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Farming For A Better Future, page 161
1910 and had to rent in 1920, when there were no landowning farmers in the area. He was able to regain ownership by 1930, along with three other landowning farmers: Ike and George Armstead and Bud Reeder. There were four landowning farmers in 1940 as well: Ike and Isaac Armstead, St. John Agnes, and Thomas Perkins. The community of Woodland was also majority African American and just to the east of Smithsonia. It had its own census district but was not centered on a town like Oakland or Smithsonia. There were more landowning farmers in Woodland than Smithsonia, but not as many as in Oakland in the early 20th century. 66% of Woodland households were of color in 1900, with eight landowning farmers: Ottoway Noel, Woodson Rowell, Ellen Turner, Matilda Chandler, Lucy Reeder, Dick Humes, Gus Smith, and John Martin. Though the overall population declined in 1910, the number of households of color increased and there were eight landowning farmers: Noel, Rowell, Humes, Armstead, and four members of the Martin family: John Martin, Sr., John Martin, Jr., and Seedie and Washington Martin. All the Martins lived on the same road in close proximity. By 1920, a dozen farmers of color owned their land. Noel, Armstead, and Washington and Seedie Martin continued to own farms along with Fred and Bettie Rowell, Allen Fox, Amos Turner, Edward and Susie Anderson, Tom Martin, and Thomas Perkins. After 1920, the community of Woodland began to decline rapidly. In 1930, only four farmers owned their land: Washington Martin, Ned Jones, Wesley Williams, and Isaac Armstead. Washington Martin owned his farm from at least 1910 to 1930, and Isaac Armstead appears to own a farm in Smithsonia in 1940. But there are no African American farming landowners in Woodland by 1940. Although the district's population was over 50% households of color, not one of them owned a farm. This may be due to the same decline experienced in Oakland when families moved to the Canaan neighborhood of Florence. The proximity of the river also meant that many families were displaced when the TVA dammed the river, affecting the poorest landowners at the bottom of the “Bend in the River.” Smithsonia Church of Christ & Cemetery is located on the south side of Gunwaleford Road just east of Smithsonia. The church does not appear on any historical maps; it is first labeled on the 1988 USGS topographic map. However, the cemetery associated with the church has burials dating to the 1910s and 1960s. The first burial is that of Wootson Rowell (1856-1915), who owned a farm in 1900 and 1910 and passed it on to his son, Fred, who owned it in 1920. However, this burial could be isolated. The rest of the graves date to the 1960s to the present. The majority of burial dates and the maps indicate that (Above) Excerpt of 1910 Census Record Showing Wootson Rowell Owning a Farm (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry.com) the church may date to about 1960. Beasley, Johnson, and Thompson are common surnames here. According to the Alabama Historical Atlas, the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church was established in the 1890s. The church appears unlabeled on the 1924 USGS topographic map. The church and its cemetery are located to the south and east of the intersection of Gunwaleford Road and Lauderdale County Road 205. There are more than 110 graves here, the first (Below) Excerpt of 1930 Census Record Showing Isaac Armstead Owning a Farm (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry.com) (Bottom) Excerpt of 1930 Census Record Showing George Armstead Owning a Farm (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry.com) 161 - LAUDERDALE - (4689)