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Farming For A Better Future, page 366
of all the cemeteries on the Arsenal. It is enclosed by a brick wall; inside, there are several large monuments and some box tombs.
Although it is certain which members of the white Timmons family are buried in this cemetery, it is less clear which members of color were also buried there. There is a fenced section outside the walled section of the cemetery that may contain burials of some of these family members. But the final resting place of many of the family members of color is undetermined, including Louisa Timmons Joiner.
(Above) Photograph of the Timmons
Cemetery in 2010 (FindAGrave.com)
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Toney
The community of Toney is in northwest Madison County. The nearby community of Madison Crossroads was established well before Toney; however, by the early 20th century, Toney had become larger than Madison Crossroads. The community was predominately people of color in the first half of the 20th century, with approximately half of the land owned by people of color at this time. Schools, churches, and cemeteries were established
* Indicates a Historical - Non-Extant Resource
by the landowners, including New Zion Steadfast Primitive Baptist Church, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Turner Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, Toney Rosenwald School, Toney High School, Crutcher Cemetery, and Turner Cemetery.
The community of Toney is enumerated in the census district of Madison Crossroads. The district's population was segregated throughout the early 20th century. The northern half of the district has historically been predominately white families, while the southern half has been home to more than 80% of the population of people of color. The area as a whole consisted of about 25% households of color between 1900 and 1940, with the exception of 1920, when more than 60% of the households were families
(Below) 1936 USGS Topographic
Map, Ardmore and Toney, Alabama Quadrangles
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of color. The percentage of households of color that own their property was only 9% in 1900. This number rose slightly in 1910 and peaked at 24% of households of color owning property in 1920. By the 1930 census, there was a sharp drop in the number of families of color as well as those that owned property and farmed. Only 6% of families of color owned property in 1930 and 1940.
At the turn of the 20th century, 38% of all households of color in the district owned their property. From 1910-1940 nearly all of the households of color who owned their property owned a farm. At the beginning of the century, 20 families of color owned a farm, a number that peaked in 1910 with 57 families and held at 55 families in 1920. Similar to the trend in population and home ownership in the county, there was a decline to 41 farms owned by people of color in 1930 and 36 farms in 1940. Many of the farm owning families were members of the Toney community
including the Crutcher, Strong, Tibbs, and Hammonds families, as well as the Gardiner and Hatchett families. The Hammonds families typically had four to six members that owned a farm in the area.
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Toney High School
Labeled only as “Toney School” on maps and land records, there was a school by that name on the east side of Toney on the southwest corner of Toney and Jeff roads. This is the other side of town from the Toney School that is known to be a Rosenwald school and not a high school. Toney High School went to the 12th grade by the time of its last graduating class in 1942, of which Dan Tibbs, Jr. was a part.
Records show the Toney School on the land from 1933-1944. Before then, the land appears to be owned by John E. Reynolds, a white farmer and landowner; however, the records are confusing. Still,
(Below) Toney (High) School on Madison County Land
Records, 1933-1944 (Index of Land Records, Madison County, Alabama) - (4894)