Category: Traveling the Backroads

From fishing creek to Ferryville to Seddon

Story by Joe Whitten
Photos by Wally Bromberg Jr.
Submitted Photos

Today, the recreational waters of Logan Martin Lake wash over the abandoned 19^th Century towns of Ferryville and Seddon.

Ferryville grew up around J.D. Truss’ ferry that connected St. Clair and Talladega Counties, lying across the Coosa River from each other.

James David “J. D.” Truss, the son of Enos and Tabitha Bradford Truss, married Martha Cordellia Coleman, daughter of William and Marannah Roberson Coleman of Riverside, on June 10, 1854.

When the Civil War began in 1861, Truss and a group of men met under an apple tree in Cropwell, and organized Company C of the 10^th Alabama Infantry Regiment, with J.D. Truss as captain. Thirty-three years after the war, his obituary in The Southern Aegis, Feb. 1, 1899, told of his courage, leadership and love for his companions, but also spoke of his compassion for all people, rich or poor.

 The June 30, 1876, issue of The Southern Aegis, published an unsigned letter, titled “Ferryville, Ala.” It stated that Ferryville “…is a little village situated on the banks of the Coosa River.” They listed Ferryville’s businesses as “…a carriage shop, a blacksmith shop, a post office, a good Templer’s Lodge, a Baptist church, and the dry goods house.” Post office records show that in 1868 Sylvester Coolidge served as the Ferryville Postmaster.

 W.H. Cather wrote a series of St. Clair County history articles in 1897 for his newspaper, The Southern Aegis, which he established in 1872. In 1972, the St. Clair County Library Board transcribed Cather’s articles and printed them as his History of St. Clair County. One article, titled “An Indian Story,” tells of Ferryville’s connection with the Indians.

W.A. Coleman of Riverside took his four-year-old son, Sidney, to Coleman’s father-in-law, John Roberson, to visit with his grandparents in Ferryville. By the second day, Sidney wanted to go home, and while everyone was busy, he started out.

“He had not gone far,” Cather wrote, “until an Indian by the wayside saw him and knowing him, followed him for the purpose of protecting him … On arriving at home, little Sidney fell down on the doorsteps with the exclamation, ‘Ma, I thought I would never get to your house anymore.’ The Indian who had watched him through the forests, followed in immediately after him, and of course, there was great alarm until it was all understood.” Cather said Mr. Coleman’s eyes filled with tears when he recounted this.

Ferryville to Seddon

Ferryville flourished until the town of Seddon arose about a mile north with the completion of the Georgia Pacific Railroad in 1880. A June 6, 1942, Birmingham News article titled, “This Date in Alabama History,” tells for whom the town was named. It records that the railroad village of Seddon is “…on the Southern Railroad between Birmingham and Anniston. It was named for Thomas Seddon who … was associated with interests that financed the building of the Georgia Pacific Railroad, now the Birmingham-Atlanta branch of the Southern Railroad.”

According to Pell City Library Director Danny Stewart, “Thomas Seddon’s first job was at the Sloss in their railroad section, before he became president of the company.” Seddon died May 10, 1896, and was buried in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia.

 The “Seddon” article in The Heritage of St. Clair County records the population as 500 when the town was incorporated (1880) and states that some worked at the “…Empire Lumber Company which operated both a sawmill and lumber yard.”

It also records that Ferryville families moved from there to Seddon.

Mattie Lou Teague Crow, in her History of St. Clair County Alabama, wrote “The first merchant [in Seddon] was J.K.P. Lacy. Dr. Harry Green Crump was the first doctor. Other settlers were Jack Maddox, W.H. and W.N. Roberson and Harvy Bell. When the timber supply was exhausted, the mills moved away.”

Today, any memory of Seddon is fading like a sepia tone photograph forgotten in the sun. However, one vibrant entity still survives – Seddon Baptist Church.

Organized in 1873 as Fishing Creek Baptist Church, the name changed to Ferryville Baptist Church in 1874. Richard M. Perry served as the first pastor.

Early records are scant, and no one knows where the members met for worship before they constructed a building. Nor is there a list of charter members. However, Stewart’s research found that Seddon Baptist sent J.D. Truss as representative, or messenger, to the Coosa River Baptist Association meeting in 1874. So, it’s probable that Truss was a charter member.

Seddon Baptist provided a first for that association in 1908, as recorded in Coosa River Baptist Association, 1833-1983, by Margaret Keelen Newman. “Early, only pastors of churches of the Association were given messenger status. … The most important change came in 1908 when the Seddon Church sent Mrs. Stella Brothers, Miss Minnie Crump and Miss Lenola Crump as messengers to the annual meeting. During the afternoon of the second day of a three-day meeting, the accepted messengers voted to enroll the women as messengers.”

The church didn’t send a messenger in 1909 but in 1910 sent Miss L.E. Smith and none after. Because of Seddon, other churches began sending women messengers, and in 1913 the Association agreed that “there could be no barring of anyone on the basis of sex.”

The date for Seddon Baptist constructing a sanctuary is unclear; however, the July 3, 1889, Weekly Age Herald article, “Festival at Seddon,” reports: “The supper last Friday night given by the ladies of Seddon for the benefit of the new Baptist Church was a complete success, the net receipts accounting $206.05.” 

The festival also sponsored a “bouquet” contest. “The contest for the bouquet which was to be given to the most beautiful young lady was very exciting and $130.00 was raised from this. Miss Leona Fowler … received the bouquet from Mr. J.S. Lacy.” A total of $336.05 in 1889 was a grand sum. It seems this money helped construct the first sanctuary.

Singings brought together church and community. One for Seddon was announced in Our Mountain Home, Talladega, Alabama, May 19, 1909. “There will be an all-day singing at Seddon on the 5^th Sunday in May. It will be a Sacred Harp singing and everybody is invited to come and enjoy the occasion. The old-time music is getting a new start among the people of Seddon.” This singing was acapella because the voice itself was the “sacred harp.”

