Butler, Conecuh, Clarke, Escambia and Monroe history reading list

Several weeks ago, via Facebook, I asked local history enthusiasts in Butler, Clarke, Conecuh, Escambia and Monroe counties what books they would include on a recommended reading list about their county’s history. I wanted to know what books they thought were “must read” in regard to their county’s history.

I received dozens of responses and suggestions and what follows is a list of those books, alphabetized by title. Also, when it’s not obvious, I’ve included in parentheses the county that the book mainly discusses. It should be noted that some of these books talk about more than one county.

Without further ado, here’s the list:

- “Alabama’s Mitcham Wars” by Jerry Elijah Brown (Clarke)

- “The Ballad of Little River” by Paul Hemphill (Monroe)

- “Butler County in the Nineteenth Century” by Marilyn Davis Hahn

- “Circumstantial Evidence” by Pete Early (Monroe)*

- “Clarke County, Alabama and Its Surroundings” by T.H. Ball

- “The Complete History of Evergreen, Alabama” by Pat Poole (Conecuh)*

- “Conecuh County Marriages” (Vol. 1 & 2) by Wilene J. Whatley and Sarah R. Coker

- “A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813-1814” by Dr. Gregory A. Waselkov, Ph.D. (Clarke)

- “The Creek War of 1813 and 1814” by H.S. Halbert and T.H. Ball (Clarke)

- “Crossroads: The Early Years of Monroe County" by Kathy McCoy

- “Deerskins and Duffels: The Creek Indian Trade with Anglo-America, 1685-1815” by Kathryn E. Holland Braund (Clarke)

- “The Early History of What is Known as the Evergreen Beat” by Young M. Rabb (Conecuh)*

- “Early Settlers Along the Old Federal Road in Monroe & Conecuh Counties Alabama” by Mary E. Brantley (Conecuh, Escambia, Monroe)

- “Early Sketches of Southwest Alabama” by D.C. Mathews (Clarke)

- “Famous Men of Alabama” (Clarke)

- “The Federal Road through Georgia, the Creek Nation and Alabama, 1806-1836” by Henry deLeon Southerland Jr. and Jerry Elijah Brown (Clarke, Monroe)

- “Fort Sinquefield: The Second War of American Independent” by the Clarke County Historical Society and the Mathews Family Trust

- “From Cabins to Mansions: Gleanings from Southwest Alabama” by Mary E. Brantley (Butler, Conecuh)

- “Happenings in Old Monroeville” (Vol. I and II) by George Thomas Jones (Monroe)*

- “Hell at the Breech: A Novel” by Tom Franklin (Clarke)

- “The Heritage of Butler County, Alabama”

- “The Heritage of Clarke County, Alabama”

- “Historical Sketches of Clarke County” by the Clarke County Historical Society

- “History of Alabama” by Alfred James Pickett

- “The History of Butler County, Alabama” by John Buckner Little

- “History of Clarke County” by John Simpson Graham

- “History of Clarke County” by T.H. Ball

- “The History of Conecuh County, Alabama” by B.F. Riley*

- “History of Escambia County” by Annie Waters

- “Indians of the Southeast” by William Panton Innerarity (Monroe)

- “The Innerarity Papers of John Innerarity” (Monroe)

- “Letters from Alabama: Chiefly Relating to Natural History” by Philip Henry Gosse (Clarke, Monroe)

- "Makers and Romance of Alabama History" by B.F. Riley (Monroe)

- “The Mitchem Beat War and the ‘Hell at the Breech’ Gang” by Cecilia Ann Roberts Fuller (Clarke)

- “The Mitcham War of Clarke County, Alabama” by Harvey H. Jackson III

- “Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee” by Charles J. Shields (Monroe)*

- “Monroe County Deed Book A & Reverse Index A”

- “Monroe County Order Book A”

- “Monroe County Tract Books A&B”

- “The Monroe Journal Centennial Editions, 1966 & 1969” (Monroe)

- “People and Places of Conecuh County, Alabama: 1816-1860”*

- “Riley’s Crossing” by Kathy McCoy (Monroe)

- “Rise of the Poarch Creek Indians” by Lou Vickery (Escambia)

- “Rivers of History: Life on the Coosa, Tallapoosa, Cahaba and Alabama” by Harvey H. Jackson (Clarke)

- “The River Plantation” by Caroline Gaillard Hurtel (Monroe)

- “Second Visit to America, 1845, Vol. II” by Sir Charles Lyell (Monroe)

- “Shadows and Dust: The Journal of the Confederate Experience in Northwest Florida and Southwest Alabama" by Kevin McKinley (Conecuh, Escambia, Monroe)*

- "Shadows and Dust Volume II: More Stories from the Confederate South" by Kevin McKinley (Conecuh, Escambia, Monroe)*

- “Sketches of the Creek Country” by Benjamin Hawkins (Conecuh)

- “Taxes and Termites” by Shorty Culpepper (Monroe)

- “The Tensaw Country: North of the Ellicott Line” by Charles E. Bryant (Escambia)

- “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee (Monroe)*

- “To My Inquiring Friends, If Any” by John McDuffie (Monroe)

- “Travels Through North America During the Years 1825 and 1826” by Karl Bernhard (Monroe)

- “The Very Worst Road: Travellers' Accounts of Crossing Alabama's Old Creek Indian Territory, 1820-1847” by Jeffrey C. Benton (Monroe)

- “Where the Wild Animals is Plentiful: Diary of an Alabama Fur Trader’s Daughter, 1912-1914” by May Jordan (Clarke)

- “Woodward's Reminiscences of the Creek or Muscogee Indians” by Thomas Simpson Woodward (Conecuh)

- “Word from Camp Pollard, CSA” by James Heath Barrow (Escambia)

A couple of things about this list before I close this thing out. You’ll notice that I’m missing the name of the author on a few of these works, so if you can fill in any of the blanks for me, please let me know. Also, keep in mind that I’ve only read those books marked with an asterisk, so some of these works may refer to more than the counties indicated.

In the end, how many of the books above have you had the chance to read? What other books would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments section below.