Convict-Leasing Geography
Were Madison County prisoners leased to Jefferson County mines, and did any die there? This page lays out what the October 2, 2026 desk research documented — Jefferson County mine sites, five named mine-fatality leads, and the records that could answer the origin question — without claiming coordinates that don't exist in the research files.
Jefferson County — the mine sites
Madison County — the origin question
Carceral context
The system around the mines — documented from the same research pass (DB1 rows 1894–1906, staged 2026-10-02).
Map data & sources
- Birmingham Public Library, Alabama Coal Mine Fatalities, 1898–1938 — 2,188 records from mine-inspector reports; the four Flat Top leads (1917–1927) and the Willie Moffett lead at Pratt Fuel No. 6 (1925).
- Bhamwiki, "1911 Banner Mine explosion" and Wikipedia, "Banner Mine disaster" (citing the Encyclopedia of Alabama) — Banner Mine explosion facts (April 8, 1911; 128 dead; 123 leased convicts; 114 Black; on-site convict cemetery).
- Encyclopedia of Alabama — Sloss used county convicts until 1928.
- U.S. Census Office, Statistics of the Population of the United States at the Tenth Census (June 1, 1880), Vol. 1, Table XI, p. 929 — Alabama prisoner totals and racial breakdown.
- National Archives (NARA T1155) — 1880 Madison County "Inhabitants in Prison" schedule (exists; access-blocked). Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) — Inspectors of Convicts 1910–12 biennial report (undigitized; on the Oct 9 Montgomery retrieval list).
- Counter-Archive desk research — 2026-10-02 (~/workspace/db-work/convict-leasing-20261002/; DB1 rows 1894–1906).
More Maps in This Project
GLO Patent Map: The Jones Patents →
Schematic township plats of the Jones-family federal land patents, 1814–1833, from BLM GLO records.
Cemetery Map →
Burial grounds with verified locations — and an honest list of the ones that can't be pinned yet.
Migration Path: Virginia to Alabama →
Louisa and Bedford counties, Virginia → Madison County, Alabama → Tuscaloosa, tracing the Jones/Anderson/Donnell/Perkins network.
Avalon Plantation Boundary (working map) →
The core spatial claim, staged honestly: what the boundary question is and what would resolve it.
If you have family knowledge or documents on Madison County prisoners leased to the mines, please get in touch.