'A jewel in the black community': Ross-Clayton turns 100
Apr 27, 2018Brad HarperRoss - Clayton Funeral Home founding president Robert Ambers Ross shown circa 1920 with a funeral coach.(Photo: Contributed)His tours of the most important, historic spots in downtown Montgomery stop at a surprising place: an old undertaker’s business.But the people behind what’s now Ross-Clayton Funeral Home have helped with a lot more than funerals over the decades, and state historian Richard Bailey wants people to know. That ranged from using hearses to take black voters to the polls, to shepherding crowds to bus boycott meetings during the civil rights era, to driving people to the doctor when they had no transportation.“Ross-Clayton Funeral Home is a jewel in the black community,” Bailey said. “If you took them out you would leave a void in social services.”Insurance agent Robert Ambers Ross started the company in 1918 on Monroe Street, long a hub of black-owned businesses. He soon formed a partnership with William Clayton and his wife, and their descendants have spent the last 100 years building the business.The state erected a historic marker last month in front of its current home at 1412 Adams Ave. The text charts Ross-Clayton’s journey through time to the 18,000-square-foot building it opened there in 2011, and how the business was handed down.The marker mentions “deep community ties” but doesn’t go into specifics. Sarah Ann Ross, part of the third generation running the business, also talks about those things in general terms while crediting others.Buy PhotoA historic marker at Ross - Clayton Funeral Home in Montgomery, Ala. on Wednesday April 18, 2018. (Photo: Mickey Welsh / Advertiser)But Bailey seems to have a never-ending list of examples. Acclaimed slave-born artist Bill Traylor slept at the funeral home at night while he was in Montgomery, for instance. “They extended themselves,” Bailey said.Ross talks more about reputation. She credits the work of the founders and other family members for helping them build the business to about 600 funerals a year.“As with anyt... (Montgomery Advertiser)
