Capt. Joseph Lenow House - A Founder of Elmwood Cemetary
- Jay Brothers
- Jul 25, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: Apr 27
North Watkins near Union Memphis, TN
Circa 1850
Captain Joseph Lenow (1813-1889) and Frances C. Broome Lenow (1828-1909)(m.1845) arrived in the Shelby Co. area in 1848. Virginia natives, Joseph and his brother James had established the town of Hickory Withe outside Memphis about 1834. He also raised a company of volunteers to fight in the Mexican War.
Lenow returned to Hickory Withe which was a settlement on the Stage Rd. between Oakland and the Memphis area (and reached to Nashville). He was prominent enough to become postmaster of the area in 1845. Three years later, the Lenow family moved further west to Memphis. He invested very well in real estate. In 1852, he was critical in creating Elmwood Cemetery of which he was then president for thirty years. Elmwood was part of the late nineteenth century Park Movement. Elmwood served a dual purpose as a cemetery and Memphis’ first public park. He became president of the Bank of Tennessee, and was a director of the Mississippi & Tennessee Railroad for 10 years.
The family is remembered with the Lenow community northwest of Fisherville; Lenow Place and Lenow Park Dr. in Memphis near Elmwood Cemetary; Lenow Rd. in Cordova, TN.
Their granddaughter was Lila Peters Lenow Willins who married Edmund Orgill Willins of Cedar Hall in Bartlett. The family is remembered with Lenow Place and Lenow Park Dr. See Cedar Hall
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