JACKSON COUNTY

[Pages:45]JACKSON COUNTY CHRONICLES

VOIIIME12, IIIIMIIEIII

ISM-10114340

IIIIIIIIIIIY 2000

IIIIIIISOII00IIIITY IIISTOIIIOIIISSO0IIII'IOIIWlll MEET SIIIIIIIIY.IIIIIIIIIIIY 23, 2000. 2:30 pm, Stevenson Depot Museum, Stevenson, Alabama.

Program Vice President Patty Woodall invites all members and their guests to come prepared to enjoy the museum exhibits which portray many facets of Jackson County's history and to experience t h e age-old hospitality of Stevenson.

2000 J C H A ANNUAL DUESN O W PAYABLE 2000 Association dues are now due and payable. M a i l y o u r c h e c k in the amount of .

$l0.00 to Treasurer Mary Ann Parsons, PO. Box I494, Scottsboro, AL 35768, to assure receipt of all quarterly issues of THE JACKSON COUNTY CHRONICLES. I n c l u d e n i n e n u m b e r zip code.

JACKSON COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION POST OFFICE BOX I 4 9 4 SCOTTSBORO, AL 35768

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT N O . ll

JACKSON COUNTY, THE SWITZERLAND OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA

ANCESTOR SEARCHING IN J A C K S O N COUNTY, A L A B A M A

BARNETT-HAYS

Rebecca Hall, 3534 Campfield Ct, Katy, TX 77449, email:rebeccahall@ is researching Mary Barnett (born Aug, 1880 in AL) w h o married Lee Mack Hays (born 1863, GA) on A p r 22, 1896, in Jackson County. 1900 census shows 2 children: Susan Anna, born 1897 and Willie L, born 1900. Who were the parents of Mary (Barnett) Hays and Lee Mack Hays? Was Mary (Barnett) H a y s t h e daughter of J o h n W. Barnett who married Martha Susan Dicus on May 23, 1870, in Scottsboro?

ELLEDGE-WILMOTH

Beth Rhoten, 7723 34th Ave E, Tacoma, WA 98443, e m a i l : rrhoten@, seeks info on families of Martha Elledge (born 1797 in KY) who md William Wilmoth ca 1815 (probably Warren CO, TN). F i v e of their children were: ElishaWilmoth (b. ca 1816 in TN); ReubenWilmoth (b. ca 1820 in TN); Lucinda Wilmoth (b. ca 1821 in TN); William H Wilmoth (b. ca 1829 in AL); and GeorgeA. Wilmoth (b. ca 1834 in AL).

KUDOS T0 J C H A MEMBER

HARRYCAMPBELL of Section. He is researching and writing

t h e history of Section, AL, and its earliest settlers. Would that every town had someone so dedicated to documentingtheir community historyll

JCHA OFFICERS FOR 2000

PRESIDENT

Drenda King

PROGRAM V. PRES.

Patty Woodall

MEMBERSHIP V. PRES. K a t i Ti p t o n

SECRETARY

Ta w n e y Pierce

TREASURER

Mary Ann Parsons

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Clyde Broadway

David Campbell

John Graham

J o h n F. N e e l y

Barry Pickett

Immediate Past Pres.Finis Royal

CHRONICLES Editor Ann Chambless

OCTOBER 1999 EXECUTIVE BOARD

MEETING

Plans were made for a noon luncheon on October 28 in Jacobs Bank Laurel Room w i t h Dr. David Campbell hosting the Scottsboro premier of his documentary, BOB JONES: A CONGRESSIONAL L E G A C Y. A nominating committee was appointed to submit slate of officers and board of directors to be elected at October 28 meeting. President Royal appointed the following to serve on committee for publication of Barry Pickett and Charlotte Ray's Jackson County Cemetery Inventory: Dr. David Campbell Ann B. Chambless John Graham Barry Pickett Charlotte Ray

POST SCRIPT:

October 28, 1999 luncheon meeting w a s well attended, and Dr. Campbell's documentary on the late Honorable Bob Jones was enjoyed by all. He presented a copy to the JCHA.

LOOKING B A C K IN TIME: THE STEVENSON DEPOT MUSEUM

compiled by Ann B. Chambless

The Stevenson Railroad Depot Museum w a s officially dedicated on June 12, 1982. A large contingent of concerned citizens had worked tirelessly for s i x long years to save and restore the Depot " t o rekindle memories of bygone years" in t h e town of Stevenson a n d Jackson County, Alabama. One of their first acts was making application for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Their efforts were rewarded on May 13, 1976. T w o years later, " T h e Little Brick," t h e house w h i c h served as federal headquarters

during t h e Civil Wa r w a s also added to t h e National Register, a n d t h e To w n of Stevenson was designated as an Historic District.

