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Farming For A Better Future, page 99
99 - DEKALB, JACKSON & MARSHALL
(Opposite Page) Excerpts from the Federal Census (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry.com) (First) Excerpt of 1920 Census Record Showing Tom Chambliss Owning a Farm (Second) Excerpt of 1920 Census Record Showing Green Coleman Owning a Farm (Third) Excerpt of 1920 Census Record Showing Wiley Fielder Owning a Farm (Fourth) Excerpt of 1920 Census Record Showing L. J. Judkins Owning a Farm
(This Page) Excerpts from the Federal Census (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry.com) (First) Excerpt of 1920 Census Record Showing Tom Magbie Owning a Farm (Second) Excerpt of 1920 Census Record Showing Ruff Moore Owning a Farm (Third) Excerpt of 1920 Census Record Showing Ida Parks Owning a Farm
at 22 in 1930 before rising again to 48 in 1940. Due to the rapid growth of the town, the percentage of African American households declined from 15% to 5% overall.
Among the households of color were very few farmers who owned their own land. Most African American families lived within the city of Fort Payne and rented their homes. In 1900, there was only one man who owned his farm, William Williamson. No further information could be found about him. The following decade, there
were three landowners: Tom Chambliss, Charlie Sparks, and Robert Hightower. While representing less than 1% of the overall households, they made up 6% of the households of color in 1910. The greatest number of farming landowners was recorded in 1920. That year, there were seven families with farms including those of Tom Magbie, Ida Parks, Lewis J. Judkins, Wiley Fielder, Green Coleman, Tom Chambliss, and Ruff Moore. These farms were representative of 1% of the total households and 14% of the African American households. By 1930, the African American population of Fort Payne dropped significantly, leaving only one landowner - Tom Chambliss.
This was true of 1940 as well although by then Chambliss' son owned a farm as well.
Tom Chambliss (1877-unknown) owned his farm from at least 1910 to 1940. In 1910, he owned a farm on the west side of Fort Payne, but by 1920 had settled on Dugout Valley Road on the north side near Minvale. Herman Chambliss (1892-1957) was Tom Chambliss' son. He owned a farm on Big Valley Road in 1940. The Chambliss family is buried in the large public cemetery in Fort Payne called Glenwood. Another landowner, Green Coleman (born c. 1864) and his wife, Mattie, owned a house in Fort Payne from at least 1900 to 1910 before - (4627)