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Farming For A Better Future, page 429
J. J. Sykes, himself, is buried. Despite being such a prominent Decaturite and founder of the Magnolia Cemetery, there is no known marker or record of Sykes' burial.
In 2010, the Sykes Cemetery was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register for its contributions to Decatur's early African American citizens. Ms. Peggy Allen Towns indexed the cemetery and researched individuals interred there with the help of fellow local historians, Dr. Wylheme Ragland and Phil Wirey.
Some of Ms. Towns' relatives are buried here including, her grandmother, Bertha Lee Polk Lyle, Decatur's first African American female preacherpastor. Her great uncle, Fred “Fayette” Polk, who had two funerals also lies here. According to family lore, Fayette was thought to be dead but after a day of laying in his coffin, he suddenly awoke and told his mother he was hungry. He would go on to live another 50 years.
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Minor Hill Cemetery
Located to the south of Flint, the cemetery has just over 100 graves. The oldest burial appears to be Maria Fennoy (1846-1897). This cemetery is the final resting place for local turn-of-the-century landowners such as Anderson Pryor (1870-1949) and his wife, Mattie (1872-1954), as well as Alex Peeples (19751954). These two families owned some of the land just south of the cemetery on the other side of Deer Spring Road.
(Right) Morgan County Land Book, 1920-1928, Township 7 South, Range 4 West, Section 11, Showing the Morgan County Training School (Morgan County Archives, Decatur, Alabama)
The cemetery is located in the center of a patchwork of parcels owned by African American farmers in the early 20th century. From 1920-1932, this cemetery was on the land owned by Cain and Edna Stovall; however, they are not buried at this cemetery. The cemetery is called out on the 1936 USGS topographic map, but not on the Morgan County Land Records from 1920-1937.
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Mitchell Cemetery
Like the Adkins Cemetery, just a quarter mile up Sandlin Road, the Mitchell Cemetery is a small cemetery with only eight marked memorials and several more stone markers without any inscriptions. It is the resting place for some Mitchells, including Emma (1869-1924) and her son, Wilk (died 1941), residents of Cedar Lake. The earliest burial is that of Joe Lipscombs (1864-1901). The cemetery is adjacent to land owned by Carrie and Jim Adkins in the early 20th century.
Morgan County Training
School (Rosenwald)*
The Morgan County Training School is one of only two Rosenwald-funded schools in the county - the other being the Cedar Lake School. It was announced in August of 1923 that the school was under construction. A five-teacher school, the Rosenwald school in Hartselle was large - over two-times as large as most Rosenwald schools. The total cost on file was $6,600; $2,000 from the African American community; $500 from the local white community; another $2,800 from public or county funds; and $1,300 from the Rosenwald Fund. In 1925-1926, the school received an additional room - now a six-room schoolhouse. This cost an extra $1,050.
The school principal would be Catston N. McDaniel, a local teacher, who donated five acres of land for the school. Unfortunately, Professor McDaniel passed away later that year. He was followed by C.A. Fredd,
(Above) Morgan County Training School Being Built 1924 (Fisk Rosenwald Database)
429 - MORGAN - (4957)