First Families of St. Clair

The foundation for generations

Story by Joe Whitten

Photos by Wallace Bromberg Jr.

Submitted photos

In 2017, Kathy Burttram and Rose Mary Hyatt had a bee of an idea buzzing in their proverbial pioneer sunbonnets. Together, they developed the idea into a reality that is as satisfying to a lover of local history as honey on a hot buttered biscuit was to a family at breakfast in a log cabin. They called their project The First Families of St. Clair County, Alabama, and brought it to fruition during the county’s bicentennial year, 2018.

Having loved local history for years, the two women were knowledgeable and capable of accomplishing their goal. The aim of First Families is to collect and preserve the lineages of families who settled in the county by 1818 or earlier. To be accepted as a member of First Families, the applicant had to provide documented proof of descent from the settler-ancestor.

With plans finalized by late 2017, announcements appeared in libraries and newspapers, and soon requests for application guidelines began to arrive. As completed membership forms came in, the project team began vetting documentation, the number of names on the eligible list increased, and on November 20, 2018, First Families presented membership certificates to 51 descendants of early settlers.

Wendy Smith’s documentation as a descendant of James Ash arrived first. Later, four others joined under his name.

From Franklin County, Georgia, James and wife Nancy Martin Ash arrived in this area shortly after his brother John Ash had settled in Beaver Valley in 1817. James Ash prospered as a successful farmer and acquired much land. He died in 1860, leaving a large estate.

James’ son, William, born in Springville in 1819, also farmed and owned 357 acres in Branchville.

When the Civil War began, William and his sons, James Lafayette and William Gilbert, joined the First Tennessee & Alabama Independent Vidette Cavalry at Bridgeport, Alabama. However, William’s brother, Gabriel Simon, fought for the Confederacy.

In August 1864, William and William Gilbert, with a unit that had loaded cotton for Union use onto wagons, had stopped for the night near Woodville, Alabama. That night, Confederate troops ambushed them, killing all but 14. William and son died. The survivors were taken across the Tennessee River, where they were mowed down in a volley of shots. However, John Kenner survived to tell of the experience.

James Lafayette survived the war and returned to St. Clair County.

St. Clair County had a number of Union sympathizers. In her History of Steele, Alabama, Vivian Qualls noted that only 14 percent of St. Clair landowners owned slaves. Most farmers took care of themselves, with family members doing the work. Mrs. Qualls wrote, “…brothers fought against each other, one with the North and one with the South.”

Twenty persons qualified for membership with ancestor Absalom Autrey. (The name came to be spelled “Awtrey.”) Gerald Tucker, first to qualify as a descendant of Absalom, lives today on the farm that belonged to his great grandfather, James Monroe Awtrey, who was the great grandson of Absalom. James Monroe had inherited the farm from his father, James Henry Awtrey. Gerald Tucker records that James Henry wasn’t a wealthy farmer, but that he gave each of his sons $2,000.00 and “…told them to go out and make their own way.” Tucker also stated, “James Monroe Awtrey, having fought for the North in the Civil War, chose to go to Missouri afterward. He and his wife both died of an illness within five months of each other. James Henry Awtrey brought the two children, Phillip and Zula, back to St. Clair County to live with him.” Frances Leona Awtrey, daughter of Phillip, was Gerald Tucker’s mother.

One Autrey/Awtrey family historian states that Absalom came into our area in 1806 or 1807, settling at the foot of Blount Mountain. Later he owned 153 acres at Greensport on the Coosa River.

However, in a November 29, 2018, St. Clair Times article, qualifying descendant James South stated that the Absalom Autrey family came here toward the end of the 18th Century. “There was an Indian massacre that killed his wife and two or three of his children. He moved back to Georgia territory, and in 1800, he moved back into St. Clair County near Greensport.”

According to oral history, Absalom died November 13, 1833 — the night of the spectacular meteor shower which still lives in state history as “the night stars fell on Alabama.” He was buried near Greensport.

Mary Dearman is the only woman through whom a membership in First Families has come. Moving her family here from South Carolina around 1816-17, Mary is known as the founder of Dearman’s Chapel Methodist Church near Steele — a worthy remembrance by any measure.

Four joined First Families through Revolutionary War veterans Noel Battles and Captain Edward Beeson.

Mattie Lou Teague Crow recorded that Noel Battles lived in Albemarle County, Virginia, in 1776 when he enlisted in “Captain Clough Shelton’s Company which saw service under Colonels Edward Stevens, John Green and Samuel Cabell, respectively.”

At the Birmingham Library, Mrs. Crow discovered on microfiche Noel Battles’ account of his three years in the American Revolution. In an article she wrote, “He fought in the Battle of Trenton and stated that the battle was brief and bloody. The enemy was soon overcome as many of them were drunk after the long Christmas celebration. …The Battle at Brandywine Creek was a painful experience as they were badly beaten by General Howe’s men. Seven hundred were killed or taken prisoner and Noel Battles received a flesh wound in his right arm.” Battles was wounded again at the Battle of Monmouth, June 1777.

After the war, Noel and his wife, Rhoda, moved to Georgia, and from Georgia, into what would become St. Clair County Alabama. He and Rhoda are buried in Old Shiloh Church Cemetery on Highway 11 between Steele and Attalla. This church’s location is now in Etowah County, although it was in St. Clair County when the Battles died. On April 19, 1998, the Etowah County Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution honored the memory of Noel Battles with a grave marker.

According to local records, Edward Beeson / Beason and wife, Ann, settled in today’s St. Clair County around 1814, where they built a log cabin and “…lived among the Indians until they were removed.”

Edward enlisted in the army in the spring of 1778, Guilford County, North Carolina. He was commissioned Captain in April 1779 and served in Captain David Brower’s Company.

Edward and Ann are buried at Union Beason Cemetery. His grave was marked by the Nancy Hart Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Edward’s son, Curtis Grubb Beason, participated in county and state government all his life. He served on the Alabama Constitutional Convention in 1865, according to The Heritage of St. Clair County, Alabama. The antebellum home he built (c1840) still stands, well-kept, in Beason’s Cove between Ashville and Oneonta.

Rev. Thomas Newton and wife Ann Martin Newton were the parents of Margaret Newton who married John Ash, of political renown in St. Clair County. In 1817, both families joined a westward bound caravan from South Carolina as it journeyed through Georgia. The caravan had stopped to rest in today’s Beaver Valley a few miles below present-day Ashville. When a tragic accident left Betsy Ann Ash dead, John and Margaret Ash and Thomas and Ann Newton chose to settle in Beaver Valley rather than abandon Betsy Ann’s grave.

