The Old Capitol at Tuscaloosa 1826-1846

Proud stands the Capitol on "Childress HiII,"* 

Still nobly bowered in primeval oaks,

 And hears the Warrior waters dash their foam 

And thunder down the Appalachian rocks;

 And sees, across the stream, the purple woods 

Rise tier on tier until the Sipsey ridge 

Berims the western sky. 

Its walls upreared On Roman arch and Grecian architrave, 

Strong laid in native Alabama stone, 

The mordant years defy. 

Beneath its dome 

The deeply pious, democratic- Murphy, **

With Scotia's accent rich upon his tongue; 

The gallant Gayle***, who dared "Old Hickory's" frown; 

The peerless Bagby****, with every gift save thrift; 

And many another leader, bold and true, 

The buoyant steps of the adolescent state. 

Firm guided on the path to fair renown.

 Its halls now silent- -save for the merry shouts 

Of school girl laughter- oft echoed to the voice 

Of lusty backwoods orators who spoke 

The tongue of Pitt and Burke and Sheridan*****.

'Twas here Calhoun's****** compeer, great Dixon Lewis*******, 

With brains that matched his mastodonic frame, 

First trained his logic on the rights of states 

And earnest gave of those maturer powers 

Which later shone in Washington. 

 'Twas here The great-souled patriot-poet Francis Key********

He who the starry banner sang to fame

Brought words of balm to a defiant state. 

And here Opothleyoholo's******** pathetic wait 

O'er wrongs inflicted on a banished race 

Deep moved the souls of men as westward on 

He led the remnant of his mighty tribe. 

Who knows but when the sable wings of Night 

Are thrown around the porticoes and dome 

Of this time-hallowed shrine, its corridors 

Again are peopled with the shades of those

 Who held high sway in the historic past?

 Perhaps from yonder windows the lightnings chained

 By man's invention they see along the streets 

Which, in their time, in darkness sheer were trod. 

Maybe they hear the mighty engines throb 

That tell the ways of craft and trade unknown 

To days that gave: them birth and make a new

 The city old in which their deeds were wrought.

The memories of the Capitol are one 

With those who sleep in near by "Greenwood" graves, 

And them it binds with those who live today 

And those to come in the long lapse of years; 

For, sharers are the living and the dead 

With those unborn in all that makes the state. 

And prize fore'er should be the sacred pile 

That ties the generations as they flow 

 In all the glories that are won by each 

Alike in war and every art of peace. THOMAS C. McCORVEY. University of Alabama. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/112341698/thomas-chalmers-mccorvey

from the August 23, 1923 TUSCALOOSA NEWS , the day after the Capitol building burned on Wednesday, August 22, 1923.

"Should the old building ever cease to be used for any public purpose-as it is today devoted to education- it should be as religiously cherished as are the Pantheon in Athens and the Coliseum in Rome." Thomas C. McCorvey in 1925 

* JAMES CHILDRESS (1773-1836 https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/68554008/james-childress  ) AND THE COUNTERFEITERS from page 31 of REMINISCENCES OF A LONG LIFE by William R. Smith ( 1815-1896     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Russell_Smith )

https://reclaimalabama.blogspot.com/2022/02/31-of-reminiscences-of-long-life-by.html

** John Murphy, Alabama politician 1786-1841 "Scotia's accent" refers to Murphy's retention of his Scottish ancestors' dialect. Murphy's district in Monroe County was known as "Scotland."   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murphy_(Alabama_politician)

*** John Gayle, Alabama politician 1792-1859 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gayle_(Alabama_politician)

****Arthur P. Bagby, Alabama politician 1794-1858 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_P._Bagby 

***** British politicians and famous orators William Pitt (1759-1806) and Edmund Burke (1729-1797 ) and Richard B. Sheridan (1751-1816) https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049803748&seq=7

******John C. Calhoun, South Carolina politician (1782-1850) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Calhoun 

*******Dixon Lewis, Alabama politician 1802-1848  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_H._Lewis

********Francis Scott Key, Maryland lawyer 1779-1843 TUSCALOOSA 200 MOMENT IN HISTORY: Francis Scott Key comes to Tuscaloosa

********Opothleyahola Creek Indian chief 1778-1863  Opothleyahola - Wikipedia