Daily Rainfall Observations from SW Alabama for Mon., Jan. 20, 2020

Rainfall (Past 24 Hours): 0.00 inches.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.00 inches.

Month to Date Rainfall:  4.30 inches.

Winter to Date Rainfall: 7.40 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 4.30 inches.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily in Monroe County, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.405783N Lon -87.479861W. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-6, Station Name: Frisco City 5.0 WSW.

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

US Navy destroyer, USS Shelton. 

29 YEARS AGO

JAN. 17, 1991

Monroe County Sheriff Tom Tate takes his oath of office from Probate Judge Otha Lee Biggs. Tate began his second four-year term this month. He was unopposed in November in his re-election bid for the county’s top law enforcement post.

Fifth-ranked J.F. Shields High School’s boys wrapped up their fourth-straight victory since losing to 4A Clarke County High School Dec. 21 when the Panthers beat Southern Normal School 73-62 Saturday in Beatrice.

Shields’ win over Southern Normal’s Cyclones, which came in the finals of the Panthers’ tournament this weekend, left Shields 11-2 on the season.

Tournament most valuable player Keith Montgomery, a 6-foot-2 senior forward for Shields, scored 26 points Friday (against McKenzie) and 21 points Saturday to earn the honors.

(Other top Shields players in that tourney included Derrick Castaphoney, Kirk Kemp, Rayford Lewis, Tony McBride, C.C. Riley, Curtis Sanders and Robert Sanders. Willie White was Shields’ head coach.)

McNeil to head Frisco chamber: Charles McNeil was elected president of the Frisco City Chamber of Commerce for 1991 when the chamber met Monday in the chamber office.

Other officers elected are: Hybart Sawyer, first vice president; Wayne Musson, second vice president; Ella Wayne Byrd secretary; and Mrs. Dot Sims, treasurer.

The chamber’s 1991 board of directors will be Ollie Wiggins, Oneal Stacey, Ronnie Ray, Alfred Nall, Alyne Sigler and Polly Weeks.

54 YEARS AGO

JAN. 20, 1966

Claiborne Dam Contract Called: Army Engineers will receive bids Feb. 17 at the Corps of Engineers district office at Mobile for construction of the Claiborne Lock and Dam, a navigation structure on the Alabama River near Monroeville.

The multi-million dollar contract will cover the construction of a combination fixed-crest and gated spillway across the river, a lock in the present east bank and a bituminous access road from the lock mound to County Road No. 17.

The Claiborne Lock and Dam is the lowermost of three dams in a scheme to provide barge navigation from Mobile to Montgomery, a substantial amount of hydroelectric power and two large lakes suitable for recreational use.

COUNTY CHAMPS: The Monroe County High School basketball team walked through three teams to win the Monroe County basketball tournament last week. The Tigers dropped Uriah 63-50 in the first game, followed with a 76-43 win over Beatrice and blasted Frisco City 94-17 in the finals Saturday night. Members of the team are Ronnie Pitts, Gary Downs, Johnny Brannon, Larry Bryant, Bobby Colquett, Mike Segers, Curt Wideman, Terry Salter and Coach Terry Wilkerson.

William Weaver With 7^th Fleet: Boilerman Second Class William A. Weaver, U.S. Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. William A. Weaver of Route 1, Uriah, is off the coast of Vietnam in the South China Sea, serving aboard the destroyer USS Shelton, a unit of the Seventh Fleet.

The destroyer spent Christmas and New Years in Hong Kong before returning to operations off Vietnam.

79 YEARS AGO

JAN. 16, 1941

Mr. Hugh Cameron died suddenly at his home in Monroeville early Wednesday night of last week, the result of a heart attack. He had gone out of the house after a tool, and failing to return immediately members of the family went out into the yard and found him slumped at the back of the house near his tool chest.

Mr. Cameron came to Monroe County from Canada about 30 years ago, and for several years was a saw-filer at Manistee. For the past 25 years, he had been a resident of Monroeville.

News has been received here that Edwin Lee, son of Editor and Mrs. A.C. Lee of Monroeville, has recently passed the physical examination for admission to the Aviation Training School in Auburn. Since enrolling at Auburn, he has been taking a course in Industrial Engineering.

