'France' Hall was the one and only postmaster of the old Galatia community in Conecuh County

Last week in this space, I wrote about the old Galatia community, which was located in southwest Conecuh County, on the Range Road, about halfway between the Old Stage Road and Jackson Bridge. Almost no trace of this old community remains today, but it once boasted a post office and was a polling place for local elections.

Not long after last week’s paper hit the streets, my good friend Shannon Hall Jones at the library in Monroeville sent me some additional information about the old Galatia community. As it turns out, Shannon’s great-great-grandfather Francis Marion “France” Hall was Galatia’s one and only postmaster. She also sent me a clipping of an old newspaper article about Galatia that appeared in the Nov. 28, 1991 edition of The Monroe Journal.

That article, which appeared under the headline “Francis Hall was only postmaster for Galatia,” said that National Archives postal records show that the post office at Galatia in Conecuh County was established Sept. 12, 1890. The records also show that Francis M. Hall was appointed postmaster on that date.

“According to Hall family history, Hall closed the post office after 11 years on Feb. 18, 1901,” the article said. “Residents then received their mail through Range.”

The article goes on to say that Hall was born in 1841 and died in 1927. Hall was the son of Elisha Perry Hall and Nancy Jane Brown. He went on to marry Sabra Mahala Godwin, and they had nine children: Charlie Alexander, Daniel T., Ely Joyce, Jency, Jesse Cleveland, Margaret Martincy, Nancy, Philinde and Sidney Jones.

The article notes that Sabra died in 1896 when Sidney was just three years old. Francis was 55 years old at the time of Sabra’s death. Later, when Francis was 61 years old, he married a second, younger wife named Sarah.

I dug a little deeper and learned that Francis Marion Hall was born in Coffee County on Oct. 3, 1841, and he passed away at the age of 85 on Jan. 7, 1927 in Conecuh County. Today, his grave can be found in the Smith Plantation Cemetery at Wallace in Escambia County. Hall’s grave is one of only three in this small cemetery.

Hall’s first wife, Sabra, was born in 1856, and she died in 1896 when she was 39 or 40 years old. She was buried in the New Home Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery near Excel in Monroe County.

Hall’s second wife, Sarah J. Hall, was born on April 21, 1874 and died at the age of 27 on Jan. 23, 1902. She is also buried in the New Home Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery near Excel.

In the end, I’d like to hear from any other readers who know more about the old Galatia community. I’m especially interested in hearing any old ghost stories, local legends or Indian lore from this part of the county. You never can tell, someone in the reading audience may even have a picture of Francis Marion Hall or the old Galatia post office.