About 8-10 miles out of Sparta toward Monterey, on a sharp bend of the Calfkiller River, this historical cemetery sits on a hill overlooking land once owned by Richard Bradley. His first wife, Arminta "Minty" (Bradley) Bradley, was the first to be buried there in 1838. The cemetery is now on private land in the middle of a cattle pasture/hayfield.

Old timers say the fieldstones behind the Bradley family graves are for their slaves. Only one grave is inscribed for the slaves; it is for "Crockett Black Boy" 1846-1848. The one black child was buried in a comb grave (also called a tent grave) with the Bradley family, not behind it as the others were. The story goes that Richard Bradley's mother-in-law was fond of the little boy and asked that she be buried next to him when her time came two years after his death.

The burials in front of the Bradley graves were said to have been friends and neighbors of the Richard Bradley family. Most of these are marked only with fieldstones, the names of those interred there now known only to God.

In the community part of the cemetery there is a grave for the Revolutionary War soldier, William Butram 1759-1853, and a memorial marker for his friend, Henry Marsh (aka Mash), whom we know from an old map was buried somewhere in this cemetery or very near it. Henry was also a Revolutionary War soldier but they had served from two different states. They had been neighbors in Wayne Co., Kentucky prior to moving to White Co., Tennessee in their last years. Richard Bradley, for whom the cemetery is named, had performed the marriages of several of William Butram's grandchildren in early White Co., Tennessee. Both Butram and Marsh have white marble military markers furnished by the United States Government.

This historic old cemetery is maintained by the Richard Bradley Cemetery Association entirely through private donations sent to:

Linda Whiteaker Goines, Treasurer,
Richard Bradley Cemetery Association,
663 James Lambert Rd.,
Sparta, TN 38583

Also visit the Facebook page for this cemetery. Please "like" the page when you do.

www.facebook.com/BradleyCemeteryWhiteCoTN

For more information about the comb style graves of the Bradley family go to the following website:
http://www.darkfiber.com/tomb/combgrave/index.html