Toney (Including Dan, Madison Cross Roads, and Black Cat)

All that remains of an old homestead on Opp Reynolds Rd.

Stairs on Opp Reynolds Rd.

Dan:

written by Jay Crook (circa late 1970s)

I: The Beginning

When I moved to the community of Toney I was unaware of the history that had passed many years before I came. As I began to roam the woods behind our house, I stumbled onto something that would later spark the adventurous part of me and drive me to find the truth.

What I found on that warm spring afternoon were large slabs of slate rock, erected in a rather orderly fashion, rising from the water of Limestone Creek, making what looked like a broken-down wall. I paid no attention to this old sight and continued on my way. That night, as I began to think over the day, something about those slab rocks didn't seem right. My first assumption of the odd formation was that it was a natural formation, because most of Limestone Creek is slate, carved out by Limestone Creek. As I thought on I remembered that the slabs were short, individual pieces, instead of one solid sheet of slate.

The next day, I returned to the spot where I had found the formation of slate rock. I began to look more closely, and after a while, I discovered a wooden beam, about a foot thick. I followed the beam with my eyes and discovered another beam, about the same size, connected to it. More and more beams began to appear in uniform formation. I quickly put two and two together and made the assumption that it was the remains of a dam.

When I returned home, I told my parents about my discovery and where it was located. They told me I had probably found a dam which made a drinking hole for livestock and other animals. I was sure that it was something more than that.

Many months, or even years, have past since I gave any real thought about the dam again. My friend, Tim Mitchell, and I were wading the creek by the ruins of the dam when he became interested in it also. I began to tell him how I stumbled on it and what I thought it was used for. The next time I saw Tim in school, his eyes were full of excitement. He told me that his father had told him about a grist mill that used to be on Limestone Creek. His father was not too sure about story because he had never actually seen the place where the grist mill was located, but had heard of it while he was growing up.

Tim and I made plans to go to the Huntsville Public Library and see if we could find any records of a grist mill ever being in that area. I'm sorry to say that it took over a year for me to ever get around to going to the library.

At the library, my search was almost fruitless. I did not find any records of anything being in that area, but I did find one very important thing. Many years back, there was a community located where Wall Triana Highway crosses Limestone Creek. It was called "Dan," and first appeared on the map about the mid 1800s.

II: Maude and Rachel Howard

My search led me to Miss Maude and Rachel Howard, who had lived in Dan since 1904. The Howard sisters recalled the times they had lived in Dan before the town disappeared. The sisters remember the town as having a store, cotton gin, grist mill, and post office.

According to the sisters, one of the things they really remember about Dan was the store. Maude, Howard, who actually shopped at the store, states that, "It was a small store, but it was a place you went to get the necessities."

The land and town of Dan was privately owned by the Daniel Harrison Turner family. Maude Howard tells that Dan had one road which ran parallel to Limestone Creek, and crossed the creek downstream. It is unknown what the name of this road was, but it is believed by Woodrow Balch and others, that the name was possibly "Old Cold Water Road."The Howard sisters directed me to Miss Lucy Turner, one of the granddaughters of Daniel H. Turner.

III: Lucy and Mary Turner

Lucy Turner, who lived with her sister, Mary Turner, was very helpful in that she has some of the records of Dan. The other records may have been destroyed in a fire that burnt the old house down. According to Lucy Turner's records, the land which Dan first stood was owned by Washington and Mary H. Eddins, who sold it to Benjamin E. Norris and Judith L. Norrris on October 17, 1828 for the price of one thousand three hundred and twenty dollars ($1,320.00).

Benjamin and Judith Norris sold some land to Stephen H. Norris on April 12th of 1828 for three thousand seven hundred dollars ($3,700.00). The deed mentions a mill race, a grist mill, a saw mill, and a mill pond.

Benjamin and Judith Norris again sold land to Thomas M. Norris on November 13th of 1839 for eight hundred dollars ($800.00). The deed mentions a still house, a mill race, a mill yard, a tale race, and a grist mill.

Stephen M. Norris and Nancy H Norris sold their land to James Lailey of Giles county Tennessee for two thousand, one hundred dollars ($2,100.00) plus the parcel of land on which James Bailey had moved from. The deed mentions a mill race, a grist mill, a saw mill, a mill dam, a mill pond, a tale race, and a log pen.

Thomas M. Norris and Elizabeth G. Norris sold their land to Milton Walker on September 4th of 1843 for a total of nine hundred dollars ($900.00). The deed mentions a mill race, a saw mill, a grist mill, and a log pen.

