Class _/l^^-^j^ (kpigM"-^ COP««IGHT DEPOSrr. SKETCHES OP ALABAMA HISTORY BY JOEL CAMPBELL DuBOSE, M. A. (Copyright, 1901.) > O •»"!>"■) PHILADELPHIA: Eldredge & Brother, No. 17 North Seventh Street. 1901. THf LiSRARY OF CCMGSESS. Two CoKicd Received OCT. 24 1901 CLASS ciwm- "^^J- COPY a TO THE GIRLS AND BOYS OF ALABAMA, THIS VOLUME AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. PREFACE Contact with the people and years of experience in the school-room have demonstrated to the author the need of a convenient volume giving an outline of the leading facts and impulses of Alabama history. The desire to supply this need has induced him to make this collation and to offer it to the public. If it will help to stimulate investigation and to foster a genuine interest in the history of Alabama, it will serve a useful purpose. It is not possible, in so small a volume, to treat the many events and interesting characters that have marked the history of this great commonwealth. The author regrets the incom- pleteness that must necessarily attach to a compilation so brief. His knowledge of human nature convinces him that the discussion of a few men and a few incidents with more than passing mention will create a more abiding interest and subserve a higher purpose than will a hasty treatise of many men and many circumstances. He has therefore attempted to make distinct the life and character of the master spirits whom he has selected to represent the leaders in historic tendencies. The '' Syllabus" at the close of the book embodies, chrono- logically, many of the most important events in the history of the State, and relieves the chapters of much that would iv PREFACE. fatigue the minds of the young. The chapters are cumulative, and are arranged with a view to giving a fair impression of the growth of the State and of the spirit that animated the people in all the years of its history. The author acknowledges his obligations for courtesies and assistance in consulting authorities to Mr. A. K. Spofford and Mr. A. P. C. Griffin, of the Library of Congress; for encouragement and valued suggestions, to Colonel John Witherspoon DuBose; for criticism of manuscript and cor- rection of the proof, and for numerous methods of help and encouragement, to Thomas McAdory Owen, Esq., the Director of the Department of Archives and History of the state of Alabama; and for inspiration and sustained effort, to his pupils and his children, for whom he cherishes the patriot's hope that through intelligence and virtue they may con- tribute largely to the magnanimity and integrity of our State and our glorious Republic. Trusting that all lovers of Alabama — citizens, parents, teachers, and the dwellers beyond its borders — will appre- ciate the effort and spirit of this volume, the author sends it forth on its mission of education. JOEL CAMPBELL DuBOSE. Birmingham, Alabama, September 26, 1901. CONTENTS. CHAP. I. 11. III. IV. V. V": VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. PAGE Hernando De Soto 7 Mobile under the French, 1699 to 1763; British, 1763 to 1780 ; and Spanish, 1780 to 1813 .... 13 Mobile, the Emporium of Alabama 21 Alexander McGillivray 27 William Weatherford and Pushmataha .... 34 General Samuel Dale 42 Andrew Jackson in Alabama 50 George Strother Gaines 57 The French Colony in Marengo County 66 William Kufus King 72 Alexander Beaufort Meek 78 The State Bank 84 William Lowndes Yancey 89 Henry Washington Hilliard 99 The Ordinance of Secession 105 The War between the States 112 Admiral Kaphael Semmes 118 General Joseph Wheeler 125 Miss Emma Sansom 132 The Reconstruction Period 136 The Negroes 145 The History of Alabama Schools 151 Professor Seth Smith Mellen 164 Reforms and Reformers 174 Alabama in Geography and Industries 184 Alabama in Politics, 1763-1820 203 V vi CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE XXVII. Alabama in Politics, 1821-1865 211 XXVIII. Alabama in Politics, 1865-1901 219 XXIX. John Tyler Morgan 229 XXX. Alabama in Literature 234 XXXI. Alabama in Literature 242 XXXII. Alabama in Literature 250 APPENDIX. Events in the History of Alabama 260 Statistics of Counties of Alabama 270 GrOVERNORS OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY, ALABAMA TERRITORY, AND State of Alabama 273 Index 275 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. CHAPTER I. HERNANDO DE SOTO. Hernando de Soto, a Spanish cavalier who had shared ill the glor}^ and spoils of Pizarro in Peru, obtained from Charles V., Emperor of Spain, authority to subjugate, at his own expense, the vast region then known as Florida, which embraced most of the Spanish possessions in the present borders of the United States of America. Rumor pronounced this the "richest country in the world, filled with imperial palaces gemmed with gold and rubies, diamonds and pearls." With six hundred daring companions, " the flower and chivalry of the Peninsula," De Soto set sail, April 6, 1538, from the port of San Lucar, in Spain. He spent nearly a year on the island of Cuba, where new troops and new fortunes were added to his enterprise. - In May, 1539, De Soto landed a thousand men on the coast of Florida, along Tampa Bay. Everything that wisdom and experience could suggest had been provided for the expedition. De Soto yearned to surpass Cortez 8 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. in glory and Pizarro in wealth. His officers and men shared his enthusiasm. The cruelties perpetrated by De Ayllon/ De Narvaez,'-^ and others had wrought a general defiance among the Indian tribes, who regarded the Spaniards as intruders and murderers. History records no deeds braver nor more desperate than were done by the natives of Florida in their efforts to drive back the Spaniards and to pre- serve the integrity and independence of their country. Plumed warriors everywhere offered their lives as glad sacrifices to battle, but De Soto was everywhere invin- cible and irresistible. Valor in unprotected bodies and with simple bows and clubs could not withstand the su- perb armament and impetuous attack of the Spaniards. Onward pressed De Soto through forests, fields, villages, swamps, rivers, and morasses; capturing, killing, burning, desolating, desecrating ; doing harsh things, he said, only when the safety of his army required it, but coolly demand- ing and expecting of the Indians services and surrenders both galling and humiliating. Hundreds were chained and carried along to do the hard work of the army. When death or disease reduced the number of these menials and baggage-carriers, a levy from the next tribe supplied their places. Juan Ortiz had come over with De Narvaez and had been captured by the Indians. He w^as recovered by ^ Lucas Vasquez De Ayllon, a Spanish adventurer, in 1520, cruelly kidnapped Indians on the shores of South Carolina and carried them as slaves to work in the mines on the island of St. Domingo. 2 Pamphilo De Narvaez, a Spaniard, in 1528, made a disastrous expe- dition into Florida. He was lost in a storm on the Gulf of Mexico. Four of his followers suffered years of hardships in passing westward to Mexico. The rest, except Ortiz, perished at sea. HERNANDO BE SOTO. 9 Nieto, a trooper of De Soto. Ortiz acted as interpreter until death met him west of the Mississippi. De Soto spent the first winter near the site of Tallahassee, the capital of Florida. The next spring he made a zigzag march through Georgia, and on July 2d, 1540, he entered the present bounds of Alabama, in what is now Cherokee County. In Costa, the first Indian village, Spanish greed began the pillage of homes. The Indians resented this. The chief had given a royal welcome to De Soto, who seized a club and began beating his own men, thus win- ning favor with the Indians and averting serious danger from himself. By flattering words he beguiled the paci- fied chief and warriors into the Spanish camp and made them prisoners until the storm of savage fury subsided. Numerous reports of yellow metal were brought to the Spaniards, but investigation discovered only specimens of copper — the result which so often grievously disap- pointed the " roving expedition of gallant freebooters in quest of a fortune." After a brief rest, De Soto exchanged presents with the liberated chief and his warriors, crossed the Coosa River, and marched down its eastern bank to Talle. Here he was kindly entertained by the chief. He passed promptly into the fertile and populous province of Coosa, of whose wealth and power the remote Indian tribes had told him. All reports agreed that it would furnish not only the much-desired gold but also boundless provisions for men and horses. With eager hearts the Spaniards entered it. In battle and in travel, in abundance and in want, they had been cheered by reports of Coosa. It was mid-summer. Woodlands waved with beauty and echoed with the songs of birds. Full barns, growing crops, a delightful climate, pure waters, and blue skies 10 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. added sweet charm to the welcome extended by the peace- ful, contented Indians. " Amid scenes like these " the Spaniards wended their march to the village of Coosa, which sat upon the bank of the river. Its chief, with his thousand warriors, all magnificently attired in marten skins scented with musk, met De Soto and received him cordially into their homes. The chief desired him to plant a colony in the province and make it his home. Despite this courtesy De Soto imprisoned the chief and his prin- cipal warriors, and carried away a long train of his sub- jects to bear the baggage and provisions. The route of march wound through many villages of the province of Coosa. The frightened natives in forest hiding-places looked with wonder and sad forebodings upon Spanish chivalry and armaments, and wafted sighs of mournful sympathy and dread as they beheld their friends in chains and irons bearing the burdens of the army of strangers. On September 10, 1540, the Spaniards entered the walled and terraced town of Tallase, which reposed on the banks of the Tallapoosa River. Here came the son of Tuskaloosa to invite De Soto to visit Mauvilla, the cap- ital of Tuskaloosa's vast extent of territories lying along the bank of the Alabama and the Tombigbee Rivers. Crossing the river, De Soto pushed onward toward Mau- villa. After three days he met Tuskaloosa himself waiting to join his company. Tuskaloosa w^as of gigantic propor- tions. His immense form w^as borne by the largest pack- horse in the army, and even then his long legs dangled until his feet almost touched the ground. He was so haughty that De Soto put a guard over him. This made him indignant, and on reaching Mauvilla he walked dis- dainfully away and was lost among his warriors. Evi- HERNANDO DE SOTO. 11 dently he had plotted to entrap the Spaniards and anni- hilate them. Spanish efforts to recover the person of Tuskaloosa brought forth the war-whoop and battle-cry for the dead- liest conflict in the annals of Indian warfare. Ten thousand native sons, fired by the desperate courage of Tuskaloosa, met the fierce shock of battle. All day the battle raged. ' ''-'•^mm^^K^^^'ilM 1 -:1 ■ Tallassee Palls (at the present time). Toward evening the Spaniards set fire to the houses, and flame and smoke added to the horrors of battle. At sunset Mauvilla was in ruins. The Spaniards were victors. At least five thousand Indians, eighty-two Spaniards, and forty-five horses lay dead. Tuskaloosa perished with his warriors in battle about his capital. The Spaniards lost their baggage, all their medicines 12 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. and equipments for their military hospital, and the wine and wheat for the eucharist. Having learned that many of his soldiers would leave him if they should ever reach Ochus (Mobile), where Maldonado and Arias ^ were to meet him with winter supplies, De Soto turned to the northwest, still hugging the delusive phantom that somewhere in the untraversed west he would discover a country skilled in arts and rich in spoils. Through Pafalaya (now Clarke, Marengo, and Greene Counties) he marched, having to fight his passage across the Warrior River ; then on into the present Mississippi he pressed, fighting the Chickasaws, the Alibamons, and other tribes. At Chickasaw Bluff, near Memphis, he dis- covered the Mississippi Eiver, crossed it, penetrated far to the west, and returned, after many adventurous and vain explorations for gold and silver, to winter and to die on its bank, and to be buried in its waters, having discovered in all his wanderings '"nothing so remarkable as his burying-place." Only three hundred and twenty survivors of the expe- dition found their way down the Mississippi and on the Gulf of Mexico to Panuco, in Mexico, to bear tidings of the sufferings and disappointments which attended De Soto as he lifted the veil of mystery that history might have a brief view of the homes and customs of unknown Indians. Some of the survivors returned to Spain. Others sought fortune in Mexico and Peru. Dona Isabel, the wife of De Soto, after learning the fate of her gallant husband, died of a broken heart. ^ Maldonado and Arias were captains of the provision vessels. CHAPTER II. MOBILE UNDER THE FRENCH, 1699 TO 1763 ; BRIT- ISH, 1763 TO 1780; AND SPANISH, 1780 TO 1813. It is probable that the Bay of Achusi, where Maldonado was to meet De Soto in 1540, was Mobile Bay. Inasmuch as De Soto discovered no gold nor silver, Spanish colonists sought other sections, and so the region about Mobile was not colonized for more than a hundred and fifty years after the disastrous expedition of De Soto. In 1699, the French cast anchor off Mobile Point, sounded the channel, coasted along Dauphin Island (which they named Massacre Island, from the immense heaps of human bones and skulls found on it), examined the shores of the mainland, and then sailed westward to settle on the Mississippi. The leader of this expedition was Pierre Le Moyne De Iberville, a gallant Canadian sea-captain, who had won many honors in the service of his beloved France and who had lately whipped the English in Hudson Bay. He was not pleased with the conditions of nature on the marshy banks of the Mississippi ; they were unfavorable to a settlement, and he returned to the east in search of a site. He planted Fort De Maurepas on Biloxi Bay, the first French settlement established on the southern shores of the United States along the Gulf of Mexico. This occurred more than ninety years after the first English settlement in Virginia. La Salle had floated down the mighty Mississippi and 13 14 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. had revealed the great advantages it guaranteed to the nation that would colonize its southern banks. He im- pressed the French that colonies along the Mississippi uniting with their colonies in Canada, would lay the foundations for the French empire in America which would become too mighty to be resisted, and which would gradually close in on the English until France would embrace the New World from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean. Iberville made several voyages to and from France in the interest of the colony, but one fatal mistake affected not only the immediate comfort of the colonists but also the permanency of French supremacy in any portion of America. The colonists were not self-reliant; they depended for supplies upon shipments from France and the Island of St. Domingo ; they did not culti- vate the soil and raise the corn and other products needed. As a consequence, famine, sickness, and death followed. Sauvolle, the first commandant, died. Jean Baptiste Le Moyne De Bienville, a brother of Iberville, succeeded to the command, and to him more than to anj^one else was due whatever of good fortune attended the colony afterward. The situation at Biloxi was said to be unhealthy, and the settlement was ordered to be removed to a point near the present Tw^enty-seven-mile Bluff on the Mobile River. Here Fort Louis was erected in Januar}^ 1702. Iberville named it Mobile, probably from remnants of the tribe Jean Baptiste Le Moyne De Bienville. THE SETTLEMENT OF MOBILE. 16 at Mauvilla, where De Soto fought so desperately the brave Tuskaloosa. The surrounding country was beau- tiful in appearance and rich in soil ; fir, pine, oak, cypress, magnolia, and other trees gave attraction and charm. Idols of worship and other relics of departed tribes were there discovered. Bienville, as commandant, had much to encourage and much to depress him ; he knew that his brother Iberville was influential at court, and would aid him with sup- plies; but both saw the necessity of crops, and they begged the French government for laborers instead of adventurers. Indians were captured and put to work in the fields. Negro slaves were introduced, but laborers were still too scarce for the needed crops. Adversity overshadowed the colony and brought out the growlers, who had contributed but little and wanted much. Iberville died in 1706; all responsibility fell upon Bienville, who had some loyal, congenial helpers, but many bitter enemies, whose efforts tended solely to his defeat. In 1709, a rise in the river submerged both town and fort and destroyed the outlying crops. Bienville then selected the present site of Mobile. After a j^ear's work in laying off lots, building houses, and erecting batteries, the colony abandoned the old fort and removed to the new. Even the Indians living about the old fort left their homes and moved down to the new Fort Conde. The French were generally more successful than the English in winning and holding the friendship of the Indians, but the Alabamas, living along the river to which they gave their name, proved intractable foes ; they mur- dered the messengers whom Bienville sent among them for provisions, and provoked hostilities in every conceiv- 16 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. able way, until he led among them a force to destroy their villages, capture their braves, and offer rewards for the scalps of all who refused obedience to the treaty of peace. Davion, Foucat, Tonti, St. Cosme, St. Dennis, La Salle, and other missionaries from France and Canada estab- lished missions on the Mississippi River and its branches, travelling much among the Indians, and preaching the gospel of " Peace on earth, good will to men." These exercised a strong influence over " the children of the forest," often keeping them in peace and quiet when war and massacre brooded over their dusky councils. They did not always succeed in preserving peace. Many of the missionaries suffered death and torture, but their Christian zeal mixed with the patriot's dream, and no danger was sufficient to check their labors of love. Mobile was for five years (1713 to 1717) governed nomi- nally by Cadillac and L'Epinay, but actually by Bienville whom the people and the Indians trusted implicitly. Cadillac and L'Epinay were governors appointed by Antoine Crozat, a wealthy merchant to whom Louis XIV. had granted the Louisiana Colony. In 1714, Fort Toulouse was established to control the warlike Creek and Alabama tribes, with whom English traders had been tampering; this fort occupied a com- manding position four miles below Wetumpka, on the neck of land between the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers; it protected French interests for fifty years. When Crozat learned of the failure of the great mer- cantile schemes for which he had undertaken the manage- ment of the colony, he surrendered his charter to the king. Bienville was reinstated in command, October 17, 1717 ; he founded New Orleans, on the Mississippi River, in March, 1718. THE SETTLEMENT OF MOBILE. 17 The population of Mobile had slowly increased. The climate was too warm and enervating for European laborers ; negroes were imported, and through their labors the colony began to prosper. Its management had been committed to the Western or India Company. Trade had been very much restricted by the arbitrary laws of Crozat, and it was still further restricted by the auto- cratic provisions of the India Company. Prices of sale and purchase were fixed. As a consequence, goods were smuggled to the Spanish trading-post at Pensacola. The English traders also encroached upon French colonial territory, diverted as much as possible the Indian trade, and fanned the fires of Indian hostilities against the French. As prosperity began to dawn, John Law's " Mis- sissippi Scheme " collapsed and brought renewed distress and destitution.^ Bienville was recalled to France under the malicious charge that he was responsible for the troubles of the colony ; before leaving for France he issued the "Black Code," which forbade any but the Catholic religion in the colony and forced all Jews to leave. 1 John Law, a brilliant Scotch adventurer and gambler, induced Philip, Duke of Orleans, the notorious regent of France during the mi- nority of Louis XV., to establish the Koyal Bank of Paris, and with the profits from the issue of paper money to pay off the enormous debt of France. Immediate and immense success attended the venture. Law then formed the West India Company for trade and colonization in Louisiana. Marvellous stories of gold and silver and profits in trade lured the nation. Shares of the stock rose to forty times their cost. Enormous fortunes followed speculation in the stock. But no gold-laden ships returned to France. Public confidence was shaken, and financial panic swept away the baseless fabric of fortunes. Law fled from the country, and became an outcast. Destitution, suffering, and dismay spread throughout France and her colonies upon the bursting of this "Mississippi Scheme." 2 18 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Perier was appointed governor (1726 to 1733). The col- ony began to thrive again, but Perier's eight years of authority gave unsatisfactory results. Bienville was sent back (1733) from France to assume command ; his plans met with failure ; disappointments crowded him ; he failed to subdue the Chickasaws, and he requested to be recalled to France ; he wrote the minister at home a most digni- fied letter, expressing the hope of better fortune to his successor than had been accorded to himself Fair and firm in all his dealings with the Indians, he inspired their love and respect. For thirty years he governed the col- ony, loved it always, and wept when in his old age it was ceded to Spain. He died in France in 1768, honored and beloved. With varying fortune but with gradual growth Mobile passed a score of years after the retirement of Bienville. By the Treaty of Paris, 1763, it fell to Great Britain and was incorporated into West Florida. On November 3, 1762, nearly four months before the Treaty of Paris, France secretly ceded to Spain, her ally in the war against England, the Island of Orleans and all of her Louisiana territory west of the Mississippi River. Mobile was, therefore, the base of supplies for British con- trol of the eastern half of the Mississippi Valley. From Mobile were dispatched many expeditions that extended British influence and confirmed British possessions, for the French, and the Indians under Pontiac, stubbornly resented and resisted English rule. Not until Major Robert Farmer and Captain Stirling drove the French across the Mississippi River into the village of St. Louis did the English complete the occupation of the eastern Mississippi Basin. George Johnstone, the first English governor of West THE SETTLEMENT OF MOBILE. 19 Florida, changed the name of Fort Conde, the military fortification of Mobile, to Fort Charlotte, in honor of Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III. of England. In March, 1765, the English began the purchase of lands from the Indians, thus inaugurating the system which was to make West Florida and the whole southwest terri- tory available for white settlement. Trade increased^ agriculture and general business throve despite storms, sickness, and other disasters , the people appreciated their new masters. Loyalty supplanted the dreams of revolu- tion, and faltered not even when the American Colonies defied the power of England in the Revolutionary War. In 1779, England declared war against Spain. Don Bernardo Galvez, the young Spanish governor of Louisi- ana, made a dash upon the English forts in the south, and captured them one after another before the British could interfere. Mobile fell into his hands on March 14, 1780; Pensacola, on May 9, 1781. Thus passed English supremacy from the Gulf coast. Mobile remained a Spanish stronghold for three decades. Spanish commandants succeeded one another in such rapid changes as to unsettle the people. Spain declared war against France to counteract the influence of the visit of Genet to America; she invited the annexation of Kentucky to her territory, made extensive land-grants, favored the great commercial firm of Panton, Leslie and Company, and claimed 32° 28' north latitude as the boun- dary of her territory between the Chattahoochee and the Mississippi. The United States claimed down to 31°, and taking advantage of Spain's entanglements in the Napo- leonic wars, pressed the claim through Thomas Finckney at the Treaty of Madrid, 1795, until Spain yielded it. Spanish authorities at Mobile and Pensacola interfered 20 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. with the running of the hne of 31°, placing every obstacle possible in the way of the engineer, Andrew Ellicott; but the survey was completed in 1799, and Ellicott's Stone, set up below St. Stephens, indicated to settlers under what flag they lived. Americans above 31° north lati- tude suffered great inconvenience and expense because of enormous duties on freights passing through mouths of rivers under Spanish control ; prices were increased about fourfold by freights and double duties. The United States claimed the Perdido River as the eastern limit of the Louisiana purchase. Spain claimed that Mobile had been completely severed from Louisiana by the Treaty of Paris in 1763, and that she held Mobile by right of conquest from the British in 1780. General James Wilkin- son moved against it with American troops by order of the United States, and captured it April 15, 1813. The stars and stripes floated from her fort and proclaimed her passage under the protection of the powerful American Republic. CHAPTER III. MOBILE THE EMPORIUM OF ALABAMA. Mobile County was formed out of Washington County in 1813 by proclamation of David Holmes, governor of the Mississippi Territory. Mobile is the metropolis of Alabama. For more than a hundred years, as the focus of colonial life, she sent her couriers of civilization into the wilds of the country, and wielded an influence as no other city on the Gulf coast had done. As soon as attached to the United States she began to grow in commercial and strategic importance. The British envied her transfer to the United States and connived with Spain for her recapture. An English fleet, supported by a land force, was driven back from Fort Bowyer on Mobile Point by Major Lawrence. In Novem- ber, 1814, General Jackson stormed and captured Pensacola from the combined forces of England and Spain. Two months later (January 8, 1815) he won the battle of New Orleans, defeating with a comparatively small force the splendidly equipped British army under General Packen- ham. Fort Bowyer fell before the British, but peace had been declared by the Treaty of Ghent, and the Britons were recalled to their island home. Mobile was incorporated as a city by the Legislature of Alabama, December 19, 1819. Her favorable position on Mobile Bay opened her business houses to river craft and ocean steamers. The rich lands bordering the Alabama and Tombigbee 21 22 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Rivers and their tributaries were early occupied by intel- ligent, thrifty planters, who conducted business through commission merchants and factors in Mobile. Happy negroes, on farms of abundant harvest, labored for the pro- duction of corn, cotton, pumpkins, melons, fruits, potatoes, pease, pindars, and everything else that responded to cul- tivation in a soil and climate of rare excellence. Cotton was the king of products ; it meant cash. Steamers that plied the beautiful rivers carried regularly to Mobile immense loads of cotton and other products of the fields, returning with sugar, coffee, clothing, and other necessaries and luxuries for farms. Other towns and cities might check temporarily the passage of products, but sooner or later Mobile received them or shared in their profits. Mobile was a brilliant social centre; beautiful old southern homes offered a southern welcome to visitors. The Christmas season was especially attractive ; planters would gather there at that time to make settlements and arrange for supplies for the ensuing year ; families from the country went there to enjoy the holiday festivities. The city's attractions brought to her bosom the beauty and chivalry, the virtue and intelligence of the land. A half century shed its glories on this happy state of things ; but they were destined to cease. The war between the States came; Mobile companies promptly left for the armies of Virginia and Tennessee. Mobile gave her Stewart, her Walker, her Woodruff, her Toulmin, her McRae, her Withers, her Maury, her McKinstry, her Deas, her Herndon, her Hagan, her Gracie, her all for the strife; her hospitals were all that skilled surgeons and loving women could make them ; her fortifications were among the last to admit the downfall of the Confederate States; her military MOBILE THE EMPORIUM OF ALABAMA. 23 record on land and sea is bright with deeds of patri- otic wisdom and chivah'ous daring. Maffitt, in the Oreto (afterward the Florida), ran the gauntlet of Federal blockade into Mobile Bay, and when his sick men and battle-shelled vessel were ready for active service, he again passed the blockade lines and began his career of naval successes, cheered by the loyal support and inspiration of the citizens of Mobile. On August 5, 1864, Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, assisted by a powerful land battery, moved into Mobile Bay with four splendid ironclad monitors and fourteen steamers, carrying one hundred and ninety-nine guns and twenty-seven hundred men. To oppose him were the Confederate forts and torpedo Hnes, and Admiral Franklin Buchanan with the ironclad Tennessee and three wooden gunboats — the Morgan, Gaines, and Selma — carrying twenty-two guns and four hundred and seventy men. Admiral Farragut pronounced this " one of the fiercest naval combats on record." Farragut was victor. Fort Gaines fell on August 8th. Fort Morgan surrendered on the 23d. In March, 1865, General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby marched from Fort Morgan with thirty-two thousand Federal troops to invest Mobile. He was opposed by three Confederate brigades — Gibson's Louisianians, Ector's North Carolinians and Texans, and Thomas's Alabama Reserves, the latter were relieved April 1st by Holtzclaw's brigade from Blakeley — the whole force being less than four thou- sand men. The Confederates were behind strong fortifica- tions, and nature furnished mire and water to help check the Federal advance. The Federals approached nearer day by day to Spanish Fort and batteries Huger and Tracy, their iron- 24 SKETCHES OF ALABAJ^M HISTORY. clads bombarding from the bay as their infantry pressed on shore. The doomed Spanish Fort fell April 8th. Major-General F. Steele, with nearly fifteen thousand men, marched from Pensacola, destroyed railroads and burned all public property about Pollard, and stormed and carried Blakeley despite the gallant defense from its garrison of thirty-five hundred Confederates under Brigadier- General St. John R. Liddell. This was April 9th, the same day on which General Lee surrendered at Appomattox. Batteries Huger and Tracy fell two days later. General D. H. Maury was in command at Mobile; when he saw the forts of her defense fall he evacuated the city April 12th. The Federal general Gordon Gran- ger took immediate possession. The presence of the Federals was signalized by the holiday manners of the negroes, who, like children, put on all the gaudy attire they could find to celebrate the dawn of their freedom. Federal officers and soldiers found no social reception _ in Mobile ; the homes were in ^,^(H||^k sorrowful quiet. The ladies i ""^""m and gentlemen kept them- HMf f^ W selves in seclusion, both be- cause of the natural sadness in their hearts for the down- fall of the Confederacy, and because of the promiscuous throngs of negroes and Fed- eral troops. ^^jf Bishop R. H. Wilmer con- tinued the Episcopal service Bishop R. H. Wilmer. ^s prescribed by his church, praying for the President of the Confederate States, MOBILE THE EMPORIUM OF ALABAMA. 25 General Thomas, the Federal commander, ordered him to refrain. The good bishop refused, and was impris- oned. His church was "closed, but he held his position, denying all authority to dictate his prayers for the United States Government, as he had no prayers for the power that had wantonly brought wreck and ruin on his people. He was finally released by order of Presi- dent Johnson. The carelessness of Federals or the accidental fall of a loaded shell produced the terrific magazine explosion of May 25, 1865. Thirty tons of gunpowder, with a large amount of assorted ammunition, were stored in the maga- zine. Early in the afternoon the whole city was jarred as if in the throes of an earthquake. Three hundred lives and nearly a million dollars' worth of property were destroyed. The return of peace threw into the city the congested cotton supplies of the tributary sections. The people at once betook themselves to business. Farmers and mer- chants began the resurrection of the prosperity that blessed the country before the war. Hundreds of thousands of bales of cotton poured into the warehouses, and agents from Liverpool and other manufacturing marts paid high prices for the kingly staple of the South. Schools and churches were reopened. Reconstruction wrought its foul blight upon her history. Political troubles pressed more heavily on Mobile than on other cities of the State, because having greater com- mercial interests and larger money transactions, the van- dals of politics found her a more fruitful mine of treasure. They perverted her institutions, but they could not check the growth of trade nor the high spirit of her citizens. The political battles raged fierce and long, but victory 26 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. crowned the advocates of conservative government, and solid business methods restored confidence and invited capital. The city has many beautiful buildings, public and private, and is noted for men of distinguished profes- sional attainments and business success. She has fur- nished one judge of the Supreme Court of the United States — John A. Campbell; five judges for the Supreme Bench of Alabama — Abner S. Lipscomb, Henry Hitchcock, Arthur F. Hopkins, Henry Goldthwaite, and Edmund Spann Dargan. The bar is also honored by the names of Toulmin, Smith, Manning, Chandler, Semmes, Dunn, Anderson, Taylor, Clarke, and a host of other brilliant legal lights. Drs. Nott, Gilmore, Gaines, Ketchum, Mas- tin, Owen, and others dignify her history in the realm of surgery and medicine. Thaddeus Sanford, A. B. Meek, John Forsyth, Jones Mitchell Withers, C. C. Langdon, and Erwin Craighead have won high rank as editors. In literature many names suggest themselves, but the most prominent are Mrs. Chaudron, Mrs. Octavia Walton Le- Vert, Mrs. Elizabeth AV. Bellamy, Mrs. Augusta Evans Wilson, T. C. DeLeon, Peter Joseph Hamilton, Hannis Taylor, Father Abram J. Ryan, and A. B. Meek. As the only Gulf Port of the State, Mobile will not likely lose her importance. She has not grown in population or material enlargement as some of the cities of North Ala- bama, but her life is full of vigor and imbued with all the essentials of abiding prosperity. CHAPTER IV. ALEXANDER McGILLIVRAY. Lachlan McGillivray, a youth of sixteen summers, lured by reports of Indian adventures and wonderful scenery in the New World, ran away from his wealthy Scotch parents and came to America. He landed at Charleston with less than fifty cents in his pocket, but with buoyant spirits and a healthy body. Falling in with traders, he engaged as a driver of pack-horses, and went immediately into the heart of the Indian country. Given a knife, he exchanged it for a few skins, and thus laid the foundation of the immense fortune which he afterward accumulated. Captain Marchand, one of the French commandants at Fort Toulouse, married Sehoy, a Muscogee princess of the Tribe of the Wind ; their descendants became cele- brated in the history of the Southwest; their daughter, Sehoy, was first married to a Tookabatcha chief, and had a daughter named Sehoy. She afterward met and mar- ried Lachlan McGillivray : Sophia, Jeannet, and Alex- ander were the children of this marriage ; Sophia married Benjamin Durant, the noted athlete; Jeannet married LeClerc Milfort, who was the warrior bold to lead the Creeks in battle, and who, after the death of Jeannet, returned to France, wrote an interesting history of his sojourn among the Creeks, and became a distinguished general under Napoleon Bonaparte; Alexander became 27 28 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. the imperial chief of the Upper Creeks, and the shrewdest diplomat of his time. Lachlan McGillivray was an ardent royalist during the Revolutionary War, and when it closed he placed a vast amount of money and movable property on board a ves- sel and returned to Scotland, leaving his family to their fate in America. The Whigs confiscated his negroes and two valuable plantations which he had hoped his family would be permitted to hold. Alexander, the distinguished son, possessed rare natural abilities, and had taken a classical course in a school at Charleston. At thirty years of age he had impressed his influence and power upon the consideration of England, Spain, and the United States. Courted by these three nations, and trusted absolutely by his Creek subjects, he found congenial exercise for his diplomatic talents and his executive powers. His public acts began in 1776, at Coweta on the Chattahoochee, when he presided over the Grand Council of the Nations. Two years later the Brit- ish made him a colonel, and associated him with Colonel Tate at Fort Toulouse, hoping thereby to keep the Creeks hostile to the Americans. Conflicting territorial claims, growing out of the indef- inite treaties between England, France, Spain, and the United States, produced constant friction along the bor- ders. Georgia by royal grant claimed rights of territory from the Savannah River to the Mississippi ; in 1783, she procured from the Cherokees and Creeks a cession of lands among the head-waters of the Oconee River. A majority of the Creeks declared the cession unfairly pro- cured, and refused to sanction it ; in fact, the Upper Creeks opposed every measure endorsed by the Lower Creeks. McGillivray became a silent partner in the mercantile ALEXANDER McGILLIVRAY. 29 schemes of William Panton, who opened stores at St. Augustine, St. Johns, St. Marks, Pensacola, Mobile, and Chickasaw Bluff. Under Panton's influence McGillivray, as emperor of the Creeks and Seminoles, signed a treaty with Spain, became a Spanish commissary, and engaged to keep open the breach between the Creeks and Geor- gians. He bafiled the United States commissioners at Galphinton, in 1785; at Cusseta, in 1787; and at Rock Landing, in 1789, advising the Indians against ratifica- tion of the unsavory treaty by which the Georgians claimed the Oconee lands. At the same time, to compel a larger annual stipend, he played upon the fears of Panton and the Spaniards by intimating a probable alli- ance with the United States in order to secure special commercial favors to his people, and also to recover his father's confiscated estate, which he valued at more than a hundred thousand dollars. Through Colonel Marinus Willett, a United States secret agent to the Creeks, McGillivray and thirty chiefs were induced to visit General Washington in Kew York City ; they w^ere cordially received along the route, and upon entering New York City they w^ere met by the Tammany Society in full Indian uniform; they w^ere escorted in splendor to the Federal Hall, where Congress was in ses- sion ; they were taken to visit the President, the Minister of War, and the Governor of the State ; an elegant enter- tainment given at the city tavern closed the day. The honors and the feasts were too sumptuous to be resisted. A treaty was concluded. The Oconee lands were surrendered. The Creek territory was to be free from encroachments, the Creeks and Seminoles were to accept the protection of the United States, and were not to treat wdth any State or the individuals of any State. 30 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. The Creek Nation was to receive annually fifteen hundred dollars, and take possession of a consignment of goods then in warehouses in Augusta, Georgia. By a secret treaty with Washington, the Creek com- merce after two years was to flow through ports of the United States ; a hundred dollars and a handsome medal were to be given annually to each of the chiefs of the Ocfuskees, Cowetas, Cussetas, Tallassees, Tookabatchas, and the Seminoles. McGillivray was made agent of the United States, with the rank of Brigadier-General, on a salary of twelve hun- dred dollars per annum. Creek youths, not exceeding four at one time, were to be educated in tlie North at the expense of the United States. The Spaniards endeavored to counteract the influence of these generous considerations by creating McGillivray the Superintendent-General of the Creek Nation with a salary of thirty-five hundred dollars a year. William Augustus Bowles was a conspicuous rival of McGillivray. He wandered into the Creek country, learned the Creek language, married a chief's daughter, and acquired great influence. As the tool of Lord Dun- more, governor of the Bahamas, he tried to check the mercantile enterprises of Pan ton, Leslie and Company, and to balk the influence of McGillivray. He failed to hold his store upon the Chattahoochee, being forced to leave the country by order of Colonel Milfort, who threat- ened to cut off his ears if he were not gone in twenty-four hours after receiving the order. Bowles then engaged in piratical excursions against the vessels of Panton, and, capturing some of them laden with arms and general merchandise, ran them up into bayous, and spent a while in wildest debaucheries, dis- ALEXANDER McGILLIVRAY. 31 tributing the prize-cargoes among his abandoned com- pany of whites and Creeks. Among the latter he was very popular. Aided by Willbanks and the half-breed Moses Price, he spread ill rumors of McGillivray, declar- ing that McGillivray had sold his people first to the Span- iards and then to the United States. The New York treaty was distasteful to the Indians, and many of them now distrusted McGillivray, but his intrigues could not be matched. He arranged for the arrest of Bowles and his transportation to Madrid. His consummate treachery evoked the consummate tact that preserved his tripartite relations with Panton, Spain, and the Federal Government. Professing faithfulness to the United States, he assisted Spanish agents in opposing American settlements and obstructing American engi- neers in establishing the Creek and Georgia boundary- line. His frequent visits to New Orleans threw him constantly with Governor Carondelet, whose orders to expel American inhabitants of the Creek country no doubt received the endorsement of the astute "Talley- rand," as Mr. Pickett calls McGillivray. The villanies of traders and agents often brought terror and bloodshed. Families and companies of traders and travellers were massacred.^ Sometimes by accident one or more members of the party attacked escaped. McGillivray was ever kind to the distressed, and his 1 Colonel Pickett says that in 1788. Colonel Kirkland. of South Caro- lina, with his son, nephew, and several others, stopped at the home of McGillivray on their way to Pensacola ; that McGillivray sent a servant with them as they left his house that the Indians mio;ht know they were friends ; that a Hillahee Indian, a white man, and a necrro murdered them in camp at ni2:ht in what is now Conecuh County, on the bank of the stream which has ever since been called Murder Creek. 32 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. sisters and servants figure in several thrilling rescues and in generous protection to unfortunates. McGillivray dispensed unbounded hospitality to friends and foes. Eminently selfish and unscrupulously ambi- tious, he used every means at command for his own aggrandizement. He was, in 1792, the agent and the Brigadier-General of the United States on a salary of twelve hundred dollars a year, the agent of Spain on an Murder Creek, Conecuh County. annual salary of thirty-five hundred dollars, the co-part- ner of Panton, and the Emperor of the Creek and Semi- nole Nations. The Federal Government never restored his estates, and his warped morality excused the duplicity which made the United States pay tribute as partial compen- sation for what he felt justly entitled to claim. ALEXANDER McGILLIVRAY. 33 His affections were naturally with the British and Spanish, but his far-seeing statesmanship recognized the growth and future greatness of the United States, and bent his politic friendship to the power that was spread- ing its resistless authority over the Western Continent. He died in Pensacola February 17, 1793, and was in- terred with Masonic honors in the beautiful garden of William Panton in the city of Pensacola. His remains were subsequently removed to Aberdeen, Scotland. His Indian subjects were deeply saddened by his death, and grieved that so distinguished a chief should sleep his last sleep in the soil of the Seminoles. CHAPTER V. WILLIAM WEATHERFORD AND PUSHMATAHA. Sehoy, the daughter of Sehoy Marchand and the Tookabatcha chief, had some romantic experiences. She was a beautiful girl, and bore the beloved family name which for several generations was given from mother to daughter. She married early, as beautiful maidens usually do. In her time the English held Fort Tou- louse, and Colonel Tate, the British officer in command of the fort, married her. Colonel Tate after awhile became tired of her and deserted her, leaving her the mother of several children, but still young and beautiful. Charles Weatherford, a thrifty Scotch peddler, met, admired, and married this buxom grass widow. He made his home on the Alabama River, a little below the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers. He pros- pered in store and farm ; bought negroes and fine horses ; constructed his far-famed race-track, upon which he trained his blooded steeds. His native tact, his marriage with Sehoy, the half-sister of McGillivray, his race-track, and his prosperity made him a popular man, and drew about him the powerful and martial spirits of the tribes. In his home of plenty was born and reared his distin- guished son William, who was called Lamochattee, the Red Eagle. Bold, gifted, and eloquent, William was a born leader of men. In the company of his uncles, Alexander Mc- Gillivray and LeClerc Milfort, he learned of the aggres- 34 WILLIAM WEATHERFOBD AND PUSHMATAHA. 35 sions of the whites and the wrongs they had committed against his mother's people. Wars with the Choctaws and Chick asaws, and occasional attacks on the whites, 'developed his military qualities and his matchless prowess. He heard Tecumseh at Tookabatcha, and counselled against his plans of war. When he discovered the irre- pressible spirit of war working its doom among the Creeks, he would have stayed the conflict. His brother John, his half-brother David Tate, and others of his blood were friendly to the whites. His property was endan- gered. No matter on which side he fought he was bound to suffer. The storm came on. He could not stand an idle watcher. He joined the Creeks. Fort Mims was situated in the Tensaw settlement, near the Alabama River ; Major Daniel Beasley, a brave but over-confident officer, was in command of it; there the excited people had gathered for protection. The defeat of the Americans at Burnt Corn had filled the country with alarm. In the fort were five hundred and fifty-three souls — old men, women and children, negroes, friendly Indians, and soldiers — against whom Hopiee Tusten- nuggee or Far-Off" Warrior, Peter McQueen, High-Head Jim, Josiah Francis or Hillis Hadjo, the prophet, Seek- aboo the Shawnee, and Weatherford led a thousand painted warriors. False rumors had so often alarmed, that when two negroes reported signs of Indians, one was whipped, and the other, tied to be whipped, witnessed in bonds the awful conflict, until he met death by the hands of the foe against whom he had vainly warned his master. On the morning of August 30, 1813, in Fort Mims, happy children were playing and young men and maid- 36 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. ens were dancing and rollicking. General Tom S. Woodward says that Major Beasley was drunk, and when Jim Cornells reported the Indians to be near that Major Beasley called him a coward. At ten o'clock Major Beasley wrote General Claiborne of his ability to defend the fort against any force the Indians might bring against it. At twelve o'clock, when the drum beat for dinner, and the soldiers were off their guard, Weatherford and his warriors rushed upon the fort so unexpectedly as to gain the principal gateway before it could be closed. Fearful was the onslaught and desperately brave was the defence. For five dreadful hours the battle raged. The blood- thirsty savages, mad with slaughter, spared neither women nor children ; this promiscuous massacre of the helpless and innocent was contrary to the orders of Weatherford ; when he found he could not stay it, he rode away in sorrow ; it is said that he never recalled the scene without a shudder of horror. Only about forty of the inmates of the fort escaped death. The fires that glowed in the evening over the burning fort charred the scalped and mutilated remains of five hundred people, while more than a hundred bodies of dead Indians, around the stockade lines and in the woods, added to the ghastly tragedy of the day. Ten days afterward, Captain Kennedy with his com- pany arrived on the scene. Buzzards, dogs, and other animals were holding gluttonous carnival. Two long ditches were dug, and into them were placed the rem- nants of bones and flesh. The earth was thrown over these remnants, and the charity of burial was done. Weatherford reconnoitred Fort Madison a few nights afterward, and but for his report of its strength and WILLIAM WEATHERFORD AND PUSHMATAHA. 37 readiness that fort would have felt the shock of an Indian attack. The country was aroused as never before nor since. Jackson soon swept from the north, Floyd from the east, Claiborne and Pushmataha from the south and west. At Econachaca, the Holy Ground, on the Alabama River, in the present county of Lowndes, were the homes of Weatherford and the prophets. There had been gath- ered the property and families of many Indians. It was supposed to be safe from attacks of the whites. It was strongly fortified, and the prophets had surrounded it with enchanted circles within which they declared no white man could pass and live. A bold garrison of native warriors, inspired by the genius and presence of Weatherford and by the fanatical speeches of the prophets, defied invasion. On December 23, 1813, General Claiborne attacked the town. The Indians saw their prophets killed and the white men crossing the enchanted lines ; they were panic- stricken, and began to flee. Weatherford could not rally them, and was himself compelled to flee; mounted on Arrow, his splendid charger, he galloped to the river's brink ; finding himself hotly pursued, he spurred his horse over a fifteen-foot precipice into the river; horse and rider sank out of sight, but quickly arose ; the horse swam across the river, bearing his master beyond the reach of pursuit. The town was burned. Its spoils were given to Pushmataha and his men, who had nobly aided in the attack. Rain and cold made severe suffering for the soldiers during the few days following, but the brave fellows were glad to have taught the Indians that the Holy Ground S8 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. was not, as the prophets said, " the grave of the white man." Jackson's battles followed in quick succession. Weath- erford saw the hopelessness of the Creek cause. Jackson demanded his surrender as a condition of peace. Weath- erford knew the deep-seated hatred toward him ; that he was called "the murderer of Fort Mims"; that death would likely befall him if he surrendered. He was a brave man, and wished to save the women and children from starving and his nation from extirpation. He rode to the tent of General Jackson and surrendered. He ex- pressed a willingness to die, but begged for soldiers to be sent into the woods for the starving women and children of the war-party. General Jackson admired his manly courage, and ap- preciated the motives that prompted his surrender, invited him to alight, and cheerfully discussed the matters at issue. Weatherford accepted the terms of surrender, and used his influence to effect the surrender of all the Creeks. Officers feared he would be killed by soldiers who had lost relatives and friends at Fort Mims. They guarded him carefully until he could be sent beyond the reach of immediate danger. After the war he lived quietly and honorably on his Little River farm in the lower part of Monroe County. His name, once a terror to the settlers, was an honor to the private life of the citizen. His bravery and integrity were both respected. He died in the spring season of 1826. " Red Eagle," a beautiful poem of A. B. Meek, is woven from the life of William Weatherford. In contradistinction to Weatherford was the noted Choctaw Chief, Pushmataha, " a warrior of great distinc- WILLIAM WEATHERFORD AND PUSHMATAHA. 39 tion, wise in council, eloquent in an extraordinary degree, and on all occasions and under all circumstances the white man's friend." His ancestry is unknown, but he was born somewhere in eastern Mississippi, probably in a cabin on the bank of Noxubee River, near Macon, in 1764. His natural genius and martial qualities, discovered in raids against the Osages beyond the Mississippi, promoted him to leadership. When Tecumseh visited the Choctaws in 1811, Pushmataha followed him from place to -^**.