In June of 2000, t h e citizens of Stevenson w i l l celebrate their 1 9 t h a n n u a l summer festival called Stevenson Depot Days w i t h a most cherished landmark, t h e depot museum, as t h e y e a r l y h u b of week-long activities. A c c o r d i n g t o Eliza M a e Woodall's THE STEVENSON STORY, t h e fi r s t r a i l r o a d d e p o t in Stevenson w a s built in 1853. The original building burned, a n d t h e p r e s e n t

depot was built in 1872. If its walls could talk and the surrounding grounds could echo past activities, t h e resounding voices would surely shock and entertain. Listen to t h e sounds of the day and the "music of the night" as described in a letter written in 1882 by a young woman whose husband w a s a Captain In the

Confederate A r m y. Lizzie Pearl Armstrong traveled f r o m Wartrace, Tennessee, to Georgia by r a i l to be near h e r husband, James L. Armstrong, w h o w a s actively engaged in "defending the South from Northern aggression." The dateline reads,

"Trenton (GA), Feb 16, 1862." Mrs.Armstrong's letter to her parents, gives a graphic description of h e r stopover at t h e Stevenson, Alabama Depot:

"We l e f t Wartrace (TN) at s i x t h a t evening a n d arrived at Stevenson (AL) h a l f p a s t ten that night and ought to have gone right on but the down train from Chattanooga did not arrive until half past five and such a disagreeable time we had. It was pouring down raining, there were from 50 to 75 men a n d 3 ladies, a l l w i t h children, a n d they (bless their little hearts) deserve credit f o r their behaviour t h a t night. We were all in a room at the depot about 20 by 22. A number of the men were soldiers a n d h a d t h e i r blankets along. T h e gentlemen, o n e a f t e r another, laid d o w n on t h e

fl o o r . M r. W o r d h e l d Charlie u n t i l h e w a s tired a n d t h e n t o o k o f f h i s o v e r c o a t a n d

made a pallet on the floor and put him down. One kind gentleman gave one of his blankets for Pearland the little fellows slept soundly and sweetly as though they had been at home in their o w n beds. By one o'clock everyone of the men were down and it would havebeendifficult for anyone to have crossed the room as Uncle Pearl used to say they were a l l settled "cub house" fashion. Mr. Word w a s obliged to give up, having been broke of his rest for the past few nights. I kept awake until about two when tired and exhausted I sat down on an old box, the best the house

afforded, a n d l e a n i n g my h e a d a g a i n s t t h e w a l l , I w e n t to s l e e p.......

T h e l e t t e r w a s s i g n e d , ` Yo u r affectionate Daughter, Lizzie P. Armstrong' "

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A GLIMPSE OF STEVENSON DURING THE CIVIL WAR

written in 1986 by J e ff Tryon, Huntsville Times staff writer

STEVENSON - Letters f r o m a Union soldier stationed in Stevenson during t h e Civil War give a feeling of t h e often mundane, sometimes humorous, day-to-day life of soldiers defending this k e y railroad junction. T h e l e t t e r s , w r i t t e n b y C h a r l e s F. A l m e n d i n z e r t o h i s w i f e i n M i c h i g a n during 1864, a r e currently on loan (1986) to t h e Stevenson Railroad Depot Museum from a Huntsville m a n who is the grandson of t h e

author.

T h e letters, written in March a n d April of 1864, mostly detail minor

camp events from the second Union occupation of Stevenson. Some mention is made of the construction of the earthen rampart n o w k n o w as F o r t Harker, w h i c h h a s b e e n p l a c e d on t h e National Register of Historic Places...........

As early as April 1862, elements of Gen. Ormsby M. Mitchell's Federal Division advanced by rail a n d seized Stevenson, scattering a makeshift defense of Confederate home guards. Mitchell's

occupation of Stevenson w a s part of a larger plan to capture Chattanooga, and thereby control the "gateway to the deep south," Union army records show. Late in 1862, Union soldiers began construction of several forts a n d blockhouses to protect the key railroadjunctions from Memphis to Nashville. The largest of t h e fortifications w a s Fort Harker, b e g a n in t h e s u m m e r of 1862 by Col. Charles G. Harker. Fort Harker w a s built by Union troops and local conscripts during the first occupation of Stevenson as one of two gun emplacements which commanded the town and the strategic depot.

