Near Oak Ridge in Roane County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Wheat Community
Photographed by Tom Bosse, November 7, 2020
1. Wheat Community Marker
Inscription.
Wheat Community. . John Henry and Elizabeth Inman Welcker owned and operated a plantation named Laurel Banks as early as 1810, and possibly 1805. This plantation was located along the banks of the Clinch River, where the East Tennessee Technology Park (formerly the K-25) Plant now stands. John Henry died in 1838 and Elizabeth died in 1840. In 1847, George Hamilton Gallaher, Sr. bought Laurel Banks. According to the 1860 Roane County Census George Gallaher, Sr.'s personal estate was valued at $36,000. This includes $25,000 worth of real estate and at least 19 slaves. This cemetery, now named The Wheat Community African American Burial Ground, was formerly known as Atomic Energy Commission Cemetery #2 - Slave Cemetery and was sometimes referred to as the Gallaher - Stone Cemetery. In 1979, Dorothy Moneymaker, a resident of the Wheat Community, counted between 90 and 100 graves with no inscribed markers located within the cemetery. It is presumed that slaves who once belonged to the Welckers and Gallahers and some of their descendants are buried here. It is also possible that slaves and their descendants who lived on other farms in the area are buried here. Some of the other families that owned slaves and lived in the vicinity were the Burums, Carmichaels, Staples, Henleys, Ellis, and Rathers. We will never know the names of those buried here.
John Henry and Elizabeth Inman Welcker owned and operated a plantation named Laurel Banks as early as 1810, and possibly 1805. This plantation was located along the banks of the Clinch River, where the East Tennessee Technology Park (formerly the K-25) Plant now stands. John Henry died in 1838 and Elizabeth died in 1840. In 1847, George Hamilton Gallaher, Sr. bought Laurel Banks. According to the 1860 Roane County Census George Gallaher, Sr.'s personal estate was valued at $36,000. This includes $25,000 worth of real estate and at least 19 slaves. This cemetery, now named The Wheat Community African American Burial Ground, was formerly known as Atomic Energy Commission Cemetery #2 - Slave Cemetery and was sometimes referred to as the Gallaher - Stone Cemetery. In 1979, Dorothy Moneymaker, a resident of the Wheat Community, counted between 90 and 100 graves with no inscribed markers located within the cemetery. It is presumed that slaves who once belonged to the Welckers and Gallahers and some of their descendants are buried here. It is also possible that slaves and their descendants who lived on other farms in the area
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are buried here. Some of the other families that owned slaves and lived in the vicinity were the Burums, Carmichaels, Staples, Henleys, Ellis, and Rathers. We will never know the names of those buried here.
Location. 35° 55.086′ N, 84° 23.741′ W. Marker is near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, in Roane County. It is on Oak Ridge Turnpike (State Highway 58) 0.2 miles north of Bear Creek Road, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Kingston TN 37763, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in East Tennessee and in Greater Knoxville. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate
Credits. This page was last revised on November 8, 2020. It was originally submitted on November 8, 2020, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 1,608 times since then and 104 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on November 8, 2020, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
