Singleton laments the bygone days of the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog

George Buster Singleton

(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 “Bidding a sad farewell to the Sears catalog tradition,” was originally published in the Feb. 4, 1993 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

With the country rolling store faded into oblivion, now comes the sad and tragic news that the old and faithful Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog will soon be no more.

An era is passing from us that has lasted for almost a hundred years. Losing the Sears catalog is almost like losing a dear friend of the family to the country people of these United States. But the winds of time bring on change, and time waits for no man, so the story goes.

Very few organizations have had as much of an impact on the country people of this nation, especially the people of the South, as the Sears catalog. Our youth of today cannot comprehend what this mail order catalog did for a nation that was neck-deep in the Great Depression. The coming of the new catalog was like nothing else that came through the mail to the folks that lived in the country.

There were very few items needed by a country family that could not be ordered from the Sears wish book, as it was often referred to. Clothing for the entire family, or the cloth to make them, could be ordered by any country farm family.

New buggy

Shoes, medicine, eye glasses, horse and mule harness – all would come by mail. A new farm wagon, or a new buggy, could all be ordered. Farm tools such as axes, garden hoes, cross-cut saws, and the finer tools for the more experienced were all pictured in Sears. Even small buildings, such as storage sheds and living quarters, could be ordered through the mail.

Not only did the catalog offer all the necessary needs for the farm, it also was a form of entertainment for the country folk, as the large thick catalog was thumbed through from cover to cover and the new items listed there were marveled at.

Toys never seen before by the country children were looked at with mouth-watering desires, hoping against hope that a miracle of sorts might happen and one of these toys would arrive through the mail.

Many, many hours were spent by this small country boy, looking at the beautiful bicycles listed there on the pages of the catalog. Many hours of dreaming occurred in the mind of this same young boy as he pictured himself riding one of these fine wheels up and down the public road so all his friends could see.

New, fine-stitched baseball gloves almost stood out on the pages. BB guns were also something to dream about having. I well remember the day when I sold an acre of sweet corn that I had worked and cultivated to my father for the total amount of $2.

Met the mail carrier

My darling mother sat down and ordered me a BB gun that cost a total of 79 cents. The postage on the BB gun was 18 cents. A small and excited barefoot lad me the mail carrier every day, starting the day after the order was mailed, until that BB gun arrived.

I will never forget that glorious moment when Mr. Bouler, the mailman, handed a very excited country boy the slender box that contained the much-looked-for BB gun out the window of his Model A Ford automobile.

The Sears catalog was used for other things around the country farms. Many a child furthered their reading skills by reading from the wish book.

The wives of the country farmers would use the pictures in the catalog as a pattern to make some of the family’s clothing, such as shirts and short pants. Also these pictures played an important part in the making of clothing for the young ladies that grew up on the farms.

In looking back, I’m almost sure that I hold the record for placing the smallest order that was ever ordered from the Sears catalog. I had acquired a worn-out bicycle that I had swapped for a full grown hog.

The wheel spokes of the bicycle were in much need of repair. I was in great need of a bicycle spoke wrench. This much-needed wrench was listed in the Sears catalog for the total amount of five cents. After filling out the order blank, I was to find out that the postage on the spoke wrench was a total of six cents. Merchandise and postage came to a grand total of 11 cents.

Needless to say, the much-needed wrench was shipped without question. I do believe that order stands to this day as a record.

Many jokes were built around the outdated and expired Sears catalogs. After a new catalog was received by the farm families, many jokes linger even now among the older people who remember the hard times of the Depression.

There is a story of a backwoods country farmer who sat down and wrote Sears, Roebuck & Co., requesting that he be shipped a package of toilet paper. Shortly, this rural farmer received a letter from Sears, requesting that he send them the catalog number of the toilet paper.

Much disturbed, the old farmer, the next day by return mail, notified the company that if he had had a catalog, he would not have needed to order the toilet paper.

Even today, with our modern-day instant communications and with our rapid transit systems, the Sears catalog has continued to serve the working people of our country.

With its passing from the scene, an era will have faded among those who remember the days of a long time past. Even during the very hard times of the Great Depression, many hours of family togetherness hold fond and beautiful memories.

The Sears family catalog was much a part of these times. Our society is in great need for this family togetherness. With it our world would be a much better place for our children to grow up.

Strange as it seems, a country wish book has placed an important part in helping to mold this great nation. Only in America could this have happened.

(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, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, 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.)

Man looks for buried treasure in some unusual places

Wilcox Mineral Springs

Oftentimes while looking through old newspapers, I find the advertisements just as interesting as the stories the newspaper contains. One example of this is a large ad for the Wilcox Mineral Springs and Hotel that was published on the front page of the July 16, 1903 edition of The Monroe Journal.