"Our camp is south of town on a small sand hill facing the town,

railroads and stations so that we see everything that is going on as

t h e r e i s n o t h i n g b u t o n e l o w c o r n fi e l d b e t w e e n u s a n d town,"

Almendinzer wrote in March 1864. "Back of us on the same hill is a strong fort with platforms inside for seven guns. It w a s built by the Rebels but not quite finished and we are n o w finishing off this one and another to the east of town."

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A Glimpse of Stevenson during t h e Civil War (Continued)

Much of the labor on Fort Harker was accomplished by black slaves

from a 5 or 6 mile radius around the town which Col. Harker

"impressed" into service.

Although a Harper's Weeklyarticle from the period states "All

Negroes who come to our lines are set to work at once on

f o r t i fi c a t i o n s a n d p a i d w a g e s a n d f r e e d a s a r e w a r d for t h e i r labor," i t

is n o t at a l l c l e a r f r o m military,dispatches t h a t t h i s w a s in f a c t t h e

case.

Col. Harkerand Gen. D. c. Buell in Huntsville exchanged several

dispatched in which Buell urged Harker to return specific slaves to

their owners to help maintain the farms.

Almendinzer provides a glimpse of everyday life in Stevenson during

t h e w a r y e a r s . " T h i s t o w n contains o n e three-story h o t e l n o w u s e d

f o r a s o l d i e r s retreat, some s i x or e i g h t two-story houses, a n d s o m e 25 or 30 one-story b u i l d i n g s a l l g o i n g to d e c a y. T h e n t h e r e a r e

several camps of Negro shanties close by. These shanties are built

in streets w e l l c l e a n e d a n d drained.

I heard singing in t h e b a c k of t o w n a n d w a s t o l d t h e r e w a s a m e e t i n g of colored p e o p l e . As I h a d n e v e r b e e n to one, I t h o u g h t I w o u l d go

and d i d s o . T h e c o n g r e g a t i o n w a s l a r g e a n d c o m p o s e d o f a l l colors,

t h e w o m e n w e r e plainlydressed. T h e seats w e r e c o m p o s e d of r o u g h

w o o d e n benches, homemade chairs, three l e g g e d stools, boxes,

wash tubs, pork barrels, grease and rain water barrels, blocks of

wood, logs and the surrounding stumps. Many sitting on their

doorsteps and others in the summer hutswere attentively listening to

w h a t w a s said and I could not help noticing t h e contrast between

here a n d h o m e o r i n t h e N o r t h . There t h e N e g r o i s n o t p e r m i t t e d t o

enter a c a r or Omnibus. Here o u r m e n a n d officers s i t down on t h e

same block of wood or door step, elbow to elbow and side by side."

T h e w o r k o f f o r t i f y i n g S t e v e n s o n went o n t h r o u g h o u t t h e w a r, a n d a s

late as t h e fall of 1864, Gen. Gordon Granger w a s employed in

completing w o r k on t h e Mitchell redoubt, 500 yards n o r t h of t h e

depot on the railroad Iine....Another redoubt, located three-quarters

of a mile n o r t h of Stevenson, t h o u g h n e v e r c o m p l e t e d , w o u l d

eventually be k n o w n as Fort Granger.

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MAYNARD COVE M E N MUSTER R O L L

RESEARCHSHARED BY 1'. J. B Y N U M

Many of the men listed in this document produced by the U. S. House of Representatives on January 17, 1896,w e r e residents of Maynards Cove in Jackson County, Alabama.

5 4 t h CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4317 In the House of Representatives

January 17, 1896 Mr. (Joseph)Wheeler introduced the following bill which w a s referred to the Committee on Military Affairs and ordered to be printed. A BILL to place on the muster roll the names of Claiborn

Evans and others.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congressassembled that t h e Secretary of Wa r be, a n d is hereby, directed to p l a c e upon the muster roll of the United States Army the names of Claiborn Evans, Samuel Potter, David R. Bellomy, I s a a c N. B y n u m , J o h n Shelton, J a m e s K. P. Shelton, J o h n Precise, Thomas Precise, William Potter, Claiborn Evans,Jr., S o l o m o n Cox, R o b e r t F. Riddle, J a m e s M . Wood, A d a m Smelser, M a r i o n Brewster, D a v i d Hull, A a r o n Fish, a n d Andrew J. Brannon who served as scouts and guides for o n e hundred a n d fifty-two days in t h e w a r of 1861; t h e said

Claiborn Evans as first lieutenant, t h e said Samuel Potter

as first sergeant, and the others as privates in t h e service of the United States.

LANDMARKS/HIGHLIGHTS OF SCOTTSBORO H I G H SCHOOL

by Ann B. Chambless

Even before t h e village w a s officially incorporated in January 1869,

the founding fathers supported classroom education in Scottsboro.