Regular worship services flourished in the first sanctuary until the demise of the town. From 1926 until 1938 there was no church in Seddon.

What caused this? The town’s economy lay in timber and lumbermills, so when the timber supply ran out, timber companies left. When the timber mills left, people left.

Jack Walker, who grew up in Seddon, recalled history he learned from parents and relatives when he wrote of Seddon’s decline.

“The clouds of a terrible depression were forming. Mills, factories, and stores were closing down. … Seddon which had been a thriving town was fast falling apart. We had a train depot, a drugstore, a general merchandise store, a grocery store, and other businesses as well as two large churches. Within a year, all these businesses were closed and boarded up. Both churches were closed. … Seddon had become a ghost town.” Walker’s memories were published in the Georgia newspaper, Jackson Progress-Argus, May 9, 2008.

According to Betty Clements’ Heritage article, Ruby Walker was the force behind resurrecting Seddon Baptist Church about 1938. At that time the only surviving church building was the Methodist church owned by Dr. John Roberson. Mrs. Walker met with Dr. Roberson, and he agreed to let the Baptists meet in the building; however, he soon asked them to meet elsewhere.

The Heritage article relates that Walter and Leona Crump had an unused barn, which they let the congregation use for church. The Crumps emptied the barn, cleaned it inside and out, painted the interior and exterior white, replaced the barn doors with two double doors, and added entrance steps.

Inside, they installed a wood floor. “They raised the floor in front,” she recounted, “so that the men’s choir would be on one side and the ladies’ choir on the other side. In between, they built a pulpit. The lighting was kerosene lamps.”

The Crumps donated both the building and the property to Seddon Baptist’s trustees.

Linda Haynes Grantham recalled girlhood memories of this church. “To get to church, we drove over the railroad tracks and down a slight hill … Seddon Baptist Church sat on the left, a beautiful church painted white. We had a potbellied stove in the sanctuary and a raised choir loft. A huge window fan was in the window on the right in the choir loft that kept us quite comfortable – even during hot summers.

“…Brother [Lewis] Nixon was our minister and Betty Williamson Turner was our talented pianist.” Lewis Nixon was pastor from 1952 until 1957.

The church thrived during these years, with yearly revivals announced in the newspaper, as in this News-Aegis of July 21, 1955: “The annual homecoming at Seddon Baptist Church will be held next Sunday. The revival will begin Sunday night. At Sunday’s homecoming, there will be singing and dinner served on the grounds at noon. The public is invited to come and bring a basket … Rev. J.S. Williams of Pell City, evangelist.”

In the 1960s, with the completion of Logan Martin Dam and the Coosa River’s waters filling the lake, Seddon Baptist purchased land on Cropwell Cutoff Road (Hardwick Road) and constructed a brick sanctuary. A News-Aegis article of June 4, 1964, announced the dedication to be “…on June 7^th at 2:30 p.m. …Bro. Paul H. Mabe will bring the dedication message.”

“The new building,” the article continued, “is valued at $27,000.00. However, the work was done by members and friends in the community, thereby saving the cost of labor.” According to the article, Cady Bryan drew the plans and was in charge of construction. Rev. J.Z. Lipham was pastor.

The first revival in this building was announced in The Anniston Star on August 31, 1963. “The Rev. Barlow Mason, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, will be evangelist for special services at Seddon Baptist Church Sept. 28. The pastor, Rev. J.Z. Lipham, announced the services would begin nightly at 7 o’clock.”

As the years passed, Seddon Baptist attendance ebbed and flowed as was typical of many churches. Current pastor, Dale Foote, accepted the pastorate when attendance was perhaps at its lowest. “I started as pastor of Seddon Baptist Church in April 1995. That was Easter Sunday, April 16. At that time, we averaged less than ten people a Sunday,” he recalled.

A turning point occurred in February 1996, 10 months into Foote’s tenure. The church burned down. “Seddon Baptist Church Destroyed by Fire,” reported Gary Hanner in a Feb. 8 News-Aegis article. Hanner quoted Pell City Fire Chief Mike Sewell, “It appears the fire started around two gas heaters that were behind the baptistery. I saw a tint of blue in the flame and that let me know that natural gas was involved.”

Bro. Dale told Hanner, “When I became pastor, we had six people who came the first Sunday. The last Sunday we met here, we had 60 for the morning service. We’ve had 18 saved and 33 additions to the church … We aren’t going to let this get us down. We will rebuild in the same spot. The Lord sent me here for a reason. I just want people to pray for us.”

And it didn’t get them down even though insurance covered only a fraction of the rebuilding cost. “We had $180,000 in insurance,” Foote recalled, “and the estimated cost of building back was half a million dollars. We were $300,000 in the hole.”

Campers on Mission were a Godsend for the rebuilding. “I have a friend – a general contractor – who is a member of Campers on Mission,” Foote said, “and he helped us to rebuild.”

In the March 13, 1997, issue of the News-Aegis, Anne Boone wrote of Campers on Mission in her article, “Building churches, fellowship and faith.”

She quotes Camper Bill Pilgreen., “We are Christians who travel to … disaster areas that need us.” Boone told of Pilgreen and his wife, who, although living in Pell City, “…set up their camper with others from their organization across the street from Seddon Baptist Church.”

Boone reported that other churches, community folk and community businesses came together to help Seddon Baptist Church in the rebuilding. Some donated food, some time and material. Cropwell Baptist provided their kitchen for preparation of noonday meals for the Campers.

At completion, the church owed $90,000 – a lot of money, yes, but far less than the $300,000 insurance didn’t cover.

