Mountain Home History

An Opening Glimpse at the Historical Origins of Mountain Home

Mountain Home has a deeply rich history represented by decades of people moving into the community. The fourth U.S. Census in 1820 was the first to show population in the newly admitted state of Alabama. By 1824 people were moving into the northern DeKalb County area – long before the county was organized, and when the 1830 US Census was taken Alabama had grown by over 53%. DeKalb County was created by the Alabama legislature in January 1836 from land ceded under duress by the Cherokee Nation to the Federal government prior to their forced removal to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. The county was named for an American Revolution hero, Major General Baron Johann de Kalb.

The city of Fort Payne, which is now the county seat, grew around a fort of the same name, built in the 1830’s. 

During the 1830’s many moved into the northern DeKalb County, before and after the county was organized. Several of these families became members of the church at Chestnut Grove when it was organized in 1861, and they were also cofounders of the cemetery which we now know as Mountain Home. 

1840 was a significant year for DeKalb County as it was the first time it was included in the US Census. The county population recorded was 5,929 people. The state of Alabama had grown nearly 48% over the previous census. 

Also, during the 1840’s, at least 8 families moved into the area, some of these families were founding members of the church.

An appropriate summation of the times was captured in the November 1939 obituary of Charles Henry Crabtree (given to us by a family member) which read as follows: “He was born March 8, 1867, near Henagar, Alabama, on Sand Mountain. His father was George Washington Crabtree and his mother Samira J. Suiter Crabtree, who came from Winchester Tennessee and settled in the wilds of Sand Mountain before the Civil War.” They made their journey in 1854 from Winchester in Franklin County Tennessee. Many of that family were members of the Chestnut Grove Baptist Church established a few years after their arrival in the community and were buried in the Chestnut Grove Graveyard. From the beginning, there was considerable confusion because the cemetery was not located at the same property as the church. In the waning days of the 1800’s and the early 1900’s there was an effort to change the name at the cemetery to eliminate the confusion.  Initially, as evidenced in several newspaper obituaries, Caperton Gap was used to identify the location of the Chestnut Grove Graveyard, in fact, in February 1910 when George Washington Crabtree’s death was reported in the Chestnut Grove (community) article in The Fort Payne Journal, “Mr. George Crabtree died at his home near Stamp Sunday morning and was buried at the top of the mountain at the Caperton Gap Monday. He was as old, if not the oldest man in the county, being nearly 93 years old.”

Caperton Gap was used for a period, but by the late 1930’s most all references were to Mountain Home. It is unclear at this point when each of the name changes occurred, but we do know the final change was to Mountain Home which did reduce confusion as the cemetery was not co-located with the church itself.

The many dozens of families that came to settle in the community of what is now called Mountain Home along with those in the Ider, Head Springs, and Pea Ridge communities continued building a life in this place. They deeply loved their family, their God, their neighbors, and their country.

For over 30 years people came to the beautiful lands atop Sand Mountain from many states, and for some, their journey began across the ocean from Sweden, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, and Europe. All in search of a better life, a new place to call home where they could build a life, raise their children, and worship God as they learned from their ancestors, the Bible, and others who crossed their path.

While questions are plentiful and answers are few as to how long these neighbors had gathered to worship, or where they met in those early days, we do know during the 1860’s, several families moved into the community that were part of the founding generations. We also know that several of these families banded together and organized the church at Chestnut Grove on Monday, September 30, 1861. The church at Chestnut Gove held its first Sunday service after it was formally organized on October 6, 1861. Amidst the Civil War raging throughout the nation, Christian people carried on the will of God, followed his biding, and organized His church on Sand Mountain between what we know as Ider and White Oak Gap (Hwy 40 at the top of Sand Mountain).

Church minutes taken on September 30, 1861, indicate those present on the day the church of Christ at Chestnut Grove was founded indicate the names of 15 people present on that day that participated in the founding and their age at that time. Of the 15, 13 have been identified and confirmed. Those 13 are:

• Hugh Hamilton Kerby (elected Clerk on this day, and later as 3^rd pastor of the church) (age 27)
• T. J. (Thomas Jefferson) and Nancy Crow (age 31 and 33)
• James and Louisa Craze (age 43 and 44)
• Mirah Lee Ballard and daughter Minerva Ballard (age 58 and 18)
• Elizabeth Johnson (age 65)
• Leah Bunden (age 19)
• Emily (Margaret Emaline) Lea (age 17)
• J. W. (Jacob Williamson) Gibson (elected pastor on this day) (age 61)
• John Shankles (age 33)
• Thomas Scott (age 42)
• The final two are not yet confirmed; one first name Andrew, but last name unreadable, and the second with a last name of Stegall and a first name unreadable. We continue research on this in the hopes we can positively identify the last two individuals who participated in the constitution of the church.

One founding family of the church at Chestnut Grove donated land for the first church (and school) to be built, and another founding family donated the land for the graveyard known then as the Chestnut Grove Graveyard which was later finally renamed Mountain Home to eliminate confusion as the cemetery was not co-located on the same property as the church. Mountain Home was an appropriate name, as it was the final resting place while the Saved in Christ waited for the Rapture of the Church, in effect, their final Mountain Home.

The Mount Pleasant Association of Baptists was organized September 16th, 1861, taking the Constitution, Articles of Faith, and Rules of Decorum of the Mt. Zion Association of Baptists as per agreement with them while they were in session at Salem Church, Jackson County, Ala. September 14th, 1861. The church at Chestnut Grove joined the Mount Pleasant Association of Baptists in 1862 [Source: Minutes of the One Hundredth Annual Session of The Mount Pleasant Association of Baptists, No. 1]. The church at Chestnut Grove remained an active member of the association for 150 years, through the 151^st Annual Meeting of the Association in 2012.

The pastors for the first 20 years of the church at Chestnut Grove, and year first elected. [Note: Information from the pastors list at the church.]

Historically, the decoration at the cemetery was held on May 30^th each year. This has been confirmed by many individual accounts, many historical records including records from the church at Chestnut Grove, family bibles from several in the community, and later from community posts in the Fort Payne Journal newspaper, including the following from Wednesday, May 15, 1907: ‘The Decoration will be held at Chestnut Grove Graveyard the 30^th of May. Everybody come and enjoy the day. This graveyard isn’t at the Church house, it is near the top of the mountain at the Caperton Gap.’

The US Census of 1870 only showed an 18% growth (attributed greatly to the loss of life during the Civil War), growing to 38.5 million. The state of Alabama grew 22.6% to just shy of 997,000, again attributed to the significant loss of life during the war. The population counted in DeKalb County was a mere 7,126, significantly less than the 10,705 counted in 1860.

Population Growth DeKalb County, Alabama, and the United States 1840-1960
Year	1840	1850	1860	1870	1880	1890	1900	1910	1920	1930	1940	1950	1960
DeKalb (-slaves)	5,929 -340	8,245 -506	10,705 -848	7,126	12,675	21,106	23,558	28,261	34,426	40,104	43,075	45,048	41,417
AL (-slaves)	600K -254K	772K -343K	964K -435K	1M	1.3M	1.5M	1.8M	2.1M	2.4M	2.6M	2.8M	3.1M	3.3M
US	17.1M	23.2M	31.4M	38.6 M	50.2M	63M	76.2M	92.2M	106M	123.2M	132.2M	151.3M	179.3M

The story continues through the 19^th Century, the 20^th Century and beyond …we look forward to discovering it.

NOTE: As research continues, this page will be edited to include newly discovered pieces of history.