This resort was located in the Schuster community, a few miles north of the Monroe-Wilcox County line, near McWilliams. Located along the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, the resort had opened a new hotel with comfortable rooms and supplied with the best food “the market affords.” Best of all, the resort boasted of no malaria and no mosquitoes.

Visitors were encouraged to drink and swim in the waters of the resort’s four natural mineral springs, which had been tested and found to contain sodium chloride, sodium sulphate, sodium bicarbonate, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and silica. At the time, it was believed that these curative waters would heal all sorts of maladies, including liver, kidney and stomach troubles. The ad in The Journal let readers know that “a number of remarkable cures have already been effected after surprisingly brief use of waters, as testimonials abundantly show.”

Operated by George W. Stewart, individual guests could stay at the hotel for $25 a month or $7 per week. Special rates were given to families. Those arriving by train were met by a free hack, that is, a sturdy, horse-drawn wagon that was commonly used as a taxi or for mail delivery in the 1800s.

The resort thrived for a time, but the crowds eventually began to thin, and the business took a major hit after one of the hotel buildings burned in 1908 followed by other fires that destroyed the bandstand and dance pavilion. If you go to the site today, you might find a few crumbling foundations if you know where to look.

On a sidenote, several years ago a young man from Georgia called me from out of the blue asking if I knew exactly where the resort was located. He was a bottle and antique collector and specialized in searching old locations like Wilcox Mineral Springs. Once at the location, he knew how to locate old privy sites and would dig down into them looking for old bottles and such.

I asked him if he wasn’t afraid of digging in those old outhouses, and he laughed. He said after so many years, the contents of the privy eventually became normal soil and that it was as safe as digging anywhere else. I told him I didn’t think I’d want to put it to the test.

I asked him if he ever found anything valuable, and his answer was surprising. He said that people threw all sorts of things into outhouses, and he’d found countless bottles and broken glassware. He said that he’d even found a bottle so rare that he’d sold it for big money on eBay to some prince in Saudi Arabia.

In the end, I told the man what I knew about Wilcox Mineral Springs, including that it was no doubt on private property. I don’t know if he ever tracked down the current owner of the site or if he made a trip there to search for old bottles. But if he did, I hope he found something that made it worth the effort.

Vanderbilt's first football coach was born in Camden, Alabama in 1870

I know that there are a lot of college football fans in the reading audience, and many of those fans might be interested to know that tomorrow – July 18 – marks the 155^th anniversary of the birth of Vanderbilt University’s first head football coach in Camden.

According to a wide variety of sources, Vanderbilt’s first head football coach, Elliott H. Jones, was born to John Archibald Jones and Mary Scott Jones in Camden on July 18, 1870, and he lived in Camden until the age of 15 when he went off to Massachusetts to attend high school at the prestigious Cambridge Latin School. In 1887, Jones entered Vanderbilt University, where he cemented himself a place in college football history.

Vanderbilt organized its first football team in the fall of 1890 and played the first game in school history that year on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27), defeating the Nashville Peabody Normal School, 40-0, at Nashville Athletic Park. Jones served as head coach for Vanderbilt in that game, was Vanderbilt’s team captain and also played fullback. Vandy went undefeated that season because that was the only game they played that year.

Jones went on to serve as head football coach and played for the Commodores during the 1891 and 1892 seasons. In 1891, Vandy went 3-1 overall, defeating Sewanee twice and splitting a home-and-away series with Washington University of St. Louis, Mo.

During the 1892 season, the last with Jones as head coach, Vandy went 4-4, recording wins over Tennessee (twice), Peabody Normal School and Georgia Tech. Their losses came against Sewanee (twice), North Carolina and Washington University of Missouri.

Jones attended Vanderbilt from 1887 to 1893, earning his bachelor’s and law degrees, and he was also active in other sports in addition to football. He played on Vanderbilt’s baseball team for two seasons and also ran track and was on the college’s gymnasium team. In his spare time, he served as the editor-in-chief of the college newspaper.

After college, Jones moved to Kansas City, Mo., where he became a well-known, prominent lawyer with a large and important clientele. He married Mattie M. Scarritt on Dec. 27, 1894, and they went on to have a large family of children. Jones lived to the ripe old age of 81, passing away on Oct. 11, 1951, and today you can visit his grave in the Mount Washington Cemetery in Independence, Mo.

It would be interesting to know what Jones would think about modern college football. This season, Vanderbilt will play the University of Alabama on Oct. 4 and the Commodores will play Auburn University on Nov. 8. Interestingly, Jones never coached a game against Alabama or Auburn.