The church’s Fellowship Hall escaped destruction, so the congregation met there for worship from February 1996 until December 1997. “There were weeks that we didn’t have power or HVAC or water in the Fellowship Hall because of the demolition. We had porta potties,” Foote reminisced, “and we used a kerosene heater in cold weather. We never missed a service.”

“Just before Christmas (1997), almost 40 people with active membership at Seddon Baptist held Sunday morning service inside the new church sanctuary for the first time,” Laura Nation wrote in her Jan. 24, 1998, Daily Home article, “Good will breathes new life into church.” Her article announced a revival running from Feb. 16-20 and a Feb. 28 benefit singing featuring the musical group, “Assurance.” The building dedication would occur on Sunday March 15.

With this new beginning, attendance and membership increased as months turned into years under Bro. Dale’s bi-vocational ministry. In 2003, attendance had grown to over 100 each Sunday and the church called him as their first full-time pastor.

“We filled that building. It held about 150, and we stayed full for years,” Foote recalled. “In 2010, we went to two Sunday morning services, and by the end of that year, we were averaging 300 in the two services.” Although the church desired to expand, the property was land-locked, and no adjacent property was available.

One day, Bro. Dale saw the “For Sale” sign at the old 84 Lumber complex on Cogswell Avenue. The property had gone back to the bank, and someone bought it. In 2010, the church located the owner and began negotiations. In 2013, the church made an offer for the property, and the owner accepted it.

The church renovated the property for a sanctuary, a children’s worship center, and a youth worship center.

So, a facility providing building materials for houses became a facility providing building materials for the soul.

On Sept. 24, 2023, Seddon Baptist celebrated its 150^th anniversary. On this day, Alabama Baptist State Missionary Ben Edfeldt presented a certificate of recognition from the Alabama Baptist Association. After the service, the church family enjoyed an afternoon of fellowship, games and food.

Associate Pastor Chris Mayfield first attended Seddon Baptist in 2005 because his girlfriend, Megan Foote, invited him. He continued attending with Megan, and in 2006 he accepted Christ and joined the church. He and Megan married and are parents to two children.

Chris serves in several areas, including adults, but his main area is with children and their Sunday school curriculum. “I’ve been in children’s ministry here for a decade or more, now” Chris commented, “so I’ve had a lot of my former kids come and serve alongside me in children’s ministry.”

Chris and Megan work together in the church’s summer Vacation Bible School, an event for the entire and surrounding communities. “I write the VBS curriculum and lessons,” Chris said, “and right now, I’ve got about four years planned.” Megan oversees the teaching staff, music, and decorations.

According to Bro. Dale, VBS is one of the wonderful ministry events of the church. Attendance averages around 300 each summer.

Micah Kitchen is minister of Seddon Students. “We seek to encourage and equip students to live their lives to the fullest for Jesus,” he recently commented. “We are passionate about teaching students the Word of God and how to live out their lives to make the Gospel known at home, their schools and their communities.”

Kitchen and his students participate in the First Priority Club at Pell City High School. They also partner with the St. Clair Baptist Association for See You at the Pole Afterparty and St. Clair County Night of Worship. Yearly student events include Summer Camp and Disciple Now – an event where students stay at host homes, attend study sessions and spend intentional time in discipleship.

Seddon is a traditional Southern Baptist church, having a senior pastor and two associate pastors. However, it differs somewhat from other Southern Baptists in that Seddon has both deacons and elders. “I am privileged to have Biblical elders,” Bro. Dale said. “I have five to eight men who preach here.”

Chairman of Elders Rodney Ray joined Seddon in 2008. “My wife and I saw the vibrance of the church and how the Word of God was preached. It was so refreshing that we have never left.”

Of the church being elder led, Ray said, “We kind of grew into it. As we studied the book of Acts and the Apostle Paul’s epistles, we saw that Paul’s instructions were always to appoint elders. It was plural. We have eight serving as elders, and we call it our Church Council. Three are paid pastors, and five are bi-vocational, or lay pastors.”

Each lay elder teaches a class and serves in other areas as well. Ray emphasized that members other than elders also teach classes, “… but I do feel that the teaching and preaching of the Word of God lies with the Elders.”

When asked for a comment about Bro. Dale, he said, “There’s a difference between a preacher and a pastor – someone you know was called by God and placed in that position. Dale Foote is at the top of that list. I say that because of the effect he’s had on my life.”

Today, attendance averages around 400. In 2024, the church hopes to complete a Family Life Center in their complex – a gymnasium-fellowship hall. The church serves all age groups, but the median age is 37 years. “We have wonderful senior citizen members,” Foote commented, “but we are still a ‘young’ church and have been privileged to reach young people.”

Bro. Dale’s focus for Seddon’s congregation is that they “Invite, Invest, and Intercede.” Invite someone, invest in them, and pray for them. “Our goal is to continue to share the Gospel and to make disciples,” he said recently. “That doesn’t change; every year, that’s our goal.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 is Foote’s favorite Bible passage: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” He has seen the assurance of these verses proved true multiple times in his 29 years of serving God at Seddon Baptist.

In 1873, not only was Seddon Baptist Church organized, but Fanny Crosby’s hymn, Blessed Assurance, also was published in July of that year. Whether or not Seddon’s congregation sang it that year, we don’t know. What we do know is the assurance of Proverbs 3:5-6 connects well with the hymn’s words:

Knowing this blessed assurance, Foote continues to trust God and His guidance as he and the elders lead Seddon in sharing the Gospel and making disciples.

From 1873 to 2024 and onward, Seddon Baptist Church continues faithful as a beacon of hope in a dark world.

County has a long history of medical excellence

Story by Joe Whitten
Submitted photos

St. Clair County throughout its history had a thriving medical community with doctors practicing medicine in all parts of the region. Many of the names are familiar to this day, stemming from their descendants perhaps or a particular road or place in the county that bears their name.

