Murfreesboro Founding Fathers’ Grave Destroyed By Vandals

On Tuesday morning, the Murfreesboro grave of a Revolutionary War Hero was found destroyed. In addition to his own, the graves of his family were found desecrated as well. Images of Captain William Lytle’s grave show a large portion of the gravebox destroyed and rubble lying about the site. Few acts of human volition are more dishonorable than the desecration of a grave. Now, yet another American hero has fallen victim to this barbarous act of destruction.

Captain William Lytle was born in 1755, in Orange County, NC. In 1776 at twenty-one years of age he entered the U.S. military as a Lieutenant, was promoted Captain in 1779, and served all the way until the close of the American Revolution in 1783. His brother, Lt. Col. Archibald Lytle, and he were both charter members of the North Carolina Society of the Cincinnati.

Captain Lytle received land grants from the United States government for his service and moved his family to the region now known as Murfreesboro, TN around 1790. He and his family were among the first settlers to establish residence in the Murfreesboro region. Coupled with an inheritance from his brother Archibald, Captain Lytle possessed roughly 26,000 acres in the region.

After a series of rampant Indian attacks in Rutherford County, Captain Lytle moved his family back to Davidson Country for two years before returning to his Murfreesboro home. Captain Lytle built a beautiful brick home in 1810. A sixty acre plot of land was donated by him to become the seat of Rutherford County government in 1813. The town was named after Colonel Mufree, a friend of Captain Lytle. Captain Lytle died on September 4, 1829.

 “Captain Lytle’s tomb is pretty much destroyed," said Robert Bolyard, President of the Tennessee Society Sons Of The American Revolution, Stones River Chapter. “As you can see there isn’t a headstone that hasn’t been vandalized some way, somehow,” continued Bolyard in an interview with WGNS Radio. Bolyard has stated that the Tennessee Society SAR, Stones River Chapter has a GoFundMe to collect contributions for the restoration of the graves.