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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 63
The family tree compiled by McKinley Jones shows Ben Lanier, his maternal great grandfather, as being born in 1840. The 1880 census shows Ben Lanier as age 45 in 1880, which would put his birth date back to 1835. The census shows Edna Lanier as being age 20, which would put her birth date at 1860; McKinley Jones has it listed as 1851. It seems probable that the birth dates provided by McKinley Jones are the correct ones for two reasons: (1) McKinley Jones has done considerable records research on his family, and (2) according to the census dates, Edna Lanier was 20 years old and her son Jerry was 13, which would have made her 7 years old at the time of his birth. The date of her birth as recorded by McKinley Jones would have her being 16 years old at time of his birth. It is reasonable to suggest that the birthdates shown on the census are not accurate.
The birthdates for the children are the same on both the census and the family tree drawn by McKinley Jones.
Madison County, Alabama Census, 1880
Source:FHL Film 1254021 National Archives Film T9-0021 Page 104B RelationSex Marr Race Age Birthplace
Self M M B 45 AL
Edna LANIER Wife F M B 20 AL
Jerry LANIER Son M S B 13 AL
Davy LANIER Son M S B 10 AL
Isikia LANIER Son M S B 7 AL
Malan LANIER Son M S B 6 AL
George W. LANIER Son M S B 3 AL
John W. LANIER Son M S B 6MAL
McKinley Jones: His Boyhood
Where He Lived. McKinley Jones said there were three houses on the parcel of land where he grew up, near Indian Creek Cemetery on what is now Test Area 3. He said where he lived was north of Indian Creek Cemetery where David Jones, his baby brother, was buried. The cemetery is on Parcel B-57, which was shown on the Army Real Estate Map as being owned by Mollie Jones at the time the Government took ownership in 1941.
McKinley Jones said that one time or another, he lived with his family in each of the three houses. He said the landowner was M.G. Chaney. Eventually his family moved to another place not too far away from there. He couldn't remember why. The property shown on the Army Real Estate Map (of 1941) that was owned by M.G. Chaney did not fit the description of the location given by Jones. Thus, the researcher asked Jones to accompany her to Test Area 3 and try to place the location. Based on this, the parcel was speculated to be Parcel B-61, shown as owned by Walter F. Chaney. Jones felt sure his family had lived on M.G. Chaney property. As it turned out, they were both right.
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