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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 218
grandmother. She was alert of mind, but weak of body and easily tired, as she sat in her wheelchair by her bed in the home of her niece Lucille Rooks. The researcher questioned what “set aside as a free Nation” meant. Lizzie said that was just what she was always told. She was not pressed further to remember because of her fragile condition. Nevertheless, the association of Pearlie Jacobs who was described as being “set aside as a free Nation” and Frank Jacobs, who was a free Black man before the onset of the Civil War and bought property that was once “set aside as a free Nation” lends itself to speculation and further inquiry. [Note: “Set apart as a free nation” refers to Indian possession of the land. The Indians ceded the land in 1816. While the land encompassed in RSA was once part of the Indian hunting grounds, no historic Indian villages were located there. In 1816 a survey of the ceded land was initiated, but the first date of legal sale was in February of 1818.] Alva Jacobs Family Information. Having drawn up family trees for the parents of Alva Jacobs and studied the information from the Alva Jacobs interview and analyzing it as a whole with the Lizzie Ward interview and the land purchase records provided by Dennis Simpson, the researcher again called Alva Jacobs seeking more names and marriages in the family line. All the data indicated a connecting ancestor with Lizzie Ward. The second interview yielded the information that Alva's maternal grandfather's sister was Pearlie Jacobs, who married Alex Joiner. This name was added to the “family tree.” This connection took the Jacobs family back to the woman [Pearlie] who married the son of William Timmons (Alex Joiner) and was the mother Lizzie Ward had described as being “set apart as a free Nation.” Lizzie was Alex's sister. The connection between Alva Jacobs and Pearly Jacobs had been determined. However, the questions remained: Was there a connection between Frank and Pearlie? Was Pearlie born free? One More Look at Archival Documents. As stated earlier, archival documentation is beyond the scope of this study; however, at times one cannot stop the pursuit. Thus, some of the documents found are presented and discussed. On June 4, 1934, Everett Horton signed a sworn statement in the Madison County Records regarding the ownership of a 22-acre tract of land in Pond Beat. Everett Horton swore that his grandfather, Burwell [Burrell] Jacobs, Sr., died about the year 1890 while occupying his homestead on that tract. He did not have a will and “there was no administration had upon his estate.” Everett Horton attested to the fact that upon his grandfather's death, his uncle, George Jacobs, became owner of the estate and lived upon it until his death about the year 1907. George Jacobs never married, and upon his death, “his heirs at law conveyed this land to Lucien Jacobs.” The statement goes on to state that Lucien Jacobs mortgaged the land to Steel and Cartwright, who Everett understood to have foreclosed on the mortgage, and then sold the tract to his 218 - (4251)