In the end, I’d like to hear from any readers with more information about Jones’ early years in Wilcox County and from anyone with more information about Jones’ prominent family. More than likely, some of his relatives still live in Wilcox County today.

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for July 16, 2025

31 YEARS AGO
JULY 21, 1994

Evergreen weather observer Harry Ellis reported .20 inches of rain on July 11, .22 inches on July 12, 1.4 inches on July 13, 1.45 inches on July 14 and .35 inches on July 15. He reported highs of 87 degrees on July 15 and July 16 and a low of 67 on July 14.

Construction of the new building for Conecuh-Monroe Counties Gas District is moving right along. The building is scheduled for completion by Oct. 1 of this year. The building will be larger than the present location and include a drive-thru window.

Evergreen and Conecuh County became the scene for another brutal homicide Tuesday afternoon when a Welcome community couple were found murdered in their home. According to reports, Hiram E. Johnson, 83, and his wife, Mamie, 79, were found dead Tuesday afternoon at approximately 2 p.m. by relatives.
(District Attorney Tommy) Chapman… said that the murders were believed to have been committed between 9 p.m. Monday and 9 a.m. Tuesday. No cause of death had been determined at press time Wednesday. He also stated that there was no sign of forced entry into the Johnson home.
The killing has put the county in a state of shock with the murder also Tuesday of former Evergreen resident Barry Riggs Harper. According to District Attorney Tommy Chapman, the killings do not appear to be related.

56 YEARS AGO
JULY 17, 1969

County Masonic Conference: The annual Conecuh County Masonic Conference was held Wednesday, July 10, at Repton Lodge with 17 members of the five county lodges attending. Visitors from Mobile, Florida and other placed were present.
S.A. McGraw of Downing Lodge 580 at Castleberry, who has been Conference Secretary for 26 years, was re-elected  for another term. The conference also voted to present him with a 25-year pin.
A splendid meal was served at noon in the school lunchroom by members of the Eastern Star. Conecuh County Masons will continue to pay 10 cents per member per year for support of the conference.

Boykins receives Bronze Star medal: Staff Sgt. Marvin H. Boykins has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service in Vietnam. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Curlee Boykins of Route 2, Evergreen.
The citation accompanying the medal reads:
“By direction of the President, the Bronze Star Medal is presented to Staff Sgt. Marvin H. Boykins, U.S. Army, for distinguishing himself by exceptionally meritorious service in connection with ground operations against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam during the period Oct. 1967 to March 1969.
“By applying his extensive knowledge, he has materially contributed to the efforts of the U.S. mission in the Republic of Vietnam. His initiative, sound judgement and devotion to duty have been in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.”

81 YEARS AGO
JULY 20, 1944

Awarded Purple Heart: Pvt. Raymond N. Bradley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bradley of Castleberry, was awarded a Purple Heart for getting wounded in Italy the 12^th of May. The award was sent home to his mother the 26^th of June. She also received letters from him lately saying that he was getting along fine and was out of the hospital. He was dismissed from the hospital the 2^nd of June and assigned back to duty.

Sgt. Taylor J. Moorer Awarded Air Medal: An Eighth Air Force Reconnaissance Station, England: Staff Sgt. Taylor J. Moorer, 22, of Evergreen, Ala., a Flying Fortress gunner now serving with weather reconnaissance in England, has been awarded the Air Medal for exceptionally meritorious achievement while serving on many heavy bombardment missions over enemy-occupied continental Europe.
Sgt. Moorer has been in the Air Force for two years, eight months of which he has served overseas. During his eight months overseas he has been on many hazardous missions and has experienced many exciting adventures.
Prior to enlistment in the Armed Forces, Sgt. Moorer was working as an aircraft metalsmith at the Mobile Air Depot, Mobile, Ala. he is a graduate of Evergreen High School, Evergreen, Ala.
His sister, Lt. Melba A. Moorer, is serving in the W.A.C. and is stationed at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. T.S. Moorer, live in Evergreen, Ala.

Mr. and Mrs. R.F. Hyde entertained a number of relatives and friends at a chicken fry at Binion’s Pool on last Thursday evening in honor of their son, Lt. and Mrs. D.T. Hyde.

106 YEARS AGO
JULY 16, 1919

Heavy Loss From Hail Storm: Heavy storm and cloud burst visited Leeman L. Lee’s farm, six miles northwest of Castleberry at about five o’clock Friday and literally stripped his corn and cotton into small strips, damaging his crop to the amount of four or five thousand dollars. The hail was so heavy that it actually bursted melons open.

Tax Collector Kelley went to the Capitol on Thursday last for a final settlement of state taxes with the auditor.

