How did the Mineola community in Monroe County get its name?

George Turberville headstone.

Buffy Tucker from Uriah stopped by The Journal on Monday to conduct some business, and before she left we got into a discussion on the history of the Mineola community. Through the woods, I grew up about a dozen miles from Mineola, but as Mrs. Tucker and I talked, I realized how little I really knew about the Mineola community. After she left, I got the itch to delve into the subject a little deeper.

I first turned to one of my favorite reference books, “Place Names in Alabama” by Virginia O. Foscue. My hope was that this book would tell me how the community got its name and other facts. Unfortunately, between the entries for Mims Creek and Minter, there was no entry for Mineola to be found.

I then turned to sources provided by the University of Alabama’s Department of Geography, which said that the Mineola Post Office was in operation for a grand total of seven years. It opened in 1898 and closed in 1905. Back in those days, community post offices were almost always located inside the local country store with the store owner serving the dual role of postmaster.

Next, I turned to the trusty maps in my National Geographic Atlas to get a good fix on exactly where “downtown” Mineola is located. According to that source, “downtown” Mineola is located on County Road 2, between the Mineola Church Road and Manack Bridge Road intersections. This location is due north of Little River, a short distance through the woods from the Baldwin County line.

Prominent landmarks in the community today include the Mineola Methodist Church and the Mineola Baptist Church, which are across the road from each other on Mineola Church Road. Interestingly, these churches share the same cemetery, which is located beside the Methodist church. I have been to this large cemetery many times, and I would guess that it contains nearly 600 graves.

The oldest marked grave that I’ve found there belongs to an infant named George Lesesne Turberville. The son of Zachariah and Callie Turberville, George was born on March 16, 1901 and he died the next day. “Asleep in Jesus,” his small headstone reads.

Turning to old editions of The Monroe Journal, the oldest reference to the Mineola community that I could find was in a legal notice that was published in the Jan. 11, 1900 edition of the newspaper. That notice was a land claim filed by settler William M. Harris in the Montgomery Land Office. Witnesses to the fact that he had continuously lived and farmed on the land he was wanted to claim were George W. Melvin Jr., Alex A. Sizemore, Robert Melvin and George Nolen, all of Mineola.

In the old days, the bulk of the news in The Journal came from community columnists, who were often the owners of community stores as well as local postmasters. The first Mineola community news column I could find was published in the April 12, 1900 edition of the newspaper. Among other news, that unnamed columnist reported that Miss Cora Ferrell “was in our midst one day this week endeavoring to organize a school,” and that the “veteran turkey hunter Mr. Chas. Weatherford brought in a fine gobbler a few weeks ago.”

In the end, I am certain that there are readers in the audience who know far more about Mineola’s history than me. If anyone would like to send me more information about the community’s history, please don’t hesitate to do so. Send it to news@monroejournal.com, and I will be sure to pass it along at a later date.

George Singleton: The business of banking sure has changed

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 “The business of banking sure has changed,” was originally published in the Aug. 27, 1992 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

I often think about how much things today have changed. We take so much for granted in this day and age; it causes me to wonder just how we made it through the rough days of the Great Depression.

Today, we do our banking mostly from the window of our automobiles. Or if we should, by chance, need a certain amount of cash, we can just go by the Connexion and insert our card – the money we want falls out in our hands.

And this can be done any time of the day or night. We deposit our salaries into our bank accounts without ever seeing them. Money can be sent around the world on a moment’s notice. Truly, the age of the computer has done wonders for all mankind.

In the area where I grew up, there was only one bank. Sweet Water State Bank was the largest and the smallest bank around. It was also the only bank around.

Small country banks

Farmers used this small country bank for their money needs in the farming communities of the surrounding countryside. Getting the chance to go in the small bank was almost like going into another world for a small country boy like myself. But the time was soon to come when I was to make the trip to the bank for the first time – all by myself.