Six Boys Leave To Enter Army: The following, selected from local Boards One and Two, left on Tues., Jan. 7, for Fort Barrancas, where they will enter training in the U.S. Army.

Board No. 1 – Eugene Emmie Armstrong and Robert Junior Lowery.

Board No. 2 – Otha Lee, Theodore Napoleon Ikner, John Tatum and Marshall Bryant Harris.

A.J. LOCKLIN HOUSE DAMAGED BY FIRE: Fire was discovered in the A.J. Locklin residence on last Friday shortly after noon. The firemen reached the house in time to extinguish the flames before any considerable damage was done.

On Sunday afternoon, about five o’clock, firemen were called to one of the servant houses on the Locklin place, but this fire was also brought under control with slight damage to the roof.

104 YEARS AGO

JAN. 20, 1916

Mr. E.R. Morrissette and family are occupying the cozy new bungalow recently erected on Claiborne Street.

Monroeville has experienced this week the first real breath of winter during the season. Following the rain on Sunday the temperature dropped with marked suddenness and sleet and ice were in evidence for three days.

The midwinter term of the Monroe County Law and Equity Court convened on Monday. Judge W.G. McCorvey presiding. The court is grinding away on the civil docket this week, the number of cases, however, is not usually large. Few besides jurors, witnesses, court officials and parties litigant are in attendance.

Mr. W.H. Thomas of Rollings & Thomas, who have the contract for constructing the state aid section of the Old Federal Road, was in the city the early part of the week. Mr. Thomas informed The Journal that work on the road had already been commenced and will be pushed as rapidly as possible. This firm will be associated with Mr. James K. Kyser in the construction of the county division of the road. They expect to have about 150 hands employed with all necessary equipment in the way of teams and machinery.

The Peoples Bank of Roy held its annual meeting of stockholders a few days ago and elected the following officers and directors: W.M. Newton, president; J.F. Busey, vice president; D.M. Maxwell, cashier; W.H. Tucker, W.H. Pearce, C.P. Deming, W.R. Blackwell, W.M. Newton, J.F. Busey and D.M. Maxwell, directors.

129 YEARS AGO

JAN. 15, 1891

ANOTHER SHOOTING: An epidemic of affrays seems to be prevailing in Monroe. Another serious shooting affair occurred last Thursday at Pineville in which Mr. John L. Stallworth was seriously wounded by a double barrel gun in the hands of Mr. Bob Graham.

It seems that Stallworth and Graham had a difficulty the day before, when Stallworth drew his knife on Graham and threatened to kill him the next day. Promptly the next morning, Stallworth drove over to Graham’s house and started in. Graham met him with a double barrel gun, both barrels of which he discharged. One load struck him in the forehead, glancing without serious injury, and the other in the breast. The gun was loaded with small shot, otherwise the result would have been fatal.

The above are the facts as we learn them. What the difficulty grew out of, we are not advised.

The weather for the past few days has been the coldest and most disagreeable of the winter.

Several pupils are out of school this week on account of La Grippe.

La Grippe has a terrible grip on Monroeville. Nearly everyone you meet has it, just had it or is taking it.

Our citizens have accepted the proposition of Maj. Van Praag to which reference was made last week, and Monroeville is included in the survey of the MGP&PS railroad. The survey has been made from Eutaw to Demopolis and from that place to Monroeville and is now expected to go to Pensacola. Mr. Van P. expects to begin grading within a few months.

Daily Rainfall Observations from SW Alabama for Sun., Jan. 19, 2020

Rainfall (Past 24 Hours): 0.20 inches.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.90 inches.

Month to Date Rainfall:  4.30 inches.

Winter to Date Rainfall: 7.40 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 4.30 inches.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily in Monroe County, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.405783N Lon -87.479861W. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-6, Station Name: Frisco City 5.0 WSW.

Singleton tells of incidents involving Gen. Robert E. Lee and animals

(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 “Robert E. Lee showed concern about animals” was originally published in the Jan. 28, 1988 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Gen. Robert E. Lee and his horse, Traveller.

Jan. 16 passed without many people realizing that this day was also the birthday of one of the greatest legends of our times. This was the birthday of Gen. Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army during the hectic days of our Civil War.

