I – INTERMENTS

After writing about the deaths of Harjo Jackson’s children, I decided to look through the newspaper reports to see if there was any more on Harjo. I didn’t find anything, but I did start to notice the other causes of death as I went through the weekly reports in the Montgomery Advertiser. Today I am sharing some of those.

The notifications were for interment in the Montgomery Alabama City Cemetery, which is now Oakwood Cemetery. This is the cemetery where my 2Xs great grandparents Eliza and Dock Allen are buried. I named this blog for Eliza. Other family members are buried there.

My daughter Ife standing to the right of Dock and Eliza’s grave stone.

Oakwood Cemetery started with donations of land by Andrew Dexter and General John Scott in 1817 and 1818. The earliest part of the cemetery was known as Scott’s Free Burying Ground. Over 200,000 are buried in Oakwood Cemetery. Both black and white are buried there, although in different sections.

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Below is a random sample of some of the interment reports for 1883. The numbers in front of the names are the dates on which those deaths occurred. I have added explanations for various obscure causes of death.

The Montgomery Advertiser. February 27, 1883 Page 2

The interments in the city cemetery the past week, ending last night the 24th, were as follows:

WHITES.

18. *Child of Norah Reed, bronchitis. •

COLORED.

18. Randal Brooks, menengitis.

19. Ruth Ann Lewis, consumption (tuberculosis).

20. Child of Walter Freeman, premature birth: *Laura Meriwether, a child, inanition; *child of Mary Miles, infantile remittent fever. (Malaria is a common cause of intermittent fever)

21. *Alice Jones, syphilis, (tartary.) (Tertiary syphilis final stage of an untreated infection, occurring 10–40 years after initial exposure. It causes widespread, severe damage to organs, including the heart, blood vessels, brain, and nervous system

23. Betsy Hailes, pneumonia.

24. Dave Driver, consumption; child of George Robinson, unknown, no physician.(Cause of death was unknown because no doctor was on the case).

Whites. 1 Colored . 9 Total. 10 *Died outside city limits 4

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The Montgomery Advertiser. April, 10, 1883 Page 2

The interments in the city cemetery the past week have been as follows:

WHITES.

4. Child of John R. Pugh, Bronchial Phthisis (Bronchiectasis is a condition where damage causes the tubes in your lungs to widen or develop pouches. It makes it hard to clear mucus out of your lungs and can cause frequent infections. Coughing a lot with pus and mucus is the main symptom.); E. Cleveland, Insanity and Inanition. (Inanition – physical or mental exhaustion due to lack of nutrition.)

6. C. L. Lowery, Congestion.

COLORED.

*2. Child of James Green, unknown no physician.

4. Louisa Sturdivant, a child, after effects of measles.

*5. Louisia Lewis, Consumption; child of Caroline Ligon, Convulsions.

*6. Child of Matty Smith, Trismus Noscretium (lockjaw).

7. Child of Ida Fair, still-born.

Whites 3: colored 6. Total 9. *Died outside of city limits.

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The Montgomery Advertiser. September 11, 1883 Page 3

The interments in the City Cemetery the past week were as follows:

WHITES.

Mrs. Carrie Cater, puerperal eclampsia. Thomas J. Dillard, opium poisoning suicide.

5. Child of Emmet Fowler, meningitis. MA Bellie L. Schley, typhoid fever.

COLORED.

3. Child of Henry Ball, cause of death unknown; no physician.

4. *Maggie Johnson, cories of vertebra. (I found nothing for “cories”)

7. *Eddy Washington, old age and cancer of liver.

whites 4; colored 3; total 7.

*Died outside the city limits.

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The Montgomery Advertiser. April 1, 1883 Page 4

The interments in the city cemetery for the week end March 31st, were as follows:

WHITES.

26. *Child of Charles W. Joseph, cause of death unknown; Woodie Carter, smallpox.

30. *Mrs. Harriet I Singletary, heart disease.

31. *J.N. Waddell, Bright’s Disease. (a historical classification of kidney disease)

COLORED.

26. Child of Jane Sturdivant, inanition.

27; *Edward Jefferson, child, unknown.

