SEVIERVILLE — It isn’t clear yet when the next hearing will take place over plans to relocate a family cemetery near the French Broad River, but descendants of the family have been making their opposition known in court.
Chancellor James Ripley recused himself from proceedings involving the Ellis Family Cemetery on Sept. 29, and a new judge has not yet been appointed to the case.
But over the last few months, court records show more than a dozen letters were filed with the court in opposition to the measure. State Rep. Andrew Farmer has also filed a notice that he will be acting as the attorney for "descendants, relatives and interested persons related to the Ellis Cemetery."
Farmer could not be reached for comment on this story.
RPD LLC purchased the property along the French Broad River and Winfield Dunn Parkway in the mid-90s. Included on the land was the Ellis Family Cemetery, a family cemetery with markers that date from the mid-1800s to early 1900s.
In 2021 they discussed plans with Sevierville officials for a large development that included hotels, shops, restaurants and a youth sport complex.
There had been little movement on the site, however, until a road leading on the property was added during construction of a Weigel's gas station on a neighboring tract.
But the company filed a petition in Sevier County Chancery Court seeking court approval of plans to relocate remains from the cemetery.
Attorney Alex Johnson, who represents the company, could not be reached Wednesday for comment on this story.
In the months since that petition was filed, descendants of the Ellis family have sent letters to the court saying they oppose the proposal.
The first to write was Christy White, who said that there were several descendants of the family like her who live in Sevier County or East Tennessee.
“We, The Ellis Family, respectfully ask the court to deny the petition for disinterment and reinterment of the Ellis Family Cemetery and allow this historic burial ground to remain undisturbed,” she said in the letter.
The family owned the property before Sevier County was incorporated, she said, and operated a ferry that took travelers across the river.
She said “at least four” of the Ellis family members buried there are military veterans.
Multiple other descendants sent letters after that, bolstered by support from others from the area.
In another letter, White indicates that the cemetery was added to the Tennessee Historic Cemetery Register on Sept. 1, 2026.
In a phone interview, she said the family learned about the petition and the plans for the cemetery after seeing a story about it in The Mountain Press.
The petition indicated that Ken Ellis was the only descendant of the family the company had found, and White said he was the caretaker of the cemetery but information on other descendants was readily available.
The family members have talked about it, she said, and they don’t want to see their ancestors’ remains moved from the spot where they’ve been buried for hundreds of years.
They’ve been told that the cemetery is in an area the developers want to grade and level as part of the larger project, but they hope that can be avoided.
“We want it to be just left as is,” she said.