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Farming For A Better Future, page 372
3.
THEMES,
PEOPLE, AND
EVENTS
Alabama Orphanage for Negroes
Although the household of Julius and Sallie Blunt is labeled in the 1920 census as the “Alabama
Orphanage for Negroes,” it appears to have been
a private endeavor taken on by the couple. The
previous census of 1910 records Blunt as a preacher living on the farm he owned west of Huntsville on Elkmont Road in the vicinity of Oakwood College. By 1920, the couple were sheltering their daughter, two nieces, and 23 other children of color who are said to
be students at the home.
(Right) Excerpt of 1920 Census Showing the Farm that Functioned as the “Alabama Orphanage for Negroes” (Below) Excerpt of 1920 Census Showing the Labeling of the Orphanage
(Lower Left) Rhoda Barley Feeding Chickens in Pond Beat (Huntsville Revisited Facebook Page) (Above) David and Rhoda Barley, Circa 1940 (Curry 2006) (Below) Barley Family Reunion in 1941 (Huntsville Revisited Facebook Page)
pillars of the community by the 1930s. The early lives of David and Rhoda Barley are not known, but they were both probably born in Madison County. They married young in 1901. The 1910 census indicates that the Barleys rented a house on Blue Spring Road north of Huntsville. They are not found on the
The Barley Family
The Barley family was well respected in the Pond Beat community. David Dixon Barley (c.1875-1937) and his wife, Rhoda Abernathy Barley (born c.1883) were
* Indicates a Historical - Non-Extant Resource - (4900)