W. D. PARTLOW ,head of the Alabama
insane hospitals and secretary of the Alabama Society for Mental Hygiene,
contributes to the Tuscaloosa News an interesting and instructive
article on society’s most unfortunate and most neglected members the
feeble-minded. Dr Partlow discusses the case of “Doc" Bigham ,murderer
escaped convict and “moonshiner”, recently executed at Tuscaloosa .
Bigham’s career was one of lawlessness and bloodshed or most of his life
he was a hunted animal at war with society and the officers of the law.
Yet is it any wonder that this illiterate woodsman committed crimes
which eventually caused him to be hanged when we consider that according
to the alienist he had the mentality of a 11-year-old child? Bigham was
not so much an enemy of society as society was an enemy to him —
through indifference and neglect. In a better environment, he might have
led a better life.
The imbecile and the moron is not only a menace to
public safety himself but he marries and has children with the result
that the strain is perpetuated. Dr Partlow calls attention to two brothers
temporarily admitted to the Bryce Hospital in 1919 from Tuscaloosa County both feeble minded. The older had a mentality of a 4-year-oId child.
They have three sisters, two of whom are married and have children yet
all are imbeciles. People of this sort can never be made good citizens
but they can be protected and cared for and given the opportunities their
limited intelligence can grasp. More important still, they can be
prevented from marrying and rearing children to become an additional
burden to the state and possible criminals. Such people should not be
confined in alms houses, jails and insane asylums. It is a barbarous
practice that only makes their condition worse. Yet Alabama has neyer had
a home for the feeble minded .
The proposed Alabama Home for Mental
Inferiors is a crying need and if the state legislature will do its duty
it will be established.
KILL
SELLERS JAILED CHARGED WITH PERJURY There was somewhat of a sensation
about the court house late Tues- day afternoon when KU Sellers, wht hail
testified for Doe Bighani during afternoon and whose testimony was
later impeached by other witnesses, including Bigham, was placed under
arrest on a charge of perjury lie was locked in the county jail. Kil
Sellers Is a typical man of the mauntaineer moonshiner type- and ; he
gave testimony in the characteristic style of this individual. He
de-fighters denied everything that would incriminate himself
or anybody else, and swore in such a manner as could I leave little
doubt in the mind of any person who heard him that he was nart;ci-!
f.ilsifvin. The man denied any knowledge of the presence of a still.
cap-! being located at the scene where Sheriff Watts was killed; he
denied;" that he had ever visited the scene that he had ever seen the
gun which Doc Bigham used in shooting the sheriff or that the gun was
the prop-and J erty of his sister.
In
fact, re denied practically everything in connection haswith the
case-deemed Other witnesses connected Kil Sel lers with the ownership of
the still; that he had permitted Bigham to take Hisjthe gun from the
Sellers house and great-' that he had been at the still the morning of
the day on which the kill-J dream-! mg occurred. Following the
adjournment of th court Solicitor Ormond caused a war rant to be issued
charging Seller saysjwjtn perjury. 0.
The subject-matter of this suit is a parcel of land lying between the
lots and the river at Tuscaloosa, a part of the tract called the “River
Margin.” The substantive right of the parties depends upon the act of
Congress of May 26, 1824, which act, after vesting in the corporation of
said town forever all the right and title of the United States to
certain lots in the town of Tuscaloosa, said lots having already been
set apart for public uses and designated in the plan of the town as
“Court Square,” “Market Square,” “Jail Lot,” “Spring,” “Church,” and
Burial Ground,” vested, also: “All of the right of the United States to
the tract between the lots and the river at Tuscaloosa called the ‘River
Margin,’ and that called the ‘Pond,’ and also of that called the
‘Common;’ on condition, however, that the corporation shall not lease or
sell any portion of the last mentioned tracts, but that the same shall
be appropriated to the purpose for which they were designated and set
apart, as well for the benefit of the inhabitants of said town, as that
of those resorting to or visiting the same, and if the same, or any part
thereof, be applied to any other purpose, that it revert to the United
States.”
By this act the title of the United States to the “River Margin”
passed out of the United States and into the town of Tuscaloosa in trust
for the inhabitants of the town.
The
earliest settlers at the fails of the Warrior probably came from Tennessee. They were Thomas, Jonathan and Emanuel York, who came in the
spring of 1816. Other settlers rapidly followed, and on December 13,
1819, the town of Tuskaloosa was Incorporated by the legislature of
Alabama at its first session. At the time of this incorporation the
title to the site of the town was still in the United States government;
as under an act of congress passed on March 3, 1817, fractional section
22. township 21, lange 10 west, Huntsville meridian, was reserved for a
town site The survey of this section Into streets and lots was not made
until 1821, at which time the lots were sold by the United States
government.
By act of
congress passed May 26, 1824, the title to the streets and also certain
lots set apart for public use and known as Court Square, the Market
Square, the Jail lot, the spring, the church, the burial ground, the
river margin, the pond and the common, were vested In the city of
Tuskaloosa..
