Did any War of 1812 soldiers from Wilcox County, Alabama fight at the historic Battle of Horseshoe Bend?

This past Saturday was the 207^th anniversary of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, which took place on March 27, 1814 in what was then the Mississippi Territory.

During this historic battle, which was part of the War of 1812, a force of about 2,700 American soldiers and 600 Lower Creek, Cherokee and Choctaw Indians, led by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated a force of about 1,000 Red Stick Creeks in a well-fortified bend of the Tallapoosa River near modern-day Alexander City. This decisive battle led to the signing of the Treaty of Fort Jackson in which the Creek Nation ceded 23 million acres of Indian lands to the U.S. government. The state of Alabama was formed from much of this land about five years later, in December 1819.

Today, on the site of this battle, you will find Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, a 2,040-acre park that was established in 1956. This past Saturday, my teenage daughter and I rode up to Horseshoe Bend and spent about two hours exploring the old battlefield. We took the driving tour around the park and also walked the 2-1/2 mile hiking trail that loops around the battlefield.

Over the years, I’ve done quite a bit of research trying to determine if anyone from Wilcox County fought at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. Units known to have fought there included the 39^th U.S. Infantry, two brigades of Tennessee militia, a brigade of Tennessee cavalry, Col. Gideon Morgan’s Cherokee Regiment and Capt. Jean Bean’s “Mounted Spies.” Aside from all the research that’s been done on the officers involved in the battle, there is little information available about the common soldiers who fought there and what ultimately became of them.

During my research, I did stumble across a document that showed that nine widows of War of 1812 veterans were living in Wilcox County as late as 1883. Those widows included Caroline Cook, Elizabeth McNeill and Susan C. Williamson, all of Camden; Caroline W. Boutwell of Clifton; Mary Waren of Fatama; Esther Bilbray and Nancy Eddins, both of Pine Apple; and Jane Hughs and Jane Smith, both of Snow Hill. The question remains, did their husbands fight at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend?

One of the most prominent War of 1812 veterans with Wilcox County connections was Alexander Outlaw Anderson. During the war, he served with Andrew Jackson and went on to become a prominent politician. Years later, after the War Between the States, he came to Wilcox County, where he worked for many years as a law partner of Aaron Burr Cooper, who is buried in the Creagh-Glover Cemetery. With that said, it’s still not known if Anderson actually fought at Horseshoe Bend.

In the end, please let me know if you know of any War of 1812 veterans who are buried in Wilcox County. I’m especially interested in those who fought at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend or at the Battle of New Orleans. Perhaps there are more of these old soldiers than we realize buried beneath the soil of Wilcox County.

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for March 30, 2021

USS LST-772

NINE YEARS AGO
MARCH 29, 2012

Local weather reporter Betty Ellis reported .20 of an inch of rain in Evergreen on March 22 and .21 of an inch on March 23.

Unusual tracks found at Loree: When Buddy Raines set off for Evergreen from his home in the Loree community last Thursday morning, the sharp-eyed 62-year-old spotted something unusual in a cornfield near his home.
At first, he thought that someone had driven a motorcycle across the corn that he’d planted the previous Sunday, but upon closer inspection, he could tell that it was no motorcycle.
“Whatever it was wasn’t so heavy that it mashed into the soft dirt or messed up the rows very much,” Raines said. “Whatever it was, the track wasn’t there during the day on Wednesday. This was done sometime Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.”
Raines wondered if the track may have been left behind by a large snake like the exotic anacondas and pythons that have begun to plague Florida in recent years.
The track stretched all the way across the field and was 12 to 13 inches wide. The track was just deep enough to flatten the tops of the furrows in the field. There also appeared to be a line in the tracks that indicated that it may have been caused by an animal with a tail.
Individuals who examined photos of the unusual track offered up a number of theories about what could be responsible. Animals mentioned included various snakes, alligators, snapping turtles, gopher tortoises, beavers, peacocks and otters.

24 YEARS AGO
MARCH 27, 1997

Harry Ellis of Evergreen was honored recently by WSFA-TV for his continuing contribution as a Storm Team Weather Watcher. Harry attended an appreciation dinner for the 31 Weather Watchers who call the WSFA Storm Center regularly, reporting weather data from their respective hometowns. WSFA’s Chief Weathercaster Rich Thomas commended him for ‘the part he plays in helping the Storm Team report accurate weather information from all around WSFA’s coverage area… especially during severe weather.’ Beginning in May, WSFA will recognize the Weather Watchers on the air for the work they do.

Crack in County Rd. remains a mystery: As the Conecuh County crack widens, the plot thickens over what is causing this unusual geological condition.
A thick, slippery layer of clay is getting the blame for the condition that has been drawing attention to the Repton area.
Emergency Management Agency coordinator Billy Mims said the apparent fault line appeared sometime between 5 and 6:30 a.m. March 18 and it has been spreading ever since. The crack in the ground is located on County Road 73, 4.8 miles east of Repton in the Springhill community.
As of last week, it was 300 yards long and as much as 60 feet wide in some places with varying depths of five to 23 feet.

39 YEARS AGO
MARCH 25, 1982

Earl Windham reports no rain last week and says: “No rain this time. I think ole Bob had better do the rain dance.”

Winners of the Conecuh County Spelling Bee are: first place, Rita Grace, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Feiro Grace; second place, Marsha Kennedy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Kennedy; and third place, Chris Wallace, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Billy Wallace. Rita will compete in the state contest in Birmingham in June.

The Evergreen Courant will begin in the near future a series entitled “Our Future Citizens” which will feature pictures of Conecuh County children. The Courant needs your cooperation to make this coming feature successful.

Twenty-six senior citizens were injured and their church bus destroyed Monday when it flipped and landed in a 12-foot-deep median south of Evergreen, State Troopers said.
The group from the First Baptist Church of Boaz was en route to Bellingrath Gardens south of Mobile about 2 p.m. when the driver lost control of the 1972 Chevrolet bus about 10 miles south of Evergreen on rain-slick Interstate 65, said Trooper Cpl. J.C. Fowler.
All passengers of the bus were injured, including 62-year-old driver Crawford S. Perry, said Fowler, adding that no charges were filed. Six passengers were admitted to D.W. McMillan Memorial Hospital in Brewton, and five others were admitted to Evergreen Hospital. One woman was transferred from Evergreen to St. Margaret’s Hospital in Montgomery.

54 YEARS AGO
MARCH 30, 1967

Wolfe Ambulance Service will begin offering ambulance service to all of Conecuh County this Sat., April 1. Cope Funeral Home will end this service Friday. Frank Wolfe of Monroeville, owner of the new service, is already operating an ambulance service in Monroe County.

Warrant Officer One R.B. Griffin has started a 12-months tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He is the son of Mrs. Bertha Griffin of Rt. 1, Evergreen.

Service station operators were warned this week by Evergreen Police Chief John Andrews not to sell gasoline or other combustible fluids in glass containers. He pointed out that to do so is a violation of a city ordinance.
Andrews said that each year about this time when lawn-mowing is resumed there are violations of the ordinance reported. He said that it is very dangerous for gasoline to be carried in glass containers and enforcement of the law is necessary for public safety.

Marine Private First Class James C. Salter Jr., grandson of Mrs. Emmie Tatum of Rt. 1, Evergreen, is in Da Nang, Vietnam serving as a member of ‘A’ Battery, First Battalion, 13th Marine Regiment.

Lyeffion Principal Roy M. Davis crowns Ollie Mae Ward as Miss Lyeffion at the annual pageant Saturday night, sponsored by the Lyeffion FHA.

69 YEARS AGO
MARCH 27, 1952

Record Rainfall Here During Past Weekend: According to officials at the local Airways Communication and Weather reporting station at Evergreen Airport, the past weekend was the wettest since the opening of the station Nov. 19, 1949. Weather records beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday afternoon until 6 a.m. Monday morning show a total of 3.44 inches of rainfall for those 36 hours.
The station located at Middleton Field, Evergreen, is manned 24 hours daily by one or more of the following personnel: Walter L. Chambers, Chief, William S. Andrews Jr., Wiley H. Sanders Jr., Sparkman Long, Jack L. Broome.

With the Eighth Army in Korea – Cpl. Alton E. Cook, Belleville St., Evergreen, Ala., is now serving on the island of Kojedo, 40 miles off the coast of southern Korea, with the 121st Transportation Truck Co.

After serving for the past 10 months in Japanese and Korean waters, the landing ship tank USS 772 has arrived in San Diego, Calif. Serving aboard her is William E. Henderson, seaman apprentice, USN of Evergreen, Ala.

