Readers shed more light on old Conoly community near Excel, Ala.

Bell outside Excel Baptist Church.

A couple of weeks ago in this space, I wrote about the old Conoly community, which was located at the present-day intersection of State Highway 136 and Gardner Road, a little over two miles from downtown Excel. That almost forgotten community, which was named after turpentine distillery owner Hector McLean Conoly, was once large enough to support its own post office. It was also a thriving stop on the old Manistee & Repton Railroad in the early 1900s.

Once this column hit the streets, it received a surprising amount of response from readers. I received several emails and a number of Facebook messages from readers with more information to share about the Conoly community. I even received a call from a gentleman in Birmingham, who shared his memories of that area’s early history.

Local historian Steve Stacey in Frisco City let me know that Willie D. King, the daughter of Alex King, married McLean Conoly on Dec. 23, 1903. They were married at the home of her parents, Alex and Elizabeth Wiggins King, by the Rev. W.N. Huckabee. Alex King was the brother of Mary Jane King, who was Steve’s great-great-grandmother.

Conoly and his wife had a number of children before Willie passed away. According to Steve, after Willie’s death – and after his sawmill and turpentine business went sour – Conoly moved to Glen Cove Springs, Florida and entered into the naval stores business. In the old days, “naval stores” was a catch-all phrase used to describe various products from pine trees, including resin, pitch and turpentine, which were all used in building and maintaining wooden ships.

Retired educators Landon Sawyer and Jane Bradley also shared information about Conoly. Bradley’s research shows that he’d moved to Florida in time to be noted on the 1920 census. Sawyer noted that Conoly was the superintendent of a farm that was owned at one time by famous catalog entrepreneur, James Cash “J.C.” Penny.

I also received a nice email from retired Monroe County Schools Superintendent Dennis Mixon of Excel. In my column two weeks ago, I mentioned that businessman J.W. Brown of Conoly and Excel resident Miles Foy Knight in 1909 were responsible for purchasing a “large and excellent” bell for the Excel Baptist Church. This bell can be seen today, mounted on a brick base outside the large, stately church on Highway 136 East.

 Dennis noted that Knight died in 1921 and was among the first - if not the first - person to be buried in the Excel Cemetery. Knight’s wife, who was much younger than her husband, lived until 1970 and is also buried in the Excel Cemetery. Their house, which is located a short walk from the Excel Baptist Church, was built around 1894.

Dennis also said that the old church bell was originally hung in a bell tower on the first church building. It was later suspended on two tall poles at the rear of the present-day sanctuary building. From there, it was moved to the brick base in front of the church, where it remains today.