For the first five years of Tuscaloosa's existence all of the settlers were squatters; that is,
they had no title to the land. The town was surveyed in 1821. A letter written January 9,
1821, by Josiah Meigs, commissioner of the general land office, to General John Coffee
says, in part: "The survey of the township on which the town of Tuscaloosa is situated is
much wanted. You will please send a plat of it immediately to this office, and cause the
section or fractional section on which the said town stands to be laid off into town lots
without delay, forwarding a plat thereof to this office without delay."
The actual survey was made by Collin Finnell, grandfather of Judge Woolsey Finnell. Dr.
William Cochrane, who came to Tuscaloosa in 1817, at the age of one year, is our
authority for the method used in laying out the town. The surveyors began at the boat
landing below the Falls and followed the road up the River Hill. From this point a wide
street was laid out perpendicular to the river. This street is now called Greensboro
Avenue. Broad Street was laid out at right angles to Greensboro Avenue, and the other
streets were laid out in conformity with these two.
The sale of lots began in the fall of 1821, probably in October. Colonel John McKee was
appointed registrar of the land office in Tuscaloosa and served from March 7, 1821, to
January 13, 1824. The land sale began with the auctioning of lot number 1, which is
located in the northeast corner of section 22. Other lots were sold in numerical order.
In the act incorporating Tuscaloosa the town is for the first time officially designated
"Tuscaloosa." Previously this place was usually called the "Falls of the Black Warrior" or
"Tuscaloosa Falls."
1. MLK, Jr. Blvd. - WEST MARGIN STREET 2. 31st Ave.- BEAVER STREET 3. 30th Ave.- DEER STREET 4. 29th Ave.- BROWN STREET 5. 28th Ave.- JACKSON STREET 6. 27th Ave.- FRANKLIN STREET 7. Lurleen B. Wallace, S.- JEFFERSON STREET 8. Lurleen B. Wallace, N.- WASHINGTON STREET 9. Greensboro Ave.- MARKET STREET 10. 23rd Ave.- MONROE STREET 11. 22nd Ave.- MADISON STREET 12. 21st Ave.- COLLEGE STREET 13. 20th Ave.- YORK STREET 14. 19th Ave.- BEAR STREET 15. Queen City Ave.- EAST MARGIN STREET (later, QUEEN CITY STREET) 16. 3rd St.- SPRING STREET 17. 4th St.- PINE STREET 18. University Boulevard- BROAD STREET 19. 6th St.- COTTON STREET 20. 7th St.- UNION STREET 21. 8th St.- PIKE STREET 22. 9th St.- LAUDERDALE STREET 23. Bryant Dr.- LAWRENCE STREET 24. 11th St.- OAK STREET 25. 12th St.- WALNUT STREET 26. 13th St.- LOCUST STREET 27. 14th St.- CHESTNUT STREET 28. 15th St.- SOUTH MARGIN STREET (later, CRESCENT CITY AVENUE)
An empty wagon makes the biggest racket, as all can testify, who live
near the highways during the busy ginning season. At night when we have
been stung by the insomnia bug, we can hear the cotton wagons passing
throughout the long nights. When they are going to the gin loaded with
cotton they make a heavy dull fuss but when they are empty and the
wheels need greasing, if you should happen to be asleep, you wake with a
start, at it seems as if the demons in hell were staging a show. but
you soon realize that it was only the empty cotton wagons, and that both
master and mules are in a hurry to get back: home, and snatch a little
sleep before the dawn. When the farmers have money everyone should be
happy, so who should mind the noise of the cotton wagons.
-: -.
If
these idlers injured no one save themselves, they would still be in the
way; but, as it is, their example ib demoralizing to toe rising gener
ation. The contempt, which they show for honest labor, is too apt to be
contagious, and their, influence, where they have any at all, is alto
gether in the direction of evil. Their very presence is a sort of
disaster to the South. Even in Atlanta as active, progressive end
growing a city as it is men can bo found upon the street corners meu who
have been famous as loafers for twenty' five years men who have nothing
to do and who desire to do nothing. Go into the country towns, and
there you find a due proportion of idlers men who, from .
oue
year's end to anotuer, lead tue lives ot semi-re spectable vagabonds.
In winter time, they seek the sunny side of the street-corner or sit
around the bar-room stoves and discuss politics. Iu the Summer they sit
iu the shade of buildings that industry has reared whittle-dry-goods'
boxes, and continue the discussion of olitiCs. it would , be better
perhaps to, suggest a remedy for this state Of things, rather than to
Search for the cause or to deplore the fact : but it Is to bo ft'art'd
that the remedy can be found only in a system of education fortified by
home instruction, that shall impress our young men not only with the
necessity, but with the dignity, of labor.".
DUM
VIVIMUS, VIVAMUS.