The log home that Ash and Newton first constructed in 1817 stands — the oldest surviving structure in St. Clair County. Both families lived there until John Ash built his own dwelling in 1818.

As years progressed, John Ash added to his home, until it stood a welcoming home in the county.

Some of our older readers will remember the white-painted home standing pristine in the sun; however, the home today stands forlorn in Beaver Valley.

John Ash helped organize the government of St. Clair County. Records show that he was the first elected judge in the county and that he served three terms as state senator. The naming of the county seat Ashville honored the legacy of John Ash. One person provided proof of John Ash lineage.

In his book, Branchville, Alabama: The History of a Little Town, 1819-2007, Kenneth Hodges wrote about Rev. Thomas Newton, stating that, as a minister of the Presbyterian church, “Thomas was an excellent, impressive, emotional preacher with the ability to deliver sermons that would often melt both the speaker and the listener to tears.”

In Georgia, Newton had been a circuit-riding pastor, preaching at a different church each Sunday of the month. Hodges records that when the westward migration began, church membership dwindled as the population of communities decreased. Hodges gives this as a reason for the Newtons joining the westward caravan.

Both a Newton historian and Mattie Lou Teague Crow mention that the Newtons were instrumental in organizing the Presbyterian Church in Ashville. The denomination first met at Mount Pleasant Meeting House, which was also the place of worship for the Methodist and Baptist. In 1879, the Presbyterians erected their own modern Victorian church, still standing in Ashville today.

Three persons gained membership on Rev. Thomas Newton’s name.

Jeremiah Collins arrived here penniless in 1818—according to some accounts. However, Jeremiah Collins’ great great granddaughter, Barbara Goldstein Bonfield, stated in an email interview that Collins researcher, Kathie Collins Jones, “…found land records from South Carolina with Jeremiah and William Collins listed on them, tons of them.” Great great grandson Jimmy Goldstein believes this indicates that Jeremiah didn’t leave South Carolina so poor he had to bring his possessions to Alabama on a sled instead of a wagon, as some researchers have written.

Writing for The Heritage of St. Clair County, Alabama, Bonfield said that Jeremiah settled along the Coosa River and announced his goal of becoming a landowner. Records show that he owned land in Easonville and Ragland in St. Clair County and substantial acreage in Talladega County. Bonfield tells of a deed, dated June 25, 1842, which transferred to Jeremiah 300 acres of land in the “Coosa Land District acquired by the United States in a treaty with the Creek Indians.” President Tyler signed the deed.

Jeremiah achieved his goal of possessing land, but his son, Jesse Collins had other goals —preaching the gospel of Christ. What a disappointment to Jeremiah, who desired his son to become prominent in Alabama politics. Bonfield writes that Jeremiah told Jesse “…he was not raising a son to be a ‘back-woods Baptist preacher.’”

Jesse returned to South Carolina where he continued to study theology, professed his faith in Christ, and became a minister of the Gospel. Jesse returned to St. Clair County with his bride and began pastoring Baptist churches in the county. During his ministry, he pastored several churches in St. Clair, Shelby and Calhoun counties and helped found a number of Baptist churches.

Jesse had obtained his goal of preaching the Gospel, but his father, Jeremiah, had never embraced Christ nor expressed interest in Christianity. Jesse longed for his father to accept Christ and be baptized. His longing was fulfilled, when at age 91, Jeremiah became a Christian and was baptized.

But who baptized Jeremiah? Mattie Lou Teague Crow wrote that “…frail Jeremiah was strapped into a small chair and the preacher son lowered him into the waters of the Coosa River in baptism.” However, Barbara Bonfield records that in a 1927 written document, Jeremiah’s granddaughter, Magnolia Embry, stated that “…her grandfather was baptized by Reverend Renfro in Chocolocco Creek near Schmit’s Mill in Talladega County. Such are the mysteries of family history.

Jeremiah died in 1873, age 94. Jesse died tragically of a pistol shot. The fact that accounts differ on how the pistol discharged doesn’t diminish the Gospel ministry of Jesse A. Collins and the spiritual legacy he left in St. Clair County. Collins was well-known among Alabama Baptists.

B.F. Riley, in his History of the Baptists of Alabama, recorded that “As financial secretary of Howard College, corresponding secretary of the East Alabama Baptist Convention, and pastor in St. Clair County, Mr. Collins rendered valuable service.”

One other minister must be noted. Hezekiah Moor settled in today’s Moody/Leeds area. Moor history is recorded at length in Leeds…Her Story. Hezekiah’s son, also named Hezekiah, was a Baptist minister who helped organize churches in St. Clair County. The record of his death and the vengeance of his son are matters of record.

Rev. P.S. Montgomery wrote in the Southwestern Baptist, February 4, 1864, that Hezekiah was murdered by a bushwhacker on Kelley’s Creek Road during the Civil War. “Having returned home on furlough, he found much mischief was being done by robbers in this county. …Bro. M. gathered a company of men and was indeed successful in catching them. But alas! About the middle of May 1863, as he was returning home alone, a wretch secreted himself by the way, and committed the awful deed and fled.”

The Leeds history states that the man who killed Rev. Moor was Jeff Darty, a soldier who had deserted the company commanded by Hezekiah’s brother.

Hezekiah’s son, Joseph, was eight when his father was killed. When he turned 14, he set out to find Darty in Texas where he had fled. Joseph joined up with a cattle drive, and within three years ended up in the same cattle drive as Jeff Darty.

The cowboys ended a long-day’s drive, and “…after all the cowboys had rolled up in their blankets for a night of well-earned rest, Joe slipped to Darty’s bedroll, took out his knife and slashed Darty’s throat, killing him instantly. Vengeance was his at last. Joe saddled his horse that very night and came back home to Alabama.”

The enchantment of St. Clair County family history lies in such stories as these.

In planning this project, Burttram and Hyatt took direction from First Families projects in other counties in Alabama and other states,

Aware that Etowah County historian, Jerry Bartlett Jones, Sr., had assigned to the Northeast Alabama Genealogical Society any proceeds of his First Families of St. Clair County and Northeast Alabama, Burttram and Hyatt wanted the proceeds from this project to be shared equally by Springville Preservation Society and St. Clair Historical Society.

The Springville Preservation Society, formed in April 1992, helps protect and maintain Springville’s historic downtown and collects and preserves artifacts of the area’s history.

The Preservation Society owns three buildings in Springville: the Masonic Lodge, which serves as a museum and archives on Springville and the surrounding area; the Little White House, which also serves as the Springville Welcome Center and is rented out for special events; and the old Rock School, their current restoration project. Frank Waid is president of the society.