-. ^ ^ place, arguing eloquently Pushmataha, against Tecum seh's designs. His influence was so great that he restrained the Choc- taws who, as a nation, never in war shed the blood of a white man. The few individual Choctaws who joined the Creek war-party were executed, by order of Pushmataha. At the outbreak of the Creek War Pushmataha offered himself and his people as allies to the whites. The " Tom- bigbee Settlements " were environed by Indians, and com- pletely separated from friends in Georgia and Tennessee. The Creeks, with their tribal confederates, occupied from the Oconee to the Alabama; the Cherokees skirted the Tennessee ; the Chickasaws held northwest Alabama and northern Mississippi, and the Choctaws occupied central and southern Mississippi. The Choctaws and Creeks held continuous dispute over possession of the region between the Black Warrior and the Tombigbee Rivers. The whites were in extreme peril, and there was much appre- hension lest the Choctaws should forget their traditional 40 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. friendship and unite with the Creeks. Had they done so, the Chickasaws and Cherokees would probably have joined the coalition, the whites would have been exter- minated, and the history of Alabama would have been entirely changed. Pushmataha led his warriors in the battle of the Holy Ground, and did other important service for the whites. He was a genuine patriot, ever on the alert for the good of his tribes, and for the preservation of the friendly rela- tions with the whites. He was much admired by the Americans. General Jackson is said to have pronounced him the bravest man he ever saw. Pushmataha lived at one time near Meridian, and afterward in Clarke County, Mississippi, near the head- waters of Buckatunna Creek. He was very vain. Enter- ing a company of whites, he would ask, " Do you know who I am ? I am General Pushmataha." This, however, did not detract from the strength of his character, nor from his popularity in his nation and the United States. His timely aid saved the whites from destruction, and their gratitude cherished and honored him in life and death. His great weakness was drunkenness. He prob- ably brought on his death by a protracted debauch, though quinsy is named as the disease which killed him. He died in Washington City, December 24, 1824, having gone tliere with a delegation of his people on business with the United States. General Jackson visited him on his death-bed, and heard his request, " When I am gone, let the big guns be fired over me." He was buried in the Congressional Cemetery, his body being attended to its last resting-place by the great men of the country, amid imposing military and civil ceremonies. The big guns were fired over him. WILLIAM WEATHERFORD AND PUSHMATABA. 41 Six years afterward at the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit, September 27, 1830, the Choctaws were, with great dif- ficulty, induced to cede all their lands east of the Missis- sippi River, and to prepare for removal to hunting- grounds they might select in regions west of the Missis- sippi. In the great war of 1861 to 1865 they aided the South, thus proving their devotion to the friends of their fathers. Colonel John H. McKee, the United States agent to the Chickasaws, encouraged the friendly spirit of that powerful tribe, and kept them from joining the Creek Confederacy. CHAPTER VI. GENERAL SAMUEL DALE. Among the names that thrill lovers of daring deeds none of backwoodsmen has a purer or brighter lustre than that of Samuel Dale, the Daniel Boone of the South- west. Born in Virginia, and removed early to Georgia, he was inured to all the hardships and rich adventures of border life. His father and mother died before he was twenty years old, leaving him, heavily in debt, to assume the care and support of seven brothers and sisters. The Indians were constantly about him, killing his neighbors, burning homes, destroying crops and cattle, and threat- ening every interest dear to his heart. Provisions were scarce, but hope and self-reliance fortify the darkest hours of the frontiersman, and experience had taught Sam how to meet boldly and confidently every danger and priva- tion of life. He made good crops and paid his debts. In the winter of 1796, he became a wagoner in Savannah, Georgia, but returned to his farm in the spring, meeting success in all his business relations, and using his profits for investment in goods, which he exchanged among the Creeks for ponies and cattle, hides and tallow, to carry for sale among his American neighbors. He was very active from 1799 transporting families from Georgia to the Mississippi Territory. His caution and prowess fitted him to protect the lives and property of movers. He kept several wagons on the road, and 42 GENERAL SAMUEL DALE. 43 established a trading-post, so as to have return loads of Indian products. He served as guide to the United States commissioners, Harris and Easley, in marking cut the highway through the Cherokee Nation. He could not keep out of the border wars. He acted as scout and aided his fellow Georgians in beating back the implacable Creeks, who were forever disputing, and with good reasons, the rights of the whites to advance into their territory and occupy their lands. In 1811, he was present at the annual Grand Council of the Creeks at Tookabatcha on the Tallapoosa River. Tecumseh, the celebrated chief of the Shawnees in the North, and his fanatical brother Francis were there. They wished to arouse the Creeks to war against the whites. Benjamin Hawkins, the United States agent, was present, but did not realize the temper of the Creeks toward the Americans. He supposed that civil war might arise among the different Indian factions, but he would not believe the Indians could be induced to take up arms against the whites. Tecumseh, with twenty-four warriors of his tribe, marched for several nights in perfect silence into the great square, took the pipe offered by the Great Warrior of the Creeks, passed it to his warriors, who passed it from one to the other until it w^ent to all ; and then in silence and single file they marched back to their ap- pointed cabin, around which they danced, without salut- ing any one, the dance of the northern tribes. This filled the Creeks and their Choctaw visitors with mysterious awe and wonder. Every morning Tecumseh would send word to the assembled Council that he would on that day make his " talk," and as the day advanced he would send another 44 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. message that "the sun was too far advanced in the heavens, and he would wait until the next day for his ' talk.' " Mr. Hawkins grew impatient and left, but Dale had a warm friend, Will Milfort, a half-breed, whom he had nursed through a spell of sickness, who promised to report when Tecumseh was ready to talk. Milfort kept his word, and Dale was present. The mysterious marching and scowling faces, turning to all points of the compass, circling round and round, burning tobacco and sumac, preceded their visit to the Council, where the Shawnee war-whoop was raised. Tecumseh spoke, slowly at first and deliberately, but soon his words poured, his bright eyes flashed, his frame shook, his face reflected the changing passions of his soul, and the tones of his voice, variant from wail of wrongs to thunderbolts of vengeance, fell with resistless eloquence into hearts of valorous mould. The listeners clutched their knives and waved their tomahawks in the air. The speech committed the Creeks to war — war so cruel to the whites and so fatal to the Creeks. Dale had settled in Clarke County, Alabama, in 1808. When the Creek War broke out he raised a company, and joined Colonel James Caller to intercept Peter McQueen and High-Head Jim returning from Pensa- cola with army supplies furnished by British agents and resident Spaniards. The forces met July 27, 1813, and fought the Battle of Burnt Corn, so called from the name of the creek on which it occurred. The battle opened with advantage to the Americans, but after the Indians had been driven from their camp the Americans began to gather the spoils, and to catch the Indian ponies. The Indians fired from covert upon the Americans in the open, charged GENERAL SAMUEL DALE. 45 with yells, threw the Americans into confusion and flight, which the brave deeds and daring efforts of the officers failed to check. With the loss of the battle went the greater loss of prestige to American valor and arms. It was afterward considered a disgrace to have been in the battle. Fort Madison, in Clarke County, was feared to be too weak for defense. General Claiborne gave to Colonel Joseph Carson, in command, the privilege of evacuating the fort and repairing to Fort Stephens. Colonel Carson thought his orders peremptory, and, as his bugle blew calling out the troops to evacuate. Captains Austill and Dale had another bugle sounded calling for volunteers to defend the fort with the women and children who could not leave. About eighty volunteers remained. Dale replied to the note of General Flournoy, advising abandonment of the fort and repairing to Mount Vernon, "There are many women and children here whom I have sworn to defend. I have a gal- lant set of fellows with me, and when you hear of the fall of Fort Madison you will find a pile of yellow hides here to tan if you can get your regulars to come and skin them." Colonel Carson soon returned. The fort was not attacked. Jeremiah Austill, James Smith, and Sam Dale were the heroes of the celebrated " Canoe Fight " which took place on the Alabama River above French's Landing. The Indians had been depredating in the vicinity of Fort Madison, Jeremiah Austill. 46 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. and Dale obtained permission from Colonel Carson to drive them away. Taking with him seventy men, he began to scour the country for Indians. He had been separated from the larger body of his men, which had crossed the Alabama River, and had only eleven men with him on the eastern side. A random fire had taken place between his forces and Indians in the canes, and as Dale and his men looked from their perilous position upon the river they beheld floating down the current a large flat-bottomed canoe in which were a chief and ten painted warriors. The In- dians were about to land, but seeing the whites on the bank ready to intercept them, they backed out into the river. Two Indians slipped out of the canoe and swam to shore. James Smith killed one of them as he reached the bank. The Indians on land for some unaccountable reason retired. A negro, Caesar, had a small dugout in which he could carry three men. Dale stepped into it, and called for volunteers to attack the Indians in the large canoe. Jeremiah Austill and James Smith followed. All wanted to go, but the little canoe would hold no more. Whites and Indians knew that the combat would be a death-grapple. As the canoes neared each other the chief recognized Dale, and shouted, " Now for it, Sam Thlucco." Rifles, clubs, and oars were plied desperately. Austill was in the prow of the little canoe, and was knocked down by the chief in the first onset. A second time he was knocked down, to rise again for bloody execution on his enemies. Smith and Dale were dealing death with clubbed rifles. Nobody flinched. Every Indian was killed. One fell into the water during the fight. GENERAL SAMUEL DALE. 47 When the onset closed eight dead bodies were Hfted from the Indian canoe and pitched into the river, while the Americans on shore shouted long and loud in honor of the victory. No other naval battle, ancient or modern, ever displayed more valor and daring. This is one of the most desperate engagements that ever tested individ- ual heroism and manly prowess. Captain Dale and his companions returned to their nine friends left on the eastern side, and carried them in the bloody canoes to the western bank. Dale became a farmer after the close of the Creek War. He furnished General Mcintosh a thousand bushels of corn for the starving forces of Major Woolfolk at Fort Jackson, for which he was never paid by the United States. Late in December, 1814, business carried Dale to Fort Hawkins, Georgia. Colonel Hawkins and General Mc- intosh induced him to carry an express from the Secre- tary of War to General Jackson at New Orleans. He bought Paddy, a compact pony, for the trip. In eight days he was in New Orleans. When he reached Jack- son's headquarters the battle of New Orleans had begun. For the first time in his life Dale beheld the sublime action of a regular, pitched battle between large numbers of civilized forces. He was spell-bound by the awful grandeur of the engagement. General Jackson was so astonished at Dale's speed in conveying the dispatches that he sent him back to Georgia with other dispatches. As Dale reached Fort De- catur on the Tallapoosa, wet and almost frozen. General Mcintosh helped him from Paddy, put his arms around him, carried him to the fire, gave him whiskey and hot coffee, and kept him quiet until he was rested and warm. 48 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Dale then delivered the dispatches, and told of the glor- ious battle at New Orleans. The old general wept and shouted for joy. Officers and men came rushing to the door, and Dale had to tell the story over and over until daylight, while the wildest huzzas rolled from throats of delighted patriots. He went on to Milledgeville, delivered his dispatches, and then returned to Dale's Ferry on the Alabama River, where he resumed business. Governor Holmes loaded him with trusts, committing to him the appointment of justices, sheriffs, constables, and other civil officers, for- warding commissions in blank, and leaving the appoint- ments entirely to Dale. The destitute immigrants imposed upon him for sup- plies for which they never paid, and forced him to fail in business. His last years were full of activities and honors. He was a delegate to the convention that separated the states of Alabama and Mississippi. He served many years in the General Assembly of Alabama, beginning as a delegate to the first Assembly that met at St. Stephens. He was a member of the legislative committee that met LaFayette at the Chattahoochee, and escorted him to Montgomery. With George S. Gaines he helped to re- move the Choctaws to their new homes on the Arkansas and Red Rivers. He bought two sections of land from an Indian in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, and lived there during his last years. He visited Washington during Jackson's administration, and spent many pleasant hours alone with the President, talking over campaigns and other matters of interest in those wonderful years. Dale met most of the magnates of the times. Calhoun, Clay, Webster, Benton, William R. King, and others GENERAL SAMUEL DALE. 49 showed him distinguished courtesies, and captured his honest heart. His manhood all admired, and his infor- mation, though set in rugged stones, gleamed a conspic- uous diamond in the world of gems. General Dale died on May 24, 1841, calm and self- possessed, and was buried near Daleville, Mississippi. Shortly after his burial it is said that a Choctaw chief, standing by his grave, said, " You sleep here. Big Sam, but your spirit is a chieftain and a brave in the hunting- ground of the sky." Dale County in Alabama commemorates his name. In peace the Creeks revered him. Weatherford ad- mired him, and had him as groomsman at his marriage ; the hungry Indians lived on his fields, " but in battle the name of Big Sam fell on the ear of the Seminole like that of Marius on the hordes of the Cimbri." CHAPTER VII. ANDREW JACKSON IN ALABAMA, When Mr. George S. Gaines reported the massacre of Fort Mims to Governor Blount of Tennessee, Andrew Jackson was suffering from an arm wounded in a dif- ficulty with the Bentons. He was so excited by the news that he arose from his bed, and took command of the troops marshalled for the Creek War in Alabama. General John Coffee, with five hundred cavalrymen and such other mounted troops as he might gather on the way, was sent ahead to Huntsville to quiet the people in that region, where much excitement prevailed over Indian butcheries and ru- mors of Indian attacks. When Jackson reached Fay- etteville, Tennessee, an express from General Coffee announced the Indians approaching. So anxious were Jackson's soldiers to meet the Indians that they marched on foot thirty-two miles in five hours that they might take part in the expected battle. Coffee was misinformed, but the speed and endurance of the western frontiersmen showed what might be depended on in emergencies. ,50 General John Coffee. ANDREW JACKSON IN ALABAMA. 51 General Cocke, with General White, was to bring troops and supplies from East Tennessee, and form a junction with Jackson in North Alabama. The troops and pro- visions were collected, but the latter were to be shipped down the Tennessee River, which, unfortunately at this time, was too low for boating. The scanty supplies at Huntsville were soon exhausted, and what could be pro- cured from the surrounding country was not sufficient to sustain the troops. Jackson waited in vain at Camp Coffee for the promised supplies. Cutting through the mountains, he moved up to Thompson's Creek, and estab- lished Fort Deposit. He did not know the shallow state of the Upper Tennessee River, and he bitterly blamed General Cocke for his embarrassments. On October 25, 1813, he moved from Fort Deposit toward the south. On November 3d, General Coffee, with a thousand mounted men and a body of friendly Creeks, struck Tallesahatche, an Indian town fifteen miles east of Jack- son's camp. In the hottest of the battle a frantic prophet leaped upon a house-top, and shouted, "The Great Spirit is on the side of the red men, and his spirits will catch the bullets of the Americans. Look at me, on the top of the house, in full view of the Americans, and I am still unharmed." The Americans soon discovered him, and a bullet snapped his life. Not one of the warriors survived the battle. One hun- dred and eighty, all they could muster, fell on the bloody field. Eighty-four women and children were captured. Five Americans were killed and eighteen were wounded. " We have retaliated for the destruction of Fort Mims," wrote Jackson to Governor Blount. After the battle a slain mother was found embracing her living child. None of the women prisoners could be 62 ' SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. induced to take the child and rear it. " No," they said, " all his relations are dead ; kill him too." Jackson sent the boy to the Hermitage, and Mrs. Jack- son reared him. The boy was named Lincoyer. He was devoted to his foster-parents, but died of consumption in early manhood. The hostile Creeks completely invested Talladega, a town of friendly Creeks. They guarded it so thoroughly that no messenger could slip through to report to Jack- son. General Thomas S. Woodward denies the story of the friendly chief and the hog's skin. Some historians say that the chief put on a hog's skin, with head and feet attached, and stooping down, went along rooting and grunting until he passed the picket lines of the enemy, when, throwing off the skin, he fled to Jackson and re- ported. However this may be, Jackson rushed to the relief of his beleaguered friends. On November 9th, his troops charged at sunrise, and, when the shock of battle was over, Talladega was relieved. Nearly three hundred hostile Indians were killed, and doubtless many more died of wounds received. Jackson returned to Fort Strother, happy over victory and hopeful of supplies. No grain nor meat had been received. Jackson wrote letters to Governor Blount, to his friends, to everybody in any position to furnish sup- plies, for bread and meat for his army. The soldiers suffered terribly. The militia mutinied, but with the volunteers Jackson forced them to return to duty. The next day the volun- teers mutinied, but with the militia Jackson forced them back to duty. On another occasion Jackson ordered the artillery to oppose the mutineers. On still another, he rode to the front, and with his well arm he aimed a ANDREW JACKSON IN ALABAMA. 5;^ musket at the column of mutineers, and vowed to kill the first man that dared to move forward. He thus mas- tered outbreaks, but his short-term troops would not re- enlist, and his ranks were sorely depleted. At one time he had only about one hundred soldiers. Robert Graison, a Scotchman long resident among the Indians, bore offers of peace from the Hillabee Indians. Jackson accepted them. In the meantime General Cocke, ignorant of messages to Jackson, ordered General White to attack the Hillabees. General White made the attack, killing sixty of their warriors and capturing two hundred and fifty of their women and children. The Indians regarded this as treachery, and in future battles they refused to surrender, believing they would be killed no matter what promises of safety were made. General Floyd, with Georgia troops and a few hundred friendly Creeks, defeated the Red Sticks at Autosse, and captured and burned the town. He returned to Fort Mitchell. Two months later, at Calabee Creek, the sav- ages, hovering around his second advance into their country, attacked him with redoubled fury, only to be whipped again ; but victory to the Georgians was dearly bought, and they retreated to the Chattahoochee. These campaigns of General Floyd served to draw large bodies from the front of Jackson, and to prepare the way for the victories of that doughty chieftain. Jackson, re-enforced by fresh troops, moved vigorously into the country of the Creeks, defeated them at Emuck- fau and at Enitachopco, but the battle at Enitachopco was attended in the outset with such advantages to the Indians that Jackson did not want another bout with them at that time, and hurried on to Fort Strother. Several chiefs and warriors of the battle afterward re- 54 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. ported that they " whipped Captain Jackson, and ran him to the Coosa." The larger bodies of Indians were fortifying Tohopeka on the Tallapoosa River. This is the celebrated Horse- shoe Bend, admirably located for defense, but fatal to security if not successfully guarded. About one hundred acres of land were included in the Bend. Across the neck the Indians built breastworks of logs. Here had gathered the warriors of many tribes ; here was to be fought the battle that virtually ended the Creek War. From Fort Strother Jackson marched against this stronghold. On the morning of March 27, 1814, he dispatched General Coffee, with a large body of cavalry and friendly Indians, to ford the river two miles below the breastworks and to encircle the Bend. He himself with his main army moved against the breastworks. At ten o'clock the attack began, at first with cannon and then with rifles and muskets. A brave detachment of Coffee's command under Colonel Morgan and Captain Russell secured canoes, and passed into the rear of the Bend. Flames within the town signalled to Jackson that the detachment was attacking in the rear. Jackson at once ordered the storming of the breastworks. These had been so constructed as to expose assailants to both a direct and a flanking fire. The Americans carried the works, but not until fearful slaughter had dyed the logs with the life-blood of assailed and assailants. The Red Sticks, though attacked in front and rear, scorned quarter. The torch was applied to their retreats, and as they fled they refused mercy. Though wounded and prostrate, they fought those who would have saved them. The Hillabee slaughter left no hope of life. With surrender they expected painful death. One young war- ANDREW JACKSON IN ALABAMA. 55 rior, overpowered and captured, remarked to the surgeon dressing his wounds, " Cure him ; kill him again." Eight hundred Indians were killed. Among the Amer- ican dead was Major Lemuel Purnell Montgomery, after whom Montgomery County is named. Sam Houston, afterward the hero of Texas, was among the wounded. Jackson now built Fort Jackson on the site of Fort Toulouse. Here he received the surrender of Weather- ford and other chiefs, and here he signed the Treaty of Peace, August 9, 1814. By this treaty the Indians sepa- rated themselves entirely from Florida, and ceded lands that " opened up half the present area of the State to the whites." This cession was demanded as indemnity for the expenses and losses of the war. Some of the Indians refused to sign the treaty and fled to Florida. British and Spanish agents in Pensacola continued to tamper with them. Jackson captured Pen- sacola and forced the expulsion of the British agents. Border barbarities and depredations repeated themselves. Four years later, 1818, Jackson was ordered to Fort Scott on the Appalachicola River to " put an end to the Semi- nole War." He acted with accustomed promptitude and decision. He marched into Florida, then Spanish terri- tory, ignored the protests of the Spanish governor, garri- soned Spanish forts with American soldiers, and in true Jacksonian style ended the war. He scoured the country wherever the Seminoles were to be found, and gave them to understand that neither British nor Spaniards could shield them from his vengeance. He captured two Englishmen, Arbuthnot and Ambrister, charged with exciting the Indians to war against the United States. He had Arbuthnot hanged and Ambrister shot, and that, too, in a Spanish province. 56 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Several hundred hostile Indians, harbored in Pensacola by the Spanish governor, marched out in open day and killed Mr. Stokes and family, who were American citi- zens. This caused Jackson's advance upon Pensacola and Fort Barancas. Both places yielded promptly, and in his report to his friend, George W. Campbell, Jackson regretted that he had not stormed the works and hung the governor for the murder of Stokes and his family. These arbitrary acts of Jackson gave embarrassment to the national government, but they created dread of ' American arms, which Indians and others have ever since regarded. Jackson afterward became President of the United States. Jackson was a true patriot, but he brooked no opposi- tion in his military career. He did what he thought right and needful for the success of military enterprises, regardless of law and consequences. He did so many things contrary to law that one historian asks if he could have done more " if he had been Andrew I., by the grace of God Emperor of the United States?" George Strother Gaines. CHAPTER VIII. GEORGE STROTHER GAINES. Captain James Gaines, the father of George Strother Gaines, was a colonial officer in the Revolutionary War and a member of the North Carolina Convention that ratified the Constitution of the United States. His home rested on the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina, and was said to be half in one State and half in the other. His large family of children were about equally divided between the two States, being Virginians or North Carolinians, as they were born in one side or the other of the house. George Strother was born in the North Carolina side in 1784. He bore eminent blood in his 57 58 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY, veins, being connected with the Prestons, Pendletons, and Strothers. His mother, Elizabeth Strother, was first cousin to Sarah Strother the wife of Richard Taylor and mother of President Zachary Taylor, whose two children, General Richard Taylor, of Confederate fame, and Sarah Knox, the first wife of President Jefferson Davis, make historic links of special interest. Captain James Gaines removed to Gallatin, Tennessee, in 1794, and there George Strother grew to manhood and entered into business as clerk in the store of John and Robert Allen. In 1804, he accepted an invitation from Joseph Chambers to take charge of the United States trading-house at Fort Stephens, on the Tombigbee River in Alabama. In his passage down the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers he saw much of the country, and became acquainted with many influential men of the Mississippi Territory. At Natchez he met the learned and cultivated Silas Dinsmore, the United States agent to the Choctaws. Col- onel Dinsmore was preparing to meet the Indians at Fort Stephens for a treaty to eff'ect the purchase of the lands between the widely separated Tombigbee and Natchez settlements, and thereby to remove obstructions to the mutual protection and interests of the settlements. A protracted delay at New Orleans enabled Colonel Dinsmore to make numerous purchases necessary for suc- cessful business with the chiefs. St. Stephens was reached in March, 1805. The Indians were there, according to agreement, but did not feel author- ized to sell the lands desired by the United States. At Mount Dexter, near Macon, Mississippi, they met the next year and sold a narrow strip between the "settlements" GEORGE STROTHER GAINES. 59 — a strip much narrower than was expected by the United States commissioners. At the St. Stephens treaty the big table in the house of the factor was weighted down with good things to eat and drink. Officers of the United States and the Indian chiefs, with their captains, sat around the table every day for dinner. This was one of the ways by which the com- missioners and factors cultivated the friendship of the Indians. All guests on those occasions did their best to create good will. There were present at the treaty three great chiefs — Mingo Homostubbee of the Northeastern Choctaws, Mingo Puckshennubbee of the Western, and Pushmataha of the Southeastern Choctaws. The Indians are a sober-looking people, but they love fun. The sparkle of wines, the cheer of feasts, and the wit and wisdom of boon spirits delighted them, and they contributed a large share to the intellectual jousts at the table. A young lieutenant of the United States army annoyed the old chief, Mingo Homostubbee, by numerous questions. His last question was : "Who is considered the greatest warrior among you?" According to Mr. George S. Gaines, who was present, the old chief answered : " I was considered the greatest warrior, but found it was not the case when returning from a visit we paid President Washington in Philadelphia ! " " How did you make the discovery ? " inquired the lieutenant. " The President sent us in a ship to New Orleans," said the chief, and when we were at sea, entirely out of sight of land, a storm came upon us. The waves were so high they seemed almost to kiss the clouds, and the ship rolled about among them until I thought that we would never 60 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. again see the beautiful hills and valleys, forests and streams of our beloved country and our bones would lie scattered on the bottom of the strange waters instead of resting peacefully with our departed relations. All this alarmed me. I found that I had not the firmness in danger and the utter fearlessness of death of a great warrior, and concluded to go down into the cabin to see how my friend Puckshennubbee was affected by this (to our party) new and strange danger. And what do you think he was doing?" The description of the storm attracted the attention of every one at the table. The lieutenant eagerly asked, "What was he doing?" " Why," said the old chief, with a very grave face, but a humorous twinkle of the eyes, " Why, he was making love to an old squaw we took along to cook for us, and he seemed to be as unconcerned about the danger as if he were at home in his own cabin, sitting by the fire and listening to the songs of the wind among the trees." The roars of laughter that followed this denouement drowned Mingo Puckshennubbee's indignant denial of it. Mr. Gaines said that Mingo Puckshennubbee was as re- markable for his modesty and simplicity as Mingo Homo- stubbee was for his wit and jollity. When Colonel Dinsmore tried to run the northern boundary-line of the Mount Dexter cession, he was checked by the captain of the Tuskahoma Indian vil- lage, nor could he advance until Mr. Gaines and his brother. Captain Edmund Pendleton Gaines, visited and quieted the captain. The section developed so rapidly that enlarged interests required division of labors, and the duties of Mr. Chambers were apportioned to three men. Mr. Gaines succeeded to GEORGE STROTHER GAINES. 61 the trading-house, with Thomas Malone as assistant, Thomas W. Maury, of Virginia, was appointed register of the land office, and Lemuel Henry was made receiver of public moneys. Mr. Gaines was proud of his position, and used every means to become helpful in the civilization of the Indians. He eschewed politics, not because he felt indifferent, but because he construed his mission as a business man to be paramount to other interests. Hunters poured into St. Stephens, and the business of the trading-house increased. The Creeks from the Black Warrior River and from beyond the Alabama River, the Choctaws, and even the Chickasaws came to trade. Mr. Gaines was careful to deal fairly with them all. If an article was damaged, he would point out the defect and reduce the price. The Indians respected him highly, trusted him fully, and learned from him lessons of busi- ness integrity. Major John Pitchlyn, when a boy, lost his English father in the Indian country. Reaching manhood, he married into an influential Indian family among the Choctaws of the northeastern district, and dwelt near the mouth of the Oktibbeha River. He was a man of in- telligence and firmness, and of a handsome face. Mr. Gaines met him, liked him, consulted him, and secured his co-operation in many ways. Pitchlyn was appointed United States interpreter, but his influence among the Indians was so strong and salutary that the United States never used his services except at treaties or at the pay- ment of annual dues. To avoid the high Spanish duties on goods the United States shipped merchandise by way of Pittsburg down the Ohio River and up the Tennessee to Colbert's Ferry. 62 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY, Mr. Gaines contracted with the Chickasaws to protect and to carry the goods on pack-horses to Cotton Gin Port on the Tombigbee, where Major Pitchlyn shipped them on to St. Stephens. Everything arrived in due time, without the loss or damage of an article. This was attributed to the honor and good faith of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, through whose territories the goods had been carried. These tribes were milder and more civil than the Creeks, but none the less warlike when aroused to battle. About 1812, Mr. Gaines married Ann, the daughter of Young Gaines, of St. Stephens. His brother. General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, was thrice married : first to Frances, the daughter of Judge Harry Toulmin ; second to Barbara, the daughter of Governor William Blount, of Tennessee; and last to Mrs. Myra Clark Whitney, whose long lawsuits for property in New Orleans are so celebrated in history. British agents acquainted the Indians with the hostile attitude of England and the United States; that war would come, and the British would swoop down on the country and capture it. The Creeks sided with the English. A cunning chief, Oce-Oche-Motla, from the falls of the Black Warrior, had been credited annually by Mr. Gaines to the amount of a hundred dollars. He had heard the news of the English coming, and tried to get credit for a thousand dollars, believing that no one would be at the trading-house to receive payment when it fell due. He offered his staunch friend, Tandy Walker, as security. Mr. Gaines mentioned the troubles with the English, and refused the credit. The chief insisted. Mr. Gaines proposed to sleep over the matter, and let each tell his dream in the morning. Tandy Walker secretly engaged to meet Mr. Gaines at midnight at " the Rock," GEORGE STROTHER GAINES. 63 overhanging the river's bluff. There he told the treach- ery of the chief and the preparations for the Creek War. The next morning Mr. Gaines told his dream to be that the United States and the English would fight, the English would be whipped, and the northern tribes siding with the English would suffer; and that he must not give the large credit. He gave the chief the accus- tomed hundred-dollar credit, and never afterward saw him again. Tandy Walker was a hero. Hearing that a white woman had been captured in Tennessee and taken to the Black Warrior village, he went on foot to visit his friend, Oce-Oche-Motla. He secretly obtained a canoe, slipped off with the woman at night, and carried her down to St. Stephens. She was Mrs. Crawley. She was sick, and crazed from suffering and anxiety. Mrs. Gaines nursed her back to health, and then Mr. Gaines, Colonel Haynes, and Thomas Malone bought a horse, bridle, and saddle, and sent her with a party of gentlemen back to her home at the mouth of the Tennessee. Burnt Corn, Fort Mims, and other places were carved into history. People left crops and stock to the chances of the hour, and poured into the forts. Mr. Gaines dis- patched Mr. Edmonson to bear the story of battles and massacres to Governor Blount and General Jackson in Nashville. The Creek War passed. General Jackson at Fort Claiborne ordered from Mr. Gaines blankets and clothing for his Indian warriors. Mr. Gaines complied, but requested a draft on -the War Department for settle- ment. Jackson felt annoyed, but gave the draft. Shortly afterward he wrote Mr. Gaines to learn the author of an enclosed anonymous letter, which charged Judge Harry Toulmin as being a spy and secret ally of the British. 64 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Mr. Gaines went to Mobile to meet the General, and to explain the character of his friend. Jackson greeted him pleasantly, and assured him that no suspicion rested on his friend, closing with, " I only wanted to know the scoundrel that dared practice such an imposition on me." The factorage was removed to Gainesville, Sumter County. This town was named for Mr. Gaines. Here he remained three years. He then became a merchant in Demopolis, and, 1825 to 1827, served Marengo and Clarke Counties in the State Senate. By various treaties the Indians bound themselves to vacate the old hunting-grounds of their fathers, and to consent to go to the Indian territory set apart west of the Mississippi River. Mr. Gaines consented to help select the lands to which the Choctaws were to move. He also, as commissioner of the United States, accompanied the Choctaws in their removal, but was so mortified at the failure of the United States to carry out its contract to furnish wagons to convey the women and children and the infirm that he resigned his office. The Choctaws desired to make him their chief, but he declined. He lived many years in Mobile, always in active busi- ness, and for a while was president of the Mobile branch of the State bank. In 1856, he removed to State Line, Mississippi, where he died in January, 1873. He was one of the original movers to construct the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. For years he taught, wrote, urged, advocated, travelled, and worked to arouse interest in this road — this artery of commerce that gave to Mobile its first railroad facilities through a far-stretching region of varied products and multiplied interests. The Mobile Register of June 19, 1872, said of him, "George S. Gaines, the just, pure man, the friend and GEORGE STBOTHER GAINES. 65 counsellor of the red man, the wise and faithful pioneer of civilization in the Mississippi Territory — the patriarch of two States. . . . His life has been one constant and un- broken series of kind deeds, wise counsels, and enlarged thought for the good of his people. With remarkable and admirable business qualifications, he brought to his intercourse w4th the haughty and suspicious savages a consideration for their rights, a deference for their habits and feeling, an unvarying politeness that won their entire confidence, their perfect trust, until his simple word be- came their law, and his sympathy and kindness their abiding reliance. The part Mr. Gaines acted in the early history of Mississippi Territory, and subsequently upon its division into the States of Alabama and Mississippi, was one of untiring interest and of great advantage to the young communities in which he was equally at home. His position as Indian agent had brought him in contact with the leading men of both States. His influence was either directly or indirectly felt in every measure of public importance for a long term of years." 5 CHAPTER IX. THE FRENCH COLONY IN MARENGO COUNTY. A YEAR after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo the United States Congress set aside, at two dollars per acre, payable in fourteen years, one hundred and fourty-four square miles of land in the Mississippi Territory for the French Vine and Olive Corapany. This company was composed of the families of French military officers and civilians "whose restless spirits had been formed and tutored to act a part in games which loosen thrones and crack the sinews of whole nations." The talent, the chivalry, the culture, the beauty and grace of these exiles from France and friends of Napoleon had added lustre to the proudest battlefields and the most splendid court of Europe, and their settlement within the wilds of our virgin forests surpassed in romantic interest all the chapters of former history. Agents of the company, led by Nicholas S. Parmentier, visited the regions along the Arkansas River, where they were joyously greeted by the Indians, who recalled the friendship of the olden time, styled the French their " Great Fathers," and declared them " as good as Indians." Nature was lavish of her bounties. The soil was un- surpassed in fertility, and produced varied and abundant crops. The native olive gave faith in the probable thrift of those to be imported from Europe. " The Arkansas River is as beautiful as the Seine, and only wants a Rouen or Paris in miniature," wrote one of the agents THE FRENCH COLONY IN MARENGO COUNTY. 67 on his tour of inspection. This agent passed on to the Red River country and found it " the Nile of America," and " the vast and natural nursery of Bacchus." He was so charmed that he explained how flour, bacon, and whis- key, which he named as essentials, could be transported across the Raft, that wonderful natural barrier to the navigation of the Red River. The Mississippi and its branches ofiered navigable waters through fertile regions, but rumors condemned the climate. The colonists did not desire to settle where it was said the servant who called the doctor for his sick master would feel obliged at the same time to call for the priest and notary. The Tombigbee regions offered the three requisites for a settlement — a fertile soil, a salubrious climate, and a navigable water-way. In May, 1817, the schooner McDonough, bearing the dis- tinguished immigrants, heaved into sight of Mobile Bay. Gliding gently under a pleasant breeze it approached the land of promise, when a signal gun from Fort Bowyer gave warning of dangerous waters. As night came on the breeze stiffened to a gale and the vessel grounded. Its intrepid captain, John McLoud, experienced, collected, and active, quieted the passengers until Lieutenant Beall, the Commandant at the Fort, and Captain Bourke, of the United States Army, with four brave men of the garrison, put off with a life-boat into the stormy sea and rescued them. The entertainment accorded may be judged by the fol- lowing extract from a letter of one of the company : " Not content with rescuing us from the danger of wreck, they conducted us into the fort, and with an attention the most unaffected, taught us to forget the danger we had escaped, 68 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. and to bless the circumstances which enabled us to enjoy their generosity and kindness." The schooner, lightened of its load, floated into deep water, and with company and cargo sailed up to the city of Mobile. There, also, the company received the most cordial welcome and kindly attentions. Mr. Gibson, Mr. John Toulmin, brother of Judge Harry Toulmin, and Mr. Addin Lewis, Collector of the Port, showed them special courtesies, introducing them to the first business houses of Mobile, and acquainting them with the conditions of the country. Mr. I^ewis kindly lent them the government revenue-cutter, in which they began, under the United States flag, the ascent of the Tombigbee. The immigrants made brief stops at the forts along the river, enjoying the hospitality and courtesies of Judge Harry Toulmin and his son-in-law General E. P. Gaines. Information gained from these gentlemen indicated the Tombigbee as preferable to the Alabama for their settle- ment, because the high banks and deeper channel of the former assured greater conveniences. A princely favor we must here relate. Mr. Young Gaines, the father-in-law of Mr. George S. Gaines, tendered to the colonists the use of his plantation free of rent while the commissioners were exploring the country to deter- mine a place of settlement. Colonels Dale, Fisher, Dins- more, and Wharton, and Mr. Malone gave full description of the topography of the country. They made the un- pleasant disclosure that a squatter agent was about to arrange for the establishment of a company on the line of lands chosen by the French commissioners. Mr. George S. Gaines, United States Indian factor, then living at Gainesville, advised the French to locate at White Bluff", now Demopolis. The landing there of the THE FRENCH COLONY IN MARENGO COUNTY. 69 company was an occasion of much joy. The prospect pleased, though the uncleared wilderness would require years of axe, spade, and plow, of saw, chisel, and hammer before the settlement would be a habitation fit for the French. A letter-writer to friends in Philadelphia said at that time, " White Bluff is one of the finest situations I ever saw in my life, and lands lying around it are of the very first quality. Nature here offers us everything. If we profit by these advantages, we must be happy." The colonists were, in a measure, happy, but they did not prosper. Their friends continued to arrive from Mobile, and cabins were built for homes. Reared and nurtured in the luxuries of France, the immigrants were unsuited for the exactions of pioneer life. The mistakes and delays of the United States Government and of their own commissioners put unnecessary privations upon them. They knew not what lands would be allotted to them, and yet they bravely cleared patches, planted, and en- deavored to provide food crops for the ensuing winter. The meridian line was run, and the town at White Bluff was founded. Count Real, of Philadelphia, named it Demopolis. By a succession of fatal errors it was after- ward discovered that the townships granted to the French were outside of Demopolis ; that the French Association at Philadelphia, dealing directly with Mr. Crawford, the Secretary of the Treasury, was arbitrarily disposing of the lands by assignments which forced many to lose their improvements and begin new ones deeper in the forest. Count Desnouettes went to Philadelphia to adjust these troubles, but only succeeded in securing his own improve- ments. The rest were left to their fate, but they cheerfully attempted to rebuild and to prosper. The surroundings 70 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. were uncomfortable and full of hardships, but the French have naturally happy dispositions. They breasted trials, and at evening time danced and chatted under the sweet spell of music. It is a touching history, that for adherence to Napoleon these people were banished from France, torn from all the pleasures of society, and exposed to the rough forest life of American pioneers. Nature promised them the reward of future comforts, but life presented many changes. Ladies who had moved in the resplendent circles of St. Cloud, attended to the menial services of the home, and yet retained all the sweet graces that surround the characters of the refined. Gentlemen who had fought by the side of Napoleon, were compelled to do the ordi- nary work of common laborers in order to eke out a living for their families in this New World. The cold ol winter killed the young grape-vines and olive-plants. Often the shipments from France were de- layed in passage, until the plants withered beyond restora- tion upon reaching the colony. Failure attended the efforts to cultivate the vine and olive. Land thieves and squatters harassed continuously. Newspapers soon bore advertisements of forced sales, and the disheartened colonists made the best bargains they could in the pres- ence of so many mistakes and so many land-swindlers. Marengo, Areola, and Linden will ever preserve the memory of this most worthy and distinguished, but most unfortunate colony. Among the distinguished names of these French im- migrants are the son of Marshall Grouchy, Count Lefebvre Desnouettes, Colonel Nicholas Raoul, J. J. Cluis, Henry L'Allemand, and Count Bertrand Clausel. The Bourbon dynasty, awakened from its madness. THE FRENCH COLONY IN MARENGO COUNTY. 71 invited the leaders back to France. Many returned to their native land and held high office. Others secured employment here and died in Alabama. A few remained about Demopolis, but most of them sold their lands and returned to France or scattered in the cities and sections of the great Southwest. William Rufus King. CHAPTER X. WILLIAM RUFUS KING. The Atlantic States have contributed to Alabama some of her noblest citizens, but William R. King, the gift of North Carolina, attained higher position of honor than any other. His native State elected him to her Legislature when he was but twenty years of age, and gave him three successive terms. He was born ten years after the Decla- ration of Independence, was graduated at eighteen years of age from the University of North Carolina, studied law under William Duffy, Esq., was admitted to the bar, and immediately took prominence in affairs of State. In 1810, he was elected to the Congress of the United States, where he supported strongly tho war measures of 72 WILLIAM RUFVS KING, 73 President Madison. His indignation at the outrages our country had suffered at the hands of France and England roused his nature to give voice and vote for redress. Napoleon revoked the odious decrees which, with Eng- land's "Orders in Council," had cut up our commerce " hook and line, bob, and sinker," but George III. of England, the crazy king, insisted upon ruthless disregard of the commercial and civil rights of our infant republic. The War of 1812 followed as a consequence, and established American rights. During this war the city of Washington, our National Capital, was entered by the British, and its public buildings, except the Patent Office, were burned. The battle of New Orleans brought us peace, assured our mastery of the western continent, and established us in the respect of nations. Upon the return of peace, Mr. King resigned his place in the House of Representatives and became Secretary of Legation to the Honorable William Pinckney, first at Naples and afterward at St. Petersburg. This office gave him two years of residence in Europe, where he acquired valuable information of the governments and people of that continent. He returned to America in 1818, and made his home near Cahawba on the Alabama River. The next year he was a prominent delegate to the Convention, which met in Huntsville, to prepare the Constitution for the admis- sion of Alabama into the Union. Mr. King, Judge Henry Hitchcock, and Judge John M. Taylor, drafted the original Constitution of Alabama. While on a visit to North Carolina, the news reached him that he had been chosen to represent Alabama in the Senate of the United States. He went immediately to 74 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Washington, where his distinguished services won the friendship and respect of Calhoun, Clay, Webster, and other great political chieftains of that period. For thirty- two years he held his seat in the Senate, and " without ostentation, originated and perfected more useful measures than many who filled the public eye by greater display and daily commanded the applause of a listening Senate." Mr. King was not an orator ; he was a business member of that distinguished body of law-makers whose names rank among those of the greatest statesmen of the world. There can be adduced no higher evidence of his worth and wisdom than that he " attained greatness in the midst of greatness," and on all occasions when his country needed the counsels of great statesmanship, he ranked the peer of the most masterful of his compatriots. He was President of the Senate longer than any other man, being often in the chair during the greater part of the terms of five vice-presidents. None but a man of great powers could have swayed the Senate in those tumultuous times. It is said that he " possessed the rare and the highly important talent of controlling, with impartiality, the storm of debate, and moderating between mighty spirits whose ardent conflict at times seemed to threaten the stability of the government." Honors came naturally to him, and he bore them with becoming grace. Mr. Douglass said, " He held numerous official stations, in each of which he maintained and enhanced his previous reputation." Mr. King was a personal friend of Mr. Calhoun and shared his political opinions. An ardent party man, he was free from the narrow policies of the bigot, and WILLIAM BUFUS KING. 75 was not only trusted by his friends, but was respected by his political opponents. His long years of public service were full of sharp political issues, and he sustained the purest integritj^ of character and loftiest dignity of conduct in the midst of all excitements and temptations. The influx of population to the territory of Alabama had been such as to produce a " boom " in lands. Immi- grants had purchased land from the United States under the credit system. Prices ran up as high as seventy dol- lars an acre. The debt for these lands amounted to nearly twelve millions of dollars. To pay this enormous sum would have been impossible, and financial ruin stared in the faces of farmers. Mr. King and his colleague, Mr. Walker, secured national legislation for relief of the pur- chasers, and thus early ingratiated themselves with the people. In 1828, Mr. King again showed his firmness of purpose and his vigorous but cautious adoption of principles. The tariff debates were hot and sectional. Mr. King was a " States Rights " man, and yet he was proud of the Union and sincerely wished its perpetuation. He was active in campaigns and always supported the Democratic candi- dates. His resignation from the Senate in 1844 to accept the office of Minister to France was prompted by motives of truest patriotism. Mr. Tyler belonged to the party of his political opponents, but solicited the services of Mr. King, whose judgment, discretion, honor, and information fitted him for the delicate agency that was to keep France from joining England in protest against the annexation of Texas. Mr. King secured a speedy meeting with King Louis Philippe, and, disdaining the roundabout diplomacy of Europe, entered directly into the argument, showing 76 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. France's advantages in neutrality, and the consequences of war that was sure to follow, regardless of European interference. He plainly asked King Louis what he intended to do should Texas be annexed. King Louis replied that " he would do nothing hostile to the United States, or which could give to her just cause of offence." Mr. King was a strong advocate of the annexation of Texas, and we may understand with how much joy he communicated to Mr. Calhoun, the Secretary of State, the assurances of the king. He returned home in 1846. Hon. Dixon H. Lewis had succeeded to his seat in the Senate and defeated him for re-election. Mr. King afterward received appointment to the Senate by Governor Chapman to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Bagby, whom President Polk had named as Minister to Russia. He was re-elected in 1849 to the full term succeeding. Mr. King opposed the Secession spirit of 1850, and believed cooler counsels would devise means to rectify differences and preserve the Union. He was President of the Senate during Fillmore's administration, and before its close was nominated and elected Vice-President of the United States under Mr. Pierce. His health failing, he went to Cuba in a special vessel furnished by the United States Government. In Cuba he took the oath of office as Vice-President of the United States, our government honoring him by special commis- sion to the consul to administer the oath. Finding his health giving away, he returned to his Dallas County home to die. He was granted his wish to look upon the beloved scenes of home before death came, but he died April 18, 1883, on the evening of his arrival. His were the Christian's life and the Christian's spirit. WILLIAM BUFUS KING. 77 Mr. King was a strict construction Democrat of the Jefferson school. He was six feet tall, erect in carriage, brave and chivalrous in conduct. He was unassuming in manner, and his character was superior to his office. It is a proud legacy to our country when a statesman's good name and purity of motives cannot be questioned. Mr. Hunter of Virginia, on the floor of the Senate, said of him, " Few public men have made more friends and none ever left fewer enemies. He possessed a sound judg- ment, a resolute purpose to pursue the right, and a capacity to gather wisdom from experience. His whole soul would have sickened under a sense of personal dishonor. His view grew with his horizon and he was equal to the occasion." Mr. Cass said of him, " He elucidated every subject he investigated. Firm but cautious, frank and fearless, of high honor and irreproachable morals, he brought a vigorous intellect and varied and intensive information to the public councils." The eulogies pro- nounced on his character by the President, by Congress, and by the Supreme Court attest the nation's respect and esteem. Mr. King never married. His nephew and namesake, Captain William R. King, whom he had made his heir, was killed in the battle of Sharpsburg. Alexander Beaufort Meek. CHAPTER XL ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK. Judge A. B. Meek, the poet, orator, jurist, and states- man, is enshrined lovingly in the hearts of Alabamians. His lofty ideals and his intellectual grasp of history have contributed so much to the literary life of the State, that scarcely anything worthy has entered into the published history of the Southwest that has not borrowed from his store of facts. