KODAK, Tenn. — A Sevier County family is fighting to stop the graves of their ancestors from being moved to make way for a planned sports complex. The developer says it is following a legal process required before any grave can be relocated.
The Ellis Cemetery sits on about one acre in the middle of a 272-acre property where the sports complex is planned, in Kodak. The cemetery was established in 1792, according to production materials associated with this report, and holds soldiers from three wars and generations of the Ellis family.
Family says ancestors should not be disturbed
Scott Goforth and Sandra Goforth are descendants of the Ellis family. Sandra Goforth said Hugh Goforth and Nancy Ellis Goforth, her husband’s great-great-grandparents, are buried at the cemetery. She said Nancy Ellis Goforth was her father’s third or fourth great-grandmother.
Sandra Goforth said soldiers buried at the cemetery include Christopher Columbus Ellis, as well as soldiers from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Civil War…