“Described below is a not uncommon situation encountered by the I. Schiffman & Co. leadership in the business of buying, renting and foreclosing on farms in Madison County. The first item will be a notice in the Huntsville Daily Times on January 18, 25, and February 1, 1927. Three legal notices are still the common practice.

“NOTICE OF MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE
Madison County, State of Alabama
WHEREAS on August 9th, 1916; December 17th, 1919; January 4th, 1921 Lucinda and Alfred Booker, her husband, did execute and deliver to I. Schiffman & Company their certain mortgages on property hereinafter described to secure certain indebtedness due the said I. Schiffman & Company, which mortgages are of record in the office of the Judge of Probate of Madison County, Alabama, in Mortgage Book 144, page 195; in Mortgage Book 171, page 195; Mortgage Book 179, page 162, respectively, and
WHEREAS on November 21st November, 1917, Lucinda and Alfred Booker her husband; Atha Mitchell and Harry Mitchell, did execute and deliver to I. Schiffman & Company their certain mortgage on property hereinafter described to secure indebtedness due the said I. Schiffman & Company, which mortgage is of record in the office of the Judge of Probate of Madison County, Alabama, in Mortgage Book 149, page 140, and
WHEREAS default has been made in the payment of the debt secured by said mortgages; and WHEREAS said mortgages are now in default;
NOW, THEREFORE, three weeks’ notice is hereby given on …..
MONDAY, THE 7TH DAY OF FEBRUARY, 1927, within the legal hours of sale, in front of the Courthouse door of Madison County, Alabama, we will sell to the highest bidder for cash, the following tracts or parcels of land embraced in said mortgages, to wit:
The Northeast quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section 7, Township 2, Range 2 West, in Madison County, Alabama, excepting about two acres in Southeast corner belonging to church; containing thirty-eight acres, more or less.
For sale will be made for purchase of foreclosing said mortgages and satisfying the debt secured thereby, together with all costs incurred in said foreclosure, including a reasonable attorney’s fee.
I. Schiffman & Company, Mortgagees.”

The above information was taken from a newspaper clipping attached to the legal documents found in a big box of letter-size brown accordion folders containing deeds. Each was nicely labeled on the outside. That document describes the history of the mortgages: payable January 1, 1917 of $465.00 @ 8%; payable October 15, 1918 of $365.00 @ 8%; payable November 1, 1920 of $1,700.00 @ 8%; and payable November 1, 1921 of $2,250.00 @ 8%. Notice how the original mortgage at $465.00 grew at 8% over the years. At the sale J. Lawrence Patterson was the highest bidder at $1,700.00 and the land was deeded to him. This property was located about a mile west of the intersection of Wall-Triana and McKee Roads northwest of the Harvest community.

Box #23 contains envelopes by year providing farm rental contracts for the period 1950-1969, but not for every year.

In March 1926 I. Schiffman acquired the Big Cove Farm property, which consisted of about 3,200 acres down US route 431, about six miles southeast of Huntsville. Most of the area was swamp or frequent flood plain. The company had some properties/farms in the vicinity of Hazel Green as early as 1921.

It is now time for a geography lesson about the properties to the southeast of Huntsville along US Route 431. Normally when you see a sign indicating the distance to the next town, the measurement is the distance to the city center. The same applies to an atlas, on paper, or on-line. For example, the Rand McNally map indicates it is 9.6 miles from Meridanville to Huntsville, which has to be all the way downtown. Cities frequently expand their boundaries, so the distance maps would be changing if it meant the city limits.

The second paragraph above indicated that I. Schiffman acquired the Big Cove Farm, about six miles down Route 431. It is 4 miles from the city center to get to Panorama Road and Route 431, at the top of Monte Sano. Of course, that is not as the crow flies. The six miles brings it way to a point called Haden on an Alabama Atlas published by DeLorme, 1998. That point is 1.5 miles short of the map spot for Big Cove and 2 miles short of Nunn Store, which is at the intersection of the current 431 and Old 431/ Hampton Cove intersection. The Nunn Store will come into play later as it is cited as being 9 miles from downtown Huntsville. That is about right, since I have confirmed Nunn Store by other means as being the northwest corner of the intersection of Route 431 and Sutton Road. The corner lot is vacant, advertised for sale by United Properties of Huntsville. A Hardee’s Restaurant sets back about 200 yards from the corner.”