29. Child of Richard Scott, pneumonia; Eliza E. Jackson, a child, scrofula.(An infection in the lymph nodes of your neck. It causes a swollen, sometimes discolored mass that’s usually painless.)

30. Rosa Syers, a child, unknown, No physician.

Whites 4; colored 5. Total 9. *Died outside of city limits.

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The Montgomery Advertiser. Mar, 25, 1883 Page 5

The interments in the city cemetery for the past week, ending Saturday, March 24th, have been as follows:

WHITES.

22. Child of M. M. Turbyfill, still-born

COLORED.

19. *Margaret McKenzie, dropsy. (edema is a medical term for swelling caused by excess fluid trapped in the body’s tissues symptom of heart failure. modern medicine identifies the underlying cause, such as congestive heart failure, kidney disease, or liver issues)

22. Gracy Thomas, worms (Children, particularly in areas with poor sanitation, can die from severe intestinal worm infections (helminthiasis)—such as roundworms, hookworms, and whipworms—which lead to acute malnutrition, anemia, and intestinal obstructions.)

24.*Charles Seaborn, old age.

Whites, 1; Colored, 3. Total, 4. *Died outside of city limits.

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The Montgomery Advertiser. Oct 21, 1883 Page 4

The interments in the City Cemetery for past week have been as follows:

WHITES.

14. Miss Mary Josephine Howell, congestive fever. (malaria or severe malarial chills)

18. E. A. Curtis, typhoid fever.

19. *Child of Charles Newman, from Greenville, inflammation of bowels (Symptoms of both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease usually include belly pain, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, extreme tiredness and weight loss.); Tommie Stewart, lock jaw.

COLORED

14. *Fenton Harris.

17. *Charlotte Oliver, hypertrophy of heart (abnormal thickening or enlargement of the heart muscle). child of Matthew Stodemeyer, ulceration of bowels (Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes chronic inflammation and ulcers in the superficial lining of the large intestine).

19. Reuben Dean, unknown, no physician; child of John Young, teething. (historically used as a catch-all diagnosis for infant deaths caused by infections, diarrhea, or malnutrition in the 19th century)

20. Henry Drayton, tuberculosis; *Cheney Fraser, cancer of liver.

Whites 4, colored 7; total 11. *Died outside of city limits.

H – HARJO Jackson

Harjo Jackson first appeared in the probate record of Crawford Motley Jackson. Crawford M. Jackson was Harjo’s slave master and probable father. He died in 1860 of pneumonia leaving his 135 enslaved people to be divided up between his siblings or auctioned off. Harjo was nine years old and was auctioned off along with his mother and five siblings. He was valued at $500. Follow the links for more information.

From the 1861 Appraisement of the Negroes Belonging to the Estate of C. M. Jackson

Prissy                35          $1000
Harjo                  9             $900
Griffin                8              $900
Frank Prince    6              $650
Delia                  2             $200
Iba                 12           $1004
Mary               4            $450 (Poppy’s mother)

I could not find Harjo in any more records for years. He didn’t appear in the 1870 census with his mother and siblings. Recently I found three items in the Montgomery Advertiser, all were for deaths of infants of Harjo Jackson.

On March 25, an infant of Harjo Jackson died of inanition which according to Wikipedia is the exhausted condition that results from lack of food and water.

**The Weekly Advertiser** Montgomery, Alabama • Tue, Mar 29, 1881 Page 2

On September 18, 1883, a child of Harjo Jackson died of Neonatal tetanus (trismus nascentium), a form of generalised tetanus that occurs in newborns. Infants who have not acquired passive immunity from an immunized mother are at risk. It usually occurs through infection of the unhealed umbilical stump, particularly when the stump is cut with a non-sterile instrument. (from Wikipedia)

**The Montgomery Advertiser** Montgomery, Alabama • Sun, Sep 23, 1883 Page 1

On August 13, 1886 Another child of Harjo died. There was no cause given this time.

