BATTS-WARD (black) CEMETERY, Triana, MADISON COUNTY ALABAMA
aka Triana Cemetery, aka Lakeside Cemetery.

Mapping the Location

Area views of the Cemetery: 6451
Old Triana aka Batts Ward Cemetery Signage: 6452/6453/6454/6455
 

BATTS Fanny, born 1848 - Died 24 Apr 1904 Beloved one hath gone 6457/6458
WARD, Henry, died 14 Mar 1902, Age 52 years.  A Christian man died in the Faith. 6456C/6456

Large amount of land area and two sparse tombstones indicate many other lost graves. 6453
Unknown funeral markers seen in this google image - were not there in my visit in 2011. 6458X
 

This cemetery plot is quite large, well kept and sparsely spotted with a couple of known graves.  This cemetery is hardly used anymore by the black community. They largely use the New Triana Cemetery closer to the center of town near the river.

The town of Triana was incorporated on November 13, 1819 and the city father were: Henry Chambers, Waddy Tate, William Adair, John T. Lindsay and Thomas Bibb. Oddly history associates these names more closely with Huntsville than Triana. The slaves came as that opportunity for cotton as a farm product exploded.

Triana is situated on the banks of the Tennessee River and was established as a port from which to ship the cotton produced by the fruitful plantations nearby. These were labor intensive and required lots of help both slave and workers of other nature.

When the railroad went through the area the planters started shipping their cotton by rail and the need for a port vanished. The bottom dropped out of the price of cotton in the 1840's and ruined many large planters. After the Civil War labor to work the fields became a problem and the town of Triana died. The town is now predominately black as is the general farming region. Graveyards in the area follow the path of - (1) old ones pre-civil war being white (2) after the civil war, black, up to current times. Some slave owners when they died freed their slaves and willed their land to them generally if they had no heirs.

Listings & Links developed by C. Wayne Austin using photos dated 22 Apr 2011 by C. Wayne Austin.