The St Clair Historical Society was organized in 1972 with the purpose of preserving the county’s history. The primary focus of the first years was restoring the John Looney double dog-trot log home, which is the only surviving example in Alabama. Published from 1993 until 2009, Cherish: The Quarterly Journal of St. Clair Historical Society, focused on both history and genealogy. Cherish can now be accessed online at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. The president of the society is Sandi Maroney, librarian at Ragland Public Library.

There are African-American citizens in St. Clair County whose lineage goes back to the earliest years of our county, and Burttram and Hyatt are hopeful that some will make application for membership. Lineage can be hard to establish, but here are some sources. Antebellum church minutes list first names of slave members, and often gives the slave owner’s name. Antebellum court records, accessible at the Ashville Museum and Archives, can provide avenues of research.

And don’t overlook obituaries of former slaves, for quite a number were published in county newspapers, as in the following.

 “Mar. 2, 1899, Southern Alliance: Oldest Man in the County Dead. Dock Collins, colored, age 106 years, died at his home near Riverside on the 12th day of Feb. 1899. He was born in Lawrence District, South Carolina, in 1793, and was sold at public auction at Lawrence Court House when he was about 7 years of age, and bought by Jeremiah Collins, who was the grandfather of Attorney Jas. A. Embry, of our town. He was brought to this county just after the sale, where he continued to reside up till the day of his death.

“He was also the first Negro to own land in the county and a peaceable law-abiding man all his life. He was owned by the same Jeremiah Collins when freedom was declared, having had no other master since a boy. He was almost a life-long member of the Methodist church, and the good advice which he had always given to his race resulted in many of them securing homes around and near him. The influence exerted by this old man among his people was wonderful, he never failing to advise them to be truthful, industrious and honest.

“During his life, he was married twice, and was the father of 14 children, 5 of whom are now living, and some of them property owners. He died within a quarter of a mile from the old home of his master, and the cause assigned for his death was old age. He passed away seemingly without pain and retained his mental faculties till the very last.” l

Editor’s Note: St. Clair County history is rich and exciting. Discover hopes our readers will become excited as well and join in the task of preserving our treasured past. Since the First Families of St. Clair County is an ongoing endeavor, if your family has roots in our county from 1818 or before please connect with Mrs. Burttram or Mrs. Hyatt at firstfamiliesstclairal@gmail.com. Descendants of families settling here in 1819 through 1820 may apply for membership in First Families as a Founding Family member.

Pell City Past and Present

Story by Scottie Vickery

Photos courtesy Pell City Library

Photos by Graham Hadley

Even the walls of the Maxwell Building in downtown Pell City have a story to tell, just like the others lining the blocks of Cogswell Avenue.

The first brick building constructed in town, it still bears the scars of a 1902 dynamite explosion at the nearby train depot. The accident killed two people, injured several others, and left a large crack in the building’s exterior.

The structure was built in 1890, a year before the city was incorporated, and has been home to a boarding house, grocery stores, post office and hotel over its 129-year history. It’s the only survivor of the handful of houses and buildings that made up the original eight square blocks of Pell City. Today, the building that boasts so much historical charm now counts art galleries and a martial arts studio among its many tenants.

“It’s a monument to the humble beginnings of town and stands as a testament to the resilient nature of its people,” Urainah Glidewell said of the Maxwell Building and its many lives. The organizer of the 4th Annual Pell City Historical Walking Tours held each Saturday in April, Glidewell said the building is just one of many that participants can explore. “A lot of people who live in Pell City don’t know much about its history, and there are so many wonderful stories. This is a way for us to open the doors for the community and kind of invite them in,” she said.

Glidewell, who has called Pell City home for 13 years, researched the origins of the city, its founders and businesses for the tours, which average about 150 participants each year. Led by community volunteers, they are a project of The Heart of Pell City, a group dedicated to the preservation, revitalization and cultural development of the downtown historical district. More than 30 cities and towns across the state, including Springville, are hosting tours this year as part of the Alabama Department of Tourism’s initiative to highlight the rich history of the state.

“Everyone who calls Pell City home, who has a business here, they’re now part of the history of Pell City,” said Glidewell, who serves as president of The Heart of Pell City. “We’re walking in the footsteps of all the people who came before us. We thought the tours would be a wonderful way to educate people.”

In its infancy

Downtown Pell City, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, has a long, storied history. Founded by railroad investors, a town charter was issued in 1887, and the city was officially incorporated in May 1891. It was named for one of the financial backers, George Hamilton Pell of New York.

Pell City was nearly abandoned following the Panic of 1893, but it was redeveloped after Sumter Cogswell and his wife, Lydia DeGaris Cogswell, moved to town in 1901 and bought the city for the bargain price of $3,000. “Mr. Cogswell influenced the location here in 1902 of the Pell City Manufacturing Company, subsequently Avondale Mills,” according to the historical marker in front of the courthouse. “The town’s prosperity was secured after that time.”

Much of Pell City’s growth over the years can be attributed to the construction of I-20 and Logan Martin Lake, both built during the 1960s. It’s the historical district, however, that gave the largest city in St. Clair County its start. The district includes two blocks of Cogswell Avenue, as well as several buildings on 19th Street North, 21st Street North and 20th Street South.

Here’s a look at some of the buildings and their stories, according to Glidewell’s research:

Pell City Drug Company/Rexall Drugs, 1901 Cogswell Avenue, was built in 1903 by Dr. R.A. Martin. When Comer Hospital closed in 1931, he opened a six-bed clinic above the drugstore and started construction on the 42-bed Martin Hospital, which was directly behind the store and now houses law offices. The drug store, which closed its doors in 2001, sold everything from prescriptions to school books during its nearly 100-year history and featured a soda fountain and lunch counter, according to Carolyn Hall, Martin’s granddaughter. Today, visitors can still enjoy a meal at El Cazador Mexican Grill, which opened there several years ago.

Singleton’s Barber Shop, which opened in 1905 at 1911 Cogswell Avenue, is now home to Partners by Design, a multimedia marketing company that publishes Discover, The Essence of St. Clair, as well as other magazines. They don’t offer haircuts, but today’s visitors who are having a bad hair day can also buy baseball caps and visors there, as well as T-shirts, sweatshirts and other products promoting Logan Martin Lake. Partners by Design sells its brand of LakeLife™ products at its downtown office. The brand’s origin comes from a logo the company designed years ago and trademarked.