*The Montgomery Advertiser* Montgomery, Alabama • Fri, Oct 5, 1883 Page 3

Well, I was horrified to find that my maternal grandfather, Poppy’s uncle had lost so many children in such terrible ways. And I wondered why I hadn’t found more about him, since he was alive. Today I decided that he might have changed his name as other family members had, to a more common name, like Joe.

I searched for Joe Jackson and have found several promising leads that even involve shared DNA. I’m going to keep digging and if I find anything new before the end of the A to Z, I will work it in.

Family and Friends – A to Z 2026 Reveal

AtoZChallenge theme reveal 2026 March 9 to 14

During this, is my 12th A to Z Challenge, I will be writing 26 alphabetical posts about my paternal grandmother’s and maternal grandfather’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and a few neighbors. I think I have a few partially written drafts, but I’m far from ready.

See you in April.

Maternal grandfather Mershell C. Graham and paternal grandmother Pearl R. Cleage

M – My Grandmother Enumerates

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I will be posting an event for that date involving someone in my family tree. Of course it will also involve the letter of the day. It may be a birth, a death, a christening, a journal entry, a letter or a newspaper article. If the entry is a news item, it will be transcribed immediately below. Click on photographs to enlarge in another window.

My grandmother Fannie M. Turner was an enumerator for the 1910 US Census in Montgomery, Alabama. She was 22 and lived with her mother and younger sisters in Montgomery, although not in the district she enumerated. Her grandmother Eliza Allen lived in that district. I was looking at the entry for Eliza when I first noticed that my grandmother was the enumerator. I found a newspaper article online about the appointed census takers.

APPOINT CENSUS TAKERS

ENUMERATORS. FOR MONTGOMERY ARE NAMED.

Supervisor At Washington Approves Designations Made By Director Swanson of Second District After Examinations Are Undergone.

The directors of the census at Washington has provided additional designations by Dr. C. Swanson, the supervisor of the Second Alabama District of the following named persons to act as enumerators in the counties mentioned:

Baldwin- Stanley M. Waters, W. D. Durant, Nell G. McKenzie, Cornelius A. Gaston, Jay B. McGrew.
Conecuh- Henry W. Pruett.
Covington- S. P. Barron, Rochford S. Parks, W. O. Searcy, Will C. Grant, J. Herbert Jones, Benjamin F. Parker, Gordon M. Brown, William B. Combs, David A. Beasley, John R. Cravey, Hilary D. Childre, John F. Phillips.
Montgomery- City – Whites: Albert S. Ashley, E. F. Davis, James C. Westbrook, Leopold Loeb, Thomas Robinson, R. Brownlee Centerfit, Charles S. Spann, Louis Lyons, Edgar W. Smith, Mrs. Fannie B. Wilson, Handy H. McLemore. Thomas M. Westcott, Alto Deal, Miss Gene Finch, Frank G. Browder.
Negroes- To enumerate negro (sic) population only – Gertrude V. Wilson, Ell W. Buchannan, Fannie M. Turner, David R. Dorsey.
Montgomery county- outside city – Whites: William F. Allen, Frank McLean, William T. Davis, William Tankersley, James F. Robertson, James A. Stowers, Charles A. Goodwyn, William C. Ozier, O. P. Davis, Miss Oralee Naftel, Ansley L. Stough, Henderson H. Norman, Joseph K. McClurkin, William A. Johnson, John H. Kennedy, J. W. Martin, Thornton E. Gilmer, Thomas B. Barnett, William D. Calloway.
Wilcox county- -Leonard L. Godbold, Fair J. Bryant, John H. Malone, John W. Pharr, W. E. Dilger, D. C. Murphy, James D. McCall, H. C. Pearson, R. L. Vaughn, R. H. G. Gaines, Danuel G. Cook, Joseph R. Harper, Joseph R. Harper, J. F. Fore, Leonard W. Hardy, Arthur Lee, William A. McLean, B. F. Watts, Jr. E. F. Spencer, Emmett L. Gaston, John C. Seltzer, F. R. Albritton, Eugene E. Williams, William J. Sessions.
Wilcox county- William J. Edwards.
For a very few districts in Montgomery and Wilcox counties Anal action has not yet been taken on the selection of enumerators, but will be in time for the enumeration.

