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Farming For A Better Future, page 303
(Above) Image Of Class In Front Of Pleasant Grove School, 1948 (Limestone County Archives, Athens, Alabama, Courtesy Col. James L. Walker) (Below) 1940 Federal Census Showing Theo Cain (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry. com) (Middle) 1940 Federal Census Showing Ned Sanderfur (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry.com) (Bottom) 1910 Federal Census Showing Robert Wiggins (National Archives and Records Administration via Ancestry. com)
were teachers here in the 1940s. In the photograph Mrs. Coble and Matthews are flanking the children.
The Pleasant Grove Cemetery is an African American grave yard. The first known interment is that of Mabel Jones (1901-1902), though there are probably earlier unmarked burials. Common surnames found here include Crutcher, Fletcher, Malone, and Noble. Those laid to rest here include local farmers and landowners Theo Cain (1895-1976) and his wife Annie Bell Fletcher Cain (born 1887), their daughter, Lula Mae Cain Davis (1927-1968), and Ned Sandefur (18921979) and his wife Flora. Both Cain and Sandefur owned farms in the area in 1940.
Nearby is Wiggins Cemetery, located on private property down Curtis Drive. This small family cemetery has 12 known graves, the earliest being Robert E. Lee Wiggins (1907-1915). Robert was the son of Robert Wiggins (1878-1952) and Della Woods Wiggins (1878-1970), both buried here as well. Robert Sr. owned a farm in this area from at least 1910.
Other names in the cemetery include Collier, Griffis, and Jones, who are most likely related to the Wiggins family.
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Poplar Creek Cemetery
The Poplar Creek Cemetery is located along Popular Creek Road southwest of Athens. This African American cemetery has at least 288 marked graves, the earliest of which is of Frank Reed (1898-1899). Among those laid to rest here are local landowners and farmers John Allen and Edmond Shoulders. John Allen (1866-1931) and his wife, Georgia Reed Allen (1863-1960), owned a farm in the vicinity in 1920. By 1940, their son, Curtis Allen (1893-1970), operated his own farm. Several of John and Georgia's other children are also buried in the cemetery. Ed Shoulders (1867-1951), trustee of Poplar Creek School, owned
a farm between 1910 and 1940 and the school was moved to his farm for a time. His wife, Sarah Nance Shoulders (1867-1943), and several of their children are buried in the cemetery, as well.
Jonas Farrar (1882-1974), Col. James L. Walker's grandfather, is also buried here among 31 other members of the Farrar family. Other common surnames of the Poplar Creek Cemetery are Coleman, Kennemer, Petty, and Williams.
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