Fifty years ago, a "dram shop" and a court house
were inseparable companions. Bill Price, recognizing and asserting this
affinity, established a bar-room across the street from the court house,
where Lovelace's store now stands, and displayed a sign with such
brilliant letters that the wayfaring man could not miss the location.
Price being indued with a love for the classics, and perceiving
intuitively the future greatness of the embryo town, selected as a sign
the motto of the Epicurean philosophers: "Dum vivimus, vivamus." His
central location evoked the declaration that his "bar was the bung-hole, and around it the barrel would be built." The store of Lovelace
& Bro. occupying the centre of the business part of Marion at
present, is in evidence that Price's prediction, made sixty-three years
ago, was correct.
While
geographically the centre of the town in 1823, it was, in reality, the
lounging place for all the loafing population for miles around. This log
cabin with its board counter, and barrel of " Buckeye,"
collected together the originators of all the mischief perpetrated in
Marion for the succeeding ten years.
The door was placed in a "bee line"
with the judge's stand in the court house, so that important
functionary, while expounding the law, might gather inspiration from the
anticipated "Tom and Jerry," which awaited his coming, and was lighter
when he came. "Gin Slings,' "Claret Punches" and "Champagne Trapps" were
decoctions unknown; liberality, so characteristic of the early settler,
was, no doubt, fostered by the custom of the day of selling spirits by
the half pint; this being more "beverage" than one citizen could
"chamber" at a single draught, he invariably invited in his neighbor.
Victor Hugo relates that the wine drank in a certain cafe in Paris was
so exhilarating, and the Latin sign above the door so revolutionary in
sentiment, that the two combined inspired the habitues of the wine shop
with such a desire to overthrow the government, that they excited the
émeute (riot) of July, 1832.
How
much Latin became mixed with their toddie and infused itself into the
head and hearts of the settlers; or what extent the early contemplation
of this motto had in inspiring them with that love for the classics,
which assuming a tangible form, embodied itself in our institutions of
learning, cannot now be accurately determined.
The "boys" who congregated
here, understood its meaning in its widest acceptation, and evidenced
their desire to put its teachings into practice on every possible
occasion. They decided, at one time, to pull down the court house, and be
a "law unto themselves". Here the "prize ring" was instituted, and the
Fourth of July celebrate in such a manner as to nearly demolish the
building; here Jim Rountree planned the raid upon the circus. We will write of these things hereafter.
In the absence of the original notes of survey which I understand cannot
be found, we have to take the city as it is and the maps and records
which have been handed down to us. One thing is certain, the city is mainly
situated in section 22 of the original government survey and the east,
south and west sides of that section, south of the Warrior River, are the
east, south and west boundaries of the city.
Therefore, there is no difficulty in establishing the east, south and west margin streets of said city. As none of the other streets are parallel to either of
these, it is evident that some other base must have been used for
these streets and that base must have been a line parallel to the
Warrior River. For instance, such a line as Broad Street (present-day University Boulevard). Then as Broad Street was more capacious and commanding and the great
business street, it is only reasonable to assume that it was the base
line for all streets running parallel to it, and that Market Street located at right angle to Broad and the same width would be a fit
base for all streets running perpendicular to Broad Street. It is
natural to infer that if these two streets were the bases of the system
and the most important street and the first built up, we would expect
to find less intrusion on them than on any other street, in the first
building period when the stakes were all visible and the inhabitants
anxious to have everything just right, and such is the fact. These two
streets with remarkable regularity have maintained their width up to
the present date and I felt glad that it was so, for it would be social
sacrilege in any one to manifest a disposition to mar the beauty of
either of these magnificent thoroughfares. These two streets crowned so
handsomely with magnificent oaks are fit monuments to the taste of our
early citizens and we should take pride in preserving them and in
continuing to beautify them.
Hence they were considered eminently proper to be used as bases, and the center of each, carefully established, has
been used as the base of every other street parallel to it; and the
result has been very satisfactory for every citizen will find upon investigation that his boundary has been carefully guarded. It is well
known, and I believe generally admitted that all of the rectangular
blocks of the city are four chains broad by five chains long- 264'x330' .
It is also conceded that Broad and Market Streets were two chains broad
each, and that all the other streets one and a half chains each broad,
i.e. 132 feet broad for Broad and Market, and 99 feet for all other
streets, so that the only difficulty was in the adjustment of our
accurate steel tape of today and greater care, perhaps, with the less
accurate chain of that date, and their greater carelessness, possibly.
Such discrepancies have been distributed as appeared best, but in no
instance have the dimensions of blocks been reduced either in width or
length, therefore each lot owner must have his ground, unless his
neighbor has unintentionally overlapped him. It is understood that each
irregular rectangular block was divided into four separate lots, so that
when a person bought a lot, of any of these blocks, he knew that he was
getting the fourth part of a block 264x330 feet. It
should be borne in mind that the surveyor's unit of measure of that
date was the four pole chain, and this explains why the streets and
blocks are of such dimensions as we find them.