George W. Estes, age 44, popular and well known teacher of Vocational Agriculture at Lyeffion High School, died at a Greenville hospital March 19, following an illness of many months. He was a devoted member of the Church of Christ and a Mason.

Fort Riley, Kansas – Second Lt. William E. Dantzler, son of Samuel A. Dantzler, McKenzie, Rt. 2, Ala., received his gold bars at commissioning exercises for Army Officer Candidate Class 42 at Fort Riley, March 22. Lt. Dantzler graduated from the Evergreen High School in 1948 and entered the Army in October of that year.

Old newspaper excerpts from The Monroe Journal newspaper of Monroe County, Alabama

USS Sierra (AD-18)

21 YEARS AGO
MARCH 23, 2000

Ten students from the Monroe County area have been selected as candidates for the Southern Pine Electric Cooperative Rural Electric Youth Tour program.
(Students chosen to participate included J.U. Blacksher High School’s Katherine Johnson and Charles Smith, both of Goodway; Monroe County High School’s Sarah Sawyer of Frisco City and Michael Brooks of Monroeville; Excel High School’s Danielle Ledkins and Sean Fendley, both of Excel; Monroe Academy’s Sara Jane Griffin and Chris Caldwell, both of Monroeville; and Frisco City High School’s Pamela Holder and Brian Keith Adair Jr., both of Frisco City.)

Frisco City High School coach Richard Anderson announced his plans to resign his coaching and teaching duties at the school effective April 1. Since June 1998, Anderson has been an assistant football coach and head baseball coach at FCHS. This season he also coached girls basketball for the first time ever, filling in for his sister, Lisa Anderson, who is undergoing cancer treatment in Birmingham. Anderson will reunite with former Frisco City head coach Rodney Dollar at Houston Academy near Dothan. He will be an assistant football coach at Houston Academy in Dothan.

YMCA’s first senior director: Haden Tirey, YMCA board president, congratulates Rusty Hall, executive director, on becoming the Monroeville YMCA’s first senior director. To become a YMCA senior director, Hall had to earn a four-year degree and complete courses in principles and practices, supervision, facility management, program management and development, volunteering and the YMCA and YMCA group work.

46 YEARS AGO
MARCH 27, 1975

Uriah Café fire believed to have been set by arsonist: The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, a state fire marshal and a state investigator are investigating the possibility of arson in a fire which destroyed Uriah Café March 14.
Sheriff Lenwood Sager said arson was suspected when remains from the fire were searched. A money box was found on the floor and a juke box and cigarette machine had been pried open, Sager said.

Monroe Academy jamboree to be Mac Champion’s last appearance: The Monroe Academy Volunteers, Class A football champions of the Alabama Private School Athletic Association, will end their spring football drills Saturday night, meeting Sparta Academy in a jamboree.
The jamboree will be the last time Coach Mac Champion will direct the Vols. Champion has announced that he will move to Homewood High School this summer.

Local boys’ calves place in steer show: Calves raised by two Monroe County boys placed recently in the 53^rd annual Montgomery State Steer Show, held in Montgomery.
Brian Harris, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carey Harris of Uriah, won third place in the summer yearling class for Hereford steers with the same animal which was named grand champion and champion Hereford of both county and area calf shows, held in Monroeville March 3 and 4.
Scotty Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. O’Neal Smith of Uriah, placed fourth in the senior calf class for Angus steers.

71 YEARS AGO
MARCH 23, 1950

Plans for a $90,000 regional coliseum to be constructed in Monroeville were received from state architects this week, Probate Judge E.T. Millsap announced. Simultaneously, Judge Millsap announced that a special fundraising meeting has been called for Monday night to discuss means of raising additional revenue needed for construction of the coliseum. The meeting, set for the courthouse here, will get underway at 7:30.

MCHS baseball drills to begin today: The crack of horsehide against wood will echo across the local high school diamond this week as the Monroe County High School diamond hopefuls begin workouts today (Thursday). Back as a nucleus around which baseball coach Robert Riley expects to mold his squad will be 11 veterans from last year’s outfit.
(Returning players included Kenneth Hundley and Bobby Moore, first base; Havard Jaye and Karl Mims Lazenby, second base; Hurtis Tomlinson, third base; John Arthur Sirmon and John Arthur Morgan, catchers; and Bill Jaye, George Klepac and Woodrow Fowler, outfield.)

Bermuda Seaman Visits Sicily, Africa, Greece: Clifford W. Burt, metalsmith, second class, U.S. Navy, of Bermuda, visited two continents during February while serving as a crew member aboard the destroyer tender, USS Sierra.
All hands were afforded an opportunity for liberty and recreation when scheduled calls were made to Augusta, Sicily; Sfax, Tunisia, North Africa; and Athens, Greece.

J.B. Barnett and A.C. Lee attended the laying of the cornerstone of Vanity Fair Mills at Demopolis on Wed., March 15.

96 YEARS AGO
MARCH 26, 1925

OLD LANDMARK REMOVED: In the demolition of the old frame store building on the southwest corner of the public square, another landmark disappears from Monroeville. The building was erected before the Civil War and was occupied successively by the mercantile firms of S.H. Dailey & Co., Parker and Wiggins and W.S. Wiggins Sr. It originally occupied the site on which the Monroe County Bank is now located and was moved across the street when that building was erected some 15 years ago. A brick drive-in filling station for the Standard Oil company will replace the demolished building.

One murder case was disposed of in the circuit court this week. Liddell McIntosh was convicted of murder and sentenced to the penitentiary for life. Two misdemeanor cases were tried and convictions resulted in both cases. Court is still in session and the case of Jim Poe, charged with murder, is in progress.

SPECIAL NOTICE: The people of the County attending the Lafayette celebration at Claiborne April 9 are requested to bring baskets containing the following: cakes, pies, sandwiches, salads and pickles. The bread will be furnished and the meats will be barbecued on the grounds. The dinner will be served in cafeteria style and ladies from different communities have been appointed to help serve. On arrival, please deliver baskets to the committee in charge. Plates, cups, spoons and knives will be furnished, so do not bring anything in baskets that you wish returned.

121 YEARS AGO
MARCH 29, 1900

Let everybody turn out and hear Hon. W.J. Samford, candidate for governor, who will speak in the courthouse at 10 or 11 a.m. on Mon., April 2.

Rev. J.S. Frazer, Presiding Elder of the Pensacola District, will deliver a lecture at the Methodist church, Monroeville, next Sunday night on his recent visit to Cuba. An interesting and instructive lecture may be expected.

There was a small wreck on the Southern Alabama Railroad Monday, caused by a washout. The engine pulling a work train was ditched, but nobody hurt. Travel was delayed several hours, the north and southbound trains being forced to transfer passengers.

Lumber and material for remodeling the Methodist church is being placed on the ground. Work will begin shortly.

Mr. John J. Rutherford, a highly respected citizen of the county, died at his home near River Ridge on the 25^th inst., aged 76. A suitable tribute to his memory will appear in a future issue.

M.D. Wiggins has opened a stock of goods at Burnt Corn. The business is under the management of Mr. B.F. Wiggins.

Mr. J.S. Hines, formerly of Perdue Hill, but now of Jackson, was in Monroeville Tuesday. Mr. Hines is the traveling representative of McDonald, March & Co., Mobile.

Mr. Baker, a leading merchant of Pine Apple, was in Monroeville this week. Mr. Baker expressed himself as being much pleased with our town and surroundings.

How many Indian 'rock mounds' are hidden in the woodlands of Conecuh County, Alabama?

An example of a common Indian rock mound.

Going all the way back to an elementary school field trip to the Moundville Archaeological Park in Hale County, I’ve been fascinated by Indian mounds. The mounds at Moundville are classic examples of the large earthen mounds that were made by Indians across the Southeast. Most of these mounds are made out of packed clay and topsoil.

A few weeks ago, I was looking over a recent issue of “Stones & Bones,” the newsletter published by the Alabama Archaeological Society, and read a fascinating story by Jacksonville State University Professor Emeritus Harry Holstein. Holstein’s article was about “Memorial Stone Mounds,” a subject he devoted much of his long career to studying. His article included photos of some of the stone mounds he encountered over the years, and it was only then that I realized that I’d actually seen this type of thing in the woods before. I just didn’t know what I was looking at.

Holstein wrote that Indians would build these loose stone mounds for different reasons. They were either used as burial mounds or to memorialize a relative or an important tribal member. At other times, Indians built these mounds as a way to mark a border or to remember where a significant event occurred, for example, an important battle, a religious event or where someone important was killed or died.

