A Collection of Primary and Secondary Historical Records Documenting the Enslaved Community at Sweetwater Plantation in Florence.

Sweetwater Mansion is one of the most historically significant sites in Lauderdale County. Construction on the mansion was begun by War of 1812 veteran Maj.-Gen. John Brahan (1774-1834), who died before it could be completed. During the War of 1812 Brahan served under General Andrew Jackson.

Brahan had located some three miles east of Huntsville in Madison County, Alabama from Nashville in 1818. The Brahans moved to the recently established county of Lauderdale ca. 1834, after a fire destroyed their home.

At one time much of what is now East Florence was a part of the Sweetwater plantation (Henry D. Smith is also said to have had a nearby plantation known as “Sweetwater”). It also included Patton Island (hence the name), in the 1830s Tinnon’s Island, in the Tennessee River and what in 1918 became the Wilson Dam Reservation.

According to Robert M. Patton’s granddaughter Mittie Owen McDavid (1877-1958), Sweetwater took its name from the stream running through the property which was called “Succotania” by the native Cherokee, which translated to “Sweetwater.”

The house is a fine example of American Georgian-style architecture. According to Mrs. McDavid’s description of the mansion, the brick used in construction of the mansion is said to have been made of red clay from the excavation, then hardened and baked in cypress molds in a primitive brick kiln on the site.

Some or all of the brick-work may have been done by skilled slave brick-masons. The mansion is a fine example of American Georgian style architecture, an d is square and large, of red brick laid in cream mortar. Local contractor Thomas J. Crow was hired by Gen. Brahan to do the carpentry and framing; anecdote says Sidney De Priest (ca. 1817-aft. 1880), a slave of the nearby Sidney C. Posey plantation and grandfather of Florence, Alabama native and Illinois US Congressman Oscar De Priest (1871-1951) hung the wallpaper.

The mansion and property were willed to John Brahan’s oldest son, Major Robert Weakley Brahan (1811-1886), whose wife Martha thought it too far outside Florence, so Robert Miller Patton (1809-1885), a Virginia native, merchant and the Major’s brother-in-law, who had come to Florence in 1832 from Huntsville, purchased it from him, throwing his Florence townhouse into the deal. Construction on Sweetwater was finished by Patton in 1835.

Florence merchant Robert Miller Patton married Jane Locke Brahan (1814-1902)—John Brahan’s 2nd daughter—in Madison County on January 31, 1832. The couple had eight children, six sons and two daughters, all but two born at Sweetwater. In 1832, shortly after moving to Florence from Madison County Robert Patton was elected to the Alabama Legislature as a Whig, serving variously in both houses until his election as governor of Alabama in 1865.

According to Robert M. Patton’s 1860 agricultural census enumeration, Sweetwater consisted of 2,000 improved (cultivated) acres and 1,800 unimproved acres and had a cash value of $80,000. Patton had $700 worth of livestock. The plantation had produced 200 bushels of wheat; 100 bushels of rye; 5000 bushels of Indian Corn; 3200 bushels of oats; had baled 190 bales of cotton and produced 200 lbs of wool. Finally, the plantation had produced 50 bushels of peas and beans, 50 bushels of sweet potatoes, and 10 bushels of Irish Potatoes.

John Brahan enslaved several people. After his death, on December 2, 1834, John R. B. Eldridge, Brahan’s estate executor, advertised as for sale on February 1, 1835,”129 valuable Negroes, belonging to the estate of the late John Brahan” in front of the Madison County, Alabama courthouse. We know the name of at least two of Brahan’s slaves: “Dick, an old servant belonging to the estate of the late Gen. John Brahan,” was advertised as being for sale in Huntsville in June of 1835; and John, “about forty five or fifty years of age, somewhat gray and a good rough carpenter,” was sold by John Brahan’s estate to John Hinkle, and thence to William Acklen of Huntsville. Acklen published a runaway slave notice in the Huntsville Democrat on July 15, 1840. At present it is not known whether any of these Brahan slaves were ever at Sweetwater, nor who purchased any but John.

On December 25, 1835, RM Patton sold to P. Maxwell of Lauderdale County, for $850, a 23-year-old Negro man named Davy.

