Halloween 2025

1983

1999

from the October 18, 1974 Birmingham News

WRITTEN IN 1854

Penciled Message adds to lore of Gaineswood

By Lib Bird, News Correspondent

 DEMOPOLIS Contractors working on the restoration of Gaineswood have uncovered a bit of history penciled by its builder in 1854. This week's finding will be added to the vast amount of history and archaeological research information already compiled for the Alabama Historical Commission, which now owns the ante-bellum mansion. Lewis Mayson, II, of Contractors, South Mobile, explained that in order to replace a beam in the hallway ceiling they removed the cap of one of the columns and discovered the message. 

PENCILED ON THE solid log column was the message, "This cap was made by Gen.Nathan B. Whitfield and put together the 9th day of August, 1854, in the 54th year of his age, being born the 19th of Sept. 1799 at Rockford, Lenoir County, North Carolina, and moved to Marengo County, Alabama, in the fall of 1834 and to this place in Feb. 1843." Earlier when replacing the plaster in the library, Lewis Mayson said they discovered a date etched on the original underneath plaster which was "31st August 1849." Just as Whitfield wrote in the house, he was also an avid letter writer. Luckily his descendents and other relatives had saved hundreds of these letters.

Their content helped in dating work on Gaineswood as well as providing a history of the architect and builder, Gen. Whitfield. The father and son, Maysons, are seventh and eighth generation carpenters. The elder Mayson said *'I started as an apprentice boy in 1929. I've been 45 years in carpentry.

I began restoring furniture and went from furniture to shotguns and then to buildings.". Restoration work on state owned Gaineswood should be completed by January 1st, according to Mayson. MAYSON SAID "if we are not through by then, we'll start losing money." With already more than 125 working days on the project, the outside of Gaineswood is showing improvement and changes. The all white color, which most remember, has been changed to a cream which was determined by archaeological research. A screened inside porch was removed and one built to the original dimensions.

All except one of the columns on the porch had to be replaced because of deterioration. The original columns were solid logs, Mayson pointed * out. Gaineswood was transferred to the Alabama Historical Commission in 1971 after having been opened to the public while under the jurisdiction of the parks department of the Conservation Service. A lengthy archaeological and historical research program was launched to determine exactly how the a historic home looked when its builder, General Nathan Bryan Whitfield, completed his construction.

Milo Howard, chairman of the Alabama Historical Commission and director of the Alabama Archives and History department, said "When completed Gaineswood will be one of the most highly authentic restorations attempted in the United States." ** 21. THE PRESENT $357,662 contract with Contractors South will not finalize the authenicated restoration planned as a result of the research. This first phase was both to preserve and restore as far as funds were available. Completed architectual plans even visualize again having a lake in the foreground as shown in Sartain's engraving of Gaineswood in 1860. However, that would have to be in a distant future as Demopolis High School is now located on the site of the lake.

While the restoration on Gaineswood will apparently extend for years, so did the actual construction of the mansion. Gen. Whitfield was his own architect and created his masterpiece by making numerous changes and additions for more than a decade..

 

from the July 18, 1964 TUSCALOOSA NEWS

Thornhill Rich In History

by Lib Bird News Correspondent

FORKLAND - A great-great-granddaughter of the original owner of Thornhill is the new owner of the antebellum mansion. Mr. and Mrs. Brockway Jackson acquired the ancestral home Wednesday when the house and furnishings were sold at auction.

Jackson's bid of $162,000 for the mansion and 805 acres of land was the top single bid. Earlier the home and for other parcels of land had been auctioned separately to bring bids totaling $99 933.40.

Thornhill, sitting on top of a hill overlooking miles of rolling green pastures was built in the 1830s by James Innes Thornton of Fredricksburg, Va. who came to Alabama as a young man. After the death of his first wife, Thronton returned to Virginia to marry a childhood sweetheart, Ann Amelia Smith. When their daughter was born they were living in Tuscaloosa where he served as Secretary of State at the state capitol. He built Thornhill on land purchased by the Bragg family in the 1830s.

The auction was held according to the will of the late Mrs. Helen Williams Allison Thornton. Her Husband the late James Innes Thornton, II, a grandson of the builder, had no children, although she was survived by sisters and Allison children.

Jackson's purchase of Thornhill followed by more than seven years of his buying another antebellum mansion, Rosemount, nearby. He later sold that home to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Simpson of Birmingham.

Oddly enough one of his competitive bidders at Rosemount is now Jackson's son-in-law, Watson Jones, of Camden, had not met Ann Jackson then. At the auction, they and little Brockway Jackson Joens were in the background.

At Thornhill hundreds of antique dealers and collectors were present for the auction of the furnishings which followed a barbeque lunch on the lawn. Between the two auctions visitors were invited in to see the beautiful home. Most of the furniture was auctioned from the porch but at the end the auctioneer moved inside for the larger pieces which included a bed selling for $975.

The item arousing the most curiosity at its high bid of $112 was a doll house. Two large printings sold for a total of $600 and the pier mir-(typo)

chases totaling $6,000.

There were 440 items sold for a total of $13,070, according to J.L. Todd Auction Co. A Huntsville resident who was restoring a home made purchases totaling $6000.

Even a kerosene lamp, which would sell in a country store for $1.29 brought $500 in competitive bidding. Everything was sold including mops and brooms. One gun sold for $70.

When the visitors tired of the sale for awhile they strolled about on the beautiful lawn and looking down over the hillside where they could see rolling pastures for miles around.

Betty Woolf Thornton

"This is a photo of them in 1920.  In the background was Betty’s father Judge Woolf who was the probate judge for Marengo County.  He lived at Thornhill in his later years. Betty and he are buried in Dayton, AL."~ Brock Jones

page 97 of STARS FELL ON ALABAMA by Carl Carmer:

Miss Betty said," I brought this old love letter of a planter's son out here for you to see. It doesn't belong to us but I borrowed it because I thought you would be interested. They wrote a different style in those days."

Last days of warm weather catfish