I n 1868, T h o m a s G . Windes p u r c h a s e d e i g h t l o t s f r o m M r s . R o b e r t T. S c o t t . ( J a c k s o n CO, A L D e e d B o o k 3 , p . 587) In an October 1868 edition of TheAlabama Herald, Thomas G. Windes advertised the opening of his school. The frame building w a s located on Lot 91 between Main Street (now MapleAvenue) and Chestnut Street. In August 1869, Mr. Windes sold this property to Thomas J. Wood w h o rented t h e building to t h e Jackson County Commissioners, a n d court w a s held at this site while the court house was being constructed in

Scottsboro.

On March 3, 1872, Mrs. Shelton announced in The Alabama I-lerald s h e w o u l d c o m m e n c e a p r i v a t e s c h o o l a t t h e T. J . W o o d h o u s e t h e n e x t Monday. This building continued to be rented by teachers d u r i n g t h e 1870s, a s T h e A l a b a m a H e r a l dc a r r i e d t h e f o l l o w i n g n e w s :

" A u g u s t 2 7 , 1 8 7 8 : S c o t t s b o r o h a s 1119 f r e e o r p u b l i c s c h o o l s n o w , o n e t a u g h t b y Prof.A. E. Russellin the B r i c k Church(southeastc o m e r of Laurela n d Caldwell Streets) a n d the otherby MissAnnie Scruggs in the Woods Building." "September 13, 1878: M i s s Sue Snodgrass (Mrs. H a m l i n Caldwell) is s t i l l t e a c h i n g

i n t h e `Uncle To m m y Wood'h o u s e a n dh a s a very g o o ds c h o o l . "

On January 11, 1878, The F e l l o wCitizen reported:

"The Scottsboro Academy - Steps are being taken to build a college

at this place on the land north of town donated for educational

p u r p o s e s b y t h e l a t e H o n . R . T. S c o t t . O u r l e a d i n g c i t i z e n s a r e

aroused on the subject and some are enthusiastic over the idea of

having a permanent educational institution at this place. Some of

our enterprising men met at the brick church last Monday evening

a n d e l e c t e d a b o a r d o f t r u s t e e s . T h e y a r e : J . T. S k e l t o n , J o h n

Snodgrass, W. H. Robinson, J a m e s W. Moody, a n d Nelson Kyle.

Judge Kyle subscribed $200 and says he will double that amount if

they will build a brick house. A nice brick building can be built for

$3000.00."

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LANDMARKS/HIGHLIGHTS OF SCOTTSBORO HIGH SCHOOL (Continued)

The Alabama H e r a l dprovided t h e following n e w s :

J a n u a r y 24 1878: Quite a n u m b e r of o u r townsmen a n d b o y s m e t on

the school land, the Scott donation, Tuesday morning and by n o o n

h a d a b o u t o n e acrelof t h e ground c l e a r e d o f u n d e r g r o w t h a n d u s e l e s s

saplings. (Landw a s very near where Carver High School stood.)

J a n u a r y 16, 1 8 7 9 : A . P. M o o r e h a s t h e c o n t r a c t f o r e r e c t i n g t h e

school building on the Scott donation.

T h e S c o t t s b o r o Citizen r e p o r t e d :

May 16, 1879: The Collegebuildingwill be completed this week.

September 29, 1879: The high school begins in t h e n e w school building next Monday. Professor Scruggs, late of Lawrence County, is t h e principal. Mr. Charles W. Brown, Rev. C. B. Roach, a n d Miss Fannie Ledbetter, assistants. Painting w o u l dh e l p t h e n e wcollege

a m a z i n g l y.

TheAlabama Heraldreported:

~

Feb 5, 1880: T h e n e w additionaLschool building w a s completed l a s t

week and school opened on Monday last. The town n o w has ground

floor room under one roof, most favorablelocated, to accommodate

3 0 0 p u p i l s . M u c h c r e d i t is d u e M r. A. P. Moore, t h e contractor, f o r t h e

style in which it w a s done and the expedition with which the work

w a s brought to completion. (The facility was named the Scott Male

and Female Institute.)

On February 16, 1883, t h e Alabama Legislature passed an A c t which

consolidated t h e S c o t t M a l e a n d Female I n s t i t u t e a n d t h e S c o t t s b o r o

Building Association. In August 1883, school opened w i t h Messrs.

Gross a n d Hopkins as principals. On April 17, 1888, T h e Scottsboro

CitizenreportedScott Academy (Scott Male and Female Institute

building)w a s destroyed by fire. The citizens decided not to replace

the building at this site, as Scottsboro's businesseswere quickly

moving to the Court House public square, and the town w a s

spreading southand east.

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