Holstein noted that Indians in North America began constructing stone mounds in early prehistoric times, and stone structure sites can be found throughout Alabama and the Southeast. Often, these mounds would be built up over time as passing Indians would add stones to an already existing mound. In addition to stone mounds, Indians also built stone walls, stone prayer seats and other stone structures.

There is no doubt that there are a few earthen Indian mounds in Conecuh County, but most of them are deep in the woods on private property. Also, I don’t know if it’s an urban legend or not, but I’ve heard it told that when I-65 was being built through Conecuh County, workers cut a path through Indian mounds to make way for the highway. Some even say that this is why so many accidents occur on I-65, that is, these wrecks are the result of some type of curse brought on by the desecration of Indian burial sites.

I’m sure that at some point in the state’s past, a survey was done to locate and identify Indian mounds statewide. It would be interesting to know what this survey has to say about Indian mounds in Conecuh County. More than likely, we’d learn that we drive by or live near Indian sites that we’ve forgotten or failed to recognize over the years.

But what about stone mounds? It’s well documented that Indians were living in what is now Conecuh County thousands of years ago, so they would have had ample time to build all sorts of structures, including stone mounds. With that said, the Conecuh County woods and countryside could be full of these undocumented stone mounds.

In the end, let me hear from you if you think you’ve ever run across one of these stone mounds while out walking in the woods. If you are like me, you may not have realized what you were looking at. Thanks to Holstein’s recent article, maybe more of these ancient sites will be documented in our neck of the woods.

Was the ancient Indian village of Humati located where Ellis Landing is today in Wilcox County, Alabama?

Was the ancient Indian village of Humati located where Ellis Landing is today?

This was the question I asked myself the other day as I stood at the Ellis Landing boat launch and looked in the direction of the Alabama River. It was a Friday afternoon, and the weather was picture perfect. Only a few whisps of clouds could be seen in the sky, and mild temperatures reminded me that spring was right around the corner.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ellis Landing, it’s located off Ellis Island Road, less than five road miles from the courthouse square in downtown Camden. On the day of my visit, there were about a dozen unoccupied trucks with empty boat trailers parked in the parking lot, a sure sign that I wasn’t the only person enjoying the fine weather. Off in the distance, I watched a truck travel across the causeway that leads to the island north of the landing.

It was then that I remembered several people telling me that a large Indian village was once located near Ellis Landing. Research revealed that this was likely the ancient Indian village of Humati, which was among a number of old, historic Indian sites that could once be found within the borders of Wilcox County. Not surprisingly, Humati is mentioned in a number of books about ancient Indian villages in Alabama.

According to “Dead Towns of Alabama” by W. Stuart Harris, Humati was located on the bank of the Alabama River, just north of Camden. The name means “Turkey Gobbler,” and was possibly the name of the chieftain there in 1540 rather than the name of the village. According to Harris, the famous Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto passed through Humati on Oct. 7, 1540.

According to “Historic Indian Towns in Alabama, 1540-1838” by Amos J. Wright Jr., DeSoto camped at Humati for one night. Wright also notes that Humati was located alongside a river, one day’s march below Caxa, which was the boundary between Talasi and Tascaluca. Both Harris and Wright say that some scholars believe that Humati may have been located in Dallas County or Coosa County.

Historical maps also indicate that the old Ellis Ferry was once in this area, but I have been unable to determine exactly where the ferry site was located. I presume that Ellis Ferry was named after its original operator, and one is left to wonder who this person was. In early Alabama history, ferry operators were often given permits or licenses to operate their ferry as a reward for military service or other assistance to the government.

As I stood there, I was also reminded that I was near the place where witnesses claim to see a ghostly light that rises to the surface of the Alabama River. Witnesses say that this light grows up to 60 feet in diameter, and some say that it may have something to do with a plane that crashed in the area decades ago. Other say it’s the ghostly remnants of someone who drowned while others say it has to do with a riverboat disaster.

In the end, please let me hear from you if you know any additional details about Humati, Ellis Ferry or Ellis Landing. I’m especially interested in any old ghost stories, local legends or Indian tales associated with this area. Also, please let me know if you have any information about how Ellis Ferry got its name.

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for March 23, 2021

NINE YEARS AGO
MARCH 29, 2012

Local weather reporter Betty Ellis reported .20 of an inch of rain in Evergreen on March 22 and .21 of an inch on March 23.

Unusual tracks found at Loree: When Buddy Raines set off for Evergreen from his home in the Loree community last Thursday morning, the sharp-eyed 62-year-old spotted something unusual in a cornfield near his home.
At first, he thought that someone had driven a motorcycle across the corn that he’d planted the previous Sunday, but upon closer inspection, he could tell that it was no motorcycle.
“Whatever it was wasn’t so heavy that it mashed into the soft dirt or messed up the rows very much,” Raines said. “Whatever it was, the track wasn’t there during the day on Wednesday. This was done sometime Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.”
Raines wondered if the track may have been left behind by a large snake like the exotic anacondas and pythons that have begun to plague Florida in recent years.
The track stretched all the way across the field and was 12 to 13 inches wide. The track was just deep enough to flatten the tops of the furrows in the field. There also appeared to be a line in the tracks that indicated that it may have been caused by an animal with a tail.
Individuals who examined photos of the unusual track offered up a number of theories about what could be responsible. Animals mentioned included various snakes, alligators, snapping turtles, gopher tortoises, beavers, peacocks and otters.

30 YEARS AGO
MARCH 28, 1991

Local weather reporter Harry Ellis reported .15 inch of rain on March 23. He reported a high of 81 degrees on March 24 and lows of 40 on March 18 and March 19.

Clint Hyde earns Eagle Scout badge: On Sun., March 10, Clint Hyde, son of David and Harriet Hyde, received the coveted Eagle Award. Many boys join the Boy Scouts, but very few reach Eagle.
The ceremony took place at the Evergreen Baptist Church and many Boy Scouts, friends and relatives attended. Clint was escorted by scouts Will Cook, Chris Lanier and Daryl Fox, who also were flag bearers. A brass ensemble which consisted of scouts Shannon Pugh and Brent Salter, scoutmaster Pat Poole, band director Phil Mika and friend Cynthia Pugh, provided patriotic music to start the ceremony.
Assistant Scoutmaster Richard Jenkins was the Master of Ceremonies with Assistant Scoutmaster Tim Johnson narrating “The Trail to Eagle.” Rev. Jack Williamson, who is Clint’s pastor, asked David and Harriet Hyde to help make the presentation of the Eagle Award to Clint.

Southern Pine selects students: Each year Southern Pine Electric Cooperative sponsors two students from area high schools to receive a one-week, expense-free tour of Washington, D.C.
Candidates representing Hillcrest High School are Casondra Cooke and Chris Lanier. Candidates representing Sparta Academy are Kimberly Jane Griffin and Chris Owens.

38 YEARS AGO
MARCH 24, 1983

Local weather observer Earl Windham reported 1.21 inches of rain on March 15; .41 on March 16 and .34 on March 17. He reported a high temperature of 76 degrees on March 15 and a low of 29 on March 13.

McArthur Thompson is still missing, in spite of a massive widespread search for him by the Evergreen Police Department, Conecuh Sheriff Edwin Booker’s staff, the State Troopers and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation. Thompson, a black male, approximately six feet tall, 175 pounds, who drags one foot, was last seen about four weeks ago, according to his mother, who reported him missing.
Sheriff Booker said that all law enforcement agencies, including Conservation Department Enforcement Officers, were still working around the clock trying to locate the missing man. The sheriff also said that Larry Fluker, local NAACP leader, had offered the help of his organization and had “spread the word” in communities over the county.
Mack was last seen by some of his associates on March 11, 1983. The strangest thing about the case of missing Mack is that he was scheduled to appear in court as a prosecuting witness.

Trial of cases on the State Bar Criminal Docket, Conecuh County, are scheduled for trial next week. Circuit Court will begin Monday morning at 9 o’clock in the courtroom of the Conecuh County Courthouse with Judge Robert E.L. Key presiding.

54 YEARS AGO
MARCH 30, 1967

Wolfe Ambulance Service will begin offering ambulance service to all of Conecuh County this Sat., April 1. Cope Funeral Home will end this service Friday. Frank Wolfe of Monroeville, owner of the new service, is already operating an ambulance service in Monroe County.

Warrant Officer One R.B. Griffin has started a 12-months tour of duty with the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He is the son of Mrs. Bertha Griffin of Rt. 1, Evergreen.

