The Unknown Burial Site of Colonel John Luttrell

Mark Hayden
August 27, 2019 at 1:47 AM

…I came across this site since I'm researching Col. John Luttrell, of the Transylvania Company who died Sep 13, 1781, in battle at Lindley's Mill in North Carolina. One would think he was buried in the mass grave along with the other fallen. However, I've come across an unusual claim that he was eventually interned 300 miles away at the Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee . . .see find a grave memorial 170648952. Can you shed any light on t(his) burial record? Please email me at: mwhayden1@gmail.com Thanks, Mark Hayden

Replies

1. 

   GlennDL
   December 6, 2019 at 11:38 AM

   Where Col. Luttrell is buried is unknown to me, but I assure you it is unlikely to be in the Old Gray Cemetery, or for that fact the state of Tennessee. At the time of his death, the Transylvania Company was not associated with Tennessee outside of Elizabethton until after Luttrell's death. Luttrell, along with Judge Henderson, was present at the negotiations and signing of the Treaty of Sycamore Shoal in 1775, near Elizabethton, after which they left immediately to join Daniel Boone on the Wilderness Road in Kentucky. The time between then and the Colonel's death is very well accounted for as he was in Boonseborough until he returned to North Carolina to join the Militia in the cause for independence. Most of his family was still in Virginia except for hi brother Thomas at Ft. Boonseborough and his wife in North Carolina. His relationship to the Knoxville Luttrells was distant.
   In researching the work of Nancy Goldsberg and Laura Luttrell there is no reference to his burial site which is probably due to the assumption that the times did not allow for the long-distance transportation of the deceased... the war, the cost, etc.
   His will does not designate a burial site. The most likely sites would be in North Carolina, either on his estate or near the battlefield of his death. It would be a stretch to assume any other site such as Fort Boonseborough, his birthplace in Virginia, Elizabethton Tennessee, or especially 115 miles from Elizabethton in Knoxville. His will was contested by his wife, brothers and half brothers and no mention is made of his burial place... he mentions an unborn child in his will but the child died and is not mentioned in probate.
   It is worth noting that the Old Gray Cemetery in Knoxville has 16 known Luttrell's buried there but was not founded until 1850. Nearly 70 years after the Colonel's death.
   The posting in Find A Grave has the earmarks at an attempt to flesh out some responses in the hope of establishing a desired link between the Colonel and the Knoxville Luttrells. There is a link' going back to Northumberland County, Virginia to the common ancestor, but there is no link from Colonel Luttrell forward to any descendants... he died without a child, his wife took up with a doctor of ill repute and is never heard from again after probate.

---

see also:

• Thomas Luttrell: Ft. Boonesborough, Ky.

• Family Myths: Col. John Luttrell