They were pioneers in the county’s history, and a sampling of the details of their lives gives a glimpse into who tended to the medical needs of St. Clair’s early settlers.

DR. WILLIAM A. BEASON

Dr. Beason was born in 1867 to Rufus and Carrie Ann (Staton) Beason in St. Clair County and was the eldest sibling of Flora (Beason) Montgomery, George D. Beason, Charles W. Beason, Martin V. Beason, and Sidney L. Beason. He was also the great grandson of St. Clair County pioneer Curtis Grubb Beason and the great-great grandson of American Revolutionary patriot Capt. Edward Beason.

On Oct. 30, 1901, with Rev. Noah A. Hood officiating, Dr. Beason married Ms. Lillie Eugenia Phillips at her family home, known today as the Phillips-Cunningham House.

The bride was the daughter of James Madison and Elizabeth (Yarbrough) Phillips and the granddaughter of Littleton Yarbrough. The couple lived for many years in the Byers-Prickett House with Mrs. Beason being noted as a gracious, Southern hostess.

“Dr. Beason was loved and respected by all who knew him intimately and was a man of strong convictions and always outspoken for things he believed to be right.” He was known to never drive over 35 miles an hour. When asked why he didn’t drive faster, he would always reply, “At 35 miles per hour, a car is still cheaper to run than a horse.”

Of his beloved wife it was said, “No man ever had a nobler and more helpful companion. She knew his work and helped him in its performance in many ways.”

Mrs. Lillie Beason “was widely known over the state. She took great interest in educational affairs” and always remained active in supporting “many movements for the betterment of her people.”

For several years she held the office of chairman of the St. Clair County Board of Education, earning her the noteworthy recognition of being the first woman elected to office in St. Clair County. “She was also president of the Baptist Missionary Union and a leading member of the Ashville Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy,” and “was a brilliant woman… (with) many cultivated talents.”

Both were laid to rest in Ashville City Cemetery.

DR. JAMES MADISON McLAUGHLIN

Dr. McLaughlin was born in Leeds in Jefferson County on March 22, 1838, to John and Margaret (Brinker) McLaughlin. The doctor’s father was an early settler of the State of Tennessee and was the son of Alexander Andrew McLaughlin, who had emigrated from Scotland to Tennessee.

James attended public schools and later read medicine with Doctors Robertson and Freeman in Springville. He later attended Atlanta Medical College, now the Emory University School of Medicine. During this time, he enlisted in Company C of 18^th Alabama Regiment, CSA and was soon afterwards promoted to Captain. In 1864, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and held that position until the close of the war.

On Jan. 4, 1871, James married Isadora Forman, the daughter of James and Parthenia (Dean) Forman. The bride’s father was noted as taking a “… leading part in all matters and issues in which people were interested,” and being “… true and energetic in behalf of his friends…”

The bride’s mother was the daughter of Nathaniel and Parthenia (Edmundson) Dean, and the granddaughter of Benjamin Edmundson, a Virginian patriot who fought for independence as a lieutenant in the American Revolution. In her obituary, Mrs. Forman was remembered as “… always cheerful…” and “… a faithful and affectionate wife and mother,” who was “… thoughtful of every interest of her children…”

In 1875, the doctor opened a pharmacy and two years later welcomed his only child, Katherine, into the world on March 27, 1877. She would later marry Jacob Forney, a president of Jacksonville State University, who was the son of General John Horace Forney and nephew of Alabama U.S. Rep. William Henry Forney.

It could never be said that Dr. McLaughlin did not live a full life. During his 70 years, he was a member and elder of the Presbyterian Church, a Mason and Knight of Pythias, Mayor of Springville three times, examiner for the New York Life Insurance Company, the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, and for the Equitable Life Insurance Company; member of the board of pension examiners, county health officer, member and one of the organizers of the St. Clair Medical Society and counselor of the State Medical Society.

After declining in health for two years, Dr. McLaughlin passed away and was memorialized as being “… closely associated with all movements for growth and prosperity of our county,” and giving “… freely of his time, energy and guidance for its welfare.” Furthermore, “(h)e was beloved by all with whom he came in contact and held the respect and admiration of all his business and political associates.”

The magazine, Confederate Veteran, honored Dr. McLaughlin and observed that he was “… a loving husband and father, a good citizen, a brave soldier and a Christian Gentleman.” 

DR. FINIS E. PERKINS

Dr. Perkins was born on March 2, 1859, near Trussville to William Washington Perkins (1829-1910) and Elizabeth (Praytor) Perkins (1832-1886). Dr. Perkins financed his dental training by selling Bibles and began practicing dentistry about 1880. 

He had offices in Birmingham, Springville, Odenville and in other small towns in St. Clair County. One of his main interests was to teach dental care and health care to public school children. For at least 50 years, he was a regular visitor at many schools and always emphasized that every bite should be chewed 32 times.

A part of every lecture was a Biblical quotation from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

He cooked most of his own meals and used olive oil exclusively to cook with because he considered animal fats to be bad for the teeth, gums and the human body. Wherever he ate, private or public, he first asked God’s blessing on that meal.

He was an active member and financial supporter of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Norwood in Birmingham.

Dr. Perkins was attracted to St. Clair Springs because of the healing powers of the sulfur waters available and in 1896 built a cottage there. He also took annual trips to Pike’s Peak and maintained a summer home there for many years.

Dr. Perkins never married and practiced dentistry up to his death on June 21, 1950, at the age of 91.

As Hippocrates, the ancient Greek physician known as the Father of Medicine, once said, “Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is a love of humanity.”

The same could be said for St. Clair County’s early hands of healing.

Meandering through time

Story by Joe Whitten
Submitted photos

Several lovely valleys run through St. Clair County and bear the name of the streams meandering through them: Coosa Valley, Cahaba Valley, Beaver Valley, and Shoal Creek Valley. 

