King's Point Cemetery
(Old Sivley)

Surveyed June 20, 1941 by Charles W. Lusk
Submitted by Dennis C. Wilson
DWilson215@aol.com

    King's Point Cemetery is located off Highway 153, south of the Chickamauga Dam and north of Chickamauga Creek on property that is owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Since it is located on government property, special permission is required to visit the cemetery. King's Point Baptist Church was once located near the cemetery. The church burned in the early 1900's and was never rebuilt. The cemetery was closed in 1938 and has not been maintained since. It is so overgrown that finding any recognizable tombstones is extremely difficult. Charles W. Lusk conducted this survey on June 20, 1941. Even at that time, he reported the neglect and overgrowth in the cemetery and was not certain that he had found all the tombstones. Several additional names have been added from a WPA survey which was conducted prior to 1941.

      King's Point Cemetery is the final resting place of nine members of the W. J Woodward family killed in a collision with a railroad train on February 24,1897. At the bottom of this survey is an account of that fatal train accident given by Charles W. Lusk.

The Accident of the Woodward Family     

      The accident in which nine members of the Woodward family were killed occurred on Wednesday, February 24, 1897, at 12:46 P.M. The following came from the Chattanooga Times for February 25 and 26, 1897. The date of the birth of each one killed is taken from the tombstone in King's Point Cemetery. Additional information as to the middle names of some of them was found in The Times.

      The Woodward family came to Hamilton County from Murray County, Ga., and had been living near Jersey for some nine years. About a year previously, one of the daughters had married Ira H. Montgomery. They had a little son two months old. Up to that time they had been living in the house with the Woodwards. Ira, however, had gone to East Florence, Ala., where he had secured work, and a few days previously, had sent for his wife and child to join him there. Thereupon, Mrs. Woodward suggested that she wanted a group picture of the family before it was broken up by the departure of Lizzie. They were making the trip to Chattanooga to have this group photograph made when the fatal collision occurred.

      They left home about 10 A. M. in a two horse wagon. In this wagon, as it left the home, were twelve people - W. J. Woodward and his wife Laura Worley Woodward, and their nine children - Albert, George T., Josie L., Della, Mary, Daisy, Ada and Vergie - and Mrs. Lizzie Woodward Montgomery and her little son, Roy.

      They stopped in Sherman Heights (East Chattanooga), and had lunch with friends. As they were preparing to resume their journey, Mr. W. J. Woodward and the eldest son, Albert, then 26 years old, went ahead on foot, and turned the driving of the wagon over to George T., 24 years old. Mr. Woodward told them that they would overtake him and Albert. They wished to see some people along the way.

      The wagon proceeded towards Chattanooga along the old Harrison Pike, which crossed the tracks of the Southern Railway at grade at the point, as I am informed, where North Orchard Knob Avenue passes under the railroad tracks. As the wagon approached this crossing, Southern Railway passenger train No. 7, from Atlanta to Chattanooga, was also approaching it. The train was drawn by engine No. 846, in charge of engineer Abner Laird; the conductor was T. M. Randall. It was the claim of the engineer and of several eye witnesses, that the whistle was sounded several times and that the bell was ringing. The railroad approached the crossing on a curve which was in a cut. For some reason the driver of the wagon did not seem to heed the warnings until the engine came into sight a short distance away. He then tried to urge his team across, but it was too late. The train, still going at considerable speed, despite the efforts of the engineer to stop, struck the wagon squarely in the side, and smashed it to fragments. Eyewitnesses said that some of the occupants were thrown as high as the telegraph posts. Some of  them were dreadfully mangled. Seven were instantly killed. Two of the younger girls were taken to a hospital and died a few hours later.

      The only one of the ten in the wagon to survive was little Vergie Woodward, three years old. She was found on the engine above and back of the pilot and under the head of the boiler, very much shocked but not much hurt.

      The joint funeral for the victims was held at the King's Point Baptist Church, Friday afternoon, Feb. 26, 1897. Rev. J. H. Lightcap was in charge. J. R. Worley, a brother of Mrs. Woodward, was present. He lived in Murray County, Ga. Her mother, Mrs. Elmira Worley, also of Murray County, and about 80 years old, was too feeble to attend.

      The graves of the victims of this tragedy are in a row under a beautiful oak at the east side of King's Point Cemetery. Most of that graveyard is overgrown with bushes; briars and vines. The Woodward graves, however, seem to have had constant care. They are about the best kept in the cemetery.

Charles W. Lusk June 20, 1941.