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina, July 17, 1814, and died suddenly in Columbus, Mississippi, No- vember 1, 1865. In his early youth his parents moved into Alabama, and settled in Tuscaloosa. Here he grew to manhood in the midst of a vigorous people in the first 78 ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK, 79 flush of expanding statehood, and was lured to high in- tellectual pursuits and social sentiments by native genius and by the company of spirits wooed by kindred impulses. His father, Dr. Samuel M. Meek, took great pains in the education of his children, and was especially proud of them. Three sons have attained eminent distinction in letters and public life. One, Colonel Samuel M. Meek, has for many years resided in Columbus, Mississippi, and stands among the first lawyers of that State. Professor Benjamin F. Meek, another son, won high collegiate degrees, and for thirty years occupied the chair of English Literature in the University of Alabama. His pure, classic English has been the delight of every student whose good fortune carried him through the master's courses in the University. He was a scholar of vast in- formation, and his command of authors and their works made him one of the most accurate critics of the lan- guage, while his versatile and gifted powers of mind im- parted interest and enthusiasm to his classes. Judge Alexander B. Meek is the most distinguished of the three brothers. As a boy he was lovable and bril- liant, manifesting such devotion to literature as to snatch every opportunity for study and reading. When the University of Alabama was first opened for students in 1831, Judge Meek was matriculated. In 1833, he was graduated in the class with Marion Banks, Francis C. D. Bouchelle, John G. Davenport, AVilliam Woolsey King, Rev. Robert B. McMullen, and George D. Short- ridge. Two years later he was admitted to the bar. Honors fell thick upon him. In 1836, he was associate- editor of the Flag of the Union, and three years after edited The Southron, a monthly magazine of high merit. He spent several months as a volunteer officer against the 80 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY, Florida Indians, and upon returning home was appointed Attorney-General of the State by Governor C. C. Clay. He was then about twenty-two years old. Six years later he was appointed probate judge of Tuskaloosa County. In 1844, he bore to Washington the electoral vote of Alabama for Polk and Dallas. In 1845, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the treasury of the United States, and subsequently the federal attorney for the southern portion of Alabama. Henceforth his Alabama residence was in Mobile. His public service, his orations upon history and literature before colleges and historical socie- ties, and before intelligent countrymen in national cele- brations, and his contributions to current literature, had already marked him as a man of mighty intellectual powers. As a jurist he gave eminent satisfaction, and his ample income indulged his love of social and literary life. Through the Mobile Register, of which he was editor, he gave to the country the fruits of his ripe scholarship and sympathy with the institutions and great destinies of this favored land. Elected to the Legislature, he introduced the bill which established public schools in Alabama, and thus became the father of the educational system of public schools in the State. Possibly no other bill has ever been introduced into the Legislature that has been so far-reach- ing and so beneficial in results to the common people. The report upon the introduction of the bill is a masterful array of facts and deductions regarding the educational needs and conditions of an intelligent, progressive com- monwealth. In 1855, he began the publication of his writings in book form. Bed Eagle, a Poem of the South, attracted the immediate attention of the literary public. Then ap- ALEXANDER BEAUFORT MEEK. 81 peared his Orations, Romantic Passages in Southwestern History, and Songs and Poems of the South. In 1859, he was again in the Legislature and was elected Speaker of the House. He was twice married, first to Mrs. Slatter of Mobile, and afterward to Mrs. Cannon of Columbus, Mississippi. Such is the brief outline of the life of Judge Meek. To know him well one must read his writings and the me- morials from his personal friends. In Reminiscences, His- torical, Political, Personal, and Literary, Judge Wm. R. Smith has a most interesting and valuable article on Judge Meek, treating of him as a man and a poet. He pays the highest tribute to his genial nature, his jolly boyhood, his popular qualities of heart and habits, and notes the remarkable fact that young Meek, when a Sunday-school pupil, repeated from memory the whole of the English Bible. He describes him as a man of fine personal appearance, dignified and imposing, inclined to be dictatorial among men, but full of gentleness and grace among women. He was agreeable to all. An exceed- ingly interesting entertainer, he captivated everybody by the exquisite charm of his conversational powers. Al- though he had his own ideal world, he was entirely at home with his friends and acquaintances. "In the parlor he was superb ; on the streets he was genial, social, and cheerful ; as a friend he was warm and candid ; as an acquaintance he was cordial; as a politician he was an unchangeable Jackson Democrat; as an editor his articles were crispy, clear, and cogent ; at the bar he was consid- ered an eloquent advocate ; and on the bench, a profound judge." Judge Meek began early the rhythmic art. His was a tender heart, attuned to love and beauty; full of noble 82 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. pride for the glorious Union and breathing the fragrance of sweetest passion for the South. His " Day of Freedom," an oration in blank-verse, delivered July 4, 1838, at Tus- kaloosa, expresses sentiments of lofty patriotism. His " Land of the South" is beautifully woven into the " Day of Freedom." "Balaklava" is probably the most popular of Judge Meek's poems. Its martial spirit, its rhythmic and re- current measures, make it a gem of rarest qualities, and render it a fit companion-piece with Tennyson's '' Light Brigade." Judge Meek's numerous prose writings mark the orator and the historian. They unfold a wealth of intellectual resources and a moral sublimity that lift mankind to the starry heights of human attainments. They map a nation's path to glory, and make that path the path of virtue, of intelligence, of social purity, of religious vener- ation, of Christian charity, of brotherly love, of patriotic impulses, of generous pride, of industry and consequent plenty, out of which comes the development of govern- ment that strengthens as the years go by. His love of letters was a passion, strong as religion and binding as the laws of force. Through literature he expected the redemption of the world, the sovereignty of religion, the quickening and organizing of all the godlike powers of heart and mind for God and country — the millennium. From his speeches we cull : " Not only do we invoke a moral dynasty, but also an intellectual one. The two must go together. God is all intellect as well as all love. Literature, in its purity, no less than religion, is a scion of his beneficence and one of his provisions for the regeneration of man." ALEXANDER BE A V FORT MEEK. 83 "Literature in its essence is a spiritual immortality." " Politics itself can never be a science, never more than a barbarian scramble for office, unless it is purified and rounded into form by the spirit of literature." No sentences are more inspiring than his appeals for culture, his comparison of lettered genius with unlettered mediocrity, his investment of our country with a vigorous youth, inviting the untrammelled exercise of brains and pens as well as of brawn and muscle. Great as are the contributions of his pen, the sug- gestions of his master mind are even greater. When shall we look upon his like again? CHAPTER XII. THE STATE BANK. The rapid influx of population into the new State of Alabama increased the demand for articles manu- factured at a distance, and intensified the commercial inconveniences of isolated settlements. Wealth consisted largely in slaves and lands, and the need of a convenient medium of exchange was sorely felt. To remedy the inconveniences of exchange and to supply a circulating medium adequate to the growing prosperity, the General Assembly of Alabama established the State Bank December 20, 1823. The parent bank was located in Cahawba, but followed the seat of govern- ment to Tuskaloosa in 1824. There were ultimately branch-banks in Montgomery, Mobile, Decatur, and Huntsville. In 1823, large quantities of the University lands were sold, some of the most fertile tracts bringing as high as sixty dollars an acre. The legislative act which provided for the establishment of the State Bank^ provided also that "the moneys arising from the sale or rent of the lands given to this State by the Congress of the United States for the support of a seminary of learning, shall form a part of the capital of said bank." From the losses of this forced loan the University of Alabama has never recovered. There was good faith in the original purpose of the leg- 84 THE STATE BANK. 85 islators. They considered the act " twice blest," inasmuch as it would supply the bank and people, while the Uni- versity would have the State as debtor and guarantee of accruing interest. The rapid growth of communities, the increase of crops, the importation of slaves, the rise of towns, and the improvements of homes and farms, in- spired confidence and invited speculation. Old Cahawba. The bank directors were elected annually by joint vote of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The rivalry of applicants for positions on the directing board of the banks was very sharp. It is said that hotel-keepers once held the money-keys of the State. In Tuskaloosa, Major Charles Lewin, a typical hotel -keeper, secured early election on the board of bank directors. He was jolly, genial, and clever, and could readily have notes dis- 86 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. counted at bank for his customers, who divided with him the cash obtained. His popularity and success aroused the ambition of the other hotel-keepers in Tuskaloosa, who exerted themselves until they all became directors of the bank, and shared the power and popularit}^ which always follow in the wake of money favors. The -banks were creations of the Legislature, and it was but natural that they should be more or less the tools of influential politicians. In some respects they ushered the halcyon days of Alabama. They paid the entire taxes of the State from 1836 to 1841, but the virtuous spirit of the times condemned the financial policies that corrupted the powers which created them, and diverted to private ends funds which should have been guarded for the general public. The banks took in a great deal of non-negotiable paper, and became heavily involved. They became cor- rupt and reckless, granting loans on unsafe security, and advancing wildly on cotton in the fields, in bales, and ware-houses. A politician denied a loan at one bank, went to another, and, by berating the disposition to withhold money when it was most needed, would suc- ceed in getting a loan of thousands of dollars for his personal use. Prominent whigs and democrats owed the banks im- mense sums, both on their individual notes and on en- dorsements for others, and thus the State Bank was upheld by the dominant sentiment of both political parties. The banks every year went from bad to worse. The country suffered the disturbances of unsafe financial methods. Prices fluctuated so rapidly as to interrupt every transaction of business. The banks became the incubus of legislation. Their indebtedness reached nearly nine and a quarter millions of dollars. Conservative men THE STATE BANK. 87 dreaded the collapse that would inevitably follow their close, and yet desired either their reform or their anni- hilation. " Reform" became the cry of those who desired to avert bankruptcy and repudiation. Resolutions were intro- duced in the Legislature of 1840 and 1841, charging im- proper relations between the Legislature and the banks. Governor Fitzpatrick appointed a committee of three to examine and report upon the condition of the Mont- gomery branch of the State Bank. The fraud and irreg- ularities that were exposed brought forth fierce newspaper criticism. Mass meetings of citizens inaugurated investi- gations which implicated law-makers in crooked dealings with the people and the banks. It was learned that members of the Legislature and officers of the banks had been accommodated beyond the sum total of all the favors granted the rest of the people of the State. Vigorous opposition blocked continuously Governor Fitzpatrick's efforts to reform the banks, but economy was begun in all offices of the State and the banks. Taxes were re-established. Banks were forbidden to lend money or to increase their debts, and the four branch-banks were put in liquidation. The credit of the State and the private fortunes of the people were still in jeopardy when Nathaniel Terry was nominated for governor in May, 1845, by an incomplete Democratic Convention in Tuskaloosa. He was largely indebted to the banks, and favored their continuance. Chancellor Joshua Lanier Martin, a lifelong democrat, declared himself a candidate for governor on the issue of bank reform. For a time party lines were oblitel*ated. Both candi- dates were Democrats, and at the election Whigs and 88 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Democrats voted as they judged the merits of the issues before the country. Martin was overwhelmingly elected. His majority was more than ^yq thousand votes. In his message to the General Assembly he recommended the legal removal of the president and directors of the banks. Francis S. Lyon, of Demopolis, William Cooper, of Flor- ence, and C. C. Clay, of Huntsville, were elected commis- sioners, but soon the business was relegated altogether to Mr. Lyon, with John Whiting for his assistant. Mr. Lyon was a most able and singularly pure man. He discharged the duties of his office with such judgment and discretion as to restore to par the bills of the banks, to confirm the credit of the State, and to save from bankruptcy thou- sands of citizens whose financial interests depended upon his ability and sense of justice. Other States and Europe watched anxiously the course of Mr. Lyon, and the restoration of the State's monetary equilibrium placed him among the most worthy bene- factors of Alabama. Governor Fitzpatrick, Judge John A. Campbell, Governor Martin, and others are sharers in the glory of the measures of reform, but to Mr. Lyon are due most directly the gratitude and pride of the State for the far-reaching benefits of his six years' devotion to the renewal, redemption, and regeneration of public confi- dence and credit.^ ^ Francis Strother Lyon was a North Carolinian by birth, but removed to Alabama in his youth. He was Secretary of the Senate of Alabama, 1822 to 1830; a State Senator, 1832 to 1834; representative in Congress, 1835 to 1839; bank commissioner, 1846 to 1853; a representative in the Confederate Congress, 1861 to 1865 ; he was a nephew of George S. and General E. P. Gaines, and the father of Mrs. Wm. H. Eoss and Mrs. O. H. Prince. William Lowndes Yancey. CHAPTER XIII. WILLIAM LOWNDES YANCEY. William Lowndes Yancey was born at Ogeeche Shoals, in Georgia, in 1814. Thoroughly instructed in prepara- tory schools and trained in the courses of Williams College, he entered upon the study of law in the office of Benja- min F. Perry, in Greenville, South Carolina. He was soon a participant in public debates on questions of national legislation. He opposed vehemently the " Ordinance of Nullification " in a Fourth-of-July speech when he was but twenty years of age, and at that time signalled the forces of brain and heart which carried him on to fame. Mr. Yancey has been justly called "the Demosthenes of the South," and "the Patrick Henry of the Second 89 90 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Revolution." His mother was a daughter of Colonel William Bird, whose home in Pennsylvania was a refuge for oppressed patriots of the Revolution. One of Colonel Bird's sisters married a signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and two others married Revolutionary states- men. Mr. Yancey's father was of Welsh extraction and Revo- lutionary connections ; he had served gallantly as a mid- shipman on the United States war-ship The Constitution before giving his splendid talents to the profession of law. This gifted father died early, leaving his two sons, William Lowndes and Benjamin Cudworth, to the care of their mother, "a woman of remarkable intellect and rare accomplishments." Both sons became distinguished in public service, and to the influence and training of their noble mother are to be largely attributed the growth of character and spirit which made them conspicuous leaders in history. In 1834, Yancey was editor of the Greenville Mountaineer, and wielded his trenchant pen for liberty and the Union. In public speeches he startled audiences by his eloquence and logic. Two years later he came with his young wife to Alabama, and settled with his slaves on a plantation in Dallas County. On a visit to Greenville, South Carolina, while in con- versation with some gentlemen respecting congressional candidates, he was given the " lie " by Elias Earle, a youth of seventeen and a cousin to Mrs. Yancey. Mr. Yancey boxed the young man's jaws. Young Earle resented manfully with his riding whip. His father, Dr. Robinson Earle, a few days later attacked Mr. Yancey, and was shot to death in the personal encounter thereby precipitated. Mr. Yancey was tried, convicted, and fined WILLIAM LOWNDES YANCEY. 91 $1500 and given twelve months imprisonment. The judge stated that " he could impute no moral guilt, as what had happened seemed to be entirely accidental." Governor Patrick Noble removed the penalty of imprison- ment and remitted $1000 of the fine. Mr. Yancey returned to Alabama. He bought a few acres in Coosa County, where he could spend the summers with his family away from the malaria of his newly cleared plantation. He was happy in the bosom of his family and the success of his business. The philosophy of government and the care of agricultural interests occupied him in a manner entirely suited to his tastes and ambition. His negroes were sufficiently numerous to guarantee him substantial independence. In 1839, during his summer absence in Coosa County, his overseer offended a neighbor's overseer. A spring of water at which Mr. Yancey's overseer was accustomed to drink was poisoned. The overseer on that special day did not pass the spring as usual, but the negroes drank of it. The skill of physicians and Mr. Yancey's careful nursing and personal attention saved but few of them. Crops went to ruin. Mr. Yancey at once assumed redemp- tion of fortune by pushing the Wetumpka Argus, of which he was editor, and by renewed devotion to the law. Though urged by friends he refused benefit of bankrupt laws, and proudly pressed himself to full payment of his debts. The political forces were driving to sharpest issues. In 1840, Henry Clay failed of nomination for President of the United States. The Abolitionist journals of the North said his defeat was due to his devotion to slavery, and indicated the national judgment "that a slaveholder is incapacitated for President of the United States." William 92 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Henry Harrison, by vote of the Northern Whigs, was nominated for President, and John Tyler of Virginia was named for Vice-President. The campaign following brought out the sectional animosities of the Union, and foreshadowed the war between the States. The North was numerically stronger than the South and ignored southern interests, passing laws hostile to southern development and threatening to liberty and property. Though southern statesmen fought the meas- ures antagonistic to southern dignity and rights, and placed upon the records of national legislation arguments as sublime as any that ever throbbed in brains of patriots and sages, yet all was unavailing. The avalanche of aggression and anti-slavery sentiment swept the North, and men forgot courtesy in the mad discussions of the hour. Mr. Yancey was a pronounced Democrat, an ardent patriot, a scholarly gentleman, a lover of justice, a chiv- alrous champion of the South and her institutions, and in the tumultous years to follow he was inspired by the resolution to " commit no wrong, relinquish no right." He was a close student of men, and probed into their character and motives. He espoused the Constitution as the sacred guardian of rights and liberties. He loved the Union and yielded to the conviction of necessary division only because he observed the settled policies of the more populous North to be arrogant and unjust to the South. The doctrine of secession was born in New England and nurtured in the North. Nullification in South Caro- lina came many years after the " Hartford Convention." The continuous outrages in northern States, in violation of enactments of Congress and decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, added insults to the injuries WILLIA3r LOWNDES YANCEY. 93 of the South. Mr. S. S. Cox says, " Not at any time in South Carolina, among the most ardent of the Calhoun school, was nullification more rife or aggressive than among the Ohio abolitionists." Mr. Yancey was a member of the Alabama Legislature in 1841. The following year he formed a law-partnership in Wetumpka with the eloquent and polished Sampson W. Harris, gave up the editorship of newspapers, and shared the profits of a lucrative law business. As State Senator from Coosa and Autauga Counties in 1843, he opposed the enumeration of negroes for a basis of repre- sentation, and aided to enact the law protecting estates of married women. Though scarcely thirty years old, he spoke with much wisdom and acknowledged eloquence upon the issues before the Senate. In 1844, he succeeded to the seat of Dixon H. Lewis in the United States Congress. While in Congress he replied to Thomas L. Clingman of North Carolina, whose bitter speech against southern Democrats charged them as dis- turbers of the peace. This reply was remarkable for power and directness. It brought Mr. Clingman's chal- lenge and the resultant duel. Neither gentleman was wounded in the duel and reconciliation followed. The laws of Alabama proscribed duelling, but the Legis- lature of the following winter passed, over Governor Martin's veto, a bill relieving Mr. Yancey of the disa- bilities of the duelling act. His popularity made him a welcome guest in all communities and re-elected him to Congress by a large vote. He said that his canvasses for the two elections did not cost him five dollars. His " brilliant genius laborously trained " shone with distinguished splendor in the Twenty-ninth Congress. He was emphatically an active member. His speeches 94 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. were so masterful and eloquent that press and people compared him with the great orators of the Old World. His fame and abilities brought invitations to speak in New York City, Boston, Baltimore, and elsewhere. He resigned his seat in Congress before the expiration of his second term, professing himself too poor to be a congress- man. Dr. J. B. Hawthorne, the eminent Baptist divine, him- self a most eloquent orator, says that Mr. Yancey possessed " the four great elements of oratory — reason, imagination, passion, and action. In argument he was the peer of Webster and Calhoun. He was as resistless as an Alpine avalanche. When he had finished his discussion it seemed impossible to escape from his conclusions or to view the subject in any other light than that in which he had presented it. In imagination he was not the equal of Webster or Burke or Prentiss. His flights were some- times vaulting, but always easy and natural. There was never the semblance of extravagance. His fancy, like Milton's Eve, was graceful in every step. He was always impassioned, and when the storm of his invective burst upon his political adversaries they smelt brimstone in the air and felt that the day of judgment had come. But with all of his passion and impetuosity there was the most per- fect self-control. His gestures were few and unpremedi- tated, but magnetic in the last degree. In the strength, flexibility, compass, clearness, and vibrant quality of his voice Yancey had no equal." Mr. Yancey was a delegate to most of the great con- ventions of his party. He was sincere and incorruptible. His enemies doubted his judgment, but never his honor. He removed to Montgomery, and there continued the practice of law. Here, too, lived his distinguished an- WILLIAM LOWNDES YANCEY. 95 tagonist, the superb Henry W. Hilliard. These two, with their friends, made Montgomery the focus of political opinions for the South. Mr. Yancey wrote the Alabama Platform of 1848, which was that year adopted by the State, and in 1856 by the National Democratic Conven- tion at Cincinnati, being rejected by the Charleston Con- vention in 1860. A coolness came between Mr. Yancey and his party in 1848. He denounced the Baltimore Convention, and would not vote for Mr. Cass, the Democratic nominee for President. He wanted the position of the nominee to agree with the Alabama Platform which forbade restric- tions on the introduction or the holding of slaves in any territory previous to its admission as a State. Mr. Cass championed pro-slavery principles, but leaned to " squatter sovereignty." Until 1856, Mr. Yancey held aloof from the Democratic party, but the convention of that year held in Montgomery restored him to leadership, and henceforward he absolutely controlled political action in Alabama. Mr. Calhoun tried to force the issue of slaves or no slaves in the territories. He said, " We are now (1849) stronger relatively than we shall be hereafter politically or morally." It was believed by him and by Yancey that compromises were dangerous, and gave the North the opportunity to increase its strength and more surely defy the rights of States. The Free Soilers refused to abide by the Missouri Com- promise,^ and insisted upon abolition in all the territories. 1 When Missouri Territory applied, 1818, for admission as a State into the Union, the Constitution it offered was met by a resolution to amend by a clause prohibiting slavery. Bitter debates ensued in Congress during 1820, the Senate affirming and the House of Kepresentatives condemning the amended Constitution offered. Mr. Thomas, of Illinois, offered areso- 96 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. They would permit no master to travel with a slave through the North, nor to recover a fugitive slave from a northern State, and expressed the desire of dissolution of the Union. Senator Hale of New Hampshire presented to the United States Senate a petition for the dissolution of the Union. Senators Seward, Chase, and Hale voted to receive it. The Abolitionists' banner bore the inscription, " The Constitution a Covenant with Death, an Agreement with Hell." The death of President Taylor in 1849 probably post- poned the conflict of arms between the States. The Free Soilers desired, in violation of the Missouri Compromise, to exclude slavery from New Mexico. The Wilmot Pro- viso provoked wildest excitement and indignation in the South.^ It was attacked by Whigs and Democrats alike. The situation was extremely nervous. The Compromise of 1850 proposed to exclude slavery from New Mexico and Utah, and the debates brought Mr. Seward's death knell to the Constitution when in answer to the speech of Mr. Cal- houn he said, " There is a higher law than the Constitution." lution for a compromise; upon this resolution was based the "Missouri Compromise," by which Missouri was admitted as a State, and slavery ex- cluded from all the rest of the Louisiana Territory north of 36° 30' north latitude. Henry Clay was largely instrumental in effecting the " Compro- mise. ' ' 1 Congress, in 1846, put about $2,000,000 at the command of President Polk to conclude a treaty with Mexico and to pay for a considerable tract of land to be secured. To this bill David Wilmot, of Pennsylvania, offered a Proviso prohibiting slavery from any territory that might be acquired. This would exclude slavery from a large section south of 36° 30', and was opposed by the South. It was merged in the "Com- promise of 1850 " in the "Omnibus Bill " of Mr. Clay, which admitted California as a free State, and effected the organization, without the "Wilmot Proviso, of all territory acquired from Mexico into the two territories, New Mexico and Utah. WILLIAM LOWNDES YANCEY. 97 The northern States effected nullification by enacting personal liberty bills. The leading Free Soil journal addressed an ode to the United States flag, headlined " Tear Down that Flaunting Lie." William Lloyd Garri- son was admitted to Faneuil Hall and Mr. Webster excluded. John Brown was secretly aided with money by prominent people of the North, and when justice overtook the old outlaw and he was hanged, Mr. Emerson and others regarded him as a martyr whose execution " would glorify the gallows." The same distorted spirit cursed Chief-Justice Taney of the Supreme Court of the United States for his decision of the Dred Scott case. In many ways the anti-southern and anti-slavery sentiment manifested contempt for fundamental laws and compacts of the Union. The law of self-preservation forced Mr. Yancey and the South to the fight for honor, liberty, and life. Mr. Yancey became leader of the southern Demo- crats in efforts to roll back the tide of injustice and conse- quent disunion. He led the Alabama delegation out of the Charleston Conventon, effected the nomination of Breckenridge and Lane, toured the country in triumphal visits, speaking in New England, New York, Ohio, Ken- tucky, and other States, pleading for the cool judgment that would preserve justice and the Union. To this end he would defeat the election of Mr. Lincoln to the presi- dency of the United States. Mr. Yancey drew up and secured the passage of the " Ordinance of Secession." He believed secession could be effected without war. In this he was mistaken. The war came. He vainly urged President Davis to pledge the ports of the Confederacy open for twenty years to England and France at twenty per cent, ad valorum duty in ex- change for their recognition. Mr. Davis offered to Mr. 7 98 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Yancey any position he might choose in the official role of the Confederate States. Yancey refused to choose, but accepted the appointment of Commissioner of the Con- federate States to the Court of St. James. As he antici- pated before leaving this country, he was not recognized at the English court, nor could he effect England's recog- nition of the independence of the Confederate States. In February, 1862, he returned home, broken in health and depressed in spirits. He was elected to the Confederate States Senate and served his country with his wonted activity and patriotism. He died in Montgomery July 27, 1863. Yancey was the truest of patriots and tlie greatest orator of his day. His perfect mastery over the passions of men was confirmed in New York, Cincinnati, and Memphis, where opponents hissed and scoffed his appear- ance on the rostrum, but soon, captured by the witchery of his eloquence and the force of his arguments, softened into respectful silence, and went away with Cato's solilo- quy, " It must be so, Yancey ; thou reasonest well." Measured by the devotion of the South to the cause he advocated and the four long war-stained years, with battles such as the world never before witnessed, he must rank among the greatest men of our nation. Henry Washing'ton Hilliard. CHAPTER XIV. HENRY WASHINGTON HILLIARD. Henry W. Hilliard was a North Carolinian by birth, but during his early boyhood his parents moved into South Carolina, and settled in Columbia, where he spent his youth. AVhen eighteen years old he was graduated with distinction from the University of South Carolina. He studied law and was admitted to the bar at Athens, Georgia. From 1831 to 1834 he filled the chair of English Litera- ture in the University of Alabama. He was eminently ^fitted for this chair. His tastes were thoroughly classical, and he loved to introduce young manhood into the beauties and culture of the classic authors. He was a most admirable reader, and he delighted to entertain his LofC. 99 100 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. pupils and older friends in reading from the best authors. He loved the productions of the ancient masters, and de- voted himself assiduously to the works of Demosthenes and Cicero, trying to catch the secret of their oratory and power. He was a master of elocution. His voice was naturally sweet and under perfect control, while his brilliant intel- lect, responsive sympathies, and superb physical stature combined to make him impressive. His genius was too versatile to be satisfied with the quietude of college life. His ambition yearned for fields of more stirring activities. He resigned his chair in the University and entered upon the practice of law in the city of Montgomery. Here he added to his friends and won his fame. Through the State Legislature he moved into higher public offices. Upon the nomination of William Henry Harrison for the presidency of the United States, Mr. Hilliard placed before the great Whig Convention at Harrisburg the name of John Tyler of Virginia for Vice-President. This act commended him to Mr. Tyler and secured his appoint- ment as minister to Belgium, where he mingled with kings and queens and tl:ie most cultured diplomats of the world. Judge William R. Smith says of him, " He was a man to stand before the king. His personal appearance at all times and in all places was elegant, commanding, and courtly." The annexation of Texas was at this time agitating the two worlds. King Leopold accorded Hilliard full con- fidence. Belgium did not protest against the annexation. His ministry was satisfactory and helpful to our govern- ment. Upon his return to Alabama he w^as elected to represent the State in the United States Congress. In that great body he displayed commendable energy and interest HENRY WASHINGTON HILLIARD. 101 in current issues. His speech on the Oregon boundary- line sympathized with the sentiment " fifty-four forty or fight." Mr. Yancey opposed the war spirit, endorsing fully Mr. Calhoun's " masterly inactivity " doctrine. Congress disappointed Mr. Hilliard. It did not receive his speeches as he anticipated. His great models wielded their mighty oratory in an age far ditierent from ours, when public questions found solutions in public assem- blies, and committees had not encroached upon personal privileges. It palled his sensibilities to look upon mem- bers of Congress engaged in cracking jokes, eating pea- nuts, writing letters, mailing papers, and utterly indiffer- ent to his impassioned speeches. He admired Webster and Clay. He antagonized the Wilmot Proviso. He voted for the Compromise of 1850. He opposed secession, but fought law^s w^hich excluded slavery from the territories. He followed Alabama in secession, and on the outbreak of war he w^as made com- missioner to Tennessee. He afterward raised a regiment of three thousand men for the Confederate service. After the war he returned to Georgia and practiced law in Augusta and Atlanta. He advocated the election of Horace Greely to the presidency of the United States. President Hayes appointed him minister to Brazil. While in this service he aided in affecting the emancipa- tion of the slaves. The government of Brazil requested his views on the slavery issue then stirring Brazil, and he submitted in writing a letter which w^as published through- out the world and produced a profound impression, com- ing as it did from an ex-slaveholder. In the letter he not only advocated emancipation, but suggested seven years as the time for emancipation to be effected. He was feted by the Anti-Slavery Society of Brazil, and his speech on 10^ SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. that eventful occasion contributed to his international reputation. It was published in the official " Bluebook " of Great Britain. He resigned his ministry when Garfield became Presi- dent, and resumed the practice of law in Atlanta. He died there December 17, 1892. He was a devout Methodist and often preached from Methodist pulpits. His Christian character imparted charm to his greatness. He was not the equal of Yancey as an orator, but he was the only man in the State who could meet Yancey in debate, always share in applause, and sometimes come off victor. The two were opposites in politics, but united on some of the great cardinal principles. Both con- demned exclusion of slavery, but Mr. Hilliard accepted compromises which Mr. Yancey spurned. Mr. Hilliard was the gentler, more polished, more cultured of the two, but Mr. Yancey was the more profound thinker and the better judge of men. Mr. Hilliard never failed to enter- tain. He always sustained his reputation as a thorough statesman and a brilliant orator. Mr. Yancey seldom failed to eclipse his past. Especially did he rise in public opinion when he met, before Northern a^idiences, the spirits that most opposed him. No compromise, but per- fect composure and confident power marked his speech. Mr. Hilliard loved popular applause, and while always guided by purest principles, he felt discontented when his efi'orts in the professor's chair, at the bar, in the pulpit, or in the halls of legislation failed to arouse demonstrative enthusiasm in his listeners. Mr. Yancey never failed to call forth intense interest. He became so buried in his subject as to be apparently indiff'erent to impressions. HENRY WASHINGTON HILLTARD. 103 Both men helped to make history in peace and in war, and with conscious pride we should name them in love. All honor to their memory. Colonel Hilliard was a graceful writer, and has left Roman Nights; De Vane, a Story of Plebeians mid Patric- ians; Politics and Pen Pictures; and volumes of speeches and addresses. The latter is an interesting account of his most prominent political actions and his experiences among courts and people ahroad. De Vane is a charming novel of pure, chaste, elevating sentiment, full of beautiful pictures of college- and home- life, and abounding in intellectual and social pleasures. It is a sweet love-stor}^ mingled with the purest and highest associations of Christian and literary sentiment. CHAPTER XV. THE ORDINANCE OF SECESSION. There have always been two great political parties in our country. The nineteenth century was one of vast intellectual, social, and political development to our nation. The patriotism of the people has always been true and ardent, but the interests of the North and those of the South have been so divergent as to produce the sharpest political differences. In the early establishment of the nation, Alexander Hamilton loomed up as the champion of a strong central- ized government. He believed in government for the people, but not by the people. He drew his ideals from the monarchies of Europe. Thomas Jefferson believed in government by the people. His was the constructive genius of statesmanship which has given us instruments of legislation the most masterful in all the history of nations. The Declaration of Inde- pendence, dissertations on the Constitution of the United States, expositions of the great principles of democratic governments, and the founding of the University of Vir- ginia upon methods so progressive as to lead the educa- tional world, attest his wisdom. The debates expounding the Constitution have immor- talized the names of many statesmen, but Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun stand out pre-eminent leaders of the two great principles advocated by Hamilton and 105 l06 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Jefferson. Webster construed the Constitution as delegat- ing to the general government all powers not expressly forbidden. Mr. Calhoun's construction reserved to the States all powers not expressly delegated to the general government. This difference in construction of the Constitution grad- ually evolved the issue of slavery. The representative men of the South had been deliberating on the gradual emancipation of slaves. Many held strong anti-slavery sentiments. Washington, Jefferson, John Randolph, and others gave practical evidence of their views by freeing a large number of their slaves. The American Colonization Societies were more numer- ous in the South than in the North until the close of the first quarter of the century. The Constitution of the United States guaranteed the right of property in slaves, and but for this guarantee the formation of the United States would have been impossible. The New England and Northern States abolished slavery because it was not profitable in their climate of long winters. The slave trade in the South was inaugurated and sustained by measures originated in New England. The admission of Missouri in 1820 brought up the slave controversies wdiich raged for two score years and brought on the war between the States. Missouri Territory had been settled by slaveholding emigrants from Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The Constitution presented by Missouri upon application for admission to statehood contained a clause recognizing slavery. Mr. Tallmadge, a Congressman from New York, proposed an amendment to prohibit the further introduc- tion of slavery and to emancipate all negro children born in the State after they should reach twenty-five years of The ordinance of secession. 107 age. After long and bitter debates the territory was admitted as a slave State, but the Missouri Compromise excluded slavery from all territory to the north and west of it down to the parallel of 30° 30'. This was a pro- scription against the South, and gave her great offence. It counteracted the zeal in her borders for the Colonization Societies, crushed her anti-slavery sentiments, and made her intolerant of opposition. The South Carolina " Ordinance of Nullification" and the Pinckney resolution in Congress to table without further action " all petitions, memorials, resolutions, or proposi- tions bearing in any way, or to any extent whatever, on the subject of slavery" were feeders to the fires of sec- tional antipathies. The annexation of Texas was another pivot of contention. The abolition elements tried to ex- clude slavery from all newly acquired territory. The South was henceforth very sensitive on the subject of slavery and its recognition by the Constitution of the United States in express terms, while the North w^as equally stirred to pluck slavery from constitutional pro- tection and restrict its territory. The South contended for her rights under the Constitution. The North became infatuated by the doctrine that there is a higher law than the Constitution. Many States of the North made it a penal offence for their citizens to aid marshals of the United States in executing papers of arrest on fugitive slaves. So intense grew their fanaticism that they would have sacrificed the Union, rather than yield obedience to the slave provisions of the Constitution. The South was determined to sustain slavery even if disunion should follow. The Kansas troubles and the John Brown raid were other steps in the march of events. The Democratic Party 108 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. split into three sections. The Republican Party in 1860 elected Mr. Lincoln, whose avowed hostility to slavery led the South to believe that her rights would not be protected in the Union. History proves her conclusions to have been right. Disastrous as was the war that followed, it was the only practicable solution of the issues. Insolence and power would sooner or later have forced the conflict of sections. Even after the election of Mr. Lincoln, promi- nent statesmen of the South tried hard to eff*ect reconcilia- tion. The " Crittenden Compromise," offered to the Con- gress of 1860-1861, giving to the free States three-fourths of all the territory of the Union, and not absolutely bind- ing the other fourth to the admission or maintenance of slavery, was rejected, not by southern Democrats but by northern Republicans. Mr. Jefferson Davis and Mr. Toombs, whom the uninformed are disposed to charge with the responsibility of pressing the war, would have ac- cepted the "Crittenden Compromise" and voted for it rather than precipitate war. Under the circumstances war was inevitable. It had to come. By proclamation of A. B. Moore, Governor of Alabama, an election of delegates to the Secession Convention was held. These delegates met in Montgomery, January 7, 1861. The delegates were divided in sentiment. Robert Jemison, William R. Smith, James S. Clarke, and thirty- six others opposed the " Ordinance of Secession," which was presented to the Convention by A. A. Coleman. William L. Yancey, Judge William M. Brooks, Senator John T. Morgan, and fifty-eight others favored it. Mr. Yancey closed the debates in a brilliant speech in favor of the secession resolution. "The die was cast." On January 11, 1861, the " Ordinance of Secession " was passed. The vote was taken in secret session, but when Judge The '■ Stars and Bars," the first flag of the Confederate States, adopted by the confederate congress in session at montgomery, Ala. It was raised to the top of staff on the capitol at Mont- gomery, March 4, I86I, by Miss L. C. Tyler of Virginia, the grand- daughter OF Ex-President John Tyler. THE ORDINANCE OF SECESSION. 109 Brooks, the President of the Convention, announced the result of the vote, the doors of the State House were opened, and the lobby in a moment was filled with anxious citi- zens who were breathlessly waiting the announcement. As the multitude rushed in, there was unfurled in the centre of the hall a magnificent flag that almost spanned the ample chamber. Mr. Yancey, in behalf of the ladies of Montgomery, presented the flag to the Convention ; Judge William R. Smith, in accepting the flag for the Conven- tion, recalled the glories of the Star-spangled Banner and the devotion of woman to heroic service. He closed as follows: "We accept this flag; and, though it glows with but a single star, may that star increase in magnitude and brilliancy until it outrivals the historic glories of the Star-spangled Banner." Mr. Alpheus Baker, of Barbour County, in a thrilling and memorable speech, expressed to the ladies the thanks of the Convention. The cheering and enthusiasm were indescribable. The roar of cannon, the display of the new flag from windows and towers, the congratulations of orators, and the blend- ing of political parties, made a season of historic jubilee. "One universal glow of fervent patriotism kindled the enraptured community." States Rights men. Union men, and co-operatists forgot their difl'erences in the glad natal hour of a new republic. On the day following the adoption of the " Ordinance of Secession," the Alabama members in the Congress of the United States withdrew in a body. Three other States had already passed "Ordinances of Secession," and others quickly followed. Delegates from South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama met in Mont- gomery, February 4, 1861, and formed the Confederate Inauguration of Jefferson Davis. 