At this date it is usual
to use the steel tape or chain, divided into units of one foot each, for
all railroad and town surveys, hence the dimensions are now always
recorded in feet and decimals of a foot. So much for the city survey
and the facts connected there with.
article by THOMAS CLINTON from the January 17, 1926 TUSCALOOSA NEWS
With the tearing down of the Brown Dollar Store, now in progress, it will bring to mind the fact that nearly all the old store houses on Broad Street of fifty years ago have disappeared, and are being replaced by better and more modern buildings. As these old buildings will be moved away, the older inhabitants will grow reminiscent about their past history. And a few observations along this line may be of interest. An old man and dead these years back and was born near the Lizard Road near Cottondale about the year 1817 spoke to me of this part of town as he remembered in the dim long ago. He said this part of town was covered with a heavy cane brake. And when he was a small boy, he saw men cutting down the heavy cane so that a wagon could be driven through these parts. According to the writings Judge Wm. R. Smith, the first jail was built of logs and was one story high and stood between the Dollar Store corner and the Kress store. The streets, avenues, alleys and blocks were surveyed in the spring and early summer of 1821 by order of President James Monroe. It was to the summer when the survey was finished. Then the land sales of 1821 started in the early fall. The lots were sold according to number. For instance, lot number one by Lock Ten on the river was sold first, then number two, etc. And by the first day of November, they were ready to sell lot 164 where the Dollar store now stands. Old records in the land office at Montgomery show that on this day, November 1st, 1821, this lot was bid in by one Samuel Mayer.This original purchase comprised a half acre and verging east towards Central Drug Co. of the corner years. Old Samuel Maverick retained, possession records of the property show that within about two and a half years after he had purchased it there were two small buildings on it. One of these buildings was a small frame house one story high and rented to a man named Benjamin C. Nutt. He ran a shoe shop there in 1823 as best we can judge from old authorities consulted. Everything considered, I prefer to believe that this Benjamin C. Nutt was the first man who did business on the corner and that a hundred and two years ago. The man who could conceive the idea of the place being now used as a shoe repair shop would be a Nut indeed.
Now a census of the little town taken in January, 1818 showed there was a population of 296 people. And judging by this, the presumption is that Benjamin C. Nutt did not do much of large business even at Christmas. Also one is tempted to believe that in all probability this was the first shoe business ever attempted in Tuscaloosa. Old records show that there was at the time a small one story brick same building on the lot and occupied by a man named Jimmy Potts. Reseaches fail to show as to what purpose Potts used his brick room. The old documents give the impression that both Potts and Nutt moved out in early 1824. On the third of January, 1825 Samuel Maverick sold this lot 164 to Augustus Maverick for ten dollars. I form the opinion that the two Mavericks were, near relatives, and really probability the lot was a gift from Samuel to Augustus, the ten dollars being mentioned to make the transfer legal. This incident is mentioned in Deed Book A, page 745. Now at this period of time, or there about an Irishman named Matthew Duffee, who was some kind of a kinsman to Franklin Pierce, came to Tuscaloosa and ran the Washington hotel where now stands the Merchant's Bank building for near forty years. In persuing the old records one gains the impression that at some time after 1825 Matthew Duffe bought from Augustus Maverick lot 164 and mostly on deferred payments. Not being able to meet these payments the property was sold at public sale May 22nd 1844. It was hundred bid in at dollars. six thousand eight Now the presumption is that at some time between 1825 and 1844, a period of nineteen years, the present brick building was put up.
Else it would not have brought this price as real estate was going at that time. This foreclosure sale is described in Mortgage book V page 137. Maverick continued in possession until July 1st 1856 when Steven Miller purchased from Maverick the corner building and the adjoining building east for $3500. This was just ten years after the removal of the State Capitol from Tuscaloosa.
And we were always told that a great collapse came in Tuscaloosa after the removal in 1846, both in merchandising and real estate So I presume this depression occasioned this extremely low price in 1856. This Steven Miller was one of the builders of early Tuscaloosa. He built quite a number of the old stores on Broad street and in 1872 built the old "Atlanta Store" that stood where now stands the Merchants Bank and Trust building. He was grandfather of Messrs. Steve, Jim and Sam Yerby.
At this period of time the corner as run by the firm of Neal and Bacon, carrying a mixed line of general merchandise. This firm as Leonard B. Neal who died in 1869, and Spotswood Bacon. Later 011 and during the the Civil War period the firm was Walker and Bacon, Syd Walkand the aforesaid Bacon. Syd er Walker was a very small man of low stature and Bacon was tremendously large.
As above mentioned, they conducted business the corner until a short while on after the close of the war in the Spring of 1865. Very soon after the close of the war, Mr. Alvin Miller, son of Steven Miller, started business on the corner. He did a good business considering the great depression following the As memory serves me, he war. in business until remained, here, I mistake not he died soon after he quit business the corner.
