Graves on Campus

The only grave on the main campus is in the yard of Tyson House. It is the grave of Bonita, the pet dog of Isabella Tyson, daughter of General Lawrence D. and Bettie Tyson, who owned the house. The dog was a Puerto Rican Spaniel, given to Isabella when she was three years old by General Ulysses Grant Jr., son of President Grant. Isabella was then living in Puerto Rico where Generals Grant and Tyson were stationed.

Bonita died at age 11 and was buried under a stone in the yard of Tyson house, which read “Bonita Tyson,” and the epithet “only a little dog but a loving and faithful friend.” The original stone was removed when, as an adult, Isabella Tyson (by then Mrs. Kenneth Gilpin) was walking in the garden with a friend who told her that someday the grave would cause great confusion because people would think that Mrs. Tyson had adopted a Spanish child named Bonita. The stone was replaced with the stone that remains there now.

In 1899, during the building of Barbara Blount Hall, eight skeletons of Union soldiers were discovered. The remains were transferred to the National Cemetery in Knoxville to marked, but unidentified, graves. An additional six skeletons were found just west of Barbara Blount Hall, below the driveway, in 1919 during excavation for steam pipes to heat Ayres Hall. While the remains could not be identified, they were believed also to be those of Union soldiers killed during the Battle of Knoxville. The remains were reinterred in the National Cemetery.

One planned grave never came about. In 1894 a committee of the Alumni Association recommended moving the remains of the university’s first president, Samuel Carrick, to campus (from the graveyard of First Presbyterian Church) and erecting a monument to him. President Dabney supported the effort. Another committee was formed to raise the money to do this, but the lack of sufficient funds caused abandonment of the project in 1897.

Citation Information

The following information is provided for citations.

  • Title Graves on Campus
  • Author
  • Keywords Graves on Campus
  • Website Name Volopedia
  • Publisher University of Tennessee Libraries
  • URL
  • Access Date March 29, 2024
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update August 30, 2023