Service station operators were warned this week by Evergreen Police Chief John Andrews not to sell gasoline or other combustible fluids in glass containers. He pointed out that to do so is a violation of a city ordinance.
Andrews said that each year about this time when lawn-mowing is resumed there are violations of the ordinance reported. He said that it is very dangerous for gasoline to be carried in glass containers and enforcement of the law is necessary for public safety.

Marine Private First Class James C. Salter Jr., grandson of Mrs. Emmie Tatum of Rt. 1, Evergreen, is in Da Nang, Vietnam serving as a member of ‘A’ Battery, First Battalion, 13th Marine Regiment.

Lyeffion Principal Roy M. Davis crowns Ollie Mae Ward as Miss Lyeffion at the annual pageant Saturday night, sponsored by the Lyeffion FHA.

64 YEARS AGO
MARCH 28, 1957

Unidentified Gigantic Balloon Found On Needmore Farm Monday: No Clues Are Given On Object’s Identity: A huge plastic balloon at least 150 feet long was found near Needmore Monday afternoon by the wife of a farmer. Upon being notified, the balloon was investigated immediately by the Conecuh County Sheriff’s Office.
The gigantic balloon had fallen in a densely wooded area on the farm of Wilson and Martha Cross and was draped over several scrub pine trees. It looked like a huge tent, at least 40 feet long, and at the widest part about 25 feet. The remainder of the balloon was called up on the ground.
On following up the call by Martha Cross, Deputy Mancil Pearce called for the assistance of Probate Judge Lloyd Hart, game warden W.A. Thames and Leon Salter, who is a Colonel in the National Guard, and several men to help bring the object back to the Court House.
Officials were very puzzled with the only explanation being offered that perhaps it was a weather balloon of some type. Local officials were not the only ones perplexed however as officials of the U.S. Weather Station in Montgomery and Maxwell Air Force Base could offer no explanation either.
Deputy Sheriff Mancil Pearce expressed the desire to unfold the object and see just exactly how big it would be. Speculation by witnesses on the scene was that if unfolded, the plastic would be big enough to cover the Conecuh County Courthouse.

Old newspaper excerpts from The Monroe Journal newspaper of Monroe County, Alabama

19 YEARS AGO
MARCH 21, 2002

Monroeville Area YMCA Executive Director Jan Feaster helps Christie Proust and her son, Michael Osbourne, move a rug they donated into the new YMCA building Tuesday afternoon. Holding the door open are YMCA staff members Susan Hornady and Lisa Stanton. The YMCA staff were moving into the building Monday. Plans are to hold the grand opening April 6 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with the ribbon cutting set for 11 a.m.

Tigers perfect in area play: Monroe County High School’s baseball team improved to 3-0 in area play and 10-8 overall last week after a win over area rival Greenville High School. MCHS beat Greenville 11-1 Friday in Monroeville.
Taylor Ryland led MCHS at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a RBI. (Ben) Busby improved his pitching record to 3-4, striking out four batters in five innings of work.
(Other top MCHS players in that game included John Bohannon, Travis Granberry, Daniel Harper, Brett Pate and Matt Wright.)

Rikard’s Mill reopening: Rikard’s Mill on Highway 265 in north Monroe County will hold its annual reopening celebration April 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Activities at the 1845 grist mill will include a barbecue cookoff, music from blues to bluegrass, a dog show, arts and crafts and more. Arts and crafts will be for sale throughout the park with crafters presenting everything from handmade lye soap and candles to homemade furniture. Blacksmith Mike Johnson will make creations out of iron, and the mill will be grinding away, producing cornmeal and grits as it did 150 years ago.

43 YEARS AGO
MARCH 17, 1977

Rescuers break ground: Members of the Monroe County Rescue Squad held an informal ground-breaking ceremony on the site of their new equipment building Tues., March 1. Squad Capt. I.W. Williamson, Andy Byrd, Claude Wilkerson and M.J. “Pete” Beard conducted the ground-breaking. The building is being built on land across the street from the present rescue squad building.

Brief visit: Professional quarterback Joe Ferguson, who hands the football to O.J. Simpson for the Buffalo Bills, made a short and unexpected visit to Monroeville Thursday. Ferguson was on his way to a speaking engagement in Pensacola – via private aircraft – but a low ceiling made for almost impossible flying conditions. A traveling companion of Ferguson’s remembered a buddy from school days who lives in Monroeville – David Frost – and called him and asked him to rent them a car. Frost, who is a faithful Buffalo fan, hurried to Sales Ford and rented a car to take to Ferguson to Monroe County Airport. Ferguson and company then followed Frost to Repton where he pointed them toward Pensacola.

Ten cars derailed from a St. Louis & San Francisco (Frisco) Railway freight train Sunday afternoon near Fountain, blocking normally sparse rail traffic for almost 24 hours.
The cars derailed about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, 5-1/4 miles north of the Fountain depot. The train was en route from St. Louis, Mo. to Pensacola. There were no injuries.
The train was one of two (one northbound and one southbound) freight trains that run non-stop through Monroe County each day on the Frisco line.

69 YEARS AGO
MARCH 20, 1952

Management Of LaSalle Hotel Will Change: Monroeville’s only hotel, the LaSalle, is slated to have new managers soon.
Mr. and Mrs. David Katz have announced that they completed plans for purchase of the hotel and will assume management within the next month.
Mr. Katz stated the hotel will undergo a number of improvements when they begin its operation. They plan to establish residence in the hotel.
Present managers are Mr. and Mrs. Ed Shaver.

The pop of leather against leather has been heard sounding across the J.U. Blacksher High campus in Uriah this week as Coach Frank Killian directed 28 Bulldog gridders in their second week of spring training.
Practice began Mon., March 10, and will last for a consecutive three-week period.
Back for workouts this year are eight veterans of last season’s squad. Those players include the following lettermen: guards Robert Brantley and Robert Brooks, end Clyde Hines, right half Eugene Madison, left half O’Neil Smith, quarterback Aubrey Grant, fullback Vernon Smith and tackle Ted House.

New Local School Principal Is Named: John Stewart, a 33-year-old Cherokee County, Ala. native, was named this week to assume duties as new principal of Monroe County High School and the Monroeville Elementary School on July 1.
Mr. Stewart will replace Randolph Vickery, principal of the local schools for the past nine years. Mr. Vickery is resigning to accept assistant administrative duties and supervisory duties in the county.

94 YEARS AGO
MARCH 17, 1927

SMALLPOX PREVAILS: Several cases of smallpox have recently developed in the vicinity of Ollie school and a number of additional cases are likely to occur. When the disorder first appeared, it was mistaken for some milder form of eruptive disease and no special precautions were taken to prevent its spread. Dr. Harper being called to treat a patient afflicted with a type more virulent than others in the community, diagnosed as genuine smallpox. He advised general vaccination and the suspension of school until the malady subsides, which advice we understand has been acted upon.
One case of smallpox developed in Monroeville some 10 days ago, that of Mr. William Faulkenberry. This patient has been isolated and there has been no further developments in the city.

William Henry Hudson has been advised by Congressman McDuffie of his nomination to the Annapolis Naval Academy. His friends hope that he will successfully pass both the mental and physical tests necessary to entrance.

Mr. J.U. Blacksher of Uriah and Mobile circulated among Monroeville friends Thursday.

The work of grading the extension of the Manistee & Repton Railroad to connect with the main line at Monroeton is progressing satisfactorily. Mr. Bugg expects to have the road in operation within the next three months.

The Tunnel Springs amateur players will present the play “The Dust of the Earth” at Beatrice school auditorium on March 22 at 8 p.m. The performance at Tunnel Springs given recently before a packed audience was a marked success.

119 YEARS AGO
MARCH 20, 1902

The Monroeville Institute is now in charge of its third principal since the opening of the current term. Prof. J.A. Barnes, who succeeded Miss Belle Rankin, took charge of the school on Monday.
The retirement of Miss Rankin, The Journal learns, is due to a disagreement between herself and the board of trustees. The trustees say the disagreement led to a request for Miss Rankin’s resignation. Miss Rankin insists that she was discharged. As neither have complied with our request for a signed statement, The Journal will not undertake to present either side of the controversy.

Mr. E. Broughton purchased a fine pair of mules on his recent trip to Mobile and is prepared to deliver freights promptly and at reasonable rates.

Confederate Veterans: The meeting of the Geo. W. Foster Camp of Confederate Veterans has been postponed until Sat., March 22, at 3 p.m. Every member urged to attend. Business of the utmost importance. – F.M. Jones, Adjutant.