After Mr. Miller on moved out the stand was occupied by parties who were strangers to Tuscaloosa. I do not now recall their names. They were here for something like two years. It might here be remarked that memory serves me, that most of as the business of the town until about this period of time was confined to the two blocks east of this avenue.
Business centered the post office down to the from recent Lustig corner, and from the Wyman Bank, down to the Maxwell corner inclusive. But as my observation went in those times, activity, shifted and soon business, after to the a A. great G. S. railroad came into Tuscaloosa, in March 1871.
Fifty two years ago, that is to say in the year 1872, Philip T. Brady began business on the corner. He carried the largest and most complete stock of "His any retail store in Tuscaloosa. business began growing rapidly and from the first. Mr. Brady was a man of mark, so to speak. He came from County Cavan, Ireland and made Pickens County his frst home, but later came to Tuscaloosa and remained here until his death in July 1877, he was perhaps about six feet in height and walked very erect. He dressed immaculate always. If he did have time to talk to an old not friend, he always took time. This spirit of sociability made for him a wide circle of friends throughout west Alabama.
He was a pronounced success as a merchant, real estate man and politician. About the year 1875 Mr. Brady moved his business to the store west of the post office. And Mr. Garner commenced Saloon business on the corner that Mr. Brady had left. Later on perhaps about 1882 Stanley and Davis bought out Mr. Garner. And later in turn the sold G. W.
Simpson. After some years Mr. Simpson sold to James Q. Ralph who conducted the same business until the Saloons were replaced by the diswhich was run on the pensory Lustig Corner. And Brown Bothers commenced business where Benjamin C.
Nutt commenced a hundred and two years ago..
The
Bitter "Weed. EDITOR GAZETTE : In the last nnm-b-r of the Gazdte you
had bonietbing timely to say about the " Bitter Weed," with whk-u. the
Street" and Lawns of Tuskaloosa are how so umih infested. 1 am glad that
you bav siiested to onr worth Board of Aldermen the ueeeity of
declaring Uittsf war agaiuat tlxa Bi ter Weed. This troublesome intruder
Is a species of (enixni or Sneeze Weed.
It
made it appearance in our streets about six yearsajio, and wad . at fir
t supposed to bt a new m it of Dog FeimtL Where it earn.; from i r who
brought it here are. questions that b.ljug to that class of questfons
that no Mlo is expected to find out. Tha moat important question for the
people of Tus-kaloora is how can we get lid it ? From ii very small
cluster of staks it bi.n in the course of a lew years increased so
rapidly, and spread so widely that our streets are now like a vast
yellow ciirpet spread out iu the buu. This Weii- ium is the worst pest
iu the way of a weed we have ever had to contend.
J.
lie ug rennei dies out before July and is vexatious mainly on account
of the red bugs with which it is iu- lesled : b iorula tojtee come in
lute in tne season, and is troublesome only on account of its obatim
ting the side-walks and paths ; but this noxious lSMer W eed itu its
pretty name, llcl- f ilium, comes like an army of Cossacs, with the
first grass ot spring, destroys all the good pasturage during the summer
and autumn; tiuil like Yellow Fever, disappears only .on the ad7 vent
of a bhek frost. The city fathers ought to t ike measures to destroy it,
root and branch. It may be impossible to extirpate it in one sen-sou :
but it it is persistently fought, before it goes to seed, there is
scarcity any doubt that it can :ne cm rid of in two or three years.
Th.it the trial ought to be made, is the opin ion ol il .a 11 TA.-f.i i
Mia.
The writer we
know represents the views of a large, and iutelligint un in ner of pur
citizens. 1 he ebd id now in full bloom: If cut; a large; perhaps three
fourths; of the Seed would not come up next spring, wneu another mow ing
would give it a qui etus. The heavy fall dews are set- ting in, many of
the side walks are now mere loot paens; wc know the ladies do not like
drabbled dresses. Wheu shall the mowing begin !.
Complaining
Of Wide Streets. Selma has often complained of her wide streets. The
city was laid out when the land was cheap and the hopes of the pioneers
high and their views large. Tuskaloosa suffered from the same grandiose
ideas of its projectors. There is a great deal too much street in those
cities, although Tuskaloosa has mitigated the evil somewhat by planting
trees down the middle of the streets in double rows.
We
can give an idea of the width of a Tuskaloosa street by saying that a
block of buildings could be placed along the center lines and leave
street enough on each side for all the traffic that now prevalls. Most
of the time of the merchants and others is taken up in crossing and
recrossing streets. Selma proposes a remedy that appears a good one,
namely, to remove the property line out toward the center of the street
twelve or fifteen feet on a side, so as to give a grassy lawn between
the sidewalks and the houses. The remaining roadway will be sufficiently
wide and money can be found with which to pave It. At present, with
streets of utmost width, it is hopeless for a town of Selma's size to
look to paving AS a relief from the dust storms that prevan
there.-Mobile Register..