The Maxwell Building, which once housed a herd of goats, was originally built by John Maxwell, who was trained in the leather trade. The original plans called for the building to be used as a tannery, but records are unclear as to whether or not that actually happened. The building currently houses a number of businesses, including Merle Norman Cosmetics Studio, Artscape Gallery, Mission Submissions Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Dirk A. Walker Fine Art Gallery, Mila Le Beauty Bar and Lilly Designs.

The Willingham Building, built in 1920 at 1922 Cogswell Avenue, was originally home to a furniture store and grocery in the front part of the building and a funeral parlor in the back. Joe Kilgroe later acquired the funeral service, which is now known as Kilgroe Funeral Home and has locations in Pell City and Leeds. The building later housed Hagan Drugs and is now home to Judy’s PC Tees, which makes custom Tshirts.

Pell City Hardware Company was built in 1904 at 1910 Cogswell Avenue and sold everything from tools to guns, cutlery, and dishes. One of the original partners was Hardy Cornett, who at one point opened a hotel in the Maxwell Building. Pell City Hardware was sold in the 1980s and became Gossett Hardware Company. Today, the building is home to three businesses: Express Shipping, Toast Sandwich Eatery, and The Old Gray Barn, an antiques and collectibles store with finds that include cutlery and dishes of days gone by.

“I love history,” said Glidewell, who dresses in period costumes for the tours she leads. “I didn’t grow up in Pell City or have family roots here, but this is my home now. I’ve loved looking back at all the people who helped build Pell City. Being able to preserve that and share it in this way has been very rewarding.”

Chandler Mountain

A pinnacle of St. Clair History

Story by Joe Whitten
Submitted photos

Rising to an elevation of approximately 1,315 feet in the northern part of St. Clair County, Chandler Mountain extends from the southwest to the northeast for about 10 miles.

Its average width is about two and a half miles with an area of about 25 square miles. The terrain is rugged with numerous outcroppings of rock.

According to Place Names in Alabama (The University of Alabama Press, 1999), by Virginia Foscue, the mountain got its name from Joel Chandler, “who brought his family to this area soon after the Creek Indians were removed in 1814.” He settled on Little Canoe Creek. The mountain behind his place provided good hunting, and hunters, who used a trail near his property to climb to the hunting ground, began calling the mountain Chandler’s Mountain. In time, the apostrophe “s” was dropped, and Chandler Mountain has been the name since.

Despite the rugged terrain, settlers arrived. The first, Cicero Johnson from northwest Georgia, entered land on Chandler Mountain in 1855. Historian Vivian Buffington Qualls records that others soon came with their families from Georgia and the Carolinas to join Johnson: Franklin Smith, Jake Lutes, John Bearden, W.V. McCay, John Hollingsworth, Boze Wood, Jake and Bob Robinson, John Hollingsworth and Levi Hutchens. Hezekiah McWaters came from Troy, Alabama. So, the area began to be settled and cultivated.

Darrell Hyatt tells a family story of his Robinson great grandfather, George, who as a boy learned to play the fiddle. During the Civil War, when Confederate troops had camped between today’s US 231 and the Beason House, George would entertain them by playing the fiddle. Years later, George married Susie, who played the banjo. Darrell shared a treasured photo of the couple—Susie holding her banjo; George, his fiddle.

An interesting feature of this Chandler Mountain lies in the water level. Water for family and livestock came from dug wells or creeks on the mountain and in the valley. According to written sources, mountain well-diggers struck water within 25 or 30 feet, whereas in the valley, wells sometimes went as much as 75 feet down before finding water. 

Lee Gilliland and Larry DeWeese, who grew up on the mountain, said that early on, wells were hand-dug and lined with rock, brick or wood. They also spoke of “punched wells.” A bit about 4 inches in diameter and attached to a long heavy tube was mounted on a truck. A motor pulled the tube high and then let it drop, pounding it into the earth. This process took up to two weeks before it reached the water source. The steady pounding could be heard for quite a distance.

Numerous springs bubble from the ground, but the water doesn’t flow far before sinking back into the earth. In 1949, D.O. Langston wrote his master’s degree thesis at Auburn University about Chandler Mountain. He stated that “Gulf Creek is the only stream that flows any distance, and its water disappears in dry seasons.”

Two roads give access to the mountain: Steele Gap on the east and Hyatt Gap on the west. Hyatt Gap is named for John M. Hyatt, who migrated from Heard County, Georgia, around 1875.

For his master’s thesis, Langston interviewed Hillard Hyatt, who gave an account of John Hyatt’s coming to Chandler. Hillard told that John, living in Georgia, fell in love with a young woman. Her parents objected to the courtship, so John came to his cousin, Hezakiah McWaters, on the mountain. After working for McWaters “for a year or so,” John bought “80 acres near the southwest end of the mountain.” Then, “…he went back home to Heard County, married his childhood sweetheart, and they came back home, bringing all they possessed on one small pony. They arrived with 20 cents in money.”  John’s 80 acres included what is today’s Horse Pens 40, an international tourist and recreational attraction because of its centuries-old rock formations. Its history includes an ancient Native American burial ground, a hideaway during the Civil War and for outlaw Rube Burrow. It was nationally known for bluegrass festivals with rising stars of the day like Lester Flatt, Bill Monroe, Charlie Daniels, Ricky Skaggs and Emmylou Harris. Today, it is home to world class bouldering, hosting the triple crown climbing championship.

Darrell Hyatt recounted that family lore named John Hyatt as the last person to be granted a homestead in Alabama and that John and wife arrived here with all they owned in a pillow case. Wikipedia says the park derived its name from the original deed when allocating the acreage: “the home 40, the farming 40, and the horse pens 40.”

 

Organization of schools and churches

According to Mrs. Qualls, the first school on Chandler was called Mt. Lebanon. The building was across the road from today’s Mt. Lebanon First Congregational Methodist Church. A note written in old minutes of the church states, “A building was near the site of Mt. Lebanon Church in the late 1880s and was used for school meetings.”

The Mt. Lebanon School was on the east end of Chandler. On the west end, around 1895, the McCay School was organized. Mrs. Qualls records that John Hyatt had recently built a new house and donated the logs from his old home for the school building on the McCay property. Langston states, “After this house was built, the school then alternated between the church located on the east end of the mountain and the school on the west end. The church being on the east end and the school on the west made it necessary to alternate between the two to keep peace and harmony. …” Then, in 1902, the school relocated to a new building on the Hollingsworth property.

The two schools eventually consolidated, and in time the school became the Chandler Mountain Junior High School, which flourished for many years. The students consistently made high scores on the yearly standardized tests. The county school system closed the school and today buses students to Steele and Ashville.