The Journal regrets to learn of the death of Mr. John DuBose, an old and highly esteemed citizen, which occurred near Franklin on March 5, aged about 82. Mr. DuBose was at one time county superintendent of education.

Dr. G.G. Scott of Mt. Pleasant was a pleasant caller at The Journal office while in town last week. Dr. Scott reports farm work badly behind on account of the excessive rains.

George Singleton tells of seeing the famous face in the courthouse window in Pickens County, Alabama

Pickens County Courthouse in Carrollton, Ala.

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Mysterious face in courthouse window can’t be removed” was originally published in the March 16, 1995 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

I have seen and witnessed many strange happenings in my lifetime. Today, I once again saw with my own eyes one of life’s strangest phenomena. I have been here many times, but each time I return, the mystery of the ghostly face in the window grows in magnitude and wonder.

Today in Sunday, March 5, 1995. I, along with my wife and two good friends of ours, have just returned from Carrollton, the county seat of Pickens County. The courthouse building that stands today was built in 1877, shortly after the end of the dreaded Civil War.

The courthouse that served Pickens County until 1876 mysteriously burned to the ground on Nov. 16 that same year. No one knew who might have had a reason to commit such an act of arson to the courthouse building. The construction of a new courthouse got underway at once. But the hunt for the one who had caused the destruction of the old building continued. Someone had to be guilty of this tragic crime. The arsonist would be found and punished. That was a promise.

In January 1878, a freed slave, or freedman as they were referred to at that time in history, was arrested and held in confinement. He was locked up in the garret of the new courthouse to await trial for arson of the old courthouse.

The county officials turned a deaf ear to the plea of Henry Wells, as he swore that he did not commit the crime. He pleaded his innocence, as he begged to be set free. Time and time again, this accused man begged for his freedom, but to no avail.

Determined that justice would be done, the officials of Pickens County sentenced Henry Wells to death by hanging. The condemned man continued to claim his innocence. The date for the hanging spread around the county like wildfire.

Outside the small county courthouse a crowd gathered to see the accused man pay for his crime. The sheriff and a deputy went up the narrow stairway, up into the garret to bring down the man who was to die within a few minutes on the gallows nearby. Once again, Henry Wells begged his innocence. Again, his begging for mercy fell on deaf ears.

The time had come. Henry Wells begged one last request. He asked that he be allowed to pray to his God before he was taken outside to the gallows a short distance away. The sheriff, probably feeling a bit sorry for this doomed man, granted his last wish.

Henry Wells turned toward the window of the garret and fell to his knees. As he arose from his kneeling position on the floor, he raised his arms toward the ceiling of the small room and shouted in a loud voice, “To prove that I am innocent, the reflection of my face will forever be seen in the glass of this window.”

Within a few short minutes, Henry Wells died at the end of a hangman’s noose before a large crowd of local onlookers.

The hanging over, the sheriff decided to return to the garret window. He did not believe he would find the reflection of the doomed man’s face, but his curiosity gained the upper hand. Anyone who is about to die might say such silly and foolish things, especially a man who claimed time after time that he was innocent.

As the sheriff made his way across the floor of the garret, to his amazement and surprise, there was the face of Henry Wells, looking out the window toward the courtyard and gallows below.

A loud scream was heard from the upstairs of the courthouse. Everyone rushed up the narrow stairway to see what was happening there. There stood the county sheriff, deathly white in color, pointing to the reflection of the face of Henry Wells in the glass of the courthouse window.

No one knew how the face of this doomed man came to be seen in the garret window. Much speculation and talk centered around this phenomena that stared down from its place in the upstairs window. The county officials decided that a new window would correct their problem with this unexplained reflection of a hanged man’s face. A new window was installed. Within minutes after the installation of the new window glass, the face could be seen as before.

Several times during the next few years, the window glass was again replaced. Each time as before, within minutes after the glass was exchanged, the face of Henry Wells could be seen. Sometimes after the period of several glass replacements, someone decided to cover the window with wooden boards. Surely, this would end the unexplained appearance of the face in the window.

By the time the boards were in place, the face again could be seen as though painted on the boards that now covered the window.

As time passed, the glass was again and again replaced in the garret window. Each time, the reflection of the face of Henry Wells reappeared as before. The news of the face in the window spread throughout the country and the world.

“Ripley’s Believe It or Not” writers came and saw for themselves that what they had heard was true. Even today, visitors from all over the country and the world come and stand there in the courtyard and look up at the image of the face that has no explanation as to how it came to be there in the window.

As I stood there today, 117 years later and looked up at this phenomena in the glass window high above the street, I knew within my mind that there has to be another dimension or something that parallels this life, of which we know so little or almost nothing about.

Perhaps someday we will know. But as of now, the answer lies within the parallels of the distant horizons, in a land that seems ever so far, yet only a heartbeat away.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)

Mostly forgotten, historic First Evergreen City Cemetery is hidden in plain sight on South Main Street

First Evergreen City Cemetery.

I got the itch to get out and do some riding around last Thursday, so I struck off down Perryman Street and eventually turned right onto South Main Street. The weather was fine, and it occurred to me that spring was right around the corner.

Not far down South Main, I pulled over into the Franklin Medical Clinic parking lot with an eye towards checking out what’s known as the First Evergreen City Cemetery. This cemetery is interesting because it’s located just off heavily-traveled South Main Street, but few people in Evergreen even know that this cemetery exists. For those of you unfamiliar with its location, it’s located in a wooded area, just south of Christian Memorial Funeral Home.

I waited for several cars to pass before crossing the street and entering the woods. As I made my way through the trees and vines, I was reminded of the last time that I’d visited this cemetery. It was a number of years ago with local history expert Sherry Johnston and retired Army Ranger Frank Murphy.

Johnston showed Frank and I a number of lesser-known cemeteries that day, and the hidden cemetery on South Main was our first stop. According to Johnston, this antebellum cemetery was the first to be established within the town limits of Evergreen. Before the railroad came through Evergreen, Main Street was, well, the main street in Evergreen, which is also why the old Baptist widows and orphans home was also built on this street.

Later, with the establishment of what is now called the Historic Evergreen Cemetery on Perryman Street, the South Main cemetery fell into disuse for unknown reasons. Johnston also noted that some people buried in the first cemetery were exhumed, only to be reburied in the larger Historic Evergreen Cemetery. Why this was done, I do not know.

It's unclear just how many people are buried in this old cemetery, but just eyeballing it, I’d guess there are at least six or seven graves still there today. None of them have headstones, so no one really knows who is buried there. My feeling is that the wooded plot is likely full of unmarked graves.

Years ago, I remember Frank using dowsing rods to see if he could find unmarked graves. I’d never seen anyone use dowsing rods before, so I was really interested in watching what he was doing. The metal rods he carried crossed a number of times, which seemed to indicate where someone was buried long ago.

Records are scant but seem to indicate that members of the Brantley and Kennedy families were buried here. Tabitha Pace Brantley, who passed away at the age of 80 in 1857, is said to be buried there. Members of the Kennedy family buried there include Balduroy Kennedy and Haney Dennard Kennedy.

In the end, I’d like to hear from anyone in the reading audience with more information about the First Evergreen City Cemetery. Any additional information would help researchers piece together the history of this cemetery and would no doubt be a big help to genealogists. In the meantime, if you get the itch to get out and see this cemetery for yourself, don’t go alone and keep your eyes peeled for snakes.

Solomon Daniel Bloch was prominent Wilcox County newspaperman and founder of The Progressive Era

Bloch Hall at the University of Montevallo in the 1920s.

Today – March 17 – marks 97 years since the death of one of the most prominent men in Wilcox County history, Solomon Daniel Bloch.

Bloch, a son of Jewish immigrants from Germany, was born in Camden in 1855, and he later went on to organize The Progressive Era newspaper in 1887 as The Wilcox Progress. At that time, there were a number of other newspapers in Wilcox County, including The Wilcox New Era, the Wilcox Banner and the Camden News. Eventually, all of those newspapers merged with The Wilcox Progress, which took the name it still bears today.

In addition to being a prominent newspaperman, Bloch was also widely known for a long list of other accomplishments. Solomon’s father was a highly successful businessman, and Solomon bought his father’s Camden mercantile business in 1882. Solomon went on to become a large landowner and farmer, and he also owned a cotton gin, gristmill, a tannery and the Wilcox Hotel.

He was also a big promoter of early railroads in Wilcox County and was eventually elected president of the Montgomery, Hayneville & Camden Railroad. He was also the builder of one of the first telephone lines in Wilcox County, which ran from Camden to Snow Hill.