Circuit Solicitor G.O. Dickey and family will shortly become citizens of Evergreen. They will occupy the H.L. Tucker place. They will be cordially welcomed.

Drs. Dickinson and Stewart, E.J. McCreary, T.S. Hagood and J.W. Byrd attended a meeting of the Orphanage Board in Montgomery on Thursday last.

Mrs. W.R. Bennett will teach in the City School this year. Evergreen is fortunate in the selection of teachers.

Rev. C.H. Motley of DeFuniak Springs were visiting in town the latter part of the past week. Mr. Motley has been recently elected Vice President of the Thomas Industrial School, located at DeFuniak Springs, Fla.

Prof. Adams of Tennessee is guest in the home of his sister, Mrs. R.R. Philips, this week.

131 YEARS AGO
JULY 12, 1894
THE EVERGREEN STAR

A GOOD COMPANY: The Conecuh Guards of Evergreen Showed Up Well: One of the crack companies that was in camp during the past week was the Conecuh Guards of Evergreen: Capt. C.R. Taleaferro; Lieutenants H.M. King, J.C. Snead; Sergeants H.L. Riley, F.L. Riley, E.D. Sampey; Corporals M. McCreary, J.T. Ellis, J.G. Lunday, A.F. Sims; Privates J.M. Brooks, C. Cunningham, W. Cummings, H. Crumpton, E. Cargill, W.H. Dunn, E.M. Finch, D. Guice, W.B. James, J.W. Kelley, J. McCreary Jr., W.A. McCreary, J.R. Relfe, Ed Robbins, G.A. Sampey, A. Salter, G. Salter, E. Stamps, E.L. Stallworth, Co. Surgeon, Ed Hirman, L.B. Chapman, A.R. Carter, W.A. Gantt, Ex-Captain.

There will be a big picnic and public speaking at Brooklyn, Conecuh County, on Thursday the 26^th instant, everybody is invited to attend. Congressman Stallings and other able speakers will be present and give us good sound democratic speeches. Don’t fail to attend.

NOTICE: The democratic executive committee of Conecuh County is hereby requested to meet at the courthouse in Evergreen on the 24^th of July inst. – S.L. Witherington, Chairman, Democratic Executive Committee; Wm. M. Newton, Secretary.

NOTICE is hereby given, that applications for the free scholarship in the medical college of Alabama will be received until Mon., Aug. 13, 1894, at which time the commissioners court of Conecuh County will consider them and make the award as provided by law. – Robert A. Lee, Judge of Probate.

The Evergreen Courant's Sports Flashback for July 14, 2025

41 YEARS AGO
JULY 12, 1984

These are the members of the Evergreen Little League All-Stars: Richard Melton, Keith Richardson, Broderick Gross, Bryan Garrett, Ryan Burt, Mickey Jones and Michael Floyd; Kevin Townson, Jamie Deason, Greg Stanton, Jamie Shipp, Scott Jones, Richard Byrd and Kenny Meeks, and Coaches Willie Byrd and Earnest Boykin.

56 YEARS AGO
JULY 10, 1969

Joe Brown successfully defended his championship in the Evergreen Golf Club’s annual club tournament, limited to members, held July 4. Joe had to get by two extra hole matches with Brown Boykin and Henry Kinzer to enter the finals where he defeated Bill Kitchens.
Results by flights listing winner, runner-up and consolation winner follow:
Championship, Joe Brown, Bill Kitchens and Brown Boykin.
First Flight, Joe Nix, Benny Crum, Charles Lambert.
Second Flight, Randy Moorer, Bonnie King, Bob Smiley.
Third Flight, Eddie Thornley, Johnny Thornley, James Ansley.
Fourth Flight, Quinton Buras, Danny Petrey, Buddy Coleman.

71 YEARS AGO
JULY 8, 1954

A city softball league is in the process of organizing according to Recreation Director Bill Parsons. The league will probably have six teams and games will be played at night. The league is sponsored by the City Recreation Department and games will be played in Brooks Stadium.
Coach Parsons states that so far five organizations have agreed to sponsor teams. Alma Martin Post 50 of the American Legion, Evergreen Junior Chamber of Commerce, Evergreen Equipment Co., The Spotlite and Southern Coach Manufacturing Co., Inc. have all agreed to enter teams.

A handicap tournament has been planned by the Evergreen Golf Club it is announced today by newly elected President C.T. Ivey. Mr. Ivey succeeded L.W. Price Jr. as head of the local golfer’s organization. Mr. Price had served as president for several years.
To qualify for the tournament players should turn in their entry fee and post the score they usually shoot by noon, Monday, July 19, to any member of the tournament committee or at The Courant office. Committee members are Herman Bolden, G.L. Wilkinson, Bill Gibbons, J.H. Robison, P.L. Pace and Bob Bozeman. This committee will set handicaps from the scores turned in.