It was cotton-picking time around the countryside; almost all the local farmers had made a good cotton crop, and the fields were white with opened cotton. This was before the time of cotton-picking machinery that could go down two or three rows and pick everything at once. All the cotton was picked by hand. One could pass the snow-white fields and see pickers pulling cotton and putting it in long sacks that hung from their shoulders by long straps. Take it from me, this was work in its most primitive form.

One morning as my family sat at the breakfast table, it was announced that I was going to be sent to the bank at Sweet Water. I was almost seven at the time; I thought I could handle anything along about this time in life, but I was not ready for this. My older brothers had work to do, and they had to stay close by to help handle the cotton that was being picked.

Each sack, when filled, had to be weighed and the correct pounds credited to the right picker. At this time, I was the only one available for the journey to the bank because I was too small to do much work.

Catch the horse

When breakfast was over, I was ordered to catch the horse I claimed as mine and get ready for the trip. My father told me to go to the bank at Sweet Water and see Mr. Vice, the president of the bank.

I was to tell Mr. Vice that my father needed some money to pay the cotton pickers. He wanted $150: $50 in five-dollar bills, $50 in one-dollar bills and $50 in halves and quarters. I was to tell Mr. Vice that when my father came to town, and he didn’t say when, he would come by and settle up with him.

A very nervous and uneasy young boy rode the five or so miles to the town of Sweet Water. As I tied my mount to a fence near the bank, I was frightened like I had never been before. Almost unable to speak, I slowly made my way into the small bank building. As I approached the cashier, I managed to get the words out that I wanted to see the bank president, Mr. Vice. A smiling lady stepped to a nearby door and spoke something to someone inside an adjoining small room. Out stepped the bank president.

“What can I do for you, young man?” spoke the president of Sweet Water State Bank. After much stammering and studdering, I answered, frightened and shaking, and gave him the message my father had instructed me to give him.

Reaching into his pocket, the bank president pulled out a nickel and handed it to me. “Take this and go down to Lewis Bros. Store and get you a stick of candy. When you come back, I will have the money ready for you,” Mr. Vice said.

Stick of candy

A much-relieved young boy dashed to the door of the bank. Upon reaching the store down the street, I purchased a long stick of candy that had peanut butter blended in the candy stick.

When I returned to the bank, Mr. Vice was waiting with the money. He had placed it in two heavy paper bags. I had never seen so much money before. I walked outside and jumped aboard my waiting steed.

The smiling bank president handed up the paper sacks with the money inside. No note was signed; the money was not counted. It was given only on the word of a man who had always placed honor and trust foremost in all his dealings. No date was mentioned when this country farmer from a nearby community would come in and settle the transaction. Only the honor of these two men was the binder in this agreement.

Happy and excited, I made the return trip home, daring to peep from time to time into the heavy paper sacks that contained more money than I could imagine existed.

Between peeps, I licked the most wonderful-tasting candy stick that could have been found on this planet anywhere. A busy day of serious banking business can play havoc on the nerves of an almost seven-year-old boy. That bank president certainly knew what he was doing when he prescribed a stick of peanut-butter candy to calm my system and settle my nerves.

(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.)

How did Haines Island get its name?

My son James got the itch to put his boat in the Alabama River on Sunday afternoon, so I put on a light jacket and hopped in the truck with him for a short run up to Haines Island. He didn’t plan to hunt or fish. He just wanted to scout out some places for future trips with his buddies.

We headed up County Road 17 through Finchburg and Wainwright before turning onto Ferry Road. We then negotiated Nancy Mountain before arriving at the Davis Ferry. A few minutes later, the boat was in the water, and we were headed south down the river.

At Haines Island, James guided us into the channel that runs around the south side of the island, where the waters are still – almost stagnant – and heavily shaded. I hadn’t been around that side of the island in years, but it looked about the same. Eventually we reached the far end of the island and reentered the river, where the sun was shining brightly from clear blue skies.

