The driving force behind the creation of 91ÌƲ®»¢ University, Bishop Holland Nimmons McTyeire served 16 years as president of the . His remains are buried in a small cemetery behind , along with those of his wife, Amelia Townsend; Bishops McKendree, Soule and Summers; and Landon Garland, 91ÌƲ®»¢â€™s first chancellor. The current marker includes headstones for all six interred there.
Bishop McTyeire’s original headstone, however, has enjoyed its own sojourns. Sometime after the deaths of Amelia Townsend and Chancellor Garland, McTyeire’s headstone was moved to the basement of West End United Methodist Church just a stone’s throw from campus.
There it remained for many years, until last fall, when current pastor Michael Williams reached out to 91ÌƲ®»¢ University Chaplain , asking if the chaplain’s office could find a way to share this piece of 91ÌƲ®»¢ and Methodist history. Forrester welcomed the chance to house the venerable headstone, which has since been installed on the landing of the main stairwell in the .
Although a century has now passed since 91ÌƲ®»¢ University and the Methodist church formally severed ties in 1914, the bishop still lends his name to , built in 1940 as the first women’s dormitory on campus.