And then there’s Slasham Valley. Why name any place Slasham? A local fellow recently commented that he hoped it had nothing to do with slashing somebody. And it doesn’t.

The name’s origin rests in folklore passed down from the 19^th Century. The story has been recorded in Mildred Wright’s book, Josiah W. Wilson and Lydia Melinda Wilson and Slasham Valley, St. Clair County, Alabama Kinfolk. “Tradition holds that in the early days of the settling of the valley, a house-raising was in progress. An Irishman with a heavy brogue stopped and offered to do work for a meal. After being served once, he said, ‘May I have another slosh o’ ham?’” Folk had fun mimicking his heavy Irish brogue in the retelling, and thus was the valley named.

When in the 19^th century this occurred, we have no record. However, the earliest obituary mentioning Slasham Valley is found in Pell City Library’s online copy of By Murder, Accident, and Natural Causes. It reads: “Jun. 27, 1883, Southern Aegis: Died. Odom. On June 23, 1883, in Slasham community, this county, John Odom, about 22 years old.” The name no doubt predates this obituary by a number of years, for the north end of the valley consisted of enough families by 1830 to organize Hopewell Baptist Church.

Alsoin Josiah W. Wilson and Lydia Melinda Wilson and Slasham Valley, St. Clair County, Alabama Kinfolk, Mildred Wright gives the location of Slasham Valley, writing, “Slasham Valley lies east of the town of Ashville, between Canoe Creek Mountain and Beaver Creek Mountain. The primary watercourse is Permeter Creek. ‘Permeter’ is the colloquial name for palmetto (U.S. Government geological survey map, Steele quadrangle). Highway 33 runs the course of the valley.”

Lelias Kirby, born 1895, included the town of Steele in his sweeping description of the valley. His parents L. S. and Nannie Lee Spradley Kirby were married February 7, 1884, and settled in Slasham Valley near the Etowah County line above Hopewell Church on today’s Rainbow Drive. In the introduction to Lelias’ booklet, How Me and Amos Won WWI, Lou Harper states, “Although Slasham does not appear on any map of Alabama, Dr. Kirby claims it does exist somewhere in a circle taking in… Steele and Ashville.” In the book, Lelias writes that the community was “…located between Greasy Cove and Smoke Neck. …It was 10 miles to the nearest little village, Ashville.” Smoke Neck seems too expansive because it was in Etowah County. Today Smoke Neck is Southside, Alabama.

Today, Slasham Road begins in Ashville at 10^th Street and Greensport Road and runs from there to County Road 33 near Gum Springs Baptist Church. It is a peaceful valley of farms and homes.

Stewart and Nannie Kirby’s family consisted of daughters: Elsie, May, Geneva, and Anna; sons: Joe, Amos, Lelias, Otis and Taylor.

Lelias became a well-known physician in Birmingham and authored 3 booklets: How Me and Amos Won WWI, Corncobs, Cockleburs and Country Boys, and Cotton Picking’ Coon Huntin’ Country Boys. Otis became a Methodist Minister, serving in the North Alabama Conference for many years. He authored It All Started in Slash-Ham. In these books, the Kirbys recorded their growing up in Slasham, St. Clair County Alabama.

In How Me and Amos Won WWI, Lilias told how the family “…walked two miles to Mount Hope Methodist,” and said, “I could see the lizards playing races across the rafters.” He told how their pastor, J. M. Wigley was encouraged as he preached his long sermons “…by a chorus of ‘Amens!’ from the ‘Amen Corner.’”

J. M. Wigley, a college student, lived in Steele and “…walked five miles through the flat woods” once a month to preach at Mount Hope. This was November 1913, and “…the log road was very muddy, but he arrived on time—11:00 A.M.”

Lelias recalled a non-religious family in Slasham that “never attended church.” However, at Bro. Wigley’s encouragement, the whole family attended a service. Two of the younger boys went to sleep on a pallet with other children. The Methodist in the South in those days were called “Shouting Methodist.” This was not “speaking in tongues,” but understandable shouts of praise to God. Therefore, as the service and preaching progressed, the saints of the Lord began rejoicing by shouting “Hallelujah!” “Praise the Lord!” “Glory to God!” As these praises reverberated from wall-to-wall, one of the boys awoke, grabbed his brother and said, “Quick, let’s head to the barn; Ma and Pa are fighting a-gin.”

In his section on church life, Otis Kirby, in It All Started in Slash-Ham, writes “Mt. Hope [Methodist] Church was a large, unpainted frame building. I remember sitting on rough-hewn benches and reading my little Olivet picture card… The church stood on the banks of Big Canoe Creek in the northeastern corner of St. Clair County where Auberry Bridge spanned the creek.”

In her History of Steele, Alabama, Vivian Qualls records that “Bro. Wigley” was J. M. Wigley who pastored the Steele Circuit in 1913 and 1914. And in History of Methodism in Alabama and West Florida by Marion Elias Lazenby, Rev. James Milton Wigley is mentioned six times. The last reference is in 1929 when the Methodist Conference appointed him “Financial Agent” to Athens College.

The Kirby children attended Ford Schoolhouse. As related by Otis in It All Started in Slash-Ham, the school was named after “Uncle John and Aunt Jeff” Ford because they lived close to the school and “the teacher always boarded with them.” Constructed of boards, the school had one unpainted room. The teacher’s desk sat on a raised section that ran the width of the room. Being on the stage gave the teacher “…better oversight of the student body and indicated who was boss.”

“The water bucket,” Otis continued, “was placed on a shelf on the wall outside the front door. Everybody drank from the same dipper. We ‘toted’ water from the wet-weather spring down in Uncle John’s pasture.”

