approx. 0.2 miles away); The Westward Movement (approx. 0.2 miles away); First Presbyterian Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); Trousdale Place (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Gallatin.
Also see . . . Vertrees, Peter. Entry in Notable Kentucky African Americans
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 10, 2020
2. Peter Vertrees Marker reverse
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, November 11, 2022
3. Peter Vertrees Marker
Photographed by Darren Jefferson Clay, November 11, 2022
4. Peter Vertrees Marker
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, May 10, 2020
5. Peter Vertrees Marker
Courtesy of Kentucky Museum, Western Kentucky University
6. Peter Vertrees
Credits. This page was last revised on January 26, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 13, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 904 times since then and 43 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 13, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 3, 4. submitted on January 23, 2023, by Darren Jefferson Clay of Duluth, Georgia. 5. submitted on May 14, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 6. submitted on May 13, 2020, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.
