Lauderdale County, Alabama

Laud Cem # 511     T1S, R9W, Sec 19                

Surveyed September 2006 by Robert Torbert; Revised 2008 by Gail McMurray                
                
Location:  Flom Florence, go N on US 43 to Green Hill, Rt on CR 47 to CR 140.  The church and cemetery are on the Lt.  An * indicates the correction of an error in the earlier survey published on page 377 in "Cemeteries of East Lauderdale County, Alabama." Rows are numbered from CR 47.      

 

Notes on Tabernacle Church and cemetery contributed by Laurie Morris:               
                
According to William Q. Hill, there is no clear evidence where the name of this church and cemetery originated, but some have suggested that the land was first established as a Hill Family burial place and later became a community cemetery. The oldest grave in the church is that of Catharine Hill, first wife of Green Berry Hill, who died 8 June 1825, establishing Tabernacle as one of the earliest burial sites in the county. The small white church now standing was built in 1869, but local tradition has it that there were two log church buildings prior to this that burned. The first church supposedly burned when nearby woods caught fire; the second log church burned after a log rolled from the church fireplace following a service. The first church is thought to have been built between 1830 and 1840;  the second church may have been built about 1842. Henry Hill was the minister for the first log church; his ordination certificate was recorded in the Court House of Lauderdale County on 29 December 1829.  The present church was built with building materials furnished by Henry Alexander Killen and others in the community.  One of those who did the carpentry work was Rev. Henry Randolph Hill (Henry's grandson), who was also the first minister of the new church. Many early settlers are buried in Tabernacle Cemetery, a number of whom were related to the Hill family through marriage or whom had close ties with the family.