| Marker Text |
Following Emancipation, Isaac Butler, Isaac McClanahan and E.P. Murray, all formerly enslaved in Mississippi, settled this area near a natural spring with tall pine trees and land for farming, calling it The Pinery. Early settlers farmed, using ox teams and plows, raised livestock, and built houses, a church and schoolhouse. They operated a sawmill and produced crossties for the railroad from local timber.
Murray and other landowners later provided land for churches, schools and cemeteries where faith, family, education and hard work contributed to their success as a community. The Living Green Church of Christ served as a house of worship and as a school, called The School in the Pinery, was established as one of the earliest in the area.
African American children and adults in the surrounding communities of Elkhart, Tucker, Magnolia and Long Lake attended the church and school for Bible lessons as well as reading, writing and math. The church and schoolhouse eventually moved but remained central to the community. Many citizens of the Pinery were buried in the nearby Magnolia Cemetery, including many from the Murray, McClanahan, Gross, Butler and Carter families. At least sixteen burials of former slaves were identified, including Isham Murray (1805-1880), with the first marked burial dating to 1855. Many more may exist.
The earliest settlers of The Pinery and their descendants created their own community and caused it to flourish. Here they could worship, learn and prosper, contributing to the culture and heritage of the area. (2020) |