In the 1850 slave enumeration for Robert Patton at Sweetwater 63 enslaved persons ranging in age from 56 to 1 year-old were enumerated, three of whom, a 54-year-old male, 18-year-old female, and 4-year-old male, were recorded as “fugitives from the state.”

In 1860 118 enslaved persons were enumerated at Sweetwater; these enslaved persons ranged in age from 70 to 6 months old. That year’s federal slave enumeration also recorded the number of slave cabins on a plantation, giving the number at Sweetwater as 30.

The 1860 federal mortality schedule recorded the deaths of three unnamed Patton slaves: a 60-year-old man (the 1860 slave schedule for Sweetwater recorded three 60-year-old men) born in Alabama who died after a two-weeks’ illness of inflammation of the bowels in December of 1859; a 40-year-old mother from Maryland who died in April of 1860 five days after childbirth; and a 1-year-old girl who died in May of 1860 after a 7 month’s bout of whooping cough. Presumably all three were buried in the plantations servants’ cemetery, which was located behind the present Weeden Elementary School, a stone's throw away from the Sweetwater slave quarters.

Regarding the location of the slave quarters, in Historic Homes of Alabama Mrs. McDavid notes that “In the back grove, above the creek edging the fields, were the negro quarters.” According to Florence City Historian the late William L. “Bill” McDonald:

"The slave quarters were located at the back of the spring on a hill above the creek. Twenty-four cabins were arranged in a square that formed the court. The largest cabin at one corner was the home of the plantation overseer. Six additional cabins were later added in a row below the square. Private gardens were laid out for each family."

One of the Patton family slaves was “Uncle” Edmund Patton (ca. 1822-1894). Edmund was purchased in Florence by Robert M. Patton as a ten-year-old boy, shortly after Patton arrived in Florence; according to his 1894 will Edmund had a brother Jack Hawkins and a sister, Marinda Moore. Edmund may have been a slave of the Hawkins family at the time Robert Patton purchased him. We know Lauderdale County Probate Judge Wiley T. Hawkins was a slave-owner. Edmund became the Patton family house boy and carriage driver; he also accompanied Patton on trips to Montgomery to attend sessions of the state legislature In February of 1871, for the sun of $1, in honor of a lifetime of faithful service, Robert Patton gave his former slave Edmund 25 acres of land “beyond the spring and the quarters,” on Huntsville Road and a comfortable six-room, two-story house, which is also said to have included an orchard, garden and vineyard; supposedly, Edmund became famous locally for his fine fruits. The legal description of Edmund’s property was described in the deed as “commencing on the Southeast corner of the Southeast qr of sec one TS 3 Range 11 west and from thence along the Township lines North thirty three chains 33 ½ links to a stake, thence West seven chains 50 links to a stake in the graveyard, thence South thirty three 1/3 chains across the Huntsville Road to a stake near a small cherry tree, thence East seven chains 50 links to the beginning.”

Edmund had one brother named Jack Hawkins, and a sister, Miranda Moore, who were named as heirs in his will and inherited his property. Jack Hawkins had a son named Jack, Jr. (1876-1943) and the Hawkins resided in Lauderdale County.

Edmund’s wife’s name was Frances, who was the "mammy" of the Governor's children, and the couple had at least one son named Frank, who at the time of Edmund’s death lived in Memphis, Tennessee. The 1870 census recorded an 8-year-old boy, Richard and a 20-year-old Rebecca as members of Edmund’s house. In his will Edmund named Richard Hawkins as his executor.

Edmund Patton died at his home on Monday, July 9, 1894 of “congestion”; Frances Patton’s death date is not known however it was apparently between 1880 and 1892, when Edmond wrote his will, as she is not named as an heir. It is probable that Frances and Edmund were buried in the Sweetwater servants’ cemetery in unmarked graves, although some of their Hawkins relatives are buried in the Florence City Cemetery. Edmund's "Florence Herald" obituary says: "Uncle Edmund rests in a forest glade by the side of his beloved wife." This sounds like a reference to the Sweetwater slave cemetery.

