Mr. J.A. Wallace donated the land sometime after 1830. Prior to 1830 it was the McRee family cemetery. TVA surveyed the cemetery before the flooding of Soddy in the 1930s, but fortunately the cemetery was (and still is) located on high ground and there was no need to relocate the graves.I noticed the tombstone of Nashua Biddirous among the limbs, leaves and thick brush. Since this isn't a familiar name among Soddy-Daisy folk, I was naturally curious and decided to do a bit of genealogy and here's what I found.
Nashus Biddirous was born in Mexico about 1839/40 and died on August 14, 1881. He is buried in Wallace Cemetery, Soddy, Tennessee.
Nothing else is known of Nashua until he appears in the 1860 United States Census. By this time he is 21 years old and living in Monroe County (county seat: Sweetwater) with Martin and Susan Roberts and their family. Martin Roberts owned a farm and Nashua was working as a laborer. The census states Nashua was born in Mexico in 1839 and his name is spelled Nashey Badrous.
In less than a year Nashua found himself serving as a musician for the Confederacy during the civil War. The U.S. Confederate Compiled Service, 1861-1865 states Nashua served as a musician with the 59th Mounted Infantry (Cooke's Reg. Eakin's Batt). This particular Regiment fought at Vicksburg, Mississippi and Nashua was captured, along with his Regiment, in July 1863 and was taken as a Prisoner of War. Nashua eventually took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America and was soon paroled. His name is sometimes spelled as Emashua Badrous on his military service record.
Nashua, home from the war, married Margaret Dorothy Bates in Cherokee County, North Carolina on October 25, 1865. Margaret was born in North Carolina around 1827. Nashua was approximately 25 years old and Margaret was approximately 38 years old at the time of their marriage. There is conflicting information concerning her birth date, but it definitely appears she was a few years older than Nashua.
In 1870 Nashua, Margaret and their children are living in Polk County, Tennessee. The census states that Nashua is a United States citizen working as a Smelter Hand. Copper deposits were found in Copperhill, Polk County, Tennessee in 1843 and we can assume that Nashua was working in the copper mines during this time. Copper was the first metal to be smelted and the process began thousands of years ago. Smelting was hot, dirty work. Nashua and Margaret's children include Emeline (age 11), Robert (age 4) and Mary (age 2). The census states that the children's father was of foreign birth. (NOTE: Nashua and Margaret were married in 1865 and Emeline was 11 years old at the time of the 1870 census. Was Margaret a war widow?)
In 1880, Nashua is 42 years old, according to the 1880 census, and still living in Polk County and working in the mines. This census states Nashua as being Indian/Native American, and his parents from Mexico. Margaret's age is listed as 52, and they have another son, John, age nine. There is no mention of their daughter Emmeline on this census. Robert, Mary and John all attend school and Robert is also working on a farm. He could be tending the family farm, or he could be helping at another farm to earn money for his family.
Nashua Baddirous died on August 14, 1881 at the age of 42. It is not clear whether he moved to Soddy to work in the coal mines, or if he died passing through the area. His son, Robert, died in 1893 and is buried beside his father. I wish I knew more about Nashua in the months between the 1880 census and his death in 1881. Did he move his family from Polk County to Soddy to work in the coal mines? How did he die? How did it come to be that he was buried in this cemetery? His son, Robert, died twelve years later. Since the 1890 census was (mostly) destroyed by fire, there is no information on Robert's life after 1880, other than the tombstone that stands beside his father's in Wallace Cemetery.
The 1910 census finds Margaret Biddirous in Rhea County, Tennessee, now a widowed grandmother residing with the Holden family. Margaret is 84 years old at this time. Her grandson, with whom she is living, is William Holden. He was born to the Biddirous' daughter, Emeline, and her husband John Holden in 1875 in Ducktown, Polk County, Tennessee. William Holden worked as a mine superintendent, according to the 1910 census, and his entire name is William Nashaway Holden. He was named after his grandfather, Nashua.
Margaret Biddirous died in Rhea County, Tennessee on March 3, 1918. The informant on her death certificate is her grandson, Nash Holden, who gave his grandmother the birthdate of February, 1816. (Genealogy tip: Informants are considered 'secondary' when it comes to genealogy information. They may, nor may not, know the correct information. Proceed with caution!) I can not find the location of Margaret's grave.
It is very possible, and most likely, that Nashua and Margaret have descendants in Hamilton, Rhea and surrounding counties. Their grandchildren by daughter Emeline would include the names Holden, Hughes, Jones and Evans. 
And so, Nashua Biddirous lived a total of 42 years on this earth. He immigrated from Mexico, worked on a farm in Monroe Co, Tennessee, served as a musician during the Civil War, was a Prisoner of War, then became a citizen of the United States of America. He married, had children and died at the young age of forty-two. It would appear that he did nothing important during his short time on earth, but who really knows? Genealogy is sometimes just dates and facts (which is interesting to genealogists), but I often wish there were stories to go along with the facts. This is one of those times. There is a bit of humanity and life in his story in that his daughter, Emeline, named her son Nashaway, after his grandfather Nashua.
ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Confederate Tennessee Troops 59th Regiment, Tennessee Mounted Infantry
The 59th Infantry was organized in June 1962. The members were from the counties of McMinn, Monroe, Carter, Knox, Grainger Hamblen and Polk Counties. It fought in the Vicksburg Campaign and was captured on July 4, 1863. After being exchanged and reorganized as mounted infantry, the regiment was placed under the command of General Vaughn. It went on to take part in the operations around Knoxville. It participated in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign and disbanded in 1865 in Southwest Virginia.
THE ROLE OF MUSICIANS DURING THE CIVIL WAR
Musicians marked the activities of daily wartime life, including wake up, lights out, roll call and drills. Music also helped organize the movement of troops (marching) and even conveyed combat orders to soldiers, who were trained to recognize these commands.
