MILHOUS CEMETERY (Wooly Springs Road), N.E. LIMESTONE COUNTY, ALABAMA
Area Views:
1669 /
1723 /
1724 /
1725 /
1726 /
1727 /
1728 /
1705 /
1706 /
1707 /
5597 / 5618
/ 5619 / 5620
/ 5621
Photos showing the perimeter stones and fencing:
1670 /
1671 /
1672 /
1675
/
1676 /
1680
HALL, Tomm__ W., no dates. No Photo-reported from
the book Limestone County Tombstone Inscriptions - stone not found
HARDIN, S. (Susanna) J. (Milhous), 18 Sep 1801 - 12 Apr 1861. (note:
death record says d. 12 Apr 1861.) "60 yrs. 1 mo. 11 days.". (dates
actually calculate to 59 years 6 months & 25 days; Camden, Kershaw
County, S.C. native; mar. 2 Jun 1842 to John Hardin as his 2nd wife. Ref: mwhitten Findagrave.)
1677C /
1677 /
1719 /
5610
HODGES, Mary Stewart Milhous, 15 Sep 1796 - 1871.
Born in Camden, Kershaw Co., S. C., died in Limestone Co Al. (sister of
Susanna Hardin; d/o John & Anna Stewart Milhous; grave, if here, is unmarked,
except possibly with one of the fieldstone shown below. (See Findagrave.com per
Douglas Vial.)
MARTIN, Mary Jane (Milhous), 17 May 1846 - 1 Apr
1872. "Formerly Milhous", "Aged 25 yrs & 11 mos." (Athens, Limestone Co. Al.
native; d/o John Allen and Tabitha Burk Powell Milhous.)
1691 /
1692 /
5602, 5603
MILHOUS, John, 15 Sep 1767 - 4 Jul 1846. "Aged
78 Years & 9 Months" (h/o
Anna Stewart Milhous. Ref. mwhitten Findagrave.)
1681C /
1712 /
5607C / 5607
/ 5611
MILHOUS, Anna (Stewart), 4 May 1772 - 21 Jan 1860. "Age 87 Years 8 months
& 17 days." (Camden, Kershaw Co. S.C. native; d/o Alexander Stewart and Mary
Bradley; w/o John Milhous. Ref. mwhitten Findagrave.)
1679 /
1678 /
1713 /
5608C / 5608
/ 5609
MILHOUS, Sarah, 22 Oct 1805 - 25 Jul 1823. "Aged 17 yrs. & 9 months."
1683 /
1682 /
1711 /
5606 / 5612
MILHOUS, John Alan, 20 Oct 1807 - 10 May
1884.
(Camden, Kershaw Co. S.C. native; s/o John Milhous and Anna Stewart Milhous; h/o
Tabitha Burk Powell Milhous; primitive Baptist minister here.)
1695
/ 1704 /
5598
MILHOUS, T. (Tabitha) B. (Burk), 15 Feb 1815 - 24 Feb 1875.
"Aged 60 yrs, 9 days." Footstone:
"T. B. M."
1693 /
1694 /
5617 /
5616
MILHOUS, Ann E., 25 Aug 1841 - 26 Jun 1843. Aged 4 Year & 10 months.
1686 /
1687 /
1709 /
5614 /
5604
MILHOUS, James A.,
6 May 1854 - 16 Aug 1854. 3 Months & 10 days, "son of John A. &
Tabitha B. Milhous". 1684
/ 1685 /
1710
/
5605 / 5613
MILHOUS, John C. M., 2 Jan 1840 - 15 Mar 1862, 22 yrs, 2 mos & 13 days. Footstone:
"J. C. M. M." (s/o John Allen Milhous & Tabitha Burk Powell Milhous.
ref: mwhitten Findagrave.) 1688
/ 1708 /
5615
Fieldstone marked graves:
1673 /
1674 /
1714 /
1715 /
1716 /
1717 /
1718 /
1721 /
1722
There are six to eight fieldstone marked graves believed to be for the former slaves of the Milhous family. They generally would have died before the Civil War 1861-1865, but some may have stayed with the Milhous family until death and their services paid for in monetary remuneration after being freed. The fieldstones are confusing to a novice because the perimeter of the cemetery is aligned with fieldstones each facing inward along the fence line as confirmed by Mr. Potts who voluntarily maintains this cemetery in a very meticulous manner. The descendents, of which I am not one of them, say thanks to the Potts family for their generosity. It is not known when the rock cemetery perimeter was first laid out. It is overlaid with the typical barbed wire fence complete with gates all installed by Mr. Potts. The cemetery premises juts out from his property and only the east side line connects to his property. An estimate of the area is about 30' X 100' In a conversation with Mr. Potts it was determined clearly that the rock fence was later overlaid a wire fence by himself and these are clearly the boundary of the cemetery.