Edmund’s estate inventory lists the following heirs: Jack Hawkins, Jack Hawkins, Jr., Richard Hawkins, Edward Hawkins, Frank Hawkins, George Hawkins, Kitty O’Neal, Francis O’Neal, Emily Hawkins, Albert Key, Irene Peters, George Moore, Sylvia Moore, and Edward Moore. Jack Hawkins, Jr., George Hawkins and Emily Hawkins in 1892 were minor children under the age of 21. In 1892 Edward Hawkins was a resident of St. Louis, frank Hawkins lived in Memphis, Tennessee, and Edward Moore lived in Alabama but his address was unknown. In his will, Edmund appointed Richard Hawkins as his executor, and gave his brother Jack Hawkins, and sister, Marinda Moore his dwelling house on Huntsville Road; to his son Frank Hawkins of Memphis, Irene Peters of Limestone County, Alabama, and Albert Key Edmund gave one acre of land each on the Huntsville Road. Upon the deaths of Jack Hawkins and Miranda Moore their children were to inherit his dwelling house.

For several decades Edmund's nephew Jack Hawkins, Jr. (1876-1943) lived in this house with his sister and other relatives. It was situated on the SW corner of Huntsville Road and Broadway Street, a little ways back from the road. A Compak convenience store now occupies this lot.

Another enslaved man, Sam (ca. 1837-), according to anecdote accompanied his master, 2nd Lt. William "Billy" Patton to war as his body-servant or camp slave, in the 16th Alabama Inf, CS, and loyally carried Patton’s body back to Sweetwater after he was killed at the Battle of Shiloh in April of 1862. Upon his death, the Pattons erected a tombstone in his memory which read, “SAM, Faithful to the end to those who trusted him.” Several accounts of Lt. Patton’s death were recorded in the Confederate Veteran after the war however none seem to mention the slave Sam.

From Freedmen’s Bureau records on Ancestry.com we know the names of three other former slaves from Sweetwater who were residents of Athens, Alabama in 1865: Evaline [sic] Fletcher (ca. 1843-), a former field-hand who in 1865 made a living as a laundress; Mathilda Johnson (ca. 1820-), a former house-servant whose occupation in 1865 was given as “miscellaneous”; and Simon Johnson (ca. 1825), a former blacksmith who in 1865 was employed “at water works.” Unfortunately we don’t know anything more about any of these people as further efforts to document them have proven unsuccessful.

The Sweetwater servants’ cemetery is situated near the modern Weeden Elementary School baseball field. We know this because the legal description of Edmund’s property in his 1871 deed references “a stake in the graveyard.” The legal descriptions is as follows:

"commencing on the Southeast corner of the Southeast qr of sec one TS 3 Range 11 west and from thence along the Township lines North thirty three chains 33 ½ links to a stake, thence West seven chains 50 links to a stake in the graveyard, thence South thirty three 1/3 chains across the Huntsville Road to a stake near a small cherry tree, thence East seven chains 50 links to the beginning."

It is possible that when the Weeden School was built in 1955-1956 there were no visible markers in this cemetery, thus the burials may have unwittingly been bulldozed and pushed down a hill to a ravine. Investigations are ongoing.

Sources:

"Sweet Water," by Mittie Owen McDavid, in "Historic Homes of Alabama and their Traditions," pp. 118-125, copyright 1935, Alabama Branches, National League of American Pen Women.

John B. Eldridge, “129 Negroes for Sale,” the Democrat (Huntsville, AL), Wednesday, December 3, 1834, p. 3.

Dick,” from the Democrat (Huntsville, AL), Wednesday, January 24, 1835, p. 1.

"Run Away," Democrat (Huntsville, AL), Saturday, August 1, 1840, p. 4.

1850 US Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lauderdale County, Alabama, pp. 1109; 1111, Robert M. Patton.

1860 US Federal Census, Slave Schedules, Lauderdale County, Alabama, pp. 200 B and 201 A, Robert M. Patton.

Lauderdale County Agricultural Census, 1860, pp. 11-12, Robert M. Patton, on Ancestry.com.

U.S., Federal Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1885, Lauderdale County, Alabama, 1860, p. 172, slaves of Robert M. Patton.