On the way home, I could not help but think about the part of the river we’d been in. The names – Haines Island, Davis Ferry and Nancy Mountain – are in such common usage by local folks that most of us, myself included, don’t give their origins much thought. Who were they named after and when?

Back at the office on Monday, I did some research, and the earliest reference to Haines Island that I could find in old newspapers was in the Dec. 20, 1889 edition of The Monroe Journal. In that week’s paper, a brief paragraph talked about the removal of logs and snags from the Alabama River, including around Haines Island. Much of this work depended on the depth of the water.

Dickey Andress recently showed me a really cool mapping website called caltopo.com. Using this website on Monday, I was able to determine that Haines Island is about 1.1 miles long and that the channel around it is about 100 feet wide. Of course, these measurements are at the mercy of the river’s depth, and I imagine that there have been times when the island has been mostly under water.

The earliest newspaper reference to the Davis Ferry that I could find was in the Jan. 24, 1901 edition of The Journal. Readers that week learned that Drew Massey had repaired and erected a “very attractive” rail fence on the Davis Ferry road. I believe this was noteworthy because much of Alabama was still “free range” for livestock at that time.

Prior to 1963, I could find no reference to Nancy Mountain anywhere in back issues of The Journal. Former Monroe Journal columnist George Singleton, who passed away in 2007, often said that this high point was named after “Crazy Nancy” or “Aunt Nancy,” who supposedly still haunts this area today. Much has been made of this local ghost story, but that is a tale for another day.

Even though I didn’t have much luck finding these names in old Monroe Journals, I know that these place names are old, and it would be interesting to learn where they came from. There is no entry for Haines Island, Davis Ferry or Nancy Mountain in Virginia O. Foscue’s authoritative book, “Place Names in Alabama.” Sources do say that Davis Ferry can be found on old maps as far back as 1837.

In the end, if anyone in the reading audience can shed more light on these places names, please let me know. You can reach me by email at news@monroejournal.com.

Wilcox County, Alabama poet passed away in California in 1938

The Wilcox Progressive Era has some of the best and smartest readers of any newspaper in Alabama. If you want to know the answer to a question, just ask, and chances are someone in the reading audience will know the answer.

Back in early October in this space, I asked about the ultimate fate of Wilcox County poet, Sara Elizabeth King. A couple of readers were able to shed some light on the subject, but I’ll get to that a little farther down the page.

For those of you who missed the story in October, I began pondering King and her poetic exploits after reading a front-page story about her in the Oct. 8, 1936 edition of The Progressive Ear. Under the headline, “Recognition For Poetry Of Sara King,” the newspaper reported that she was the author of several poems that had been “complimented” by the Alabama Poetry Society. Another of her poems had been selected for inclusion in an anthology called “1936 Contemporary Women Poets of America.”

The newspaper printed two of her poems. The first was titled “Ubiguity” and read as follows:

God walks in forests where pine needles grew,
And in the tumult and motor cars meet.
He breathes thru a still world that’s wrapt in snow;
Then brings spring with its white blossoming sloe.
In the midst of the waving tall grass sweet,
In laughing curves of the ripe golden wheat,
The heart alone attuned to God can know.
Perhaps in starlit lonely mountain ways,
Or in the friendly city near a mart
In a cathedral’s light of candle rays;
Or where fantastic shadowy waves start
To break on grim shores, can the same soul praise Jehovah.
He walks in the human heart.

The other poem of King’s printed by The Progressive Era was called “Spiritual Old Age” and read as follows:

I saw you once
In the face of
An old preacher.
He needed to
Say no word.
He was a sermon.
Thru him you speak
Of turning death
Into morning.

The newspaper article also noted that King graduated from Judson College in 1911 and in October 1936 was living at 347 Magnolia Ave. in Auburn. She was a relative of one of the Judson College’s founders, General Edwin D. King.

She was also the daughter of Paul and Clementine DeLoach King and was the granddaughter of William Douglas and Rebecca Singleton King. She was also the great-granddaughter of James Asbury and Elizabeth Caroline Goode Tait and the great-great-granddaughter of Judge Charles Tait, who was the first federal judge of Alabama.