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Fannie M. Turner began work April 15, 1910 and enumerated her Aunt Abbie and her Grandmother Eliza on pg 2. She finished on April 26. Mrs. Fannie B. Wilson (white) completed the enumeration of Montgomery, Ward 4 by counting the white residents on several pages after that. As noted in the newspaper article, Negro enumerators could only count Negroes. I wonder how that worked. Did my grandmother go to the door, note that they were white and tell them someone else would return to count them later? Did the neighbors alert her? Since she was already familiar with the neighborhood, did she already know where the white people lived or did all the white residences live in the same area?

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Fannie Turner was my maternal grandmother. She managed her Uncle Victor Tulane’s grocery store in Montgomery, Alabama from the time she graduated from State Normal School until she married my grandfather in 1919. I wish I knew the stories she could have told about that two weeks of counting the citizens in Ward 4.

The Murder of Howard Turner 1891

*The Montgomery Advertiser*, Montgomery, Alabama • Wed, Jul 1, 1891Page 2

Killed In Lowndes
Howard Turner of This City Killed at a Colored Folks Picnic.
Hayneville, June 30. -[Special.]- Last Saturday the colored people had a picnic across Big Swamp near Hayneville. The result is Howard Turner, who came from Montgomery was killed by one Phillip McCall. Too much whisky and too many pistols. Phillip surrendered this morning.
The Weekly Advertiser (Montgomery, Alabama) Thursday, July 1, 1891 Page 2

We were always told that my grandmother Fannie Turner Graham’s father was killed at a barbecue when she was four years old. After years of being unable to find any documentation, I found this news item on Newspapers.com several years ago.

Jennie Allen Turner in mourning dress with daughters Daisy and Fannie. 1891.

“In Memory of My Husband Howard Turner who was instantly killed by Philip McCall June 27, 1891.

Vengence is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay.”

Yesterday while searching for more information about my great grandfather Howard Turner, I found this on Ancestry.com in the Alabama, Surname Files Expanded, 1702–1981. It looks like it came from the cemetery. Is it the inscription on his grave stone?

I looked for and found the Hayneville Cemetery, but can find no entry for Howard Turner. I wish I could see that grave stone. Reading it gave me a whole new vision of my great grandmother. I can understand the anger expressed in this inscription.

Y – YELLOW Sunshine Cake

In 1918 and 1919 thirty-seven young women, friends and neighbors of my grandmother Fannie Mae Turner were members of the Edelweiss Club in Montgomery, Alabama. These are snapshots from their lives, place and times.

Click any image to enlarge

Today we are going back to delicious luncheons. On January 3, 1919, Alberta Boykin , who I wrote about in depth in 2021, entertained the Edelweiss Club at the home of her sister. A delicious two course luncheon was served. I have chosen to start with a combination salad and finish with a Sunshine Cake. Which as you can see in the picture above, is a delightful YELLOW.

A combination salad The Montgomery Times 12/25/1919
Article from Dec 25, 1919 The Montgomery Times (Montgomery, Alabama)

A Combination Salad

Take two apples, two peppers, two onions a ripe tomato, a bunch of celery, and some crisp lettuce leaves. Cut the celery into small pieces and mix them with the following dressing: Pour a beaten egg into a small saucepan, add one-half cupful of vinegar, one-half cupful of milk or cream, one table-spoonful of butter, one teaspoonful of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook until thick, then cool and pour over the vegetables. Chill and serve on the lettuce leaves.

**The Helping Hand**, Montgomery, Alabama • Fri, Oct 20, 1916Page 3

Sunshine Cake. Beat six egg whites until stiff. Boll together a cupful of sugar and a quarter of a cupful of water until it hairs, pour over the whites, beat well and cool. Then beat the yolks of the eggs, add to the whites and a cupful of pastry flour sifted with a teaspoonful of cream of tartar and a pinch of salt, flavor and bake slowly for 40 to 60 minutes. Cover with frosting when cool.”

V – VESUVIUS School

Vesuvius School was located on Shady, near the blue building. Billingslea is on Walker near Shady.

