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mcc-jrr_201-015

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Elko Switch Cemetery, 20-1 Summary Report, page 15

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sloping knoll of the project area is just to the west of the fence line and would be a likely spot for the first burials to have been placed. Subsequent burials would be placed radiating outward from this spot and down the gradual slope. Excavating the remainder of the cemetery, of course, would be the only way of eliminating conjecture, although sufficient data have been collected to provide sound argument for this theory.... p. 244 M.G. Chaney and his wife, Bertie Chaney retained possession of the property until the U.S. Government bought their tract for the purpose of installing Redstone Arsenal. M.G. Chaney deeded two acres of the southeastern corner of the property to the State of Alabama for a school. This school, Chaney School, appears on the 1936 Madison 7.5' TVA quadrangle. Personal communication with Cecil Chaney, grandson of M.G. Chaney, revealed that M.G. Chaney resided in [what is now called] the Goddard House during the time he possessed the property. Cecil Chaney attended the Chaney School for a number of years, and also lived with his grandfather off and on from 1924-1942. Cecil Chaney recalls the southwest quarter of Section 7, Township 4 South, Range 1 West was almost always cultivated, and during his childhood he "roamed all over those fields." He does not recall a cemetery (Cecil Chaney, personal interview, 8 March 1988). In 1942, the U.S. Government purchased the 700-acre tract from M.G. Chaney, as well as 35,000 acres that surrounded this tract (mostly south and east). A review of maps and documentation in the History Division, Redstone Arsenal, indicates that a cemetery was never recorded in this area. The project area has been left in open pasture since the U.S. Government purchased the property from M.G. Chaney. Gate 9 of Redstone Arsenal is approximately 0.4 mile south of the historic cemetery. A fenceline separating Rideout Road 15 - (1594)    

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