Despite my best efforts, I was unable to find out what became of Sara King, but a couple of newspaper readers came to my rescue. According to their information, King passed away at the age of 46 on May 17, 1938 in Sawtelle, California. Her obituary said that she had been ill for several years.

Her obituary noted that she was a native of Lower Peach Tree and after graduating from Judson, she went on to graduate from Touro Infirmary in New Orleans. During World War I, she served as a Red Cross nurse at Camp Beauregarde, La. and overseas. She had also taught school at Rock West, Canton Bend and near Vredenburgh. She was buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery, and her headstone denotes that she was an Army nurse.

The Evergreen Courant's News Flashback for Nov. 26, 2024

16 YEARS AGO
NOV. 27, 2008

Joe Faulk, the Chairman of the Elmore County Commission and the President of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama, visited the Conecuh County Commission Monday morning. Faulk succeeded Conecuh County Commissioner Jerold Dean as the ACCA’s president in August.

Evergreen Mayor Larry Fluker signed a proclamation last Thursday morning making the month of November “American Music Month” in the City of Evergreen.”

Conecuh County firefighters from departments across the county spent much of the last week dealing with a rash of brush and woods fires in a variety of locations.

Conecuh County’s E911 dispatchers are set to receive additional training after the first of the year, according to a report given by County E911 Director Johnny Brock on Monday.

Five motorists were injured in three separate automobile accidents during the past week on area roadways.

The Conecuh County Board of Education recognized three individuals and two media outlets for their contributions to local schools during a meeting last week.
During a school board meeting last Thursday in Evergreen, the board recognized long-time school supporter Willie Crutchfield, WPPG 101.1 FM station manager Gary Downs and Evergreen Courant reporter Lee Peacock.

31 YEARS AGO
NOV. 25, 1993

Brigadier General John Watkins was honored for his accomplishments last Saturday night during the NAACP’s 17th Annual Freedom Awards dinner at Hillcrest High School. Gen. Watkins, a native of Conecuh County, is pictured with Bill Bundy of the Alabama National Guard and Freddie Stallworth, Conecuh County Commissioner.

A decision was made by the Conecuh County Board of Education, which along with the juvenile court, hopes to seek assistance for a 14-year-old local youth who admitted making false reports for bombs at two area schools.

Annie Jo Baggett, custodian of school funds for the Conecuh County Public School System for 24 years, was recently honored by fellow workers and school administrators with a reception.

The “anti-business” climate of California has economic developers watering at the mouth over the possibility of a mass exodus of industries to other parts of the nation and world, bringing more jobs to starving work forces. Rosalyn Skipper, economic development director for Conecuh County, recently returned from a trip to the west coast in an attempt to lure these companies to Alabama. She said her trip may prove successful.

Workers at Poole Truck Line stand by as Mike McKenzie ties a ribbon on a company truck in support of Poole’s joining the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) campaign for a safer holiday season on the nation’s roads and highways.

46 YEARS AGO
NOV. 23, 1978

Earl Windham, bent-but-not-broke by earlier predictions of rain, reports no rainfall during the week and his weak comment was: “Sorry, Old Bob, we did not have any rain. Maybe next time.”

Staff Sgt. Frank Murphy was promoted to his present rank on Oct. 14. He is stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., but is being reassigned to the Panama Canal Zone.

State Representative James E. “Jimmy” Warren was administered the oath of office for another term by Judge of Probate Frank T. Salter recently. Looking on were Rep. Warren’s wife, Betty, and children, Sharon and Keith. The Castleberry legislator was re-elected to a third term of office on Nov. 7. He won the Democratic nomination in September and in so doing also received the highest number of votes ever given an Alabama State Representative since the Legislature was re-districted.

Cathy Johnston, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne E. Johnston, was named Miss Congeniality at Sparta Academy’s Miss Alpha Contest held Thursday night in the school gymnatorium.