Click any image to enlarge

Vesuvius School was located in North Montgomery, among railroad tracks and warehouses. There was a black community up there. The first mention of Vesuvius School was in 1899 when the staff was given as one teacher, Nanie Hardaway.

***The Weekly Advertiser***
**Montgomery, Alabama · Friday, October 27, 1899**

In 1903 it was proposed that the city rent the vacant Vesuvius Hotel for $15 a month, put in some blackboards, stoves etc., and use it for the school, which had been meeting in a church in the area. The hotel had been vacant since 1895. This was approved. There were 85 students and two teachers.

***The Montgomery Advertiser***, June 29, 1904

Unfortunately, the following year, a spark from a passing train set the building on fire and it was completely burned down except for the walls. The school went back to meeting in a nearby church until the city bought a three room house in the area on Shady Street.

By 1918 there were 160 students. Mary Hightower was the principal. Viola Love, Clara Hamilton and Minnie Williams made up the teaching staff. In 1922 the Billingslea School was built to replace Vesuvius.

Mary Howard Hightower belonged to the same generation of the Edelweiss Club members parents and had not attended any of the meetings. Viola Love wasn’t a member. Clara Hamilton and Minnie Williams were.

X – XMAS Meeting With Madge Brown

Unnamed friend of my grandmother Fannie Turner Graham standing in for Madge Brown.

Click any image to enlarge

The weather that Christmas day was clear and cold, with temperatures dipping down to 24 degrees.

Madge Brown

In the 1920 census, Madge Brown lived with her parents, John and Julia Brown. Both parents were born during slavery in the mid 1850s. They would have been teenagers when the Civil war ended and they were emancipated. Mr. Brown was a farmer and owned his own farm free and clear. He had a truck farm and a stall at the city market where he and his wife sold vegetables. Mrs. Brown gave birth to eight children and six were living.

Madge’s sister, Elizabeth B. Deramus, her husband, James and their one year old son shared the home. Elizabeth taught music and her husband was a medical doctor. All the adults in the household were literate. Madge taught at Booker T. Washington school.

Rites Held For Madge M. Brown Retired Teacher

Miss Madge M. Brown, local retired public school teacher died here Friday night following a lingering illness. She was the daughter of the late John Napolean and Julia Arrington Brown.

Having served in the local school system 30 years, she was honored 3 years ago at Carver High school on her retirement. Her professional career included assignments at Loveless and Carver High.

She was active in several social and civic organizations and was a member of Dexter Avenue Baptist Churh, the March Month Club of Deter, Beta Sigma Chapter of the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and the local chapter of the National Federated Club.

Miss Brown was educated at Howard University and the local Alabama State Teachers College.

She is survived by two sisters, Mesdames N. Brown Saffold, Montgomery: Mrs. A. Brown Madison, Atlanta. Nieces included Medames Anna M. Blackwell, San Francisco, Cal’ Anne De Ramus Brown, Schenectady, N.Y., Dr. Helen dermus Mitchell, N. Y. City: nephews, Milton darden, Atlanta, Medames Laura Saffold Carter, Formosa (China), Mildred Banks, Baltimore, Md., June King, John Brown and Zisley Safford, all of this city.

Birmingham Mirror, Birmingham, Alabama • Sat, Feb 10, 1962 Page 10

U – ULYSSES Naomi Rodgers

Click any image to enlarge

Ulysses Naomi Rodgers was born in 1882, the year after her older sister Lucretia. She had two younger brothers, Gordon and Julian. The family started out in Wetumpka, about 20 miles from Montgomery, where her father was a teacher. By 1900 they were in Montgomery and her father was the pastor of Old Ship Methodist Church. Founded in 1855, before the end of slavery, it is the oldest black church in Montgomery. Their mother did not work outside of the home.

Old Ship A. M. E. Zion Church. This is the original building where Rev. Rodgers preached.

Ulysses and her siblings attended school. The two sisters graduated from State Normal School in 1902. Ulysses began teaching in the public schools while Lucretia taught music from the home. Her brothers went to college. Julian became a lawyer and moved to Detroit. Gordon became a doctor.

