and real estate. Hewas partowner ofa Shorter traded incotton, merchandise in 1837.Anastute businessman,Colonel his senior. They moved to Floyd County Martha HarperBaldwin,whowas 4years In 1834,hemarriedBaldwin’s widow, Georgia, eventually becoming a partner. belonging to JohnBaldwinofMonticello, found employment asaclerkin thestore under hisarm.At theage of16,he a handsatchel alongwithapet rooster left there withhis total possessionsin near Eufaula, .Heeventually as achild,hewas reared by relatives Georgia onNovember 3,1803. Orphaned Alfred Shorter was borninWashington, died at hishome“Glenwood” in1891. Constitutional Convention of1877.He and was amemberoftheGeorgia he remained inRome practicing law, loyal to theSouth.After theCivil War, from President Lincoln, heremained though Wright diddeliver thismessage Davis to surrender. Bothrefused. Even President oftheConfederacy, Jefferson Governor JosephBrown andthe urged Wright to askbothGeorgia During theCivilWar, President Lincoln member oftheConfederate Congress. buried inMyrtleHill,Wright was alsoa One offour United States Congressmen retrieve thebodies. cooler weather. Many never returned to the bodiesinmausoleumuntil visiting, received permission to store whose out-of-town relatives diedwhile techniques andrefrigeration, Romans many unknown. Before modernburial than 40bodies,withtheidentity of Myrtle HillCemetery. Itcontains more Mausoleum isthelargest mausoleumin Georgia Medical Association. TheBattey and later served asPresident ofthe returned to Rome to practice medicine century later. Following theCivilWar, he in medical schoolstoday more thana Dr. Battey’s procedure is still taught (operation to remove the ovaries). performing thefirst oophorectomy surgeon recognized world-wide for Dr. Robert Battey was aneminent was ColonelMitchell’s suggestion. ancient Rome ontheTiberRiver, Rome the new city. Recalling theseven hillsof the namedrawn would bethenameof placed five namesinto ahat, agreeing 11 10 9

Colonel AlfredShorter Dr. Robet Battey

Augustus Wright their contributions. College to honorAlfred andMarthafor name would later bechanged to Shorter chosen asPresident oftheBoard. The Female College withAlfred Shorter organization oftheCherokee Baptist 1873 that finalplans were made for the was inthebasement ofthechurch in dollars neededto buildthechurch. It Church, contributing 6ofthe8thousand were very active inthe Rome Baptist a toll for theiruse.HeandMrs. Shorter Etowah andOostanaula Rivers, charging 25 years heowned 2bridges crossing the extensive farming interests. For almost company, theRome Railroad Co.andhad local steamboat line,banks, aninsurance in Athens at theUniversity ofGeorgia. are located inRome on Broad Street and Woman WhoSaved Football inGeorgia”, dedicated to Rosalind Gammonas“The Mother”. Thebillwas vetoed. Memorials She signedherletter,“Von Gammon’s Atkinson askingthat heveto thebill. sent animpassionedletter to Governor son was beingabolished inhisname.She was upset that agame soloved by her Gammon, whoin1897could notvote, would putanendto thegame. Rosalind called into sessionandpassedabillthat in Georgia. TheGeorgia legislature was the state that would make football illegal of thechurch. That day, amove began in teammates sat together nearthefront First Presbyterian Church. Allofhis 1, 1897,Von’s funeral was heldat the eighteen years ofage. OnNovember anddiedthenextinjury day. Hewas Virginia, Von suffered asevere head during agame withtheUniversity of to fullback.OnOctober 30ofthat year, the University. In1897,hewas moved that year thefirst undefeated season for the quarterback ofthefootball team of Georgia inthefall of1896.Hewas High School,Von entered theUniversity Following hisgraduation from Rome All three boys were outstanding athletes. sons, Montague, Von Albade andWill. and JohnGammonwere parents ofthree Avenue neartheEtowah River. Rosalind The GammonFamily lived onE.Third 12

Gammon Family

7.15

enriched ourcommunity. women whohave many interesting menand These are butafew ofthe “field ofhistory”. line theterraces ofthis markers andmonuments rivers. Picturesque the confluence ofthree views ofthecitylocated at special placewithscenic Myrtle HillCemetery isa Respect funeral services Avenue Pennington Cemetery tour information: 706-295-5576 Be safe theintegrity andpreserve ofthishistoric site: l No gravestone rubbings