The date that Mt. Lebanon Church started worshiping together is not known, but they likely met in the Mt. Lebanon school building. It is known that the Mt. Lebanon First Congregational Methodist Church officially organized in July 1905 and that William Robinson, a Congregational minister, would come from Georgia to the mountain to visit his Robinson relatives. While on these visits, he conducted revival meetings, and one of these revival meetings culminated in the establishing of Mt. Lebanon Church. William Robinson served as the first pastor from 1905 to 1911.

The church purchased land on which to construct a building from Bent Engle. They paid $2 an acre for two acres. A penciled note in some old minutes record that Jeff Smith donated land for the cemetery.

From 1933 to 1936 the church had a woman pastor—Annie Struckmeyer Moats, an ordained minister in the Congregational Church. Annie’s husband was Alley Mathis Moats. Annie’s granddaughter, Barbara Robinson, is a current member of the church.

Mt. Lebanon celebrated its centennial in 2005, and as it has done for over a century, remains a vibrant contribution to Chandler Mountain.

Chandler Mountain Baptist Church through the Years—1910-2010, compiled by Ellis Lee Gilliland and Mary Gilliland, recounts that on Oct. 22, 1910, members of the Missionary Baptist Church met at Cross Roads, or as some called it, Pleasant Valley, in Greasy Cove District near Gallant, Alabama, and organized a missionary Baptist church. The organizing presbytery consisted of John Heptenstall, Colman Buckner, Mon Umphres, J.D. Vicars, J.B. Rodgers and H.H. Turley.

Minutes dated Nov. 6, 1910, give that name as Cross Roads Baptist Church, which indicates that was its first name. These minutes show the church elected John Heptenstall as minister and M.C. Rogers, son of Deacon J.B. Rogers, as church clerk.

Years passed, new buildings replaced outgrown ones, and in March 2001, the church named a committee to proceed with plans for building a new sanctuary with a basement fellowship hall and to obtain a loan for a stated amount. The committee completed its job, and worship services moved from the old 1948 building into the new. The first service in the new building occurred on Sept. 9, 2001. The church paid off the loan in 2011. They used the 1948 building as a youth facility.

Then in 2017, structural weakness in the trusses caused unsafe conditions in the new sanctuary, and the congregation had to meet in the old building again. Over the years, church members have been faithful and resilient in difficult times, and so has it been in this set-back. The repairs haven’t been completed yet, but the church is making progress and looking forward to being back into the 2001 sanctuary.

Chandler Mountain Baptist Church celebrated its centennial in 2010 and continues its 108-year legacy of a faithful church body that is a source of spiritual strength to the community.

 

Lumber and Sawmills

The Ashville Museum and Archives has photocopies of articles Kenneth Gilliland wrote of his family and the mountain. One tells of the logging industry of the 1920s. There were sections of timber that had never been cut over and contained “a large supply of virgin timber, mainly pine trees. The pines were tall and straight. We called them ‘Old Field’ pines. Many of the trees would yield 12” x 12” timbers, eighteen to twenty-four feet long.”

Kenneth’s and Lee’s daddy, Sylvester Gilliland, built a portable sawmill that he could move into a tract of timber and have it set up in a day or two. Kenneth wrote, “A gasoline automobile engine was used to power the mill. Daddy used an engine out of a 1927 Buick for many years. He equipped it with a gravity-fed carburetor system from a Model A Ford. He would saw 8 to 12 thousand board feet of lumber a day if all went well. … The trees were all cut down and cut into logs of the correct length by two-man crosscut saw” and the “… logs were snaked in by mules.”

In those days, men found work wherever they could — usually for $1 a day. Gilliland paid his workers $2.50 a day because “they were worth it.”

In an interview, Lee Gilliland commented that his dad could do anything he set his mind to. His brother, Kenneth, recorded one such endeavor — electrifying their home seven years before Alabama Power climbed the mountain with their electricity in 1939-40. He wrote: “…electricity came to the S.B. ‘Vester’ and Dora Gilliland family about 1932. Daddy installed two 32-volt D.C. Delco Light Plants. They were set on concrete slabs in the corner of the garage. These were a one-cylinder gasoline engine pulling a direct coupled D.C. generator. These engines would run on kerosene also. They would charge a bank of lead/acid batteries. Wire was run from the bank of batteries into the house. Mom’s first appliance was a 32 V.D.C. iron bought from Teague’s Hardware in Ashville.”

In a 1977 interview with Dale Short of The Birmingham News, Sylvester Gilliland said, “The first 5 dollars I ever got hold of after I was grown, I sat down with the Sears-Roebuck catalog and ordered me a book about automotive mechanics. Most folks around thought I was a little touched, because not only did we not have any sign of a car, but even if we had, we couldn’t have got it on or off the mountain, roads being like they were.”

Observing that Gilliland devoured the automotive book, then ordered a book about steam power, then one about hydraulics, and then one about radios, Short commented, “Now he can look back over half a century of keeping sawmills whirring, gins ginning, mowers cutting, and in later years, radios and televisions playing.”

It would be correct to say that Sylvester Gilliland was the right man at the right time for Chandler Mountain.

 

Peach paradise?

Many do not know that mountain farmers grew peaches and sold them commercially. A Mr. Sloat and a Mr. Bush came from Michigan and introduced peach orchards to Chandler Mountain. Just when they came and what their first names were seem unrecorded, but it can be surmised they arrived toward the end of the 19th century. Sloat and Bush convinced the farmers, and they planted several thousand trees.

Vivian Qualls writes that around 1907 W.L. Yeilding from Birmingham bought Sloat’s orchard. She quotes Yeilding’s son, Ency, “The farm included about 200 acres of land, one-half of which was in peach trees. … The original trees … were about 7,500. About three years later, he began to plant another orchard of between 3,000 and 3,500 trees.”

Mr. Langston wrote that the men built a stone packing shed near the railroad depot in Steele, and “the trees bore their first crop about 1900. The fruit was of a desirable kind and of very high quality. The packing house was ready. The crop, properly graded and packed, sold for a good price. The farmers were well pleased with their new adventure.”

Several years of good peaches selling for good prices followed. Then the bottom fell out of the market. Langston records that one farmer hauled 304 bushes of high quality peaches to Steele and returned home with $12.08. His crop brought about four cents a bushel.

Mrs. Qualls relates that the Yeildings built a canning plant so the peaches could be preserved and sold when prices went up again. For a few years the peaches were canned. However, Langston notes that when the average life of the first trees ran out, none of the farmers were willing to replant, and the peach industry dwindled out.

 

Tomatoes become king of mountain

Both Qualls and Langston record that Otis Hyatt, son of John Hyatt, raised the first crop of tomatoes marketed from Chandler Mountain. Over the years, Otis had learned farming from his father, John Hyatt.

