Unusual accident at Prairie Bluff spelled doom for 'intemperate' man walking home at night in the 1800s

Prairie Bluff in the 1890s.

Unusual accidents happen every day, and Wilcox County is no stranger to such odd events. The other day, I was reading an old copy of the Nov. 14, 1888 edition of The Wilcox Progressive Era and ran across an account of a bizarre accident that occurred many years before near the old town of Prairie Bluff. Many readers will remember that Prairie Bluff was once a thriving town on the Alabama River, and that it was at one time the largest town in Wilcox County.

In November 1888, an old reader of the newspaper named Zoroaster Selman Cook wrote the editor to tell him about an odd accident that happened to an unfortunate man who lived near the Clifton community. This man, who was not named, walked to Prairie Bluff on foot and proceeded to get drunk while in town. Before heading home, he sealed his fate when he bought a half-gallon jug of whiskey.

This “intemperate” man put his jug in one end of his saddlebags, threw the bags over his shoulder and started staggering towards home. The bags were of an “old fashioned” design that U.S. mail carriers used when carrying mail on horseback. The bags had two strong loops that could be attached to saddle stirrups, which prevented them from falling off when carried on horseback. The unfortunate drunk man in the story tied the loops around his neck, with the jug end of the bag hanging behind.

The road from Prairie Bluff carried the man along the edge of the high, nearly perpendicular bluff that dropped down to the Alabama River. About half a mile from town, the old man fell over the bluff and in the fall, his saddlebags caught in the fork of a small tree. The straps of the saddlebags being fastened around his neck, they held him there until he died. Not arriving home, the man’s family “became uneasy” and went to search, eventually finding him hanging dead from the small tree.

It can’t be overstated how different the Prairie Bluff of the early 1800s was from the Prairie Bluff of today. Founded around 1815 (four years before Alabama became a state), Prairie Bluff was the second most important river town between Mobile and Montgomery aside from Claiborne in Monroe County. At one time, there were at least 20 stores at Prairie Bluff as well as barrooms, billiard halls, bowling alleys and a race track. The town also had two wagon factories, several blacksmiths, a shoemaker, several tailors, a large confectionary store, several lawyer offices and at least six practicing physicians.

Oddly, Prairie Bluff had “no regular” church buildings, but church services were occasionally held in the basement of the town’s Masonic Hall. (Dale Masonic Lodge, currently located in Camden, was originally located at Prairie Bluff.) Prairie Bluff also had separate schools for boys and girls.

In the end, let me hear from you if you know any additional historical information about the old town of Prairie Bluff. I’m especially interested in hearing any old ghost stories or Indian lore associated with this place. If you know of anything along these lines, please let me know, so that I can pass it on to readers in the weeks to come.