Our Huntsville Ancestors

Tommy Towery

LHS '64

Last week I wrote about growing up in Huntsville and of some of the changes we have seen since then. Our generation of Huntsvillians look back and remember our grandparents as mill workers in some of the historical cotton mills located in Huntsville. My maternal grandfather, Marcus Luther Roden, and his family were some of those workers. 

Using Ancestry.com as a reference, I was able to find a lot about his life and work. The 1900 census lists him and his family all working in cotton mills.

Ancestry.com notes the following about him for the 1920 census, still living in West Huntsville.

In 1920 he was listed in the federal census records as a card grinder.

Card Grinder - grinds wire teeth of card clothing, i.e., leather, webbing, or other material set with wire teeth, and used to cover rollers of carding machine, or of brushes (also made of wire, and used in raising nap of cloth) either by emery-covered or other grinding rollers placed on the machines, or by removing the cards or brushes and grinding them in a separate machine to restore sharpness to teeth which have become worn and irregular, and to make them uniform in height; generally also cleans wire teeth, removing waste, fluff, etc., therefrom.

The 1929 City Directory shows he and his new family were located and employed at Lincoln Mills, and the 1940 census lists him and my grandmother both working as cotton mill employees. When I was attending Lee, I was living with my grandmother Ethel. 

My grandfather died in 1941, five years before I was born. 

So, what will the future hold? Of course, the Huntsville cotton mill days are gone, and we are probably the last generation to know enough to brag about our ancestors working there. With the growth of Redstone Arsenal and the importance of Huntsville in the Space Race, future generation will probably remember their grandparents role in that industry with the same pride as we have for our grandparents. What is bragging rights for us in our grandparents’ role in cotton mills, future generations will replace with stories of their grandparents' role at Redstone Arsenal. Perhaps with the availability of the internet, they will be able to gather more knowledge about them. 

My father was one of those who retired from Redstone Arsenal, where he worked as a draftsman. I have documented much about my father to share with my daughter.

The Wayback Machine

This is a video about the Huntsville Mills that is posted on Youtube. Credits for the production are found at the end of the video.

In growing up I lived in the Merrimack Village area and in Lincoln both. Of course, the mills were closed long before I lived there, but I still have the bragging rights, as do many of you. My only school related to the mills was Rison in the first grade. 

On a different note, I only had one yes and one no when I asked if anyone was interested in sharing stories about First Dates. I will leave the comment app open for one more week. All you have to do is click yes or no - it is that simple, and I will never know who voted which way.

If you are interested, my friend Rick Bragg has written a book which covers some stories about "Lint Heads", the name given to young workers at the mills. It is available on Amazon listed as  The Most They Ever Had Hardcover – November 1, 2009 by Rick Bragg (Author).

LEE LUNCH BUNCH

Classes of ’64, ’65, ‘66

Thursday, April 24, 2025 11:00 a.m.

Carrabbas’s Italian Grill

(Upper parking deck at Parkway Place Mall)

Classmates from ‘64, ’65, and ’66, please mark your calendars for the next Lee Lunch Bunch. This begins the 15th year of our lunches together. This is also the 60th year from graduation for the Class of 1965. Hopefully, many of this group will be able to come on this date, share all of the latest from our daily lives, and have a good meal together.

Please do let me know if you are planning to come. I will need to let the manager know how many no later than a couple of days before. Thanks and hope to see you in April.

Patsy Hughes Oldroyd ‘65

304 Wellington Rd.

Athens, AL 35613

H (256) 232-7583

C (256) 432-3396

keithandpatsy@att.net

Last Week's Questions, Answers, And Comments

Taylor Wright, LHS ‘66, "Tommy,I was born Tennessee and came here in 1958 at the age of 10.I have often wished that this was my birth place and love Huntsville and it's history and charm.

I had many childhood friends and later adult friends that were either born here or elsewhere and I know they felt the same.

I consider myself a Huntsvillian and have done many of the things mentioned in your article.I have had several chances to leave for business reasons,but always stuck around.The only time I left was to serve my country in the Army and Vietnam but I always longed to get back home.

A couple of things not mentioned about being a Huntsvillian was visiting Sally's grave and swimming in the coldest water ever at Big Spring pool.I also was fortunate to meet and marry my present wife in Huntsville who is a native to our fair city."

Jim McBride, LHS '65, "Hi Tommy, I was just about to write you to say how much I enjoyed a second reading of A Million Tomorrows when I read I Am A Huntsvillian in last week’s issue. You covered a lot of familiar ground. There are not many people our age who were born in Huntsville and it’s impossible to describe to them the little cotton mill town we grew up in. You had to be there. I appreciate your writing about people, places and things I may have forgotten over time. Many sweet memories are triggered in my mind as I read your words. 

Thank you Tommy for helping us remember. Thank you for mentioning my song “Dixie Boy’ in your column. It’s my favorite song out of the near one thousand I’ve written. I simply wrote about growing up in Dallas Mill Village as a present for my Mom and Dad. My publisher insisted I demo it. Alabama heard the demo and recorded it on their CMA Album of The Year. “Dixie Boy” was never a single for radio but the album sold 5,000,000 copies and helped me make it through the lean years. I have been blessed and honored far beyond what I deserve. Proud to be a Lee High General."