John became a successful grower of garden produce. At some point, he raised enough to make it profitable to take the produce down the mountain to sell. Needing a more convenient road than Steele Gap, Mr. Hyatt built the road known today as Hyatt Gap.

Mr. Langston records that John built the road “single handed down the mountain to Greasy Cove.” Darrell Hyatt recently added that his great grandfather used a “team of oxen and a slip scrape” to build Hyatt Gap Road. The gap was paved in the 1970s.

In a 1940s interview with Mr. Langston, Otis gave 1926 as the first tomato year. He raised the crop, harvested it, packed the tomatoes in baskets and peddled them. He received “on the average one dollar per basket.”

The next year, his brothers planted tomatoes and sold them the same way. The brothers established routes and delivered tomatoes three times a week. Through experimenting with planting times, they found they could harvest from July to October, for first-frost came later on the mountain than in the valley.

Langston records that the Hyatts’ “… neighbors soon began to follow the same practice, and by 1932, the local markets could not take care of the crop produced.” Thus, began the crop that has made Chandler Mountain famous.

Production increased, and by 1940, McDonald Produce Company of Terry, Miss., was sending trucks to the mountain to be loaded with tomatoes for selling in Mississippi. With a longer growing season on the mountain, Mississippi and other states realized they could have fresh tomatoes into late autumn for their markets. In 1948, The Southern Aegis reported that the farmers shipped tomatoes to buyers “from New York to Miami.”

The farmers banded together and formed the Chandler Mountain Tomato Growers Association in 1943. As recorded by Langston, the following men were the first directors: Farmer Rogers, Cecil Smith, Hershal Smith, J.D. Osborne and Clarence Smith. The association incorporated in 1945. There were two packing houses for processing the crops, and that year, the association graded approximately 30,000 bushels of tomatoes.

Production continued to increase, and in 1946, Ross Roberson and J.D. Osborne built packing sheds near Whitney on the Birmingham to Chattanooga highway—U.S. 11. In 1947, the association processed 60,000 bushels of tomatoes, some coming now from Blount County farms.

As the 1948 season progressed, farmers saw excellent harvests and sales. October came with prices reaching $3.50 a bushel. Then disaster struck. As reported in the Oct. 22, 1948, issue of The Southern Aegis, an “unseasonable ‘snap-freeze’ that swept over most of Alabama Sunday night (October 17)” ruined an estimated 40,000 bushels of tomatoes. The Aegis put the financial loss at between $100,000 and $150,000.

Most farmers are invincible, and gradually tomato farmers recovered, and production still flourishes today.

So, the next time you slather mayonnaise on two pieces of white bread and cut thick slices of Chandler Mountain goodness for your sandwich, remember Otis Hyatt, who started it all.

And as you take your first juicy bite, whisper thanksgiving to the Lord for this summer satisfaction!

Making Alabama – Bicentennial Exhibit

Taking center stage in St. Clair County

Story by Katie Beth Buckner
Photos by Carol Pappas
Submitted photos

To celebrate the bicentennial of a county older than the state, officials in St. Clair knew the series of events they planned en route to November 2018, marking the county’s 200th year, had to be special.

At the heart of the county’s celebration was the state’s own bicentennial event – Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit presented by Alabama Humanities Foundation in partnership with Alabama Department of Archives and History and Alabama Bicentennial Commission. After all, a year later, on Dec. 14, 2019, Alabama would follow St. Clair’s move and become a state.

To commemorate, Alabama Humanities Foundation led a movement to assemble a traveling collection of interactive displays to retrace Alabama’s footsteps through eight periods of defining history. The exhibit features key events, people and cultures that played vital roles in shaping Alabama and is traveling to all 67 counties.

St. Clair County was one of the first stops on the exhibit’s journey through the state and was on display at Moody Civic Center April 9-22. Open to the public free of charge, it was an ideal time and venue to display historic moments, people and places in St. Clair County’s own history.

“That’s what makes these exhibit stops so amazing,” said AHF Executive Director Armand DeKeyser. “They each put their own one-of-a-kind signature on the state’s history and how their county fits into that larger story of Alabama becoming a state. St. Clair was no exception.”

“Hosting the bicentennial exhibit gave St. Clair County, the city of Moody and its civic center statewide recognition,” said Linda Crowe, a bicentennial committee member who serves as Moody’s mayor pro-tem. The St. Clair County Bicentennial Committee, a group of 34 appointed individuals, worked tirelessly to make the event successful. They devoted several hours of their time to plan, promote, set up and work this event.

“Putting on something like this takes the efforts of several folks. Fortunately, we had a wonderful committee that volunteered a lot of hours to put this event together and be a part of it while it was exhibited,” said St. Clair County District Judge Alan Furr, who chaired the committee.

The end result was an impressive display of the county’s history told through storyboards and artifacts from not only the county’s overall vantage point but from the angle of every community in St. Clair.

The county exhibit combined iconic photographs and brief overviews of historically significant events and people to create informative storyboards for each of the county’s 10 municipalities. Two additional storyboards were dedicated to the history of the county’s early modes of transportation and settlements that no longer exist.

Several of the locals were intrigued by the storyboards. According to Furr, they enjoyed the storyboard’s visual elements and easy to read descriptions.

“A lot of people were appreciative of the state exhibit, but they responded really well to what we did locally,” Furr said. “We saw people spend a lot more time looking at the storyboards.”

The St. Clair County storyboards sparked great conversation. A few locals recognized individuals and places pictured on the boards and were able to share memorable stories with others in attendance. For others, the storyboards served as educational tools, enabling them to learn about monumental pieces of their town’s history.

“Getting to meet and hear stories from folks who love and appreciate the history of the county was exciting,” Furr said. “We had several folks come through and share information about some of the photographs – how they came to be and the people in them.”

The traveling exhibit’s various displays kept visitors engaged while showcasing important pieces of Alabama’s history. A combination of artistic collages, an audio sound wall and interactive computer tablets that delved deeper into the history of each period provided them a rare learning experience.

Moody Civic Center proved to be a great location to host the exhibit. The newly built building offered adequate square footage for the exhibit’s vast layout and ample parking for guests. Its central location made it easily accessible as well.

“The civic center’s layout kept the flow of people moving, especially when we had large attendance from schools,” Crowe said.

“Despite all our efforts to promote and advertise it, the exhibit came and went with a relatively small part of our population getting a chance to see it,” Furr said. But they now have an opportunity to see portions of it in their own communities.

