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Farming For A Better Future, page 306
schools were held together or in close proximity, therefore, the St. Paul School may have been in this area. The school was organized by Mr. Moses Brooks, who served as the school's first teacher. He was followed by Mr. James A. Allen, Ms. Katherine Turrentine, Ms. A.L. Horton, Mrs. E.B. McKissack, Ms. Stuart, Mrs. Esther Scott, Mrs. Ella Smith, and Mr. Benjamin L. Crittenton. The school's trustees were Mr. Curtis (Above) Students and Teachers of the St. John School Allen, Mr. Leonard Yarbrough, and Mr. Earnest Benningfield. A three-month term of teaching at St. Paul School paid a total of $20. 431 St. Paul School* St. Paul School was located near Poplar Creek in southwest Limestone County. In 1936 there was a St. Paul Church at the intersection of Snake Road with Hardy and Ripley roads. Oftentimes churches and (Left) 1936 USGS Topographic Map Showing the St. Paul Church (Above) Students and Teachers of the St. Paul School 44 Tanner The community of Tanner, or Tanner Crossroads, is along Bee Line Highway just south of Athens. The community is historically a crossroads connecting Huntsville, Athens, Decatur, and Browns Ferry. It is also in an area historically settled by African Americans. The area south of Athens and along the Tennessee River was prime agricultural land that attracted many African American farmers. The area is difficult to describe from census records because it is divided between the Athens, Slough, and Quid Nunc districts. The landowners of Athens have already been discussed. The Slough district covers the area southwest of Athens south to the river and west to the Georgia-Little Elk Community. The district of Quid Nunc is south of Athens and east of Mooresville. During the early 20th century, the area referred to as Slough had the highest rates of African American farm ownership outside of the Athens area. In 1900, Slough was home to 44 farmers of color who owned their own land. This number represented 12% of the total households. While the overall households in the district steadily increased from 368 to 646, the number of African American landowners remained in the 40s or 50s, with the exception of 1930. As was the case throughout Limestone County, 1920 appeared promising for African American landowners (Below) 1936 USGS/TVA Topographic Map of Tanner, Tanner, Alabama Quadrangle KEY in Slough, there being 57 households who owned a farm that year. However, over the next 10 years, many of the farmers had lost their land and in 1930, only 27 African American households owned a farm. This number rebounded by 1940, when 44 landowning households, or 7% of all households, were African American. Several families owned more than one farm in Slough - the Coleman, Malone, Beddingfield, Yarbrough, Bell, and Sowell families owned a significant number of farms. The Malone family owned five farms in 1900, six in 1910, seven in 1920, and six again in 1930 and 1940. The Yarbrough, Coleman, and Sowell families had at least two or three farms until 1930. And the Bell and Davis families each had three farms in 1940. Col. James L. Walker's grandfather and mother lived in this district in 1920, 1930, and 1940. By 1940, most of the African American landowning farmers lived near Ripley in the southwest part of the district. The district of Quid Nunc, while containing a higher than average number of African American landowning farmers for the area, had significantly fewer farmers of color than Slough. The smaller district had 267 total households in 1900, peaked at 363 households in 1930, and shrank to 280 households by 1940. The percentage of landowning households that were African American rose from 2% in 1900 to a peak of 13% in 1920, before decreasing to 8% by 1940. There were only six farmers of color who owned land in 1900, although there were many households without ownership information on the census. As noted for other areas of Limestone County, the highest number of African American landowners was in 1920. In Quid Nunc there were 45 farmers of color who owned their land. This fell sharply to 25 in 1930 and 23 in 1940. Of the six African American farmers in 1900, Henry H. Garrett owned his farm from at least 1900 to 1920 and Spot Maclin owned his farm from at least 1900 to 1930. There are several widows and sons who inherited the family farm in the early 20th century. The Malone family also had farms in this district: three in 1920 and two in 1930. Other common surnames in Quid Nunc include MacLin/ Maclin/McLin, Bridgeforth, Harris, Griffin/Griffith, ■ COMMUNITIES CEMETERIES CHURCHES PLANTATIONS SCHOOLS - (4834)