Gen. Lee, a legend in his lifetime as a symbol of The Lost Cause, was also human, just as you and I. Many who knew him said that no one could ever really know what he was thinking. Those who accompanied him every day during he war could never guess what his movement might be. But that’s another story.

Very unusual

He was very unusual in some of the things that he did, and in some of his habits that he practiced from day to day.

Prior to the war, when his children were young, he enjoyed having them all get in bed with him and he would read stories to them. They had, however, to take turns tickling the soles of his feet, which he enjoyed very much. When the children tired, or became lost in the tales, Gen. Lee would pause and say, “No tickling, no reading.”

For many months, during the worst fighting of the war, Gen. Lee had a pet hen which laid an egg under his cot every day. He never forgot to leave the flap of his tent open for the pet hen to enter. The general saw to it that the pet hen traveled with the army. The hen was there at the start of the fateful campaign and invasion which ended at Gettysburg.

When the army of the South began to retreat from the battlefield at Gettysburg, the pet hen was nowhere to be found. The general joined the search for his pet. He was not content until the pet hen was discovered. The pet hen left the battle perched on the seat of the general’s headquarters wagon.

During the height of battle at Petersburg, Va., Gen. Lee was seen dismounting under fire, picking up something from the ground, and placing it in a tree. After the general had ridden away, curious soldiers who had watched him dismount, found that he had replaced a fallen baby bird in its nest.

Sympathy for a horse

In the opening battle of the Wilderness, right at the tie when the shelling was at its worst, a courier dashed up to the general with a dispatch. The courier was scolded severely for having mistreated the horse by riding so swiftly. Gen. Lee then took a buttered biscuit from his saddlebag and fed the hungry animal before returning his attention to the battle at hand.

During the terrible moments of the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., when the Federal infantry was being cut to pieces by the Confederate guns, Gen. Lee was overheard to say, “It is well that war is so horrible, else we should grow too fond of it.”

He once stated that the only unfailing friend the Confederacy ever had was cornfield peas.

It was on Oct. 12, 1870, almost five years after the terrible conflict between the North and the South had ended, that Gen. Robert E. Lee died. The cause of the general’s death was diagnosed by the doctors of the day as “cerebral exhaustion.” In our modern medical terms, it would have been termed as cerebral thrombosis.

On Oct. 7 and 8, just prior to the general’s death, the Northern Lights were seen in the night sky. Many took this as a bad omen, warning of the general’s death.

Fearful lights that never beckon

Save when kings or heroes die.

During the evening of Oct. 11, Gen. Lee’s faithful horse, Traveller, began neighing in his stable. This was the horse that the general had ridden throughout the war. Traveller became almost uncontrollable as he tried to get out of the stable.

At this time, the general seemed to sink into a coma. His last words were “Tell Hill he must move up.” Then the words “Strike the tent.”

Even in death, Gen. Lee’s troubles were not over. On Oct. 10, a flood swept through the area. The Lexington undertaker, C.M. Koones, was embarrassed to report that he had no coffins, since the three he had lately imported from Richmond had been swept away from his river wharf by the flood waters.

Two young men – Charles H. Chittum and Henry Wallace – volunteered to search for a coffin for the general to be buried in. After many hours of searching, a coffin was found lodged on a small island, some two miles downstream.

This was the coffin in which the Confederacy’s greatest figure was buried. The coffin was too short for the general; he had to be buried without his shoes.

Farewell, farewell, O’ noble son.

The cause you thought was just,

Those battles fought are memories now;

Your sabers are severed with rust.

So weep no more for comrades gone

Who wait in the eternal sleep.

Your soul has joined those of the brave

Which valor so proudly keeps…

(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 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.)

Daily Rainfall Observations from SW Alabama for Sat., Jan. 18, 2020

Rainfall (Past 24 Hours): 0.00 inches.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.70 inches.

Month to Date Rainfall:  4.10 inches.

Winter to Date Rainfall: 7.20 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 4.10 inches.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily in Monroe County, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.405783N Lon -87.479861W. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-6, Station Name: Frisco City 5.0 WSW.