Tribute by Mrs. John D. Weeden, “Edmund—A Servant,” in the Confederate Veteran, October, 1922, p. 396.

“Patton to Patton,” Lauderdale County, Alabama Deed Record, Volume 20, pp. 115-116.

1870 Lauderdale County, Alabama Census, p. 529 B.

Death of an Honored Old Colored Man,” Florence Herald, Thursday, July 12, 1894, p. 3; “Death of ‘Uncle Edmund’ Patton,” Florence Times, Saturday, July 14, 1894, p. 3..

“Petition to Probate Will of Edmund Patton,” Lauderdale County Record K, 1892-1900, pp. 81-83..

Last Will and Testament of Edmund Patton, Deceased,” Lauderdale County Will Record B, pp. 394-395.

“The National Archive in Washington, DC; Washington, DC; Records of the Field Offices For the State of Alabama, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1872,” Ancestry Library Edition (https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/)

Jack Hawkins, Jr's obituary, "Well Known Negro Dies," "Florence [AL] Times," Monday, October 11, 1943, p. 6.

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A series of Florence Herald and Florence Times articles on the Handy Heights Urban Renewal/Redevelopment Project of the Florence City Housing Authority of the late 1950s.

This urban renewal project, one of the first in the nation, initiated by the City of Florence Housing Authority in the fall of 1957, called for the purchase of 78 residential lots in Handy Heights in West Florence which would house 80 families in a subdivision known as "Carver Homes." A similar project for white residents resulted in the construction of Cherry Hill Homes in East Florence. The project also resulted in the construction, in 1958, of the Handy Heights Recreation Center, near the Handy Heights Pool, which had been constructed in 1955.]]>
1. 1955-03-03]]> 2. 1955-06-23]]> 3. 1956-09-06]]> 4. 1957--02-14]]> 5. 1957-09-26]]> 6. 1958-03-06]]> 7. 1958-03-06]]> 8. 1958-04-03]]> 9. 1958-05-22]]> 10. 1958-10-02]]> 11. 1958-10-02]]> 12. 1958-10-02]]> 13. 1958-11-13]]> 14. 1959-03-26]]> 15. 1960-01-28]]>
A Series of articles involving local African-Americans accused of crimes or victims of crimes, as reported by the Florence Journal. and Literary Index

The Florence Journal was founded ca. September or October of 1865 by Florence educator and editor Dr. David R. Lindsay (1821-1898), brother of future Alabama Governor Robert B. Lindsay. It was suppressed by Alabama's Reconstruction government in late 1867 for being too vocal in its opposition to Military Reconstruction. In early 1868 Isaac and Silas Barr (1832-1903), former editors of the Florence Gazette, began publishing the Literary Index with the old Journal's press. The Literary Index seems to only have published for at most a couple of years.

The Florence Journal was started up again in 1869 by Capt. Robert McFarland, Esq. (1836-1892) and T. Allen Jones. By February of 1873 the Florence Journal had bought out and merged with the Lauderdale Times, founded in April of 1871 by William J. Wood (1850-1917) and Isaac S. Barr (1832-1903), to become the Florence Times-Journal ed. by Wood and Barr.

This collection will be added to as more articles are discovered.]]>
1. 1865-10-04]]> 2. 1866-12-06]]> 3. 1868-08-12]]> 4. 1868-11-18]]> 5. 1869-01-28]]> 6. 1869-09-02]]> 7. 1870-02-24]]> 8. 1870-05-19]]> 9. 1870-08-25]]>
The Thursday, December 6, 1951 Florence (AL) Herald obituary of Cpl. James Oakley of Florence, who was killed combat in Korea in February of 1951.]]> 1951-12-06]]> A Series of newspaper articles chronicling the Saturday, June 18, 1966 shooting of Rev. Robert Gregory, pastor of Morning Side Missionary Baptist Church, 526 Blair Street, East Florence, and parishioner Dewey Armstead.