Mayor O.B. “Bert” Tuggle was among those paying tribute to Evergreen native Joe Louis Reed at the Joe Louis Reed Jubilee Day Celebration held here Saturday under sponsorship of the Conecuh County Branch NAACP.

61 YEARS AGO
NOV. 28, 1963

Thousands jam city for Christmas parade: Queen Joy Margaret Hagood of Evergreen High School reigned over the 1963 Conecuh County Christmas Carnival here Wednesday. Already the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce production is being hailed as the biggest and best in history.
A tremendous crowd estimated to be several thousand strong thronged the downtown streets. The parade was long, beautiful and entertaining.
A brief program at the bandstand emceed by Chamber of Commerce President Blake Campbell featured the introduction of the queen, princess and honor court, presentation of the key to the city to Santa Claus by Mayor Pro Tem Henry Sessions and Santa’s proclamation that the holiday season was now open in Conecuh County to last through Jan. 1.
Immediately after the program, the city’s decorative lights were turned on to burn through the season.

From one truck to major industry: When Walter Poole drove off with his first flatbed trailer-load of cotton, hauling for Kendall & Kendall, in 1946 neither he nor anyone else even dreamed that one of Evergreen and Conecuh County’s major industries had been born.
Poole had just that trailer and just the truck pulling it, no money and a lot of courage and faith.
Today, he owns and operates Poole Truck Line, employer of 65 persons with an annual payroll of over $300,000.

76 YEARS AGO
NOV. 25, 1948

Conecuh Reports No Polio During 1948: During approximately the first 10 and one-half months of this year (through Nov. 13) 193 Alabama cases of Poliomylitis (infantile paralysis) were reported to the State Health Department’s Bureau of Preventable Diseases. This total included none occurring in Conecuh County, the department announced today.

On Tuesday afternoon from four to six the Evergreen Study Club entertained at a tea. The occasion was a double celebration, this being the 25th anniversary of the club and the opening of the library.

From “The Week’s Wash” by Bob Bozeman – The boss and I attended what Dr. W.R. Carter called a “shindig” at Repton High School last Thursday night. The “shindig,” and I believe that’s a good name, was held in Repton High’s beautiful auditorium-gymnasium, and the purpose was to raise funds so that a new curtain might be placed on the stage of the auditorium.

W.E. Brooks Jr., Editor of the Brewton Standard, was the guest speaker at the regular meeting of the Evergreen Junior Chamber of Commerce Monday night. Mr. Brooks spoke on “Two Party Politics In The South.”

The Maggie Dunn Sewing Circle will meet Friday afternoon at three o’clock with Mrs. Percy Brantley with Mrs. B.A. Herbert co-hostess.

Eli McMorn and the Mystery of the Lone Letter: Part One

In my dream there is a big black goat standing on a rotten cypress stump. The goat's giant rough horns curl around the side of its head, and its black eyes stare deep into my face. It belches a long, deep bleat that causes me to jump awake with the memory of a fading riddle, from a place between ever and never.

I'd fallen asleep in my old office chair with my fingers laced across my chest. The lights were off and my worn boots were propped on the corner of my antique wooden desk. All was silent as a church on the third floor of The Claiborne Herald.

As the newspaper's lone nightshift reporter, I was tasked with holding down the fort. As long as I churned out three decent stories a week and kept one ear on the police scanner, nothing else was required. Fact was, I loved the job that no one else wanted.

Not moving a muscle, I listened intently, but heard nothing out of the ordinary. My desk clock said in red numbers that it was 3:19 in the morning. The newsroom's morning shift wouldn't trickle in until eight o'clock.

Not for the first time, I wondered if the office was haunted. Much of the building was antebellum old and no doubt housed an apparition or two. I sat up, and the chair's mainspring creaked loudly.