Bloch was also widely known in political circles. A staunch Democrat, he was elected Camden’s mayor twice and also served for years on the county’s Central Democratic Executive Committee and on the Board of County Revenues, now called the county commission. He went on to serve on the State Democratic Executive Committee and as a state representative and state senator. In fact, it’s said that Bloch was the first Jewish member ever elected to Alabama’s state senate.

As a state senator, Bloch introduced and sponsored the legislative act to establish the Alabama Girls Industrial School, which is now called the University of Montevallo. In recognition of his efforts to establish the university, a building on its campus was named Bloch Hall in his honor. Located just off Bloch Street, Bloch Hall currently houses the university’s Family Consumer Science Department and Art Department.

Bloch was also a prominent Alabama Freemason. He joined Dale Lodge No. 25 in Camden in early manhood and also served as Grandmaster of the Royal & Select Masons of Alabama. He was also a Knight of Pythias, a member of the Camden Mounted Rifle Co. and a member of the Jewish service organization known as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith.

A few days before his death, the 69-year-old Bloch traveled to Mobile on a business trip and contracted pneumonia. He died on March 17, 1924 at his brother’s home in Mobile, and the funeral was held there the following day. Mayor P.E. Jones represented the Town of Camden at the funeral, and Dale Masonic Lodge was represented by H. Marcus. Sources say that Block was buried in the Springhill Avenue Temple Cemetery in Mobile.

In the end, there is little doubt that Solomon D. Bloch was one of the greatest men to ever call Camden home. His mark can still be clearly seen today with the long-lived Wilcox Progressive Era as well as with Bloch Hall at Montevallo University. With that said, let me hear from you if you have any additional information about Bloch and his contributions to Wilcox County history.

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for March 16, 2021

SIX YEARS AGO
MARCH 19, 2015

Evergreen weather observer Betty Ellis reported .01 inches of rain on March 9, .01 inches on March 10, .01 inches on March 11 and .13 inches on March 13. She reported a high of 79 degrees on March 15 and a low of 52 on March 15.

City passes first social media policy: During a special called meeting Wednesday night of last week at Evergreen City Hall, the Evergreen City Council voted to pass the city’s first ever social media policy, which sets down the rules for how city employees can use popular social media policy, which sets down the rules for how city employees can use popular social media programs like Facebook and Twitter.
Discussion about a proposed social media policy first reared its head in December when the council unanimously agreed that the city needs to have a social media policy in place. During a meeting on Dec. 16, the council voted unanimously to have a social media policy for all city employees drafted immediately.

Coleton Padgett won the Reserve Champion Heifer Award during the 70^th Annual Conecuh County Steer & Heifer Show Feb. 23 at Breaking Ridge Farms in Evergreen.

The members of the “Biggest Losers in Conecuh County” celebrated their six-year anniversary Monday morning at Carver Recreation Center in Evergreen.

29 YEARS AGO
MARCH 19, 1992

Local weather observer Harry Ellis reported .65 inches of rain on March 9 and .35 inches on March 10. He reported a high of 81 degrees on March 9 and lows of 29 on March 10 and March 11.

The 47^th Annual Conecuh County 4-H and FFA Steer Show will be held Mon., March 23, 1992 at the Evergreen Cooperative Stockyard Livestock Arena.
The exhibitors of steers will be Michael Lambert, Vanessa Stuart, Courtney Cook, Jeff Myers, Jonathan Jernigan, Shannon Pugh, Will Cook, Wendy Stacey, Shannon Ballard, Chip Stacey, Britt Ward, Amy Ballard and Jennifer Pettis.

Kellie Coker, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stan Coker of Evergreen, was named Junior Miss Alpha 1992 at the annual Miss Alpha Pageant held March 5 at Sparta Academy. Kellie is the granddaughter of Mrs. Sarah Coker of Evergreen and is in the seventh grade.

Journalism professor Ed Williams, Conecuh County native, has been named Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year in the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts.
Williams was recognized at the Student Government Association’s annual Honors Day Banquet recently.
A 1971 graduate of Evergreen High School, Williams is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edsel Williams of Owassa. He attended Jefferson Davis State Junior College inn Brewton from 1971-72 and received his B.S. and M.A. degrees at the University of Alabama.

35 YEARS AGO
MARCH 20, 1986

Earl Windham reports 1.97 inches of rain on March 13 and 2.15 inches on March 14.

Mrs. Lila Salter celebrates her 103rd birthday today, March 20. She is the mother of 13 children, 10 of whom are living, and has 90 grandchildren, 192 great-grandchildren and 106 great-great-grandchildren. She lives with her daughter, Jane Grace, at 111 North Jordan St., Evergreen, and has one living sister, Mrs. Willie D. Dailey of Green Street. Neighbors and friends are welcome to come by between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. today.

The 41st Annual Conecuh County 4-H and FFA Steer Show will be held here Monday morning at nine o’clock at the Evergreen Cooperative Stockyard Livestock Arena. There will be 55 exhibitors of steers and heifers.

A private dining room at the Evergreen Holiday Inn was dedicated as the ‘Henry Sessions Room’ last Thursday morning. Shown at the dedication are Judge of Probate Frank Salter, Commission Chairman David Burt, Mayor Pat Poole, Innkeeper Gerold Galloway, Mrs. Henry (Sue) Sessions, John Henry Sessions (grandson of the late Henry Sessions), Mrs. Louise Kendall, Mrs. John Crum (Sheila) Sessions and John Crum Sessions, son of the late Henry Sessions. Galloway said the room was named in memory of the late Mayor Sessions because he was instrumental in the Holiday Inn locating here and in recognition of his unstinting service to the people of Evergreen.

59 YEARS AGO
MARCH 15, 1962

Flames Destroy Small Plane Here: A single engine private plane was destroyed by fire Tuesday at Middleton Field shortly after its pilot landed to check a sputtering engine.
Alabama Highway Patrol Cpl. B.J. Gatlin said pilot of the plane was Carl T. (Shorty) Carden, 44-year-old employee of Wright Contracting Co., Columbus, Ga.
Carden, a Brewton resident, was burned on the hands when he attempted to check the engine on a taxi strip off the main landing lane. He did not require hospital care.
Cpl. Gatlin said Carden told him he had been flying over a section of pavement under construction on new interstate Highway 65 between Georgiana and Greenville.
Carden said the motor was sounding funny and when he got out to check it after landing, the engine caught fire. The plane, valued at $2,500, was destroyed.
Carden walked to Alabama Highway 84, hitchhiked a ride home and returned to the airstrip in his own car. The patrol said the plane was owned by Carden who was alone in the plane at the time of the trouble.

Joe B. Nix Jr., Evergreen attorney and States Rights leader, is seeking re-election to the State Democratic Executive Committee from the 2nd Congressional District. He is opposed for his place on the committee by Jack Hines, Brewton businessman.
Nix won election to the committee in 1958, and is now offering for a second term.

72 YEARS AGO
MARCH 17, 1949

Elbert J. Hoomes, who went on trial here last Thursday charged with the murder of his son-in-law, Joe Greer, was found not guilty by the petit jury which tried him.
This was the third time Hoomes had been tried since the killing took place on the streets of Brewton late in 1944. He was first tried in Brewton and found guilty but this verdict was set aside by Judge J.W. Hare, who also granted a change of venue. The case was tried here in November 1947 and at that time Hoomes was found guilty and given a sentence of 20 years. He took an appeal and the supreme court reversed and remanded the case.

Reuben Lee Ball is lodged in the county jail charged with murder. He is charged with killing R.C. Stallworth, laborer for the L&N. The shooting took place about 4:30 Saturday afternoon in the quarters back of Evergreen Curb Market. It is said that Ball was drinking and that there was very little said by either of them prior to the shooting. A shotgun was used. Stallworth died about the time he arrived at Carter Hospital in Repton.
Hall left town and went down about Century, Fla., where he got in a difficulty down there that night. He was arrested and carried to Pensacola. Officers there notified the Sheriff’s office here and he was brought here Monday P.M. Sara Thomas, friend of Ball, is also lodged in jail on a charge of accessory after fact, having assisted him in getting out of Evergreen.

The fourth annual Fat Calf Show of the Conecuh County 4-H, FFA and FHA Clubs will be held in Evergreen Monday, April 19.

The Evergreen Courant's Sports Flashback for March 15, 2021

Tom Neville of Montgomery 

15 YEARS AGO

MARCH 16, 2006

The Sparta Academy power lifting team competed in the state power lifting meet on March 8, 2006 at Pickens Academy. Winners in their weight class were Chase Brown and Gaston Bozeman. Pictured are Myles Wiggins, Erik Morris, Callahan Bush, Patrick Stoddard, Peyton Thompson, Chase Brown, Casey Pierce, Zack Smith, Gaston Bozeman and Perry Thompson.

