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Horton - Joiner Cemetery, 87-1 Summary Report, page 11
In 1880 Richard was listed as age 4, meaning a birth year of 1876, so the discrepancies continue. At least, it is apparent that he must have been the firstborn child of his parents, Felix and Millie. The Madison County Records Center's web pages show that Felix Joiner (“Colored”) took out a marriage license to wed Milly Graham (“Colored”) on 17 December 1873, per Marriage Book Volume 7, page 104. Accordingly, before the Civil War and emancipation, Milly may have been one of the slaves of the James Graham family associated with the nearby Dickson - Rankin Cemetery (872), for which a separate Summary Report has been prepared. Beverly Curry of the Army's Environmental Management offices interviewed several members of black families who lived in the Pond Beat area, which is where the Horton - Joiner Cemetery is located. (The neighbors in the census records already shown indicate some of the families who may well also be buried in the cemetery, without markers.) Her notes provide some insights into the lives of Ophelia and Richard and the neighboring families. The content below is from an e-mail sent by Beverly to John Rankin on October 27, 2004: The Silver Hill school in Mullen Flat was built as a church but also used as a school. Cedar Grove Mountain had a church. Made of logs. Then they built a new church--Cedar Grove Church in Pond Beat. The old Cedar Grove Church was near the Community Cemetery in Pond Beat (Joiner-Horton Cemetery). It was called the Community Cemetery because it wasn't necessary to go to that church to be buried there. Info from: Pearl Higgenbotham, born Feb. 13 1919. Pearl's parents were Yancy (Savoy) Horton, Jr. and Pearl Cowan Horton. Yancy Sr. was born in 1861 and his wife was Sophy Everette,born in 1860. Jack Sr.'s father was Jack Horton, a "slave master." Amanda Jacobs came here at the end of Emancipation. She says she came from NC. She joined up with Jack Horton who was white and he left her 40 acres when he died. To Jack and Amanda were born two boys and a girl: Yancy, Sr, Everette, and Celia. Celia married Dorvis Love. From my interview notes, Feb. 2001 Another way to understand the lives of Richard Joiner and Ophelia Horton is to review the material that has already been published or archived. The article below from the Redstone Rocket newspaper provides some explanations of the community locations and the interwoven families: 11 - (2847)