STORIES Of I FACT AND FICTION I was much Interested In a beautifully
Illustrated article in the May Arichitectural Record, entitled The Greek
Revival of the Far South as it is In Tuskaloosa, Ala. said a reader of
that magazine. 'The article begins by saying that perhaps no where over
the South can be found a town which more perfectly blends the relics of
the old -regime with that of the new, than we find here In the quaint
old town of Tuskaloosa, with Its wide streets and their rows of massive
oaks, forming overhead a veritable canopy of verdant green, and lined
with houses and grounds roaming about with the Due Southern disregard of
space. Following, a history of the town Is given, dating back to its
founding in 1816. The article further says, But the point which really
interests one Is the high degree of enlightenment its society attained
In ante-bellum days.
There
hospitality ripened into a fine art and never flowered to a more
exquisite display than In this old town. The men were honorable,
chlvalric and thoroughbred. The mala thought In the article is, however,
the architectural beauty of the old homes which have been preserved
many of them since ante-bellum days, and which are now beautiful land
marks of the Druid City. There are numerous Illustrations of Tuskaloosa
homes given, bearing no name of the owner, but among others are those of
the Battle house, the Snow house, the mansion of the president of the
Alabama University built In 1827, the Spence home, the old state
eapitol, the Foster and the Hays homes and many others. The article Is
attractively written and Illustrated and forma one of the best In the
magazine..
from the October 20, 1821 NATCHEZ GAZETTE
3y
the President of the United States. WHEREAS ty the second lection of an
art of Con-1 tress, patsed on the 20th of April', 13 Jo, entiUed "An
act respe:tiu(r the sprveyinj and sale of the public I lands in the
Alabama Territory," the President of the I in , Uuiled SUUs it
authorized to designate and reserve iroin salo a certaiu uutubar ot
sections, not excced.ng ten, I iu any one destrict in the Territory
aforesaid, for the purpose of laying out and establishing towns thereon;
Mutch sections, so designated and reserved lor tlie pur pose aforesaid,
re required to be laid off iuto lots, and to be offered at public sal
in the tame manuer, and ou I the same terms and conditions, aa are
prescribed tor the disposal of similar lands of the United States: 1
het-efor. be it known, tliat 1. James Monroe. Presi dent of the Vnited
States of America, do hereby declare end publish; this my Proclamation,
that a public sale shall be held on the fith Monday in October next.
-at
the laua Uilice st' Tuscaloosa, in the state of Alabama, for the
disposal at public auction of Lots numbered one to I nve iiuudrea ana
eleven, inclusive, sitaate in, the Uwtrict j nn-of Tuscaloosa, and
forming the town of Tuscaloosa, ly ing I ...w ...v, u. un ..Hi.... .cuu
... i.uui - . -T - , with iheTeqaisitions of act aforesaid.
. - ' I .No" lots to be sold foe a leu pries than at tha rate of! .1. ii . . .
.I. uouars per acre, j, . ,-. . .
;
, 1 he sale to commence with th lowest number, and to proceed in
regular numerical order, until all th lot thall bar beeo offered-i ; ' -
Ci veo under my kind, at tha city of Washington, this zju cay ol
August, A. u. lCl. ' ' i MONROE. Bthe PreMJont: ' 1 " ; , .
, , ' C JOUH MFIG3,' ' ,:'""',' V... 39. 6 Commissioner of ihdGei'L Land Oflira,.
STORIES Of I FACT AND FICTION I was much Interested In a beautifully Illustrated article in the May Arichitectural Record, entitled The Greek Revival of the Far South as it is In Tuskaloosa, Ala. said a reader of that magazine. 'The article begins by saying that perhaps no where over the South can be found a town which more perfectly blends the relics of the old -regime with that of the new, than we find here In the quaint old town of Tuskaloosa, with Its wide streets and their rows of massive oaks, forming overhead a veritable canopy of verdant green, and lined with houses and grounds roaming about with the Due Southern disregard of space. Following, a history of the town Is given, dating back to its founding in 1816. The article further says, But the point which really interests one Is the high degree of enlightenment its society attained In ante-bellum days.
There hospitality ripened into a fine art and never flowered to a more exquisite display than In this old town. The men were honorable, chlvalric and thoroughbred. The mala thought In the article is, however, the architectural beauty of the old homes which have been preserved many of them since ante-bellum days, and which are now beautiful land marks of the Druid City. There are numerous Illustrations of Tuskaloosa homes given, bearing no name of the owner, but among others are those of the Battle house, the Snow house, the mansion of the president of the Alabama University built In 1827, the Spence home, the old state eapitol, the Foster and the Hays homes and many others. The article Is attractively written and Illustrated and forma one of the best In the magazine..
Complaining Of Wide Streets. Selma has often complained of her wide streets. The city was laid out when the land was cheap and the hopes of the pioneers high and their views large. Tuskaloosa suffered from the same grandiose ideas of its projectors. There is a great deal too much street in those cities, although Tuskaloosa has mitigated the evil somewhat by planting trees down the middle of the streets in double rows.