110 THE ORDINANCE OF SECESSION. Ill States of America by creating a provisional government and electing Jefferson Davis President, and Alexander H. Stephens Vice-President. Of this Congress Howell Cobb of Georgia was elected president. Johnson Jones Hooper of Alabama was the secretary. On February 18, 1861, Jefferson Davis was inaugurated President of the Confederate States of America on the portico of the capitol in Montgomery, " the cradle of the Confederacy." For three months this historic city was the capital of the Confederate States. From it went the order to fire on Fort Sumter, and in it were originated the plans for launching the new Republic on the tempest- uous sea of battle. CHAPTER XVI. THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. Mr. Lincoln, in disguise, reached Washington, and in the midst of a hollow square of bayonets was conducted to the Capitol and inaugurated President of the United States, March 4, 1861. The bloodiest administration in the history of republics had begun. Governor A. B. Moore espoused zealously the Southern cause. He ordered State troops to seize Forts Morgan and Gaines at the entrance of Mobile Bay and also Mount Vernon arsenal, on the Mobile River, to prevent their occupation by United States troops for the invasion of Alabama. The Union sentiment in the northern por- tion of the State evoked the local proposition to form the northern counties into a new State, to be named " Nicka- jack," but the rush of events forbade it. The bombardment of Fort Sumter occurred April 13, 1861. President Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand volunteers to coerce the seceding States. The whole country blazed with martial enthusiasm. Even before the passage of the " Ordinance of Secession '^ Alabama troops were busily engaged in drilling and preparing for war, and when the war-cloud broke over the Confederacy they enlisted promptly for active service. As Alabama was remote from anti-slavery States there was no imme- diate prospect of invasion by the Federals, and her brave sons marched to the battle-grounds of other States. The First Alabama infantry, under Colonel Henry D. Clayton, 112 THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 113 remained at Pensacola during 1861, and then moved up into Tennessee, fighting at Island Number Ten, Fort Pil- low, Corinth, Port Hudson, New Hope, Atlanta, Nashville, and Bentonville; and was conspicuous with its thinned ranks at Goldsboro, North Carolina, when General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Sherman. The Second Regiment, under Colonel Harry Maury, protected Fort Morgan, and then became merged into other regiments. The Third Regiment, organized under Colonels Jones M. Withers and Tennent Lomax, participated in the battles of Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, second Cold Harbor, Winchester, and Petersburg, and sur- rendered with only forty men at Appomattox. At Seven Pines it lost Colonel Lomax, far in advance of his regi- ment, and also its gallant captain, R. B. Johnson. Its depletion in every battle of its record told the story of chivalry and devotion. And so the history runs with other regiments. From a population of a little more than half a million, Alabama contributed about one hundred and twenty-five thousand soldiers to the Confederate cause, thirty thousand of whom fell before musket, cannon, and disease contracted by mili- tary service. Colonel William Henry Fowler, Superin- tendent of Army Records for Alabama, 1863 to 1865, reported " that Alabama sent more troops in proportion to her population than any other State, and that her loss was heavier than any other irrespective of population." In the early spring of 1862, the battle of Shiloh near Corinth, Mississippi, brought defeat to the Confederate arms. Their retreat opened the northern counties of Ala- bama to Federal troops. Scarcely ever have a brave people suffered greater indignities than the invaders inflicted 8 114 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. upon the defenceless citizens of Northern Alabama, where the Federals held almost unbroken sway from 1863 to 1865. So many acts of vandalism and malicious cruelty were permitted that General Mitchell, one of the Federal commanders, was removed from office for his wanton en- couragement of the unrestrained license to pillage and humiliate the people. General P. D. Roddy in the fall of 1862 defeated the Federals at Little Bear Creek in Colbert County, and later at Barton's Station, driving them back to their stronghold at Corinth. On April 28, 1863, he was holding General Dodge at bay at Brown's Ferry when Forrest came to the assistance of the Confederates. The thunder of Dibbrell's cannon on the Federal position at Florence called off Dodge, whose retreat left in its wake all the desolation that fire could work in the beautiful valley. Forrest dashed away to the pursuit and capture of Colonel Streight. Raids and detached engagements kept North Alabama in perpetual suspense. Marshall County especially suf- fered. The Federals shelled Guntersville several times without giving warning, and finally burned it. Captain H. F.Smith, of Jackson County, with a daring force of sixty- five Confederates, on the night of March 8, 1864, captured, in Claysville, sixty-six Federals and large quantities of stores and provisions. In May following, Colonel Pater- son, of Morgan County, assisted by a battalion of artillery, attacked the Federal stockade in Madison County, cap- turing eighty prisoners and an immense quantity of pro- visions. In July, the Federal General Rousseau passed down the Coosa River with nearly two thousand men, tore up the railroads, and burned the depots about Loachapoka, Au- THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 115 burn, and Opelika, but the citizens and youth who formed the State reserves drove him away into Georgia. In September, General Forrest captured Athens, with many horses and fourteen hundred Federals under Colonel Campbell, and defeated the detachment sent for relief; he captured Sulphur Trestle two days later, with eight hun- dred and twenty men and a large number of horses and loaded wagons. To divert attention and troops from Mobile, General James H. Wilson started from Lauderdale County in 1865 with thirteen thousand five hundred troops in three divis- ions, under Generals McCook, Long, and Upton. Generals Roddy and Forrest were to harass and check him. Sev- eral engagements failed to stop the overwhelming Federal forces. The rolling-mills and collieries with much other property about Montevallo were destroyed. Colonel Crox- ton turned aside to Tuskaloosa, entered it April 4th, burnt the University, destroyed the foundries and factories, and all other public property ; turned west and was whipped by General Wirt Adams, at Pleasant Ridge, in Greene County. General Adams, misinformed, proceeded to Co- lumbus, Mississippi, where he hoped again to encounter Croxton. Croxton, however, marched northeast to the capture of Talladega, and then on toward Jacksonville, skirmishing here and there with such straggling forces as the Confederates could muster. General Wilson reached Selma April 2d, and threw his veterans against the city. Forrest was in command of the defenses, but he had less than seven thousand men, and many of these were inexperienced recruits. The Federals swept away all opposition and captured Selma; brave hearts bravely resisted, but to no avail ; twenty-five hun- dred Confederate prisoners were taken. Here again indis- 116 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. criminate pillage was permitted. The Confederate arsenal and foundries were destroyed, and General Wilson marched on to Montgomery, which he entered without opposition on April 12th. Among the wrecks of his visit is to be num- bered the burning of the files of the Montgomery Advertiser ^ thus trying to blot out the glorious records of the people of Alabama during the most gigantic struggle of the nine- teenth century. On April 16th, General LaGrange, with three thousand men, attacked the small garrison of one hundred and four youths and convalescents in Fort Tyler, near West Point, on the edge of Chambers County. General Tyler, in command of the fort, was slain ; Captain Gonzalez, his successor, w^as mortally wounded ; Captain Parhan, the next in command, displayed equal courage, but the Fed- erals scaled the walls and tore down the Confederate flag from its last stronghold, the attack on Columbus, Georgia, of the same date, having closed a little earlier in the day. Thus Alabama cradled the birth and watched the last struggle of the Confederate States of America. The young artillerist, the " gallant Pelham," who was killed by a shell at Kelly's Ford, on the Rappahannock, March 17, 1863, was Alabama's beloved soldier boy. Of Confederate generals it may be said that John B. Gordon enlisted as captain of the Highland Dragoons, the " Raccoon Roughs " of Jackson County. R. E. Rodes led one division of Jackson's corps at Chancel lorsville, sending panic into the lines of Hooker ; commanded the troops of D. H. Hill after the death of Hill ; and was complimented by Lee's sending a special officer to commend his conduct at Gettysburg ; he died from a shell wound at Winchester. James Longstreet, Josiah Gorgas, W. W. Allen, Daniel Leadbetter, CuUen A. Battle, James Cantey, J. T. Holtzclaw, THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. 117 James H. Clanton, Henry D. Clayton, and many other Alabamians won the general's star, and led their valiant legions into the battles of M-anassas, Seven Pines, Chancel- lorsville, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, Cold Har- bor, Fredericksburg, Murfreesborough, C h i c k a m a 11 g a , New Hope, Atlanta, Shiloh, Nashville, and Frank- lin; hardly an import- ant battle of the war failed to evidence the valor of Alabama sol- diers. At the close of the war, poverty and deso- lation stalked through the State. The black- ened ruins of homes and villas, and the pres- ence of the Federals in the towns and cities and through- out the rural districts, spread a dark pall over the future. The Confederate Monument. L '% Admiral Raphael Semmes. CHAPTER XVII. ADMIRAL RAPHAEL SEMMES. Admiral Raphael Semmes was born in 1809, in Mary- land, of Catholic lineage. In 1826, President John Quincy Adams appointed him a midshipman in the navy. He was thus early and long connected with what has been significantly termed "■ the old navy." During a furlough he read law and was admitted to the bar ; not with any disposition to leave the navy, but because the knowledge of law would better fit him for naval office and efficiency. His constant service led him gradually up through the grades of office. In 1842, he moved his family to Ala- bama, and a few years later settled in Mobile. 118 ADMIRAL RAPHAEL SEMMES. 119 At the outbreak of the Mexican War he became flag- lieutenant under Commodore Connor, and commanded the shore battery of breaching guns at the siege of Vera Cruz. He commanded the brig Somers of the blockade squadron along the coast of Mexico, and was on board off Verde Island, December 10, 1846, when a " norther " struck his vessel with such sudden violence that it foundered in ten minutes and hurled into a watery death thirty-nine of the seventy-six men composing the crew. He was for many years connected with the Light-house Service along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and was made Secretary of the Light-house Board in Washington. When Alabama passed the " Ordinance of Secession," he resigned both his office in the United States Navy and his membership in the Light-house Board, and repaired immediately to Montgomery. President Jefferson Davis sent him at once to the North to buy munitions of war and to engage skilled mechanics for the manufacture of war supplies. Captain Semmes, having executed his commission in the North, returned to Montgomery. Fort Sumter was fired on just eight days afterward. The whole country blazed with marshal enthusiasm. Five days later, April 18, 1861, Hon. S. R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy of the Confederate States of America, commissioned Captain Semmes to the command of the Sumter, the first Confeder- ate warship to have the honor of throwing to the breeze the Confederate flag. She was only a packet-ship, and had to be overhauled and converted into a warship. On June oOth, she steamed through Pass I'Outre out of the Mississippi River into the Gulf of Mexico, and after an exciting race with the United States man-of-war Brooklyn, there on blockade duty, escaped to sea. She had a gallant 120 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. crew. Her second lieutenant was Robert T. Chapman of Alabama. The orders to Captain Semmes were to " do the greatest injury to the enemy's commerce in the shortest time." Naval Solicitor John A. Bolles said eleven years after- ward, " Never, in naval history, has such an order been so signally obeyed : never has there occurred so striking an example of the tremendous power of mischief possessed by a single cruiser acting upon the destructive plan as that furnished by the Sumter and her successor, the Ala- bama, under the command of Semmes, whose untiring activity, restless energy, and fiery zeal found no voyage too long, no movement too prompt or too rapid, no danger too great, no labor too wearisome, in the accomplishment of the Confederate purpose to ruin our commerce by destroying our ships and their cargoes or driving them from the ocean." On July 3d, between Cuba and the Isle of Pines, Captain Semmes overhauled his first prize, a merchant vessel named " The Golden Rocket," and burned it on the high seas. Within a few hours he captured six more prizes and carried them into Cienfuegos Bay ; but Spain declared her territory neutral, and the captured vessels were permitted to escape. The Sumter had a most thrilling escape from the Iroquois, a United States gunboat that blockaded her at St. Pierre on the Island of Martinique. The Iroquois was twice as large as the Sumter, and waited for nine days just outside the marine league to catch the Sumter when she attempted to leave. On the night of November 23d, Captain Semmes made a dash to the south. A Yankee schooner at anchor near the Sumter gave signal of his course to the Iroquois. After a short run the Sumter ADMIRAL RAPHAEL SEMITES. 121 " doubled " on her track and shot away to the north. The Iroquois bounded to the south. A rain storm came on : the Sumter was free. Captain Semmes crossed the Atlantic, captured and burned the American bark Neapolitan in the Straits of Gibraltar, " in the sight of Europe and Africa, with the turbaned Moor on the one hand and the garrison of Gibraltar on the other looking upon the conflagration." He anchored in the harbor of Gibraltar. Unable to buy coal, and blockaded by three Federal gunboats, he sold the Sumter. Her new master refitted her for merchant service and named her Gibraltar. She made a trip to the Confederate States of America and ran the blockade of Charleston. She foundered and sank in the North Sea. The Confederate cruiser Alabama is the most celebrated warship in histor3^ She was built by the Messrs. Laird & Sons at Birkenhead near Liverpool on the Mersey E/iver. She was fitted with both sails and steam. She was known at the ship-yards as " Number 290." She moved from British waters under protest from Federal officers. Near the Azores Captain Semmes met her with military equipment, officers and crew, which were trans- ferred to her. In September, 1862, Captain Semmes read his commission to the sailors and launched the Alabama on her memorable career. By accident, several officers of the Sumter failed to get on the Alabama. Captain Semmes was a scientific and literary man, and his observations on animal and vegetable life and on winds and tides are full of interest. His knowledge of the whale and its habitat directed him to the fishing- grounds of the whalers, where many vessels were captured and burned, becoming, as he himself expressed it, " victims to the passions of man and the fury of the elements." 122 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. He moved the Alabama to within two hundred miles of New York City, captured and burned several vessels, but sent a lumber craft with the captains and crews of three burned vessels into the city with his compliments to Mr. Low, of the Chamber of Commerce, for resolutions regarding the Alabama. He enjoyed the exasperation of the North over his successes. The newspapers abused him fearfully. They falsely represented him as a cruel and merciless pirate. Passing into the Gulf of Mexico to intercept Federal transports conveying troops to Texas, he met at night the gunboat Hatteras off the coast of Galveston, engaged it, sank it in fifteen minutes, and saved every man of the sinking ship. He made a brief visit to Jamaica, where music, cordiality, and hospitable courtesies refreshed officers and men before the Alabama's departure to the " Toil-Gate," as Captain Semmes named the narrow strip of ocean separating Africa and Brazil. New England skippers and northern merchants soon awoke to realize that the Alabama was abroad on the seas, stepping "with her seven-league boots" alongside every vessel she could sight, and burning it, because the United States Government left no port to which it could be sent, refusing to concede to the Confederate States any rights by international laws for the adjudgment of prizes captured at sea. The Alabama sailed around the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean, carrying dismay into those far-off waters. No one had supposed she would venture so far, but there she was, weathering monsoons and lighting the shore of Asia with the wild flames of burning ships. She returned to the Atlantic and kept up her work of destruc- tion. Finally, she dropped anchor in the harbor of Cher- ADMIRAL RAPHAEL SEMMES. 123 bourg, France. Two days later the United States man-of- war Kearsarge, Captain Winslow commanding, entered the same harbor. The challenge of battle from the Kear- sarge was accepted. On June 19, 1864, a bright Sunday morning, at 11.10 o'clock, the battle joined. In one hour and twenty minutes the Alabama went down to her rest- ing place in the bottom of the sea not far from the spot where her elder sister, the gallant Sumter, was sleeping. One of her shells penetrated the stern-post of the Kear- sarge, but did not explode. This doubtless permitted victory to the Kearsarge. A section of the post with the imbedded shell was cut from the Kearsarge, and is now among the curios of war in the Navy Yard Museum in Washington City, the only relic of the Alabama in posses- sion of the United States. Captain Semmes hauled down his colors as the Ala- bama began to sink, but the Kearsarge continued to fire. He sent his wounded in boats to the Kearsarge. Captain Winslow was not prompt to send relief, and permitted ten of the Alabama's men to drown. More would have drowned but for the French pilot-boat and the Deerhound, the steam yacht of Mr. Lancaster, an English gentleman. At the last moment Captain Semmes threw his sword into the sea, and leaped in with First Lieutenant Kell. They were picked up by the Deerhound and carried to England, where royal treatment was accorded them. The English presented to Semmes a beautiful new sword, and refused to surrender him to Captain Winslow. The Geneva Con- ference in 1872, in settling the " Alabama Claims," awarded the United States $15,000,000 from Great Britain for damages computed to have been inflicted on the United States commerce by the Alabama, under Captain Semmes, and the Shenandoah, under Captain Waddell. 124 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Captain Semmes returned to the Confederate States, was made Admiral, and put in command of the James River fleet. Upon the evacuation of Richmond he blew up his fleet, made landsmen of his "jackies," and carried them by train to Danville, where he formed a brigade and sur- rendered with General Johnston in North Carolina. In 1865, Admiral Semmes was arrested by order of Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy, and imprisoned for four months in the Marine Barracks in Washington. He was released without trial. The people elected him Probate Judge of Mobile County, but President Johnson refused to let him serve. He then took up the practice of law, and passed his remaining years among beloved friends and in civil pursuits. He died August 30, 1877, at Point Clear. His remains rest in the Catholic Cemetery near Mobile. During the day of his burial " in the city tributes of respect were every- where to be seen. From the consular office, from the boats, from the shipping in port, drooped the flags at half- mast. Every half hour from sunrise to sundown the cannons' boom echoed over the mourning city. The noble spirit was gone. His memory is dear to all." Semmes was the author of Afloat and Ashore, Campaign of General Scott in the Valley of Mexico, and Memoirs of Service Afloat — books delightfully interesting in style and full of valuable history. General Joseph Wheeler. CHAPTER XVIII. GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. It was said just after the fall of Santiago that General Joseph Wheeler would be the popular choice by a large majority, if a Congressman-at-large had to be elected by vote throughout the States of the Union. This was a high compliment and one well deserved, for General Wheeler has had a career that involves the chivalry of the Ameri- can people. He was born in Augusta, Georgia, September 10, 1836, and was graduated at nineteen years of age from the West Point Military Academy. He spent a year at the cavalry school for practice at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and was transferred therefrom to New Mexico as lieutenant of a cavalry company. 125 126 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. In April, 1861, he resigned his commission in the Fed- eral army, and cast his fortune with the Southern Con- federacy. He was the first colonel of the Nineteenth Alabama Regiment of Infantry, and was almost contin- uously engaged in battle from the beginning to the end of his brilliant service for the Confederate cause. At Shiloh, Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee River, in one of the bloodiest and most desperate battles of the war, he checked with a single brigade the right wing of the Federal army. After the fierce conflict of an hour he penetrated the enemy's lines, and cut off" and captured General Prentiss and twenty-two hundred of his men. When the Confederates retired from the disastrous fields around Shiloh and Corinth, he skilfully covered their retreat. He was everywhere the ideal soldier— quick, cool, brave, and determined. He won the praise due the gallant in war from every superior officer wdth whom he came into contact. He was transferred to the command of cavalry in the summer of 1862, and entered upon a career which blended the highest chivalry with the consummate judgment of the military leader. Many troops from other States added to the strength of his legions, but the majority of his men were Alabamians led by General William Wirt Allen, James Hagan, Moses Wright Hannon, John Herbert Kelly, and other brave officers of Alabama. General Wheeler possessed so much energy and skill, and was so active and watchful, that he rarely failed in any plan he formed. He foiled Buell at Mum ford ville, and enabled General Bragg to capture the town and four thousand Federal prisoners. He struck the rear of General Rosecrans at Murfreesboro, and led his troops over every GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. 127 opposition, sweeping from his path infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and winning his major-general's stars. At Chickamauga, he hurled his command against the Federal right and centre with such effect that the blue-coats thought Longstreet's corps was upon them. After the battle of Chickamauga, General Wheeler attempted a feat that has hardly a parallel for daring and success. Rosecrans' depot of supplies was at Bridgeport, in Alabama, while his army was encamped at Chatta- nooga. One of the two routes that connected these places lay along the north bank of the Tennessee River and the other through the Sequatchee Valley. The one by the river bank was shortest, but it was cut out of the moun- tains that skirted the river, and could not be travelled by troops, because they would be subject to fire from the Con- federates. The country was guarded by the cavalry of Burnside to the east and that of Crook to the west. Burn- side with four thousand men was on the south, near Wheeler's place of crossing. Crook was on the north, and guarding the ford with three thousand eight hundred cav- alry and a battery of artillery. Wheeler, wdth less than four thousand men, attacked Burnside and drove him to Loudon. Then he marched back to the ford, and in the blaze of Crook's fire, crossed the river, routed Crook, and captured seven thousand mules and twelve hundred wagons full of ammunition and provisions. Pushing on to McMinnville he captured fifteen hundred prisoners, took possession of railroads and bridges, and destroyed the entire supplies of General Crittenden's corps. For ten days his cavalry remained north of the Ten- nessee and so crippled Rosecrans that he was unable to move his army from Chattanooga. Rosecrans' supplies were cut up, and his army put on starving rations. The 128 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Federal cavalry tried hard to overtake General Wheeler, but Wheeler evaded, except when he wished battle. Two or three Federal generals would sometimes press him for battle, but he would hold them at bay until night con- cealed his movements, and then he would slip to an exposed point and damage it before help could reach it. Generals Grant and Kosecrans had quarrelled in Missis- sippi. Grant, by his own request, succeeded Rosecrans in command of the Federal forces at Chattanooga. His first telegram to General Thomas was to hold Chattanooga at all hazards. Thomas replied, " We shall hold until we starve to death." This telegram reveals the straits into which Wheeler had thrown the Federals by his vigorous raids upon their supply-trains and depots. General Wheeler recrossed the Tennessee and went to Missionary Ridge to aid General Bragg. The Confederate Conofress thanked him for his brilliant service. At Knox- ville he defeated the cavalry of Burnside, capturing bat- teries, trains, and prisoners. With General Pat Cleburne he checked Grant's advance from Chattanooga. In 1864, General Sherman advanced into Georgia with an army of nearly one hundred thousand men. General Joseph E. Johnston opposed him with barely half that number. Sherman's flank movements eff'ected the Fed- eral advance, and when Johnston was forced to retreat, Wheeler's cavalry brought up his rear with such skill as to preserve order and protect the supplies. General Sherman sent Generals Stoneman, McCook,and Garrard, in command of nearly nine thousand cavalry, to destroy the railroads about Newnan, Georgia. Wheeler, with Kelly and Humes, encountered them July 28th, 29th, and 30th, forcing severe battles, and capturing General Stoneman, General McCook, five brigade commanders, and GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. 129 three thousand two hundred soldiers, with the horses, arms, equipments, artillery, and wagon-trains. A few hundred Federals, thoroughly demoralized, escaped to Sherman's main column. Colonel Brownlow was barefooted when he reached camp and reported to General Sherman, who was much chagrined and crippled by the loss of his cavalry. The Federals tried to make it appear that the Confederates had overwhelming forces of infantry and cavalry, but this is not true. The Confed- erate cavalry, largely of Alabamians, General Wheeler says, " was hardly one-third of the Federal forces ; and the number of prisoners captured exceeded the entire Confederate force." Sherman captured Atlanta, and marched on through Georgia and the Carolinas, but had to keep his men and trains close together. Wheeler was quick to discover and to attack any unprotected trains. Macon and Augusta were saved by his tact and presence. He received the thanks of South Carolina for the defence of Aiken. President Jefferson Davis, writing of Sherman's march, used this language : " It was in compact column and ad- vancing with extreme caution, although opposed only by detachments of Wheeler's cavalry and a few hastily formed regiments of raw militia; but no formidable opposition was made except at the railroad bridge over the Oconee, where Wheeler, with a portion of his command and a few militia, held the enemy in check for two or three days. With a small force General Wheeler daringly and per- sistently harassed, and, when practicable, delayed the enemy's advance, attacking and defeating exposed detach- ments, deterring his foragers from venturing for from the main body, defending cities and houses along the railroad lines, and affording protection to depots of supplies, arse- 130 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. nals, and other important government works. The report of his operations, from November 1st to December 20th, displays a dash, activity, vigilance, and consummate skill which justly entitle him to a prominent place on the roll of great cavalry leaders. By his indomitable energies, operating on all sides of Sherman's columns, he was enabled to keep the government and commanders of our troops advised of the enemy's movements, and, by preventing foraging parties from leaving the main body, he saved from spoliation all but a narrow tract of country, and from the torch, millions' worth of property which would otherwise have certainly been consumed." Wheeler's Fifty-first Alabama Cavalry Regiment, in South Carolina, a week before the close of hostilities, cap- tured the First Alabama United States Regiment. At Averysboro' and Bentonville, Wheeler was in battle, driving back Sherman's right at Bentonville from John- ston's line of retreat. On the 29th of April, 1865, he addressed this farewell to his command: — " Gallant Comrades : You have fought your fight ; your task is done. During a four years' struggle for liberty you have exhibited courage, fortitude, and devotion. You are the sole victors of more than two hundred severely contested fields ; you have participated in more than a thousand conflicts of arms; you are heroes, veterans, patriots ; the bones of your comrades mark the battlefields upon the soil of Kentucky, Tennessee, A^irginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Missis- sippi ; you have done all that human exertion could ac- complish. In bidding you adieu, I desire to thank you for your gallantry in battle, your fortitude under suff"er- ings, and devotion at all times to the holy cause you have GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. 131 done so much to maintain. I desire to express my grati- tude for the kind feehng you have seen fit to show toward myself, and to evoke upon you the blessing of our Heav- enly Father, to whom we must always look for support in the hour of distress. " Brethren in the cause of freedom, comrades in arms, I bid you farewell. J. Wheeler." After the war, General Wheeler settled in Lawrence County, xilabama, and engaged in merchandising, farm- ing, and the practice of law. In 1882, he was elected to Congress and served continuously in that high office for eighteen years. President McKinley appointed him a major-general in the Spanish-American War, and at El Caney his zeal and genius for war saved the prestige and successes of the American arms and inspired the advance until Santiago fell. He saw brief service in the Philip- pines, and is now a retired major-general of the army of the United States of America. He is true to his friends, generous to every bod}^, and the very soul of popularity. CHAPTER XIX. MISS EMMA SANSOM. In the spring of 1863, the Army of the Cumberland, under General Rosecrans, lay in Chattanooga. General James A. Garfield, who afterward became President of the United States, was General Rosecrans' Chief of Staff. At Rock Run, in Cherokee County, was an iron furnace that supplied quantities of iron to the Confederate gov- ernment, and General Garfield felt sure it could be cap- tured and destroyed along with the line of railroad about Rome, Georgia. Colonel Abel D. Streight was commis- sioned to lead the raiding force of nearly twenty-four hundred picked cavalrymen. General Garfield was in high glee, counting upon noth- ing but successful execution of his plans. Colonel Streight moved down from Tennessee, crossed the river at Decatur, and passed down into Morgan County. General Forrest, " the Wizard of the Saddle," was at the time helping General Roddey to oppose General Dodge in Lawrence County. General Dodge retired from the beautiful valley of the Tennessee, but put the torch to its desolating work wherever he found aught that could be burned. General Forrest heard of Streight's advance through North Alabama, and began pursuit. In two days he over- took Streight. A terrific battle ensued, lasting for three hours, when the Federals were beaten and driven into Blount County, having lost fifty of their men and thirty 132 MISS EMMA SANSOM. 133 of their wagons. They scattered along the route of their retreat much booty and baggage. Streight made desperate efforts to rally his men, but Forrest pressed so closely they could not be checked. At Blountsville Streight discarded his wagons and packed his baggage on mules that he might move the faster. He fired his wagons, but Forrest came up in time to save much of the castaway stores. Then began a con- stant running fight, Streight trying his best to get away, and Forrest determined to capture him and his whole com- mand. The Rocky Ford of Warrior River was crossed, but several captured pack-mules and dead Federals evi- denced the proximity and dash of Forrest. The Confederates were tired and stopped to rest. While in camp two young girls, carrying three guns, leading three horses, and guarding three Federal prisoners, came up. A horse w^as given to each of the girls, and they both went home in delight with their steeds and the story of their soldier experience. At Black Creek, a mile or so west of Gadsden, Forrest found the bridge in flames and guarded by Federal sentinels. Streight had crossed. The creek was swollen. Mrs. Sansom, a widow living near, accompanied by her daughter. Miss Emma, a girl of sixteen summers, had gone toward the bridge to extinguish the flames. They discovered Federal pickets on guard, and were returning home when General Forrest accosted them and inquired about the crossings of the creek. Miss Emma offered to Miss Emma Sansom. 134 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. guide him to a ford. Her mother objected, but the brave girl insisted, and, climbing up on the corner of a fence, she vaulted behind Forrest, and rode with him to the ford. Shot and shell flew all about them, and the mother was very uneasy. General Forrest brought Miss Emma back all safe and sound. It is said that she didn't believe the Federals Noccalula Falls (sometimes called Black Creek Falls). would fire on her, as she was a girl, and so she got in front of Forrest and spread out her skirts to protect him. A volley of muskets sent a bullet through her skirts, when she exclaimed, " They have only wounded my dress," and waved her bonnet at the Federals. The brave fellows discovered her and sent her a round of cheers, ceased firing, and permitted her to get out of the reach of danger. ^^SS EMMA SANSOM. 135 Her heroic assistance enabled the Confederates to get across the creek promptly and continue the hot pursuit. On the night of May 3, 1863, Forrest overtook Streight at Turkeytown. Forrest had not more than five hundred men, but he boldly demanded an unconditional surrender, and by skilfully placing his troops and giving orders to imaginary forces, he outwitted and captured Streight with seventeen hundred men and sent them to Richmond over the very road they had come to destroy. When Streight learned of Forrest's actual strength he said, " I am sold." Streight's purpose to destroy all public works and to burn the city of Rome would have been accomplished had not Miss Emma piloted the Confederates to the ford, and thus, as General Forrest himself said, " facilitated pursuit by at least two hours." Miss Emma afterward married Mr. C. B. Johnson. She lived for many years in Calloway, Texas, and died there Au- gust 22, 1900, a widow and the mother of several children. The Legislature of Alabama, in 1863, voted her a gold medal and a section of land ; in 1899, by a vote almost unanimous, the Legislature again donated to her a sec- tion of land as a testimonial of appreciation of her heroic service ; but for lack of lands the State will probably give her the equivalent in some other form. John Trotwood Moore has vividly described the incidents of this chapter in his beautiful " Ballad of Emma Sansom." One verse says : " Do you wonder they rode like Eomans adown the winnowing wind, With Mars himself in the saddle and Minerva up behind? Was ever a foe confronted and captured by such means Since days of old and warrior bold and the maiden of Orleans?" CHAPTER XX. THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD. Unsettled conditions prevailed for several years after the war between the States. President Lincoln announced that the war would close, and the southern States would be restored promptly to their accustomed place in the Union as soon as the southern people quit fighting. Mr. Lincoln was assassinated by J. Wilkes Booth on the night of April 14, 1865, while witnessing the pro- duction of " The American Cousin," by Laura Keene and her Company. The whole country, South and North, bit- terly condemned the mad deed. The North was so horrified as to believe that leading southern men were accessories to the crime. President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, yielding to this false presumption, offered one hundred thousand dollars reward for the capture of Presi- dent Jefferson Davis, twenty-five thousand dollars each for the capture of C. C. Clay, Jacob Thompson, George N. Sanders, and Beverley Tucker, and ten thousand dollars for William C. Cleary, clerk of C. C. Clay. The arrests were made. The hundred thousand dollars offered for the arrest of Mr. Davis was paid to General James H. Wilson and command, who effected the capture of Mr. Davis at Irwinsville, Georgia, on May 10, 1865. President Johnson entertained Mr. Lincoln's kindly sentiments for the South, and tried to secure " support of State governments in all their rights," but denying to the State the " right to renounce its own place in the Union 136 THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD. 137 or to nullify the laws of the Union." He advised that "all parties in the late terrible conflict must work to- gether in harmony." He endeavored to effect the full restoration of the South to its former place in the Union. He appointed Lewis E. Parsons provisional governor of Alabama, ordered a constitutional convention, and the election of senators and representatives to the Congress of the nation. The South accepted the judgment of arms, and yielded regretfully but sincerely to the ne- cessity of submission. It had no purpose, no dream of renewing the war. The oath of allegiance to the United States was taken. Peace and resumption of prosperity called forth the ambition of Southerners, and they nobly lent themselves to the resurrection of their down-trodden country. So complete and prompt was their assumption of new responsibilities that the North doubted their sin- cerity. It surpassed faith. The southern people have ever been chivalrous and just. When defeat came, they accepted it as the final settlement of the issues for which they had gone to war. Millions of dollars and thousands of lives were expended to refute the dreams of the Confederacy. It was a " Lost Cause." The Union triumphed. The South tried to leave the Union, but the northern declarations in office and press, in Congress and pulpit, in public and private, pronounced her rebellious, and denied the existence of the Confederacy. Representatives of southern States were in Washington December 4, 1865, to resume associations with their brethren of the North. Thaddeus Stevens, of Pennsylvania, and Charles Sum- ner, of Massachusetts, riding on the whirlwind of popular passion, became leaders of the all-powerful Republican Party. They concocted opposition to the pacific measures 138 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. of President Johnson, and at the opening of the Thirty- ninth Congress they planned the exclusion of southern members from seats in Congress. Mr. Brooks of New York anticipated their ruse, and spoke earnestly and eloquently against action " condemnatory of the forth- coming message of the President," but all was in vain. The rules were repeatedly suspended by overwhelming partisan majorities. Mr. Colfax, " rejoicing that from shore to shore in our land there is peace," was elected speaker. Thaddeus Stevens was in his element. Henceforth he led. His first move secured appointment of a committee of fif- teen, which became so celebrated in the dark days of reconstruction that it is known as "The Reconstruction Committee." The resolution creating the committee reads, " Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled. That a joint committee of fifteen members shall be appointed, nine of whom shall be mem- bers of the House and six members of the Senate, who shall inquire into the condition of the States which formed the so-called Confederate States of America, and report whether they or any of them are entitled to be represented in either House of Congress, with leave to report at any time by bill or otherwise; and until such report shall have been made and finally acted on by Congress, no member shall be received into either House from any of the so-called Confederate States ; and all papers relating to the representation of the said States shall be referred to the said committee without debate." This was to the South "the handwriting on the wall." During the day of its passage a telegram from Governor Parsons attested Alabama's adoption of the " Thirteenth Amendment," thereby accepting the death of slavery. THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD. 139 The doctrine of Thaddeus Stevens asserted that "those who by seceding had defied the Constitution could not invoke its protection." Sumner went further and declared the South to have committed suicide, and that its soil was subject to the supreme control of Congress. Personal causes are thought to have fed the animosities of these two men. Sumner, in 1856, in a speech before the Senate, had attacked the integrity of Senator Butler of South Carolina. Preston Smith Brooks, a nephew of Senator Butler and a representative of South Carolina, two days afterward found Sumner alone in the Senate chamber and gave him a caning. A negro woman is supposed to have influenced Stevens. The combination against the President was formidable and persistent. It disregarded his vetoes, passing bill after bill by the legal two-thirds majority, and finally secured a bill of impeachment against the President. The impeachment proceedings failed for lack of one vote. Military rule was thrust upon the South. Georgia, Florida, and Alabama constituted a military district under General Pope. General Wager Swayne had charge of Alabama. The Republicans, for the protection of negroes, estab- lished the Freedmen's Bureau. This bureau for years constituted the real governing body of the South. Its agents were "scalawags" and northern "carpet-baggers," who knew little and cared less about the negroes. The "spoils" brought them into office. Love of country and its institutions formed no chains of honorable attachment. They came poor ; many returned to the North rich when politics changed and their occupation ceased. Thou- sands upon thousands of the millions of dollars appro- 140 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. priated by Congress for benevolent purposes never reached the negroes or the suffering whites intended, but enriched unscrupulous agents. All conceivable laws that could humiliate or crush the whites were enacted. The amalgamation of races, mixed schools, and social equality were sanctioned by law, not because the powers in authority believed the law morally right, but because of a vindictive spirit to domineer over the South, and insult the former masters of slaves. No law could be trusted, because it was broken and buried whenever it thwarted the cupidity or meanness of radical emissaries and a radical Congress. In 1867, General Pope ordered the registration of voters preparatory to election of delegates to a constitutional convention. Three Republicans were appointed to super- intend and report. Ratification of the new Constitution was, by law, made subject to the favorable majority of all registered voters. A great many registered and did not vote, so that the returns lacked several thousand votes to make the Constitution a legal instrument. General Meade reported, " the Constitution fails of ratification by eight thousand one hundred and fourteen votes." When Congress met it formed a law to fit the case, and declared the Constitution ratified. This action involved an ex-post facto law, which is law made after a thing has happened, in order to cover the con- ditions of that special case. It is so unfair that civilized nations disclaim it. It was unjust to both whites and blacks. It opened the gates of fraud and oppression, of robbery and racial hatred. The ballot fell to the negroes. Aliens and enemies occupied official positions, while the real friends of the country were denied participation in government. The State literally passed into the hands THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD. 141 of adventurers, schemers, and imbeciles. It was but natural that negroes should believe and follow their new friends. They had been slaves ; the war made them free. They were beset by "scalawags" and "carpet-baggers," and frightened and cajoled into political opposition to their former masters. They w^ere told that the Repub- licans were their only friends and that they only would keep them free and give them land and money. The Loyal League and Freedmen's Bureau controlled not only the negro votes, but their labor. So completely organized and so generally powerful were these instru- ments of authority that white men had to consult and fee the agents of these bodies to obtain laborers on their plantations. The agents themselves bought lands and induced negroes to remove to them, using Congressional appropriations to pay the expenses of removal. So flagrant and foul became abuses, that General Grant himself made a tour of investigation, and reported the corruption and inefficiency of the bureaus. His report checked, but did not stop legislation against the South. Power in control was used to perpetuate power. The continued supremacy of the Republican Party assured agents of office and profits. Its downfall would take away plunder and profits, and therefore its emissaries up- held it. William H. Smith, of Randolph, the "Reconstruction Governor of Alabama," succeeded Governor Robert M. Patton in July, 1868. He convened the General Assem- bly immediately upon his entrance into office. The Assembly was composed, for the most part, of incapable and untrustworthy white men and negroes, who had no bonds of fellowship with the intelligence and integrity of the State. It was beset by unscrupulous railroad manipu- 142 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. lators ; it yielded to bribes and to party lash and gave loose rein to reckless legislation, ran the State into debt that reached beyond $30,000,000, impaired its credit, crip- pled its business, and pressed it toward the rock of finan- cial repudiation. Governor Smith refused to surrender the office in 1870 to his successor-elect, Robert B. Lindsay, claiming that frauds were practiced in the election. He secured from Chancellor Eeuben Saffold an injunction directed to R. N. Barr, of Ohio, president of the Senate, restraining the count of vote for Governor and State Treasurer, but per- mitting the count for other officers. Dr. Edward H. Moren, of Bibb, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant- governor, was declared elected. He promptly entered the hall of representatives where the two houses were in joint convention, took the oath of office as the Republican Senate withdrew, ordered C. A. Miller, the Secretary of State, to produce the returns for Governor and State Treasurer, counted them, and declared Robert B. Lindsay duly elected. Mr. Lindsay was at once installed into the executive office. For two weeks Alabama had apparently two governors. Mr. Lindsay was sustained by a Demo- cratic House of Representatives and by the people, and Mr. Smith was supported by a Republican Senate and Federal soldiers. Intense excitement resulted until a writ from the Circuit Court removed Mr. Smith and confirmed the authority of Governor Lindsay. Governor Lindsay went into office warmly supported by the white people, but his prejudices against leading Democrats and his strong friendship for leading Repub- licans, produced alienation of confidence, and made him a disappointment to the party that elected him. He was succeeded by David P. Lewis of Madison in 1872. THE RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD. 143 Governor Lewis was a native of ^^irginia, but grew to manhood in Alabama. Though favored with high honors, both by popular vote and by official appointment, his sentiments for the Union were so strong as to carry him through the Federal lines to Nashville, where he spent the closing year of the war. His administration was marked by recognizing the "Court House Legislature" of the Republicans and ignoring the lawful Democratic Legislature in the Capitol, and by the order of President Grant, which sent Federal soldiers to turn out of office the Democrats and install the "Court House" body. Governor Lewis was so much ashamed of the acts of the "Court House Legislature," passed before President Grant put it into the Capitol, that they have never been pub- lished. One of these acts was to double the taxes upon the people. Lewis refused to appoint " carpet-baggers " to office, and turned the back of his hand to them when- ever he could do so. The better elements of the North were obtaining a voice in the government. Many soldiers of the stand- ing army repudiated the course of affairs. These were gentlemen who appreciated the sentiments of a noble but overpowered people. Northern gentlemen began to make their homes in the State, and united with the educated and intelligent classes to overthrow misrule and anarchy. They knew that fraudulent practices of political and social renegades could not dignify and de- velop a country nor remove barriers to negro advance- ment. They united with Democrats in working for the downfall of "scalawagism." and for the re-establishment of good, honest government. They knew confidence to be impossible between the native citizens and selfish immi- grants, whose presence invited suspicion, whose conduct 144 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. defied regard, and whose command over the negro made him the tool of lawless power. An exciting political campaign in 1874 closed the ad- ministration of Governor Lewis with his political defeat by George S. Houston of Limestone County. With his defeat passed Republican dominancy from Alabama, and the demoralizing conditions of the reconstruction meas- ures. CHAPTER XXI. THE NEGROES. The ten millions of negroes in the United States present a problem that calls for the highest statesmanship. At the dawn of the nineteenth century ships from Africa were unloading savage negroes upon American shores to be sold into slavery, to be schooled and tutored in the arts of peace ; for whatever may have been the evils of slavery, contact with Caucasian masters and their families has been the most civilizing and uplifting influence that ever came to the negroes in their long march through the stagnant dark of the ages. Booker Washington has said : " We went into slavery pagans, we came out Christians ; we went into slavery a piece of property, we came out American citizens ; we went into slavery without a lan- guage, we came out speaking the proud Anglo-Saxon tongue." The changed condition of master and slave at the close of the war was, in the main, gracefully accepted by both races. The tender ties that bound them were too strong to be severed by human decrees. The old plantation life left its sweet memories in the hearts of both whites and blacks — memories so deeply engraved that the misguided efforts of politicians, pulpits, magazines, and newspapers have failed to eradicate them. The affections of the older generation will hold until death, and the younger genera- tion will not wholly forget the record and courtesies of the olden time. 10 145 146 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Business and humanity combined to make masters kind to their negroes and regardful of their welfare. The conduct of the negroes during the war between the States proves their love and devotion to the whites ; a love too strong to have grown out of bad treatment. The old slaves protected and supported the white w^omen and cliildren while the men were away in the armies. There was no fear of insurrection. Masters trusted the negroes and the negroes proved equal to the trust. The unpleasant relations existing between the North and the South immediately after the war, were intensified by the unwise policy of the United States, in the mad determination to invest the negro with all the respon- sibilities of citizenship, before he had adjusted himself to the new order of things. A distinguished Georgian said of the enfranchisement of the negro : " It took the Almighty forty years to train the Israelites for citizenship after their Egyptian bondage, but the United States Congress had, by passing the Fourteenth Amendment, assumed to con- vert, in an instant, millions of ignorant negroes into citi- zens of this republic." In his blindness and ecstasy the negro became the tool of vampires who abused the good that the best Repub- licans of the North intended to confer. He yielded to the temptations of politics, and expected the general govern- ment to supply his wants, to give him " forty acres of land and a mule." Idleness, vagrancy, crime, insults, injury, and threats followed in the wake of such conditions. Because of these conditions the Ku Klux Klan devel- oped into regulators, and assumed the duties of a vigilance committee. The Ku Klux Klan had no political object in its origin. In 1867, some young men of Pulaski, Tennes- see, formed a club for pleasurable diversion, and named THE ^'EGROES. 147 it the Ku Klux Klan. The mysterious name and the mysterious rites of initiation provoked amusing curiosity among intelligent citizens, and awed into fearful wonder- ment the ignorant and superstitious blacks. Visitors were initiated into membership, and the Klan spread over the whole southern States. Its highest officer, the Grand Wizard, held absolute control over the invisi- ble empire of the Klan. Its couriers were called Night- hawks, and many a negro's heart stood still as a Night- hawk was seen on galloping steed bearing the swift mes- sages of the mysterious order. The Klan purposed good to all classes, and gave protec- tion to rights at a time when no other power would stay the evils. Wrongs followed, of course, and good people rejoiced when the Grand Wizard dissolved the Klan in 1869, but they accorded many virtues to the Ku Klux Klan — the '' Konfounded Krooked Konundrum." The South was strictly an agricultural region. Negro labor seemed indispensable to the raising of crops ; and cabins that had sheltered slaves were, perforce, the " homes of the free." Various methods were adopted to induce the negroes to till the fields. Lands were rented to some negroes; wages in cash and a stipulated portion of the crops were given to others. The white masters and former slaves were thus thrown into daily contact, and, despite the interference of politicians, there was generallv un- broken concord. Now and then some negro of bold and desperate spirit would kill or get killed, but the prevalent good feeling usually restrained the fiercer elements. One of the most violent clashes occurred in Choctaw County. Jack Turner, valet of Mr. B. L. Turner, was possessed of great magnetism and intelligence, and became a leader among the negroes. Politicians discovered his power, cor- 148 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. rupted him, and fed the fires of his naturally brave and dauntless nature. He became defiant and aggressive, a "walking menace to the community." Many indictments brought him before the courts, and convictions followed in at least two-thirds of his cases. During the political canvass of 1874, the whites scattered Jack's armed asso- ciates in march to Butler, the county-seat, and forced him to fly for refuge into Wahalak Swamp. On August 15, 1882, papers were found near DeSotoville embodying minutes of negro meetings at which Jack presided, and disclosing a plot to massacre all white men, women, and children. Democratic and Ku Klux negroes. Besides Jack, the papers named six others as leaders in the bloody plot. These were all arrested. The county was aflame. The enormity of the plot was appalling. A thousand men, irrespective of color, gath- ered at Butler in a mass-meeting, of which Captain A. J. Gray was elected chairman. The fiery speeches of Dr. Evan P. Harris and others were answered by the County Solicitor, George W. Taylor, and by Captain Joseph H. Knighton, who pleaded earnestly for the majesty of the law and the legal trial of the accused. The majority vote doomed Jack to be hanged. Prominent citizens were detailed to bring him from the jail and to hang him. This they did about 1 o'clock in the afternoon, hanging him to the limb of a large oak tree in front of the court-house, in the most public portion of the village. There sprang up a doubt regarding the genuineness of the papers, and the other leaders were finally dismissed from jail without trial. Very seldom does anything occur in Alabama to mar the harmony of the races. Not one white man and one THE NEGROES. 