4 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Street Myrtle 12

Ellen AxsonWilson Charles W. Graves Gammon Family Civil War Soldiers’Area Women oftheConfederacy Monument Monument ...... Berry Thomas Julia Omberg...... Martha Baldwin Shorter...... Alfred Shorter...... Berry Rhea Frances Daniel R. MitchellDaniel R. Dr. Robert Battey...... Robert Dr. Augustus Wright...... 5 11 7 2 | 10 Helplocating agrave: 706-236-4534 1 6 l Donotlean orsitonwalls ormarkers 8 3 ......

...... Branham Avenue Branham

South Broad Street 9 1892-1918 1828-1895 1838-1926 1842-1922 1821-1887 1803-1882 1803-1876 1799-1877 1813-1891 1860-1914 M ROME’S HISTORIC yrtle C emetery H ill 4 Confederate Section the improvement to working conditions yrtle Hill Cemetery is Rome’s most tangible link to the past. This death”, grew wild on the hill These are the graves of more than for women and to promote better M National Register of Historic Places site was established in 1857 and and gave the cemetery its 300 soldiers, both Confederate and housing for Washington’s impoverished. is the final resting place for more than 20,000 people who have shaped Rome’s name. Rome’s early history Union who represent all eleven states Eleanor Roosevelt considered Ellen history. Among these are four Congressmen, a U.S. Senator, America’s Known of floods and river rampages of the Confederacy, as well as the as her mentor on social issues. Ellen Soldier, and a First Lady of the United States. It is significant that three of the presented challenges to border states. There are 81 unknown died in the on August 6, seven hills of Rome were chosen as burial grounds. Rome’s first cemetery, everyone, including the Confederate and two unknown Union 1914 at the age of 54. Funeral services soldiers. Rome was a hospital center were held at Rome’s First Presbyterian Oak Hill, located on Lumpkin Hill was established in 1837. The third cemetery funeral director. Boats were Church. Her graveside service was located on one of Rome’s seven hills is the Rodeph Sholom Cemetery. Situated often used in removing during the war. When Union troops under the command of General the largest ever to be held at Myrtle atop Mount Aventine, this cemetery was established in 1875. the body of a deceased Hill. In 1998 the Rome Area Heritage person from the home to Sherman left Rome in November 1864, he ordered all of Broad Street Foundation dedicated a bronze plaque Cemetery, meaning a “sleeping place”... the funeral parlor during in memory of Ellen Axson Wilson. such difficult times. None Angels abound on Myrtle Hill burned except for a few buildings that Myrtle Hill Cemetery, “Where Romans Rest”. were used as hospitals. Several of our 7 Captain Thomas Berry & worried, however, that the downtown churches were also used By the 1850’s the citizens of Rome realized that more room would be needed; final resting place of their loved ones would suffer from the ravaging floods. In Frances Rhea Berry as hospitals, which spared them from This is the gravesite of several members therefore, a tract of 32 acres was purchased from Colonel Alfred Shorter. those days Myrtle Hill was the cemetery most often used by Rome urbanites being burned. Many of the soldiers of the Berry Family, including Thomas Colonel Cunningham Pennington, a civil engineer, drew plans for interment for the burial of their dead. Myrtle Hill stood high and dry a century ago just as buried here were in those hospitals. and Frances Rhea McChesney Berry, on six levels. Vinca Minor, more commonly called Myrtle, or the “flower of it does today. 5 the daughter of one of the wealthiest Julia Omberg men in Alabama. At the time of their In 1872, Dr. Robert Battey performed marriage, Thomas was 39 and Frances VETERANS PLAZA the first oophorectomy (removal of was 18. the ovaries) in the world. The patient The centerpiece of this plaza is the tomb of America’s Known Soldier, Charles Graves, and a popular hero of the Civil War. This was 30 year old Julia Omberg. The Thomas was 21 when he moved to which is guarded by three 1904 water cooled automatic machine guns. A bronze monument was erected by the United surgery took place on the kitchen table Rome from Tennessee to work as replica of a “Doughboy” also enhances this inspiring site. More than 3,000 Daughters of the Confederacy to honor of the Omberg residence, which is an apprentice to a storekeeper. His Forrest for his role in capturing a Union located on W. First Street. A lynch mob industriousness and ambition led