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mcc-jrr_801-021
Cooper - Penland Cemetery, 80-1 Summary Report, page 21
administration of John Timmons' estate. Alexander Penland would not have been an administrator of the estate of Houston H. Lea unless Mr. Lea had died. Alexander Penland was married in July of 1850 to Isabella J. Allison, daughter of David & Sarah T. Smith Allison. Charity Cooper, wife of Houston H. Lea, was nee Allison. She first married on Feb. 27, 1832, to James Cooper (who used to have a stone in the Cooper - Penland Cemetery, per Dorothy Johnson's account on page 274 of Volume 1 of her book CEMETERIES OF MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA). Dot Johnson further reported that James Cooper died December 7, 1834, at the age of 42 years. Charity must have been an aunt of the Isabella J. Allison, who married Alexander Penland. Isabella's father David Allison married Sarah T. Smith on December 23, 1833. Since both David and Charity Allison married in the years 1832 and 1833, it is a pretty sure bet that they were siblings. Dot Johnson recorded that Charity was a sister of John Allison, but she never stated any relationship between Charity or John and David Allison. John Allison married Mary Ann Taylor on May 16, 1835. There was an earlier marriage record for a John Allison who wed Nancy Cobb on November 23 of 1825, but their graves and tombstone location indicate that they lived and died together in the far eastern portion of Madison County. They are buried on their own land, and there is no grave at that location for a second wife of that John Allison. Therefore, that is a strong indication (but not conclusive proof) that the John Allison who married Mary Taylor in 1835 was of a separate family from the John Allison who married Nancy Cobb in 1825. These facts show that the relationship of Alexander Penland to Charity Allison Cooper Lea was that of his being the husband of her niece. Thus, when Houston H. Lea died, Alexander was administrating the estate of his aunt's husband, with the relationships being by marriage, not blood. The 1880 census of Madison County showed the names of a later “Alexander” Penland with children named Charity C. and David A., indicating that the names were kept in the family for generations. This later generation was still living on prearsenal land, per the Township 5 label. Census Place: Township 5, Madison, Alabama -- 1880 Source: FHL Film 1254022 National Archives Film T9-0022 Page 144A Birthplace Elexandre PENLAND Charity C. PENLAND David A. PENLAND Relation Sex Marr Race Age Self M W W 58 NC Dau F S W 24 AL Son M S W 21 AL 21 - (2745)