After the exhibit’s time in Moody ended, Furr distributed the storyboards to each respective municipality. They are currently on display at city halls, museums, community centers and libraries throughout the county for locals to view. Also, each courthouse has a storyboard on display highlighting its historical significance.

In addition to hosting Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit, St. Clair County has already held or will hold more celebratory events leading up to its bicentennial. The St. Clair County bicentennial hymn sing held in Ashville earlier this year had an impressive turnout. Since it was a success, a second hymn sing will be held Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. First Baptist Church in Moody. It’s a great opportunity for locals to fellowship and sing old-fashioned hymns with one another.

A St. Clair County Bicentennial calendar, full of historic anecdotes and old photographs, was published by the committee, and this keepsake is available at libraries throughout the county.

The crowning event will occur on November 20, the county’s 200th anniversary of statehood. A birthday type celebration will be held at each courthouse, complete with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque. Festivities will kick off at the Ashville courthouse at 10 a.m. and move to the Pell City courthouse at 2 p.m.

Restoring History

Cropwell marker, others tell county’s storied past

Story and Photos by Jerry C. Smith

As Alabama celebrates its Bicentennial over the next three years, it seemed an ideal time to refurbish and rededicate a decades-old monument in Cropwell that had fallen victim to age.

It is a fitting example of devotion to history known as Cropwell Memorial Park, and it was funded by a grant from the state’s Historic Marker Refurbishment Program. The marker was unveiled in a special ceremony in July, celebrating the history that has taken place there. Others throughout St. Clair County, a county older than the state, are undergoing the same improvements, taking note of and preserving the county’s history.

In Cropwell, following a series of prayers, music and inspirational addresses by local civic leaders, the restored historical marker was unveiled, followed by a 21-musket salute and Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. The marker has an Alabama state flag at the top with the words: “Cropwell Historical Park and St. Clair County Alabama” and notes that the post office there was established in 1834 as Diana. The name changed to Cropwell in 1837.

Speaker Gaston Williamson explained to attendees that the Cropwell Park Committee, composed of local citizens, built the park in 1975 with private funds on land donated by the St. Clair County Commission. He pointed out that all five structures making up the monument area are of local sandstone, specially chosen for shape and matching colors.

The henge-like array consists of four waist-high boulders set into a brick courtyard surrounding a tall, irregular obelisk. Each stone bears bronze plates describing various events and information about what happened here and elsewhere in Cropwell.

In June 1861, some 200 men enlisted in Company F of the Tenth Alabama Infantry Regiment. Local legend says they mustered under an apple tree near the park site, then marched 75 miles to Montevallo to catch a train and join Gen. Robert E. Lee’s forces in Virginia. This regiment fought in 29 bloody battles, including Harpers Ferry and Gettysburg.

A long bronze plaque on the obelisk lists names of those who enlisted, including substitutes hired by wealthy draftees to fight in their stead, a common practice in those days.

 Besides the tribute to Southern soldiers, other bronze markers commemorate various facets of Cropwell history. One tells how the town began as Diana in 1834 and was renamed Cropwell in 1837, the Masonic Lodge’s charter in 1857, and the coming of the Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad to Cropwell in 1887.

Another speaks of the charter of the local United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1914, and the impoundment of the Coosa in 1946 to form Lake Logan Martin (although this date is a typographical error; should be 1964). A third plaque mentions a cotton gin startup in 1883 and Cropwell Baptist Church in 1889; and the fourth tells of Andrew Jackson’s crossing of the Coosa near Cropwell during the Creek Indian Wars of 1813-14.

Among the re-dedication celebrants were a contingent of re-enactors from Ashville-based St. Clair Camp No. 308 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, resplendent in authentic uniforms as well as homespun garments usually worn by soldiers from less-affluent families.

Pell City Manager Brian Muenger, when approached by a local resident several months previous about the park’s condition, sent an application to the state’s Historic Marker Refurbishment Program, which was created by the Alabama Department of Tourism in connection with Alabama’s Bicentennial.

There are many such markers in Pell City and St Clair County. For those who wish to visit these sites, GPS coordinates are provided in an accompanying box.

HISTORIC DOWNTOWN PELL CITY, on the southwest corner of the courthouse lawn, spells out in great detail the city’s founding and development.

Another, at Second Avenue and 21st Street North, adds more early history under the title PELL CITY’S HISTORIC RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT.

A COUNTY OLDER THAN THE STATE, on the corner of 19th Street and Cogswell Avenue, provides some interesting facts concerning St Clair’s earliest days and is matched by a sign of the same title on the courthouse lawn in Ashville that adds history of that city’s founding.

PELL CITY, ALABAMA, in front of City Hall, tells of the founding of the city by Sumter Cogswell and of the industries that followed. THE MILL VILLAGE, posted on Comer Avenue at 26th Street, gives a thumbnail history of Pell City’s chief industry, Avondale Mills, and the community it created for its workers.

All are within comfortable walking distance, and together they nicely sum up Pell City’s early history.

Other markers around St Clair County are CAMP WINNATASKA on Winnataska Drive in the Prescott Mountain area, delineating that facility’s development. JOHN LOONEY HOUSE, on County Road 24 between Ashville and Greensport, tells of a pioneer family’s pilgrimage and their impressive double-dogtrot log house, which is open for annual fall festivals.

FORT STROTHER on US 411 near Neely Henry Dam, commemorates a site used by Andrew Jackson during the Creek Indian Wars of 1813-14.

A history of the founding of HARKEY’S CHAPEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH is posted on AL 144 near No Business Creek Road, and SITE OF THE COOK SPRINGS HOTEL, near the rail tunnel on Cook Springs Road, describes a late 19th century luxury spa that once drew visitors from all over the South.

In his address to the crowd in Cropwell, Muenger noted, “Monuments like this serve to remind us of where the community came from … and to look back and appreciate all the great things that happened in the history of St. Clair County and here in Pell City.”

Speaker David Jackson is the son of W.D. Jackson, who had worked on the original Park Committee along with George Williams, James Ingram, Charles Abbott and Mary Mays. Jackson said, “We all hope that future generations will recognize this park as far more than rocks, plaques and brick walkways. It represents the history of the Cropwell community and the memory of those from here who volunteered for military service.”

As a child, Jackson helped his father work on the park. “It was a hot, muggy day, and threatening rain, just like today,” he said. “I wanted to give it up and go home, but Dad said that it was the best kind of day for this work because the rain and warmth would help the newly-sown grass to grow.”

Ostensibly as a patriotic gesture, the rain held off until a few minutes after the ceremony was concluded. l

Alabama Bicentennial

Alabama Humanities launches Bicentennial exhibit in Moody

Story by Jackie Romine Walburn
Photos by Michael Callahan

Forward thinking and a prompt application helped St. Clair County become the first stop for the 18-month tour of Making Alabama. A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit, an impressive blend of state history, culture and humanities.