There is a legend concerning an old family doctor interred in Milhous Cemetery that I have heard twice in my lifetime. Once back in 1967 while riding thru here from Muscle Shoals Al (on Old Hwy 31) on the way to Manchester Tennessee as told by Oscar Medley, and again recently by a farmer during 2009 from Elkton Tennessee. It says that at one time a family doctor, of the Milhous surname interred in this cemetery, built a private medical practice, which was so effective that he built a hospital here and operated it during his career to accommodate all the patients which came for his services. It it said the sick came from far and wide to be treated by him and stay in the hospital which doubled as a hotel. This version was found to be true recently when Rebecah Davis researched this question. Rebecah of the Limestone County Archives.** wrote an article about this in the Valley Star on page 18. I will condense it here. Its says among other interesting things that Joel Wooley a North Carolina transplant to the area discovered the Sulphur Springs a 1/2 mile to the east of this graveyard in about 1820 and proceeded to develope into a tourist site for the sick or others seeking to improve their health. A hotel was built to accommodate the visitors and the finest food accommodations of the day were served to the visitors. This business operated successful for many years. By 1881, Wooley decided to get out of the mineral springs business. He sold the estate to Dr. William A. Milhous and moved to the north-western part of Limestone County, but the springs kept his name, as it does to this day.
Soon Milhous also reported that he was
having more applicants than he could accommodate. His solution was to build a
saw mill nearby to help with the new buildings, and each summer would find a new
building added to an existing one.
When the final building was completed, the complex Included 30 guest rooms,
dining and sitting rooms and a kitchen. Milhous Hotel operated at least through
July 1916, when Dr. Milhous announced the season opening of Wooley Springs at $8
per week or $30 a month.
Today, the Milhous Hotel is long gone,
and a home stands on the site, but the legacy of Wooley Springs remains the name
of the community along Ala. Hwy. 251 (Old Highway 31 Nashville to Birmingham)
that boasts churches and more by that name. And if you search out the spring,
who knows? You may still find healing in its waters!"
The question for us now is who is William A. Milhous in regards to the Milhous
family in this graveyard . No doubt he is a third generation Milhous from John &
Anna. He is not buried here or at least does not have a tombstone. If you can
solve this mystery we would like to hear from you Please write to me.
WayneAL1@aol.com
Mon, Jul 7, 2014 8:45 pm
I was doing some research recently and came across your website for our area
cemeteries. In the article for Milhous cemetery, you mention the mystery of Dr.
William A Milhous and requested additional information. I wish to provide the
following information as possibilities:
I traced census records from 1850 to 1920 for a William A Milhous. In 1850, a
7-year old son (born about 1843) of John and Tabitha Milhous was listed as
living in District 3, Limestone County, AL. In 1860, the family was listed in
District 1 (Shoalford PO). By 1870, William was married (Susan
(according to one online family tree, and Find A Grave, her maiden name was
Holman)) with two children, and living Twp 1 Range 3 of Limestone Co. (this is
the area around Wooley Springs). The 1880 census of the same area listed
William, Susan and five children. Of course, the 1890 census is not available,
and, so far, I have been unsuccessful in locating the family in 1900. In 1910,
William's family were enumerated in the Sand Spring community which is centered
just northwest of Wooley Springs. At this point, it was just William, Susan, a
widowed daughter, Lucy, and a hired man named Lewis Turner. 1920 finds a widowed
William living with daughter, Beatrice, and her family, the Reese's, in District
8, Lincoln County, Tennessee. I believe William died in 1925 and is buried at
Rose Hill Cemetery in Fayetteville, Tennessee, near Beatrice and her family. It
appears that Susan is also buried there at Rose Hill, having died in July 1916
in Nashville, Tenn.
I hope this is helpful. Thank you, again, for the wonderful work on all the
cemetery websites.
Lee Hattabaugh, Capshaw, AL <r.httbgh@yahoo.com>
Photos of the number series 56XX were made in a rain storm
9 Mar 2010. A recent update (22 Apr 2012) thanks to the help of Virginia Taylor
a descendent of John & Anna Stewart Milhous has resulted in an opportunity for
improved photos based on minor restoration and better weather. Number series
16XX to 17XX.
You must have permission from the Potts family to
the west or the
From:
Virginia Rutledge Taylor
It was so good to meet you yesterday and I really appreciate your work on the
gravestones. This is the information handed down to me about the Milhous
family.
"John and Anna Stewart Milhous came to Limestone Co., AL around 1809. John's
parents were Samuel and Katherine Jackson Milhous. The daughter of John and
Anna, Mary (Polly) Milhous, married Charles Hodges. They were the parents of my
great-grandmother, Susannah Hodges Rutledge. So John and Anna would be my 3rd
great grandparents.
My maiden name is Rutledge, and the Rutledges also came to Mississippi from
Limestone County. All of my Great-grandfather Alfred's siblings were born in
Limestone Co. Have you ever run across any Rutledge graves in a cemetery? I am
sure someone died while they were all living there.
A distant cousin, now deceased, said that John Milhous was a Quaker whose
ancestor had brought papers from County Antrim, Ireland, in 1669. So that would
explain why there is no no Revolutionary War records for John Milhous. They were
Quakers. They were already in the country and wasn't John born in 1767 in SC?"
Thanks again for your work and making the time to meet us.
Virginia Rutledge Taylor
** For historical photos of the hotel and spring and other well written
information see that article in the Limestone County Archives "Valley Star". It
was published "Feb 18, 2012 (or 2011)", by
Rebecah Davis.
This Cemetery presentation is based on the photography of C. Wayne Austin on 9 Mar 2010, Original typing by Faye Bradford 8 Apr 2010, and site linkage & programming occurring on 25 Jun 2010 by Mary Bob McClain Richardson of Birmingham Alabama. Finalized and added here by C. Wayne Austin of Madison Alabama on 27 Dec 2010.