Daily Rainfall Observations from SW Alabama for Fri., Jan. 17, 2020

Rainfall (Past 24 Hours): 0.00 inches.

Week to Date Rainfall: 0.70 inches.

Month to Date Rainfall:  4.10 inches.

Winter to Date Rainfall: 7.20 inches

Year to Date Rainfall: 4.10 inches.

Readings taken at 0700 hours Central Standard Time (1300 GMT) daily in Monroe County, Alabama, USA, in the vicinity of Lat 31.405783N Lon -87.479861W. CoCoRaHS Station No. AL-MN-6, Station Name: Frisco City 5.0 WSW.

Midway community was once hub for ancient Indian trails in Alabama

Last Thursday after lunch, I got the itch to get out and do some riding around, so I hopped in my truck and pointed it north up State Highway 83. I really had no destination in mind as I passed the Bigfoot statue on Liberty Hill Drive or when I tooted my horn at Tony Kyles, who was out raking pine straw in his yard at Booker Flats. Only after I passed the school at Lyeffion did I set my sights on the old Midway community way up in the northwest corner of the county.

For those of you unfamiliar with the old Midway community, it sits about 24 miles from downtown Evergreen, at the intersection of State Highway 83 and State Highway 47, right on the border with Monroe County. If you go there today, you’ll find an historical marker that tells visitors that Midway was one of the first settlements established in Conecuh County along the post road that later became the Old Federal Road. Long serving as a hub for Indian trails branching out to the north, northeast and northwest, the Midway town site once included a saw mill and cotton gin.

My first stop last Thursday was the stately old Midway Baptist Church, which was established in 1890. I parked, got out and headed for the cemetery. Those of you who have been there before will know that just as you pass through the entrance to the cemetery, there is a stone marker embedded in the ground that reads, “Peace to all who enter here, God’s grace to those who depart.”

Just eyeballing it, this cemetery looks to contain about 200 graves, and the oldest marked grave that I saw belonged to Allie Skinner Brooks. She was born in 1859, later married John S. Brooks, and passed away around the age of 27 in 1887. I also noted a number of other prominent family names, including Anthony, Chavers, Skinner and Wiggins, among others.

I took special note of all the Staceys buried there, and I was reminded that my old third-great-grandfather, Thomas S. Stacey, was born at Midway in May of 1837 to Amos and Betsy Stacey. Twenty-seven years later, after surviving battle after bloody battle with the 36^th Alabama, he was wounded severely at Nashville and was discharged from the Rebel army. Despite his wounds, he lived to the ripe, old age of 87, and was buried way down in the woods at Manistee.

The Peacock side of my family also has deep roots at Midway. It was in Midway in 1880 that my other third-great-grandfather, Lewis Lavon Peacock, was living as a 36-year-old illiterate sharecropper, farming 15 acres, with a total of 10 young children to feed. He too was a Confederate veteran, having served as a corporal with the 59^th Alabama, and was present with the last remnants of Lee’s broken, starving army when they laid down their rifles at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.

With all this in mind, I eventually got back in my truck and left the church behind and rode up to the historical marker at the intersection. Aside from the occasional passing log truck, I seemed to be the only person around for many miles. Those of you who know this area will know that the old Enoch George Stacey home and the old Herman “Wild” Stacey Store are the two most prominent landmarks at this intersection.

I’d been to this spot many times before and have always been interested by the fact that this was where a number of old Indian trails once crossed. I’ve also heard many times over the years that there is a sizeable cave not far from this intersection and that if you go there today you can still see the soot on the roof of the cave left behind by a millennium’s worth of ancient Indian camp fires.

Another friend has also told me that he’s seen old historical maps that indicate that there are also old Indian mounds located at Midway. If this is true, I don’t find it hard to believe, especially when you take into account that it was once a major crossroads for Indian trails. It’s not too farfetched to theorize that this may have been a major meeting place or ceremonial site in ancient times.

In the end, as I pointed my truck back towards Evergreen, my thoughts returned to this old cave at Midway. I have always wanted to go to this cave in person, to see it just once with my own eyes. If anyone in the reading audience has any more information about this old cave or would be willing to guide me to it, please let me know because I would be sincerely appreciative.