George Singleton looks back on 34 years of adventure in Monroe County

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 “Years come and go, but the memories remain,” was originally published in the June 25, 1998 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

Sunday, the 28^th day of June, will mark my 34^th anniversary in the county of Monroe. As I approach this date, I recall many events and happenings that I have experienced during my stay here. I also remember several dear friends who have made my stay much more enjoyable and interesting.

Shortly after my arrival in the county, I was most fortunate to become friends with people like Milford Champion, Mr. Raymond Fountain, Tom Snyder, Oscar Wiggins and Louise “Lou” Cooper. These dear friends are all now deceased.

Lou Cooper lived to be over 107 years old. Although she had lost her eyesight, she was very alert and had an excellent memory.

She 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. They feared 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 re-living her memories of the bygone days. These stories will live within my mind and hopefully I will be able to pass them on to 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. 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 people. I will always remember those locations.

My authority for the area around Burnt Corn and Pine Orchard was Milford Champion. He knew every inch of that area and all that had taken place there since it was settled. He knew the locations of all the old burial grounds and the forgotten home places. 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. He proved beyond a shadow of doubt that the famed Indian town of Maubila was located at Pine Orchard. All the evidence needed to prove this was 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.

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, 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. He always told the story 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 home sites of the past settlers.

We would always try to go by the old Wiggins home place 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, Raymond Fountain, more than likely, had a greater knowledge of the county and surrounding area than anyone I have known. Countless hours we would spend, roaming the area both day and night and visiting locations where ghostly sightings and other happenings are said to have been witnessed.

We walked the road and crossed the bridge where the ghost of a Rebel soldier is said to have camped.

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 areas of Bradley Ridge and the old cemeteries (now destroyed) was shown to me by my dear friend. He never seemed to grow tired of visiting again these old 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 me, couldn’t wait to return again to the old forgotten places, forgotten except for a very few who are fast departing this life.

Somewhere beyond the sunset, I’m sure Raymond is sitting on a hill, listening to his favorite fox hounds 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 very interesting and exciting. I have come to know many good people. I have gained many good friends. So, I end this article saying that I hope that the next 34 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 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 also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. 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.)