James Bailey and Caroline Bailey sold a total of four hundred, ninety-nine and a quarter (499 1/4) acres to Mary A Bayless on February 14th of 1871 for four thousand, nine hundred dollars ($4,900.00).

Mary A. Bayless, Arthur H. Bayless, and Leona V. Bayless sold two hundred and eighty-five (285) acres to Daniel H. Turner on March 17th of 1882 for nine hundred dollars ($900.00) plus half interest. The land was best known as the "Bayless Mill Property," because of the mill. To which mill it refers is unknown.

William J. Pearson and Beatrice A. Pearson sold two hundred and eighty-five (285) acres to Daniel H. Turner for nine hundred, sixty dollars ($960.00) plus half interest on September 2nd of 1882. The land has been owned by the Turner family since.

IV: The Town Buildings

The Turner sisters, Mary and Lucy, said that the town of Dan consisted of a country store, grist mill, sawmill, cotton mill, post office, a main house, seed house (part of the gin), a mill dam, mill race, and a log pen, open at its peak.

Little is known about the country store except that it existed.

The grist mill was, most likely, the tallest of all the buildings in Dan. The grist mill was three stories tall and was build without a single nail. All the main beams and foundation beams were hand honed, and were notched and pegged into place. The grist mill was built over the mill race. The water wheel was mounted underneath the mill at the far end of the mill, instead of on the side of the mill. The reason for this is that when the water gates in the mill face were closed, the water would back up behind them until the mill was ready to be used.

The mill race was dug into the ground, about six feet or so, and channeled the water underneath the mill. Except for one spot under the mill, the race did not have any man-laid bottom or sides.

The third floor of the grist mill held a huge water tank. This water tank was the source of power during dry seasons. The water was pumped into the tank fro the mill race and stored for further use.

The second floor was probably used for storing the flour and cornmeal that was ground at the mill. The first floor was where the grinding was done.

Lucy Turner worked in the grist mill when she was a young girl growing up in Dan. The gristmill ran until the early 1920s, and in 1939 or 1940, the grist mill was torn down. One side of the mill was eaten up by termites. Lucy Turner states, "We shouldn't have torn that down. We could have made a fortune. Everything was in working order, but one side had fell down."

The saw mill was located on the east side of the mill race, downstream from the grist mill. People who wanted trees cut into lumber brought their trees there and paid to have them cut with cash or a percentage of the lumber they cut. The sawmill was destroyed in 1913 by a tornado.

The cotton gin was built over the mill race, just a few yards upstream from the gristmill. The gin was powered by a steam engine, and was destroyed by a tornado in 1913. All the seeds from the gin were stored in a small seed house until the next planting.

The post office was established on December 11, 1872, inside the store, which was known as "Simmons Store." On January 11, 1877, it (Dan) became "Pearson's Mills." Finally, on July 21, 1885, it became known as "Dan."

On December, 1904, the post office at Dan was discontinued. Between 1872 and 1904, there were eight postmasters for Dan. From December 11, 1872 to January 11, 1876, Jasper A. Self was the first postmaster of Dan. The following are the postmasters of Dan, as they took office:

• William D. Tucker was postmaster from January 17, 1876 to January 10, 1877
• Jasper A. Self, postmaster from January 11, 1877 to November 19, 1877
• William J. Pearson, from November 20, 1877 to April 15, 1878
• Arthur H. Bayless, from April 16, 1878 to January 1, 1883
• Mary Jane Oruman, from January 19, 1883 to August 6, 1884
• J. W. Blakemore, from August 7, 1884 to November 9, 1887
• Daniel H. Turner, from November 10, 1887 until the post office was discontinued

V: The Slow Destruction of Dan

The mill dam, which was used to divert water into the mill race to power the grist mill, was first built out of wood in about 1830 or 1835. The foundation of the wooden dam has been preserved by water constantly being over it. The foundation is the beams of wood I found years ago that sparked my interest.

Around the year 1812 or 1813, the slate dam was erected behind the wooden dam because the well of the wooden dam was constantly rotting and having to be replaced in spots. The slate for the slate dam were cut out of the bed of Limestone Creek, just below the first bridge going toward Black Cat on Wall Triana Highway.

Eventually, flood after flood ate a hole in the middle of the slate dam and it has never been rebuilt.

In 1913, a tornado touched down in Dan and destroyed everything but the main house and the grist mill.