149 negro in ten thousand ever clash. Day by day the two attend to business in common, and move in perfect friend- ship. This peaceful relation gives prominence to the few instances of violence that enemies hold up as the general rule. In no other State has there been more wisdom and far-sightedness among the leaders. Booker T. Washington, the President of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, is one of the greatest negroes on the American Continent. By his genius and energy he has built up at Tuskegee, in the heart of the Black Belt of Alabama, a school for negroes that stands a monument to the capabilities of the negro. There he is instructing thousands of young negroes of both sexes in the essentials of a literary education, and is training them to be independent and happy through industrial skill. W. H. Council, the President of the Alabama Normal and Industrial Institute at Normal, ranks next to Booker Washington in dignity of character and counsels. Other great negro leaders could be mentioned, for Montgomery, Selma, Mobile, and other cities have commendable negro schools under able and worthy supervisors. Booker Wash- ington, however, rises to national prominence. In all the troubles that have beset the negro, he has stood above the passions of the hour, and counselled peace and patience, believing that justice and right and time will effect a wholesome cure to all wrongs. He is an author and an orator, and is impressing his ideas upon this age. Nearly a hundred million dollars have been expended for the education of the negro since his freedom, and the white people of the South have contributed eighty-five millions of this amount. The magnanimity that led the ex-Confederates to this munificent charity, makes of them the best friends the negroes have in the world, and makes 150 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. the South the best home yet known for the ex-slaves and their descendants. The South grants the negro opportunities for business to be found in no other section of the Union. It opens to him its fields, its factories, its mines, its trades, its thou- sand industries, and invites and urges him to honest labor for an honest Hving. In the North the negro finds himself condemned by the white laboring classes and excluded from the great labor unions. He discovers that efforts to settle in the North are thwarted by competition he cannot meet, by preju- dices he cannot subdue, by indifference he cannot com- prehend, and by opposition that forbids his enjoyment of the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. Though occasional troubles in the South disturb him, he has learned to value his home in Dixie. Here are to be found the highest types of his race. That he should strive to win power and prestige is natural and commend- able, but his thirty years of freedom have not satisfied his ambition for advancement in politics and the professions. He feels embarrassed in the presence of the whites, and wishes a field where, apart from mixed or different races, he may work out his destiny according to the genius and talents of his own people. Some of the great leaders are agitating the possibility of a Congressional grant of one hundred million dollars to transport the race back to Africa. But this is not at all probable. Both whites and blacks love the ways of peace and good feeling, and are ever ready to minister the one to the other. Law and liberty inspire the growth of kindly sympathies, and here in the South, under separate and distinct development, must be solved the " Problem of the Races." CHAPTER XXII. THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS. The convention which framed the first Constitution of Alabama, embodied in its organic law the establishment and encouragement of schools. The old newspapers show the interest and care of the early settlers for the moral and intellectual welfare of the children. A typical an- nouncement of February 26, 1820, reads: " Cahawba Academy. — A teacher well qualified to pre- pare students for admission into the Junior Class of College, and whose moral character is unimpeachable, will meet with liberal encouragement. A clergyman would be preferred. Letters addressed to Dr. W. Roberts, Dr. C. Humphries, or Dr. T. Casey will be attended to." Humorous advertisements now and then appeared. One gives the design of "teaching the English, Latin, and Greek languages grammatically." Another proposes "teaching such scholars as may be entrusted to his care, upon a plan discovered by John Lancaster of England." Perhaps the most ludicrous advertisement ever made of a school in Alabama occurred in a Tuskaloosa news- paper. It announced the opening of John " Price's Thrashing Machine to correct the devil's unaccount- ables." The first English school established in Alabama limits was opened at the Boat Yard, on the Tensaw River, by 151 152 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. John Pierce of New England. Washington Academy (1811), at St. Stephens, and Green Academy (1812), at Huntsville, shared the two thousand dollars appropriated for education by the Mississippi Territory. St. Stephens Academy (1818) attained an enviable reputation under the tuition of Rev. J. L. Sloss. Of these schools, Green Academy survived the longest. Its buildings were burned by United States troops during the war between the States, and it has since been merged into the public-school system of the city. Public education was attempted in Mobile as early as 1826. Ten years later the State Legislature authorized Mobile "to raise by lottery any sum, not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, to complete the building known as Barton Academy, then in process of construction." In 1852, the public-school system was thoroughly inaugu- rated in Barton Academy, and was so commended that it became the foundation of that adopted by the State of Alabama. A. B. Meek, representative from Mobile, know- ing from personal observation the practical results of the system, introduced into the Legislature a bill providing for the establishment of public schools throughout the State. The bill passed both Houses, and was approved by Gov- ernor John Anthony Winston, February 15, 1854. W. F. Perry, afterward a Confederate general, was the first Su- perintendent of Education of Alabama. Willis G. Clark of Mobile gave 3^ears of effort to the upbuilding of Barton Academy, and lived to see it con- tribute nearly half a century of development and culture to the children of Mobile. Llis long life was continuously devoted to the school interests of Alabama, and especially to the University, of which he was a trustee for twenty- five years. THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS. 153 The poverty and desolation following the war permitted comparatively few first-class private schools. The great masses could hope for education only through public schools. Lack of public money made these of short terms. The poor salaries commanded inefficient teaching talent. Inefficient teachers gave inefficient instruction, and so the public schools suffered both in character and usefulness. In the efforts to secure qualified teachers was discovered Alabama Polytechnic Institute. the need of normal schools, and the State, in the kindli- ness of her mother heart, established these at Florence, Jacksonville, Livingston, and Troy, adopting courses ad- mitting classes of all grades and granting diplomas to students taking special normal training. The State has also established an agricultural school in each of the nine congressional districts. The public schools have done vast good to the State, and public sentiment is pressing the General Assembly 154 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Dr. 'William Leroy Bxoun. to munificent appropriations for their maintenance. Pop- ulation and wealth are increasing. New industries and new enterprises are calling for quickened intelligence and technical training. The Poly- technic Institute at Auburn, established in 1872, has attained a proud eminence among the technical colleges of the nation. Under the presidency of the scholarly educator, Dr. William Leroy Broun, with an able and devoted faculty, it is sending forth experts to develop and sustain the industries of the country. Its graduates have held high positions in the engineering fields of Mexico and Africa, and in all the pursuits of business within the United States. Depart- ments of literature, science, agriculture, and military training make it an institution of high merit. The Medical College at Mobile began its work in 1859. Dr. Josiah C. Nott, encouraged and assisted by other earnest and aggressive scientists and physicians, projected it. The college began well, but the war came on two years after its organization, and its professors and students left for service in the Confederate army. Its doors were closed. After the war the Federal authorities converted it into a primary school for negroes, and so used it until 1868, regardless of the efforts of the faculty to have it restored to its original purpose. It was wantonly abused by the ignorant negroes, who handled at pleasure and with utter recklessness the fine instruments and apparatus that had THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS. 155 been carefully gathered by the faculty. It is now a com- ponent part of the University. The University of Alabama has had a checkered his- tory. Its first session began April 18, 1831 ; its first presi- dent was Dr. Alva Woods, an eminent Baptist clergyman of Rhode Island. The United States Government had donated two townships of land for its support. These lands weve sold at high prices, and the payments, which would have created a profitable endowment fund, were thrown into the State Bank and frittered away in the speculations of politics. Out of the University claims against the State there has been set aside the endowment of $300,000, upon which Alabama pays annually to the University $24,000 in interest. The University did not thrive under Dr. Woods, who, though a most learned scholar and cultured gentleman, failed to hold in check the disorder and insubordination of matriculates reared in this _ borderland of civilization. He '^ founded systems of education that required the highest wis- dom. By his eff'orts was char- tered, in 1836, the first female seminary of high order within the bounds of Alabama. It was then the Alabama Athe- nseum ; it is now the Tuska- loosa Female College. Rev. Basil Manly succeeded j^^ -^ ^^^ Manly, sr. Dr. Woods in office. His elec- tion ushered in a new life and a warmer sympathy. His administration witnessed student riots and insubordina- tion, but he caused the suspension and expulsion of so 166 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. many students that he was conceded to be master of the situation. He hfted the standard of scholarship and made the University respected everywhere for its strong curriculum and able faculty. Dr. Manly lived for thir- teen years after failing health closed his services with the University, dying in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1869. The war period found Dr. Landon C. Garland at the head of the University. He was elected president in 1855. The military department was established in 1860, and the president and all other officers of the department were con- stituted a part of the military of the State. Colonel Caleb Huse, of the United States army, was the first commandant of cadets. He was succeeded by Colonel James T. Murfee. On April 4, 1865, General Croxton with Federal cavalry burnt the University. The four hundred cadets had met and fought him, advancing up the hill into Tuskaloosa on tlie previous night, but learning that fourteen hundred Federals were in the command, Dr. Garland and Colonel Murfee, after destroying large quantities of ammunition at the University, marched the cadets toward Marion. The General Assembly following the surrender loaned the University seventy thousand dollars to rebuild. The Board of Trustees was composed of Porter King, Francis Bugbee, William S. Mudd, James H. Fitts, Robert Jemison, Benjamin F. Peters, A. M. Gibson, Z. F. Freeman, Willis G. Clark, John T. Foster, Alfred N. Worthy, John C. Meadors, George S. Walden, Walter H. Crenshaw, and the ex-officio members. Governor Robert M. Patton, Chief Justice Abram J. Walker, Associate-Justices William M. Byrd and Thomas J. Judge, and Dr. Landon C. Garland, the president of the University. Colonel James T. Murfee offered acceptable plans for THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS. 157 the proposed new building, and was appointed architect and superintendent. George M. Figh and Dr. William S. Wyman were awarded the contract for rebuilding. Alva Woods Hall, at a cost of ninety thousand dollars, was thus erected ; Governor Robert M. Patton having pledged his personal credit and the credit of the State to protect contractors and creditors, and Major James H. Fitts having used all the resources of his bank to keep at par the "Patton Certificates," by which the work of rebuilding was carried forward. By the new State Constitution the Trustees were sup- planted by a Board of Regents. Several prominent men refused the presidency, for public sentiment condemned the " reconstruction " policies, and deferred to later years the work of rehabilitation. Judge William R. Smith, a gentleman of wide reputation, and possessed of many traits of popularity, a broad scholar, and the personal friend of many representative men of the State and of the Union, a member of the class of 1831, and therefore identified with the University from its first opening, was elected president, and strove vainly to restore it to favor. These were dark days for the University and for the State, but, under Dr. N. T. Lupton, confidence and patronage began to return. Dr. William S. Wyman, Dr. William A. Parker, Dr. Benjamin F. Meek, and Dr. Eugene A. Smith were of the faculty with Dr. Lupton. Dr. Carlos G. Smith, 1874-78, put the impression of his high scholarship upon the University. He was succeeded in office by General Josiah Gorgas, 1878-79; Colonel Burwell B. Lewis, 1879-85; General Henry D. Clayton, 1885-89, and General Richard C. Jones, 1890-97. These were all gentlemen of the old school, zealous, broad- minded, able, the ideal leaders of youth, and in every 158 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. sense worthy of great trusts. Under them vast improve- ments were made in the material equipment of the Uni- versity. The United States Congress in 1884 donated forty-six thousand and eighty acres of land as payment for the fiery ruin wrought by Federal troops in 1865. A large portion of these lands was sold and the proceeds used for building Manly Hall, Clark Hall, Garland Hall, the University of Alabama. chemical and physical laboratories, professors' homes, and other improvements. Despite this material enlargement, the public confidence waned. The evil genius of politics injected a baneful influence. Nineteen years had passed since a professional teacher had occupied the president's chair. Public opinion condemned the election of presi- dents by virtue of civil or military distinction. Dr. James K. Powers, 1897-1901, was elected president because of his success at the head of the Alabama Normal THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS. 159 College in Florence. In his efforts to create and foster university ideals he brought to his assistance graduates of Johns Hopkins, Princeton, and universities of the Old World. A lack of sympathy marked his administration, and the rebellion of the student body induced his resigna- tion. He was succeeded by Dr. AVilliam Stokes AVyman. Crippled in its infancy through the mismanagement of its funds by its agents and the State Bank, embarrassed always through lack of adequate endowment, the Uni- versity has, nevertheless, made a deep impression upon the history of the State. Post-graduate students from its halls in the great universities of this continent and the Old World have ranked among the first in intellectual fitness and habits of investigation. Her lawyers, at home and abroad, stand at the head of the bar, and have given proud service in the highest offices of States. Her ministers of the gospel have trod every path of preferment in the gift of the church. Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, who was for many years president of Columbia College, New York, won his proudest, though initial honors, in the laboratories of the University of Alabama. Professor Tuomey and Professor Brumby quickened the geologic and industrial pulse of the times. A. B. Meek poured his heart's blood into journals and speeches inviting to a lofty appreciation of literature and virtuous living. Dr. Eugene A. Smith has been a constant contributor to scientific and industrial impulses, and has made his name a part of the heritage of the scientific w^orld. Samuel ^linturn Peck has thrilled the English-speaking world by his delightful lyrics. A host of other literary lights from the halls of the University have blessed mankind by the glow of their genius upon the printed page. 160 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Denominational schools and colleges have contributed largely to the moral, intellectual, and spiritual culture of the people. The Catholics founded St. Joseph's College in 1830 ; the Baptists founded Howard College, 1833-41, and the Judson Institute in 1839, placing both schools in Marion, but removing Howard College to East Lake in 1887 ; in 1856 the Methodists founded the Southern Uni- versity at Greensboro, and the Alabama Conference Female College at Tuskegee; they also control Athens Female College, Tuskaloosa Female College, and the North Alabama Conference College at Owenton, near Bir- mingham. The Alabama Central College, in the splendid old State-House at Tuskaloosa, is under Baptist govern- ment. These institutions have not only dispensed the light of literature, and trained young minds to analyze and to weigh, but they have fostered an exalted faith, and have built up characters strong in virtue, hope, love, truth, justice, and patriotism. Prof. Henry Tutwiler was born November 16, 1807, in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He was among the first students enrolled in the University of Virginia, and was graduated there a Master of Arts. R. M. T. Hunter, Robert Toombs, Gessner Harrison, Edgar Allan Poe, Alexander H. H. Stuart, and others known to fame were his fellow- students. Thomas Jefferson often had him as a welcome guest at Monticello ; George Long, the English educator and historian, John P. Emmet, a nephew^ of the Irish patriot, and other masters in the University chairs, were his friends. He accepted the chair of Ancient Languages in the University of Alabama upon its opening in 1831, and thenceforth lent himself to the education of the young men of Alabama. He resigned the chair in the Univer- THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS. 161 sity in 1837, and taught mathematics in Marion College, 1837-40, and in LaGrange College, 1840-47. In 1847 he organized Greene Springs School, the most noted and influential private school in the State. He was said to be a whole faculty in himself. He was as much at home in the scientific labora- tories as he was in the department of classic literature. He kept abreast with the progress of the world both ; in science and literature. SeveraU times he refused the presidency of the University of Alabama, prefer- ring to give his labors to the inde- Prof. Henry Tutwiler. pendent work of his own school, than which no college in the South furnished more delightful or more inspiring courses of study. A distinguished educator and divine said of him, " He was a profound and rich linguist, a thorough mathema- tician, and a superior chemist. He was learned without pedantry, pious without bigotry, a gentleman without a blemish, a character without a flaw." Simple in habits and nature, he was too great to be ambitious. Never but once did he consent to lend his name for nomination to a State ofiice. This was for State Superintendent of Educa- tion in 1878. He was shocked and astonished when he learned that to win he would have to canvass the State. He thought the office of Superintendent of Education ought to be above politics. He would not canvass. The political dictum robbed the State of his services. On May 12, 1866, he discovered the new star, Coronse Borealis, and reported his discovery to Professor Joseph Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, to Professor 11 162 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Stephen Alexander, of Princeton, and to other gentlemen connected with scientific institutions, but as the star was discovered on the same night by another American, a Northerner, and by two Europeans, the records never gave Dr. Tutwiler due recognition. Great as was his learning. Dr. Tutwiler was yet greater in character, and through it has left the deeper impres- sions upon the age. No tribute of tongue or pen can compass his magnanimity or measure the sweep of his imperishable influence. He died September 22, 1884. His spirit lives in his family. His daughter. Miss Julia Strudwick Tutwiler, Principal of the Alabama Normal College for Girls, at Livingston, has done more than any one else for the education of the girls of Alabama. • She has grappled with Legislatures for an equitable distribution of pub- lic funds for the benefit of boys and ^J girls alike. She has effected the es- f tablishment of " The Girls' Indus- / trial School " at Montevallo ; opened ^-^___ _-~--~ the doors of the University for the Miss Julia s. Tutwiler. admission of womeii ; and given to scores of girls the opportunities of education in the college over which she presides. Bishop Robert Paine, in LaGrange College ; ^Irs. Staf- ford and her learned husband, giving to young woman- hood all that is noble and attractive in cultured instruc- tion, and making the Alabama Female Institute of Tuskaloosa a real seminary of learning; Colonel James T. Murfee, for many years the able president of Howard College, and now the successful Principal of Marion Mili- tary Institute ; Dr. John Massey, spending a few years of THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA SCHOOLS. 163 his young manhood in giving college preparatory instruc- tion, and then entering upon the presidency of Alabama Conference Female College at Tuskegee; Dr. Thomas J. Dill, who lifted the standard of preparatory college work, and then gave his services to Howard College, filling with signal ability the chair of Ancient Languages, and lend- ing his ripe experience and scholarly attainments to the college in its new home in the palpitating bosom of industrial Alabama — these are some of 4he teachers that have given to Alabama an educational impetus that will gather force with the roll of years. CHAPTER XXIII. PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN.^ In all ages great teachers have been potent factors in moulding national character. Socrates taught Plato, Plato taught Aristotle, Aristotle taught Alexander, and Alex- ander conquered the world. The United States have been peculiarly blessed by the transmission of ideals. The learned scholars of the older States educated the young, who passed into newer sections to implant the lessons of truth and morality, and lure to highest intellectual attainments. Professor Seth Smith Mellen was born in Pelham, Mas- sachusetts, February 7, 1821, and was graduated from Williams College in 1843, during the presidency of Dr. Mark Hopkins. He was deeply imbued with the senti- ments and spirit of that remarkable educator. Leaving the home of his birth, he began teaching in Georgia. He afterward removed to Pierce's Springs, in Mississippi, where he taught for many years, w^inning an enviable reputation as a scholar, a Christian gentleman, and a suc- cessful instructor and guide of youth. His Pierce's Springs school was established on the ideal English boarding plan. The boys were taken into his home, and formed a part of his family. They gathered 1 The Author gives this chapter as an object lesson of the regime of the old private academies, as well as a tribute to the memory of a distinguished teacher who guided many Alabamians to Pierian Springs. 164 PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN. 165 about him after the lessons and sports of the day to share in social conversation, to receive his admonitions and blessings at evening prayers, . ' ' ' ' ; and to devote at least two hours to the preparation of the lessons for the next day. The boundless woods for hunting, the clear streams for swimming and fishing, the quietude of country for study, native fruits of woods and orchards, a bounteous table, pure drinking water, a schol- arly teacher and his devoted p^of. seth smith Meiien. Christian wife, were the factors which contributed to " the harmonious development of the body, soul, and brain " of pupils committed to his tuition. The boys loved him, and carried to their homes the evi- dences of his masterful influence. During the summer season of 1869, Professor Mellen arranged to open the fall session of his school in Mount Sterling, a village in Choctaw County, Alabama. Mount Sterling had been noted for its excellent schools. Professor George F. Mellen, Dr. John Massey, Miss 0. C. DuBose, and other prominent teachers had given reputation to its educational history. It was not so quiet then as now, but it was far from the maddening noise of cities and near the Tombigbee River. Prosperity and intelligence marked its life. The pretty homes, the social atmosphere, the active churches, the wide-awake merchants, the business enterprise and thriving farms surrounding it and con- tributing to its welfare, invited schools. The advent of Professor Mellen, with his interesting 166 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. family, into the Alabama village was attended with more than courteous welcome. Many of his former pupils were there, and they greeted him with affection akin to that with which children greet a father. The public partook of their joyous enthusiasm. The tributes of congratula- tion poured from near and far upon fortunate Mount Sterling. The school opened in September. It filled rapidly. Both boys and girls were admitted. They came from Mobile City, Choctaw, Sumter, Marengo, Washington, and Clarke Counties, from Mississippi and Arkansas. Life and laughter, study and fun, such as come only in school days, were there in abundance. The teacher's life is not checkered by romantic incidents. Calm and progressive, it insinuates itself into the channels of public and private thought, and fosters ideals that affect the higher destinies of the people. Touching directly the buoyant natures of the young, it impresses upon them the claims of moral and mental culture, and educates them to be "joyous, intrepid, and deliberate; impassioned for truth, for justice, for liberty, and for country." The flow of its impulses is as irresistible as are the tides of the ocean, and more full of vital interest in its wonderful variety of same- ness. Its pulses strike upon living hearts, which become conductors of its magnetism and power into the homes and habits of communities. While rarely fired with the love of public applause, it is generally replete with kindly deeds for the public weal. Professor Mellen enjoyed rich experience in leading the young into appreciation of culture and learning. It falls but seldom to the lot of man to be so admired by his pupils. His scholarship and moral integrity commanded unbounded respect, while his genial, spontaneous natural- PBOFESSOM SETH SMITH MELLEN. 167 ness in manner and conversation won confidence and pro- voked enthusiasm. He possessed remarkable common sense to balance his learning, a native energy to enforce precept with example, a manly sentiment that infused its charm into others, a devotion to duty that was contagious, and a confidence in boys that invoked their highest self- respect. They strove to be what they supposed he thought them. They played pranks, often to his annoyance and mortification, but he never failed to pass over the un- pleasant places with dignity and firmness, and at the same time with assurances of belief in the triumph of right that endeared him to them. In private business he was successful, and gathered a fortune sufficient for comforts and luxuries, and for the indulgence of a broad hospitality and liberal charity. His interest in politics and the country's welfare was in sympathy with his intelligent neighbors, and commended him to their full respect and cordial esteem. As an educator he must be considered with masters whose great services in teaching have been the proud heritage of America. If space permitted, it would be pleasant to follow the history of some of his pupils who to-day occupy prominent pulpits ; who stand at the head of colleges and schools ; who have left their impression in the statutes of Legislatures ; who have honored the pro- fessions ; and who have contributed the influence of intel- ligent manhood to business and society. We can indi- cate only by mention of Dr. B. D. Gray, the President of Georgetown College in Kentucky; Dr. John Massey, the President of the Alabama Conference Female College in Tuskegee; Judge Reuben Gaines, on the bench of Texas; and the cultured son. Dr. George F. Mellen, for some years the professor of Greek in the University of 168 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Tennessee, whose course in the University of Leipsic made him a Doctor of Philosopliy, and wliose classic speeches before Hterary audiences, and contributed arti- cles in newspapers and magazines, mark the scholar of elegant tastes and intellectual vigor. Not long after settling in Mount Sterling, Professor Mellen bought a beautiful home, known as the Wiley Coleman Place. He continued the boarding regulations as at Pierce's Springs. The boarders occupied cabins which stood in a grove in the rear of his dwelling. One room with a large, old-time fireplace, and separated by twenty or thirty feet from every other cabin, held from two to four boys, according to its size and fitness. Only two of the rooms were connected. A small farm sur- rounding, furnished field products, and a large garden and orchard supplied vegetables and fruits. Wells of delicious water and woods as background gave comfort and freedom. Professor Mellen had travelled a great deal and had seen much of the United States. He knew many distin- guished people. He was himself a most entertaining host. He was learned and wise, witty and humorous, cordial and sincere. No one came under the spell of his hospitality but wished to renew it. Good company, music, and books constantly aided him and his family in contributing to the uplifting of his boarders. The Author has had many years of experience and observation in schools. He has never seen another teacher who could get as much work out of boys wdth as little effort as did Professor Mellen. He was gifted with the art of management. He knew boys well and sympa- thized with them. There was rarely any serious fric- tion. Ambition and honor were the incentives to study PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN. 169 and the guides to conduct. The esjyrit de corps was admi- rable. The courses of study embraced especially English, the mathematics, Latin, and Greek. The lighter courses had but little sympathy. Concentration upon the few subjects gave conscious mastery and quickened interest unattain- able by other systems. Indifferent students attended, but at a discount. All grades w^ere admitted, but the high tension and proficiency of the pupils tended to keep out the very elementary courses. Young men came to prose- cute advanced studies and prepare for business or college. Great stress ^vas put on grammar, rhetoric, and decla- mation. Brown's Grammar and Quackenbos's Rhetoric were perennial standbys, while debates and bi-monthly exercises in declamation, with doors open to the public, gave superior drill in the art of public speaking. The Latin course embraced Andrews and Stoddard's Grammar, Andrews' Reader, four books of Caesar's Gallic War, six books of Vergil's ^neid, and all the Bucolics and Georgics, six Orations of Cicero, Horace entire, the Satires of Juvenal, and more, according to time on hand. It did not embody the drill of to-day in translating Eng- lish into Latin, but it gave a taste for the literature w^hich made the study a pleasure. The students could take a Latin author and transmute his language into pure idio- matic English, and they did it, not with groans and sighs and protests, but with a gladness springing from love of the literature and its contained thought. Latin w^as to them a mine of rich intellectual treasures, from which they gathered information regarding the history, the habits, the thoughts, the religion, and the sentiments of the Romans and contemporaneous nations. Greek embraced Harkness' First Book, Bullion's and 170 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Goodwin's Grammars, Arnold's Reader, four books of Xenophon's Anabasis, three books of Homer's Iliad, por- tions of Herodotus, Cyropsedia, De Corona, and other works, according to wish and time. Its methods and purposes paralleled the Latin. Mathematics included Robinson's Progressive Higher Arithmetic and University Algebra, Davies' Legendre, Surveying, and Navigation. Humorous incidents were not lacking. One morning in a Latin class Professor Mellen asked a boy to give the in- flections to the adjective " henignusy It happened to be election-day, and the negroes were going to the polls at Butler, the county-seat. The boy began : " Nominative, hignignus, hignigna, bignignuvi/^ when Professor Mellen corrected him, telling him it was " benig- nus, not bignignusy The boy, deeply in earnest about the inflection, did not catch the correction and continued : " Genitive, bignigni, bignignse, bignignir Professor Mel- len again tried to correct him, but the bo}^ seemed un- conscious of everything but the declension, and responded : " Dative, bignigno, bignignse, bignigno,^^ when Professor Mellen almost blazed with, " It is ^enignus, not ^i^'nignus, that I want declined. The 'bignigs' are all gone to Butler to vote." It was winter season ; a good many pupils were around the fire, and the boy supposed Pro- fessor Mellen addressing some of them, and his — " Accusative, bignigiwm, bignignam, bignignum" ex- hausted Professor Mellen's patience and resources. He looked at the boy for a moment, and seeing the fellow was doing his best and in perfect earnest, he leaned back in his chair and said, "Well, go on with your 'bignig,'" and joined the school in the hearty laugh which could no longer be repressed. None of the boarders could forget Peter or his wife FEOFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN. 171 Catharine. Peter was a negro with a high sense of honor. His mother, ''Aunt" Phillis, was of good old South CaroHna stock, proud of her family, Christian in spirit, and careful to rear her children for truth and right. Peter looked after the farm, the stock, and the wood supply, and did the general chores about the premises. He did the farm-work on shares ; that is, he received a portion of the crop for his services. Potatoes were stowed away in banks. Mrs. Mellen glad- ly gave the boys as many and as often as they wished, but the great banks were very tempting to some of the more frolicsome spirits, and no one has ever yet antici- pated without a slip the capricious appetites of boys. They may eat their fill and carry along a supply for lunch, but when this is gone, lessons learned, a few pranks played, and the genius of mischief is aroused, they must have frolic and at somebody's expense. One night they made a raid on Peter's potato banks and very much upset him. He was both angry and mortified. He had been reared among gentlemen and was too kind-hearted to name things harshly. Catharine, his wdfe, was not so consid- erate. She was bold in declaring that one who took what did not belong to him was guilty of stealing, and was a straight-out thief, white or black. Mrs. Mellen was distressed, and gave good religious advice to the culprits, sweetly counselling against wrong- doing, and quoting Scripture to weld the truth. Inno- cence, guilt, and penitence played hide and seek in eyes and faces. Every mother had given good advice and mapped a straight and royal road, a king's highway, for her son to travel while at school. The ugly breaks always occurred at night, that season friendly to unmannered deeds. The next morning the 172 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. boys awoke betimes. Their lynx-eyed interest stimulated early waking if not early rising. Catharine made up the beds and sounded first note of the rampage. This afforded keenest delight. Of course, the boys slept in perfect ignor- ance of any night-hawks, and joined Catharine in honest condemnation of the rascals and the deeds. The serious part all lay in Professor Mellen's lecture. It was sure and without parley. He made good the losses to Peter, and requested the boys in future to take potatoes from his banks and let Peter's alone. They never again troubled Peter's potatoes, but they had fun in other vent- ures. They kept promises to Professor Mellen, but he had neither the art nor inclination to list offences, and the avenues of mischief opened in too many ways to be effectually guarded. About the first of July the session closed with two or three days of public examinations, a big public dinner, compositions, and speeches. The girls w^ere as smart and pretty as could be found anywhere, and read their com- positions as sweetly as girls ever could read them. They of course swept the whole range of poetry, music, philoso- phy, science, and nature. The speeches must be emphasized. Demosthenes prac- ticed speaking on the seashore ; Cicero practiced in his quiet home in Tusculum ; but the boys in this school prac- ticed in the woods and in the Academy. Two or more would go together over the hills and declaim and criticise pieces selected for entertainments. When they appeared upon the rostrum before the public they were inspired by the sentiments and spirit of their pieces. The walls and ceiling lifted away, and the Senate Chambers opened with distinguished company of immortal statesmen. The weight of mightiest problems of state and destiny rested PROFESSOR SETH SMITH MELLEN. 173 upon the youthful orators. They became the re-incarna- tion of the mighty dead, and uttered, as if the words were born in their own brains, the eloquent arguments of the fiery orators of the past. Professor Mellen spent a few years in college work as co-president of Tuskaloosa Female College, but he rightly concluded that his best work was with young men whose ambition to make studies the stepping-stones to higher things called forth the happiest exercise of his consecrated intelligence, indomitable energies, courteous manners, generous sympathies, and versatile scholarship. In recognition of his abilities and attainments the University of Alabama conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws. He died on May 30, 1893, and is buried in Livingston, where he spent the last decade of his life. Beside him sleep the remains of his devoted wdfe, whom the boys loved for her tender kindnesses and gentle courtesies. The restless spirit of this utilitarian age is questioning the merits of education acquired in the old academies. When love of culture and devotion to highest ideals in moral and intellectual life shall again be the standard of excellence in human attainments, the old academies will be re-established in retired country environments; and the best of these academies will be guided by men whose hearts and brains and habits are invested with the quali- ties that make enduring the influence of such friends and counsellors of youth as was Dr. Seth Smith Mellen. CHAPTER XXIV. REFORMS AND REFORMERS. The coming of ministers of the Gospel and the estab- hshment of churches constituted the most powerful and most lasting agencies of reform. Long before Alabama donned the habiliments of statehood, clergymen were traversing the country, and holding religious services in private homes and under forest trees. The Roman Catholics were among the colonists from their first settlement, and the record of their church forms the strongest factor in the civilization and Christianiza- tion of the Indians and early inhabitants. Their original dominancy was broken only by the brief supremacy of the English from 1763 to 1780. The population was largely of French and Spanish blood, and naturally adopted the creed of the fathers across the waters. The more rapid influx of the English introduced a large Protestant element, and prepared the way for the estab- lishment of Protestant churches. Probably the first Protestant sermon preached to the '• Bigbee " settlers was that of Lorenzo Dow in 1803. Dow was an eccentric Englishman, a Methodist, and he trav- elled through the wilds of this new country, preaching at the several settlements as he made his rounds. He some- times took with him his wife, Peggy, and their writings give a singular picture of erratic yet consecrated lives, and w^eave many thrilling and romantic experiences of the wilderness and its denizens. 174 REFORMS AND REFORMERS. 175 The two aggressive and omnipresent churches were the Methodist and the Baptist. These began regular work about 1808, and they have outstripped all others in the number of communicants gathered into their member- ship, and in the spreading of the religion of Christ. Their ministers lived among the people, and became thoroughly imbued with their sympathies. Many of them were un- cultured, but they were naturally eloquent and possessed of great strength of character ; the protracted meetings in towns and villages, and the camp-meetings in the country, were seasons of great religious awakenings. On these occasions several ministers would gather together, often from distant fields of labor, and would preach from day to day to congregations made up of people who had also gathered from near and far. The Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and other denomi- nations helped on the great work of Christianizing the people. No matter how much w^ealth and social prestige attended the homes of the pioneers in their native States, their church buildings in this New World were almost without exception constructed of poles cut from the sur- rounding forests. As the country developed, and saw- mills began to convert timber into scantlings and planks, better buildings took the places of the old, and many of these in turn have given way to the magnificent brick and stone churches of to-day. In those humble churches of the long ago were born the inspirations of a grand people who have never been found wanting when duty called. In 1802, in Worcester, Massachusetts, was born Miss Dorothea Lynde Dix. Miss Dix was left an orphan, and upon reaching womanhood she became so much in- terested in unfortunates and criminals that she visited 176 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Miss Dorothea L. Dix. Europe in order to investigate the treatment of pris- oners, paupers, and insane. Investigation added to her enthusiasm, and when she returned home she made a tour of the States to effect the estabhshment of asy- lums and hospitals. She visited Alabama during the session of the General Assembly in 1849 and 1850, and pleaded for the founding of an asylum for the insane. On Febru- ary 6, 1852, the General Assembly established the Alabama Insane Hospital. Through the efforts of Miss Dix the United States Congress, in 1854, passed a bill appropriating 10,000,000 acres of land for the endowment of hospitals for the indigent insane; ^^^^ but the bill was vetoed by President IP^ \ Pierce. Miss Dix was Superintend- ' ^ l|f ent of Hospital Nurses in the Federal Army during the war of 1861 to 1865. She wrote several commend- able works, among them Prisons mid Prison Discipline. She died in 1887. By her recommendation Dr. Peter - Bryce was appointed Superintendent of the Alabama Insane Hospital, which opened its doors for patients on April 5, 1861. Dr. Bryce was eminently qualified for the high trust imposed upon him. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina, on March 5, 1834, and was educated at the South Carolina Military Academy, but winning the Met- Dr. Peter Bryce. REFORMS A^D REFORMERS. 177 calf Prize for scholarship and taking his Doctor of Medi- cine degree from the University of New York in 1859. He pursued his studies in Europe, giving special atten- tion to diseases of the mind. He was for short periods connected with the Insane Hospitals of South Carohna and New^ Jersey. Upon coming to Alabama in 1860, he brought with him his bride and the spirit of research. He was an omnivorous reader, and a good judge of men and their Alabama Bryce Insane Hospital. character. The war coming immediately upon the open- ing of the hospital, he managed to maintain and support it during the four years of hostilities, to carry it through the troubles of " Reconstruction," and bring it out with the reins of supervision in his own hands. The hospital soon became noted over the world for its advanced methods of treating patients. There was entire abolition of all means of mechanical restraint. No camisoles, strait-jackets, manacles, or crib bedsteads w^ere used to control the 12 178 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. excited insane. Dr. Bryce exercised masterly skill both in the scientific and administrative departments. He established an industrial system, giving much out-door employment, keeping everybody busy. Thirty years of contact with all manner of diseased minds and deranged nervous systems gave opportunities for study and obser- vation which he used well. His name was foremost in notable discussions throughout the world on mechanical restraints of the insane, and his hospital was pronounced one of the most comfortable and best adapted in the world. Dr. Bryce won his patients by following the Golden Rule; he did unto them as he would have another do unto him in similar circumstances. He probed into the powers of the criminal insane, and investigated their ability to distinguish right from wrong; and also their moral power to hold to the right and refrain from the wrong. The meed of praise from close acquaintanceship was, " Pure in character and conversation, genial in man- ner, and lovable in disposition, he was a man upon whose brow nature herself had written Gentleman." He held many posts of honor in learned societies. At his death, August 14, 1892, he was President of the American Medico-Psychological Association, composed principally of Superintendents of Insane Hospitals and distinguished alienists and neurologists. In his honor the State has named the institution over which he presided so long the Alabama Bryce Insane Hospital. He left his work to be carried on by Dr. James T. Searcy, the present Super- intendent. A passing tribute is due Dr. J. Hal, Johnson, who secured the foundation of the beautiful Institute for the Deaf and Dumb in Talladega. This school was REFORMS AND REFORMERS. 179 founded in 1857, and has grown steadily in numbers and efficiency. It is still flourishing, being at present under the charge of Dr. J. H. John- son, the son of the founder. Under the same principal are the Academy for the Blind (1887) and also the School for the Negro Deaf Mutes and Blind (1891). In 1883, Messrs. Reginald H. Dawson, W. D. Lee, and Dr. A. T. Henley were ap- Reginald h. Dawson, pointed commissioners to in- spect the convict system of the State. They were em- powered to regulate the treatment of convicts by their employers. Before this time there was no system about the working or the hiring of State prisoners. These gentlemen began thorough inspections. They would appear in mines, camps, and other convict quarters with- out any warning to employers, and thus learn the true conditions surrounding the State's prisoners. They effected reforms in many ways, compelling more humane treatment, better clothing, better rations, and strict regard to health laws. They systematized the whole business of hiring and overlooking the prisoners, and organized intelligent order out of the chaotic confusion of former disorder. To them must be traced the origin of methods of prison reforms that have given to Alabama a just pride in the enlightened treatment of her criminal classes. A most ardent worker for prison reforms is Miss Julia Tutwiler, whose care for the redemption of all classes of unfortunates has distinguished her labors for many years. Her far-sightedness has anticipated so many reforms that 180 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. it is not easy to select those with which she has not been in some way connected. Her great work has been in the school-room and in the management of the Livingston Normal College for Girls, lifting all who come under her influence into higher conceptions of life and its avenues to usefulness and happiness ; in the opening of all State schools for the education of girls, and in the establishment of the Girls' Industrial School at Montevallo. Dr. J. Marion Sims created a new field of surgery. His successful treatment of diseases that had hitherto defied the skill of the surgical world placed him among the great benefactors of the human race. Not only in Mont- gomery, but in New York and Paris, he won the distinc- tion of being the greatest surgeon in the world. Dr. Jerome Cochran, for eighteen years the State Health Physician, ranks among the strong men of the age. Born and reared in Mississippi, educated between the plow- handles and in the old-field schools, he acquired early the sturdy habits of investigation and independent con- clusions. He married Miss Sarah Jane Collins just as he reached manhood, and two years later he was graduated from the Botanico - Medical College of Memphis, Tennessee. Not satis- fied with the principles and prac- ' tice taught by this school, he en- tered the University of Nashvil]< completed the required course: '^-^^ __^^"^ ^^^^ obtained official appoini Dr. Jerome Cochran. ^^^^^ ^^ duties in the University. He served during the inter- state war as contract physician and surgeon at Marion and Tuskaloosa, and "when the bloody strife was over," he REFOBMS AND REFOHMEkS. 181 settled in Mobile (1865). Dr. George A. Ketchum gives a graphic picture of Dr. Cochran in a modest office and in rather shabby attire, waiting patiently but studiously for the honors and emoluments of the future; for Dr. Cochran went to Mobile poor, unknown, and without friends, but with the confidence that merit would win support in that city of beautiful homes and intelligent citizens. By the courtesy of Dr. Ketchum he became a member of the Medical Society of Mobile, and soon in- gratiated himself with the profession and the public. In 1870, Dr. Cochran began to publish articles on public hygiene in the Mobile Register. His " Origin and Prevention of Endemic and Epidemic Diseases of Mobile " attracted wide attention. As health-officer of the city he combated with remarkable vigor and success the spread of small-pox and yellow fever in 1873 and 1874. As Secretary of the State Medical Association he studied closely the needs of a strong organization empowered with authority to protect the health and lives of the people. To this end he drafted the Constitution of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, committing the medi- cal profession to a more thorough study of medical botany, topography, and climatology. His profound knowledge anticipated the regeneration of the medical profession in its legal, ethical, and educational relationship. His plan for the organization of the medical profession challenges the world for a superior in " wisdom of conception, logical arrangement, completeness of detail, abundance of fruit already borne and to be borne." It was rejected by the State Medical Association at Montgomery in 1870, at Mobile in 1871, and at Huntsville in 1872 ; but it was overwhelmingly adopted at Tuskaloosa in 1873. The machinery of the plan embraced : 1st. A College 182 SKETCHES OF ALABA3IA HISTORY. of Counsellors with one hundred members ; 2d. A Board of Censors composed of ten counsellors ; 3d. County Medi- cal Societies. Great stress was laid upon the organizing and upbuild- ing of County Medical Societies, for through them was expected the principal support of the whole system. Each county, city, and town has been constituted an original body, with power to put in motion the laws of health, backed and supported by the authority of the State. Through the organization, the public health system of Alabama has been protected against the introduction and spread of yellow fever and other diseases. Its records are among the most valuable historical papers of the State. Dr. Cochran w^as a member of the sub-committee of experts on the " Origin, Cause, and Distinctive Features of Yellow Fever and Cholera," and his report to the Senate and House of Representatives in 1878 was adopted with scarcely a change. He was elected State Health-officer on April 11, 1879. Dr. Cochran was born December 4, 1834; he died August 17, 1896. A life comparatively brief in years, but in results co-eval with the centuries. Robert Burns truthfully wrote " Man's inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn." Alabama has risen above this charge, and has woven the bands of enlightened sympathy about her wayward boys. She has realized the wrong of thrusting youthful offenders against her laws into companionship with the hardened criminals of mature years. She has established a Boys' Industrial School and Farm near East Lake, where REFORMS AND REFORMERS. 183 young culprits may be placed and redeemed from the vices of evil associations ; where careful supervision, firm management, kindly interest, regular employment in school and labor on the farm, cleanliness and courtesy, may develop whatever of latent good abides in the heart of the youthful offender. This crown of wise and humane legislation is the fruit of the untiring efforts and the great mother sympathies of Mrs. R. / D. Johnston of Birmingham, \ .-'" who for some years has been ^^~^^ r.'d. johrston. writing, speaking, begging, and urging the State to establish a home for the neglected boys of Alabama. She has before public assemblies. State legislatures, and private friends, pleaded the cause of the boys, " the stuff that men are made of, " until the General Assembly of Alabama on Feb. 23, 1899, granted its en- dorsement by legal enactment creating the home. It granted over $3000 at first, but the good women interested secured for the holy cause property in outfit and lands that was worth many times this amount, and made a showing so commendable as to get $15,000 from the succeeding Legislature. Already the people feel the beneficial results of the home, and as money and creature comforts pour into its endowments and redeem for useful manhood the boys committed to its protection and loving instruction, the profits to citizenship will inspire a pro- founder reverence for the State, and w411 perpetuate in grateful benedictions and enlarged sympathies the memo- ries of those who helped to build the home. CHAPTER XXV. I. ALABAMA IN GEOGRAPHY AND IN INDUSTRIES. Alabama occupies a favorable geographical position. Its northern boundary juts against Tennessee ; Georgia skirts its eastern limits, and Mississippi its western; Florida and the Gulf of Mexico bound it on the south. The Tennessee River enters the northeastern corner, and sweeps with majestic current down through the rich grain- producing counties of Jackson and Marshall, and skirts the borders of Madison, Morgan, Limestone, Lawrence, Col- bert, and Lauderdale, passing out in the extreme north-west on its voyage to the Ohio. The Tombigbee enters from Mississippi on the west, a few miles below Columbus, and, having gathered into steamers the cotton and other agri- cultural products of Pickens, Sumter, Greene, Marengo, Choctaw, western Clarke, and Washington Counties, bears them to the beautiful Gulf Port on the bay. It is joined, just above Demopolis, by the Black Warrior, wafting barges of coal and vessels freighted with the products of farms from Hale, Tuskaloosa, and Greene Counties. The Alabama, like the great aorta in the human system, flows through the heart of the State, bearing the multi- plied products of teeming farms and thrifty factories, and delivers to markets the immense cotton crops of Mont- gomery, Autauga, Lowndes, Dallas, AVilcox, eastern Clarke, Monroe, and Baldwin Counties. The Coosa extends several hundred miles to the northeast, and is fed by navigable branches that reach far into Georgia. Its obstructions to 184 ALABAMA IN GEOGRAPHY AND IN INDUSTRIES. 