Hillcrest High School’s 6-7 senior forward Chris Hines has been named to the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s all-star basketball team.
Hines and his Alabama all-star teammates will compete against the Mississippi all-stars March 24.
Hines led the Jaguars to the school’s first ever state championship earlier this month when the team defeated Anniston’s Saks High School, 35-32, in overtime in Birmingham.
Along with being named the most valuable player in the Final Four tournament, Hines was also named most valuable player in the Southeast Regional tournament in Troy.

T.R. Miller head baseball coach Jim Hart reached a milestone in his career recently when he collected his 200th career win.

He is the son of Jerry Hart of Evergreen and the late Wendell Hart, who coached many years at Evergreen High School.

25 YEARS AGO

MARCH 21, 1996

World Champion Turkey Caller Eddie Salter has done it again. On March 12, Eddie won the Buck Burns Memorial Turkey Calling Contest in Tuscaloosa. Eddie has won numerous turkey calling contests over the years, including the World Championship twice, the Alabama State Championship five times and the Southern Open Championship six times.

Hillcrest High School finished in fifth place in the 1996 Monroe County Bench Press Meet held Sat., March 16.

Individual results were as follows:

100-pound class: Ben Hunter, benched 85 pounds, second place; Donnie Campbell, benched 75 pounds, fourth place; Nathanie Ray, benched 70 pounds, fifth place.

115-pound class: Marquis Straughn, benched 105 pounds, third place; Ronald Grace, benched 85 pounds, fourth place.

130-pound class: Robert Burt, benched 190 pounds, third place.

205-pound class: Wesley Fountain, benched 325 pounds, second place.

The Hillcrest girls track team finished in first place and the Hillcrest boys finished in fourth place in a track meet held March 12 at Hillcrest.

(Hillcrest’s girls 400-meter relay and 3,200-meter relay teams captured first place in those events. Members of the 400-meter relay team were Stephanie Rogers, Kristie Merrills, Tiffany Marfo and Elena King. Members of the 3,200-meter relay team were Jennifer Batchen, Wilene Cook, Monique Johnson and Elena King.)

50 YEARS AGO

MARCH 18, 1971

Pro football star Tom Neville of Montgomery will be the featured speaker for the youth day services tomorrow which will climax the Spring Revival now in progress at Evergreen Baptist Church. Neville is an offensive tackle for the Boston Patriots. He graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery and played his college ball at Mississippi State where he graduated in 1965. He earned All Southeastern Conference honors in 1963 and 1964 and was an All-American in 1964. Tom is an active member of the Normandale Baptist Church in Montgomery and is active in youth work in his and other churches.

Turkey season open Saturday: In the wee hours of March 20, many households will be disturbed with the hurried preparation of avid turkey hunters as Alabama’s spring turkey season begins.

The gobble of the wild turkey will excite hunters in all or parts of 51 counties in Alabama during the spring season which extends from March 20 to April 26.

With the exception of the northern one-fourth of the state, Henry County, Dale County, east of U.S. Highway 231 and Baldwin County south of U.S. Highway 98, the gobbler will be fair game.

Alabama’s law permits the taking of five gobblers (no hens) during the combined fall 1970 and spring 1971 seasons.

The big ones were biting in Florida last weekend. Jerry Brundage brought home these two each of which weighed 14 pounds.

56 YEARS AGO

MARCH 18, 1965

Ronnie Shaver and this fine fat calf are a reminder that the annual Conecuh County 4-H and FFA Fat Calf Show will soon be here. The show will be held at Conecuh Cooperative Stockyard’s show arena next month. Ronnie and his calf which took Reserve Champion honors in last year’s show are featured on the current calendar of the Evergreen’s FFA Chapter. Ronnie is an outstanding member of the chapter which has Dave Fleming as advisor.

74 YEARS AGO

MARCH 20, 1947

Hunter Kills Big Deer; Excitement Too Much: JAMESTOWN, N.Y. – Delae E. Johns shot a deer, then excitedly shouted: “I got him… I got him.”

Relatives on a hunting trip with Johns at nearby Ellery Center rushed up to view the kill. They found the hunter dead. Jones had died of a heart attack.

FISHING TACKLE - We have the largest and most complete line to select from to be found in this section. Whatever you need in the Tackle line, see us first. WILD BROTHERS HARDWARE CO., EVERGREEN, ALABAMA.

Turkey Season Open Beginning Today: MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Come Thurs., March 20, and the turkey hunters will be in their glory – that’s when Alabama’s annual spring turkey hunting or gobbling season opens. These hunters are in a class unto themselves. Fanatical about their sport as the best girl is about her hair-do, they will leave home long before daylight, sit quiet as a church mouse for hours on end in the wildest kind of woods while they turn female impersonators and try to lure the wily old gobbler within shooting distance with allegedly seductive turkey hen calls on box, leaf, turkey bone or mouth callers.

Only one gobbler a day may be killed and bag limit of five for the season must include those killed in both the fall and spring seasons. Hunters will have until April 15 to prove their ability to outwit the suspicious old gobblers.

Old newspaper excerpts from The Monroe Journal newspaper of Monroe County, Alabama

USS Philippine Sea in 1953.

43 YEARS AGO
MARCH 9, 1978

New city street: Part-time construction workers are plowing the way for the new road which will link Hines and Wilcox streets in Monroeville. It may then require a traffic light to regulate traffic at the intersection, public works superintendent Lyle Salter said. Construction on the extension has been underway for nearly a month.

Three local players signed football grants-in-aid recently. Two of these were from Monroe County High: Wendell Kidd and Ywell Cunningham. Kenneth Leslie played at J.F. Shields High School. Kidd, an offensive halfback and defensive end, looks over his grant to Shaw University with Coach Larry Keefer of MCHS. Kidd was the team’s leading rusher. Cunningham is with Alabama State University’s Dr. Fredrick. He is a 235-pound center and signed with Alabama State. Leslie, a 175-pound fullback, also signed with Alabama State. He looks over his grant with Coach John Wiley of Shields.

Area show winner: David Tucker, son of Mr. and Mrs. James A. Tucker of Route 1, Uriah, exhibited the grand champion steer in the Monroeville Area Junior Market Steer Show Tuesday of last week in the Monroe County Coliseum. David’s was one of 45 steers exhibited in the show, which included entrants from Monroe, Escambia, Sumter and Washington counties.

Students visit Edwards: WASHINGTON – Edna Madison and Karen Tucker of Monroe County High School recently visited the nation’s capital and the office of U.S. Rep. Jack Edwards, R-Ala. Edwards explained the legislative workings of the Congress and other matters of interest to the students. The visit was part of the Presidential Classroom program.

68 YEARS AGO
MARCH 12, 1953

Monroeville Seaman Serves Near Korea: Serving aboard the attack aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea on her third tour of duty in Korean waters is William T. Stanton, seaman, U.S. Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. William T. Stanton Sr., and husband of the former Miss Ouida Byrd, all of Mexia. Before entering the Navy in November 1951, he attended Monroe County High School, Monroeville. The carrier is serving with Task Force 77.

Shown above are the four Monroe County cagers who were named to the all-district 10-man team for the First District following the Class A tournament held recently at T.R. Miller High School gymnasium in Brewton. At the top are shown Vernon Anderson, center, and Willie J. Luker, forward, from the Beatrice High team, and pictured beneath them are Keith King, forward, and Jerry Gulsby, center, from the Frisco City team. Beatrice defeated Frisco City, 57-50, in the consolation tilt to take third place in the tourney.

Seven Monroe County residents are now enrolled in a basic Boy Scout master training course designed for Scoutmasters and their assistants being staged in the basement of the Universalist Church in Brewton.
They are Frank Meigs, Grayson Simmons and Robbins Williams of Monroeville and G.E. Hendrix, C.K. Gardner, W.T. King and Davis McCrory of Frisco City.
Directors in the training course are Dr. W.J. Arms of Brewton, the Rev. James W. Zellner of Brewton; John Sherrill of Atmore; and Mort McMillan of Monroeville.

93 YEARS AGO
MARCH 8, 1928

A.R. Boroughs, the popular postmaster at Perdue Hill, was circulating among Monroeville friends the first of the week.

The public service commission has granted the petition of the Alabama Utilities Co. for permission to construct a power line from Jones Mill to Goodway.

