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- Description is exactly "Though originally a slave on the Sweetwater Henry Patton (ca. 18936-1901) was at some point prior to 1860 sold to Judge Sidney Cherry Posey's (1803-1868) nearby plantation . Wife Rachel's 1902 Florence Times obituary noted that Henry had at one time been "a servant of late Gov. R. M. Patton." Judge Posey's plantation was near Sweetwater, probably near the modern day Wilson Heights subdivision.
In 1871, Henry Patton filed an unsuccessful claim with the Southern Claims Commission, which was a court established in 1871 by the US Government to reimburse Southerners loyal to the Union for goods and livestock confiscated by the Union Army during the war. In an 1873 deposition Henry Patton stated that:
"Henry Patton (x), age 35, colored, farmer, lives at Lauderdale County.
"During the war, he lived four miles east of Florence on Judge Posey's plantation. He tended Posey's stock and stayed there until the fall of 1864.'There were at the time two Rebel Soldiers (neighborhood boys) by the names of John and Amos Hough, belonging to Gen. Roddy's command, came and threatened to kill [him]." He then joined the 10th United States Tennessee Cavalry and remained with the Union Army until early 1865. He was sent up into Ohio where he stayed until the end of the war, which was only a few months, "he being sick." He left with [Union Gen.] Wilson's troops when they left Gravelly Springs to go to Selma. He was unable to go with his Command (Col. Cliff's Regt., Capt. Baker, Co. J., Gen. Croxton's brigade) and was put on a boat at Eastport, Mississippi, and sent fourteen miles beyond Cleveland, Ohio, to Capt. Baker's father, and remained until the 1st of May 1865. He then returned to his family at Judge Posey's place."
So far no further references to Henry's Civil War activities have been located.
In February of 1893, Henry Patton testified that:
"He was Judge Posey's slave. After the war started, he agreed to stay with his master in return for a horse, a mule, and a third interest in the other stock. He stayed until he was driven away from home by the Rebel soldiers."
Judge Posey's daughter, Rachel A. Morgan, testified for Henry on February 3, 1893, and stated that:
"She has known Claimant [Henry Patton] all her life; he was a slave of her father [Judge Posey] . . . Henry was a very smart man and a very shrewd businessman . . ."
Henry married Rachel, also referred to as Sarah or "Sallie," (1853-1902), a former slave of the Callahan and Huff families. She and Henry are believed to have had at least eight children:
Alex Patton (1865-1941)
Jesse Patton (1864-1910). Enumerated in 1870 and 1880 as "Green" Patton.
Wesley Patton (ca. 1874-). Only recorded in the 1880 census.
Henry Patton (1876-1959)
Viola Patton (1880-)
John Posey Patton (1885-)
Ella Patton Tilford
Mahala Patton
Henry and family lived near Raccoon Branch on Huntsville Road, "near the [Muscle Shoals] canal," until late 1900, at which time they moved back into Florence to "be near" their children.
The 1880 Lauderdale County agricultural census recorded Henry Patton as the owner of a 65-acre farm, 25 acres of which were cultivated, valued at $600.The 1880 population census recorded Sallie, Green,
The 1880 population census enumerated Sallie Patton and children Green, Wesley and Violet as boarders in African-American farmer Edmund Connor's house. For some unknown reason Henry was not enumerated with his family and I can't find him in the population census, which was taken on 22 June, 21 days after the agricultural census was taken, recording Henry's farm.
Henry died on January 25, 1901 at the home of son Jesse, a respected Florence liveryman, and Rachel died February 1, 1902, of pneumonia.
It is possible that Henry and Rachel are buried in the Huff Cemetery, near the Huff Road Wal-Mart in Florence behind the England Junk Yard, where several other former slaves of the Posey and De Priest families are buried; however it is also possible that both are buried in the Sweetwater African-American Cemetery behind the Weeden Elementary School, or possibly in the African-American section of the Florence City Cemetery. We don't know because the couples' obituaries don't say and they died too early to have death certificates which routinely recorded places of burial.
Sources:
"North Alabama's African-Americans & The Southern Claims Commission (Part One)," by Rachel Mills Lennon, CG.
US Census, Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1870, p. 622 B.
US Census, Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1880, p. 81 D. Sallie Patton and children Green, Wesley and Violet enumerated as boarders in African-American farmer Edmund Connor's house.
Lauderdale County, Alabama Agricultural Census, 1880, p. 1 A.
"Worthy Colored Citizen Dead," Florence (AL) Herald, Thursday, January 31, 1901, p. 5.
"Saved Meat but Lost His Molasses," Florence (AL), Herald, Thursday, February 7, 1901, p. 1.
Sarah Patton's obituary, Florence (AL) Herald, Friday, February 14, 1902, p. 1.
Rachel Patton's obituary, "Aunt Rachel Patton," Florence (AL) Herald, Friday, February 14, 1902, p. 1."
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