According to both the Kirby brothers’ memories, one end of the Ford Schoolhouse rested on the ground while the other end stood about three feet off the ground and was partially underpinned.  Otis related that “…on rainy days goats and hogs would move out of the flatwoods and shelter themselves under the schoolhouse.” The animal noises sometimes drowned out the human voices. There were cracks and holes in the floor, and Otis recalled one winter when his brother “Amos quite accidentally (?) let a few red-hot coals drop through the holes onto the backs of the hogs.” This caused a pandemonium of grunts and squeals as the hogs fled the shelter and headed to the woods—for a few days.

In the April 1997 issue of Cherish: The Quarterly Journal of the St. Clair Historical Society, Ada Wilson Sulser (b1897-d1988) wrote memories titled “Zion Hill Schoolhouse.” She attended there beginning in 1903 and recalled that the school located next to Zion Hill Church held “…classes from November to April, weather permitting.” She also mentioned classmates: “Homer Waldrop , Clem Lowery, Claudie Wilson , Dora Putman, Houston Cobb, Clara Wilson, Wakely Wilson and Vivian Palmer.”

“The schoolhouse burned twice,” she recalled and added, “It was a standing joke that when a member of a certain family was expelled, the schoolhouse would burn.

Curtis and Lurla Fail Franklin set up housekeeping in Slasham Valley around 1925. In time the family grew to include five children: Hubert, Margaret, J. C., and Billy. All three boys became Church of God ministers and evangelists. Billy Franklin’s son is Jentezen Franklin, internationally known evangelist and pastor of a mega-church in Gainesville, Georgia. In 2008 his book Fasting was on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Today, 95-year-old Margaret Franklin Berry cherishes memories of living in Slasham Valley and attending Ashville elementary school. Her best friend at school was Betty Jean Hodges. “The family lived right in the middle of Ashville,” she recalled. “In fact, the first time I ever saw an electric refrigerator was at their house. She and I were in school together, and I went home with her for lunch one day. Her mother had frozen some little popsicles for us. I’ll never forget that.”

After the third grade, the family moved to Birmingham. Margaret’s father, John Curtis Franklin, had a job in Avondale. “He was a paint sprayer. And that’s when they used lead in the paint,” she told the interviewer. “Well, daddy got really sick. He had ‘paint poison,’ and ended up having to have his leg amputated. It was a terrible time. He was crippled and walked on crutches the rest of his life after the amputation. So, we moved back and forth from the farm to Birmingham several times.”

It was the Great Depression years, and the Franklin family would live in Birmingham for a while and then back to Slasham for a while during those Depression years.

“When we first moved back from Birmingham to Slasham,” Margaret reminisced, “the farm had been leased out to a sharecropper, and we couldn’t move into that house that daddy owned. So, we rented a house. We had no electricity in the area at that time, and I am positive they had no running water. Everybody had wells. But there was a spring on the place that daddy rented, and that’s where we kept our milk to keep it cold. I guess the milk was ice cold, for the spring water certainly was. Every night for dinner, mother would send me and my brother Hubert down there to get the milk out of the spring.”

Although it was hard times during the depression, Margaret recalled that Pawpa J. G. Baswell, her step-grandfather,  “…had six sons and they all had houses all down Slasham… All you had to do was to let somebody know you needed help and help was there.” She thought a moment, then spoke of God’s goodness. “I can hardly ever think about all those years and what we went through, without knowing that we were so blessed, and that God took care of us. All of us.”

After commenting, “I’ve not thought of some of this in years,” Margaret recounted things she and Hubert enjoyed as children.

“On one of our returns to Slasham, we lived in an old house that had a porch, and when they picked cotton, they made one end of the porch, the cotton spot. I don’t remember how they enclosed it, but they would just pile that cotton up there, on and on and on until the day they took it to the cotton gin. Hubert and I used to play in that cotton. We’d jump around in it just like kids today jump on a trampoline. That was so much fun!”

Then another memory came to mind. “When we needed cornmeal, they would send Hubert and me out to the corn crib to shell corn. I remember gallon buckets of shelled corn, and I’d go with my daddy when he’d take it to the mill to have it ground. It was so fascinating to watch that miller pour the corn into that hopper, and it come out cornmeal.” She couldn’t remember the name of the grist mill her dad used.

A community event Margaret recalled was Box Suppers. In the 1930s and ‘40s, schools and churches would raise money by sponsoring “Box Suppers.” Girls would prepare a picnic lunch to place in a decorated box for this community event where the “box suppers” were auctioned, with the money going to the sponsoring school or church. These events were announced in the papers as seen in the Southern Aegis of January 29, 1920. “Box Supper at Zion Hill Saturday night Jan. 31^st. Bring boxes and have a good time.”

Margaret remembered participating as a young girl. “You would just spend days and days decorating a beautiful box with ribbons and all kinds of decorations. And you’d think up something really enticing that you hoped would tempt the guys, you know. And they would bid on the box, and whoever bought it was who you ate with. Of course, you hoped that one of the guys you liked would be the one who bid on it! I must have had a sweetheart who I was wanting to bid on it.”

 Margaret’s family attended Gum Springs Baptist Church in the old building and in the current building. The first sanctuary was across the street from today’s Gum Springs and located near the cemetery on that side of the road. There seems to be no photo of that first building.

An annual special occasion was “Decoration Day” (Memorial Day) each year on Mothers’ Day at Gum Springs. In olden days, the week before Mothers’ Day, community folk would clean the cemetery so graves would look nice for flower decorations on Sunday. On that Sunday, folk recalled old memories, enjoyed good preaching, joyful singing, and “dinner on the ground” after morning service. In truth, this event was a community reunion.

All day singings and singing schools occurred at Gum Springs Baptist and at Zion Hill Methodist. Margaret recalled them, saying, “They had Sacred Harp singing at Gum Springs. And they had special people come who taught us.” They called those events “singing schools.” Sacred Harp singing had no musical instruments, for the voice was the “sacred harp.”

