Salem Presbyterian Church Cemetery

Washington College Academy
116 Doak Lane
Limestone, TN 37681

This cemetery was established in 1780 and contains approximately 700 burials. Indentions, fieldstones and weathered markers denote many of the graves. The large rectangular marker for Rev. Dr. Samuel Doak is the location of where an early graded school of the 1800s stood and where my Grandfather Amos Richard Presley probably attended as a young lad when he was about age 9 to 11 years old. Amos Richard Presley is living in the household of William Gilliland (1788-1867) on the 1860 Washington County TN Census. William Gilliland is buried in this cemetery and his gravesite is marked by a broken stone. Amos Richard Presley was shipped to Louisville, KY about 1862 or 1863 by railway in a box car to get him out of the Civil War torn area. Amos Richard Presley (1852-1932) never saw any of his family after leaving the Conklin and Limestone TN area.

Photos and information provided by Glenda and Edith Presley Bastin.

Name

Birth

Death

Notes

Gilliland, William

18 Feb 1788

11 Nov 1867

“79 yrs, 8 mo, 21 days” - Justice of Peace; He performed several marriages in Washington Co., TN

Waddill, Agnes S. W.

29 Dec 1890

30 Sep 1954

“Asleep in Jesus blessed sleep from which none ever…”

Waddill, S. G.

18 Dec 1799

28 Oct 1870

“…not afraid to die”

Presnell, James B.

Feb 1840

29 Oct 1877

Presnell, Illigible

1849

18??

Doak, Samuel

1749

1829

Presbyterian Circuit Riding Minister. He formed the Salem Presbyterian Church in 1780. He began the graded school which later became Washington College Academy.

View of the Old Salem Presbyterian Church Cemetery, located on the Washington College Campus in Washington County, Tennessee. It was established in 1780 with approximately 700 Burials. A transcription done in 1938 found 404 burial markers. In 1977 another transcription found 91 burial markers. There are numerous indentations of unmarked graves indicating approximately 700 burials. The large stone on the east side of the cemetery is that of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Doak (doctorate from Princeton University). William Gilliand is buried immediately to the left of the Doak stone. The school was situated in the location of the large Doak stone. This Washington College is perhaps the school where Amos Richard Presley attended when he was living with William Gilliand on the 1860 Census of Washington County, TN. The earliest known death date in this cemetery was 1795, which was one year before TN became a state.

Source: Washington County College Academy brochure, Interview with persons of Washington Co., TN, research from other various sources.- EPB