Friday, June 05, 2026
ALTON LAMBERT (1910-1986) talks about being an Alabama prison guard.
Dr Lois Alton “Pop” Lambert Sr. (1910-1986) - Find a Grave Memorial
Mr. Lambert's remarks come from his autobiography that is included in his two volume HISTORY OF TUSCALOOSA COUNTY. One of the people Alton lists in his "ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS" in Volume 1 of his history is Lester "Leck" Appling, my late wife, Sharon Swindle Register's uncle. James Lester “Leck” Appling (1909-1993) - Find a Grave Memorial
"On 22 August 1938, eleven of them made an attempt to escape. We shot six or eight of them. All of them were captured. The attempted escape was on Monday afternoon about 4:00 p.m. The last of the escapees was caught on Thursday, 25 August, 1938. About the same time the last one was caught, one of the ones ho had been shot on Monday, died."
Thursday, June 04, 2026
ANDREW PICKENS (1739-1817) & THE TUSCALOOSA COUNTY LINE
The Hopewell Treaty between the U.S. and the Choctaw Indians was signed at Andrew Pickens Hopewell plantation on South Carolina's Keowee River in 1786. Pickens County Alabama is named after Andrew Pickens. Andrew Pickens (congressman) - Wikipedia
- The Rivers: The property historically overlooked the rushing waters where the Keowee River and Twelvemile Creek converged to form the Seneca River. [1]
- Inundation: Today, that entire river confluence and the adjacent valley have been completely flooded by the creation of Lake Hartwell. [1]
- Current Ownership: The Hopewell property, now known as Cherry Farm, is owned by Clemson University. The surviving historic home is preserved as a window into the state's complex history with early native diplomacy and antebellum plantation economics. [1, 2, 3]
- Lake Hartwell - Wikipedia
- What they were: A trio of foundational peace and boundary treaties signed in Hopewell, South Carolina, by U.S. commissioners (including Benjamin Hawkins and Andrew Pickens) and Native nations. [1, 2]
- The Treaties: The Cherokee signed in 1785, while the Choctaw and Chickasaw signed theirs on January 3 and January 10, 1786, respectively. [1, 2, 3]
- Purpose: To establish government-to-government relations, define tribal boundaries in the Southeast, and bring the tribes under U.S. protection over Spanish influence. [1]
- River Divide: According to official treaty boundary records, the watershed dividing the Black Warrior River and the Cahaba River functioned as the official territorial divide in this region, specifically separating Creek and Choctaw hunting grounds. [1]
- The "Black Warrior" Border: Historically, this meant the dense forests and rivers of modern Tuscaloosa County fell right along this tense, contested frontier zone between sovereign tribal claims. [1]
- Tribal Homelands: The broader region of northwest Alabama and the Black Warrior basin served as an intersection of Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek homelands as recognized—and subsequently highly disputed—by the U.S. government as settlers expanded westward. [1]