Jarnigan & Son Mortuary
Knoxville's Oldest Black Business
Still Serving The Community Today
2823 Martin Luther King Jr Ave
Since 1886
"FOUNDED ON TRUST IN GOD, FAITH, & HONESTY"
Jarnigan and Sons Mortuary was established by Clem Jarnigan following a former apprenticeship with an undertaking company. The earliest exisiting records establish the businesses' exsitence dating back to 1886. Founded on Trust in God, Faith, and Honesty, the mortuary has been servicing the community for 140 years and is still in operation today.
ABOUT
CLEM S. JARNIGAN
Clem S. Jarnigan grew up in Knoxville and opened up his own mortuary with the experience he had attained during his apprenticeship with the Shepard Undertaking Company owned by Lazarus C. Shepard. Shepard was an undertaker, embalmer, and alderman who conducted the funeral of former President Andrew Johnson in Greeneville in 1875.
Jarnigan established his undertaker parlor at State Street and Commerce. He operated the business with the help of his son, Clark. With skills as a carpenter, Jarnigan was known to make his own caskets. In 1888 he moved the business from the downtown area to 15 Nelson Street and remained in that building until 1909. In 1909 the company moved to a larger facility at 401 Nelson Street.
Before his death in 1927, Jarnigan buried 5,000 people and bolstered the largest, Black owned undertaking business in East Tennessee. He is interred at Odd Fellows Cemetery located at 2001 Bethel Avenue in Knoxville.
Goldie Mae Johnson
Clem Jarnigan was survived by his wife Barbara; his son Clark, and his four daughters, Cornelia, Laura, Daisy, and Goldie Mae. Following the death of Clark in 1930, Goldie Mae assumed control and ran the business. A graduate of Austin High School's 1910 class, Goldie Mae is remembered as an influential woman who served on national boards and associations, including the Acacia Rose Circle. She married William Tate and after her death in 1950, ownership passed to her husband.
The 1960's
Urban Renewal
William Tate remarried Annabelle Moss and the couple lived above the funeal home. By the 1960's, the Urban Renewal projects were in effect and like many other Black homes, businesses, and establishments, Jarnigan & Son was impacted. For half a century, the business' location at 401 Nelson Avenue resided in the city's Black business hub which is known today as the Old City. When Urban Renewal forced the business to relocate, Jarnigan and Son moved to a new facility at 4823 McCalla Avenue (Now 2823 Martin Luther King Jr Ave) across from where Austin-East High School is located today. At the time, Tate did not receive fair compensation for the building on Nelson Ave and went into debt. Still, the business continued to operate with the standard that all families are provided quality service and has maintained those standards today.
Jarnigan & Son Mortuary Funeral Fan
Moving Forward
BEAL BOURNE
Beal Bourne II serves as the current funeral director of Jarnigan & Son Mortuary. He moved to Knoxville from Kentucky where he went to mortuary science school in the 1970's. Initially feeling like an outsider when came to the city, he would work for the Tates whom treated him like a grandson. Following the death of William Tate in 1980, the business was left in Bourne's hands. Since then, Janrigan & Son has continued to be a "revolving door of employees, friends, family, volunteers, and customers."
