The Journal-Record - Bicentennial Edition July 1, 1976 Section A, Page 4 THE STRANGE LEGEND OF JOHN DABNEY TERRELL The legend of the burial of John Dabney TERRELL, Sr. has been told so often that most residents of Marion County believe it is true. He died in 1850 and was buried at Military Ford in an unmarked grave. It is said that he was buried sitting up in his coffin or box, like his illustration Indian friends. In the casket above the door a gun was placed, in the left side a water bucket, dipper, wash pan, and hand towels, in the right side was placed food, and on the floor a pallet for his dog. Six of the TERRELS (sic) were buried in the same manner on the south side of the Indian Mound at Military Ford, and their slaves on the flat land below. There are no markers to the graves. CREWS ACADEMY (for some reason, part of the same article) The first college located in Northwest Alabama was located in what was Marion County at that time. It was twenty steps northeast of the deport at Crews, Alabama. The building was built in somewhat the shape of a letter T. The top of the T faced the road and was used for class rooms, one room solely for the girls and taught by a lady. The other front room was for boys and taught by a man. The back was a music room where the boys had classes in the morning taught by a young lady but posed as a boy. In the evening, she wore a wig and dressed as a lady. Since it was not a proper thing to do to have the girls and boys mixing, there was a tall fence made out of hewed logs that divided the front of the house in halves and extended to the road on the back. That house had a tall fence extending several feet back. This fence was to make sure no girl saw a boy or a boy saw a girl while at school. The story goes that the three teacher were of one family. The husband, the wife and the daughter who was thought to be a very handsome young gentleman. Also in the evening, she was a very beautiful young woman.