Buster Singleton, Oscar Wiggins explore the Red Hill community

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 “Red Hills gone but not forgotten” was originally published in the March 1, 1984 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

There was a time when the Red Hills community was a thriving settlement. Many families in Monroe County and the surrounding area can trace their ancestors back to the old, abandoned homesteads and the large cemetery that waits quietly among the red sand hills northeast of Highway 41.

I had the privilege of returning to the old Red Hills community and the cemetery a few days back with an able scholar on the history and folklore, Oscar Wiggins.

Red Hills was the area in which the Wiggins family settled when they came into this part of the country. Elisha Wiggins, the first one to settle there, is buried in the old cemetery along with many of his descendants who departed this life during the past 150 or so years.

As we walked among the headstones and markers that had weathered the years on the quiet, sandy hill, it was easy to see that life during the days of yesteryear had not been as easy as it had in other places. Farming in the area, in the red, sandy soil, must have had many drawbacks.

Story after story was related to me as we made our way around the old cemetery. Each marker held some special significance or story. Most stories were of hardship that had been endured or overcome by someone or some family somewhere in the past. Each story carried with it the richness that could only be handed down by those who knew the value of the generations yet unborn.

“The old church stood here. I believe the first person to be buried in this cemetery was a preacher, the first one to pastor the old church. This is when the cemetery was started,” he said.

“The Rachels, the Whisenhants, the Chunns, the Masseys and the Lees were the first families in the area. These are the people who started Red Hills, but they have all moved away, and now there is nothing. It’s a pity; there was a school, a post office, a general store.”

All are gone now; only the cemetery remains.

As the days of Red Hills gave way to the growth of the surrounding areas, the families gradually moved away, each in its own way seeking a better and more fruitful life. The good life in other area beckoned, and the promise of better times appeared on the horizon.

But Red Hills was not forgotten. The many graves in the old cemetery increased in numbers as the faithful came home for the last time to sleep beside or among the loved ones there on the red, sandy hill.

After a visit to the old Wiggins homestead and a walk around the old house place, preparations were made for the trip home. The old chimney rocks were all that remained as proof that a large family had started here. A family that would play a great part in the development of this great county.

As we mad our way along the winding road and across the sandy hills, the words of a little-known poet kept racing through my mind:

Linger awhile, and walk with me
Into the shadowy mist that was yesterday.
Stroll across the faded pages of history
And from our hardships, learn the ways of a better life.

Pass me not, for I am the spirit of your Ancestors.
In your veins flow my blood,
And the blood of my fathers.
Linger awhile, if only for a moment, and
Through your thoughts, I will know that I
Am remembered.

(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.)