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Farming For A Better Future, page 352
makes this even more interesting is that, unlike many of the families in Madison County and North Alabama, the Inmans have no connection to the freedmen or the later African American community.
Corporal C. R. Blackburn, Company B of the 4th USCI has a standard, government-issued headstone. The other markers include Jack Fletcher, Jr. (1932-1933), Mandy Jefferson Hereford (died 1933), Henderson Holding (died 1930), and Reverend E. Jones (18851935).
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Jamar Plantation*
The Jamar family owned a substantial amount of land in south Madison County, mostly on what is now Redstone Arsenal. Born in Richmond, Virginia, Richard Jamar (1785-1872) brought his family to Madison in the early 19th century. There were at least three pioneer homesteads owned by this early family to the county, one of which was just outside the arsenal boundaries to the west where the Jamar Cemetery is located off Martin Road. Two other early plantations were in Mullins Flat.
James Jamar was a white plantation and slave owner. Slave schedules from 1860 showed that Richard Jamar had 44 slaves and Thomas Jamar owned another 20 slaves. Although the records do not include James Jamar, descendants of Jamar described him as the “old white master” because he is also the ancestor of many of the people of color of Pond Beat. Jamar is known to have had at least three children with a woman named Lettie, who served as a cook for the family. Presumably, she was once enslaved by the Jamars. The children were named Walter (born 1876), Virginia (born 1879), and Octavia (born 1882). Octavia married Buddy Clay, and together they lived in Pond Beat and sharecropped on land then owned by the Schiffman & Co. Inc.
(Above) The Jamar-Clay Family with Octavia and Buddy in the Center, Taken in Pond Beat Circa 1930s (Curry 2006)
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Joiner Cemetery
The Joiner Cemetery is on Redstone Arsenal in the old community of Pond Beat, north of Raiford Road. The cemetery was historically located on the Timmons Plantation and probably originated as the burial ground for their slaves. It is located along the historic route of the Lehman's Ferry road, which cut through the plantation and was at one time lined with the slave houses for those who worked the Timmons' fields.
One of the grave markers is for a local resident of color, Claudie Joiner (1895-1924). Joiner was a World War I veteran and a descendant of white plantation owner William Timmons and his enslaved wife, Louisa. Lizzie Joiner Ward (1900-2000), Claudie's sister, was interviewed in 1999, shortly before her passing. Claudie's son, Walter Joiner, was interviewed as well. According to the Joiners, the cemetery has been in use since the time of slavery.
People known to be buried here include: Joe Walker (died 1940), Aaron Tate (died 1941), Claudie Joiner (died 1924), and Pearlie Jacobs (died 1903).
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Jordan
Cemetery
This cemetery is in the old community of Mullins Flat, on Redstone Arsenal, east of Dodd Road. It was named Jordan Cemetery
by the U.S. Army at a time when several metal funeral markers with information were still present. However, now there is only one marker left, that of Beulah Love (1880-1925), and numerous unmarked graves or graves with unmarked stones.
Beulah Smith Love was the mother of James Love, who was interviewed by Redstone in 2005. Beulah was born in about the same year as her husband, Moses Love. The Loves bought land in Mullins Flat in 1916.
37
Jude Plantation (David and Lucy
Crutcher House)
The Jude Plantation has a nearly 200-year history, beginning with an 1812 land patent for 54 acres held by Samuel M. Echols. Just five years later, George Jude purchased that land from Echols. According to the National Register for Historic Places (NRHP) nomination from 2000, “Jude is believed to have been a successful planter whose family maintained the quarter-section for decades.”
George Jude, Sr. died in 1819, leaving the estate to his son, George, Jr. In 1860, Jude owned 22 male and nine female slaves. Over the early 19th century, the Jude family amassed over 800 acres of land around the original 54 acres. After the Civil War, much of the estate was sold to other Jude family members, and the northwest quarter was sold out of the family in 1883.
In the early 20th century, the story of the Jude Plantation shifted according to the NRHP nomination. On February 6, 1910, the Jude house, farm, and surrounding 320 acres were purchased by David and Lucy Crutcher for the sum of $1,400. The Crutchers were African American farmers and key members of the community. David Crutcher was born a slave in 1851 on a plantation owned by George Jude, Jr. Known as the “Strong Quarter,” according to Jude, Sr.'s 1871 probated will, this plantation was located west of the Jude Plantation. He continued to live on the land where he was born and enslaved.
Nearly 50 years later, in 1906, Crutcher and two other African American farmers, Burns Battle and John
(Below) Madison County Land Records of Northwest
Quarter of Township 3, Range 1 West, 1920-1932 (Index of Land Records, Madison County, Alabama)
Indicates a Historical, Non-Extant Resource - (4880)