engraved bricks honor and memorialize military veterans and civilians for their service Thomas to own a store of his own. to this country in war or peace throughout all of American history. raiding party led by Colonel waited outside to hang Dr. Battey if in 1863. the operation was unsuccessful. Julia As Rome rapidly developed into an Omberg lived 50 more years and died at important cotton trading center on 3 Women of the Confederacy age 80 of natural causes. the Coosa River, he sold the store Monument and opened a cotton brokerage. As Women of the Confederacy Monument 6 Ellen Axson Wilson his business flourished he was able This monument is believed to be the first to buy Oak Hill, a stately white house monument in the world to honor the Ellen Axson Wilson was born May about Charles and the other young men 15, 1860 in Savannah, Georgia and surrounded by farmlands, gardens, who had paid the ultimate price in the role of women in war. The moved to Rome in March of 1866. She outbuildings, and servant’s quarters. “great war”. On April 6, 1922, Charles was women of Rome served as graduated from Rome Female College It was here that Thomas and Frances laid to rest in the cemetery at Antioch nurses to both Union and and attended the New York Art Students raised eleven children, eight of their Church. Charles would not stay in this Confederate soldiers League. Her father, Reverend Samuel own, and three orphaned children of grave for long. Plans were developed in the many local Edward Axson, was pastor of Rome’s her brother. Their second born child was to create a more prominent gravesite hospitals. President First Presbyterian Church. It was in this Martha McChesney Berry, founder of in a special memorial garden section of Theodore church that , who later Berry College. ( is buried Myrtle Hill Cemetery where no burials Roosevelt would be elected as the 28th President on the campus of Berry College beside had been allowed. After his mother’s dedicated the of the United States, first saw Ellen. the Mount Berry Chapel.) monument They were married in Savannah in death, his brother agreed to move the 8 Daniel R. Mitchell Veterans Plaza body to this site. There were Romans on October June of 1885. A professional artist, she who felt his mother’s wishes should be 8, 1910. The gave her earnings to numerous causes, One of the five founders of Rome, Col. inscription including the Berry School. As America’s Mitchell wrote the town charter, was a kept. A hearing for a court injunction was noted attorney and engineer, and was 1 Charles W. Graves dead”. His finger stopped at the name set. Late on the night before the hearing, on the First Lady, Ellen Wilson was a strong of Charles Graves of Rome, Georgia. monument activist, devoting much of her time to responsible for laying out the streets Charles W. Graves died on the a group of citizens went to Antioch and in downtown Rome. The five founders Hindenburg Line in 1918 and was buried Mrs. Graves had waited four years for was the return of her son’s body and she removed the coffin by lantern light. They in France. Four years later, in 1922, brought it to Myrtle Hill and buried it in written by MYRTLE HILL CEMETERY Charles’ body was loaded onto a huge wanted him brought home for burial. Woodrow The War Department agreed to her the place where it is now located. Thus, Free Mobile App Tour troopship that was bringing bodies Charles Graves, America’s Known Soldier, Wilson. home for burial. With this last load of request, but decided to honor America’s Experience the history of the cemetery through Known Soldier with a parade down Fifth was buried for the third and final time on a free Mobile App Tour with GPS navigation, bodies, it was decided that a Known September 22, 1923. Soldier should be chosen to join the Avenue in New York. Accompanying his audio, video and historic photos. It’s just like flag draped coffin was an honor guard of A bronze replica body of the Unknown Soldier for burial of a World War I having a historian guide you through the Admirals, Generals, three Governors, five 2 Nathan Bedford Forrest at Arlington National Cemetery. A sailor “Doughboy” stands cemetery. U.S. Senators, members of Congress, the Monument was blindfolded and asked to run his watch over To download, search “Myrtle Hill” in the Apple finger down the long list of “known Secretary of War and the Mayor of New General Forrest was a dashing cavalryman Veterans Plaza. York. President Warren Harding spoke App Store or Google Play.