Just off Highway 31 South on McClean Road is a very
neglected and unprotected cemetery with quite a bit of
history.
Men in trucks marked W S Newell were baling hay and the
cattle were all around them.
The clump of trees behind a pond can be seen from far away
and is a very rough ride to reach the cemetery.
From a distance the cemetery almost appears to be an
island, quite a lovely picture, yet someone really needs
to go in and cut down those trees that
continue to fall and destroy.
There are several dead trees that have fallen, cows
walking all through the area, and bones that might be
from the cows, manure, leaves and just completely a
mess.
Pictures taken in Hope Hull on 10/14/2006 of the
headstones in Stokes - Carter Cemetery, where the Bozemans
of South Carolina settled and buried their
loved ones . Rev War Patriot Peter Bozeman of Darlington SC
1790 census records brought his wife Sarah and their children
here. Thomas Randolph Carter was the grandson of
Captain John Carter of Edgefield SC who was
also in the American Revolutionary War.
Alabama Land Records show a purchase by Jesse Bozeman in
1827
http://www.rootsweb.com/~almgs/mcgehee/index.html
Thomas was married first to Lacy Jane Bozeman, a daughter
of Jesse. Lacy and several children died during
an epidemic and they are buried all around
her headstone.. or seven foot monument that stands in the center
of this place.
The second wife of Thomas was Mary Josephine
Hereferd of Virginia and when he died, she had him placed
here with his first family; Thomas also had
a tall monument type headstone that has now fallen
apart.
Mary's daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Carter,
married a Levi Benjamin Cooper, who was helping her father work
the farm but we found no Cooper headstones.
Sarah told her children stories of how she fell in love with
this older man who once pushed her on the swing when she was a
child.
Lacy's daughter Lucy had survived the epidemic and married
a Calloway; Lucy was Sarah's half sister and they were very close throughout the
years.
Levi Cooper's aunt Savilla married a William McGeHee that
we find listed on another website telling the McGeHee story here
http://www.rootsweb.com/~almgs/mcgehee/index.html
This story mentions McGeHee Switch and that is exactly
what John Thomas Bozeman named his little country store which was once located at US31 and where I-65 is now
.
Also there is a Rachel McGeHee Thompson buried not far
from Jesse Bozeman and Lacy Bozeman Carter.
One might think this small mound of graves resembles the
mounds of the indians and how they buried their loved ones. This mound can be seen from far
away.
A few other names on stones were York, Smith, Taylor,
McGhee, Thompson, but no Stokes but their stones could also be covered up by debris and the article online
mentioned several sunken graves with no stones.
A few miles down the highway is Dublin and Ramer and Pine
Level where other Bozeman descendants lived and other cemeteries that we explore.
Apparently they all connect to Peter Bozeman of
Darlington. We did not find his headstone here but it is
possible that he and Sarah could be buried
here near his son Jesse Bozeman. Peter's other sons were
William Henry, Meady, Peter.
Census records indicate there were several other Carter
families living very closeby, including Henry and Mildred Carter, that may connect to Captain John
Carter as well.
Hopefully the new industry in this area will respect our
families and not harm this burial ground.
Page
One is a photo of the headstone of Thomas Randolph Carter
born 1820
http://www.hometown.aol.com/grandpatrcarter/1.html
Father of Thomas was John Wise Carter who's parents were
Captain John Carter of Virginia and Elizabeth Wise of Edgefield South Carolina
Page
Two headstone of Lacy Jane Bozeman born 1827
Three headstone of Jesse Bozeman born 1793 ( Lacy's
father ) with another stone marked JFB which may be the footstone of his son James by his second wife Frances
Freeman
Jessse was the son of Peter Bozeman, grandson of Mordecai
Bozeman
Five Jesse, Thomas, and Lacy surrounded by her children
- this area needs to be cleaned and restored to it's
natural beauty and shared with the many
descendants of our Patriots of the American Revolution and the early
pioneers of the State of
Alabama.
Thomas Carter and Jesse Bozeman apparently put a lot of
work and money into this family memorial and it now needs the attention that it deserves.
Six Jesse's headstone on one side of a tree and another on
the other side could be the stone of his wife.
