Recovering the Life
of Rev. James Alexander Alcorn
* AI-enhanced image of photo taken in Collierville, TN around 1905. I do not know for certain that this is Rev. Alcorn (center), but I believe it likely could be him, his wife Mattie Ingram Alcorn, her father Ollin Inram (left), and their three children: Dewitt Talmadge Alcorn (b. 1899, left), James Seward Alcorn (b. 1901, middle), and Eva Reed Alcorn (b. 1903, right)
Rev. James Alexander Alcorn (1870-1944) was a prominent clergyman and farmer in Collierville, TN in the early 1900s. He was born in Marshall County, Mississippi and given the name Alcorn Howze by his parents Nathan and Arella (Ella) Howze.
Alcorn's father Nathan had been enslaved by a man named Isham Robertson Howze whose private journals give a rare glimpse of what life would have been like for Alcorn's family before he was born. The journals also helped provided enough information about the people Isham enslaved to reconstruct a family tree for Alcorn going back to his great-grandmother Grace Howze who was born in the late 1700s.
Reverend Alcorn lived in Marshall (MS) and Tate (MS) counties until the late 1890s when he went to Texas to work as a Pullman Porter. In 1900 he moved to Collierville (Shelby County), TN where he worked as a farmer and minister in the C. M. E. church in Collierville and Memphis, TN. He died in 1944 and is buried at the St. James C.M.E. church cemetery in Collierville.
In the 1960s, his five-acre farm was developed into the "Alcorn Village Subdivision" which was the first "colored subdivision" in Collierville during segregation, and is still a vibrant Black neighborhood with a rich history worth preserving. You can learn more about Alcorn Village and residents at www.ColliervilleJustice.org
This site is all about Rev. Alcorn, his family, and the historical contexts in which they lived; from slavery, to Reconstruction, the Jim Crow era, and the Civil Rights Movement. It is dedicated to the past, present and future residents of Alcorn Village and every other Historical Black Neighborhood or Community in Collierville, TN.
The information shared on this site has been collected over several years by Emily Fulmer (an amateur genealogist and history nerd), and is shared with the hope that Reverend Alcorn's story and legacy will not be forgotten. The research is on-going, and the site will continue to be updated with new information. If you have questions or anything to add to the site, please use the contact form on this website to reach out to Emily directly.
At the top of the page is an ai - enhanced version of a photo taken by Bessie Dean Parr in Collierville, TN circa 1905, the family is unnamed. While there is no proof that this is a photo of Rev. Alcorn and his family, I believe it is plausible that the man in the center is Rev. James Alexander Alcorn with his wife Mattie Ingram Alcorn (right) and Mattie's father Ollin Ingram (left). If the photo was taken around 1905 then the children in the photo would be around the same age as Dewitt Talmadge Alcorn (1899), James Ceward Alcorn (1901), and Eva Reed Alcorn (1903). The following image, which has been enhanced using ai, was also taken by Bessie Dean Parr of the same unnamed family.
Author
My name is Emily Fulmer and I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Memphis. I am also one of the founding members of Collierville Community Justice which is working to research, preserve and elevate the Black history of our community.
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As part of that Collierville Black history preservation, my research has been focused on Rev. James Alexander Alcorn (1870-1944), his children, and his ancestors who were enslaved in Marshall County, MS before his birth. Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to learn more, or if you have additional information to share!