County newspapers announced these singing Sundays, as in this September 28, 1922, issue of the Southern Aegis “Slasham News” column: “There will be a singing next Sunday at Zion Hill. Everyone come and bring your books.” Sacred Harp singers used special books which used fa sol la musical notations.

All Day Singings was another type musical event. They were also announced in the Southern Aegis, as in this October 17, 1917 issue. “All Day Singing at Gum Springs. Joe Baswell will sing at Gum Springs the third Sunday in this month, beginning about nine o’clock a.m. and sing all day. Everybody have [sic] an invitation to go and especially the singers, and still more especially those who will carry DINNER out for we may go, and if we do, it will take a lot of it, you bet.” You can’t have an “All Day Singing” without “Dinner on the Ground.” These were social as well as spiritual events.

Bo Davis, a 5^th generation Davis living on the Slasham Valley Davis Farm, recounted interesting information in a recent interview.

The original Davis house burned and Bo’s great granddad, James Davis, rebuilt it. It still stands today on Davis Drive. “My Granddaddy, Robert Ely Davis, was born in 1878,” Bo said, “and the house burnt when he was two weeks old. His sister grabbed him up, pillow, mattress, and all, and carried him to the smokehouse.” Later, when the excitement of the fire came to an end, Jim asked, “Where’s the baby?” “He’s out there in the smokehouse,” they told him. And there they found him, sound asleep.

From the burned home, “They saved some of the sills and used them when they rebuilt the house,” Bo told the interviewer. “In that old house—my granddaddy’s house—the lumber on the walls are boards 25 inches wide. That lumber was sawed in 1878 when they built the house. They had a sawmill, and they sawed the planks and built the house back around the chimney of the old house.”

 Bo was born in this house on December 21, 1943, and the valley was blanketed in ten inches of snow.

After Zion Hill Methodist Church burned, the Methodist Conference decided not to rebuild and all that remained was the cemetery. However, Bo remembered two preachers who came and held revivals on Zion Hill property.

One evangelist held services under a “brush arbor.”  An online article, “The history of Brush Arbors,” gives this description: “Rural folk built a brush arbor by putting poles in the ground for the sides and then poles across these uprights. For the roof covering, they cut bushes and branches and laid them across the roof poles for a covering.”

Bo recalled that a “Rev. A. E. Jones would come from Gadsden and hold a week or two brush arbor revival on Zion Hill. He’d come down to my grandmother and get permission to run power lines down to my grandaddy’s house so they could have lights at night.”

“There was another preacher who ran a tent revival,” Bo recollected. “I think his last name was Bowlen who lived down around Margaret. He had tent revivals there back in the ‘50s.”

Slasham Valley has been a place called home for almost 200 years now. Settled year-by-year by families relocating from other states, it became a sweeping valley of farms and homes, schools and churches, and cemeteries, for with living comes dying. Folk who live, or have lived, in the valley speak of it with affection and love, and for all of those who have called it home, the lyrics of a song as old as Slasham hums in their hearts:

Mid pleasures and palaces, though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.

Home, home sweet home

There’s no place like home.

Ashville doctor leader in state mental health care

Story by Robert Debter
Submitted Photos

artlow would become a leader in mental health care, making an impact across Alabama and be instrumental in service to those with intellectual disabilities with a facility named for him. 

Long before there was an Alabama Department of Mental Health, Partlow Developmental Center was established in 1923 to allow individuals with intellectual disabilities to receive treatment in a state facility. It was located in Tuscaloosa, two miles from Bryce Hospital, and was the only one of its kind in the state until 1970.

Partlow was born on Feb. 4, 1877, in Ashville to David Alonzo and Modena Catherine (Beason) Partlow, who were married in St. Clair County on Sept. 13, 1866.

His grandfather, Dempsey Partlow, came from South Carolina to St. Clair County and was married on Feb. 26, 1839, to Mary Montgomery.

Through his mother, Dr. Partlow is the second great grandson of Edward Beason, a captain in the American Revolution and great grandson of Curtis Grubb Beason, who built the Beason House and the Teague Hotel.

David and Modena started their life together with very little, and they struggled for the first years of their marriage. But love, self-sacrifice and courage led David to open one of the first steam sawmills in northern Alabama.

David and Modena’s love story made a deep impression on their nine children, especially William. He perceived well the limitations of his family’s finances, but this only served to stimulate his determination. Educated with mother’s sound principles and encouraged by her love and devotion, he started making his own way at the age of 16. Deciding early on to pursue a career in medicine, he deprived himself of the usual teenage life and devoted his time to studying.

William graduated from St. Clair College, which became Ashville High School, in 1897. After graduation, he took the position of assistant to the principal at the college and used his earnings to finance his continuing education in the medical field. He studied at the State Normal School at Florence and in 1898, entered the School of Medicine of the University of Alabama at Mobile. On April 3, 1901, William graduated as valedictorian in his class and shortly after, became an intern at Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa.

Almost a year later, the young doctor accepted an appointment as a medical officer for the marine quarantine service in Mobile Bay. His chief duties were to visit the ports of Central America, study Yellow Fever and recommend methods of safeguarding Mobile’s port against the disease.

In October 1902, Dr. Partlow rejoined the staff of Bryce Hospital and ever since was associated with Alabama State Hospitals. Upon his return to Bryce, he served as Assistant Physician and devoted his time equally to Male and Female Wards. In 1908, Dr. Partlow was promoted to assistant superintendent of the Alabama State Hospitals and 11 years later was elected superintendent by the board of trustees of the various hospitals.

In 1923, Dr. Partlow was honored for “his advocacy of the establishment of such a sorely needed institution, and his persistent efforts, which brought into being” the Partlow State School for Mental Deficients.

