Tour
of Furman
Wilcox County
Information
Wilcox County
Historical Society
Palmer Cemetery
Wakefield History
Mount Moriah
Wilcox County True
Blues
Flag Returns
Home
Consuela
Lee and the Snow Hill Academy--interesting story
William James
Edwards biography-- founder of Snow Hill Academy (Spike Lee's
grandfather) who was reared on the R.O. Simpson place in Furman, Alabama
Dr. E. G.
Burson, Jr. on Snowhill Institute
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Welcome to Wilcox County on
Southern-Style. The listing of Furman, Alabama, as a
National Historic District recognizes an area steeped with history.
Much of it mine. You are cordially invited to experience this history with
the Driving Tour included below.
Our family has deep roots in Wilcox
County, and it is my pleasure to introduce you to this gracious heritage.
Palmer Cemetery started in the garden of my 3rd great
grandparents, Stephen and Juliet Hartwell Palmer, when their son Oliver
died at the age of 10. The Palmer-Britt Home was built by
Stephen and Juliet Palmer. Trails End was the home of my
Great grandparents Elkanah and Elafare Barge Burson, built on Barge Mill
Road where they raised my granfather, Elkanah George Burson and his
sisters Mary Elizabeth and Ella Clare. Barge Mill was run by Elafare
Barge's father. Elkanah Burson's father, Joseph Jackson Burson,
helped build the Furman Methodist Church and the Burson family
maintained the records until Eliece's death. The Moore-Burson
Rushing house is the home in which my father and his sisters, Eliece
and Elizabeth grew up. My grandparents, Dr. and Mrs. E. G. Burson bought
Wakefield in 1943 and both of those homes are now owned by my
sister and her husband, Tom and Dr. Sylvia Burson Rushing.
Oak Hill is the site of my husband's Great
parents, A.C. and Elizabeth Amanda Wardlaw Bonham Ramsey's home most
recently owned by the Bonners.
In Pine Apple, the Hawthorne House was
built by my husband, Joel Wardlaw Ramsey's Great great grandfather, Joshua
Richard Hawthorne and his wife Patience Elizabeth King Hawthorne.
Dr. David Wardlaw Ramsey converted from Methodism and left the practice of
medicine to become a preacher at the Friendship Baptist Church.
I do have the Palmer Cemetery records on
this website, as well as those for Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah is on
the line between Butler and Wilcox counties. Many relatives are
buried there as well, Wardlaw, Watson, McWhorter.
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The genealogies of these Wilcox County Lines
are included on this website because they are those of this webmaster.
Dr. Elkanah George
Burson and Elizabeth Jane
Knight Burson
Great Grandparents:
Elkanah Burson and Ellafare Christian
Barge Burson
and Napoleon Oscar Knight
and Margaret Lucy Watson Knight
Great Great Grandparents:
Joseph Jackson Burson and Elizabeth
Dunn Burson
and George Abel Barge and Mary Ann
Slaughter Barge
Lewis Jackson Knight
and Catherine Palmer Knight
William Watson and
Elizabeth Jane McWhorter
Great Great Great Grandparents
Joseph Jefferson
Burson and Leah Burson
And Benjamin Dunn and
Susannah Dunn
Stephen Palmer and
Juliet Hartwell Palmer
And Edwin Knight and
Martha Comer Watts Knight
Abel Barge and Martha
Faust Barge
and Reuben Slaughter and Semantha
Fluornoy
James Watson and
unknown
David McWhorter and
Mary “Polly” Wardlaw
Joel Wardlaw Ramsey
and Sharman Burson Ramsey
David Wardlaw
Ramsey and Emma Virginia
Hawthorne Ramsey
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 History Celebration
The Furman Civic Club is sponsoring this celebration of Small
towns in Alabama on April 17, 2010, and the subsequent driving
tour of homes, churches, schools, and other historic sites in
this east Wilcox County town. Furman was designated a National
Historic District in 1999 along with the nearby towns of Pine
Apple and Oak Hill.
Featured homes include “Wakefield”, the classic steamboat
gothic house featured in the book Silent in the Land, the
Moore-Burson-Rushing Home, the Watson-Pryor-Moorer Home,
“Patience Plantation”, the Purifoy-Lipscomb home featured in
Kathryn Tucker Windham’s Thirteen Ghosts of Alabama and
Jeffrey, “Fox Hill”, restored by Don and Katrina Bell, the
McCondichie-Stabler Home, the Palmer-Barlow-Britt Home, and
the Perdue-Estes Home. In addition, Bethsaida Baptist Church,
Furman Methodist Church, Hopewell Church, Snow Hill
Institute, Palmer Cemetery, Old Snow Hill Cemetery, Snow Hill
Cemetery, and Purifoy Cemetery are included on this tour.
As noted above, Furman was designated a National Historic
District in 1999 and has many antebellum homes and structures
still standing. The town has a fascinating history beginning circa
1802 when the first settlers came to the area from South
Carolina. Most of the Wilcox County towns were settled by
Scotch, Irish, and English settlers, and Furman also to some
degree. However, many of the early settlers of Furman came
from the South Carolina low country and were of French
ancestry. The William Snow family settled on a high hill north
of present day Furman, now the site of Old Snow Hill Cemetery
around this date. Thus, the early community was known as
Snow’s Hill. It was renamed Furman in 1872 after the town of
Furman, South Carolina, and a new community was founded a
few miles to the west - and named Snow Hill. Furman Academy
was a popular school in the late 1800's with students from
throughout the State of Alabama. Some fascinating persons
came from this small town, including Elkanah Burson, an
attache’ to General Robert E. Lee and John Purifoy, a member of
Company C. Mr. Purifoy later served Alabama in many
important offices including Secretary of State. Mr. Burson, an
original member of the Wilcox True Blues company, delivered
the Confederacy surrender papers to General Ulysses Grant at
Appomattox. He then returned home to Furman and later served
in the Alabama House of Representatives. One of his great
granddaughters is now the owner of Wakefield. Another is
married to the great grandson of D.W. Ramsey, the second
commandant of theWilcox True Blues! Some direct descendants
of these original settlers still own homes and property in Furman.
This Driving Tour is dedicated to the
memory of Les Moorer,
who was instrumental in the organization and success of the
1997 Fall Tour of Homes. Les, a native of Furman, passed away
on Thanksgiving Day 1997, and is interred at Old Snow Hill
Cemetery. He and his family are responsible for restoring this
site, and his was the first burial in the cemetery since 1923.
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P.O. Box 7
Furman, Alabama 36741
Return Service Requested
National Register of Historic Places
Saturday
April 17, 2010
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
* Will be Open on this Date
Lunch Served at Furman School
11:00 a.m. -2:00 p.m.
Lunch: $7
Tour: $10
Lunch and Tour: $15
Furman Civic Club
P.O. Box 7
Furman, Alabama 36741
FURMAN DRIVING TOUR
&
HISTORY CELEBRATION
Of Alabama’s Small Towns
Celebration Headquarters
Furman School
Historical Marker Unveiling at 2:00 PM
P.O. Box 7
Furman, Alabama 36741
Telephone 251-746-2293
email - grsouth@frontiernet.net.com
WELCOME TO
FURMAN, ALABAMA
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