***The Emancipator*** (Montgomery, Alabama) · 6 Apr 1918, Sat · Page 4. Ulysses Rodgers is Rodgers above.

In January 1919, Rev. Rodgers died when he fell while working on the roof. He was 61. His widow lived with one or the other of her daughters until her death

***The Emancipator*** Montgomery, Alabama • Sat, Sep 27, 1919 Page 3

Ulysses continued to teach until she married Andrew Cato Brown later the same year. She was 37. He was 44 and the owner, manager of A. C. Brown groceries. They had no children and remained in Montgomery until the ends of their lives.

***The Emancipator***, Montgomery, Alabama • Sat, Oct 4, 1919, Page 4

S- SWAYNE SCHOOL

Swayne School being demolished 1948 **The Montgomery Advertiser**
Montgomery, Alabama • Sun, Jun 27, 1948Page 13

In 1918 and 1919 thirty-seven young women, friends and neighbors of my grandmother Fannie Mae Turner were members and guests of the Edelweiss Club in Montgomery, Alabama. These are snapshots from their lives, place and times.

Click on any image to enlarge!

I did not realize that the Freedmen’s Bureau founded many schools. In this article from the Britannica I found: “Its greatest accomplishments were in education: more than 1,000 Black schools were built and over $400,000 spent to establish teacher-training institutions. Among the historically Black colleges and universities that received aid from the bureau were Atlanta University (1865; now Clark Atlanta University) and Fisk University (1866; originally the Fisk School), named for Gen. Clinton B. Fisk of the Tennessee Freedmen’s Bureau, who gave the school its original facilities in a former Union army barracks. Howard University, founded in 1867 through an act by the U.S. Congress, was named for Maj. Gen. Howard.”

Swayne College in Montgomery was one of those schools.

SWAYNE COLLEGE

Named for Union General and Freedmen’s Bureau Agent Wager Swayne, Swayne College was dedicated 21 April 1869. The Bureau appropriated $10,000 for the building and the local black community purchased 3.5. acres for the site. Future officeholder Elijah Cook submitted the winning location of Union and Grove Streets. The building stood three stories high and was constructed by Henry Duncan with ventilation by Isaac Frazier. George Stanley Pope became the first principal of the school with occupancy in October 1868, and Fisk alumnus Charles Duncan became the first black principal. The American Missionary Association operated the school, and its high standards mirrored the influence of the local Congregationalist church. Swayne contained desks, blackboards, maps, and an organ costing $200. With tuition free to local students, it offered coursework in the alphabet, reading and spelling, advanced reading, arithmetic, geography, and writing. Closing in 1937, Swayne College paved the way for black education in Montgomery and was succeeded by Booker T. Washington School.

Alabamama Historical Association

Swayne School on the lower left in “Congo Square”. No idea about that name.

The school had no lights, stove heat and two outhouses in the back. The Congregational church is right up the street at the top of the map. That was my grandparent’s church.

MONTGOMERY

Educational Notes

Dear Gazette;
This afternoon just after having enjoyed a good dinner at some one else’s expense, I took a stroll to the different public schools in our city.
First to Swayne school under the management of Prof. J. D. Bibb and there I found a very fine school with a daily attendance of about three hundred and fifty pupils, and an able corps of 5 assistants. Prominent among them I found Miss Lila Mosley, quite young but said to be a fine Instructress.
In the fifth grade Miss Venus Hardaway with a large class, and while she is one of the old teachers there, yet she is one of our very pleasant and much loved young ladies.
Then I visited the school on the hillside, or Cemetery Hill school, under the management of Rev. Mr. Jones. That school too is in fine condition with a large attendance of pupils about three hundred and twenty-five daily. There I found Miss F. Allen teaching the fourth grade and her class like everyone else seem to be in love with her. But the old place is not what it used to be when our E. J. Lewis, was its Principal. Yet the present Principal holds the Fort well, and through the kindness of our city Fathers, two new rooms have been added making six instead of four rooms.

Venus Hardaway is the mother of Edelweiss member Gwendolyn Lewis Graham and taught before and after her husband’s death.