PALMER / CARTWRIGHT-CRUTCHER CEMETERY, (Palmer Road, Madison, Al.), MADISON COUNTY, ALABAMA

Mapping the location

Area Views of the cemetery: 5934, 5935, 5956

CARTWRIGHT, H. B. (Hezekiah Bradley),  31 Mar 1812 - 21 Sep 1866. ** (son of John Cartwright who lived here also. Where is his grave?; married Martha (Vaughn) (Bailey), the widow of Elijah Bailey*) (This grave is next to the bank of Palmer Road and in danger of caving off into the ditch. 5936, 5937, 5938
"H. B. CARTWRIGHT, born March 31, 1812 Died Sept 21, 1866."

CRUTCHER, Chaney, (cir 28 Mar 1801) - died 19 Dec 1846.  (Inscription on tomb very faint and hard to read) 5941L, 5941, 5942, 5943, 5944, 5945, 5946, 5947, 5948, 5954
"Sacred to the memory of CHANEY CRUTCHER who departed this life Dec 19, 1846  AGED 45 YEARS 6 Mo & 23 days."

CRUTCHER, MARY R. RAWLINS, Wife of Chaney Crutcher, 26 Jun 1799 - 4  Mar 1889. (stone not found in 2011, except adult base is present down from Chaney Crutcher.)

CRUTCHER, Thomas, E., 28 Jun 1845 - 3 Sep 1846. "Son of E. C. & Evalina Crutcher", Aged 14 Months & 6 Days 5949, 5950, 5951, 5952, 5953, 5954
"Sacred to the memory of Thos E. CRUTCHER, son of E. C. & Evalina CRUTCHER, who was born June 28, 1845 & died 3 Sept. 1846, Aged 14 Mos & 6 days. 

R. . . . . . . ., M. R., Footstone, initials "M.R.R."  (1870-1910 style footstone) (Where is the headstone? Could this be for Mary R. Rawlins wife of E.  Chaney Crutcher, but who is Evalina. Possible that after Chaney's death in 1846 she remarried a Rawlins and lived until 1889?) 5940 

Unknown memorial - box tomb with missing top. (Is the top sunken into the ground next to the base?) 5939

Unknown pile of limestone rock in the southeastern part of cemetery. Looks as if it were put there recently - perhaps within the last 50 years. Its disposition may or may not affect the history of this graveyard, but some of the stones may have marked graves at one time, because their surface looks old. 5955

Census, Nov. 11, 1850:
Name                  Age Birth State:
Crutcher, E. C.      (26) Ala (Ethelbert C. Crutcher mar. Evelina Jane Graves 26 Oct 1843)
Crutcher, Evalina J. (25) Ala
Crutcher, John C.  (8/12) Ala

**Martha A., (1817-1884) wife of H. B. Cartwright, is buried in the old section of Madison City Cemetery. Also next to the grave of H. B. Cartwright is a grave which is
much older than any with stones. It was a rock tomb which had crumbled and the rocks were strewn about the ground. There was no identification on it.
The Cartwright family was the first to settle in this area of the county. (Dorothy Scott Johnson about 1989)

This graveyard is an oasis of neglect surrounded by wealth. Some of the graves/monuments are very near the road bank and in danger of sliding off into the ditch. Some fieldstones or box tomb base stones have already fallen into the ditch. The only standing stone is that for H.B. Cartwright and it is in danger falling over the bank from being there on the bank of Palmer Road.

*Sourced from an article in the Huntsville Times Wednesday, 7 Sep 2011, by John Rankin, Vintage writer.

Listings & Links developed by Mary Bob McClain 17 Oct 2010 of Birmingham Alabama using photos dated 16 Mar 2010 by C. Wayne Austin. Also published in the Madison County Alabama cemetery book by Dorothy Scott Johnson abt 1989 Page 233. Added here with appropriate commentary & editing by C. Wayne Austin 12 Jan 2011.