86 YEARS AGO
JULY 13, 1939

The local baseball team will meet the team from Atmore at Gantt Field next Sunday afternoon at 3:30. All baseball fans are urged to be on hand for what promises to be one of the best games of the season. Evergreen goes to Atmore for two games this (Thursday) afternoon.
The locals staged a comeback in the game with Brewton here last Sunday afternoon by the one-sided score of 11 to 1.

George Singleton writes of the old-timey days of the 'snipe hunt'

George Buster Singleton

(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 “Hunting snipes for city folks was cold, silent task,” was originally published in the Jan. 27, 1994 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

The hard days of the Great Depression presented many problems to the country people of the area in which I grew up. But during these times, there were also some fine and wonderful times to be had among the young people of the farming communities of this area.

As I look back at some of those good times, I find myself wishing that the youth of today could experience some of the fun times that I was a part of during my growing up years.

All country families within the area had relatives, or kin folks as they were called, who lived in the larger towns and cities. These relatives always knew that when they visited their country kin, there was always plenty of home-grown food to be had and most always plenty of good clean entertainment.

That is not to say that these city kinfolk weren’t the victims of some of the practical jokes that were almost sure to be pulled on them during some of these visits. But through it all, good times were to be enjoyed and the city slickers always left looking forward to the next visit to the country.

During the cold winter months, possum hunting or hunting for hickory nuts or wild chestnuts was one form of local entertainment for the young folks. If a visitor or relative who wasn’t familiar with country goings-on happened to be among the visiting kin folks, it was almost a certainty that a night of snipe hunting was forthcoming.

Snipe hunting wasn’t talked about or discussed as the groups of young people would gather for a campfire outing or get-together. The reason was that those who had never been snipe hunting were the ones who were always the ones chosen to guard the sack that the snipes were to be caught in.

A snipe hunt would begin to be organized along about first dark. Usually, around this time of year when a group of young people got together a large bonfire was built. Once it was discovered that someone in the group had never been snipe hunting, plans would be quickly formulated for a hunt.

A large sack would be brought in to catch the snipes. Then, those who had never been snipe hunting would be chosen to guard the sack. The sack would be hidden in a large briar thicket with the opening of the sack held open with a stick of sorts. Those who had been chosen to guard the sack were told to lie on the ground near the sack so that when the snipe was driven into it they could jump forward and close the sack.

The rest of the group was supposed to go out into the field and drive the snipes toward the thicket and into the large sack. Those left to guard the sack had to be very quiet and not make any movement that would frighten the snipes away from the sack.

After the sack had been placed and those who were to guard it had been positioned, the rest of the group then left as though looking for a snipe. Several hundred yards would be put between the two groups. The drivers would find a nice comfortable place, most times in a draw or a ravine so that those left behind to guard the sack couldn’t hear them.

Here, they would build a small fire and enjoy themselves while those who guarded the sack waited in total silence, most times chilled to the bone from the cold ground and not being able to move around to keep their blood circulating.

Two or three hours would pass as the drivers entertained themselves, talking, laughing and joking about those who had been left to guard the sack. Finally, the drivers would spread out and begin to pretend to drive the snipes toward the thicket where the cold and chilled guardians of the sack waited.

A considerable amount of loud noise would be made by the drivers. When those driving reached the thicket, all wanted to know how many snipes had been caught in the sack. When the answer was reported as none, those driving began to accuse those left to guard the sack that they had made too much noise and had moved around too much. A new drive would then be organized and those who guarded the sack were cautioned again about the need for total silence and no movement whatsoever.

The drivers would return to their hideaway, all the time laughing about the misery of those left to guard the sack. After killing more time with fun and jokes, a second drive was started. Upon reaching the thicket, the question was asked again; where were the snipes that had been driven into the sack?

By this time, those new at snipe hunting had become confused and disheartened. Then, the joke would be finally revealed and explained. Much joking and laughter, along with a lot of kidding at those who had been left to guard the empty sack, would take place.

After the fun had begun to die down, another large fire would be started and the chilled guardians of the sack could warm their cold bones and enjoy the snacks and goodies that had been secretly brought along for the final get-together.

Many memories linger about these fun times from the years since passed. And today, when those of us who enjoyed this friendship and happiness get together, the happy times of taking our city cousins on a snipe hunt are most often relived. For those of us who remember, the memories will linger for always.

(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, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, 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.)