I opened the top drawer of my desk, reached inside and pulled out a small plastic bottle of caffeine pills. I screwed off the childproof cap and shook the last two pills into the palm of my shadowed hand. Without water, I popped the pills into my mouth and sat in the darkness, letting them dissolve bitterly under my tongue.

This was a habit I'd picked up in the Army. Late night sentry duty led many soldiers to procure caffeine pills from the well-stocked supply at the post exchange. It was quicker than drinking black coffee.

I snapped on my green-shaded desk lamp, and it cast its yellow light on a map of Arkham, a city in Massachusetts about 1,400 road miles from Old Claiborne. The map had been mailed to me in a sealed envelope that included a dog-eared paperback copy of "Nameless Cults" by Von Juntz. One of The Herald's readers - who went by the moniker of Indrid Cold - included a short note saying that he'd found coded references in the book. 

I get weird stuff like this in the mail all the time, and you never know what to take seriously. Mr. Cold said that the paperback contained hidden references to Claiborne residents who fled the river city during the witch trials of the 1840s. These ciphered names matched the names of old Arkham streets that converge on the city's central cemetery.

As I pondered the meaning of this, I heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. A few seconds later, a low moan sounded from overhead as the wind blew across the open mouth of an iron rain spout. Another peal of thunder, closer this time, let loose as raindrops began to tap against the window, soft at first before erupting into an outright downpour.

I rose from my chair, stood at the window and watched it rain. Long tendrils of Spanish moss, hanging from the large oaks across Legrasse Street, swayed in the wind. For what seemed like a long time, I watched a rain-drenched homeless man push a metal grocery buggy down the sidewalk, changing his tack only once when a stray black cat darted across his path.

The cat disappeared into a shadowed alley, and the man paused under a street lamp to watch. The man's hooded jacket hid most of his face, all except for what looked like a long grey beard. Rain poured down on the man, and I watched for many long seconds until I realized the man was staring up at me.

Suddenly and without warning, white blinding light cast everything into negative as a bolt of lightning hit one of the massive live oaks in the square across the street. An instant later, sparks showered from an electrical transformer sitting atop a utility pole a short distance away. I recovered my senses a few seconds later only to realize that the homeless man had disappeared.

I froze, locked in place, as the sound of something in the darkness behind me reached my ears. It was the sound of loud breathing coming from the brown leather chair in an opposite corner of the room. In one smooth motion, I spun, grabbed for the holstered Beretta on top of my desk and raised my arm to fire when I froze in place, stunned by the shocking sight that met my eyes.

There in the darkness, perched on the leather chair and illuminated by the faint light of my desk lamp, was a large, black goat. The beast sat perfectly still except for its flaring nostrils, its only challenge to the raised gun. The creature's black eyes, shiny like those of a spider, flashed as my finger tightened on the handgun's trigger.

In the next instant, the animal's barnyard smell reached my nostrils, damp hay with a hint of warm manure. And there was a faint hint of something else, a mix of brimstone and rancid ash that conjured up thoughts of a pot-bellied stove tended by the devil. I sensed that I was in the same room with the Lord of the Flies.

In the light of the desk lamp, I saw leaves and bits of straw tangled in the goat's thick black coat. I imagined running my fingers through that matted mess of hair, my hand coming away damp and slick as if I'd picked up a dead rat from a fast-food grease trap. I eased off the trigger when I realized that this skull-faced goat was the black goat from my nightmare.

The goat shifted its weight in the chair, causing the Victorian leather to squawk under its nasty cloven hooves. One of the beast's horns snagged on a framed picture of my father and grandfather hanging on the wall behind the chair. I heard glass crack a moment before the picture came crashing to the hardwood floor with a bang. The goat let loose with an unnerving bleat that sent a chill raking down my spine like skeletal fingers on a chalkboard.

The rain fell harder outside, hitting the window behind me with the force of a hurricane. Another flash of lightning filled the room with white light, blinding me for a second as my eyes adjusted to the painful glare. Reflexively I raise the handgun in the direction of the goat and when I sighted down along the length of the barrel, I realized the goat was gone.