Seven James Bozeman, son of Jesse
Eight James again, a better view of his broken
headstone
Nine children of Lacy Jane Bozeman Carter
Ten James Bozeman, a clearer view
Twelve a road view of the graveyard
Seventeen Thompson and McGehee were they kin? or once lived here
Nineteen a photo of John Thomas Bozeman, son of Nancy Jane
Anderson
Twenty a photo of Lacy and Thomas with their children in
1859
Twenty
One is a picture of Sarah Carter, daughter of Josephine and
Thomas Carter ( his second wife after Lacy died )
Twenty
Two is Sarah Carter's daughter pictured with
spouse
Twenty
Five is the marriage license of Nancy Hill and John T
Bozeman
Thirty is a headstone for Anna York and the death date seems to
be 1840
Thirty
One is the document showing Jesse Bozeman's death and his
Administrator of the Estate is Thomas Randolph Carter and the document mentions the adopted son
of Jesse, or the son of his second wife. This document is also signed by a Murphee
NOTE: another cemetery nearby is listed on the
internet in memory of Abner McGeHee and apparently they all
knew each other,
intermarried....
http://www.rootsweb.com/~almgs/mcgehee/index.html
Aunt Savilla Cooper McGeHee is buried there and she was
the sister of Levi Cooper who married Sarah Carter or the daughter of Thomas Carter. Other Thompson
families are buried there too that I do not believe were
related to us. There is also a Graves
family buried at McGeHee and we know that the Governor Graves was a
pall bearer at the funeral of John Thomas
Bozeman who was married to Sarah Edwards and owned the little
store in Hope Hull called the McGeHee
Switch.
As more is learned about the Bozeman and Carter families
who arrived in Alabama in the earlys 1820's, it will
be posted here. Thus far we know that
Jesse Bozeman was married twice, adopted his second wife's son, and
Jesse was the adminstrator of his brother
William Henry Bozeman's estate, making sure that William's wife
kept the house and looked out for her minor
children.
When Jesse died we find that Thomas Randolph Carter was
the administrator over that estate.
Apparently many families worked this farm and housed
there, probably buried in this cemetery that we have
yet to uncover.
There were many loose bricks lying around in the cemetery
probably to mark those unknown burials.
http://www.alabama-cemetery-preservation.com/
Brief Cemetery
History:
Known by some as the Carter-Stokes Cemetery but indicated
on the Montgomery County map as "Stokes Cemetery," it dates back to before the Civil War but has
been abandoned and neglected for nearly half a century. It is located off the Mobile Highway (US 31) on
McLean Road. Pine trees on a knoll next to a large cattle pond on the William S. Newell property obscures
this cemetery from view. The first owner of the
property was probably Benjamin Lewis born 1772 from South
Carolina who purchased it from the state in 1822. Thomas
Randolph Carter (1820-1892) later purchased
the property and subsequently sold it in 1859 to Mathew C. Stokes.
This land sale consisted of 179 acres with
"one acre to be reserved for burying purposes." Years later the
cemetery property was sold to the McLean -
Stewart families then to the Farm Bureau and is now owned by
the Newell Construction Company. Originally, mostly
Carter and Bozeman families used the cemetery. The oldest
person found by year of birth with a stone
is that of Jesse Bozeman born 28 January 1793. His gravestone has
been broken by a tree, as are many others
stones and some dates are obliterated or nearly obliterated. He
was the father-in-law of Thomas R. Carter who is buried
there. There are many sunken places indicating burials
probably without gravestones. The tallest
monument and oldest not yet toppled is to the sacred memory of
John W., son of Thomas R. and Lacy J.
Carter, October 18, 1848 who died at age four years, three months
and eight days. The few later year burials seem to be around
the base of the knoll and probably ceased around 1969 with the burial of Herbert York, 1 November 1969 a
World II veteran.
Alabama Marriage Collection, 1800-1969
about Thomas R Carter
Name: Thomas R Carter
Spouse: Lucy Jane Bozman
Marriage Date: 18 Oct 1843
County: Montgomery
State: Alabama
Performed By Title: O M G
Performed by Name: G W Jeter
Source information: Jordan Dodd, Liahona Research
( MATHEW C. STOKES
-----------------------------------
Spouse: MARY A. CAMPBELL Family
Marriage: 05 APR 1873 , Shelby,
Alabama
* Peter Bozemans daughter Lucy married Sterling Campbell
and then Meade Bozeman married a Leila Campbell in 1910.....
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/al/montgomery/photos/tombstones/myvisittocarters/bozeman4146gph.txt
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/al/montgomery/photos/tombstones/carterstokes/bozeman4148gph.txt
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/al/montgomery/photos/tombstones/myvisittocarters/bozeman4147gph.txt
)
http://www.hometown.aol.com/bozemangenweb/01.html
http://www.hometown.aol.com/alabamagenealogy/2.html
