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| 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 “First 33 years recalled” was originally
published in the June 26, 1997 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville,
Ala.)
Saturday, the 28th day of June, will mark my 33rd
anniversary in the county of Monroe. As I approach this coming date, I recall
many events and happenings I have experienced during my stay here. I also
remember several dear friends who have made my stay in the area much more
enjoyable and interesting. Shortly after my arrival in the county, I was most
fortunate to become friends with people like Mr. Raymond Fountain, Mr. Tom Snyder,
Mr. Oscar Wiggins and Mrs. Louise “Lou” Cooper. Mrs. Cooper, now deceased, lived
to be over 107 years old. Although she had lost her eyesight, she was ever
alert and had an excellent memory.
Mrs. Cooper was hidden in a trunk when she and her parents
returned to the town of Claiborne in 1863. Her parents had orders to leave her
in Mobile because of the smallpox epidemic. So, not wanting to leave their only
child, they hid her in a trunk and managed to come ashore at Claiborne Landing
without the child being discovered. Fearing that their child might not be alive
when they opened the trunk, the story goes that she was lying quietly, sucking
her thumb after the trip upriver without any food. Many hours were spent
talking to this dear lady and reliving her memories of the bygone days. These
stories will live within my mind and hopefully I will be able to pass them onto
others in times to come.
Much of the Indian history was passed on to me by my dear
friend Uncle Tom Snyder. He knew all the locations of the discarded and
forgotten burial grounds around the area. I asked my friend if he would go with
me and spend one night in the Indian holy ground so we might witness the
strange goings on that had been reported seen and heard there. His answer was “Heck
no, Mr. Singleton. I’m getting too darn old to get scared out of my wits and
run against a tree and hurt myself.” But, he showed me many historic places in
the area that are unknown to most, but that I will always remember.
My authority for the area around Burnt Corn and the Pine
Orchard area was Mr. Milford Champion. He knew every inch of that area and all
that had taken place there since the area was settled. He, too, knew the
locations of all the old burial grounds and the forgotten homeplaces. He knew
the stories that took place there in the grown-up timbers and thickets where
the old homes of the past once were located. He also had an excellent memory of
early Indian history of that area. He proved to me beyond a shadow of doubt
that the famed Indian town of Maubila was located in the area of Pine Orchard.
All the evidence needed to prove this fact was later destroyed by a logging
firm a few years back. Milford Champion was a great local historian; too bad
his knowledge of local history wasn’t recorded.
Mr. Oscar Wiggins knew every rock and stump around the old
Red Hills community. We spent many hours wandering here and there in the area,
hearing each story, time and again of the old families and their ways of
earning a living. Never did we go into the Red Hills area without a visit to
the old cemetery where Mr. Oscar’s ancestors now sleep. Always, the story was
of his ancestor who first settled there in the area. He took great pride of his
ancestor who wore the uniform of the Confederacy. I never grew tired of his
stories and of him showing me to locations of the old homesites of the past
settlers. We would always try to go by the old Wiggins homeplace and sit and
talk for a while. I remember one day we found an old handmade brick that had
been a part of the ancient chimney of the family house. He wanted to break it
in half and give me one half of it. I told him that I had rather he keep it all
because of his ancestors. He wouldn’t have been any happier if he had found a
nugget of gold. Each time I return to the Red Hills area, I think of my friend,
Oscar Wiggins, and if time permits, I visit the old homesite and the graves of
his ancestors.
My friend, Mr. Raymond Fountain, more than likely, had a
greater knowledge of the whole county and surrounding area than anyone I have
known since my stay in the area. Countless hours we would spend, roaming the
area, both day and night, and visiting the locations where ghostly sightings
and other happenings is said to have been witnessed there. We walked the road
and crossed the bridge where the ghost of the Rebel solider is said to have
camped under. The story of Nancy Mountain was first told to me by my dear
friend. He also helped me investigate the mystery light in the Franklin area.
The area of Bradley Ridge and the old cemeteries (now destroyed) were shown to
me by my dear friend. He never seemed to grow tired of visiting again these
locations and retelling the stories of the ghostly happenings that took place
there. Next to fox hunting, I believe this was his second greatest pastime.
He knew the country; he, like myself couldn’t wait to return
again to the old forgotten places; forgotten except for a very few who are fast
departing this life. And, somewhere beyond the sunset, I’m sure Mr. Raymond is sitting
on a hill, listening to his favorite foxhounds with names like Old Blue or
Yellow Boy or the many others that he has known.
Yes, my stay in the area of Monroe County has been a very
interesting and exciting one. I have come to know many good people of the area.
I have gained many good friends here So, I end this article saying that I hope
that the next 33 years will be as good as the last.
(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 on Dec.
14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School, served in
the Korean War, 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 1964 to 1987. For years, Singleton’s column “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. Some of his earlier
columns also appeared under the heading of “Monroe County History: Did You
Know?” 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.)
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