We can give an idea of the width of a Tuskaloosa street by saying that a block of buildings could be placed along the center lines and leave street enough on each side for all the traffic that now prevalls. Most of the time of the merchants and others is taken up in crossing and recrossing streets. Selma proposes a remedy that appears a good one, namely, to remove the property line out toward the center of the street twelve or fifteen feet on a side, so as to give a grassy lawn between the sidewalks and the houses. The remaining roadway will be sufficiently wide and money can be found with which to pave It. At present, with streets of utmost width, it is hopeless for a town of Selma's size to look to paving AS a relief from the dust storms that prevan there.-Mobile Register..
A NOVEL PARADE. Sells Brothers and Barrett with their united shows will introduce more novel features in their street parade this year than all other show: in America combined can produce. Each of these shows was fully equipped for the tenting season, and intended 10 tour the country seperately, but by a stroke of genius, more bold than has ever before beet. attempted, they ar' ranged to travel and exhibit in conjunction. It was a difficult task to find room on their sixty long cars for the two shows, and in order to add a brand new feature never before introduced in this country, ten new cars, each sixty ilve feet in length, had to be built.
The feature alluded to above is the Children's Dream of Fairyland, exemplified with many golden chariots. representing the principal features of fairy lore -among which is Robinson Crusoe, Old Mother Goose, Cinderella, Bine Beard, Littie Red Lidin. Hood, Santa Claus and the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. These golden chariots, drawn by ponies, together with the miniature Tally Ho conch with monkey footmen and attendants, will appear in the parade. Over fifty cages, two droves of camels, two herds of elephants many bands of music.
and hundreds of other features will be worth going many miles to see, and is only a partial index of the wealth of wonder displayed under the huge canvases. It requires four extra large locomotives to haul this immense show upon the levelest railroads. This grand parade will appear about 10 o'clock on the streets or Tuskaloosa on October 9..
FOR SALE. House of nine rooms kitchen and coal house, stable, carriage house, harness and tool room, two corn cribs, brick well of fine water, watf r connection, peach trees and grape arbors, a perpetual pas ture on lot 01 nearly nve acres, situated on Lawrence and East Margin streets in Tuskaloosa. Brick store house and lot, two residence and lots in Northport. Joshua H Foatir..
The Bitter "Weed. EDITOK GAZETTE : In the last nnm-b-r of the Gazdte you had bonietbing timely to say about the " Bitter Weed," with whk-u. the Street" and Lawns of Tuskaloosa are how so umih infested. 1 am glad that you bav siiested to onr worth Board of Aldermen the ueeeity of declaring Uittsf war agaiuat tlxa Bi ter Weed. This troublesome intruder Is a species of (enixni or Sneeze Weed.
It made it appearance in our streets about six yearsajio, and wad . at fir t supposed to bt a new m it of Dog FeimtL Where it earn.; from i r who brought it here are. questions that b.ljug to that class of questfons that no Mlo is expected to find out. Tha moat important question for the people of Tus-kaloora is how can we get lid it ? From ii very small cluster of staks it bi.n in the course of a lew years increased so rapidly, and spread so widely that our streets are now like a vast yellow ciirpet spread out iu the buu. This Weii- ium is the worst pest iu the way of a weed we have ever had to contend.
J. lie ug rennei dies out before July and is vexatious mainly on account of the red bugs with which it is iu- lesled : b iorula tojtee come in lute in tne season, and is troublesome only on account of its obatim ting the side-walks and paths ; but this noxious lSMer W eed itu its pretty name, llcl- f ilium, comes like an army of Cossacs, with the first grass ot spring, destroys all the good pasturage during the summer and autumn; tiuil like Yellow Fever, disappears only .on the ad7 vent of a bhek frost. The city fathers ought to t ike measures to destroy it, root and branch. It may be impossible to extirpate it in one sen-sou : but it it is persistently fought, before it goes to seed, there is scarcity any doubt that it can :ne cm rid of in two or three years. Th.it the trial ought to be made, is the opin ion ol il .a 11 TA.-f.i i Mia.
The writer we know represents the views of a large, and iutelligint un in ner of pur citizens. 1 he ebd id now in full bloom: If cut; a large; perhaps three fourths; of the Seed would not come up next spring, wneu another mow ing would give it a qui etus. The heavy fall dews are set- ting in, many of the side walks are now mere loot paens; wc know the ladies do not like drabbled dresses. Wheu shall the mowing begin !.
Correspondence
of the Gazette. of the rights of tbe people, Mr. Editor, inalienable
and inherent, is to complain at the office-holders. They are a
privileged class. Now, I propose to give them one of their privileges
that of being abused.
