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Farming For A Better Future, page 442
(Above) 1940 Census Excerpt Listing Staff of “TB Hospital” in Morgan County been in the same location, on the west side of U.S. Highway 31 - a large icon indicating the building is noted on the 1936 USGS topographic map. The new hospital would serve 12 counties in North Alabama (Colbert, Cullman, Franklin, Jackson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Morgan, and Winston), deemed “District One.” The 1963 USGS topographic map labels the hospital as “District No. 1 Sanatorium.” The hospital was most recently the South Morgan Health Care Center, the sign for which still stands. However, the building was demolished sometime in the late 1990s.
The 1940 census lists nine workers associated with the hospital. Ms. Mattie R. Lewis, the superintendent and her husband, Robert D. Lewis, who worked for the TVA - the Lewis' are a white couple. The remaining staff is composed of seven African American women, some of whom have last names common to the area. Elizabeth Lamon and Lena Lightfoot are nurses; Marie Tapscott and Ophelia Patterson are nurses-in-
training; Ruth Shipley is a technician; Ella K. Baker is a secretary; and Susie Burk is a maid. Ms. Shipley's technical expertise is unknown, but her salary of $1,500 exceeds that of the superintendent.
State Convict Camp “O”
The presence of the state convict camp in Morgan County was found while combing through the census records. The 1930 census records a "State Convict Camp" within the vicinity of Lacy's Spring. Identified as being located on Mountain and Bottom roads, the census lists 76 convicts as working the “state road.” What stands out about the prison camp is that every one of the 76 names are of an African American male.
Despite efforts to locate the camp on maps or in any kind of context, the location of the camp could not be confirmed. One Montgomery Advertiser article merely identifies it as “about twelve miles from Decatur.” However, state and county criminal records were used to confirm the identities of the individuals listed on the census and to collect some information on them as a whole.
The state convict records reveal that not one of the men were arrested in Morgan County. While the county of residence is unknown, 58 were born in Alabama, 11 were from Georgia, and one man from Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, and Tennessee. The records of those listed on the census note that the man was sentenced to work at Camp “O.” Records confirm that there were Camps A through P. Although an index of these camp locations was not found, an article in the Montgomery Advertiser from May 1930 highlights the enormous cost of supervising state prisoners. It lists the costs of Convict Camp A through P, along with other state prisons and associated institutions, and the annual cost for each one. In 1929, Camp O cost $10,646.24 in supervised labor. This is below the average cost of $13,800 and might explain why the camp is not mapped - it may have been too small.
Of the 76 men listed on the census as residing at the camp in Morgan County in 1930, 51 of them could be confirmed by the state records. The other 25 men could not be confirmed, possibly due to an error in the listing of their name, an unknown alias,
or perhaps that the name was far too common to be sure of the correct record. The mention of “Camp O” was typically in the notes section of the release date, and therefore, if the man was transferred or released elsewhere other than Camp O, then it may not be possible to confirm his presence at this particular camp.
An additional 16 men that were not recorded on the census were found to have most likely been at Camp O during the summer of 1930 when the census would have been conducted. The state convict records include the charges, sentence, conviction date, and release date, as well as notes on where they were sent, if they attempted to escape, if they were recaptured, and if they died while in prison. Of the 67 men with confirmed records, they were convicted of the following crimes: grand larceny; burglary; buying, receiving, or concealing stolen property; distilling and/or transporting liquor; forgery; carnal knowledge; false pretenses; assault with intent to murder; attempted murder; manslaughter; and murder in the first and second degree. - (4970)