185 navigation will gradually yield to the national dollar, and then its tributes from regions rich in agriculture and bounteous in minerals will float upon its bosom into the lordly Alabama and find a highway to the sea. The Chattahoochee, coming from Georgia, strikes Ala- bama at West Point, and takes a southerly course between the two States. Joining the Flint, about twenty -five miles above the Florida line, it forms the Appalachicola, which aff"ords a passage-way to the large steamers of the Gulf. The Tallapoosa flows from Georgia and unites with the Coosa to form the Alabama. It is not navigable, but aff'ords fine water-power for machinery. Its falls and rapids are full of beauty. It blends the romantic history of victorious Anglo-Saxon and less skilful savages. The Choctawhatchee, Escambia, Conecuh, Sipsey, Noxu- bee, and other small rivers impart richness to the soil along their banks, and await congressional appropriations to be widened into channels for boats. No high mountains are within the State. The Appa- lachian System tapers from Lookout Mountain until lost in Bibb and Tuskaloosa Counties, offering wonderful variety of hill and valley, rocky gorges, and waterfalls, overlooking plains that stretch away into the blue dis- tance, and furnishing homes for a hardy race of people. Sand-hills pass south eastward ly from Choctaw County, giving many miles of rugged hills and enchanting land- scapes. Huge rocks and caves, winding streams, and towering trees give delightful relief to the sweep of river valleys and receding lowlands. The State extends a little more than three hundred miles from north to south, and a little less than two hundred miles from east to west. It contains fifty -two thousand two hundred and fifty-one square miles of area. 186 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Its soils are of every variety, from the poor sand-hills to the rich alluvial river-bottoms. Its crops embrace nearly everything to be found in the Temperate Zone and many things of the tropics. Its forests and minerals, its climate and agricultural resources have imparted diversity of pursuits, and brought consequent variety in industries. It is divided into four great belts — the Cereal, the Mineral, the Cotton, and the Timber Belts. The Cereal Belt comprises the eight most northern counties. It spans the State from east to west, and embraces the Valley of the Tennessee with its tributaries. No section of the State is more charming in the variety of scenery, the fertility of soil, and the salubrity of climate. Mountains temper the heat of summer and break the cold of winter. Grains and grasses are of marvellous yield. Cotton thrives. Hardy orchard fruits and magnificent vineyards respond bounteously to intelligent cultivation. Wild fruits are exuberant in variety and quantity. Stock- raising is profitable. Superb water-power and abundant fuel-supply have long sustained factories. Huntsville, Florence, Decatur, and Sheffield throb with iron-furnaces and other industrial enterprises, while schools and churches, press and people give evidence of prosperity and social virtues. The Mineral Belt lies immediately to the south of the Cereal. It embraces twenty-eight counties and contains nearly every mineral known to man. It covers one-third the area of the entire State. Its soil is not so generally productive as that of the Cereal and Cotton Belts, but in some sections it yields liberally both wild and cultivated products. Everything grown elsewhere in North Alabama finds more or less thrift when tried in favored portions of the Mineral Belt. Not in agriculture, however, does the ALABAMA TN GEOGRAPHY AND IN INDUSTRIES. 187 region claim distinction. Its exhaustless mineral wealth has been the talisman for capital. The geological reports of Professor Michael Tuomey, made many years ago, corroborated estimates of vast mineral deposits stored in hills and valleys ; but agriculture put its spell upon the people from the very first settlement, and lulled the spirit of diversified industrial progress. Property was largely in Picking- Cotton. slaves, and agriculture conduced to the health The freedom of the Upon the surrender of officers promptly seized 1 Southerners had stored Cotton had been locked not only produced wealth, but it and happiness of the slaves. slaves produced many changes. the Confederate armies, Federal arge portions of whatever products away for the markets of peace, from the world by the blockades 188 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. of war, and immediately commanded exorbitant prices. The high prices invited its production to the neglect of other crops and the abandonment of other business. Everything bowed to " King Cotton." It brought more than two hundred and fifty dollars a bale. Farmers imported plows, wagons, stock, and even corn and meat. Cotton began to depreciate in price. It dropped to twenty-five dollars a bale. Conditions became serious. Debts grew. An old farmer said that people were planting cotton so that they might mortgage the crops to buy corn on credit. The " one crop " theory was found to be a mis- take. It did not bring relief from the bondage of debt. The spirit of inquiry developed. Agents from abroad told the stories of mines and factories supplying the nations with articles of comfort and luxury. A few far-sighted men had braved the impressions of the times, and entered other lines of business. Mr. Daniel Pratt, after whom Prattville is named, had grown immensely wealthy in the manufacture of ; cotton-gins and the coarser prod- ucts of the loom. His son-in-law, Mr. H. F. DeBardeleben, imbued with the spirit of new enterprise, opened mines and planted fur- naces in the Mineral Belt, bring- ing a brighter future within the Daniel Pratt. vision of development. Other gentlemen of like enterprise saw the avenues to commercial and industrial independence through mining and manufacturing. Furnaces, foundries, factories, mills, and machine-shops began to work up the raw material of dormant wealth. Coal-fields, iron-mines, BIRMINGHAM. 189 and quarries for lime and granite invited capital. It was discovered that nowhere else in the world were conditions more favorable for the manufacture of iron. The ores were practically exhaustless, and were contiguous to lime and coal in such enormous quantities as to bewilder the most conservative scientists. A new order of things set its seal upon the destinies of the people. Cities and Entrance to Coal-mine at Adg-er. villages sprang into existence. Railroads threaded the State. Life and energy were enkindled. The most wonderful object-lesson of the new order of enterprise is to be learned from the growth and importance of Bir- mingham, the " Magic City " of Mineral Alabama. II. BIRMINGHAM. In 1816 the United States Government donated to an insane asylum in Hartford, Connecticut, a large tract of land in what is now Jefferson County, Alabama. The 190 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. trustees of the asylum sent a Mr. William Ely to select the land and commit its profits to the objects intended by the national grant. Mr. Ely secured to his own use a portion of the land, and with business foresight began the build- ing of a town. He had the good fortune of getting the court-house established on his own town site. The town was named Elyton, after its founder, and for half a century formed the centre of a sturdy, prosperous community. In flush times it drew trade from a large section of surrounding country. Its hotels and stores, its court-house, its offices of lawyers and doctors, its schools, churches, and private residences were the pride and com- fort of intelligent and thrifty citizens. W. A. Walker, Sr., Judge William S. Mudd, Colonel Joseph Hickman, Doctor Joseph R. Smith, and others were among the early resi- dents, and their descendants still contribute to the support and advancement of business and to the social stability of the community. The court-house was burned in 1870. The Alabama Great Southern and the Louisville and Nashville Rail- roads crossed each other nearly two miles to the east. The petition of citizens to have the court-house rebuilt near the crossing, in what is now Birmingham, was formally endorsed by the General Assembly in 1871 ; an event which the local bard commemorates by lines beginning — "In eighteen hundred and seventy-one, When Birmingham was Elyton." The first house in Birmingham, except the historic old blacksmith shop, had its foundations laid August 8, 1871. In December following the city was incorporated with twelve hundred inhabitants, eighteen two-story brick stores, thirty frame houses, and with contracts for a large number BIRMINGHAM. 191 of buildings for various purposes. Colonel James R. Powell, the " Duke of Birmingham," as president of the Elyton Land Company, was at this time giving his energies and far-sighted wisdom to the building of the city. The streets and avenues were admirably planned for simplicity and symmetry. Agents sent by capitalists confirmed the marvellous estimates of mineral wealth. It has been conceded that the Warrior, Cahaba, and Coosa coal-fields contain coal enough to form a block ten feet thick that will cover more than four thousand square miles of area, furnishing more than forty-two billion tons of coal for available use — enough to last more than eleven thousand years at the rate of ten thousand tons a day. A mountain of iron, twenty -five miles long, skirts Bir- mingham on the south ; lime and rock quarries abound. The world felt the throb of the mighty life and the vast possibilities of Birmingham. Wealth poured into it. Skill and enterprise gathered to its bosom. Railroads multi- plied. Furnaces and foundries were built. Population rushed in so rapidly that health regulations could not be observed. Cholera broke out and put a brief check upon the inrush of people and capital ; but regeneration and renewed confidence turned back to this beautiful region of mineral wealth admittedly equal to the richest in the world. A bird's-eye view from Red Mountain fills one with mighty conclusions as he notes the sweep of Jones Valley and the restless city, with roll of cars bringing in and carrying out passengers and freight, with smoke-stacks telling of the transmutation of ores into products for the use of man, with moving masses of people, and the thrum of a thousand industries. The flare of furnaces and the roar of ponderous machinery give strange impressions of 192 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. progress and power. The proud Indian who looked years ago from this mountain over the far-reaching valley must have felt thrills of wildest pleasure as the view broke upon his gaze; and the white man's aggression must have given him a deeper sorrow as he looked for the last time upon scenes of such rare beauty and loveliness, and recognized them to be passing into the possession of an- other race. In the city and throughout the Birmingham District there is a wonderful list of industries. Numerous blast- furnaces are in operation. Immense cotton-gin factories Plant of the Continental Gin Company. and cotton-mills, with nearly every other industry that occupies the attention of a vigorous and intelligent peo- ple, are a part of the organic life of Birmingham. Ice factories, transfer companies, magnificent dry-goods and general supply stores, cotton compresses and oil mills, lumber firms, factories for the manufacture of furniture, of bicycles, of fertilizers, of car-wheels, of sugar-mill ma- chinery, of Corliss and other engines, and of immense BIRMINGHAM. 193 electric power-houses help the aggregate of the many-sided material industries; while schools, churches, hospitals, literary and social clubs foster spiritual life and the higher sympathies of humanity. All denominations worship in beautiful churches, and engage able talent for their pulpits. Nowhere else can be found more enthusiastic members of churches, giving more abundantly of labors and money, time and prayers, to every cause that calls for consecrated services. A magnificent foundation for public school instruction is seen in the elegant school buildings in different portions of the city. The Methodist College at Owen ton, Howard College and the Athenseum at East Lake, the Pollock- Stephens Institute and the Birmingham Seminary, with Holy Angels Academy, and excellent small private schools, impart tone to the intellectual life. The annual music festivals give proof of high culture in the divine art of music, while studios display the products of brush and pencil guided by the taste of genius. Newspapers and periodicals catch the facts and impulses of the passing hours and impress them upon the hearts and minds of the people, giving them as evidence of the growth and character of public opinion. The Hillman and St. Vin- cent Hospitals, with numerous private sanitariums, dis- pense gentle services to the sick and suffering. The water-supply is ample for a population of two hun- dred and fifty thousand, and it is probable that new water-works may bring into the city the pure, sparkling water of the Gate City Artesian wells. Street railways link East Lake, Woodlawn, Avondale, Ensley, Pratt City, West End, Thomas, and Bessemer, beautiful suburban villages and neighboring cities, with Birmingham, and furnish easy access to parks and springs nestling in every 13 194 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. direction and inviting to pure water and rural outings. The springs are wonderfully interesting. One is forty-five feet deep where it first rises from the earth. Rolling away through a rustic milk-house it imparts a dehghtfuUy pleasant effect. Great trunk-lines of railroad furnish ample freight and passenger facilities to all points of the compass. Ship- Hawkins' Spring". ments of iron unload in the ports of England, China, Japan, and other world powers, bringing to Birmingham manufacturers large bills of exchange — the crowning ex- pression of the beautiful in art. The practical manufacture of steel began in 1897. Mil- lions of dollars have since poured into the establishment of steel and by-product plants, and efi'ected the manu- facture of basic steel on a large scale in the Birmingham BIRMINGHAM. 195 District. Millions of dollars have followed for other in- vestments. Pretty homes and beautiful macadamized roads emphasize the prosperity of the region. The inex- haustible supplies of iron and coal and lime, in convenient juxtaposition, form the chief sources of wealth and busi- ness, but although only thirty years old (1901), and with multitudinous material conveniences and money-produc- ing developments, Birmingham blends with her matchless steel Plant at Ensley. progress social, religious, educational, and civic pleasures and enlargement. Possibly no other city of its size is so free from envy and enmity and the vices that foster gossip. Good feeling prevails. Good things evoke thought and conversation. Too many enterprises invite contemplation to allow time to be wasted over the insipid nothings of life. Buoyant, hopeful, energetic, aggressive, the people are vigorously concocting plans " for the glorious privilege of being independent," and for helping every noble work of humanity. 196 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. When one considers the rapid growth of Birmingham, its enormous mineral regions of wealth calling for labor, genius, and capital, its splendid churches, its magnificent schools, its institutions of charity, its intelligent, high- toned citizens, its furnaces and factories, its shops and mills, its broad streets and avenues, its commercial ex- pansion, its beautiful suburban villages, its climatic sa- lubrity, its railroads, its public domes and private homes, its exports, its possibilities, there is no wonder that the world poured capital, men, women, and children, confi- dence, blessings, and hopes into the scales of its prosperity, and joined Alabama in making it the " Magic City." When it is considered further that Tuskaloosa, Fort Payne, Gadsden, Decatur, Sheffield, Florence, Huntsville, and many smaller places of North Alabama are as lesser diamonds in the circlet of its glory, that among these satellites Birmingham sits "as the moon among lesser stars," some idea can be formed of the great future that awaits the regions of Mineral Alabama. III. THE COTTON BELT. The Cotton Belt embraces seventeen counties of central Alabama. It is far-famed as the Black Belt, so named from the prevalent black prairie lands covering the greater portion of it. It is one of the finest agricultural regions in the world. The lands are full of lime and very pro- ductive. They early attracted planters with large capital for investment, and have therefore been the home of the wealthy class. The poorer settlers who originally entered portions of the Black Belt were bought out by the wealthy, and removed to the hills and sandy soils in other sections. The large plantations were filled with slaves, who made the region possibly the most celebrated in history -for THE COTTON BELT. 197 luxuriant homes in the midst of rural plenty. Thus the Black Belt became synonymous with intelligent wealth and political power. It has largely dominated the politi- cal history of the State. It has ever been the centre of social life. Few scenes compare wdth a w^ell-managed Black Belt farm in summer. The fine dw^elling-house of the o^vner stands in a yard of flowers. Servants' houses and barns Residence of Peter Weir, Esq., in northern portion of Sumter County. for stock and storage fringe the rear. Farther away are negro cabins giving relief to the shimmering green of nature. Fields of corn and cotton stretch away as far as the eye can see, waving to the brush of breezes and glint- ing in the smiles of sunshine. Tassel and flow^er form pictures of plenty in the coming harvests. Hedge-row^s of mock-orange enhance the beaut}^ and fence from tres- pass. Songs of gladness welling from hearts of happy laborers, and timed to the stroke of hoes and the roll of 198 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. furrows, rise like pseans and benedictions. There is an indescribable charm in the blending of so much beauty of scene and song of gladness ; a charm enhanced a thou- sand-fold by the consciousness that all this expression of life subserves the highest wants of man and surrounds him with the comforts essential to happiness. The luxuries and leisure attending prosperous planting often filled the old homes with congenial company. Opulent families from the Carolinas, Virginia, and Georgia, launch- ing upon the tide of emigration, settled within a radius of a few miles from some other neighbor who had preceded in purchase and settlement. It thus happened that life- long friends were reunited in associations and cemented more closely in sympathies and common interests. These conditions naturally developed social intercourse. Fine horses and carriages made delightfully exhilarating the rides from home to home in the summer seasons, and often tempted neighbors to risk the "bottomless" roads of winter. A royal spirit brooded over everything. Hos- pitality was open and abundant. Courtesies were as delicate and sure as in the most chivalrous homes of the Old World, and were dispensed with grace as natural and spontaneous as ever guided lord or lady. The servants took pride in the hospitalities of families and by thought- ful courtesies added to the pleasures of visits. The social spirit has descended from father to son and from mother to daughter. It lives to-day and reveals in manner and language the elevating influences of intelli- gent and careful rearing in homes of refinement and culture. A dense negro population still occupies this region. Cotton is yet the main crop for market, the yield being a little more than half the entire crop of the State. The THE COTTON BELT. 199 annual average of cotton is about seven hundred thousand bales, and the market value of the cotton crop of the Cotton Belt is about twenty million dollars. About half the corn produced in Alabama is raised in this region. Diversity of crops has given impetus to many experiments, and has proved the adaptability of the soil and seasons to numerous food-crops, so that now Typical Negro Cabin. the tendency is to make the food-crops sustain the farms and improve the stock. Not only diversified tillage and stock-raising have become permanent factors in the in- creasing prosperity of the people, but cotton-mills, facto- ries, and lumber-mills are numerous and successful. Montgomery, the capital of the State, is the principal city. It is nestled on the left bank of the Alabama River 200 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. on a high bluff, which the Indians called Clmnnanugga Chattee, which means " the red high bluff." It was in- corporated on December 3, 1818, and became the capital of the State in 1846. It was named for General Richard Montgomery, who fell in battle against the British at Quebec. It has wide., beautifully paved streets, with oaks and magnolias overshading the sidewalks. Pretty resi- dences, surrounded by groves and embowered in flowers and shrubbery, impart beauty and quiet dignity to the city. The Capitol stands on a high hill and overlooks the surrounding scenery. General Thomas S. Woodward tells us that Andrew Dexter of Massachusetts purchased lands about Mont- gomery at the Milledgeville Sale, and had a Mr. Hall survey them for a town ; that J. G. Klinck was granted the first choice of a lot and the privilege of naming the town, which he called New Philadelphia ; that Klinck was the first merchant to do business in the town, and said, as he cut down an oak on his lot, " This is the first tree— future ages will tell the tale" ; that Alabama Town adjoining was founded by the Scott and Bibb Company, and secured the court-house; that the two towns w^ere united afterward, and Klinck named the new town Montgomery ; that Arthur Moore built and lived in the first house in Mont- gomery. From such crude beginnings has grown beautiful and historic Montgomery. It is environed by rich farming lands, which lay annually at her feet more than a hundred and fifty thousand bales of cotton and abundant supplies of grains, fruits, and vegetables. It is in the meshes of railroad systems that branch into every section of adjacent territory and span the continent with their great trunk- lines. Commercial energy and industrial interests have th:e timber belt. 201 crowned it with prominence and wealth, and put it in touch with all that is most vital in this mighty age. It has been the breeder of great spirits. The giant orators of ante-bellum days, both in the pulpit and at the bar, wrought upon the hearts of a noble people the lessons of religious virtue, of patriotism and justice, and sounded strains of ambition and political righteousness that " will go sounding through the ages." It is the birthplace of the Confederacy. Abreast of the age in progress and power, in zealous church enterprises, in magnificent school systems, in com- mercial business, and in charitable impulses, it is strong in great achievements and flush with greater hopes. May Fortune from a full horn continue to pour blessings upon this the capital city of Alabama. The Timber Belt includes thirteen counties in Southern Alabama. It is in that region of the South which has been pronounced '• the most heavily wooded section of the civilized world, unless it be the uncleared portions of Canada." Its forests contain pine, oak, hickory, beech, ash, cypress, cedar, dogwood, sweet gum, elm, magnolia, bay, poplar, maple, sassafras, in fact, nearly all the woods to be found in temperate and semi-tropical regions. An im- mense lumber business sends out annually millions of feet of lumber to the coast points of America and to ports of foreign countries. Vast shipments of naval stores go from the pine forests of this section. Capitalists at home and abroad have appreciated the value of our timber wealth and have invested many millions of dollars in purchasing the lands and constructing mills and railroads, and in placing upon the markets of the world a great variety of woods in addition to immense naval stores, "tar, pitch, 202 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. and turpentine " — the bounteous by-products of the Ala- bama forests. The Belt produces about one hundred thousand bales of cotton annually, and is admirably adapted in soil and climate to truck farming and general food-crops. Fruits and melons thrive luxuriantly. Every county has valu- able areas of timber, and this section is blessed with soil and conditions that give profitable yield to many varieties of crops. Railroads and rivers interlock in all portions of the State, furnishing ample transit for all products to the markets of the world. The small farms are everywhere. They are the nursery of a strong, patient, hopeful citizen- ship. Few States can compare with Alabama in variety and abundance of agricultural, mineral, and lumber industries. CHAPTEK XXVI. ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1763-1820. That portion of our continental domain lying between latitude 31° and 32° 28' north, and stretching from the Mississippi River to the Chattahoochee, was formed into the Mississippi Territory by act of Congress, approved April 7, 1798. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 confirmed to England all of Spanish Florida and all French territory east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans and the adjacent district of the Island of Orleans. The king of England divided Florida into two provinces, and fixed the northern boundary of West Florida on the line of 31° north, but finding that Natchez and other valuable settlements were to the north of this parallel, he made 32° 28' the northern boundary -line. West Florida then embraced a large portion of Southern Alabama, w^hile the province of Illinois, to the north, embraced the larger section of the upper territory of the State. The line of partition began at the junction of the Yazoo and Missis- sippi Rivers, and passed a little south of Demopolis, a little north of Montgomery, and south of Wetumpka. In 1793, during the Revolutionary War, West Florida was loyal to Great Britain. Spain had for several years maintained a strict neutrality in Louisiana, but Oliver Pollock, of New Orleans, had regularly aided American sympathizers. He is said to have accompanied Captain James Willing to Mobile, carrying for distribution copies 203 204 sketches' OF ALABAMA HISTORY. of the Declaration of Independence. Captain \¥illing had tried without avail along the Mississippi Eiver to arouse interest in the American cause. He was captured at Tensaw and put in irons until exchanged for Colonel Hamilton, of Detroit, in 1779. The supplies from New Orleans to American sympa- thizers show that, though neutral, the Spaniards who held the city wished a check on the British conquerors in the southern colonies. France openly avowed her interest in the American cause. England declared war against her. Spain offered friendly mediation. England rejected the offers, and declared war against Spain. His Catholic Majesty, indignant at such ruthless disregard of his friendly purposes, recognized American independence, and ordered Don Bernardo Galvez, the young and gallant colonel in command at New Orleans, to sweep English authority from Louisiana and Florida. By right of his conquests Spain occupied West Florida. In 1782, at the Treaty of Paris, England acknowledged the independence of the American Colonies, and admitted the southern boundary to be the line of 31° north latitude. A year later, England warranted, without defining the limits of, West Florida to Spain, who claimed possession to 32° 28', the line set twenty years before by England in the division of the provinces. The United States, after a decade of wrangling, forced terms in the Treaty of Madrid, 1795, securing an agreement that the future boundary between the United States and the Floridas should be the 31st parallel of north latitude from the Mississippi east- ward to the Chattahoochee River. Further concessions embraced the opening of the Mississippi to navigation, and the privilege of storing merchandise in warehouses at its mouth. ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1763-1820. 205 Andrew Ellicott, a civil engineer, began running the line of 31° on April 11, 1798. He started near the Mis- sissippi. The next year he finished the survey to St. Ste- phens, and in 1800 completed it to the Chattahoochee. The Spaniards were much astonished when Ellicott's line showed St. Stephens to be in the United States domain. Spanish gentlemen were very angry, and, rather than live under American government, moved down to Mobile, so as to be within Spanish territory. Georgia claimed the Mississippi Territory, except a twelve-mile strip along the northern portion, which belonged to South Carolina. In 1785, she established Houston County out of her portion of Alabama lying north of the Tennessee River. She passed through terrific excitement because of the Yazoo frauds, and though the Yazoo sales embraced large por- tions of Alabama Territory, the}^ efi'ected scarcely anything more than the advertisement of the excellent qualities of its soil and climate. President John Adams appointed Winthrop Sargent, of Massachusetts, the first governor of the Mississippi Territory. By proclamation, April 2, 1799, Governor Sargent divided the district of Natchez into two counties — Adams and Pickering. On June 4, 1800, by proclamation, he established Washington County, including in its bounds all the region between 31° and 32° 28', lying between the Pearl and the Chattahoochee Rivers. This was the largest county ever created. From its original territory have been formed twenty-nine counties in Alabama and sixteen in Mississippi. One of the nine representatives that met at Natchez in General Assembly, on the first Monday in December, 1800, w^as from the new county of Washington. This Assembly 206 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. was the first body of representative white men that ever met to make laws for the territory embracing Alabama. Governor Sargent's dogmatic measures created dissatis- faction. President Jefferson, in ISOl, appointed in his stead William C. C. Claiborne, of Tennessee, a native Vir- ginian, whose marked talents, w^ide experience, fine address, and integrity of character made him popular and useful. During Governor Claiborne's incumbency, the Legisla- ture adopted for the use of the territory the first regular code of laws embodying forms of judicial procedures ; the treaty of Fort Confederation with the Choctaws confirmed cession of all land between the Tombigbee and Mobile Rivers on the east, and the Chickasa- hay River on the west, south of Hatchee-Tickibee Bluff on the Tombigbee; the United States, in 1802, paid to Georgia $1,250,000 for the transfer of all her claims to lands within the Mississippi Territory, thereby setting at rest long- standing and vexatious quar- rels between the Federal Government and plucky little Georgia ; 35° was made the northern boundary of the territory ; with General James "Wilkinson as joint-com- missioner ; Governor Claiborne received, on behalf of the United States, December 20, 1803, the formal transfer of Louisiana from France, the purchase of this immense Louisiana territory having been concluded with Napoleon on April 30th of this year. Spain had transferred Lou- isiana back to France in 1801. When the United States Wm. C. C. Claiborne. ALABA3IA IN POLITICS, 1763-1820. 207 closed the Louisiana Purchase, Spain claimed reserve of the Mobile District lying south of 31° and stretching from the Mississippi to the Perdido River. General Wilkinson figured conspicuously in the early history of the Southwest. Assisted by Benjamin Hawkins and Andrew Pickens, of South Carolina, he made valuable treaties with the Chickasaws, Choctaws, and Creeks. He built Fort Adams and captured Mobile from the Spaniards. He was suspected of using his office under the United States for his personal monetary business advancement ; of conspiracy to separate Kentucky from the United States and ally it with Spain ; of complicity with Burr's suspected plans against both Spain and the United States ; but trial before court-martial cleared him, although abundant evidence of his guilt was furnished by Daniel Clark, his commercial agent at New Orleans. Wilkinson managed to hold high office and to stand high in public esteem until death, but the historian Gayarre, years afterward, unearthed his crafty and criminal correspondence with Spanish officials, and fastened the guilty charges upon his name. Washington County was erected into the Tombigbee Judicial District, and President Jefferson appointed Hon- orable Harry Toulmin its first United States Judge. Judge Toulmin entered upon the discharge of his duties in 1804 at Wakefield, near Mcintosh's Bluff, a village he named in honor of Goldsmith's Vicar. He contributed much to the early development of the legal spirit in the Southwest. He inspired his fellow-countrymen to love justice and the nobler arts of peace. He was a native Englishman, driven from home because, as a clergj^man, he was too free in the expression of political opinions. He settled in Kentucky, was President of Transylvania Uni- 208 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. versity in Lexington, and after four years of service in that exalted office, he was elected Secretary of State. By his masterly statesmanship he attracted the attention of President Jefferson. He represented Baldwin County in the Constitutional Convention of 1819, and compiled the first Digest of the Laws of Alabama. He died at Wake- field in December, 1824. For many years there were neither officers nor clergy- men in the Tombigbee settlements to legalize or solemnize marriages. Couples, desiring to marry, plighted hearts and lives in the presence of friends, and entered matri- mony, agreeing to sanction by due solemnities and rites as soon as preacher or officer should come along. The eccentric English preacher, Lorenzo Dow, passed through the settlements and preached to the people in 1803. On January 26, 1805, Robert Williams, of North Caro- lina, succeeded Governor Claiborne in office. In the same year a part of the Tennessee Valley was acquired from the Chickasaws and Cherokees, and from it was formed, on December 13, 1808, the county of Madison. At Mount Dexter Treaty, near Macon, Mississippi, on November 16, 1805, the Indians granted large cessions of lands, covering the southern portions of Mississippi and Alabama. John Hunt, an adventurous pioneer from Tennessee, built his cabin on the bluff of a bold spring. With his trusty rifle he picked his choice of the wild deer that came to drink of the out-flowing stream. In some way distant friends and others learned of the beautiful region, with fertile soil, mellow climate, and abundant game. Soon other cabins nestled near. Such was the beginning of Huntsville, first named Twickenliam after the home of Alexander Pope, some of whose relatives were among the settlers. But the latter name did not hold, and the ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1763-1820. 209 hardy virtues and strong personality of the original settler perpetuated his name in that of the beautiful city by the Tennessee River. In 1809, Governor Williams was removed from office, having been suspected of connivance at the escape of Burr. He was succeeded by David Holmes, of Virginia. The events of Governor Holmes's administration embrace troubles between the settlers and the Spaniards ; the open- ing of a military road from the Chattahoochee River to Mims Ferry ; the Creek War ; the capture of Mobile from the Spanish ; the English attack on Fort Bowyer, and im- portant Indian treaties. Congress, on March 1, 1817, divided the Mississippi Territory, and two days afterward organized the Terri- tory of Alabama, fixing the seat of government at Fort Stephens, and empowering the President to appoint a governor with authority to convene such members of the late Mississippi Territory as lived within the limits of Alabama. William AVyatt Bibb, of Georgia, was appointed governor by President Monroe. He was able and experi- enced. He called the first Legislature to meet at St. Stephens, January 19, 1818. Mr. James Titus, of Madison, was the only member of the upper house, as he was the only member of the Mississippi Territory Council in Ala- bama. He attended to all the duties of the upper house with marked ceremony, calling the council to order, and passing upon all messages from the lower house with par- liamentary formalities. The lower house consisted of ten members, with Gabriel Moore, of Madison, as chairman. The Spanish and English in Florida instigated the Indians in 1818 to redeem the lands sold and surrendered to the United States. Outrages were committed, but Jack- son's conquests and courts-martial in Florida quieted the 14 210 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Indians, and checked for good the interference of Spanish and English subjects. The next Legislature met at Fort Stephens, November 2 to 21, 1818. Governor Bibb's message condemned the efforts of Mississippi to scoop that portion of Alabama now west of the Tombigbee River and Mobile Bay ; it recom- mended advancement of education ; the establishment of roads and ferries, and the building of bridges. C. C. Clay, Samuel Taylor, Samuel Dale, James Titus, and William L. Adams were elected a committee to locate the capital. Cahawba was made the capitol site, but Huntsville was to be the temporary seat of government until surveys and buildings at Cahawba would render it ready for occupa- tion. Congress authorized the formation of a State Con- stitution in order that the territory might be admitted as a State into the Union. The State Constitutional Conven- tion met in Huntsville on July 5, and on December 14, 1819, Alabama was admitted into the union of States. The original Constitution recognized and protected negro slavery, and granted suffrage to white males twenty-one years old and upward. People poured into the State. Forests fell; houses rose; farms multiplied ; preachers came ; medicine and law flourished ; merchants drove thriving business ; mechanics were busy and were well paid ; the schoolmaster was around, both the ignorant and the learned type ; steam- boat companies were formed ; the university was founded ; newspapers were established ; banks were chartered ; the first State Bank was located in Cahawba, where the Gen- eral Assembly met for that year. Governor William Wyatt Bibb died on July 10, 1820, and his brother, Thomas Bibb, of Limestone, President of the Senate, took his office. CHAPTER XXVII. ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1821-1865. Israel Pickens, who succeeded Governor Thomas Bibb, won the executive office over Dr. Henry Chambers in the elections of 1821 and 1823. Dr. Chambers was brilliant and beloved. In 1825 he was elected ' ^' to the Senate of the United States, and died the jg^g, next year on his way to Washington. A county bears his name. His son. Colonel Hal Chambers, repre- sented Mississippi in the Confederate Congress. His daughter married the son of Governor Thomas Bibb. Israel Pickens possessed high talents, wisdom, and virtue, and gave the State a full share in " the era of good feeling." Relief, through the United States Con- gress, for the embarrassed land-holders, the establishment of the State Bank, and provision for presidential electors to be chosen by the people, marked his term of office. He entertained General LaFayette in 1825, when the people of Alabama greeted with continuous ovations "the nation's guest" in his passage from the Chattahoochee to Mobile. John Murphy, of Monroe, was in office when the capital was removed from slough-begirdled and malaria- blighted Cahaba to Tuskaloosa. The disposition ^^^ of lands belonging to the State University, the ,820. erection of university buildings, the construction of canals around Muscle and Colbert Shoals in the Ten- 211 212 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. nessee River, slave laws, opposition to a protective tariff system, removal of the Indians, and the Alabama-Georgia boundary-line were measures of supreme interest to the public. Gabriel Moore, of Madison, held the governorship when education and morals were keeping pace with material advancement. The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Nov.^^1829, Q^^^^^ September 27, 1830, secured from the Mar., 1 83 1. Choctaws all their lands east of the Mississippi River, and prepared for the removal of the tribe to allotted lands in the West. An amendment to the Constitution limited to six years the term of office of the judges of the Supreme Court; the Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railroad, first in Alabama and the first west of the Allegheny Mountains, was begun ; Gov- ernor I\Ioore defeated John McKinley for the Senate of the United States, and resigned the governorship to take the new office ; he was succeeded by Samuel B. Moore, President of the State Senate, who filled the Gov- ernor's chair from March to November, 1831. Governor Samuel B. Moore and Nicholas Davis were both defeated in the heated gubernatorial campaign of 1831 by John Gayle, of Greene County. John Gayle was the champion of the anti-nullification sentiment. He was of great dignity and force of charac- ter, and came near precipitating a clash with the '^^' Federal Government. By the Treaty of Cusseta, ,835. in the present county of Chambers, the Creeks, in 1832, surrendered to the United States all their land east of the Mississippi, but were not to leave the country unless they chose, and the whites were not to enter the ceded territory until it was surveyed ; the whites already in the territory were to be removed as soon as ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1821-1865. 213 their crops were gathered. The whites refused to be re- moved ; many others rushed into the Indian reservation, and the Indians appealed to the Federal Government for protection. The United States marshal at Fort Mitchell was ordered to use force to check the inrush of whites, and some Federal soldiers killed Hardeman Owens, a commissioner of roads and revenue in Russell County. Great excitement prevailed. Indictments against the sol- diers were made by the grand jury of Eussell County. The General Assembly had extended the civil jurisdiction of the State over the whole territory within its limits, and Governor Gayle claimed control of all people in the terri- tory. Lewis Cass, then Secretary of War, declared that the United States would carry out the terms of the treaty. Francis Scott Key, author of " The Star-Spangled Banner," as Federal Commissioner, met Governor Gayle and the General Assembly in session at Tuskaloosa, and healed the imminent breach by effecting a compromise, remov- ing the whites only from lands that had been expressly reserved for the Indians. During this administration a cotton factory was incor- porated in Madison County in 1832 ; the railroad was completed from Decatur to Tuscumbia ; branch State banks were established ; and the people voted against the penitentiary system. Clement Comer Clay, of Madison, defeated Enoch Parsons in the race for governor. The Cherokees, on December 29, 1835, at New Echota, ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi for $5,000,000, and seven '^^^ million acres of land in the West, agreeing to j^jy^ iSsj, remove within two years : but the treaty was distasteful to many of the tribe, and out of it grew bitter 214 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. feuds and murders. The strong arm of the Federal Gov- ernment forced removal in 1838. Much excitement arose over the depredations and mur- ders committed by the Creeks in East Alabama. Roanoke in Georgia was burnt. A company of immigrants was murdered. Governor Clay made prompt and ample ar- rangements for the suppression of what was feared to be the beginning of another Creek War. He collected soldiers and supplies, which he turned over to General Jesup and General Winfield Scott. He met in Montgomery and won over to the Americans the Indian chief Opothleyoholo, who aided in quelling the Indian disturbances. General William Wellborn, of Barbour County, attacked the In- dians on Pea River in Pike County, and, after a bloody engagement, routed them. Alabama was soon relieved of the Indians. They were removed to the Indian Territory. The financial troubles began to create uneasiness — a great change from the confidence of 1836, when the Gen- eral Assembly abolished taxation and relegated to the State Bank the expenses of the State. Governor Clay was elected to the United States Senate in June, 1837, and was succeeded in office by Hugh McVay, of Lauderdale, whose quiet term of four months compassed the election of Arthur Pendleton Bagby over Samuel W. Oliver, of Conecuh. Governor Bagby's administration eff"ected the removal of the Cherokees, the organization of separate courts of equity and chancery, the adoption of the penitentiary ' system and the erection of penitentiarj^ buildings 1 84 1. ^^ Wetumpka, the abolition of imprisonment for debt, and the settling of the disputed boundary line between Alabama and Georgia. The State and national banking systems were giving much uneasiness. The ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1821-1865. 215 people began to cry against the State Bank. Yellow fever and drought intensified the sufferings of the people. Benjamin Fitzpatrick, of Autauga, won the governorship over James W. McClung, of Madison. He secured steps leading to the liquidation of the State's branch banks, and then of the " Mother Bank." The Con- '^4i stitution was changed so as to establish biennial o elections and sessions of the General Assembly instead of the annual, as had been the order since the admission into statehood ; and the site of the capital was voted to be removed from Tuskaloosa to Montgomery. Chancellor Joshua Lanier Martin, championing " Bank Reform," won the gubernatorial victory in the hot political campaign of 1845. His opponent was Nathaniel Terry, of Limestone. Governor Martin recom- "^^ mended the closing of the banks, and endeared ,3 ._^ himself to the people by bold measures that effected the settlement of the bank matters. The Mexican War was of deep interest to Alabamians, many of whom volunteered for service at the front; but only one regi- ment under Colonel John R. Coffey, one battalion under Colonel John J. Seibels, and a company from Limestone in the Thirteenth United States Infantry, were accepted, and they w^ere not permitted to participate actively in the campaigns into Mexico. The capitol was finished, and the State archives were removed to it in its present site on " Goat Hill," in Montgomery, during November and December, 1847. Reuben Chapman, of Madison, defeated Nicholas Davis, of Limestone, for the executive chair. He devoted himself to the relief of the State's financial burdens, "^^ and witnessed the renewal of interest in railroads i%aq, and other internal improvements. 216 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Henry Watkins Collier, of Tuskaloosa, who had long been on the Supreme Bench and had left his impress in the reports of the Supreme Court, was elected over a '^"^^ nominal opposition. He was very popular as a 1853. J^^g®- His wife Mary, the sister of Mr. Alfred Battle, was of congenial tastes, and helped him to advance to high positions. His home was the centre of culture and liberal hospitality. Under him the State made steady and remarkable advances in general improvements; schools, churches, farms, railroads, and every branch of business throve. John Anthony Winston, of Sumter, enjoyed the distinc- tion of being the first native-born governor of Alabama. His birthplace was in Madison County. He descended I 53 from Revolutionary stock in the Old Dominion. ,3__^ He made a strong governor. He was conservative in the expenditure of public moneys, and no doubt saved the State from financial embarrassments by vetoing numerous unconstitutional measures ; he was called the "' Veto Governor." His frequent clashes with the Legisla- ture abated nothing of his popularity. His bold, firm character not only influenced the men of his day, but left its impression upon the history of the State. Andrew Barry Moore, of Perry, succeeded to the gov- ernorship during the exciting years that ushered in the war between the States. In another chapter has '^^^ been told his connection w^ith the initial life of 1861. ^^^ Confederacy: how he espoused zealously the Southern cause, aiding in the equipment of State troops, and doing everything in his power to stimulate the South. When the war closed he was imprisoned in Fort Pulaski, in Savannah, Georgia, along with other distin- guished Southerners. Upon his release he returned to ALABAMA TN POLITICS, 1821-1865. 21 7 Marion and engaged in the practice of law, enjoying the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. John Gill Shorter, of Barbour, faced the difficult meas- ures necessarily arising during the progress of the war. It was impossible to meet the demands of govern- ment and the expectations of the people. Ques- ' /*' tions touching taxes, the redemption of bonds, the ,863. quota of State troops, conscription, the necessary provisions for families of soldiers, and the general super- " Gaineswood," the Home of Gen. N. B. "WTaitfleld. vision of affairs, provoked discontent that defeated his re- election. Thomas Hill Watts, of Montgomery, had won honors in peace, and, as Colonel of the Seventeenth Alabama In- fantry, had distinguished himself for bravery and daring under fire at Shiloh. While in camp ' ^ he was apprised of his appointment as Attorney- ,865. General of the Confederate States. He fulfilled the 218 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. duties of his high office in Richmond until called to the governorship of Alabama by the election of 18G3. Governor Watts met the same difficulties that had beset his predecessor in office, and he exerted all his energies and abilities to meet the issues of the gloomy eighteen months of his extraordinary adminis- tration. Great battles had shadowed the destiny of the Confederacy. The fall of Vicksburg, the check at Gettys- burg, the march of Sherman through Georgia, Farragut in Mobile Bay, Wilson's cavalry advance through the north- ern and central counties, and Canby's siege of Mobile, pre- pared the public for the news of Appomattox and Greens- boro. Sadness beyond expression filled the State as it realized that all the brave efforts of gallant soldiers had failed to roll back the invasion of Federals and the devas- tation that inevitably follows war. Governor Watts, standing bravely at the helm of State, guarded every interest as best he could, and closed his term with the surrender of the Confederate armies. General Henry D. Clayton, CHAPTER XXVIII. ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1865-1901. From June, 1865, to December following, Lewis E. Par- sons discharged the duties of provisional governor. He ordered the election of delegates which framed "the Constitution of I860," by which slaverv was '^^^ "to abolished, the " Ordinance of Secession " nullified, ,§53^ and the war debt repudiated. On December 20 Governor Parsons transferred the j^apers and property of the State to the Governor-elect, Robert M. Patton, of Lau- derdale, who had defeated Michael J. Bulger and William R. Smith in the November election. Governor Parsons and George Smith Houston were chosen by the ensuing General Assembly to represent Alabama in the Senate of the L^nited States, but they were forbidden their seats by the partisan Republican Congress that conceived the vin- dictive measures of " Reconstruction." In like manner were treated all the Senators and Representatives from States which had formed the Confederacy. Governor Patton entered upon his term of office when the effects of the war were felt in every business,^when public opinion was much divided, when a military com- mander overlooked his official acts and appointments, when armed troops of the Federal Government were ever present at the capitol, and when hostile legislation by the Federal Congress constantly interfered with him. He was a gentleman of long experience in public matters, and his mature judgment and intellectual grasp of the 219 i868 220 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. political and business conditions of the times were severely tested and approved in the trying ordeals of his adminis- tration. Governor William H. Smith, of Randolph, was in the executive chair during the stormiest period of Recon- struction. The negroes were corralled into political organizations to defeat the votes of their former to ,8_Q^ masters in whatever manner the "carpet-baggers" and "scalawags" might prescribe; the General Assembly crooked the pregnant hinges of its power where thrift would follow suffrage, and by reckless legislation made possible the following Democratic success in the elec- tion of Robert Burns Lindsay for Governor, Dr. Edward H. Moren, of Bibb, for Lieutenant-governor, J. J. Parker, of Mobile, for Secretary of State, John W. A. Sanford for Attorney-general, and J. F. Grant for Treasurer. Governor Lindsay was a Scotchman of classical tastes and scholarly attainments, a graduate of St. Andrews University, and a gentleman of high moral and ' ^^ social qualities. He came in early manhood to 1872. Alabama, and began the practice of law in Tus- cumbia. He married the half-sister of Governor Winston, and served in both houses of the General As- sembly. His most commendable effort was to seize the railroads, in order to protect the State against the bond- holders who demanded payment for past-due interest on railroad bonds. A Republican Senate checked his ad- ministration in its measures of reform. David Paul Lewis, of Madison, the Republican can- didate for Governor, defeated Thomas H. Herndon, of Mobile, the nominee of the Democrats. The in- 1872 ... tQ trigues of Republicans in the " Court-House Legis- 1874. lature" and the broken credit of the State added ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1865-1901. 