MADDOX FAMILY CEMETERY

Located Between Waverly, Chambers County, Alabama

And Gold Hill, Lee County, Alabama

2007

Along a rural county road in Chambers County Road is a lonely, isolated cemetery that once was the burying ground for a pioneer family who, in the mid 1830’s, moved into the recently ceded Creek Indian Territory in East Alabama.  William James Maddox, a descendant of a Revolutionary War patriot Claiborne Maddox, moved his family here from Greene County, Georgia.  Along with him came his wife, the former Elizabeth Talley; his parents Anthony and Margaret (Jewel) Maddox; his siblings Elizabeth, Emeline and Richard Maddox; and his young son James, who was born in 1828. William purchased and claimed the land from Pea Ridge near present day Waverly, along Sandy Creek, to near where the community of today’s Gold Hill in Lee County is located. At that time there were only scattered farms in the heavily wooded area.

William and his family carved out a profitable plantation in this area. He and his wife had two more children: John Maddox and Eugenia Maddox. The first death in this pioneer family came in 1848 when Anthony Maddox died. It was probably about this time that the site for the family cemetery was determined. They located it near a large cypress tree a few hundred yards from their plantation house and we can assumed that one of the unmarked graves is Anthony’s.  The next death in the family came when William’s mother passed away, sometime between 1860 and 1870. There is a second grave that is not marked that is assumed to be hers.  The other children of Anthony and Margaret also settled in the area.  Elizabeth married Benjamin Patrick, Emeline married Reuben McCoy and Richard married Emma Bennett.

John Maddox, the son of William and Elizabeth, married Ella Hughes and received the middle portion of William’s estate. Daughter Eugenia married Benjamin Spratling and received the western part. James never married and it is not known exactly what became of him. After Anthony’s death, William became the legal guardian of his brother Richard and Richard and his family were running the eastern portion.  The War Between the States halted the use of slaves on the farm, but many of the freed slaves remained in the area and continued to work the Maddox farm land.  In 1872, Ella Hughes Maddox died and is buried in the Maddox Family Cemetery. William lived until 1885 and his grave is also there.

Family lore says that Richard Maddox and his two sons died after drinking contaminated water from their well, which happened to be along the stage coach route from Dadeville to Opelika. Their three grave stones are in the Maddox Family Cemetery but the dates of their deaths make the family lore uncertain. Richard’s son William Harper Maddox has an engraved death date of August 24, 1894.  His brother’s marker has a death date of August 24, 1895! It seems unlikely that both would have died from the same poising incident on the same date but one year apart. Their father’s headstone is rather obscured by time, but has been determined to indicate the death date was November 10, 1895.

These are the only graves in the cemetery so it appears no burials took place after 1895. Prior to 2006, the land around the cemetery was heavily wooded. At one time the hedges that had been planted to delineate the bounds of the graveyard were clearly visible. Sometime in 2006, the timber on the land was removed, probably sold by the current owners. The cemetery was not disturbed at that time, but now the few trees that were left stick out like a sore thumb across the horizon north of Chambers County Highway 21. The underbrush around the cemetery is very thick and many dead limbs and debris are scattered about the graveyard.

As an approach is made across the field, one has to step lightly and carefully. Wild blackberry bushes are abundant, and in the summer this mean that snakes are likely to be around.  The walking is tough and heavy shoes and clothing are recommended. The approach across the field looks like this:

What I believe to be the oldest grave is a large mound of rocks and is not identified:

To the left of this grave is that of Elizabeth Talley Maddox and is clearly marked on a slab on top:

Next to her is the other unmarked grave that is in very poor shape:

To the right of this grave is the slab covering William James Maddox:

The three graves of Richard, Thomas and William are marked by headstones and all have been broken but the pieces seem to all be there. Roots from the cypress tree seem to have caused some upheaval to the markers also:

Other pictures showing the state of disrepair:

This cemetery has been registered with ACPC, the Alabama Cemetery Preservation Alliance, identification number 9-002241

Tom Merrill

June 21, 2007