I
shall complain, first, that they promise more than they perform. Let ub
take up our City authorities What are they doing ? As I was walking
down town this morn ing, I was almost lost in the weeds that hedg ed my.
path. It is true there was no hog hiding in the rank tangle to frighten
me by his ugh ! tigh ! but The scent ot the swill ' Hangs 'round it
still." Crossing one of the bridges, ono foot caught against a nail that
caused me to Btumble and catch the other in an opening in the plauks,
This happens frequently. A buggy, the other dT, got its wheel lodged
between two planks of the flooring of the Street Railway crossing and
was nearly wrecked, striking agaiust the ends of the cross-ties.
They
will cover thera up in due time, of course. Tho City Fathers owe it to
their constituency to give us safe ways for foot and vehicles. Did yon
ever, Mr. Editor, stop and look at tnat enolosnro of trees on Greensboro
St.? It is a picture of real loveliness. Let our colored folk come into
town and hitch their lean cattle to the tailing and fallen planks that
environ those lovely oaks, and you have a picture that Harper would envy.
Sunday
is here now. What do you see on this sacred day, Mr. Editor? Ton don't
see it? There are those who do, aud they have the power to arrest it
While here goes an orderly procession of cheerful and happy faces to the
house of God, there goes a line ot almost equal leng'th, finding its
way, bv the aid ot hired ushers, to the den of the Rum-sailer and the
doom of the drunkard. We have men in our midst doing more mischief than
the worst plague that ever visited a people, I complain that there is no
resistance to tuis worse than small-pox scourge. The City Fathers can
do something and the whole city intelligence will support them ia it 1 -
Gbdmblee, The boys are going to afflict Entaw with a game of Base Ball
next week.
The
'Druids' have been practicing a little this week, and the Entawans will
have to dauce around right sharp to eome out first best!..
The wave of failures that
followed that of the Baring Brothers struck the United States with full force in 1893, and brought about one of the worst
panics that this country has ever known. The bottom fell out
of the boom all over Alabama; many furnaces in the Birmingham district closed down, and new structures were left half
finished. In Tuscaloosa a furnace which was to have been
built east of the A. G. S. depot and to which a spur track had
already been built, was abandoned. A railroad known as the
Tuscaloosa Northern had been started and graded as far as
the mouth of Hurricane Creek, and two piers erected for a
bridge over the river at this point; this was also abandoned,
and years afterward these piers were taken down and the material in them used for constructing the M. & O. bridge at
Tuscaloosa.
A land and development company, composed of a large
number of Tuscaloosa citizens was organized, and nearly all
of the suburban property around Tuscaloosa was bought by
this company to sell to the thousands who were expected to
flow into our borders. When the crash came these stockholders gradually let go their holdings for one reason or another, and very few ever got back half what they put in it.
The few who stayed in to the end, however, reaped large returns when the second boom came after 1900, F. W. Monnish in particular, bought up much of the old stock and amassed a fortune out of his acquisitions.
from page 115
But though money was scarce and industry dead, there
were some compensations. One of these compensations was
the Sun Down Club which met in the drug store late in the
afternoon. My brothers who had had the store before me,
had encouraged visitors and kept a good supply of chairs
around the stove in the rear of the building. Here all of the
men of literary taste in town would gather for a social chat
when the burdens of the day were over. There was no formal
organization, but the band came to be known as the Sun Down
Club. Among the members of this club were: J. H. Fitts,
the veteran banker and churchman; A. B. McEachin, historian and politician; ex-congressmen John Martin and Newton Clem-
ents; Prof. Alonzo Hill, of the Methodist College, and E. H.
Murfee, of the Baptist College; Dr. Stillman, founder of Stillman Institute; Dr. Praigg, a teacher in the Institute; Rev.
A. L. Phillips, superintendent of Colored Evangelization of
the Presbyterian Church and President of the National Association of Charities and Correction; James Maxwell, farmer and politician; President Jones and Drs. Wyman, Meek,
McCorvey, Parker and Hardaway, of the University. Judge
H. M. Somerville, Chief Justice of Alabama, and S. M. Peck,
the poet, always met with the club when they were in town.
Not all of these would be there every day, but there would
always be enough to make an interesting meeting. The sub-
jects discussed included Ancient and Modern literature, science,
theology, agriculture, politics, or in a word, practically the
whole range of human knowledge. The discussions were
usually amicable, but occasionally the sparks would fly.
The next six months I spent on the Geological Survey of
Mississippi, which had been commenced under Hilgard. My
first trip was from Oxford to Pontotoc, thence through the
prairie region via Okolona, Columbus and Macon to Meridian;
thence in a boat down the Chickasawhay River to Enterprise.
From Enterprise I wanted to go across the country through
the piney woods to Brookhaven; but was told that there was
only one house in that section where lodging could be had, and
the head of this house had twelve children; so I decided to go
by the more traveled route via Jackson to Vicksburg. As late as 1885 this part of Mississippi was still a virgin
forest. My friend, William Pettis, of Oxford, Miss., moved
to Ellisville about that time and told me that he established the
first bank that was ever organized in the entire quadrangle
bounded by Jackson, Meridian, New Orleans and Mobile; but
twenty years later this was one of the most prosperous and
progressive sections in the South.
