Strong (Charles W.) Cemetery, Madison Co., AL

STRONG CEMETERY, (Mt Charron Rd NW) MADISON COUNTY ALABAMA
Mapping the location

Area overviews of the cemetery: 9092/9093//9095

Places this cemetery is not located in spite of the incorrect mapping (north side of Mt Charron Rd): 9072/9073/9074/9075

STRONG, Charles Waite, native of Goochland, Virginia 11 Aug 1804 - 23 Feb 1871.* 9085R/9085/9088/9089/9090/9091/9083
CHARLES W. STRONG, Born in Goochland, Virginia August 11, 1804, died Feb 23, 1871.

STRONG, Nannie V. 3 Jun 1846 - 23 Jan 1869. (stone severely broken up & dates now broken away) 9081/9082/9083
NANNIE V. STRONG, Born Jun 3, 1846 - died Jan. 23, 1869.

DAVIS, Charles W., 21 Oct 1859 - 23 Aug 1860. 9080/9083
CHARLES W. DAVIS, Born Oct. 21, 1859 - died Aug. 23, 1860.

DAVIS, Halbert S., 25 Aug 1834 - 10 Aug 1861. (Large upright monument, broken, parts of it are missing. 9077/9078/Mud stained broken footstone Initials H.S.D.:9079/9083
HALBERT S. DAVIS, Born Aug 25, 1834 - died August 10, 1861.

Fieldstone marking a grave about 20 yards west of the other stones. 9094

*Charles W. Strong built the fine old home which sits on the hill top Just northeast of the Cemetery. He was the son of George and Sally Strong who came to Alabama with their
children prior to 1820. Many descendants of this pioneer family still Live in Madison County today.

I was told by an old timer next door that the land for this cemetery was deeded to the county when they subdivided it years ago. Indeed one can tell the lot fronting the road is a separate entity.
This cemetery has been torn up and displaced badly. None of the stones are in their original positions. They should all be facing east/west and about 8 feet between the footstones and headstones with the graves in between. I could only find one footstone. Vandals/Trees & Farm animals can do this kind of damage, but vandals are the worst because they break the stones into pieces and then often toss the parts around. I pray to my God I never catch one of them because the punishment would not fit the crime even though it would to me. The way one can tell a vandal (of long ago) is the parts of the stone are never found whereas in other events the stone fragments are usually lying around, often under the soil though.
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STRONG CEMETERY (George) MADISON COUNTY ALABAMA
Mapping the Location

At the entrance to this cemetery Is a cement slab on which is the name "J. P. Strong." (Not found 2014):
Views into the thicket. Some of the field stones looked like old home foundation rocks. I see nothing that looks like a formal tombstone here. Some might be fieldstones: 8762/8763/8764/8765/8766/8767/8768/8769/8770/8771

STRONG - James P. Strong. Co. K. 5 U.S. Vol. Inf.. Spanish American War. 7 Jun 1877 - 15 Mar 1935.
STRONG - Gertrude Moss, wife of M. O. Strong, 16 Apr 1851 - 18 Oct 1934.
STRONG - James Carlton, 14 Jul 1914 - 3 Aug 1915. Asleep in Jesus.
STRONG - James Harrison Strong -10 Jun 1910 - 27 Jun 1910, A little time on earth be spent till God for him his angel sent.
STRONG - Sally Strong. [Note: This marker was weathered beyond reading. It may be Sally Booth who married Pleasant Strong 27 Nov 1817, or it may be Pleasant's second wife, Sally Stewart, a widow, whom he married 15 Oct 1835. Sally Booth Strong was born 23 Nov 1798 and died sometime before 1835.]
STRONG - Hopson Strong. [Note: This marker was illegible. This Is Hopson Strong, the son of George Strong and Mary "Polly" East, who was born 27 Jan 1801 and died 9 Oct 1835. George Strong was the son of Nathan Strong and Caty Callahan; Mary "Polly" was the
daughter of Benjamin East and Nancy Pruitt.] Note: I was told by Lucille Strong Powell, whose family cemetery this is, that Pleasant Strong was buried in this cemetery without a headstone. Also that Mary "Polly" East was buried here without a headstone. If Polly East Is buried here then I expect her husband, George Strong, is also buried here.

Others thought to be here without headstones:
STRONG - George, son of Nathan and Caty Callahan Strong. Born 15 Jan 1773 - 18 Aug 1834. Married Mary "Polly" East 6 Jun 1797.
STRONG - Mary "Polly" Strong, daughter of Benjamin East and Nancy Pruitt. Born 25 May 1774 - 18 Feb 1842.
STRONG - Pleasant, son of George Strong and Mary "Polly" East. born 14 Jul 1798 in Virginia, died 19 Apr 1853. [See above for two of his three marriages. His third marriage was to a widow named Madden)
Lula Strong Powell also told Dorothy Johnson her parents were buried here. They were:
STRONG - James A., son of Pleasant and Elizabeth Strong, born 12 May 1849 - 7 Dec 1904. Married Margaret F. Phinizy 2 Mar 1881.
STRONG - Margaret Floyd Phinizy, wife of James A. Strong, born 2 Aug. 1855. died 28 Feb 1926, aged 69 years.

Note: The above "reconstructed" tombstone information and other family information is through the courtesy of Lula Strong Powell, Catherine Gillian, and from the Strong family Bible as was compiled and published in Dorothy Johnson's book Cemeteries of Madison County, 1978.

I visited this cemetery and could find no formal monuments. I could not even get into the area very well to do a proper investigation. All I could see when I peeped into the thicket was dense piles of Vines, brush & piles of rocks as if there was an attempt to bull doze debris and pile it up in a big pile. In talking to the neighbors I find this area was also hit hard by the awful Tornados of 27 Apr 2011. There are old twisted & knarled trees inside this thicket to support this. If so this cemetery could be permanently destroyed by that violet event. This is probably the same tornado that hit my street due east of this spot about 10 miles and it was about an F1. Large trees falling around leave big sinks where root balls flip up into the air and cover everything around them. Tombstones then fall into the pits created by this event. At first I thought I was possibly wrong about the location of this cemetery but it is clearly marked on historical topographical maps so this is the site. Maybe if a crew went in there and pulled away all those piles before they all decay and dissolve back to the ground some of this cemetery could be preserved. The only thing clear here is that nature is designed to break down everything and render it back to the soil and if my theory is correct it did so in a very violet way. Thank God for previous researchers such as Dorothy Johnson & others.

Listings & Links developed by C. Wayne Austin using photos made 9 Oct 2013 & 28 Mar 2014 by C. Wayne Austin. Added here 28 Mar 2014. This cemetery was shown in the book Madison County Cemeteries Vol 1 page 127 & Vol II, Page 246 by the Dorothy Johnson.