Motion to my left caught my eye, and I spun to see the office door swing open slowly. I dashed around the desk, bumping my left hip hard as I rounded the corner. I raised my gun and looked out into the empty newsroom. Not a creature was stirring, not sign of the spectral goat.

Something at my feet caught my eye. I stepped back and saw an old yellowed envelope. I stooped to pick it up. In cragged script, scrawled across the front, were the words "For Eli McMorn."

(All rights reserved. This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.)

The Monroe Journal's News Flashback for Nov. 25, 2024

15 YEARS AGO
NOV. 26, 2009

Cemetery books: Faron and Sharon McKinley of Franklin presented the Monroe County Public Library with a copy of their recently completed book on the history of the Corinth-Deer Cemetery on Alabama Highway 41 at Franklin. The book – which has been placed in the library’s genealogy room – contains obituaries for all of those buried in the cemetery as well as photos of many of them.

Volunteers would not be denied: TROY – “This one is for the seniors, come and get it!” shouted Monroe Academy head coach Mitchell Turberville, holding the state championship trophy high above his head.
In what should be remembered as one of the most dramatic finishes to an MA football game in recent history, the Volunteers engineered a game-winning drive in the last 98 seconds to defeat Edgewood Academy 30-29 at Troy University’s Movie Gallery Stadium Friday night.
In a game filled with as many twists and turns as a TV soap opera, freshman Craig Bryan kicked the game-winning 39-yard field goal with three seconds left.
It was the second state title for the Vols since 2001 and the school’s seventh overall in the 39-year history of the Alabama Independent School Association. The Vols won the Class AA title Friday night and in 2001 they defeated Bessemer Academy to win the Class AAA crown.
(Other top MA players in that game included Gabe Dees, Keeland Dees, Dustin Ellison, Grant Norris, Graham Smith, Logan Smith, Tanner Smith, Sam Vermilyea, Buchannan Watson and Willis Webb.)

40 YEARS AGO
NOV. 22, 1984

Surgeon participates in conference: Dr. Grayson Simmons, a local surgeon, recently attended the annual American College of Surgeons meeting in San Francisco, Calif.
In addition to attending several lectures concerning updates on various surgical topics, he attended a continuing education course on diseases of the colon and rectum.
Simmons is a board-certified general surgeon and has been in practice here since completing his surgical training at Carraway Methodist Medical Center in Birmingham in 1970.

Repton wins first game 74-67: Repton’s varsity basketball team launched its 1984-85 season Friday when it dumped visiting 3A Wilcox County High 74-67.
The Bulldogs were paced by 6-foot-4 senior James North’s 24 points. Junior Tommy Dukes, at six-foot-seven, added 22 points to the Bulldogs’ offense and pulled 17 rebounds off the backboard.
(Other top Repton players in that game included Tim Berry, Carlos Grace, Kevin Mixon, Chester Rudolph and Tony Taylor. Hugh Wilson was head coach.)

Dwight Harrigan, Alabama forest products executive and member of a family of lumbermen, was elected vice chairman of the Southern Forest Products Association at its 70^th annual meeting held recently in Orlando, Fla.
Harrigan is president and owner of Harrigan Lumber Co. in Monroeville and executive vice president and owner of Scotch Lumber Co. in Fulton.
Harrigan, whose father, W.D. Harrigan, served as president of the Southern Pine Association (now SFPA) in 1964-65, is active in industry, youth and civic affairs.

65 YEARS AGO
NOV. 26, 1959

Chairmen Re-Elected To Education Board: Walter C. Nicholas of Excel was re-elected chairman of the Monroe County Board of Education at a recent meeting.
Mr. Nicholas will enter his sixth year in the position. Tom W. Weatherford of Uriah was re-elected as vice-chairman of the group.
Other board members are Dr. John L. Abbott of Monroeville, James C. Brooks of Megargel and S. Miller Fore of Beatrice.

