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The People Who Lived on the Land that is Now Redstone Arsenal, page 237
The Jordan-Jacobs Cemetery and markers of Jacobs family members. Photographs by John P. Rankin in 2002.
Elle Jacobs: Horse and Carriage Meet the Electric Trolley
A story, based on courthouse records, told by John P. Rankin:
One morning in early 1919, Elle Jacobs hitched a horse to a carriage and set off from the farm to Huntsville. Jacobs belonged to a large and prosperous black family living on what is now Redstone Arsenal. Jacobs was just outside the city limits on Clinton Avenue when his
carriage met one of Huntsville's electric street trolleys. The horse bolted and pulled the carriage into a wire fence. Jacobs was thrown to the ground, the horse was hurt, and the carriage was damaged. Jacobs sued. Court records show that he asked for $3000 damages from Alabama Power Company--$1000 each for the horse, carriage and himself. He did not win. The court found that Jacobs' horse had a reputation for being high-strung. Blame it on the horse, the court decided.
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