ALABAMA PVT SATC MEHARRY MED COLLEGE MARCH 5 1928
I am ever so grateful to Russell Roubdioux for finding Clifford's grave. I only hope now to find members of his family, either through Find A Grave or through the Alford American Family Association.
According to Russell, he found the headstone in an overgrown wooded area on the creek side of the Valhalla Cemetery property. He said that workers there said there were other burials found when the wooded area was being cleared for expansion. Some said that there used to be a church there, but I have not confirmed that. However, when Clifford's widow applied for his military marker, she stated that it would be placed in "Washington" Cemetery.
I primarily research the Alford name, regardless of the family branch, and I also am a retired Army officer, so I was doubly interested in Clifford.
Clifford Ophealia Benns Alford (he signed his name fully on his World War I Draft Registration) was born in Attalla, Etowah County, Alabama, to Austin Alford and Georgiana Young. He graduated from Walden University in Nashville, TN, then entered medical school at the Meharry Medical College, also in Nashville. Walden had originally been Central Tennessee College and Meharry was formerly the medical department there. Meharry was the first African American medical school in the south, established in 1876.
During World War I, the Army Medical Department (AMMED) had to plan for a longer war. Therefore, college graduates who were already enrolled in medical and dental schools were inducted, but allowed to stay in school and complete their professional degrees. The Students' Army Training Corps was established by the AMMED to provide adminstration, personnel, and finance support to these soldier-students, thus the SATC inscription on his tombstone.
The war ended before Dr. Alford graduated in 1921. He returned to Alabama, and established his medical practice in Bessemer. He married Lillie Bell Ramsey, daughter of Sidney Ramsey and Amy Williams, on 24 Aug 1922, in Bessemer, Jefferson County, Alabama. He was listed in several city directories in Bessemer. He died at the age of 33 from acute myocarditis and acute gastritis, according to the American Medical Association's Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929. Clifford and Lillie were the parents of two daughters.
More to come...
I am ever so grateful to Russell Roubdioux for finding Clifford's grave. I only hope now to find members of his family, either through Find A Grave or through the Alford American Family Association.
According to Russell, he found the headstone in an overgrown wooded area on the creek side of the Valhalla Cemetery property. He said that workers there said there were other burials found when the wooded area was being cleared for expansion. Some said that there used to be a church there, but I have not confirmed that. However, when Clifford's widow applied for his military marker, she stated that it would be placed in "Washington" Cemetery.
I primarily research the Alford name, regardless of the family branch, and I also am a retired Army officer, so I was doubly interested in Clifford.
Clifford Ophealia Benns Alford (he signed his name fully on his World War I Draft Registration) was born in Attalla, Etowah County, Alabama, to Austin Alford and Georgiana Young. He graduated from Walden University in Nashville, TN, then entered medical school at the Meharry Medical College, also in Nashville. Walden had originally been Central Tennessee College and Meharry was formerly the medical department there. Meharry was the first African American medical school in the south, established in 1876.
During World War I, the Army Medical Department (AMMED) had to plan for a longer war. Therefore, college graduates who were already enrolled in medical and dental schools were inducted, but allowed to stay in school and complete their professional degrees. The Students' Army Training Corps was established by the AMMED to provide adminstration, personnel, and finance support to these soldier-students, thus the SATC inscription on his tombstone.
The war ended before Dr. Alford graduated in 1921. He returned to Alabama, and established his medical practice in Bessemer. He married Lillie Bell Ramsey, daughter of Sidney Ramsey and Amy Williams, on 24 Aug 1922, in Bessemer, Jefferson County, Alabama. He was listed in several city directories in Bessemer. He died at the age of 33 from acute myocarditis and acute gastritis, according to the American Medical Association's Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929. Clifford and Lillie were the parents of two daughters.
More to come...
ALABAMA PVT SATC MEHARRY MED COLLEGE MARCH 5 1928
I am ever so grateful to Russell Roubdioux for finding Clifford's grave. I only hope now to find members of his family, either through Find A Grave or through the Alford American Family Association.
According to Russell, he found the headstone in an overgrown wooded area on the creek side of the Valhalla Cemetery property. He said that workers there said there were other burials found when the wooded area was being cleared for expansion. Some said that there used to be a church there, but I have not confirmed that. However, when Clifford's widow applied for his military marker, she stated that it would be placed in "Washington" Cemetery.
I primarily research the Alford name, regardless of the family branch, and I also am a retired Army officer, so I was doubly interested in Clifford.
Clifford Ophealia Benns Alford (he signed his name fully on his World War I Draft Registration) was born in Attalla, Etowah County, Alabama, to Austin Alford and Georgiana Young. He graduated from Walden University in Nashville, TN, then entered medical school at the Meharry Medical College, also in Nashville. Walden had originally been Central Tennessee College and Meharry was formerly the medical department there. Meharry was the first African American medical school in the south, established in 1876.
During World War I, the Army Medical Department (AMMED) had to plan for a longer war. Therefore, college graduates who were already enrolled in medical and dental schools were inducted, but allowed to stay in school and complete their professional degrees. The Students' Army Training Corps was established by the AMMED to provide adminstration, personnel, and finance support to these soldier-students, thus the SATC inscription on his tombstone.
The war ended before Dr. Alford graduated in 1921. He returned to Alabama, and established his medical practice in Bessemer. He married Lillie Bell Ramsey, daughter of Sidney Ramsey and Amy Williams, on 24 Aug 1922, in Bessemer, Jefferson County, Alabama. He was listed in several city directories in Bessemer. He died at the age of 33 from acute myocarditis and acute gastritis, according to the American Medical Association's Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929. Clifford and Lillie were the parents of two daughters.
More to come...
I am ever so grateful to Russell Roubdioux for finding Clifford's grave. I only hope now to find members of his family, either through Find A Grave or through the Alford American Family Association.
According to Russell, he found the headstone in an overgrown wooded area on the creek side of the Valhalla Cemetery property. He said that workers there said there were other burials found when the wooded area was being cleared for expansion. Some said that there used to be a church there, but I have not confirmed that. However, when Clifford's widow applied for his military marker, she stated that it would be placed in "Washington" Cemetery.
I primarily research the Alford name, regardless of the family branch, and I also am a retired Army officer, so I was doubly interested in Clifford.
Clifford Ophealia Benns Alford (he signed his name fully on his World War I Draft Registration) was born in Attalla, Etowah County, Alabama, to Austin Alford and Georgiana Young. He graduated from Walden University in Nashville, TN, then entered medical school at the Meharry Medical College, also in Nashville. Walden had originally been Central Tennessee College and Meharry was formerly the medical department there. Meharry was the first African American medical school in the south, established in 1876.
During World War I, the Army Medical Department (AMMED) had to plan for a longer war. Therefore, college graduates who were already enrolled in medical and dental schools were inducted, but allowed to stay in school and complete their professional degrees. The Students' Army Training Corps was established by the AMMED to provide adminstration, personnel, and finance support to these soldier-students, thus the SATC inscription on his tombstone.
The war ended before Dr. Alford graduated in 1921. He returned to Alabama, and established his medical practice in Bessemer. He married Lillie Bell Ramsey, daughter of Sidney Ramsey and Amy Williams, on 24 Aug 1922, in Bessemer, Jefferson County, Alabama. He was listed in several city directories in Bessemer. He died at the age of 33 from acute myocarditis and acute gastritis, according to the American Medical Association's Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929. Clifford and Lillie were the parents of two daughters.
More to come...
Family Members
Parents
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