After its debut in Montgomery in March 2018 at the state’s capitol, it begins in April of 2018 in the City of Moody and Lee and Wilcox counties and continues through November of 2019 en route to all 67 Alabama counties and the official 200th anniversary month of Alabama’s statehood.

That St. Clair County is a year older than the state – having been created as a county by the Alabama territorial general assembly on Nov. 20, 1818 – is a happy coincidence that local planners had in mind when they quickly applied to host the traveling exhibit “as early in 2018 as possible,” says St. Clair County Bicentennial chairman, District Judge Alan Furr.

The timing means that the county will be celebrating its bicentennial as it hosts the state’s first 200th birthday party. Alabama officially became a state on Dec. 4, 1819.

“Because St. Clair County was formed prior to statehood, we believe our hosting of the state exhibit as it begins its trek throughout the state is significant,” the judge says. “And, because we are celebrating our county bicentennial during 2018, being able to host the state exhibit during 2018 enhances our own local celebratory efforts.”

The new Moody Civic Complex met all the venue requirements and will be the site for the exhibit. It is being presented by the Alabama Humanities Foundation with support from the Alabama Department of Archives and History, the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, corporate sponsors, individuals and organizations across the state.

Making Alabama will travel to each of the state’s 67 counties, where local exhibits created by host communities will showcase each county’s role in their own story of Making Alabama.

Planners in St. Clair County anticipate that the St. Clair story will include information and artifacts relating to Andrew Jackson’s residence at Ft. Strother, an 1813 fort – now a series of archeological sites west of Neely Henry Dam near the Ten Islands Historical Park in Ragland.

The fort near the banks of the Coosa River was used as a military supply depot and operations center for Andrew Jackson’s Tennessee Militia during the Creek Indian Wars and as a local theater of the War of 1812. Other aspects of the St. Clair local exhibit may include construction of the first brick courthouse in Ashville, the county’s mining operations and the importance of the Coosa River to the county and its communities.

“St. Clair County has a rich and diverse history,” Furr says. A subcommittee including Furr and Ashville Archives Director Robert Debter, representing the county, plus Councilwoman Linda Crowe of Moody, Sherry Bowers of Pell City, Dr. Robert Harris of Springville and Nancy Sansing of Ashville is already working on locating materials and artifacts to tell the story of St. Clair County, an early Alabama county named for General Arthur St. Clair, who was president of the Continental Congress.

Created from a portion of Shelby County when it was founded in 1818, St. Clair would eventually be divided several more times to create surrounding counties, first Jefferson in 1820 and Cherokee and DeKalb counties in 1836. Then Etowah County was born of a northeast section after the Civil War.

In announcing the order of the bicentennial exhibit, the Alabama Humanities Foundation noted St. Clair as the first stop, followed by Wilcox County in the Alabama Blackbelt, then Lee County in east Alabama, a triangle of counties in distinct sections of Alabama.

“These three communities stepped forward early to become part of this historic event, and we thank them for their eagerness to get involved in the celebration of our becoming a state,” said AHF Executive Director Armand DeKeyser.

As a partner in the Smithsonian Museum on Main Street Program, AHF recognizes the value of exhibits like this coming to communities in Alabama, DeKeyser says. “It’s an opportunity they and their citizens won’t soon forget.”

In addition to developing the local exhibit, the St. Clair Bicentennial committee that Judge Furr chairs has a list of tasks to make sure the exhibit’s up to three-week engagement in St. Clair runs smoothly and is staffed by local volunteers to serve as exhibit docents.

Plus, committee members – representing St. Clair’s towns and communities – have related tasks and projects to complete in the next year. These include documenting historic markers, local festivals and historic tours, developing a local speaker’s bureau and bicentennial T-shirts, planning a gospel sing and establishing and publicizing a calendar of events surrounding the county and state celebrations.

A cross section of residents in St. Clair County make up the Bicentennial Committee in addition to the subcommittee. They are: Shirley Phillips of Argo, Charlene Simpson, Rena Brown, Loretta Moore, committee secretary Elizabeth Sorrell and Eloise Williams, all of Ashville; Gaye Austin and Patsy Spradley of Moody; Joe Whitten, Brenda Riddle, Ann Coupland and Jennifer Forman, all of Odenville; Danny Stewart, Deanna Lawley, vice chair Gaston Williamson, Latoya Orr and Andy Eden, all of Pell City; Marie Manning, Pat Ford, Gerri Bunt, Sandi Maroney and Jerry Sue Brannon, all of Ragland. Gary Hanner of Riverside; Nancy Tucker and Carol Waid of Springville and Rosemary Hyatt and Sharon Ingle of Steele.

Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit will feature eight periods of history that defined Alabama as a state and the decisions and turning points that shaped what the state would become and will be, according to the websites promoting the Bicentennial celebration.

They are:

Pre-history to 1700, natural environment and an introduction to the exhibit.
1700-1815: The Creek War and Statehood
1815-1860: Settlement and Slavery
1860-1875: Secession, Civil War and Reconstruction
1875-1940: Political Power and the Constitution of 1901
1940-1965: World War and Civil Rights
1965-1990: Economic and Social Adjustment
1990-2020: Our Alabama

On May 5, the three-year Bicentennial celebration kicked off in Mobile, near the site of Alabama’s first state capital, St. Stevens, with another historic first – an introduction by Gov. Kay Ivey, Alabama’s first Republican female governor. “Why is it Alabama is sweet home?,” she asked the crowd. “Because of the innovation and fortitude of our people.”

That innovation and fortitude will be honored and celebrated throughout Alabama over the next two and half years. In 2017, the theme will be “Exploring Our Places.” In 2018, Alabama will “Honor Our People,” and in 2019, the state will “Share Our Stories.”

Alabama Humanities Foundation and St. Clair County will follow suit with celebrations of their own through this traveling exhibit.

Through interactive displays, historic photographs, art and narratives that delve deep into Alabama’s history and the people – some known, some not-so-famous – Alabamians and St. Clair Countians alike who helped shape that history.

The state exhibit is expected to tell the stories behind the stories about the people, places and cultures that made a difference in Making Alabama.

“St. Clair, a county older than the state, is an integral part of that story,” Furr said, “and we are proud to be a part of launching this historic exhibit.”

Editor’s note: For more information and resources associated with the exhibit, go to www.makingalabama.org. For more on the Bicentennial celebration activities throughout the state as well as resources, go to www.alabama200.org.