Memphis Martyrs

Memphis Martyrs is a Tennessee historical marker in Shelby County.

Shelby Co, Memphis, at Martyrs Park

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

In August, 1878, fear of death caused a panic during which 30,000 of 50,000 Memphians fled this bluff city. By October, the epidemic of yellow fever killed 4,204 of 6,000 Caucasians and 946 of 14,000 Negros who stayed. With some outside help, citizens of all races and walks of life, recognizing their common plight in this devastated, bankrupt community, tended 17,600 sick and buried the dead. As a result many of them lost their lives, becoming martyrs in their service to mankind.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1862 · Johnson's Kentucky & Tennessee (1862) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1873 · Arkansas. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1879 · Mississippi. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1886 · Arkansas. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1916 · Memphis, Tennessee (USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection)

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker text and location from the Tennessee Historical Commission, as the Commission publishes them on its marker map.

Memphis Martyrs

Historical maps covering this location

More markers nearby