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Farming For A Better Future, page 341
12B Cowan Cemetery Now located on Redstone Arsenal, this cemetery is situated in an area that was owned by African American farmers in the early 20th century. The Cowan Cemetery was named by the U.S. Army after the African American landowner, Andy Cowan, although Cowan is not buried there, but in Huntsville. He lived to be 103 years old. Andy Cowan owned the land from at least 1920-1935. He sold the portion that contains the cemetery in 1936 to the TVA. The rest of his land was sold to the U.S. Government in 1941 for the creation of Redstone Arsenal. There is little information on the cemetery. However, it was surveyed by the U.S. Army upon acquiring the property and Ms. Pearl Higginbotham was interviewed by Redstone Arsenal in 1999 and 2000. According to Ms. Higginbotham, her grandmother (possibly Bertha Joiner Cowan) is buried here along with another relative named Budd Cowan. “There could be 27 people buried there, but they are not all Cowans.” U.S. Army records show that burials include: George Jones (1889-1931), Mem Turner, Margaret Robinson (d. 1941), Bertha J. Jones (d. 1923), Frank C. (d. 1937), and Jas. Lehman (d. 1935). 131 Crutcher Cemetery The Crutcher Cemetery is one of two community cemeteries in Toney and contains at least 38 burials. In the early 20th century, it was surrounded by land owned by African American farmers. In 1925, the land was owned by an African American farmer named Henderson Crutcher, Jr. He received 200 acres of land from his father, Henderson Sr., that same year. The first burial at this cemetery was Clarence Adams (1923-1925). The cemetery is still in use and common family names include: Moore, Scruggs, and Seay. 141 Dickson-Graham-Rankin Plantation* Referred to as the Dickson-Graham-Rankin Plantation for the various families who once owned it, this plantation was located in south Madison County, now on Redstone Arsenal. The property was originally owned by James Dickson and his wife, Keziah. According to historian and descendant, John P. Rankin, Dickson came to Madison before February 1818 and purchased about 80 acres. One of James' daughters, Nancy, married a man named James B. Graham in Madison County in 1836, leading Graham to inherit the plantation. By the late 1870s, the land was owned by one of the Graham's younger daughters, Julia, and her second husband, James Cofield Mitchell Rankin. Thus, the land came to be known by the three generations of the same family. However, what makes this plantation remarkable is that, according to the Madison County deed books, after at least 90 years the land was sold out of the family to Frank Jacobs, a man of color, who purchased the property in 1913. Mr. Jacobs was born in 1879, the son of Isaac Jacobs, who was born a free man about 1847. The Jacobs family came to Madison County as free people of color from either North or South Carolina in the 1820s and settled around Triana and Pond Beat. Frank was so well-respected in his community and among his family that several members of subsequent generations have been named Frank Jacobs, adding some confusion to the historical record. The Jacobs and their descendants continued to live on the land in south Madison County until the early 1940s when it was purchased for the use of Redstone Arsenal. (Right) Page from the 1847 Probate of William East Showing List of Slaves (Madison County, Alabama Probate Records via Ancestry.com) (Above) 1888 USGS Topographic Map of Huntsville Showing Rainbow Mountain 15 ■ East Plantation* and Slave Cemetery Though known to be on the land of William East in Section 27, Township 3 South, Range 2 West, the exact location of the East Slave Cemetery is not known. William East acquired the southeast quarter of Section 27 in 1843, only three years before his death. The Historical Atlas of Alabama described the cemetery as “a nearly destroyed black cemetery of the slaves of William East and their descendants.” Who exactly is buried here is unknown, but initial burials must date between 1843 and 1863. William East (1776-1847) was an early settler of Madison County. In fact, since his land was part of the 1816 Chickasaw Cession and East is known to have been living there in 1815, he and his neighbors were early squatters. East held several land patents 341 - MADISON - (4869)