MCHS, Frisco City Fight To 20-20 Tie: In a tightly-fought grid contest, traditional rivals, the Monroe County High School Tigers and the Frisco City High School Whippets, battled to a 20-20 tie in Frisco City Friday night. Both teams were undefeated in county and conference games.
A recovery paid off for Monroeville in the final few minutes of the game. Fullback Eddie Sosebee grabbed the ball on the FCHS 35 and ran all the way to paydirt. Jim Lazenby made the extra point.
(Other FCHS players in that game included Johnny Dorough and Vance McCrory. Other MCHS players were Jimmy Andress and Branchard Tucker.)

Bobby Grissett Named Band, Music Director At Two County Schools: Bobby Grissett, 26, native of Uriah, has been elected as band and music director for the schools at Uriah and Excel.
Mr. Grissett replaces Mrs. Dubose Harris, who resigns effective Nov. 30.
Mr. Grissett is a senior at Troy State College, Troy, where he is a music major. He is a graduate of J.U. Blacksher High School, Uriah.
His wife is the former Marlene Brantley of Excel. They have a son, Butch, 2, and a daughter, Susan, 4.

90 YEARS AGO
NOV. 22, 1934

Remainder Of Square To Be Paved: The east and north sides of the Monroeville square will be paved if the plans of the local town council and the County Board of Revenue materialize. Plans have been furnished for this project by the State Highway Department. The paving of the remainder of the square will greatly add to the appearance of the town.

Veteran Dies At Mexia Home: D.L. Friddle, 93-year-old veteran of the War Between the States, died at his home at Mexia on Fri., Nov. 9, following a lengthy illness. For four years, Mr. Friddle served in the armies of the South, taking part in more than one hundred battles. He was wounded several times in service. He was a Mason and a member of the Baptist church.

NOTICE: Notice is hereby given that an application for the parole of Alton Bell, convicted and sentenced by the Circuit Court of Monroe County, Ala. on the 12^th day of October 1922 for murder in the first degree to hard labor for life in the penitentiary of said State from Monroe County, will be made to the Governor and Board of Pardons of Alabama.

EXCEL-MONROEVILLE PLAY 0-0 GAME: The Monroe County High School Tigers went to Excel last Friday to play the strong Excel high school eleven. The game, hard fought throughout the entire four quarters, resulted in a scoreless tie.

CAR STOLEN HERE SUNDAY AFTERNOON: An automobile owned by Mr. J.R. Griffin of Excel was stolen here late Sunday afternoon from the R.L. Jones house. It was recovered Monday morning near Excel, apparently where the thief had run out of gas.

115 YEARS AGO
NOV. 25, 1909

The dwelling of Mr. J.L. Dees was destroyed by fire near Peterman on Tuesday evening together with all his household goods. His neighbors are rallying nobly to his relief. Contributions aggregating considerable value were donated by citizens of Monroeville yesterday.

The Sowell Mercantile company have moved their stock of goods into their new brick store on east side where they will be glad to welcome their many friends and customers.

NOTICE: We have received notice from the High Prince of Pleasure (Santa Claus) that he has carefully looked into the qualifications of the mercantile world in this section and has decided to make the Lone Star Store his headquarters for X-mas and New Year goods, and in obedience to his Majesty’s call we will take pleasure in supplying anything you want in eating, wearing and pleasure line. We must hold the confidence imposed in us by his Majesty. – A.E. PETERMAN & CO., The Lone Star Store, Repton, Ala.

One of the prettiest home weddings that has occurred in Monroeville in many years took place at the home on Hon. N.J. Stallworth on Wednesday morning at 10 o’clock when Miss Mary Stallworth became the bride of Mr. Francis W. Hare. The parlor was beautifully decorated for the occasion and a large number of friends of the young couple were present to wish them joy. The impressive ceremony was pronounced by Rev. W.R. Bickerstaff and the bridal party left immediately for New Orleans and other points.