Madison County Cemeteries

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mcc-jrr_201-013

Elko Switch Cemetery, 20-1 Summary Report, page 13

has resisted all efforts at identification and appears to be totally unrecorded and virtually unknown is strange indeed. One possible explanation is derived from information secured by Ms. Perroni via personal communication with Mr. Bill Driver of Huntsville, who responded to the media exposure. Mr. Driver was responsible for the location, identification and fencing of all cemeteries on Redstone Arsenal property in 1941. Mr. Driver hired a man named "Shorty" (he could not recall his last name) to help locate the cemeteries on the proposed Arsenal grounds. Shorty was seventy-nine years old in 1941 and knew the location of most of the graveyards on the Arsenal property that are presently protected. The project cemetery was not visible in 1941 according to Mr. Driver; however, Shorty knew there was a graveyard somewhere on the Chaney farm (the project area). Shorty informed Mr. Driver that the markers had been removed more than twenty years before (ca. 1920). Mr. Driver recalls Shorty mentioning that the cemetery may have been used in the early 1800s. The field was under cultivation in 1941 and the graveyard was not visible. It was never fenced off because the exact location was not known. Mr. Driver remembers Shorty stating "It was a good size graveyard." In view of Shorty's recollections, coupled with the fact that the County of Madison (wherein lies the cemetery) passed a cemetery ordinance in 1925, an interesting theory is posed. Because the ordinance required marking and maintenance of existing cemeteries (which would devalue the property) it is conceivable that the landowner or a tenant knew beforehand of the imminent passing of the ordinance. By removing the tombstones and plowing the area the individual would not only escape these inconveniences but also acquire several more cultivatable acres. Another possibility is that the acreage was simply needed for cultivation and no protest was made. We know the cemetery was used as 13 - (1592)