Messrs. C.J. Jackson and J.J. Jernigan were down from Tunnel Springs Tuesday. They reported work of the new school building to replace the building recently wrecked by the storm well underway. The Masonic fraternity is also planning to rebuild.

RALPH JONES FOR COUNTY SOLICITOR: In this issue of The Journal will be found the announcement of Ralph L. Jones, Esq., for reelection to the office of County Solicitor.
Mr. Jones was appointed to this office to fill the unexpired term of Hon. L.S. Biggs when the latter became Circuit Solicitor and was elected to a full term by the people of the county in 1924.
Mr. Jones is a native of Monroe County, having been born at Jones Mill July 26, 1899, the youngest son of Rev. and Mrs. J.W. Jones. He received his preparatory education in the common schools of his home town and at the Monroe County High School, and received his A.B. degree from the University of Alabama in 1918 and his law degree from the same institution the following year. He was admitted to the practice at the age of 19.
Locating in Monroeville, he became a member of the law firm of Barnett, Bugg, Lee & Jones in which connection he is still employed.

118 YEARS AGO
MARCH 12, 1903

Mr. Abram Shiff, for many years a citizen and merchant of Claiborne, this county, now of Clarksburg, W.Va., spent a few days with Monroeville friends last week. Mr. Shiff looks hale and hearty and his eyesight, which for some years was much impaired, is greatly improved.

Mr. W.B. James, formerly with the Evergreen Record, but now deputy sheriff of Conecuh County, was here this week on official business and favored The Journal with a call.

Mr. W.H. Tucker, merchant and postmaster at Jones Mill, was in to see us Thursday.

Bro. John H. Kearley departed this life Jan. 7, 1903. He was born at Buena Vista, Aug. 27, 1874. He gave his life to his Master, joining the Concord Baptist Church at the early age of 14, uniting with Pleasant Ridge church in 1894.
He was a noble son, a faithful husband and an employee ever ready to obey orders to the very best of his ability.

MINEOLA: The long-delayed work of constructing a new bridge on Little River has at last begun. Mr. Emmet Smith has the contract.

DREWRY: A serenading party visited the home of Mr. J.B. McMillan Jr. and discoursed sweet music for the benefit of those that were in the house. One of the party attempted a vocal selection, but the fiddler would not play the tune. On their way home, the serenaders tried to get the violinist into a mud hole by staying behind with the lantern.

143 YEARS AGO
MARCH 12, 1878

The Alabama River Association of steamboats was dissolved on the 9^th inst. by mutual consent. The noble and generous hearted Capt. Finnegan – to whom we are indebted for many courtesies – is now on his own hook. He has the mail contract on the Alabama River for the next two years, which is being carried twice a week by the steamers Lula D. and Eureka. The Eureka passes Claiborne going down every Sunday and the Lula D. every Thursday. Our popular and excellent friend P.J. Lycus is in command of the Eureka, and Mr. A.J. Welsh is first clerk, which fact is a sufficient guarantee of the boat’s popularity.

Died – Near Monroeville, a few days ago, Mr. Henry Gulley, aged about 76. Mr. G. was a good citizen and his death is universally regretted. He had been suffering with heart disease for some time and his death was not unexpected.

Notice To Our Patrons – The Journal office has been removed from the McCorvey old building to the spacious and pleasant rooms over Dr. J.T. Russell’s store, Public square.

COUNTY CONVENTION: Elsewhere in today’s Journal appears the call of the chairman of the county executive committee for a county convention to be held at this place, May 6, to nominate a candidate for the legislature. We regard the action of the committee as regards the mode adopted of selecting delegates, as wise and proper, and believe it will give general satisfaction. Next week, we propose to say more on this subject. The call however fully explains itself and should be read by every voter in Monroe.

George Singleton relates little known facts about the Civil War

Edwin Booth

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Unknown facts of the Civil War remembered” was originally published in the Feb. 19, 1998 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Our history teaching of today give little or no thought to the tragic and bloody sacrifices of that period in our history known as the Civil War. This period from 1861 to 1865 was unlike any other event that has taken place anywhere else in the world because of the circumstances and happenings which caused this war to be different and unlike any war known to mankind.

As for myself, I think the history of our dreaded Civil War should be taught in greater detail, due to the fact that with this knowledge our youth would have a greater knowledge of this period of our history. Many unanswered questions that we face today could be answered and many mysteries of this time would be solved. So, this article is dedicated to those of my readers that care about our history and those who search for many answers. Here are some oddities of this bloody war that might open some eyes.

In 1861, Wilmer McLean, distressed that a cannon ball had crashed through his home during the Battle of Bull Run, moved to a farm where “the sound of battle would never again reach him and his family.” Almost four years later, McLean’s Appomattox Courthouse home was used for General Lee’s surrender to General Grant. There wasn’t any damage from cannon balls, but souvenir hunting Union officers stripped his house of almost all its furniture.

When Sam and Keith Blalock joined the 26^th North Carolina Regiment, they claimed to be old friends who were distantly related. It was months before anyone discovered Sam’s real name was Malinda. When Keith signed up to fight the Yankees, his wife put on a man’s attire and went to war with him.

After the Confederacy was defeated, Jefferson Davis was stripped of his citizenship. He died as a man without a country. His citizenship was restored by Congress during the administration of President Jimmy Carter.

Major General George A. Custer, only wounded one time during the bloody conflict, had 11 horses shot from under him. Confederate Major General Joseph Wheeler continued to fight after having 16 horses killed under him. Still, the all time record seems to have been set by General Nathan Bedford Forrest. After a thorough study of the matter, Brigadier General James B. Chalmers reported that Forrest was under fire more than one hundred times during which 36 horses were shot from under him. A later analysis, now widely accepted, led to the conclusion that General Forrest actually had a total of 39 horses killed under him while he was in the saddle.

Unlike the Confederates, the Union cavalrymen were usually provided with a government-owned horse. There were a few exceptions. By October 1861, virtually all units of the Union Army were furnished animals owned by the government. By October 1862, the federal government owned approximately 150,000 horses and 100,000 mules. During the first two years of the fighting, Union cavalry units, which never had more than 60,000 men in the field, were supplied with about 240,000 horses. Before General Lee surrendered, Federal funds had paid for an estimated 840,000 horses and at least 400,000 mules.

Even then, politics played an important role in the decisions as to who went to war and those that were exempt from the draft. Shielded from battle because he was the son of the president, college student Robert Todd Lincoln was at a New Jersey railroad station waiting to board a train. Forced by the mass of many other passengers to learn from the waiting platform against the side of the train, he suddenly felt it begin to move.

The motion of the train spun young Lincoln off his feet and caused him to slide downward into the open space between the car and the platform. Suspended helplessly, he suddenly felt a hand grab his coat and lift him to safety.

Turning around to thank the bystander who had rescued him, he recognized the famous actor Edwin Booth – the brother of the man who a few months later would take the life of his father.

After Union General William T. Sherman burned and destroyed the city of Atlanta, he began his famous “March to the Sea.” He decided that he and his army would burn a path a hundred miles wide across the South and destroy all farm houses and mules and horses in his path. During the march, he destroyed many homes, along with many crops in the fields. His army killed over 15,000 farm horses and over 18,000 mules that were used to cultivate the farm land along his march route.

Following his army were between six and seven hundred so-called freed slaves. Sherman’s army and the freed slaves pillaged the farms and destroyed an estimated 60 tons of cured meat that they took from the destroyed farms’ families. By the time the army reached Ebenezer Creek just outside Savannah, Ga., there were no food for the followers of Sherman’s army. The followers were eating spilled rice swept from the wagon beds that had been taken from the farms along the way.

The stream named Ebenezer Creek was really a wide stream of water as wide as a river. No one to this day knows why the stream was called a creek. Sherman ordered flatboats to be constructed for his army to cross the stream on. After all the army and its equipment and animals had been ferried across, the flatboats were sent back to bring across the 600 or so freed slaves. As the flatboats reached mid-stream, Sherman ordered his cannons to open fire on the loaded flatboats. None of those aboard the boats lived to reach the shore. History describes Sherman as a gentle and kind soldier. Our history fails to mention also that upon an occasion when some of Sherman’s riflemen killed three Confederate soldiers in a small skirmish, Sherman ordered the three bodies to be place in a large hog pen nearby, to be eaten by the hungry hogs rather than taken the time to bury them. Truly indeed, Sherman was a gentle gentleman.

If our teaching of history continues on the path that we follow today, within a very short time the stories of the dreadful years of our Civil War will have faded into oblivion. And the many who are sleeping in the many unknown graves throughout our nation will forever be forgotten.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)