Dr. Partlow never ceased in his study of the care of his patients and was highly regarded among American psychiatrists. In 1922, his alma mater, the University of Alabama, bestowed him with the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

He was greatly noted in his lifetime for his intelligence and the humane care he showed. During World War I, Partlow was chairman of the Medical Advisory Board and since 1919, was a member of the State Board of Health. In his WWI Draft Card, Dr. Partlow is described as tall with a medium build, brown hair and blue eyes.

On April 26, 1905, he married Margaret Nixon in Jefferson County, Alabama. They would have 48 years and five children together. Mrs. Partlow was noted as being an inspiring and devoted wife and lady.

Throughout the 16-year period of 1919 – 1935, funding for mental health was not appropriated by the Legislature and through effective management of his administration, Dr. Partlow was able to keep the institution on self-sustaining basis. During this time, his effectiveness led the hospital to raising almost $2 million for modernization and expansion.

Partlow also championed a medical college in Birmingham and was often spoken of and seen as the father of the college. 

The doctor passed away at the age of 76 at his home in Tuscaloosa on July 7, 1953, and was interred two days later at Tuscaloosa Memorial Park Cemetery. Margaret was reunited with him three years later on Dec. 14, 1956.

On Oct. 29, 1941, Dr. Partlow was honored in a ceremony at the Bryce Hospital Assembly Hall directed by the Board of Trustees of the Alabama State Hospitals. Dr. George Denny praised Partlow as a great man and credited his qualities of “rare executive ability, iron will, rugged determination, intellectual and moral courage and common sense.”

He also observed Dr. Partlow’s “human sympathy, human modesty, and sense of humor blending with a rich measure of patience.” Dr. Denny closed saying, “… Dr. Partlow has set a standard of public service in Alabama that merits the accolade of universal acclaim and appreciation … For he is indeed one of the select number of Alabama’s ‘tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the clouds, in public duty and private thinking.’”

As city celebrates 200 years, a look back a century ago

Story by Robert Debter
Submitted Photos

On the heels of observing the bicentennial of Ashville, memories and remembrances of the centennial celebration, April 26, 1923, emerge.

The event was conceived as a tribute to the soldiers of St. Clair County, both living and deceased, who had fought in the War Between the States, also known as the American Civil War. The event was spearheaded by Ashville Chapter 1488 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, and great care was given over to the preparation of the event, which would culminate in the unveiling of a marvelous marble statue, procured from the McNeel Company in Georgia at the cost of almost $2,500.

In the Feb. 23 edition of the Southern Aegis, owner B.B. Cather, vowed “… to do all it can to help the U.D.C. women pay for their monument and at once wishes to state that any subscriber who loves this paper and wants to help these women can settle with them court week. One half of every dollar paid to them on subscription, new or old for the Southern Aegis, in the next 30 days will be given to this organization or the Monument fund.”

The March 29^th edition printed the following notice:

Unveiling Confederate Monument

to St. Clair County Heroes

celebrating Ashville Centennial, April 26^th

Public Cordially Invited

On the historic spot in Ashville where 62 years ago, the flower of St. Clair’s young manhood, marched forth to defend their homes and the sacred causes of the Confederacy, the Daughters of the Confederacy have erected a memorial to their loyalty, courage, and devotion.

They have selected April 26^th, (Memorial Day), for the day of unveiling.

Few towns can boast of 100 years of existence, such is Ashville’s Birthday. The Daughters have been asked by prominent and former citizens of Ashville to include a centennial program in the day’s celebration, which they are glad to help plan.

A parade headed by a Brass Band, composed of school children, Daughters, Veterans, and floats representing each business in town will take place in the morning, following this will be a Centennial program at which time, Hon. James A. Embry, a lifelong Ashvillian will preside.

The principal address will be delivered by Hon. O.R. Hood of Gadsden, a former son of Ashville.

The unveiling program will be held in the afternoon, at which time, Mrs. W.A. Beason, President of the Ashville Chapter U.D.C. and General Chairman of the day’s festivities will preside.

Principal address of the unveiling will be delivered by Mrs. E.L. Huey of Bessemer, State President U.D.C., gifted and beloved Alabamian.

The big event

Alongside the unveiling and celebrations, a grand homecoming was planned. Chairman Lillie (Phillips) Beason, wife of Dr W.A. Beason, and her publicity committee set to work and issued more than 500 invitations to reach veterans and their families, originally from Ashville, who had since relocated to other parts of Alabama and the country.

On March 5, the Aegis reported, “The Monument Committee who has charge of the day’s program are to be congratulated upon securing Col. Oliver R. Hood of Gadsden, a former son of Ashville, of whom we are justly proud to deliver the Centennial address. Hon. James A. Embry, one of Ashville’s most brilliant and prominent attorneys, whose life has been spent in this peaceful city, has accepted the committee’s invitation to preside.”

As the day approached everyone was encouraged to “… greet every visitor with a smile and a welcome – leave that frown off your face for Ten days and be what God intended you to be, a booster for the Home Comers.”

Undoubtedly on that April morning the old veterans, such as Judge John W. Inzer of Ashville and John Washington Laster Jr., of Springville, recalled their days of service and those whom they marched and fought alongside, saw torn by war and perish from cannon, rifle and saber, and those they suffered with in prisoner of war camps in Illinois and Ohio.

To a crowd of over 2,000, the monument was unveiled by Misses Mattie Lou Teague and Sally V. Inzer. It was reported that the proceedings “… will be long remembered by every person who attended. Ashville was beautifully bedecked with flags and bunting.”

As for the veterans, they “… were treated royally and they seem to have appreciated to the fullest extent all that was done in honor of their dead comrades.”

Remembering the words of General Douglas MacArthur in his farewell address to the cadets as West Point in 1962, “… [T]he soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.”