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| 'Riley's History of Conecuh County' |
A book that I’d heard about for years but had never been
able to put my hands on until recently was “History of Conecuh County, Alabama”
by Benjamin Franklin Riley. For years, I’d seen references to this book in old
newspapers and magazine articles, but copies of it were relatively rare and
impossible to find outside of a library. I put this book on my “bucket list”
earlier this year and finally managed to scratch it off the list a few days
ago.
For those of you unfamiliar with this book, it was
originally published in 1881 by Thomas Gilbert, Steam Printer and Bookbinder of
Columbus, Ga. The book’s complete title is “History of Conecuh County,
Alabama: Embracing a Detailed Record of Events from the Earliest Period to the
Present; Biographical Sketches of Those Who Have Been Most Conspicuous in the
Annals of the County; a Complete List of the Officials of Conecuh, Besides Much
Valuable Information Relative to the Internal Resources of the County.”
The book was written by the Rev. Benjamin Franklin Riley, a
native of Monroe County who was the pastor at Opelika Baptist Church at the
time of the book’s publication. According to the author’s preface, he was
commissioned to write the book in 1879 by the newly formed Conecuh Historical
Society. Riley relied on a number of people for information, and he also used
several other books for source material, including “Brewer’s Outline History of
Alabama,” “Pickett’s History of Alabama” and “Garrett’s Reminiscences of Public
Men.”
Riley’s 26-chapter book was reprinted in 1964 by J. Vernon
Brantley of Washington, D.C. Brantley’s 246-page reprint also includes a number
of items that weren’t in Riley’s original book, including an index, a
biographical sketch of Riley and a portrait of Riley drawn by George A. Hawks
of Takoma Park, Md. The book also contains the bylaws for the Conecuh Historical Society and an appendix with information about the Conecuh Guards, a Civil War unit from Conecuh County.
I happened upon an old copy of Brantley’s reprint edition
recently while looking through the books in the used books room at the Monroe
County Public Library in Monroeville. Excited to come across such a hard to
find book, I was more than happy to pay $1 for it. I read it over the span of a
few days, and thought it was great.
Residents of Conecuh County, as well as individuals with
strong family ties to Conecuh County, will love this book. It contains a
wealth of information about the county’s early history and the important people
from the county’s past. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this book should
be required reading for every high school student in Conecuh County.
In the end, how many of you have read “Riley’s History of
Conecuh County”? What did you think about it? Did you like it or not? What was
your favorite part? Do you know of any other good, local history books? Which would
you recommend and why? Let us know in the comments section below.
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