Near Moulton in Lawrence County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
McDaniel Cemetery #1 ⎯⎯⎯ McDaniel Family Pioneers
Lawrence County
c. 1819
Photographed by Deborah Spencer, October 18, 2025
1. McDaniel Cemetery #1 Marker
Inscription.
McDaniel Cemetery #1, also, McDaniel Family Pioneers. Lawrence County.
McDaniel Cemetery #1 . This cemetery is one of the oldest in the county. In the 1980s, the cemetery had all but disappeared except for four headstones and cemetery rocks found stacked under a tree. In March 2021, Marisa McDaniel Keenum oversaw the repair and removal of these artifacts to Red Hill Cemetery for historic preservation, surrounded by McDaniel family graves. The four headstones represent Walter F. McDaniel, died June 1, 1819; infant Martha McDaniel, died September 28, 1821; Margaret, wife of James McDaniel, died October 1, 1823; and Elizabeth, wife of Walter, died March 27, 1826. James Looney McDaniel is the only other identified interment in the cemetery. In its hey-day, McDaniel Cemetery #1 was described as a beautiful, fenced graveyard, about an acre in size. The interments, most with the McDaniel surname and dated in the early 1800s, were marked with fieldstones, headstones, or box tombs. Although a ghost town by 1909, a former resident described Oakville as "a lively village, resting in a valley of classic promise. Hither the best people from the Southern States had come to make their future homes." Like Oakville, the cemetery also disappeared. Gravestones were pushed over and removed, and the property became pastureland. Listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register June 14, 2021, Reverse Side
McDaniel Family Pioneers . The McDaniels arrived in Lawrence County in 1818 from Tennessee and resided in Oakville Township when the first county census was taken in 1820. The McDaniels acquired land, farmed cotton, and operated mills along the West Fork of Flint Creek where McDaniel Bridge fords the rapids. James McDaniel Grist Mill was built circa 1837 in the "McDaniel Mill Community. William T. McDaniel, Jr. was the last McDaniel heir to own the property. J.B. Preuitt purchased the mill for $300 at auction on October 11, 1884. Remnants of the mill are located on the Ronnie and Clara Terry Farm. The following is a poem written by Martha Martin McMurray, great-granddaughter of Martha McDaniel Preuit, entitled "I Am McDaniel Cemetery #1. "The graves of the dearly departed slowly disappeared and sank. 'Father Time' forgot all about me in the weeds on the spring bank. My loved ones searched and saved my relics scattered beneath a tree. Their kindness is well deserved and truly meant to be. For 202 years my grave-stones weathered many storms. Now, they stand up proud, preserved, and beautifully transformed. The McDaniel Memorial at Red Hill Cemetery recounts my faded history. Alas, I am remembered as so much more than merely a family mystery". Listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register June 14, 2021
McDaniel Cemetery #1
This cemetery is one of the oldest in the county. In the 1980s, the cemetery had all but disappeared except for four headstones and cemetery rocks found stacked under a tree. In March 2021, Marisa McDaniel Keenum oversaw the repair and removal of these artifacts to Red Hill Cemetery for historic preservation, surrounded by McDaniel family graves. The four headstones represent Walter F. McDaniel, died June 1, 1819; infant Martha McDaniel, died September 28, 1821; Margaret, wife of James McDaniel, died October 1, 1823; and Elizabeth, wife of Walter, died March 27, 1826. James Looney McDaniel
is the only other identified interment in the cemetery. In its hey-day, McDaniel Cemetery #1 was described as a beautiful, fenced graveyard, about an acre in size. The interments, most with the McDaniel surname and dated in the early 1800s, were marked with fieldstones, headstones,
or box tombs. Although a ghost town by 1909, a former resident described Oakville as "a lively village, resting in a valley of classic promise. Hither the best people from the Southern States had come to make their future homes." Like
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Oakville, the cemetery also disappeared. Gravestones were pushed over and removed, and the property became pastureland.
Listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register June 14, 2021
Reverse Side
McDaniel Family Pioneers
The McDaniels arrived in Lawrence County in 1818 from Tennessee and resided in Oakville Township when the first county census was taken in 1820. The McDaniels acquired land, farmed cotton, and operated mills along the West Fork of Flint Creek where McDaniel Bridge fords the rapids. James McDaniel Grist Mill was built circa 1837 in the "McDaniel
Mill Community. William T. McDaniel, Jr. was the last McDaniel heir to own the property. J.B. Preuitt purchased the mill for $300 at auction on October 11, 1884. Remnants of the mill are located on the Ronnie and Clara Terry Farm. The following is a poem written by Martha Martin McMurray, great-granddaughter of Martha McDaniel Preuit, entitled
"I Am McDaniel Cemetery #1. "The graves of the dearly departed slowly disappeared and sank. 'Father Time' forgot all about me in the weeds on the spring bank. My loved ones searched and saved my relics scattered beneath a tree.
Photographed by Deborah Spencer, October 18, 2025
2. McDaniel Family Pioneers Marker
Their kindness is well deserved and truly meant to be. For 202 years my grave-stones weathered many storms. Now, they stand
up proud, preserved, and beautifully transformed. The McDaniel Memorial at Red Hill Cemetery recounts my faded history. Alas, I am remembered as so much more than merely a family mystery".
Listed in the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register June 14, 2021
Erected 2022 by Alabama Historical Commission and McDaniel Cemetary Historical Preservation Project.
Location. 34° 28.583′ N, 87° 10.855′ W. Marker is near Moulton, Alabama, in Lawrence County. It is on County Route 334 north of County Road 87, on the right when traveling north. Marker is located within the Red Hill cemetery. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 363 Co Rd 334, Moulton AL 35650, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Alabama. It is also in the American
Photographed by Deborah Spencer, October 18, 2025
3. McDaniel Cemetery #1
South, specifically in the Deep South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 20, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 19, 2025, by Deborah Spencer of Huntsville, Alabama. This page has been viewed 104 times since then and 69 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 19, 2025, by Deborah Spencer of Huntsville, Alabama. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
