No one remembers who dug the old soap stone spring at Lone Star

Soap stone spring.

(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 “Soap stone spring a mystery” was originally published in the Aug. 7, 1975 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

I’m always amazed at the way things show up when you least expect it. Old places and things that have gone unnoticed for many, many years seem to just pop up out of the ground and demand to be seen.

This is the case of the old spring located near the Earl Brooks home in the Lone Star community. The old spring has waited all these years on the side of a steep hill, spilling its cold water down the slope for any who thirst.

But the water has gone untouched all these years because no longer does the weary traveler pass this way. No longer is the thirsty team unhitched from their load for a refreshing drink after a long pull through the hills to the north.

Who dug spring?

No one remembers who dug the spring. Reliable information has been passed down through the Brooks family since the early 1820s. And always, when the earlier generations were asked about who dug the spring, the answer was always the same. “It was there when I was a child, or my parents don’t remember; it was there when we were children.”

So the story goes, and there aside the steep hill, the old, old spring, with its cool water running, trickling down the steep slope, holds its secret. Somewhere back through time a thirsty traveler lingered, lingered long enough to carve from the soap stone cliff a basin where the water could collect and refresh the wanderer who passed this way.

Life-giving water

Or maybe somewhere through the years the Red Man lingered here to drink the life-giving water, and to heal his wounds from battles past. Who knows? The spring is just another mystery; a part of some untold legend, one of the many that fade away with the passing scene.

(That week’s paper also included the following Letter to the Editor.)

Singleton column gives glimpse of quiet places, interesting people

Dear Editor:

I was quite pleased to see Mr. George Singleton’s feature articles appear in The Journal once more. I had missed them very much.

Through his eyes and words, those of us who haven’t seen these quiet places of beauty or met the interesting people that he has in his travels, feel as though we, indeed, have done so!

When he described so vividly a waterfall and pool recently, I could almost feel the spray of the water on my face and visualize youngsters of another time, splashing and playing in the cool pond beneath it.

I wanted to express my pleasure and appreciation to Mr. Singleton for bringing us these glimpses of a bygone era and to The Monroe Journal for presenting these again for the enjoyment of its readers.

His writings make one wonder why the residents of Monroe County need go elsewhere to search for beauty and history, when we have so much of it in our own surroundings.

Mrs. John Harper

(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.)