Franklin County TN - Bios: Alzura Duncan Rutledge ************************************************* Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tn/tnfiles.htm File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Donald L. Hill ************************************************* ALZURA DUNCAN RUTLEDGE Alzura was born a slave, probably owned by Anderson Benton Duncan (1798-October 1866), the only Duncan who had slaves in Franklin County. Nevertheless, no slaves are listed for him in 1860, although he had 13 in 1850. Further, no young female was present in this group in 1850; the youngest was born in 1841. Perhaps Mr. Duncan had sold, or released, his slaves prior to 1860. Alzura Duncan married George Rutledge on 10/21/1867 in Franklin Co., Tennessee. She was likely born about 1850, as indicated in the 1870, 1880, 1910, and 1920 censuses. If she were born in October 1859, as indicated in the 1900 census, she would have been only 8 years old when she married. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1870 CENSUS Relevant census records are as follows: (Categories are dwelling number, name, age, sex, race, occupation, state of birth) 275 Rutledge, George 22 M B Laborer TN Eliza 22 F B TN Lila 3 F B TN Sallie 1 F B TN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1880 CENSUS (The categories are dwelling number, name, race, sex, age, relationship to head, married/single, occupation, and state of birth.) 131 Rutledge, George B M 30 M Farmer TN Alsura B F 30 Wife M Housekeeper TN Lettia B F 9 Dau S TN Sarah B F 7 Dau S TN John B M 5 Son S TN Robert B M 4 Son S TN Frank B M 3 Son S TN Harris B M 1 Son S TN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1900 CENSUS (The categories are dwelling number, name, relationship race, sex, date of birth, age, married/single, married years, state of birth, occupation) 44 Rutlege, George Head B M Oct 1859 52 M 22 TN Farmer Alzure Wife B F Oct 1859 52 M 22 TN Frank Son B M Nov 1878 21 S TN Farm laber Haris Son B M Aug 1880 19 S TN Farm laber Tomas Son B M Sep 1883 16 S TN Farm laber Lettie Dau B F Sep 1871 28 S TN Fanie GDau B F Nov 1897 2 S TN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1910 CENSUS (The categories are dwelling number, name, relationship, sex, race, age, marital status, years married, children born, children alive, state of birth, and occupation.) 14 Rutledge, Harris Head M B 26 m1 7 TN Farmer Mollie Wife F B 35 m2 7 1 1 AL None Kin. [Kennerly] Marzy Step-dau F B 10 TN None Rutledge, Alsury Head F B 60 wd 7 6 TN None --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1920 CENSUS (The categories are dwelling number, name, relationship, sex, race, age, marital status, state of birth, and occupation.) 141 Rutlege, Alzura Head F B 73 Wd TN Laundress 142 Rutlege, Harrison Head M B 48 M TN Laborer Mollie Wife F Mu 50 M AL Laundress Rankin, Rusavelt Step grandson M Mu 6 S TN None --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Her name is given as Eliza, Alzure, Alsury, and Alsura, but she was known as Alzury. These records indicate that she had seven children, of which six were alive in 1910. The seven are Lettie (Lettia, Lila) b. 1867; Sarah (Sallie) b 1869; John b. 1875; Robert (b. 1876); Frank (b. 1878); Harris (Haris, Harrison) b. 8/1880; and Thomas (Tomas) b. 9/1883. It is not certain which one died before 1910. Frank died after 1924; Harris died after 1920, and Robert died in 1911. Either Lettie, Sarah, Thomas, or John died before 1910. It was probably not John. He had a large family, and his last child was born in 1907. After the Civil War, Alzura and several other black families lived in a small community in the bottomland near the Elk River (35.3016N, 85.9525W). This was part of Wilder’s Chapel, where many of the families were either Hills or Cokers. The black men worked as hired hands and the women as helpers in the houses of white folks. Both men and women chopped and picked cotton. Life was difficult; they had no land of their own. Small gardens provided field peas, corn, tomatoes, and okra. Often, their food consisted of what they could find in fields and woods: blackberries, huckleberries, hickory nuts, turnip greens, watercress, and poke salat. Alzura, who stayed busy providing for her family, was well liked by the white folks. With her, they established an easy relationship. At times, she worked for my grandfather, Willliam Hill (1867-1948) and his wife Sarah Wilder (1871-1953). While washing their clothes, she would occasionally slip into the smokehouse, cut a piece of side meat, and hide it in her clothes. Although the grease stained her dress, and it became obvious what she had done, no one questioned her. She would also visit Will Oliver (1877-1954) and his wife Margaret (1881-1943) to ask for some meat to season her vegetables. Although life was hard for whites as well as blacks, Alzura maintained a sense of humor. The Cokers and Hills struggled to find enough food. Many were gaunt and rail-thin. Only the Partins, who had a two-story, painted house, gave the appearance of modest prosperity. Still, they too were not far from starvation, a fact subtly pointed out by Alzura: Hill town, Coker street PARTIN'S HOTEL - NOT A BITE TO EAT! After a long day of picking cotton, the subject of death came up. Some of the field crew said that they wanted to be buried in a $15 walnut casket with $2 handles; others said that they would be satisfied with oak, since that would cost only $10. Alzura, however, expressed a strong desire to be buried in a casket made of poplar wood, which, everyone knew, cost only $5. When asked about her preference, she replied, "I likes popper wood. I want to go through Hell a-popping." Around 1900, the black community was decimated by an epidemic. They were kept under armed guard (Will Oliver was one) to prevent them from leaving. After this trial, the survivors drifted away until there remained only Alzura, living in a one-room log cabin and a neighbor, Joe Taylor (1879-?). She didn't get her wish for a poplar casket. Walking back to her humble cabin on a warm spring day after gathering some walnut hulls to treat her eczema, she stumbled and fell as she passed an old cemetery. My uncle, Chester Hill (1903-1981), and his father-in-law, Will Oliver, who were nearby, preparing a field for planting cotton, helped her get up and into her house. She lived only a few more days, dying on April 1, 1927, during a storm of lightning and rain. Joe Taylor, who lived across the fence (35.3017N, 85.9534W), brought the news to Henry Brannan, who lived nearby on Elk River (35.2991N, 85.9496W). Henry and his stepson, Marvin Hill, hitched mules to their wagon, tossed in a pick and a shovel, and plodded down a muddy track to Alzura's cabin. They placed her body in the back, creaked back to the road, and splashed through the flooded Elk River to Silas Baker's store in Rutledge Hill. Since the mules were now exhausted, Alzura's body was transferred to Silas' T- model truck. With Marvin standing on the running board and the deceased in the back, the clanking vehicle chugged to the old slave cemetery (about 35.3014N, 85.9391W). Silas located a spot between two sunken, unmarked graves, and he and Henry quickly dug into the soft earth. From time to time, Marvin climbed into the hole with a bucket to scoop out water. When they reached a depth of three feet, they wearily dropped the remains into the excavation, covered her black body with soil, and returned home. No poplar coffin, no preacher, no Bible, no words spoken. Within a short time, Joe Taylor moved away. There were no black folks left in Wilder's Chapel. ---