221 to the burdens of a general financial panic, and prepared for Lewis's defeat at the polls and for the downfall of Re- publican rule in Alabama. George Smith Houston, of Limestone, stands out promi- nently among the Democratic governors of Alabama. He passed a long and distinguished career in public service, ranking high in the Congress of the United '^^"^ States, occupying chairs in the most important ,§-3^ committees of the House, namely. Military Affairs, Ways and Means, and the Judiciary. He spent eighteen years in Congress, retiring with his colleagues in 1861, when Alabama seceded. He was a strong Union man and remained at home during the war, but he refused to take the oath of allegiance to the government of the United States, and suffered much loss of property at the hands of the Federals. There confronted his administration the herculean task of meeting the stupendous debt left as a heritage of He- construction ; this debt was found to be irregular in many respects, and was compromised and refund- ed by new bonds ; the sal- aries of public officials were lessened ; the public school system was re-es- tablished ; the " Constitu- tion of 1875 " was put in force; incorporation laws permitted or^aniza- „ „ „ 1 ^ p Georg-e S. Houston. tion of companies for mining, manufacturing, building railroads, and doing other business; the Senate resolution to refer to the 222 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. General Assembly the election of the President and Vice- President of the United States put a check upon Federal interference with elections; the military withdrew from the State ; laws forbade the sale of public offices or the fees thereof, and fixed the State's debt to the University at $300,000, with interest at 8 per cent. Redress and re- form, resurrection and re-establisment of honest meas- ures, marked the four years of good government under Governor Houston. Upon the expiration of his second term he was elected United States Senator from Alabama, and died in that high office on December 31, 1879. Rufus W. Cobb, of Shelby, was elected without opposi- tion from the Republicans. Charles Hays headed the Republican Convention, composed largely of negroes, which met in Montgomery and passed resolutions >878 q£ faith in Republican men and measures, and 1882. belief in Republican majority of qualified voters, but despaired of winning the election because of alleged fraudulent election returns. During Governor Cobb's terms taxes were reduced and their collection was made easier. Schools were improved. Mobile City was deprived of its charter, and the Port of Mobile was incorporated, having a committee appointed by the governor to wind up its debt. Memorials were submitted to Congress to remove the 10 per cent, tax against State banks, to establish national quarantine against infectious diseases, and to check the abuse of power by United States officials who harassed the innocent to extract illegal fees. Farmers procured protection against agents for negro laborers and against cotton thieves by limit of sale of seed-cotton. General Edward Asbury O'Neal, of Lauderdale, was a trained lawyer and a gallant officer in war, leading his ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1865-190L 223 regiments in the hot battles under Lee in Virginia and under Johnston in Georgia. During his terms Congress donated forty-six thousand and eighty acres of land to the State University ; the Normal College for Girls opened in Livingston; the Agricultural Depart- ' ^ ment went into operation under Commissioner I. H. ,886. Betts, of Madison ; many reforms were inaugurated in the treatment of convicts ; and the foundation for the monument commemorating the valor and devotion of Confederate soldiers from Alabama was laid on Capitol Hill, in Montgomery, by Ex-President Jefferson Davis. Thomas Seay, of Hale, was successful in private busi- ness, distinguished at the bar, and possessed of popular qualities that endeared him to all classes. He won the Democratic nomination over General H. D. Clayton, Colonel John M. McLeroy, and Colonel ,800. N. H. R. Dawson, and was elected first over Arthur Bingham and then over W. T. Ewing, Republicans. He was a thorough gentleman, frail of body, but strong of will ; an honor to the State and to his age. His terms compassed the burning of the Agricultural and Mechan- ical College, the opening of the Normal School at Troy, leasing of penitentiary convicts to Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company ; enlargement of the Institute for the Deaf and Dumb, and establishment of the Acad- emy for the Blind, at Talladega ; the Convention of the Southern Interstate Immigration delegates in Montgom- ery ; the organization of the Farmer's Alliance; and $50,000 in legislative appropriations to disabled Confed- erate soldiers or their widows. Probably the most exciting political convention of Democrats that has occurred since the war was in Mont- gomery in 1890. Joseph F. Johnston, Reuben F. Kolb, 224 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. James Crook, William Richardson, and Thomas G. Jones, five able and popular candidates, were presented for governor. A heated canvass had brought delegates to the capital city. Reuben F. Kolb had a majority of votes over any other candidate, but by combination of the delegates the nomination fell to Thomas G. Jones, who was duly elected over B. M. Long, the nominee of the Republicans. The delegates for Kolb believed the combination against them an injustice to their choice, and felt a soreness which increased as the matter was discussed in their respective counties. Populism assumed new growth. Jones had been attorney for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and many people had conceived such prejudice against corporations as to suspect men who had been connected with them. Kolb had been the State's Commissioner of Agriculture, and had come into close personal contact with the farmers and poor people. The erroneous idea seemed to separate General Jones from sympathy with the poor, and align him with the interests of the moneyed classes. On the other hand, Mr. Kolb was believed the friend and champion of the poor and the leveller of the rich. The conclusions were unreasonable and unfair to both the gentlemen concerned. Two years later Kolb was the Populist nominee for governor and Jones the Democratic. Both parties claimed the victory of election, but the Democrats held the office. Governor Jones is a gentleman " to the manner born," whose probity and dignity in peace and gallantry in war commend him to esteem. His two terms embraced ' ^^ a period of national business disturbance, money 1804. depression and labor strikes, and yet he so har- bored the State's interests that she came forth from ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1865-1901. 225 the storm of universal panic with her credit unimpaired, and he transferred her, hopeful and vigorous, into the guardianship of William Calvin Gates. Governor Gates is a man of strong personality, gener- ous, far-seeing, practical, able, and popular. He was the Democratic nominee over Joseph F. Johnston, and the people's choice over Reuben F. Kolb. Finan- ^^^^ cial depression marked his term. The State could ,§^ not pay public school teachers as their salaries fell due. Northern banks refused loans to the governor because of the silver plank in the Democratic platform. The Industrial School for Girls was opened in Montevallo. In 1896 two distinguished Democrats were offered for governor : the one, Joseph F. Johnston, of Jefferson, espous- ing the dominant silver sentiment ; the other, Richard H. Clarke, of Mobile, advocating the business wisdom of adhering to gold as the safe standard of money values. Johnston won the nomination and the governorship. His Populist opponent in the election was A. T. Goodwyn, of St. Clair, a man of high moral character, pure in thought, noble in conduct, capable, and worthy of the confidence of his fellow-citizens, but his star in the political heavens was not in the ascendant. For his second term Governor Johnston defeated G. B. Deans, Populist, of Shelby. Governor Johnston has signalized his term by the appointment of Public Examiners of Accounts, who have gone from county to county, balancing the books and accounts of public officials ; by a called session ' ^ of the General Assembly to repeal the Act for a ,poo. Constitutional Convention ; by the appointment of Back Tax Commissioners to overlook the books of assessors and force higher valuation upon taxable properties given in too low by the owners ; by a ten-thousand-dollar special 15 226 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. annual appropriation for the University, and by the irregular sale of University lands ; by economy in expen- ditures, and by faithful efforts to enlarge the general prosperity. The Spanish-American War gave sublime evidence of the patriotism of the South. It showed that, although cherishing the history of the Confederate States, the Southern people place all hope of national destiny in the constructive power and patriotism of a united country. Alabama troops responded for service. The most daring deed of that war was led by a native Alabamian, Rich- mond Pearson Hobson. When Admiral Sampson disclosed ^& ^^m ^^^^ purpose to " bottle up " ^P^ ^ Cervera's fleet in Santiago ^\ Bay, Hobson planned the ^^^ jA. methods of entering the chan- nel-entrance to the Bay and sinking the collier Merrimac so as to obstruct the only navigable exit. With seven Richmond Pearson Hobson. g^^lant subordinates he car- ried through his plan under terrific fire of the enemy. He was assisted by Daniel Montague, Francis Kelly, George Charette, Randolph Clausen, Osborn Warren Deignan, George F. Phillips, and Michael Murphy, the coxswain of the Iowa. It was June 3, 1898, when the wires flashed over the world the news of the sinking of the Merrimac, and the heroism that had braved the guns of Morro Castle, the mines of torpedoes, and the flanking batteries along the channel to the entrance of Santiago Bay. Hobson and ALABAMA IN POLITICS, 1865-190L 227 his companions supposed themselves going to certain death. As the Merrimac advanced into the desired posi- tion it was blown up by the heroes aboard ; shells burst all around it, and shot penetrated its sides as it drifted before sinking. The men grasped a catamaran as the vessel sank, and clung to it until the next morning, when Admiral Cervera passed near in a steam launch and took them all aboard. They were imprisoned, suffered hard- ships, and underwent dangers, being shut up in a fort under bombardment from the United States Navy ; but not one of them was wounded, and on July 6, at the surrender of Santiago, they were all exchanged. Upon his release Hobson raised the Maria Theresa, one of the wrecked Spanish vessels, but this splendid trophy was abandoned in a storm on her voyage to the United States, and was grounded and lost near Cat Island. Hobson spends his furloughs at his home. Magnolia Grove, in Greensboro, Alabama, embosomed in the love of family and friends. There he was born on August 17, 1870, and there he prepared for Annapolis, where he was graduated with " first honor " in 1889. William J. Samford was the Democratic nominee over Gen- eral Charles ^M. Shelley, Jesse F. Stallings, and '9^^ Charles E. Waller. In the election following he overwhelmingly de- feated Dr. G. B. Crowe, Pop- ulist and I. A. Steele, Repub- lican. Grave fears attended his sickness as the day to 1901, Governor "Wm. D. Jelks. 228 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. for his inauguration approached ; but he entered upon the discharge of his duties, and the pubHc was eminently satisfied with his projection of principles and his few offi- cial acts when death overtook him in Tuskaloosa on June 11, 1901. His successor takes his chair by constitutional enactment; and, while mourning the untimely death of William J. Samford, the people turn with confidence and admiration to William Dorsey Jelks, of Barbour, who has passed from the presidency of the Senate into the gover- norship of the State. John Tyler Morgan. CHAPTER XXIX. JOHN TYLER MORGAN. John Tyler Morgan was born in Athens, Tennessee, in 1824, when Andrew Jackson loomed up a formidable rival of John Quincy Adams for the Presidency of the United States. When nine years of age, not by oath, as did Hannibal of old, but by settlement upon her soil, he pledged allegiance to Alabama, and dedicated his life to her service. Educated in her academies, he early began the reading of law and entered upon its practice in the year of his majority. Good fortune placed him at different times in partnership with Hon. W. P. Chilton, S. F. Pice, A. J. Walker, J. B. Martin, and William M. Byrd, masters in the science of jurisprudence, from whom he imbibed ideals that have buoyed him — 229 280 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. " Upward to the starry heights To the shining tracks beyond him, On and always on." As a Breckenridge elector in 1860 he canvassed the State, and thrilled his countrymen by eloquent orations upon the absorbing questions of that tumultuous period. The next year he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Montgomery, and signed the " Ordinance of Secession." He entered active service in the Con- federate army immediately upon the outbreak of hostili- ties, and, flinging his whole soul into the cause, he rose rapidly from the rank of major to that of brigadier- general. When the war closed he settled in Selma and resumed the practice of law. Success crowned him. In 1877 he was elected to the Senate of the United States, and has been re-elected to that high office continuously upon the close of his respective terms. During his long service he has been honored as no other Alabamian, except William R. King, was ever honored. He has been put on various committees intrusted with matters of vital concern to the Federal Government, both in domestic and international relations, and rarely meets his peer in accurate information upon everything con- nected with the subject under consideration. He is a laborious student, and does not commit to information bureaus or private clerks the investigation of historical facts, but he gives to every question his personal attention, devoting himself earnestly and assiduously to every detail until ready to inform committees and enlighten the world. This habit of research has made him probably the best informed man in the Senate. His readiness to elucidate in most unexpected emergencies the perplexities and intricacies of matters, and that too with the accuracy and JOHN TYLER MORGAN. 231 precision of a specialist, has been the wonder of his friends and the astonishment of opponents. He is a constitutional lawyer without a superior, a statesman of the first order, a Senator of spotless reputa- tion, standing in the front ranks of the great men of America. As a speaker he is logical and clear, and some- times eloquent ; and he impresses listeners with the con- sciousness of reserved powers that are as exhaustless as they are profound. His expositions are perfectly distinct, and embodied in language so chaste and elegant, so classic and terse, that the distinguished university scholars who visit Washington pronounce him the greatest master of English on the floor of the Senate. He is a Democrat in politics and true to his party, and he measures to the full stature of statesmanship. He has no tricks to play upon the Senate. His battles are all in the open, and he possesses the confidence of the Senate. No one suspects him of ulterior designs. Whatever he espouses bears the stamp of sincerity, and however much gentlemen may differ from him in opinion, they do not question his integrity of conviction. Combative and con- siderate, bold and courteous, tenacious of purpose and patient under repulse, impassioned and tolerant, far-seeing and calm, watchful and competent, wise and brilliant in thought and dignified in demeanor, he possesses the highest qualifications of the Senator and statesman. Alabama has profited largely in internal improvements and general weal by measures passing the Federal Con- gress through his efforts. She has shared not only the prestige of being first in the roll of States and peerless in mineral wealth, but also the honors falling to her senior Senator, whose career has won encomiums from the Old World and the New. 232 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. It has been truly said of Senator Morgan that he is " better than the dry-nurse of genius. Instead of hiding himself in seclusion, and devoting his time and strength to the manufacture of set orations, elaborated with such finish as might take the world by storm, he holds himself ready, on all occasions, to grapple the important questions of State as they arise." Representative men of all political parties admire his abilities, integrity, and loftiness of purpose, and feel a national pride in a Senator who has guarded the welfare of his State, anticipated the trend of history and advocated legislation to compass it; comprehended the magnitude and power of the United States and pleaded for their enlargement ; stood a conspicuous peer among the mag- nates of the world, and won a name that brightens the eye and stirs the heart of America in its significance of honor, guiding the highest genius in maintaining the integrity and constructing the destiny of this mighty Republic. It would be a wonderful lesson in political economy to trace the record of Senator Morgan in specific measures involving legislation upon finances, railroads, monopolies, trusts, the Force Bill, elections, the territories, Hawaii, Cuba, the Philippines, or the Nicaragua Canal ; but space will not allow. The intelligent observers of Federal enactments are wont to say, " Things are coming Mor- gan's way." His battles for the Nicaragua Canal have been long and persistent. This is the measure that now presses him. The Nicaragua Canal must be built, and whether or not Congress passes the bill for its construc- tion at an early session, the growth of this marvellous country and the necessities of its people will sooner or later compel the government to open this gate to the JOHN TYLER MORGAN. 233 oceans. Every nation whose ships ply the deep will be participants in the blessings of this passage-way, but the ports of the Southern States of the Union will thereby secure rich harvests of commerce that will never come otherwise. Senator Morgan is the recognized champion of this enterprise, and it will be a fit and glorious monu- ment to his services if during his term of office the Federal Congress will pledge the credit and protection of the United States, and effect the completion and perpetual pos- session of the Nicaragua Canal, a work of such stupendous magnitude as would usher in the twentieth century with plaudits of all the nations for the progressive and benefi- cent spirit of the United States. CHAPTER XXX ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. While it is impossible to give other than a glimpse of some of the literary lights of Alabama, it will be pleasant to note a few of the authors whose pens have enriched the thought of man. No claim will be laid to James McPher- son, who compiled the poems of Ossian and who for many years was governor-general of the Floridas ; nor shall there be credited to Alabama anything that has not been inspired by the literary impulses of the nineteenth century. It is significant of Alabama litera- ture that it counterbalances the meagre quantity by the excel- lent quality and varied charac- ter of its offerings. To appreciate thoroughly what Alabama has to its literary credit one must see the Bibliography of Alabama by Thomas McAdory Owen. This work appeared in the 1898 publications of the American Historical Association. Nothing else so helpful to the student of Alabama history and literature has been published. It is a monument to the broadening spirit of State culture, and will give Alabama a more honorable place in the world of letters. 234 Thomas McAdory Owen. ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 235 Mr. Owen has compiled a Bihliogra'pliy of Mississippi and also a Bibliography of Florida. He has prepared the Annals of Alabama from 1819 to 1900 as an appendix to the History of Alabama by Albert James Pickett. As secre- tary of the Alabama Historical Society, he has edited suc- cessive volumes of its Transactions and also the Report of the Alabama History Commission of 1900. He has the most complete private library on Alabamana in existence. He has in manuscript a comprehensive history of Ala- bama. Through appointment from Governor Samford he has been made the first Director of the Department of Archives and History which the Legislature created by act approved on February 17, 1901. This Department occupies room in the Capitol at Montgomery. The object of the Department is the care and custody of official archives, the collection of historical data, the encourage- ment of historical research, and the diffusion of knowl- edge. The pens of Alabama were early aglow with the life and vigor of a wondrous age, bodying forth sentiments varying from matters of war and statecraft to the tenderest songs of friendship and love. Judge Harry Toulmin enunciated the principles of law in a Magistrates' Ghiide and in Digest of the laws of the Mississippi Terri- tory and of Alabama. In contributions to periodicals throughout the United States he invited attention to the Southwest. Some half a hundred prominent writers have engaged in the work of describing the early explorations and the winning of the Southwest from the savage tribes, weaving romantic incidents into the bloody years of battle until Anglo-Saxon aggression shattered every hope of the red man's breast, and sent him a pensioner beyond the Father of Waters. Though the tribes have vanished, 236 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. their language constitutes no inconsiderable portion of the basic forms of Alabama literature. The beautifully blended song of Alexander B. Meek, catching the Indian words in the geography of the State, suggests the imperishability of their links in history. He says : Yes ! though they all have passed away, — That noble race and brave, — Though their light canoes have vanished From off the crested wave ; Though 'mid the forests where they roved There rings no hunter's shout, Yet their names are on our waters, And we may not wash them out ; Their memory liveth on our hills, Their baptism on our shore, Our everlasting rivers speak Their dialect of yore. 'Tis heard where Chattahoochee pours His yellow tide along ; It sounds on Tallapoosa's shores. And Coosa swells the song ; Where lordly Alabama sweeps, The symphony remains ; And young Cahawba proudly keeps The echo of its strains ; Where Tuskaloosa's waters glide. From stream and town 'tis heard. And dark Tombeckbee's winding tide Repeats the olden word : Afar where nature brightly wreathed Fit Edens for the free. Along Tuscumbia's bank 'tis breathed By stately Tennessee ; And south, where from Conecuh's springs Escambia's waters steal, The ancient melody still rings, — From Tensaw and Mobile. ALABAMA IN LLTERATURE. 237 In Tuskaloosa many years ago the Reverend Albert A. Muller, whose gifted genius delighted for a score or more of years and then burnt itself out in dissipation, was a poet of such high order that it was said of him : " He might have left an Iliad, singing of softer beauties than Helen's, greater daring than Diomed's, wider desolation than Troy's, repeating and celebrating loves as pure as those of Hector and Andromache, and thundering with woes deeper than those of Priam and Hecuba " ; and that to the Elysium, where great spirits do congregate after death, Horace and Vergil would welcome the timid approach of his shade. Dr. Henry Tutwiler, Judge Wil- liam R. Smith, and other eminent critics have pronounced of first magnitude the genius that produced his Sunset at Rome; this is a poem in heroic measure, picturing the thoughts of the muse as the sun declines and " its mellow'd light Falls on the far-off Tuscan's rocky height, And sends its last blush o'er the yellow wave Where Tiber wunds beneath Metella's grave." It follows the history of " far-famed Italia," and shows the glories of the olden time, when genius and fame met in her myrtle groves ; when eloquence and song warmed the soul of patriot and of poet ; it recalls buried greatness, and, tracing the influence of letters, it glorifies Horace, "The Attic wit whose genius fanned the flame That lent its fires to gild the Augustan name." In apostrophe to Vergil it portrays the joys of boyhood in midnight vigils, listening to the clash of Trojan arms, and breathing with ^neas the filial vows to his aged sire ; and then addresses the Mantuan's shade : 238 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. " Illustrious Maro ! Rome still reigns for thee ; Thy fame decrees her immortality : Gone are her glories, sunk her mighty throne, Her kings have perished and her victories flown ; Arts have decayed, and lettered wisdom sleeps Within that tomb where lie its treasur'd heaps ; Yet thy pure spirit Uves throughout her clime, To swell the measure of its deathless rhyme ; And thy proud language still adorns her page, The charm of youth, the pride of every age." Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz, nee Whiting, of Massachusetts, came to Alabama with Professor N. ]\L Hentz, her hus- band, in 1834. She had already tasted the sweets of literary suc- cess, among other victories hav- ing won five hundred dollars for the prize poem " De Lara, or The Moorish Bride," offered in competition by invitation of Mr. Pelby of the Boston Thea- tre. Her residence in Alabama and Georgia identified her sym- pathies with the Southern peo- Mrs. Caroline Lee Hentz. pie, and her works are delight- ful portraits of the habits and better life of the people of her adopted home. Among her best works may be mentioned Linda; or The Young Pilot of the Belle Creole, and Robert Graham, its sequel ; Marcus Warlaiid ; Rena ; The Planter^ s Northern Bride ; and Ernest Limvood ; or The Inner Life of the Aidhor. Mrs. Hentz is among the few writers of fiction who have laid the scenes of their stories in Alabama. William Gilmore Simms selected the rugged woods about Tuskaloosa for his ALABA3fA IN LITERATURE. 239 Richard Hurdis, and told the story of De Soto and his expedition in Vasconselos, a Romance of the New World. Mrs. Octavia Walton Le Vert, in Souvenirs of Travel, has expressed with charming grace her experiences in the better circles of European society. As Mrs. Le Vert was the first American woman to enter the social circles of the Old World nobility, her descriptions gave much pleasure to the reading public, and placed her among the delightful entertainers in the world of letters. Joseph G. Baldwin, for years a resident of Sumter County, won abiding reputation by his Paiiy Leaders and Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi, which ap- peared in 1853. These are characteristic works, dealing with the great masters in politics, and throwing flash- lights of the most sparkling wit upon conditions and people. In Party Leaders the judicial and conservative qualities of history are balanced with all that would dis- integrate. In Fhish Times the true history of meik and incidents is revealed in terms known only to those w^ho were fortunate to live with the author, or in the scenes he portrays. No one who has read this brilliant author's works can ever forget Ovid Bolus, Esquire, for whom facts were too stale and who had to live upon creations of the imagination, or die on the rack of genius unemployed ; nor old Sarcasm, in tirades on the younger members of the bar ; nor the droll minister witnessing in the assault case ; nor Squire A and the Fritters ; nor anything Baldwin ever wrote. Willis Brewer quotes from Colonel Thomas B. Wetmore : " Oh ! for an hour's talk with some man like him, wearing his humanity as he used to wear it, with his hat about to turn a back somersault from his head, with his forehead growing broader, and his eyes sparkling brighter, as he advanced in anecdote, till he 240 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. was shut out from vision by the tears his mirth created, and we were compelled to feel that there was at least one great man that could be funny." Johnson Jones Hooper was of like intellectual fibre. He ranked high as a serious journalist and advocate. His recognized abilities made him secretary of the Con- federate Congress, and yet his fame rests upon the facetious humor of his Simon Suggs, a work of which he was heartily ashamed as he rose in public esteem. Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, for sometime on the faculty of the University of Alabama, and for years afterward president of Columbia College, New York, was a constant contributor to current literature. While in Alabama he touched the highest veins of science and politics, and in lighter moods wrote love ditties and numerous stories for press and friends. The History of Alabama by Albert James Pickett stands without a peer in the period it covers. Upon it Mr. Pickett spent years of research, contributing freely of a large fortune to discover the materials in private and public libraries, and to hear from living witnesses the facts con- nected with historic events and contemporaneous people. With Owen's Annals appended it has become doubly valuable as a book of historical reference. Joseph Hodgson argues the justice of the South in resenting the encroachments of the North and resisting in war the destruction of the Constitution of the United States in his Oradleof the Confederacy ; or the Times of Troup, Quitman, and Yancey. John Witherspoon DuBose, as newspaper editor and contributor to the Philadelphia Times and other papers, has continuously added to the historical treasures of the age. Mr. DuBose is especially interesting as a writer on ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 241 the subject of politics, slavery, ante-bellum society, con- stitutional law, and Southern chivalry ; but as a United States expert his Sketch of Alabama drew commendations from the Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, both on account of its statistical accuracy and its literary charm of style and substance. His best work is The Life and Times of William Lowndes Yancey ; A Llistory of Political Parties in the United States from 183 J,, to 186 Jr, es- pecially as to the Origin of the Confederate States. This work has been pronounced by the John witherspoon du Bose. Boston Globe "the best contri- bution of the South to Southern history" ; and by Senator John Tyler Morgan, " A prose epic of rare and charming power. No chapter in our history will ever excel it." 16 CHAPTER XXXI. ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. Two most concise and compact volumes of valuable personal sketches are William Garrett's Reminiscences of Public Men in Alabama, and Willis Brewer's Alabama: Her History, Resources, War Record, and Public Men. These books touch so many men and matters of Alabama that they should be found in every home in the State. Only by the influence of great examples can a people be inspired to great achievements, and the history of those who have built the State should be within the reach of the youth of the land. The Memorial Record of Alabama, compiled by Brant and Fuller, is an excellent two-volume compendium of per- sonal history, later and larger than the works of Garrett and Brewer, and devoted to the living, giving but scant mention of the great founders of the State except as they incidentally form a portion of the political, military, judicial, and religious history, or as they necessarily appear in the discussion of education, industries, railroads and navigation, banking, medicine, and journalism. The chapters on these subjects were written by Hannis Taylor, General Joseph Wheeler, Willis G. Clark, Thomas H. Clark, Hilary A. Herbert, Dr. Jerome Cochran, and W. W. Screws. The personal sketches are autobiographic; they are interesting, but too eulogistic to be accorded th^ full dictum of history. 242 ALABA3IA IN LITERATURE. 243 Alabama claims a portion of Sidney Lanier, whose life and verses have invited study from the great scholars and lecturers of the age. His Science of English Verse is a work of remarkable merit, being an essay to explain the reasons and principles underlying the charms of rhythmic thought and musical adaptation of poetry. Mr. Lanier was proba- bly the greatest flute-player of his day, and his poems embody the subtle strains and melody-suggesting features of the author's own sensitive soul. His Symphony, Marshes of Glynn, Corn, Sunrise, and 3Iy Springs are among the finest poems of the English language. 3Iy Springs is the re- sultant of a wonderful trust in God, and embodies the gratitude of a great soul looking through the mists of misfortune into the eyes of his beloved wife, closing with the tribute — " Dear eyes, dear eyes, and rare, complete, Being heavenly-sweet and earthly sweet, I marvel that God made you mine ; For when He frowns, 'tis then ye shine." Clifford Lanier, a brother of the poet, is a literary light of Alabama. His lectures and his writings are in keeping with the cultured taste and native abilities of his family. Father Abram Joseph Ryan, of Mobile, singing sublime threnodies over the sufferings of his countrymen, and weaving beautiful stories of love and faith, was a conspicu- ous man of letters. His eloquence and patriotism were formative elements in morals and politics. Many a boy and many a girl has felt the glow of sublime devotion to home and friends, to the good and the true, as he and she have read his poems, Significant of his genius is — 244 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. THE SWOED OF LEE. Forth from its scabbard, pure and bright, Flashed the sword of Lee ! Far in the front of the deadly fight, High o'er the brave in cause of Right, Its stainless sheen, like a beacon light, Led us to victory. Out of its scabbard, where, full long. It slumbered peacefully. Roused from its rest by the battle's song. Shielding the feeble, smiting the strong. Guarding the right, avenging the wrong, Gleamed the sword of Lee. Forth from its scabbard, high in the air, Beneath Virginia's sky — And they who saw it gleaming there, And knew^ who bore it, knelt to swear That where that sword led, they would dare To follow and to die. Out of its scabbard ! Never hand Waved sword from stain so free. Nor purer sword led braver band. Nor braver bled for a brighter land. Nor brighter land had a cause so grand, Nor cause a chief like Lee. Forth from its scabbard ! how we prayed That sword might victor be ; And when our triumph was delayed, And many a heart grew sore afraid. We still hoped on, while gleamed the blade Of noble Robert Lee. Forth from its scabbard, all in vain Bright flashed the sword of Lee ; 'Tis shrouded now in its sheath again, It sleeps the sleep of our noble slain. Defeated, yet without a stain. Proudly and peacefully. ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 245 Another ode of this gifted poet is — THE CONQUEEED BANNER. Furl that Banner, for 'tis weary ; Round its staff 'tis drooping dreary ; Furl it, fold it, it is best ; For there's not a man to wave it, And there's not a sword to save it. And there's not one left to lave it In the blood which heroes gave it : And its foes now scorn and brave it : Furl it, hide it— let it rest. Take that Banner down ! 'tis tattered ; Broken is its staff and shattered ; And the valiant hosts are scattered Over whom it floated high. 'tis hard for us to fold it ; Hard to think there's none to hold it ; Hard that those who once unrolled it Now must furl it with a sigh. Furl that Banner, furl it sadly ! Once ten thousands hailed it gladly, And ten thousands wildly, madly. Swore it should forever wave ; Swore that foeman's sword should never Hearts like theirs entwined dissever, 'Till that flag should float forever O'er their freedom or their grave ! Furl it ! for the hands that grasped it, And the hearts that fondly clasped it, Cold and dead are lying low ; And that Banner— it is trailing ! While around it sounds the wailing Of its people in their woe. For though conquered, they adore it! Love the cold dead hands that bore it ! 246 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Weep for those who fell before it ! Pardon those who trailed and tore it, But, Oh ! wildly they deplore it Now who furl and fold it so. Furl that Banner ! True, 'tis gory, Yet 'tis wreathed around with glory, And 't will live in song and story Though its folds are in the dust : For its fame on brightest pages Penned by poets and by sages, Shall go sounding down the ages Furl its folds though now we must. Furl that Banner, softly, slowly ! Treat it gently, it is holy. For it droops above the dead. Touch it not — unfold it never — Let it droop there, furled forever, For its people's hopes are dead. Henry Linden Flash published an excellent little book of poems in 1860. This first book was his last. It gave earnest of literary success, but soon after the war the author moved to the West and engaged in general merchandise. A lady who had read with pleasure his beautiful verses wrote advising him " not to neglect the muses, but to go on until his name was carved on the loftiest pinnacle of fame's tower." He answered her in verse, humorously confessing that his name was painted on a six-foot sign and nailed to a wooden shanty, telling to all the world that he would sell for cash all kinds of western produce. He concluded : The truth is, love, this age of ours Indignantly refuses To take, in payment of our debts, The produce of the muses ; ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 247 ' Twoiild seize upon the tuneful nine, And set the jades to grinning ; The fates it tolerates because The hags are always spinning. "And so, lest I be deemed a drone And be by men forsaken, I hide my harp from prying eyes, And deal in corn and bacon. I talk with eager, business men Of trade and current prices ; Of Egypt too — the cotton theme — But not a word of Isis." Mrs. I. M. P. Ockenden, of Montgomery, a daughter of Judge Benjamin F. Porter, is a graceful writer. Albert Pike offered the literary form of " Dixie " during the war, but Mrs. Ockenden has contributed the peace-poem — AWAY DOWN SOUTH IN DIXIE. In Dixie cotton loves to grow, With leaf of green and ball of snow ; Here wave the golden wheat and corn, In Dixie land where I was born — Come away down South in Dixie. In Dixie gayest roses bloom, The jasmine yields its rare perfume ; And here the sea-breeze haunts the South, With orange-blossoms in his mouth — Come away down South in Dixie. In Dixie land we love to give With generous hand — we love to live With cheerful light and open door : What matter if the wind doth blow? The heart is warm in Dixie. The Dixie skies are bonnie blue, And Southern hearts are warm and true, 248 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Let there be love throughout the world, The pure white flag of peace unfurled Floats away down South in Dixie. In Dixie it is sweet to rove Through piney woods and sweet-gum grove ; And hark ! the rebel mocking-bird, With sweetest song you ever heard, Sings away down South in Dixie. In other lands 'tis sweet to roam. But Dixie land is home, sweet home, And southern maid, with simple song, Loves dear old Dixie, right or wrong. God bless the land of Dixie ! Miss Kate Gumming, in Gleanings from Southland and Hospital Life in the Confederate Army, has told the patriotic stories of devotion to a cause that thrills every Southern heart. Her works deal with incidents that she witnessed Mrs. Aug-usta Evans Wilson. T. C. DeLeon. during the war between the States, and with facts and conditions following in the wake of war. Mrs. Augusta Evans Wilson cannot be quoted sufficiently ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 249 to indicate the scope and strength of her genius. Suffice it to say that she is confessedly among the greatest novelists of the American continent. Her novels have stood the test of severest criticisms and have grown in popular favor. She is pure in thought, noble in sentiment, learned and tender, and yet bold to measure thought with the most daring in invention. Her novels are Inez, Beulah, Macaria, St. Elmo, Vashti, At the Mercy Of Tiberius, Infelice. They must be read to be appreciated. T. C. De Leon is a versatile author of national reputa- tion. He has written St. Twelmo, a sequel to St. Elmo ; The Bock or the Bye, a sequel to The Quick or the Dead; Schooners that Bump On the Bar, a sequel to Shijjs That Pass in the Night ; and several novels depicting Southern society and the sentiments created by the inter-states war. CHAPTER XXXII. ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. Dr. William Stokes Wyman, the learned president of the University of Alabama, has given interesting and instructive contributions to the press, but his friends regret that he has not been more generous with his pen. He is a profound historian and a scholarly linguist, and his articles are hailed with keenest literary appreciation. He is especially thorough in knowledge of the Indian tribes and early settlers of Alabama. He is a warm lover of the muses, and is not only gifted with the happy faculty of painting in wondrous colors the scenes and incidents of history, but he breathes the spirit of the poet. How sweetly touching in sentiment and how musically rhythmic is his power can be partially judged from — THE WIZAED STREAM. I launched my boat on a wizard stream In the morning's early glow ; I watched the waters sparkle and gleam, And the wavelets come and go. The winds that swept from the flowery lea Were laden with odors sweet, And my soul was attuned to the melody Of the Naiad's tinkling feet. "Wlience art thou, bonny brook," I said, '' That singest so soft and low ? Where in the hills is the pebbly bed From which thy waters flow ?" 250 ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 251 The breezes held their odorous breath, And the flowers bent low to hear ; But the nymi^h's low laugh m the depth beneath Alone fell on my ear. All day reclining in my boat, I float far down the stream, My soul adrift on the tide of thought As in a charmed dream. At eve I awake — to dream no more ; Mid storm and flying scud, I see the wild waves lash the shore, My brook is now a flood ! "Whither art rushing, O mystic tide, Whither so restlessly — Into some ocean drear and wide. Or into some peaceful sea?" I hear no voice but the sea-wraith's cry, No sound but the wind's loud moan, Wliile the night sweeps down from a starry sky, I drift toward the dark unknown. Professor Warfield Creatli Richardson is the author of numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and his delightfully easy and versatile style on subjects full of vital interest, and with language a "well of English undefiled," is both entertaining and instructive. His poetry finds its best expression in "Gaspar; A Eomaunt" His daughter, Mrs. Belle R. Harrison, has inherited his poetic talents, and in addition to occasional pieces appear- ing in current periodicals she has published a book of poems. Mrs. Elizabeth W. Bellamy, "Kamba Thorpe/' wrote Four Oaks, The Little Joanna, Old Man Gilbert, and Penny Lancaster, Farmer. Bishop R. H. Wilmer made a valu- able contribution to the State's literature in The Recent 252 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. Past from, a Southern Standpoint. Hannis Taylor, compil- ing political and historical theses, caught inspiration for the international reputation won by the Origin and Growth of the English Constitution, and by his later work on the relation of international laws. Peter Joseph Hamilton, beginning with The Bric-a-Brac, the students' annual of Princeton College, and continuing in literary efforts, presented Rambles in Historic Lands; his best work is Hannis Taylor. Peter Josepn Hamilton. Colonial Mobile, embracing the history of that famous city from its birth to the year 1821. Dr. Josiah C. Nott made a deep impression on his times by his scholarly investigation of yellow fever and the causes of its propagation, but more especially by his masterful work in conjunction with George P. Gliddon, on Indigenous Races of the Earth. Dr. Eugene Allen Smith, the State Geologist, with pro- lific pen has told the testimony of the rocks, of the vege- tables, of the climate, and of nearly everything that has arrested scientific investigation in Alabama. His reports, bulletins, maps, and other publications embody the re- ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 253 searches and discoveries of more than three decades of special work in scientific fields. Thomas Chalmers McCorvey has given to the press letters on the " Protes- Dr. Eugene Allen Smith. Thomas Chalmers McCorvey. tant Episcopal Diocese of Alabama," "The Alabama Creeks," " Some Famous Southern Poems," " Alabama in the Domain of Letters," "Southern Cadets in Action," " Life of Major James William Abert Wright " ; he has published a magazine article on Professor Henry Tutwiler, and he is the author of The Government of the People of the State of Alabama. One of the most energetic and gifted writers of Alabama is Dr. George Petrie. Not so much for the amount of his literary products as on account of the spirit of his work is he to be commended. As teacher of Latin and history in the Alabama Polytechnic Institute he is making special investigation of the history of Alabama, and is directing his works so as to develop in others the spirit of historical research. Dr. Samuel Minturn Peck is ranked among the greatest of lyric poets and is loved for his sunshiny spirit and 254 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. cheery verses. His lyrics are as sweet as flowers and birds and air and sky and youth can make them. Many hearts have been made to beat with fresher rhythm and keenest delight as they have been baptized with the melody of his Cap and Bells, Rings and Love-knots, RJiymes and Roses, as he has named his volumes. His poetry is so full of sweet images of love and gladness that under their Dr. Georg-e Petrie. Dr. Samuel Minturn Peck. spell old De Leon would have found some comfort for the undiscovered fountain. William Russell Smith was probably the most versatile and voluminous WTiter the State has produced. His works embrace a wide range of subjects and display an intellectual genius of high order. For nearly four score years he was a resident of Alabama, and witnessed her rise in power and influence and her struggles in war; her loss of statehood and her throes of " Reconstruction "; her new political enfranchisement and her marvellous industrial and commercial advancement. Though he cast his vote against the " Ordinance of Secession," he accepted the judgment of his State and entered her ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 255 armies in defence of her soil. In all the history of his times he never ceased to give forth the products of his pen. His entrance into business life was marked by an intense interest in letters which made him conspicuous for scholarship, and which opened wide the doors to the best homes of society. His companions and friends were among the most literary and learned, whose respect and admiration outlived all the checkered policies and politics of an era that tested the souls of men. His high genius rose above the storms of parties, and found constant delight in books and literary company. He loved the old masters, and translated the Iliad of Homer for the use of schools. He contributed largely to wit and humor, essayed tragedy, poetry, the novel, history, and biography. His History and Debates of the Secession Convention is a book of rare merit. It contains the speeches of the patriots who were anxious to guide the State through the impending crisis — speeches which to-day seem prophecies. His Reminiscences cast in happy pictures the character and conditions of men whom he knew and with whom he came into contact. He was an able lawyer, a learned judge, and a Congressman who won, immediately upon entering the House of Representatives, a notable prominence by his opposition to the measures in behalf of Louis Kossuth. " The Uses of Solitude " is perhaps his most genuine poetic revelation. It bristles with inspira- tion, touching many of the immortal names that live on deeds of greatness. A single quotation will suggest its strain : The man of lofty genius, who consorts With Labor as a chosen mate, and sits And talks with her as conjugal, and leans Confiding on her fondly for support^ 256 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. That man meets few denials ; to his eye Nature reveals all secrets ; to his ear Selectest melody is ever shaped, And harmonies divine enchant his soul. The chest of ancient lore, whose ponderous lid Is never lifted to the indolent. To him is open thrown, and all its gay And gaudy contents are spread out before him As if the ages past had gathered them For his especial use. The press was an essential of pioneer life as early as 1811. In that year the Mobile Centinel, the precursor of the press, was established at Fort Stoddert by Hood and Miller. It would be interesting to note the great editors who have moulded the history of the people. Probably the most prominent editor of the State was John Forsyth, of the Mobile Register. Thaddeus San ford, Jones M. Withers, C. C. Langdon, J. E. Saunders, and other dis- tinguished editors have been towers of strength in helping the State to foster right and fight against wrong, but John Forsyth stands the intellectual champion who met the breakers of stormy politics and the convulsions of "Re- construction" with a pen bold and incisive, and with a diction that mingled the purest classicism with the warm life of the people. Jeremiah Clemens, brilliant and versatile, yielded to the ambition of literary prestige as well as of political office. His most popular novels are Bernard Lile, Mustang Gray, and The Bivals, these being historical romances dealing with the times of the Texas struggle for inde- pendence and with the jealousies of Burr and Hamilton. Miss Mary Johnston, with Prisoners of Hope and To Have and to Hold, has brought regenerate life to the history of colonial Virginia, and won peerage among the few ALABAMA TN LITERATURE. 257 authors of this competitive age wlio have distanced all others in historical romances. Nearly every department of literature has been suc- cessfully undertaken by Alabamians, and the renais- sance of interest is promising further advances into all literary enterprises that dignify and ennoble the people. It is with profound regret that want of space forbids mention in this work of hun- dreds of other literary worthies whose lives have pointed through letters to the purest and best in thought and deed. Dr. J. L. M. Curry's Southern States of the American Union, Dr. John Allen Wyeth's Life of General Nathan Bedford Forrest, Dr. B. F. Riley's History of the Baptists in Ala- bama, Dr. Anson West's History Miss Mary Johnston. of Methodism in Alabama, Rev- erend Walter C. Whitaker's History of the Protestant Epis- copal Church in Alabama, Miss Louise Manly's Soidhern Literature from 1579 to 1S95, Mrs. Virginia V. Clayton's White and Black under the Old Regime, and The Oirek War, by Halbert and Ball, indicate the character of authors and subjects that we must pass unmentioned. ^liss Julia Strudwick Tutwiler has been welcomed by the magazines and press of the Union as one of the strong and fascinating writers of this many-souled century. Both prose and verse have claimed tribute from her talents. We close this chapter with her patriotic poem : 17 258 SKETCHES OF ALABAMA HISTORY. ALABAMA. Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee. From thy Southern shore, where groweth By the sea thine orange tree, To thy northern vale where lioweth, Deep and blue, thy Tennessee. Alabama, Alabama! We will aye be true to thee ! Proud thy stream whose name thou bearest, Grand thy Bigbee rolls along ; Fair thy Coosa — Tallapoosa — Bold .thy Warrior, dark and strong ; Watered like the land where Moses Climbed lone Nebo's mount to see, Alabama, Alabama ! We ^\\\\ aye be true to thee ! From thy prairies, broad and fertile, Where thy snow-white cotton shines : To the hills where coal and iron Hide in thy exhaustless mines ; Honest farmers, strong-armed workmen, Merchants, or whate'er we be, Alabama, Alabama ! We will aye be true to thee ! From thy quarries where the marble White as that of Paros gleams. Waiting till the sculptor's chisel Wakes to life thy poets' dreams — For not only wealth of natm-e : Wealth of mind hast thou in fee ; Alabama, Alabama! We will aye be true to thee ! Where the perfumed south-wind whispers Thy magnolia groves among, ALABAMA IN LITERATURE. 259 Softer than a mother's kisses, Sweeter than a mother's song ; Where the golden jessamine traiUng Wooes the treasure-laden bee, Alabama, Alabama ! We will aye be true to thee ! Brave thy men and true thy women. Better this than corn and wine ; Keep us worthy, God in Heaven, Of this goodly land of Thine. Hearts are open as our door-ways, Liberal hands and spirits free ; Alabama, Alabama ! We will aye be true to thee ! Little, little can I give thee, Alabama, mother mine ! But that little — heart, brain, spirit- All I have and am are thine. Take, O take the gift and giver, Take and serve thyself with me : Alabama, Alabama ! We will aye be true to thee! APPENDIX. EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA. 1540, Nov. 29. De Soto passed out of Alabama into Mississippi. 1629. Alabama territory embodied in Carolina grant to Sir Robert Heath. 1663. Alabama territory embodied in Carolina grant to Monk, Shaftesbury, and others. 1682-1685. La Salle passed down the Mississippi River, took possession of country along the Gulf for Louis XIV. of France, and named it Louisiana. 1698, Sept. 24. Iberville sailed from Rochelle (Brest), France, to make settlements of Louisiana. 1699, Jan. 31. Iberville refused permission to anchor in harbor of Santa Rosa (Pensacola), sailed west and discovered Massacre, now Dauphin, Island. Iberville entered the Mississippi River. Fort Biloxi begun. Bienville, descending the Mississippi, met the English Cap- tain Barr and turned him back. Bienville made settlements on Massacre Island. France and Spain agreed to the Perdido River as the line of partition for their American possessions. Twenty-three French girls arrive at Fort Louis to become wives of colonists. Mobile permanently established on its present site. French settlers on Massacre Island plundered by pirate ship from Jamaica. Louisiana chartered to Antoine Crozat. Lamotte Cadillac, governor, and other officers under Crozat landed on Massacre Island. LVEpinay, governor under Crozat, arrived at Mobile. Western or India Company acquired Louisiana. Bienville captured Pensacola. French repulsed Spaniards who bombarded the settlement on Massacre Island. Seat of government transferred to New Biloxi. Ship Africaine arrived at Mobile with one hundred and twenty of three hundred and twenty-four negroes em- barked from Guinea. This was tlie first introduction of African slavery into the Louisiana colony. $176 was the price of a slave. 1722, Aug. — . Garrison at Fort Toulouse mutinied and killed Captain Marcliand, the French commandant. 1722. Great hurricane swept Louisiana. 