The shootings occurred shortly after 6 pm at a church supper fundraiser after Armstead confronted Gregory over allegations the Reverend had been "talking about him." According to witnesses, after a brief conversation at the church altar rail, the two men shook hands and Armstead then pulled out a .38 caliber pistol and shot Gregory, who then grabbed Armstead and wrestled him to the floor where he was again shot by Armstead. Meanwhile church secretary Mrs. Cora Lee Skipper got hold of a .22 caliber pistol and shot Armstead in the head (according to the autopsy four times). Both Gregory and Armstead died at ECM from their wounds. Ms. Skipper was charged with first degree murder.

No further reports have been located but apparently either the charges were dropped or Ms. Skipper was acquitted, as she does not seem to have served any jail or prison time. She apparently married in 1968.]]>
6. Anniston (AL) Star
7. Florence (AL) Herald
8. Dothan (AL) Eagle
9. Montgomery (AL) Advertiser
10. Sheffield, AL Tri-Cities Daily
11. Certificate of Death, State of Alabama
12. Sheffield, AL Tri-Cities Daily
13. Certificate of Death, State of Alabama]]>
6. Newspapers.com
7. State of Alabama Department of Archives and History.
8-9. Newspapers.com
10.-12. Bell & Howell Micro Photo Division.
13. Familysearch.org]]>
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A letter to the editor of the Waukesha Journal, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, of Wednesday, April 12, 1890, written by Mrs. S. B. Bradley, a resident of Waukesha, at the time a visitor in Florence. In her letter Mrs. Bradley gives a brief overview of Florence for the readers back home, noting that in 1863, during the Civil War, "a Wisconsin regiment was quartered there," one of its members being the current editor of the Waukesha Democrat. Mrs. Bradley also noted that there had been significant opposition to secession by locals during the war.

Mrs. Bradley also quoted one unnamed resident, "one of the old citizens who lost 150 slaves and all of his landed possessions besides his home comforts by the war," regarding slavery:

"I would not have slavery back, although the loss made me a poor man; but slavery made slaves of us and arrested our progress and advancement and I care not whether the nation is controlled by Republican or Democrats so it is the best for the whole country, and I would cast my ballot for the man who would administrate laws justly."]]>
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A Thursday, July 14, 1960 report that an unnamed 4-year-old African-American boy was the first recorded Polio victim in Lauderdale County in 1960 and Alabama's third. The boy's pediatrician stated that "the disease is no longer active, but the child has residual paralysis of both legs and may never walk again. He is to enter the Crippled Children's Hospital for treatment." The child had received no "Salk vaccine."]]> 1960-07-14]]> A Series of newspaper articles and other documents on the early years of the Tennessee Valley Community Church.

This congregation was founded as the Methodist Community Church ca. 1940 on the site and in the building of the former First Congregational Church (ca. 1876-ca. 1939) at 113 North Pine Street by members of St. Paul AME Church (ca. 1839-).

Until 1952 the congregation was listed in city directories as the Methodist Community Church; by 1952 it was listed as the Tennessee Valley Community Church. Earlier, 1940s newspaper references to the church referred to it as the Tennessee Valley Community Church.

The congregation's first pastor was Mrs. Hattie Jackson Davis (1884-1941), wife of noted Tuscumbia physician Dr. Arthur W. Davis (1875-1941). Mrs. Davis died on October 27, 1941. On Sunday, August 9, 1942 Rev. Henry Wilmer was installed as the congregations second pastor by the Rev. JT Ridley, Dean and Professor of Systematic Theology of the M. & C. W. Institute of Nashville, Tenn.]]>
1. 1941-01-24]]> 2. 1941-10-19]]> 3. 1942-08-15]]> 4. 1944-04-15]]> 5. 1950-09-28]]> 6. 1952-01-31]]> 7. 1952-02-02]]> 8. 1953-01-24]]> 9. 1953-01-24]]> 10. 1953-03-21]]> 11. 1961-12-02]]> 12. 1962-01-18]]> 13. 1962-06-02]]> 14. 1963-12-12]]>
A Thursday, June 20, 1957 Florence (AL) Herald report that PFC Charles A. Burge of 224, North Circular Road, Florence, son of Mr. and Mrs. DL Burge, was currently participating in armored night-fighting tests at Ft. Stewart, GA, with the 82nd Airborne's 376th Field Artillery Battallion.]]> 1957-06-20]]>