“There were at one time 4 flourishing schools in this county.” 1868 Hayneville, AL

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“Aug 16, 1868 I have the honor to state that I have just assumed charge of the Bureau at this point and find that the spirit of abuse and austersism is uncontrollable. There were at one time 4 flourishing schools for the freed people in this county but the teachers were so much abused and threatened that they were compelled to close. Union men are openly assailed in the streets and there is no protection for person or property…”
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“… (ex)cept by shooting some of them (do)wn. A squad of them usually (are) together and if one is hurt (the) balance interferes in his behalf. I have the honor to ask that (a) squad of U.S. troop be (se)nt here. Their presence is one (tha)t is necessary to keep these (mi)sserable out-laws down. I think it is a duty this (gov(ernment owes her ex soldiers to (pr)otect them. waiting a favorable answer. (I) am ______ very truly your ob(edien)t Servant, W.H.Hunter A.S.A.C. fr(om Lowndes Co Ala

You can see all 13 sheets in the file on Family Search at this link, Alabama, Freedmen’s Bureau in Hayneville, Alabama.  You can enlarge both of the images above by clicking on them.

My 2X great grandfather, Joe Turner was enumerated in the 1866 Alabama State census with his family of five living in Lowndes County, Alabama. In the 1870 census they were enumerated In Hayneville, Lowndes County. Joe was a farmer with $300 worth of personal goods. Neither he nor his wife Emma could read or write. The children were Lydia 8, Howard 7 (my great grandfather), Fannie 6, Joe 3 and Annie born in August of that year.

8 thoughts on ““There were at one time 4 flourishing schools in this county.” 1868 Hayneville, AL

    1. Sorry! The 1866 Census was a state census taken in some southern states after the Civil War. I’ve added the change up there.

  1. I have family from Lowndes County and I have heard about the educational system.
    Many families had to send their children outside of the county to receive an education.

  2. In previous generations some children lived in the dorm at the Lowndes County Training School or boarded with nearby families. Other students would be sent out of the county for their education, if their families could afford it.
    The old dormitory has been converted into classrooms and is the only original building still on the High School campus.

    1. My grandmother, Fanny Turner Graham was born in Hayneville, Lowndes Co in 1888. After her father was shot to death at a bar-b-que, her mother took her two daughters back to Montgomery to live with her parents. They completely cut themselves off from the Turners in Lowndes County so I do not have any family memories or stories about living there. My grandmother and her sister Daisy went to school at the Montgomery State Normal School.

      The only thing I know about my Lowndes County Turners is what I have found in census and other records. And a court case about land that my mother used to talk about between my grandmother’s father Howard and his father Joe Turner.

      In the last week I’ve found Joe Turner and, I believe, his wife Emma on Wiley Turner’s planation, in the probate record. I’ve also started looking to see what happened to the other Turners from that plantation after they were all free. Right now I’m looking at land records and this is a whole new area for me.

      What were your family names back in 1870 and that era?

      I’ll be writing something up later this weekend (hopefully)

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