1723, Seat of government of Louisiana transferred to New Orleans. 260 1699, 1699, 1699, Feb. 22. May 1. Aug. 16. 1702, 1702. Jan. — . 1704, July 24. 1711. 1711. 1712, 1713, Sept. 14. May 17. 1717, 1717, 1719, 1719, March 9. Sept. 6. May —. Aug. — . 1720, 1721, Dec. 20. Mar. 17. APPENDIX. 261 1723. Bienville restored Pensacola to Spain. 1729, Oct. 28. Terrible massacre of the French at Natcliez. 1733. General Oglethorpe settled colony at Savannah, Georgia. 1735. Britisli Fort built at Ocfusicee on the Tallapoosa River. 1735. Fort Tombeckbe (now Jones' Blulf) on the Tombeckbe River, established by Bienville. 1737. George Galphin, an irishman, ])egan trading with the Indians. 1736, May 26. Bienville defeated at Ackia by the Chickasaws. The French were again defeated here in 1752 by the Chick- asaws. 1713, May — . Bienville resigned governorship of Louisiana and returned to France. 1716. Alexander McGillivray born at Little Tallase. 1758. Captain Bossu made voyage up Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers. 1768, Bienville died in France. 1772. First cotton-gin in use. (See Pickett's Alabama, p. 326, new edition.) 1772. Tremendous storm at Mobile and along the Gulf. 1777. William Bartram journeyed through Alabama. 1781. William Panton in trading-house at Pensacola. 1782, Nov. 30. Treaty of Peace between United States and England relin- quished to United States all territory east of the Missis- sippi River down to 31° north latitude. 1798, April 7. Mississippi Territory created by Act of Congress. 1811. Spain secretly transferred Louisiana to France, except that y)ortion south of 31° between the Mississippi and the Perdido Rivers. 1801, Oct. 27. General James Wilkinson, at Natchez, treats with Chickasaws for higliwav from Cumberland district to Natchez; built Fort Stoddart; December 8, treated with Choctaws for road from Fort Adams to Yazoo River, and with Creeks, on June 16, 1802, for large cessions east of a line from the Oconee to EUicott's Mound, on the St. Mary's River. 1802, April 24. Georgia surrendered to United States for $1,250,000 all her claims to land of Mississippi Territory. 1802. Cotton-gins built at Weatherford's "Race Track," Boat- vard, and at :M(^lTitosh Bluff. 1803. Lorenzo Dow, Rev. Tobias Gibson, and Mr. Brown, Method- ists ; Rev's. Montgomerv and Hall, Presbyterians ; Rev. David Cooper, Baptist, and Dr. Cloud, Episcopalian, be- gan, by preachins; and example, " to soften and refine the people, and to banish much sin and vice from the worst region that ministers ever entered." — Pickett. 1804. Feb. 2. Land Olfice established at St. Stephens, with Joseph Chambers, Ephraim Kirby, and Robert Carter Nicholas, Commissioners. 1800-4. Much confusion and amusement from decision of Justices from different states who, in the absence of a special code, decided cases according to the laws of the state from which the justice had emigrated. 1805. Much discontent over exacting Revenue laws. The Kempers kidnapped by the Spaniards and rescued by United States soldiers. 1805, July 23. The Chickasaws cede 350,000 acres of land in the bend of the Tennessee River, 262 APPENDIX. 1805, Nov. 14. Creek Chiefs in Washington city grant right of horse-path through their country, and 'agree to establish ferries, bridges, and accommodation houses. 1805, Oct. 7. The Cherokees grant mail route from Knoxville to New- Orleans. 1805, Nov. 16. The Choctaws at Mount Dexter cede 5,000,000 acres, thus throwing open to American settlement the whole of Southern Mississippi. 1805. United States Military Road cut from Ocmulgee to Mims' Ferry on the Alabama. 1807, Feb. 19. Aaron Burr arrested by Captain E. P. Gaines in Washington County, Alabama. 1807, Dec. — . St. Stephens laid off in town lots, and road cut thence to Natchez, Mississippi. 1810, Aug. — . The Kempers, leading "the patriots," captured Baton Roiige, and killed Governor Grandpre, but failed to capture Mobile. 1813, Sept, 1. Josiah Francis, the prophet, with a band of Creeks, attacked the Kimbells' and James' homes near Fort Sinqueheld, in Clarke County, and massacred twelve people. 1813, Oct. 4. Colonel William McGrew killed bv Indians at Barshi Creek. 1813, Nov. 9. Battle of Talladega. 1813, Nov. 29. General John Floyd with Georgians defeated the Red Sticks at Autosse, on the Tallapoosa River. 1814, Jan. 22. Jackson fights battle at Emuckfau Creek. 1814, Jan. 24. Jackson fights battle of Enitachopco. 1814, Jan. 27. General Flovd fights battle of Calabee. 1814, Mar. 27. Battle of To-hope-ka, or Horse Shoe Bend. 1814, April 17. Jackson built Fort Jackson on site of old Fort Toulouse. 1814, April 20. General Pinckney superseded Jackson in command, and Jackson repaired to the Hermitage. 1814, July 10. Jackson, made a Major-General, returned to Fort Jackson and took command of the Southern Army. 1814, Sept. 15. Major William Lawrence repulsed British fleet from Fort Bowyer. 1815, Feb. 15. British captured Fort Bowyer. 1819, May 3. Election of delegates to frame the Constitution in compli- ance with the " Enabling Act." 1819, July 5-Aug. 2. Constitutional Convention in session at Huntsville. 1819, Sept. 20, 21. First general election for Governor of Alabama and members of Legislature. 1819, Oct. 25-Dec. 29. First State Legislature at Huntsville. 1820, May 8. Supreme Court, composed of Circuit Judges until 1832, held its first session at Cahawba. 1820, Oct. 23. Second State Legislature at CVahawba. 1820, Dec. 18. Governor Thomas Bibb approved Act of Legislature to establish the University of Alabama. 1820, Dec. 21. State Bank chartered for $2,000,000 capital stock; location fixed at Cahawba. 1820. Five electoral votes cast for James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins. 1820, Ai)ril 21. Congress established a Federal District Court over Alabama ; Charles Tait, Judge; William Crawford, Attorney. 1821. Patrol system established, to prevent esca]>e of slaves. 1821. Mobile "Steamboat Company organized, and first steamboat passed from Mobile to Montgomery. 1821. Great freshet. APPENDIX. 263 1821, March 1. First Alabama presbyter}^ established at Cahawba. 1821, June 4. First called session of the Legislature at Cahawba. 1823. Baptist State Convention organized at Salem Church, near Greensboro. 1824. Five electoral votes cast for Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun. Legislature provided that presidential electors be chosen by the people. 1824, Mar. 10. Congress divides the State into two districts, Northern and Southern, with Court Sessions at Huntsville and Mobile. 1825. Vicarate Apostolic (Catholic) of Alabama and Florida created. 1825. First Episcopal Church organized in Mobile. 1828. Congress granted 4,000,000 acres of land to improve Muscle Shoals. 1828. Five Electoral votes cast for Andrew Jackson and John C. Calhoun. 1829. Constitutional amendment limited ofhcial tenure of judges to six years. Ratified by General Assemblj^ June 16, 1830. 1829. Methodist Protestant Church organized. 1830. St. Joseph College (Catholic) established at Spring Hill, Mobile. La Grange College (Methodist) established at La Grange, Alabama. 1832, Jan. — . First canal in the State opened. It connected Huntsville and Looney's Landing on the Tennessee River. 1832. The Supreme Court was organized, separate from Circuit Court judges, as now constituted. A. S. Lipscomb was Chief-justice, with John M. Taylor and Reuben Saffold, Associate Justices. 1832. Seven electoral votes cast for Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. 1832. Branches of State Bank incorporated, as follows : Januarv 21, Montgomerv, $800,000. November 16, Decatur, $1,000,000. December 14, Mobile, $2,000,000. 1833. Nov. 13. Most brilliant meteoric display. 1834. Daniel Pratt builds gin factory in Autauga County. 1836, Jan. 9. All taxes removed and State Bank charged with the ex- penses of the State's government. 1836. The seven electoral votes cast for Martin Van Buren and R. M. Johnson. 1837. General financial panic. 1837-1852, John McKinley on " Bench of the Supreme Court of the United States. 1839, Jan. 7. Judson Female Institute opened to students. 1839, Jan. 26. Act establishing a State penitentiary. The corner-stone of penitentiary was laid by Governor Bagby in October. 1839, Jan. 26. Supreme Courts of Chancery established. 1839, Feb. 1. Imprisonment for debt abolished. 1839, Aug. — . Drought to latter part of January following. 1839. Malignant yellow fever and disastrous fire in Mobile. 1840. Seven electoral votes cast for Martin Van Buren and R. M. Johnson. 1841. Judson Female Institute incorporated. 1841, Dec. 29. Howard College chartered; opened for students Jan., 1842. 1842. Penitentiary opened for reception of convicts. 1842. State taxes restored. 1843. Judson Institute transferred to Baptist State Convention. 264 APPENDIX. 184-4, May — . Howard College burned ; re-e.stablished at Marion. 1844, Nine electoral votes cast for James K. Polk and George M. Dallas. 1845, Jan. 8. Death of Andrew Jackson and universal sorrow. 1845, Annual elections discontinued ; biennial elections estab- lished. 1846, Jan. 26. The General Assembly selects Montgomery as the future site of State Capitol. 1847, July 13. Professor Michael Tuomey began geological exploration of the State. 1847, Nov. 2. Capitol at Montgomery completed ; December 6, General Assembly met in it for the tirst time. 1847, Dec. 4. Medical Association of Alabama founded at Mobile. 1848, Jan. 4. Professor Michael Tuomey named State Geologist. 1848. Dixon H. Lewis died. 1848. Nine electoral votes cast for Lewis Cass and William O. Butler. 1849. Election of Judges of Circuit and County Courts removed from the Legislature and committed to the people. 1849, Dec. 14. Capitol in Montgomery burned. Both houses were in session ; principal archives saved, but many valuable papers burned. 1850. Professor Tuomey's first biennial report of geology of Alabama. 1850. Rebuilding of Capitol begun. 1850, July 8. Alabama Historical Society organized at the University. 1851. " Southern Rights Party" hold convention in Montgomery. 1851, Nov. — . Present Capitol at Montgomery completed. 1852, Feb. 6. Alabama Insane Hospital incorporated. " Southern Rights " convention nominated George M. Troup and John A. Quitman. But nine electoral votes cast for Franklin Pierce and William R. King. 1853, Malignant yellow fever in Mobile. 1853. John A. Campbell appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, to succeed John McKinley, deceased. 1854. South and North Railroad chartered. 1855. The American or Know-nothing Party organized. 1856. The Methodists founded the Southern University at Greens- boro, and the Alabama Conference Female College at Tuskegee. 1856. State Medical Association collapsed for twelve years. 1856. Nine electoral votes cast for James Buchanan and John C. Breckenridge. 1857. General financial panic. 1859. Ex-Governor John Gayle died, and William Giles Jones succeeded to his office of Judge of the Federal District Court. 1859, Oct. 3. Southern University opened for students. Doctor (after- ward Bishop) William M. Wightman, its first president. 1860. Nine electoral votes cast for John C. Breckenridge and Joseph Lane. 1860, Dec. 24. General election of delegates to the secession convention. 1861, Mar. 4. Miss L. C. Tyler, grand-daughter of ex-president John Tyler, elevated 1:he Stars and Bars, the first flag of the Confeder- ate States, to the sunnnit of staff on the Capitol in Mont- gomery, APPENDIX. 265 1861, Feb. 4. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana. Texas, and South Carolina, through duly eniix >\vere(l representatives formed the Congress of the Confederate States of America. The temporary chairman was Robert Barnwell, of South Carolina, and the temporary secretary was Albert R. Lamar, of Georgia. The Hon. Howell Cobb, of Georgia, was elected the perma- nent presiding officer, and Johnson Jones Hooper, of Alabama, the permanent secretary. 1861, Feb. 9. The eleven States participating cast 109 votes for Jefferson Davis and Alexander H. Stephens. Of these, Alabama cast 11. 1861, Feb. 21. First message Mr. Davis sent to the Confederate Congress nominated : Robert Toombs, of Georgia, Secretary of State. C. G. Memminger, of South Carolina, Secretary of Treasury. Le Roy P. Walker, of Alabama, Secretary of War. 1861, April 5. Alabama Insane Hospital admitted its first patient. 1861, May 20. Seat of Government transferred to Richmond, Virginia. 1862, Feb. 2. President Davis called for eleven regiments of troops. 1862, Feb. 6. Fort Henry on the Tennessee surrendered to General Grant. 1862, Feb. 8. Commodore Phelps steamed up to Florence, captured two steamboats, in addition to other captures in passage to and fro and burnt the Confederate supplies. 1862, Feb. 16. Fort Donelson surrendered to General Grant. 1862, Apr, 6, 7. Battle of Shiloh. 1862, April 11. The Federal general 0. M. Mitchell captured Huntsville. 1862, April 13. The Federals captured Decatur. 1862, April 16. The Federals captured Tuscumbia. 1862. Salt famine, due to blockades, produced great distress. 1862, Mav 1. Colonel Scott recaptured Athens from the Federals. 1862, Julys. Captain P. D. Roddey, the "Defender of North Alabama," made successful attack on the Federals near Russellville. 1862, July 10. Union men from the mountains begin to enlist in the Federal army at Decatur. 1862, July — . Colonel F. 0. Armstrong with Louisiana brigade, and Cap- tain P. D. Roddey harass the Federals and destroy bridges on Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Aug. 5. General R. L. McCook, with staff and escort, captured by Confederate scouts under Captain Gurley. General McCook killed. Aug. 13. Captain Roddey attacked Federals between Tuscumbia and Decatur. General Bragg thanked him for his success. 1862, Aug. 27. Confederates under Colonel McKinstry and Captain Eea drive Federals from fort at the mouth of Battle Creek, near Bridgeport. 1862, Aug. — . Federals withdraw from North Alabama to avoid the dangers from the advance of Bragg's forces into Ten- nessee. 1562, Sept. 22. Lincoln issued Emancipation Proclamation to go into effect January 1, 1863. 1862, Dec. 31 to Jan. 3, 1863. Stone's River campaign, including battle of Murphreesboro. 1863, Feb. 22. Tuscuml:)ia in hands of Federal Colonel Cornyn. 1863, Mar. 17. John Pelham killed at Kelly's Ford, Va. 1563, April 11. General S. A. i\L Wood and" Colonel Dibbrell repulsed three Federal gunboats at Florence, 266 APPENDIX. 1863, April 17. General P. D. Roddey, with 1200 men, began attacks on Federal General Grenville M. Dodge, with 7500 men, at Little Bear Creek. 1863, May-June. Federals under Cornyn burn and destroy immense quantities of property between Corinth and Florence. 1863, July 1, 2, and 3. Battle of Gettysburg. 1863, JulV 4. Fall of Vicksburg. 1863, July 31. Death of Wm. L. Yancey. 1863, Aug. — . Called session of Legislature made 16 to 60 years the conscript limit, and appropriated $1,000,000 to support soldiers' families during October, November, and December. 1863, Sept. 19 and 20. Battle of Chickamauga. 1863, Nov. — . Legislature voted $3,000,000 to support soldiers' families during 1864 ; taxed all products ^i^ ; voted $1,500,000 for military defense. 1863, Dec. 17-July 17, 1864. Atlanta campaign. 1864, Jan. 25. Colonel W. A. Johnson began attacks on Federals in North Alabama. 1864, Jan. 26. Roddey failed to capture Athens ; soon ordered to join Wheeler at Dalton, Ga., but sent back in April to protect North Alabama. 1864, Mar. — . Federals captured Decatur. 1864, May 17. Colonel Josiah Patterson defeated Federals at Madison station. 1864, May 29. General Stephen D. Lee appointed to command the Depart- ment (^f Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. 1861, July 10. General Rousseau, with 2300 men, left Decatur on raid to Opelike. 1864, July 19. The Alabama, Captain Raphael Semmes, sunk by the Kear- sarge. Captain Winslow, at mouth of Cherbourg Harbor, off the coast of France. 1864, July 30. Wilcox's brigade checks the Federals at the Petersburg Crater. 1864, Aug. 20. General John Herbert Kelly killed at Franklin, Tenn. 1864, Aug. 25. General Ricliard Taylor appointed to command the Depart- ment of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. 1864, Sept. 19. Gen. Robert Emmet Rodes killed at Winchester, Virginia. 1864, Sept. 23 to 24. Forrest captured Athens from Colonel Campbell. Sept. 25. Forrest captured Sulphur Trestle. 1864, Sept. — . Sherman followed Hood as far as Gaylesville, Alabama, and detachments do mucli damage in region toward Gadsden. 1864, Oct. 7. General John Gregg, killed leading Field's division against Federal lines, near Richmond. 1864, Oct. 26. A portion of Hood's army made unsuccessful attack on Federal fortifications around Decatur. 1864, Nov. 30. Battle of Franklin, Tennessee. 1865, Mar. 29. Federal General J. H. Wilson's three columns converge at Elvton. 1865, Mar. 31. Federals burn the Red INIountain, Central. Bibb, Cahaba and Columl)ian Iron Works. 1865, April 1. Forrest checked Federals near Dixie Station, and killed Captain Taylor, Federal, in perstmal encounter. 1865, April 2. Selma captured by General J. H. Wilson. 1865, April 12. Montgomery captured bv General J. H. Wilson. 1865, May 4. General Richard Taylor, Commanding the Department of the West, surrendered to General Canby, at Citronelle. APPENDIX. 267 1865, May4-June 21. Civil Governiiient suspended. 1865, June 21. President Johnson appointed Lewis E. Parsons, Provisional Governor of Alabama. 1865. Robbers in unitbrnis of United States soldiers, commit nu- merous depredations. 1865, Sept. 12-30. Constitutional Convention, with Ex-Governor Benjamin Fitzpatriek, president, abolished slavery, annulled Ordi- nance of Secession, provided for election in November, and for meeting of the General Assembly. 1866, Jan. 16. Legislature presents memorial to President Johnson, pe- titioning withdrawal of Federal troops from Alabama. 1866, Feb. 22. Legislatui-e approved the policy of President Johnson, and denounced those whose interests in the State were pro- moted by false representation. It pledged to the negro race justice, humanity, and good faith. 1866, Dec. 6. Legislature refused to ratify Fourteenth Amendment to Con- stitution of the United States. 1867, March 2-27. Congress relegated Alabama to military rule, and made adoption of the " Fourteenth Amendment " by a majority of electors essential to the State's representa- tion in Congress. 1867, Nov. 5-Dec. 6. Constitutional Convention in Capitol at Montgomery, E. W. Peck, president, was composed of carpet-baggers, scalawags, negroes, and a few decent whites. 1868, Jan. 1. Representative men of the "Conservative Party," in confer- ence at Montgomery, planned to defeat the unsavory Reconstruction Constitution, and named Januarj'^ 30 as a day of fasting and prayer. 1868, Feb. 4. Vote on the Constitution falling below majority of registered voters, that instrument failed of ratification. Congress, however, forced the Constitution on the State. 1868, July 13-Dec. 3. The " Radical " Legislature, nominated by the " Black Man's Party," ratified the " Fourteenth Amendment." 1868. Senators-elect" were, bv terms of the Constitution, to draw lots for long or short terms, half-and-half. The senators refused to draw and so all held the long term. 1868, July — . New university buildings at Tuskaloosa com]-)leted. 1868. Democrats support Horatio Seymour and F. P. Blair for president and vice-president' of the United States. 1868. Eight electoral votes cast for Ulysses S. Grant and Schuvler Colfax, Republicans. 1869, Jan. 1. Freedmen's Bureau discontinued by operation of Act of Congress. 1869, Apr. — . New university building opened to students. 1869, Nov. 24. General Assembly ratified the " Fifteenth Amendment." 1870, The Conservative Party, aligning with Northern Democrats, took the name " Democratic and Conservative Party." 1871, Jan. 1. Alabama and Chattanooga Railroad failed to pay interest due on bonds and Governor Lindsay seized the property of the railroad to secure the State against loss. 1871, Sept. 26. General .Tames H. Clanton killed at Knoxville, Tennessee, by David ]M. Nelson, a Federal. 1872, Mar. 20. State Polytechnic Institute, as Agricultural and Mechanical College, established at Auburn, in East Alabama College which the Methodists had donated to the State. 1872. Electoral votes cast for Grant and Wilson. 1872, Dec. — . State Normal College established at Florence. 268 APPENDIX. 1873. Cholera in Birmingliain. Yellow fever in Mobile. 1873. Patrons of Husbandry organized. 1873, Apr. 18. Dr. Eugene Allen Smith appointed State Geologist. 1873. John (}. Cullman planted the German colony in what is now Cullman County. 1873, Dec. 9. State Normal and Industrial School for Negroes established at Huntsville. 1874. The Democratic party at the North carried Congressional elections and thus rebuked the persecutions against Con- federates. 1874, Dec, 17. General Assembly ap|)ointed Governor Houston, Levi W, Lawler, and T. B. Betliea a committee to ascertain the debt of the State and to report a plan for its licjuidation and adjustment. Exact debt found to be $30,037,563. 1875, Mar. 19. General Assembly Act submitted to popular vote the ques- tion of a Constitutional Convention. 1875, Aug. 3. Popular election favored a Constitutional Convention. 1875, Sept. 6-Oct. 2. Constitutional Convention, in session at Montgomery, restored biennial sessions of the General Assembly and limited the term of sessions to fifty days ; fixed members' pay at $4 a day, and made president of the senate next in succession to the governor. 1875, Nov. 16. People ratify the Constitution of 1875, which became oper- ative on December 6. 1876, Apr. 3. Great rain and wind storm throughout Alabama. Rain considered the heaviest that ever fell in Alabama. 1876, Oct. — . Alabama and Chattanooga Eailroad sold at public outcry, 1876, Ten electoral votes cast for Samuel J. Tilden and Thomas A. Hendricks. 1878. Violent yellow fever epidemic. 1879. Jan. 15. State Bar Association organized. 1880. The Greenback party, in active opposition to Democrats. 1880. Ten electoral votes' cast for Winfield S. Hancock, and William H. English, democrats. 1880, Nov. 23. Alice furnace No. 1, in Birmingham, went into blast. 1881, Feb. 10. Industrial and normal school for negroes established at Tuskegee. 1881, Feb. 26. State railroad commission established. 1882. Alabama State Teachers' Association formed. 1882. State normal school established at Jacksonville. 1882. East and west railroad linked Cartersville, Georgia, and Pell Citv. Alabama. 1883, Jan. — . Defalcation of State Treasurer Isaac H. Vincent discovered. 1883. Anniston and Sheffield founded. 1883, Feb. 23. State Department of Agriculture created. 1SS4. Birmingham Mineral Railroad opened to traffic. 1884, Ten electoral votes cast for Grover Cleveland and Thomas A. Hendricks. 1885, Sept. 30. Confederate :Monnment Association incorporated. 1886, Immense freshets in spring and summer. 1887, Aprill2. Bessemer founded. 1887. The followimj railroads opened to travel: Alabama Mid- land, Birmingliam and Atlantic, Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham, Mobile and Birmingham. 1888. Yellow fever in Decatur. 1888. Ten electoral votes cast for Grover Cleveland and Allen G. Thurman. 1889, Feb. 28. 1880, Dec. 8. 1890. 1892. 1892. 1893. 1893. 1894, 1896, June-Sept. Oct. 12. 1896, Juiy-Dec. APPENDIX. 269 1888. Savannah and Western (Central of Georgia) Railway opened to Birmingham. Legi.slatiu'e pensions maimed Confederate soldiers and the widows of Confederate soldiers. Hawes' riot at Kiriningham. Thirteen persons killed by posse under sheriff Joseph S. Smitli, to protect from mob violence Richard Hawes, who had murdered his wife and two daughters. East Lake Atheuffium established. Co-education inaugurated at Alabama Polytechnic Institute. Eleven electoral votes cast for Grover Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson. Hon. Hilary A. Herbert appointed Secretary of the Navy by President Grover Cleveland. Financial panic. . Strike by coal miners of North Alabama ; ten men killed. Alabama Girls' Industrial School at Montevallo opened to students. Seventy-five thousand tons of iron shipped from Alabama to foreign ports. This initiated export of iron from Alabama. 1896. Eleven electoral votes cast for William Jennings Bryan and Arthur Sewell. 1897, Feb. 3. General Assembly established otiice of State Tax Com- missioner. 1897, Feb. 16. General Assembly appointed chief mine inspector, re- quested examination of mine bosses, standard scales, safety-lamps, ventilation, maps, and care of those injured by accidents. 1897, July 24. Birmingham rolling mills make successful experiment in manufacture of steel. 1897, Dec. 27. Cahawba bridge disaster : train went through bridge and twenty-seven people were killed. 1897. Alabama shipped 223,000 tons of iron to foreign ports. 1898, Apr. 28. Governor Johnston called for volunteers for the Spanish American war. 1898. Low price of cotton caused widespread distress and dis- content. 1898, Dec. 7. Confederate Monument on Capitol Hill unveiled. 1898, Dec. 16. General Assembly voted to hold a Constitutional conven- tion. 1898, Dec. 17. Governor Johnston approved the act for a Constitutional convention. 1899, Feb. 23. Legislature voted $3000 to buy land and erect buildings for a Boys' Industrial School. 1399, Mar. 18. Primaries for delegates to Constitutional convention. 1899. Governor Johnston called special session of the General As- sembly, and secured repeal of bill for Constitutional convention on May 10. 1900, Nov — . General Assem1)ly voted for to submit Constitutional con- vention to the people. 1900. Eleven electoral votes cast for William Jennings Bryan and Adlai E. Stevenson. 1901, INIar. 25. About 10 a. m., fearful tornado in Birmingham. 1901, May 21-Sept. 3. Constitutional convention in session in Montgomery. 1901, June 11. Governor William J. Samford died in Tuskaloosa; William Dorsey Jelks succeeded to office of governor. Jj o OS ^ S ';n > cs <^ ^ -^^ -§ « u ^ t^ ziS s !-. tcc;;^ 13 > o fl o p ^J d ■—■' — . OS CO %-, o 03 o "3 OS a cS ?2 oi a % < o 03 CO I G Indian name. j Senator Abraham Baldwin, I Georgia. Gov. James Barbour, of Virgini Gov. William Wyatt Bibb. 1 o "S O d a OS a < o ^' Capt. Wm. Butler, of Alabama. John C. Calhoun, of South Car Henry C. Chambers, of Alabam Indian tribe. Judge Wm. P. Chilton, of Alab Indian tribe. hn Clarke, of Georgia. Clay, of Kentucky. It. R. Cleburne, of Arka hn Coffee, of Alabama. and Levi Colbert. word. tribe. Leonard W. Covington yland. Cullman, of Alabama, muel Dale, of Alabama alias, hann DeKalb. C3 a _c3 < O oT o > OS a 1 o o O e4 Gov. Jo Henry Gen. Pi Gen. Jo George Indian Indian f Gen. 1 Mar G < John G Gen. Sa A.J. D Gen. Jo < 1 1-5 G _cS 'S G P4 °0 ci ^3 . ^i . .^* .OD^j . i O 2 1 ^^ i 5^^^ ^^ OOOC^CO ?^ ■X § ^ c1 2.C t^ lO" ^^^'^ 8g5StC^-?^oS2 ^" c^ c) c-i c3i a> lO" o- i^ ^ ^ OX2 Xi u a O O r O O O O O U^J2 o o > G ^-^ G ^ o o ^ ►9 S a; 0! a> ^&&^ 5? ^ P WU< h P ppppppf^fep p 'A ta « P 12; J, .14 III! 11 larke hiy leburne .... offee ...... olbert* onecuh . ... oosa ovingtons . . . G ill o a 03 := rf 03 .-ti jssi t, ^^s.s. << « ma; m m muooooooooo^o o o oPPP W N w 270 6 ^>: £ o ville. sboro. ingham. on. ■nee. 1 oj fi ^' 2 a; S OJ II c OS 1 5 3 i C S X2 1 — A__ ^.-A.— ^_^ ^^^^_ fl . a c rr- c o o .2 1 .2 1 3 1 0) 1 50 o "3 3^ Oj CD 03 M 0> 2 O Oi ^ o 0) -^.M >> ^ bf o CI ^ o cu i % g Ph 2 o « 15 o o S^ 2" f^ X O c "Ti^ q3 1 2 3 'w '3 rion, Pickens, tiickasaw and of 1816. Tee, Dale, and rengo and Tus 1 1 11 3 ci 2; ce ■lis .2--« a> c .2 i o .id ill lis s =* ^ ,i«!'5 OS .28 cS il 2'.i P 1-5 «o o "S g OrCrii «0 CJ O c;) 3 n .d p o %Z^ -u^ -~^ -QCMP^w- -PQ CJ .-o H ^•— ,.^. ...^ ^_ ^ n. Jean de La Fayette, enjamin Franklin, of Pennsyl- vania. iss city. n. Nathaniel Greene, of Georgia. p s «t-. 2 0) ^ ii's. g !l -1 t* > ^ =^ =« ^ ?>«c 2 ^ a^ E: a; cs ^ .2^2^ ^ 4^ c o 1 1-1 !5 '2 > 1 1 2 I 2 O o of £ C c ci 'O fl s: o j5 o o o .2 *s > .1 o 01 ;3 «tH 2 ^ 5 .5 aipq OS -5 O fe 1-5 t^ CO 05 t> 05 aJ oi • :< 0) 2 1) Sh CO ' ' ' ' ,2 llfll O Zi 3 2 ;3 ii 1 i 1 O .G a; o3.G ci o C 03"^ g 5 S O o o iimi oc kJ Si? S =« Sw op 2 o o 22 •" "^ " o CJ rt M g; ci -^ eg r - - :?; tf , '3'3'3xi u'S 2 s G .-^ n, a ;_ n s-i ." '.lo j_ t 000<1^Cad- S£ -O 03 ^2 2 ,. -^ O 271 O O :- r; -i HP H (U 3 C o o I < w < < o CO W h o o o w o h en < h H S o > Ph -o o s H eg pi PJ H O H O^ M o^ ? Vr^ S c ^ ■=• "» 5R 2 a> i> T. O ?g^53 .COTS OCR H t^k -^ C 5^ CJ Ol felgl 100 00 ?1aOOD '^ r-t CC ODQO . '^-^ rH aO'-l'-l ""^ OC' i-H rHT-H OO cCt3 C^ CC«GO^ i^c'Jt^^^^t^c-i ;;-^i— i ►^ ft f^ o o ooo >,Q o oo;a ft ft flftft Iz; P^ ft ftft PM O Pi ft*? ftpM -;:S^ fcp?- p. a> o . ;y .^ .rH ^w — .^j rn ^ Cw w — ' "-^ "-ri. "-^ ►-^ be be OO 272 GOVERNORS OF THE MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY, THE ALA- BAMA TERRITORY, AND THE STATE OF ALABAMA. The Mississippi Territory. Prom To Winthrop Sargent of Massachusetts 1798 1801 William Charles Cole Claiborne of Tennessee . . 1801 1805 Robert Williams of North Carolina ...... 1805 1809 David Holmes of Virginia 1809 1817 The Alabama Territory. William Wyatt Bibb of Georgia Mar. 1817 Nov. 1819. The State of Alabama. William Wyatt Bibb of Autauga Nov.^ 1819 July 1820. Thomas Bibb of Limestone July 1820 Nov. 1821. Israel Pickins of Greene Nov. 1821 Nov. 1825. John Murphy of Monroe Nov. 1825 Nov. 1829. Gabriel Moore of Madison Nov. 1829 Mar. 1831. Samuel B. Moore of Jackson :Mar. 1831 Nov. 1831. John Gayle of Greene Nov. 1831 Nov. 1835. Clement Comer Clay of Madison .... Nov, 1835 July 1837. Hugh McVay of Lauderdale July 1837 Nov. 1837. Arthur Pendleton Bagby of Monroe . . Nov. 1837 Nov. 1841. Benjamin Fitzpatrick of Autauga .... Nov. 1841 Nov. 1845. Joshua Lanier Martin of Tuscaloosa . . . Nov. 1845 Nov, 1847. Reuben Chapman of Madison Nov. 1847 Nov. 1849. Henry Watkins Collier of Tuscaloosa . . Nov. 1849 Nov. 1853. John Anthony Winston of Sumter .... Nov. 1853 Nov. 1857. Andrew Barry Moore of Perry Nov. 1857 Nov. 1861, John Gill Shorter of Barbour Nov. 1861 Nov. 1863. Thomas Hill Watts of Montgomery . . . Nov, 1863 Apr, 1865. 1 Governor Bibb was inaugurated as governor at Huntsville on November 9, 1819, although the State was not formally admitted into the Union until Decem- ber 14, 1819. 18 273 274 APPENDIX. [Interregnum of two months after the surrender of the military de- partment of the Confederate government, of which Alabama formed a part, to the Federal authorities.] From To Lewis E. Parsons ^ of Talladega .... June 1865 Dec. 1865. Robert Miller Patton of Lauderdale . . . Dec. 1865 July 1868. William H. Smith of Randolph July 1868 Dec 1870. Robert Burns Lindsay of Colbert Dec. 1870 Nov. 1872. David P. Lewis of Madison Nov. 1872 Nov. 1874. George Smith Houston Nov. 1874 Nov. 1878. Rufus W. Cobb of Shelby Nov. 1878 Dec. 1882. p:dward Asbury O'Neal of Lauderdale . . Dec. 1882 Dec. 1886. Thomas Seay of Hale Dec. 1886 Dec. 1890. Thomas Goode Jones of Montgomery . . .Dec. 1890 Dec. 1894. William C. Gates of Henry Dec. 1894 Dec. 1896. Joseph F. Johnson of Jefferson Dec. 1896 Dec. 1900. William J. Sanford of Lee Dec. 1900 June 1901. William D. J elks of Barbour June 1901 Appointed provisional governor of Alabama by President Johnson. NDEX. Abolitionists, 96 Academy for the Blind, 179 Achusi, Bar of, 13 Adams County, Miss., 205 Adams, Fort, 207 Adams, John, 205 Adams, John Quiucy, 118, 229 Adams, William L., 210 Adams, General Wirt, 115 Aiken, S. C, 129 Alabama admitted to Statehood, 210 Alabama adopts 13th Amendment, 138 Alabama Bryce Insane Hospital, 178 Alabama Conference Female College, 160 Alabama Great Southern Eailwav, 190 Alabama in Literature, 234-259 Alabama made a military district, 139 Alabama Medical Association, 181, 182 Alabama organized, 209 Alabama Platform, 95 Alabama Rivers, 184, 185 Alabama Territory, 205 Alabama Town, 200 Alabamas, 15, 16 Alibamons, 12 Allen, General William W., 116, 126 Allen, John and Robert, 58 Arabrister, 55 American Colonies, 19 American Colonization Societies, 106 American Republic, 20 Anderson, D. C, 26 Appalachian Mountain System, 185 Appalachicola River, 55 Appomattox, 24, 113 Arbuthnot, 55 Areola, 70 Arias, 12 Arkansas, 166 Arkansas River, 66 Army Records, 113 Arrow, 37 Athenaeum, 193 Athens, 115 Athens Female College, 160 Atlanta, 113 Atlanta, Battle of, 117, 129 Atlantic Ocean, 14 Auburn, 154 Augusta, Ga., 30 Augustine, St., 29 Austin, Captain E., 45 Austin, Jeremiah, 45, 46 Autosse, 53 Averysboro, 130 Avondale, 193 Bacchus, 67 Bagby, Governor A. P., 76, 214 Baker, Alpheus, 109 Baldwin County, 208 Baldwin, Joseph G., 239, 240 Banks, M., 79 Baptist Church, 175 Barancas, 56 Barbour County, 109 Barnard, F. A. P., 159, 240 Barr, R. N., 142 Barton Academy, 152 Barton's Station, 114 Battle, Alfred, 216 Battle, General Cullen A., 116 Beall, Lieutenant, 67 Beasley, Major Daniel, 35, 36 Belgium, 100 Bellamy, Mrs. E. W., 26, 251 Benton, Thomas H., 48, 50 Bentonville, 113, 130 Bessemer, 193 Betts, I. H., 223 Bibb, Thomas, 210, 211 Bibb, William W., 209, 210 Bienville, 14-18 Biloxi, 14 275 276 INDEX. Biloxi Bay, 13 Bingham, Arthur, 223 Bird, William, 90 Birmingham, 189-196 Birmingham District, 192 Birmingham Seminary, 193 Black Belt, 196, 197 Black Code. 17 Bla(-k Creek, 133 Black Warrior Elver, 61, 62 Blakeley, 23, 24 Blount, Barbara, 62 Blount County, 132 Blount, Governor William, 50-52, 63 Boat Yard, 151 Bolles, J. A., 120 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 27, 66, 70, 206 Booth, J. Wilkes, 136 Bouchelle, C. D., 79 Boiu-bon, 70 Bourke, Captain, 67 Bowles, ^yilliam A., 30, 31 Boys' Industrial School and Farm, 182, 183 Bragg, General Braxton, 126-128 Brant and Fuller, 242 Brazil, 101 Breckenridge, J. C, 97, 230 Brewer, Willis, 239, 242 Bridgeport, 127 Britain, Great, 18, 203 Briton, 21 Brooks, Preston Smith, 139 Brooks, Senator, of New York, 138 Broun, Dr. William Le Eoy, 154 Brown, John, 97, 107 Brownlow. Colonel, 129 Bryce, Dr. Peter, 176-178 Buchanan, Admiral F., 23 Buell, General, 126 Bugbee, Francis, 156 Bulger, General M. J., 219 Burke. Edmund, 94 Burn side, General, 127, 128 Burnt Corn, 35, 44, 63 Burr, Aaron, 207, 209 Butler, Sen., of South Carolina, 139 Byrd, Judge William M., 156, 229 Cadillac, 16 Cfesar, a negro, 46 Cahawba, 73, 210 Calabee (ca-la'bee) Creek, 53 Calhoun. John C, 48, 73, 76, 94-96, 101-106 Caller, Colonel James, 44 Campbell, Colonel, 115 Campbell, G. W., 56 Campbell, John A., 26, 88 Canada, 14, 16 Canadian, 13 Canby, General E. R. S., 23 Canoe Fight, 45-47 Cantey, General James, 116 Carlisle U. S. Cavalry School, 125 Carolina, North, 57, 72, 73 Carolina, South, 129, 205 Carondelet, Governor. 31 Carson, Colonel Joseph, 45, 46 Casey, Dr. T., 151 Cass, Lewis, 77, 95, 213 Catharine, 171 i Catholic, 18 Catholic Cemetery, 124 Centinel, Mobile, 256 j Cereal Belt, 186 Cervera, Admiral, 226, 227 Chambers County, 116 Chambers, Dr. Henry and Colonel Hal, 211 Chambers, Joseph, 58, 60 Chancellorsville, Battle of, 117 Chandler, Daniel, 26 Chapman, Governor E., 76, 215 Chapman, E. T., 120 Charleston, 27, 28 Charlotte, Fort, 19 Charlotte, Queen, 19 Chase, Salmon P., 96 Chattahoochee, 19, 28, 205 Chattanooga, 127, 128, 132 Chaudron, Mrs., 26 Cherbourg, France, 123 Cherokee County, 9, 28. 39. 132 Cherokees, 208, 213, 214 Chickamauga, 117, 127 Chickasaw Bluff, 12, 29 Chickasaws, 12, 18, 35, 39, 207, 208 Chilton, William P., 229 China, 194 Choctaw County, 165, 184 Choctaws, 35, 39, 58, 59, 206 Chunnanugea Chattee, 200 Cicero, 100, 172 Cimbri, 49 Claiborne, Fort, 63 Claiborne, General F. H., 36, 37, 45 Claiborne, William C. C, 206, 208 Clanton, James H., 117 Clark, Daniel, 207 Clark, Thomas H., 24? Clark, Willis G., 152, 156, 242 Clarke County. 12, 44, 45, 166 Clarke, J. S., 108 INDEX, 211 Clarke, Richard H., 26, 225 Clausel. Couut Bertrand, 70 Clay, Clemeut Comer, 80, 213, 214 Clar, Clement Claiborne, 88, 136 Clay, Henry, 48, 73, 91, 101 Clavsville, 114 Clayton, H. D., 112, 117, 157, 223 Clayton, Mrs. V. V., 257 Cleburne, General Patrick, 128 Clemens, Jere., 256 Clingman. Thomas L., 93 Cluis, J. J., 70 Coal Fields, 191 Cobb, Howell, 111 Cobb, R. W., 222 Cochran, Dr. Jerome, 180-182, 242 Cocke, General, 51, 53 Coffee, General John, 50-54 Coffey, Colonel John R., 215 Cold Harbor, 113, 117 Colbert Countv, 114 Colbert Ferrv, 61 Colbert Shoals, 211 Coleman, A. A., 108 Colfax, Schuyler. 1.38 Collier, Governor H. W., 216 Collier, Mary, 216 Compromise of 1850, 96 Coude, Fort, 15, 19 Confederacy, 24, 97, 126 Confederate Congress, 128 Confederate States, 22, 98, 124 Connecticut, 189 Connor, Commodore, 119 Constitution, 96 Constitution, United States, 96, 106 Constitution, U. S. warship, 9.> Convention, Baltimore, 95 Convention, Charleston, 95-97 Convention, National Democratic, 95 Convict System, 179 Cooper, William, 88 Coosa, 9, 10 Coosa River, 9, 16, 34, 114 Corinth, 126 Cornells, Jim, 36 Coronse Borealis, 161 Cortez, 7 Cosme, St., 16 Costa, 9 Cotton Belt, 186, 196-201 Cotton Giu Port, 62 Council of Nations, Grand, 28 Council, W. H., 149 Courses of Study, 169, 170 Court-House Legislature, 143 Court of St. James, 98 Coweta, 28, 30 Cox, S. S., 93 Craighead, Erwin, 26 Crawford, William H., 69 Crawley, Mrs., 63 Creeks, 16, 28-30, 61, 207. 212 Crenshaw, W. H., 156 Crittenden Compromise, 108 Crittenden, General, 127 Crook, General, 127 Crook, James, 224 Crowe, Dr. G. B., 227 Croxton, General, 115, 156 Crozat, Antoine, 16, 17 Cuba, 7, 76 Cumberland River, 58 Gumming, Miss Kate, 248 Curry, J. L. M., 257 Cusseta Treaty, 212 Dale, Samuel, 42-49, 68, 210 Dale County, 49 Dale's Ferry, 48 Daleville, 49 Dallas County, 76 Dallas, George M., 80 Dancing Rabbit Creek, Treaty of, 41, 212 Dargan, E. S., 26 Dauphin Island, 13 Davenport, J. G., 79 Davion, 16 Davis, President Jefferson, 58, 97, 108, 129, 136, 223 Davis, Nicholas, 212, 215 Dawson, N. H. R., 223 Dawson, R. H., 179 Deaf and Dumb Institute, 178 Deans, G. B., 225 Deas, General Zach. C, 22 I De Ay lion, 8 I De Bardeleben, H. F., 188 Decatur, 84. 132, 186, 196 I Decatur, Fort, 47 Deerhound, 123 De Leon, T. C, 26, 248, 249 I Democratic Party, 107 i Demopolis, 64, 69, 71, 203 I Demosthenes, 100, 172 ! Demosthenes of the South, 89 De Narvaez, 8 Dennis, St., 16 I Department of Archives and History, 235 I Deposit, Fort, 51 Desnouettes, Count, 69, 70 I De Soto, 7-12, 239 j:/ INDEX. De Sotoville, 148 Dexter, Andrew, 200 Uexter, Mount, 58, 60 Dibbrell, 114 Dill, T. J., 163 Dinsmore, Silas, 58, 60, 68 Dix, Miss Dorothea L., 175, 176 Dodge, General, 114, 132 Douglas, Stephen A., 74 Dow, Lorenzo, 174, 208 Dow, Peggy, 174 Du Bose, John W., 240, 241 Du Bose, Miss O. C, 165 Duffy, William, 72 Dunn, William D., 26 Dunsmore, 30 Durant, Benjamin, 27 Earle, Elias, and Dr. E., 90 Easlev, U. S. Commodore, 43 East Lake, 193 Econachaca, the " Holy Ground," 37 Ector's North Carolinians and Tex- ans, 23 Edmonson, Mr., 63 El Caney, 131 Ellicott, Andrew, 20, 205 Ellicott's Stone, 20 Ely, William, 190 Elyton, 190 Elyton Land Company, 191 Enierson, E. W., 97 Emmet, Johu P., 160 England, 18, 19, 21, 28, 97, 194, 204 English, 13-21 Ensley, 193 Episcopalians, 175 Europe, 66 Europeans, 17 Ewing, W. T., 223 Faneuil Hall, 97 Farmer, Major Eobert, 18 Farmers' Alliance, 223 Farragut, D. G., 23, 218 Federals, 23-25 Figh, George M., 157 Fillmore, President Millard, 76 Fisher, Colonel, 68 Fitts, James H., 156, 157 Fitzpatrick, Governor, 87, 215 Flash, Henry L., 246 Florence, 114, 186, 196 Florida, 7-9, 203, 204 Florida, West, 18, 19 Flournov, General, 45 Floyd, General, 37, 53 Forrest, General N. B., 114, 115, 132 Forsyth, John, 26, 256 Foster, J. T., 156 Foucat, 16 Fowler, William H., 113 France, 18, 28, 97, 204, 206 Francis, the Prophet, 35, 43 Franklin, Admiral, 117 Fredericksburg, 113, 117 Freedmen's Bureau, 139, 141 Freeman, Z. F., 156 Free Soilers, 95, 96 French, 13-18, 69, 174 French Association, 69 French Colony, 66-71 Gadsden, 133, 196 Gaines, Dr., 26 Gaines, Fort, 23, 112 Gaines, General E. P., 60, 62, 68 Gaines, Mrs. E. P., 63 Gaines, George S., 48, 50, 57-65, 68 Gaines, James, 57, 58 Gaines, Judge Eeuben, 167 Gaines, Young, 68 Gainesville, 64 Gallatin, Tenn., 58 Galphinton, 29 Galvez, 19, 204 Garfield, General James A., 102, 132 Garland, Dr. L. C, 158 Garrett, William, 242 Garrison, William Lloyd, 97 Gayarr^, Charles, 207 Gayle, John, 212, 213 George III., 19, 73 Georgia, 9, 28, 29, 99, 205, 218 Gettysburg, 113, 218 Ghent, Treaty of, 21 Gibson, A. M., 156 Gibson's Louisianians, 23 Gi Ira ore. Dr., 26 Girls, capture Federals, 133 Glidden, George E., 252 Goldthwaite, Judge H., 26 Gonzalez, Captain, 116 Goodwyn. A. T., 225 Gordon, General J. B., 116 Gorgas, General Josiah, 116, 157 Gracie, General, 22 Graison, Eobert, 53 Grand Council at Tookabatcha, 43 Granger, General Gordon, 24 Grant, J. F., 220 Grant, U. S., 128, 141, 143 Grav, A. J., 148 Gray, Eev. B. D., 167 INDEX. 279 Greeley, Horace, 101 Green Academy, 152 Greeue County, 12, 115 Greensboro, 218 Greenville Mountaineer, 90 Greenville, S. C, 89 Grouchy, Marshall, 70 Grouch}-, Victor, 70 Gulf Port, 26, 222 Hagan, General James, 22, 126 Halbert and Ball, 257 Hale, Senator from New Hampshire, 96 Hamilton, Alexander, 105 Hamilton, Peter J., 26, 252 Hamilton, Colonel, of Detroit, 204 Hannibal, 229 Hannon, General M. W., 126 Harris, Dr. E. P., 148 Harris, Sampson W., 93 Harris, U. S. Commissioner, 43 Harrisburg, 100 Harrison, Mrs. Belle R., 251 Harrison, William H., 92, 100 Hartford Convention, 92 Hatteras, Gunboat, 122 Hawkins, Benjamin, 43, 47, 207 Hawkins, Fort, 47 Hawthorne, Eev. J. B., 94 Hayes, President E. B., 101 Haynes, Colonel. 63 Havs, Charles, 222 Henley, Dr. A. T., 179 Henry, James, 161 Henry, Lemuel, 61 Hentz, Mrs. Caroline Lee, 238 Herbert, H. A., 242 Hermitage, The, 52 Herndon, Thomas H., 22, 220, 222 Hickman, Joseph, 190 Hillabee Indians, 53, 54 Hilliard, H. W., 95, 99-103 Hillraan Hospital, 193 Hitchcock, Henry, 26, 73 Hobson, R. P., 226, 227 Hobson Subordinates, 226 Hodgson, Joseph, 240 Holmes, Governor David, 21, 48, 209 Holtzclaw's Brigade, 23 Holtzclaw, J. T., 116 Holv Angels Academy, 193 Holy Ground, 37, 38 Homostubbee, 59, 60 Hooper, J. J., 116, 240 Hopiee Tustennuggee, 35 Hopkins, Mark, 164 Horseshoe Bend, 54 Houston County, 205 Houston, George S., 219, 220 Houston, Sam, 55 Howard College, 160, 163 Hudson Bay, 13 Hudson Port, 113 Huger Battery, 23, 24 Humes, General, 128 Humphries, Dr. C, 151 Hunt, John, 208 Hunter, Mr., 77 Hunter, E. M. T., 160 Huntsville, 50, 51, 73. 186, 196, 208, 210 Huse, Colonel Caleb, 156 Iberville, 13, 15 Illinois, 203 India Company, 17 Indian Troubles, 214 Irwinsville, Ga., 136 Isabel Doiia, 12 Island No. 10, 113 Jackson, Andrew, 21, 37, 38, 47, 50, 56, 63, 64, 209, 229 Jackson, Mrs., 52 Jackson County, 116 Jackson, Fort, 47, 55 Jackson, " Stonewall," 116 Japan, 194 j Jefferson County, 189 ' Jefferson, Thos., 105, 106, 160, 206, 208 Jelks, W. D., 228 Jemison, Eobert, 108, 156 Jesup, General, 214 Jews, 18 Johnson, Andrew, 25, 124, 136, 138 Johnson, C. B., 135 Johnson, Prof. J. Hal, 178 Johnson, R. B., 113 Johns, St., 29 Johnston, J. E., 113, 124, 128, 130 Johnston, J. F., 223, 225, 226 Johnston, Miss Marv, 256, 257 Johnston, Mrs. E. D., 183 Johnstone, Governor George, 19 Jones, General E. C, 157 Jones, Governor T. G., 224 Jones Valley, 191 Judge, Thomas J., 156 Keaksaege, 123 Kell, Lieutenant, 123 Kellv, General John H., 126, 128 Kelly's Ford, 116 280 INDEX. Kennedy, Captain, 36 Kentucky, 19, 97 Ketchum, Dr. George A., 26, 181 Key, Francis Scott, 213 King Cotton, 188 King, Porter, 156 King, William R., 72, 77, 230 King, William W., 79 Klinck, J. G., 200 Knighton, Captain J. H., 148 Knox, Sarah, 58 Knoxville, 128 Kolb, R. F., 223, 224 Kossuth, Louis, 255 Ku Klux Klau, 146, 147 L'Allemand, 70 L'Epinay, 16 La Fayette, 48, 211 La Grange, 116 La Salle, 13, 14 Laird & Sons, 121 Lamochattee, 34 Lancaster, Mr., 123 Lane, Joseph, 97 Langdon, C. C, 26, 256 Lanier, Sidney and Clifford, 243 Lauderdale County, Miss., 48 Lauderdale County, Ala., 115 Lawrence, Major, 21 Law's Mississippi Scheme, 17 Leadbetter, General D., 116 Lee, General R. E., 24, 116, 223 Lee, W. D., 179 Leipsic, 168 Leopold, King, 100 Le Vert, Mrs. O. W., 26, 239 Lewin, Charles, 85 Lewis, B. B., 157 Lewis, D. H., 68, 76 Lewis, David P., 142, 143, 220 Liddell, General, 24 Lincoln, Abraham, 97, 108, 112, 136 Lincoyer, 52 Linden, 70 Lindsay, R. B., 142, 220 Lipscomb, A. S., 26 Little Bear Creek, 114 Liverpool, 25 Livingston Normal College, 180 Loachapoka, 114 Lomax, T., 113 Long, B. M., 224 Long, General, 115 Long, George, 160 Longstreet, General, 116, 127 Lookout Mountain, 185 Loudon, 127 Louisiana, 16-20, 203, 204 Louisiana Purchase, 20, 207 Louis, Fort,- 14 Louis XIV., 16 Louis XV., 17 Louis, St., 18 Louisville and Nashville Railway, 190 Low, Mr., 122 Loyal League, 127 Lupton, Dr. N. T., 157 Lyon, F. S., 88 McClung, J. W., 215 McCook, 115, 128 McCorvey, T. C, 253 McDonough, 67 McGillivray, 27 McGillivray, Alexander, 27-33, 34 McGillivray, Jeannet, 27 McGillivray, Sophia, 27 Mcintosh Bluff, 207 Mcintosh, General, 47 McKee, Colonel John H., 41 McKinley, John, 212 McKinley, President, 131 McKinstrv, 22 McLeroy, J. M., 223 McLoud, 67 McMinnville, 127 McMullen, R. B., 79 McPherson, James, 234 McQueen, Peter, 35, 44 McRae. 22 McVay, Hugh, 214 Macon, Ga., 129 Macon, Miss., 58 Madison County, 114, 208 Madison, Fort, 36, 45 Madison, President James, 72 Madrid, 31 Madrid, Treaty of, 20, 204 Maffitt, J. N., 23 Magazine explosion, 25 Magnolia Grove, 227 Maldonado, 12 Malone, Thomas, 61, 63, 68 Malvern Hill, 113 Manly, Rev. Basil, 155, 156 Manly, Miss Louise, 257 Manning, Amos R., 26 Marchand, Captain, 27 Marengo, 12, 70, 166 Maria Theresa, 227 Marion Military Institute, 162 Mar ins, 49 Marks, St., 29 INDEX. 281 Marshall County, 114 Martin, J. L., 87, 88, 93, 215 Massacre Island, 13 Massey, Dr. John, 162, 165, 167 Mastiu, Dr., 26 Maurepas, Fort de, 13 Maury, D. H., 22, 24 Maury, Colonel Harry, 113 MaurV, T. W., 61 Mauvilla, 10, 11, 15 Meade, General George, 140 Meadors, J. C=, 156 ]Medical College of Alabama, 154 Meek, A. B., 26, 78, 83, 152, 159, 236 Meek, B. F., 157 Meek, Dr. Samuel M., 79 Melleu, Dr. George F., Jr., 167 Mellen, Prof. George F., Sr., 165 Mellen, Prof. S. S., 164-173 Melleu, Mrs. S. S., 171 Memphis, 12 Merrimac, 226, 227 Methodist Church, 175 Methodist College at Owenton, 193 Mexican War, 119, 215 Mexico, 8 Mexico, Gulf of, 8. 12, 13 Mil fort, 27, 30, 34 Milledgeville, 48 Milledffeville Sale, 200 Miller, C. A., 142 Milton's Eve, 94 Minis, Fort, 35, 38, 50, 63 Mineral Belt, 186-189 Missionary Ridge, 128 Mississippi Basin, 18, 19 Mississippi River, 12, 19, 58, 67 Mississippi Territory, 21, 203, 209 Missouri Compromise, 95, 96 Mitchell, Fort, 213 Mitchell, General, 114 Mobile, 12, 13-26, 29, 64, 84, 166 Mobile Bay, 13, 21, 23, 67 Mobile Countv, 21 Mobile Point," 13, 21 Mobile River, 14 Monroe, President James, 209 Montgomery, 84, 94, 199. 200. 203 ^Montgomery, Major L. P., 55 Moore, A. B., 108, 112, 216, 217 Moore, Arthur, 200 Moore, Gabriel, 209, 212 Moore, J. T., 135 Moore, Samuel B., 212 Moren, Dr. E. H., 142, 220 Morgan, Colonel, 54 Morgan County, 114, 132 Morgan, Fort, 23, 112, 113 Morgan, J. T., 108, 229-233, 241 Morro Castle, 226 Mount Dexter Treaty, 58, 208 Mudd, Judge William S., 190 Muller, A. B., 237, 238 Mumfordville, 126 Murder Creek, 32 Murfree, Colonel J. T., 156, 162 Murfreesboro, 117, 126 Naples, 73 Napoleon, 19 Nashville, 63, 113, 117 Natchez, 203, 205 Negroes, 15, 17, 145-150 New England, 97 New Hope, 113, 117 New Mexico, 96 Newman, Ga., 128 New Crleans, 17, 21, 31, 47, 58, 203, 204 New World, 14, 70 New York, 97, 180 New York Treaty, 31 Nicaragua Canal, 232, 233 Nieto, 9 Nile, 67 Noble, Governor Patrick, 91 Normal Schools, 153 North Alabama, 26 Nott, Dr. J. C, 26, 252 Gates, William C, 225 Oce-Oche-Motla, 62, 63 Ocfuskees, 30 Ochus, Bay of, 12 Ockenden, Mrs. I. M. P., 247 Oconee Lands, 29 Oconee River, 28, 129 Ohio, 97 Ohio River, 58, 61 Oktibbeha River, 61 Oliver, Samuel W., 214 O'Neal, E. A., 222 Opelika, 115 Opothleyoholo, 214 Ordinance, Nullification, 107 Ordinance, Secession, 105-111 Oregon Boundary, 101 Oreto, 23 Orleans, Duke of, 17 Orleans, Island of, 18, 203 Ortiz, Juan, 8, 9 Osage, 39 Owen, Dr. Goronwy, 26 282 INDEX. Owen, Thomas M., 234, 235 Owens, Hardeman, 213 Packenham, General, 21 Paddy, 47 Pafalaya, 12 Paine, Bishop Eobert, 162 Panton, William, 29, 30, 33 Panton, Leslie & Co., 19 Panuco, 12 Parham, Captain, 116 Paris, 66, 180 Parker, J. J., 220 Parker, Dr. William A., 157 Parmentier, Nicholas S., 66 Parsons, Enoch, 213 Parsons, Lewis E., 137, 219 Paterson, Colonel, 114 Patton, E. M., 141, 156, 157, 219 Patton Certificates, 157 Pearl Eiver, 205 Peck, S. M., 159, 253, 254 Pelby, Mr., 238 Pelham, John, 116 Pendletons, 58 Peninsula, 7 Pensacola, 17, 19, 20, 21, 24, 29, 33, 35 Perdido Eiver, 20 Perier, 18 Perry, B. F., 89 Perry, W. F., 152 Peru, 7, 12 Peter, 171 Peters, Benjamin, 156 Petersburg, 113 Petersburg, St., 73 Petrie, George, 253 Philadelphia, 69 Philadelphia. New, 200 Philip, 17 Philippines, 131 Phillippe, Louis, 75 Phillis, " Aunt," 171 Pickens, Andrew, 207 Pickens, Israel, 211 Pickering County, 205 Pickett, A. J., 240 Pierce, 76 Pierce, John, 152 Pierce's Springs. 164 Pike, Albert, 247 Pillow, Fort, 113 Pinckney Eesolutions, 107 Pinckney, Thomas. 20 Pinckney, William, 73 Pltchlyn, John, 61, 62 Pittsburg, 61 Pittsburg Landing, 126 Pizarro, 7, 8 Poe, E. A., 160 Point Clear, 124 Politics, 203-228 Polk, President J. K., 76, 80 Pollard, 24 Pollock, Oliyer, 203 Pollock-Stephens Institute. 193 Pontiac, 18 Pope, Alexander, 208 Pope, General, 139, 140 Porter, B. F., 247 Powell, J. E., 191 Powers, James K., 158 Pratt City, 193 Pratt, Daniel, 188 Prentiss, General, 126 Prentiss, S. S., 94 Presbyterians, 175 Preston, 58 Price, Moses, 31 Price's advertisement, 151 Puckshennubbee, 59 Pushmataha, 34, 37-39 Eaft on Eed Eiver, 67 Eandolph, John, 106 Eaoul, Nicholas, 70 Eeal, Count, 69 Eeconstruction, 25, 136-144 Eed Eagle, 38 Eed Mountain, 191 Eed Eiver, 67 Eed Sticks, 54 Eeforms and Eeformers. 174-183 Eevolutionary War, 19 Eice, S. F., 229 Eichardson, William. 224 Eichardson, Prof. W. C, 251 Eichmond. 124 Eiley, Eev. Benj. F., 257 Eoberts, Dr. W., 151 Eock Landing, 29 Eock Eun, 132 Eockv Ford, 133 Eoddcv, General P. D., 114, 115 Eodesr General E. E., 116 Eoman Catholics, 174 Eome, Ga., 1.32, 135 Eosecrans. 126, 128, 132 Eovicn, 66 Eoyal Bank of Paris, 17 Eussell, Colonel G. C, 54 Eussia, 76 Eyan, Father A. J., 26, 243-246 INDEX. 283 St. Domingo, 14 St. Joseph's College, 160 St. Mark's, 29 St. Stephens, 20, 45, 58, 59, 61, 62, 205, 209, 210 St. Stephens' Academy, 152 .St. Vincent's Hospital, Id'.:, Saffold, Eeuben, 142 Samford, W. J., 227. 228 Sampson, Adm'l, 226 Sanders, George N., 136 San ford, J. W. A., 220 Sanford, Thaddeus, 26, 256 Sansom, Miss Emma, 132-135 San Lucar, 7 Santiago, 125, 227 Santiago Bay, 226 Sargent, Winthrop. 205, 206 Saunders, J. E., 256 Sauvolle, 14 Savannah Eiver, 28 School for Negro Deaf, Dumb, and Blind, 179 Schools, History of 151-163 Scott & Bibb Company, 200 Scott, Dred, 97 Scott, Fort, 55 Scott, General W., 214 Screws, W. W., 242 Seay, Thomas, 223 Seekaboo, 35 Sehoy, 27, 34 Seibels, John J., 215 Seine, 66 Seminole War, 55 Seminoles, 29, 30, 32, 33, 49 Semmes, Adm'l R., 26, 118-124 Semmes' literary works, 124 Sequatchee Valfey, 127 Seven Pines, Battle of, 113 Seward, Senator, 96 Sharpsburg, 77, 117 Sheffield, 186, 196 Shelley, Charles M., 227 Shenandoah, 123 Sherman, General W. T., 128-130 Shiloh, 113, 117, 126 Shorter, J. G., 217 Shortridge, G. D., 79 Simms, William Gilmore, 238, 239 Sims, Dr. J. Marion, 180 Slatter, Mrs., 81 Sloss, Eev. J. L., 152 Smith, Carlos G., 157 Smith, Dr. E. A.. 157, 252 Smith, H. F., 114 Smith, James, 45-46 Smith, Dr. Joseph E., 190 Smith, E. H., 26 Smith, Wm. H., 132-135, 141, 142, 220 Smith, William E., 81, 100, 108 109 157, 219, 237, 254-256 South View, 160 Spain, 7, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 203-206 Spaniard, 8-11, 29, 30, 204 Spanish, 7, 9-13, 61 Spanish Fort, 23, 24 Spanish- American War, 226, 227 Stafford, Mrs., 162 Stal lings, Jesse F., 227 Star Spangled Banner, 213 State Bank, 84-88 Steele, I. A., 227 Steele, General F., 24 Stephens, A. H., Ill Sterling, Mount, 165 Stevens, Thaddeus, 137-139 Stewart, George N., 22 Stirling, Captain, 18 Stokes, Mr., 56 Stoneman, General, 128 Streight, A. D., 114, 132-135 Strother, Elizabeth and Sarah, 58 Stuart, A. H. H., 160 Sulphur Trestle, 115 Sumner, Charles, 1.37-139 Sumter, Countv, 166 Sumter, Fort, ill, 112, 119 Supreme Court, 26 Swayne, General Wager, 139 Talladega, 54 Tallahassee, 9 Tallapoosa Eiver, 10, 16, 34, 54 Tallase, 10 Tallassee Falls, 11 Tallassees, 30 Talle, 9 Tallesahatche, 51 Tallmadge, 106 Tallyrand, 31 Tammany, 29 Taney, Chief Justice U. S., 97 Tate, Colonel, 28, 34 Tate, David, 35 Taylor, George W., 148 Taylor, Hannis, 26, 242, 252 Taylor, Judge J. M., 73 Taylor, Eichard, 58 Taylor, Samuel, 210 Taylor, Sarah Knox, 58 Taylor, President Zachary, 58, 96 Tecumseh, 35, 39, 43 Tennessee, 22, 184 284 INDEX. Tennessee Eiver, 127, 128 Terry, N., 87, 215 Thomas, 193 Thomas, Ala., Reserves, 23 Thomas, General George, 24, 128 Thompson, Jacob, 136 Thompson's Creek. 51 Timber Belt, 186, 201, 202 Titus, James, 209, 210 Tohopeka, 54 Tombiojbee Judicial District, 207 Tombigbee Eiver, 10, 21, 61 Tombigbee Settlements, 39, 58 Tonti, 16 Tookabatcha, 27, 30, 34 Toombs, General Robert, 108, 160 Toulmin, Frances, 62 Toulmin, Harrv, 22, 26, 62, 63, 68, 207, 235 Toulmin, John, 68 Toulouse, Fort, 16, 28, 55 Tracy Battery, 23, 24 Transylvania University, 207 Treaty of Fort Confederation, 206 Treaty of Peace, 55 Tucker, Beverly, 136 Tuomey, Michael, 159, 187 Turkeytown, 135 Turner, B. L., 147 Turner, Jack, 147, 148 Tusculum, 172 Tuscumbia, Courtland and Decatur Railway, 212 Tuskahoma, 60 Tuskaloosa, 78, 84, 196 Tuskaloosa Female College, 160, 173 Tutwiler, Prof. Henry, 160, 162 Tutwiler, Miss Julia S., 162, 179, 257, 259 Twickenham, 208 Tyler, Fort, 116 Tyler, General, 116 Tyler, President John, 75, 92, 100 University of Alabama, 155-159 Upton, General, 115 Veknon, Mount, 45 Vicksburg, 218 Virginia, 13, 22, 57, 77 Waddell, Captain. 123 Wahalak, 148 Wakefield, 207 Walden, George S., 156 Walker, 22 Walker, A. J., 156, 229 I Walker, John W., 75 Walker, Tandy, 62, 63 Walker, William A.. Sr., 190 Waller, C. E., 227 War, 112-117 I Warrior River, 12 i Washington Academy, 152 Washington, Booker T., 145, 149 Washington City, 40 Washington County, 21, 166, 205 Washington. General, 30, 106 Watts, T. H., 217, 218 Weatherford, Charles, 34 Weatherford, John, 35 Weatherford, William, 34-38, 49, 55 Webster, D., 48, 73, 94, 97, 101 Wellborn, General William, 214 Welles, Gideon, 124 West End, 193 West Point U. S. Military Academy. 125 West, Rev. Anson, 257 Western or Indian Company, 17 Wetmore, T. B., 239 Wetumpka, 16, 203, 214 Wetumpka Argus, 91 Wheeler, General Joseph, 125-131, 242 Whitaker, Rev. W. C, 257 White, General, 51, 53 White Bluflf, 68, 69 I Whiting, John, 88 Whitney, Mrs. M. C, 62 Wilderness, Battle of, 113 : Wilkinson, General James, 206, 207 Willbanks, 31 Willett, Colonel Marinus, 29 Williams College, 89 Williams, Governor Robert, 208, 209 Wilmer, Bishop R. H., 24, 251 Wilmot Proviso, 96 : Wilson, General J. H., 115, 116, 136,218 Wilson, Mrs. A. E.. 26. 248, 249 Winchester, Battle of, 113 Winslow, Captain, 123 Winston, Governor J. A., 152, 216 Withers, General J. M., 22, 26, 113, 252 j Woodlawn, 193 ! Woodruflf, Lewis T., 22 I Woods, Rev. 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