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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 - however his brother William Henry is on the census living right next to Jesse - then when Jesse handled
the estate of William after his death, he made sure that the widow Martha got her Writ of Dower, the house and 40 acres, but Thomas Carter actually bought
a piece of that Bozeman property when it was
sold off.
Jesse and / William Bozeman were the sons of
Peter Bozeman
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 along the historical
Meriweather Trail.
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. The grave of William Henry's
son, Peter Edward Bozeman, has been discovered in Dublin behind the HIlls Chapel Church way out in the
woods
http://www.hometown.aol.com/bozemangenweb/PEB.html
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
Eleven Jesse
Twelve a road view of the graveyard
Thirteen layout of Bozeman graves
One More Thompson family buried here
Fourteen a distant view
Seventeen Thompson and McGehee were they kin? or once lived here
Eighteen Lacy
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 Three could be the headstone of little John
Carter
Twenty Four are my simple search notes
Twenty Five is the marriage license of Nancy Hill and John T
Bozeman
Twenty Six is a headstone for Will Ella Smith
Twenty Seven is a headstone for Mary Bennett
Twenty Eight is Eli Thompson and Rachel McGehee headstone
Twenty Nine is Carrie Segers headstone
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.
*
below is an article online about this cemetery and I did not see
the John Carter headstone at all that is mentioned.
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
ALL of these families had migrated from South
Carolina after the War and Hill was also another important
name in the Bozeman family..
( MATHEW C. STOKES
-----------------------------------
Spouse: MARY A. CAMPBELL
Family
Marriage: 05 APR 1873 ,
Shelby, Alabama
Did either of these have a Bozeman Mother or
Bozeman grandmother?
* Peter Bozemans daughter Lucy married Sterling
Campbell and then Meade Bozeman married a Leila Campbell in 1910.....Marha M Bozeman married a Norman
Campbell.
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
Email:
KC90853@juno.com
http://kathy.rootschat.net/KathyBrooksGenealogy.html
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/l/o/r/Kathy-Lorena-AL/