Singleton tells of former Monroe County slave's death in June 1977

Mrs. Louise Cooper

(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 “Mrs. Louise Cooper laid to rest,” was originally published in the June 16, 1977 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

On June 7, beneath the whispering pines that grow along the edges of Mount Zion Cemetery, Louise Cooper was laid to rest. Her final resting place is just a stone’s throw from the great river where Louise spent much of her life, living and working along its high banks.

Louise, known as “Big Mama” to all who knew her, was born in Claiborne on June 5, 1863. There she spent most of her 114 years playing, working and raising a family near where the beautiful Alabama River glides southward.

Many times she rode the large riverboats as they churned their way up and down the river from Claiborne to the port of Mobile.

Slave parents

On one occasion, when she was a small baby, her slave parents had been lent to a family in Mobile. Due to the yellow fever that ravaged Claiborne, no child under the age of 12 was allowed to come ashore at the Claiborne landing.

Her parents, not wanting to leave her in Mobile, placed her in a small trunk. During the hours in the trunk, while the huge boat made its way up the mighty river, her mother would slip to the trunk to feed and care for her.

When the boat docked at Claiborne, her father, not knowing whether his child was dead or alive, shouldered the trunk and carried it up the high bank to their cabin. When the trunk was opened, there lay the infant, sucking her thumb.

I came to know “Big Mama” a few years ago, not too long after my arrival in Monroe County. On occasion, when time permitted, I would visit her and listen to the many stories about Claiborne and the big river. She knew them all. Her memory was fantastic.

Many parties

She remembered in detail many of the events that took place in the town and along the high banks overlooking the river. She remembered best the good times – the many parties that were commonplace along the riverfront.

On June 3, the God who holds all life in His hands saw fit to remove this kind and gentle woman from her place among her relatives and friends. The three score and 10 years promised to all who believe in Him had been lengthened by 44 years.

This mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother closed her eyes in death at 2 p.m. just two days short of her birthday. Her eternal spirit lifted itself on wings of angels for its radiant flight to its place forever by the Golden Throne.

(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, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, 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.)