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SPRING IN THE COUNTY by Becki McAnnally |
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Early Alabama Stories
SPRING IN THE COUNTRY
by
Becki
McAnnally
Being raised in the country in Helena,
Alabama during the forties was in many ways an idyllic kind of
upbringing. It wasn’t that we were wealthy , or that we didn’t
have to be frugal, like most country folks, and we didn’t have the
luxury of throwing away perfectly good food. There was one day that
stands out in my memory like it happened yesterday.
You would think that the last thing a 4
year old child in the country would want to do in the spring would be
to have a chore of gathering eggs or having to do anything in the
garden, except of course, to run barefoot through freshly plowed
earth. The yellowbells and daffodils were blooming, the tulips
were coming up, and it was a beautiful , warm day.
I actually had chores to do when I was
that young, and I really liked feeding the chickens, but I was scared
to death of gathering eggs, because the hens didn’t take too kindly
to being rousted when they were on the nest. And you just never
knew when the hen would still be on the nest. Of course, my Mama
didn’t make me gather eggs anyway, I just had seen the hens
peck her sometimes when she was gathering and thought they would do
that to me, too…and it sure looked like it hurt!
So when the little neighbor boy down
the road came to play that day, the last thing we were thinking about
was gathering eggs. It was one of those warm spring days when
you didn’t have to wear a jacket, but Mama had put my little
overalls on with a little blouse underneath that had little puff
sleeves and a collar. She had brushed my long curly hair and put a
ribbon in it. So I thought I really looked pretty, and I was
glad to get outside ! My friend and I played awhile and then
pretty soon we got bored. Remember, this was a time when no one
locked doors, and we didn’t ever hear anything about child
molesters, but I knew I wasn’t supposed to go out of the yard. But
we decided we would go across the road to my neighbor’s house
anyway, where a family lived that I thought was my
own until I was grown. My friend didn’t have any animals and
didn’t know anything about chickens or eggs, so I decided we would
look at the henhouse to see if there were any eggs. Lo and behold,
there were no hens around, and six eggs in those nests! We went back
home, and I retrieved my old Easter basket ( my Mama was busy sewing
and didn’t see me), and we went back across the road . We gathered
the eggs very carefully and took them back to my house. We then
decided we had had so much success, that we would go look in our
henhouse for eggs. We found another four or five, and then decided
to take our stash and go sit out in the newly broken garden
plot so we could decide what we were going to do with them.
Early Alabama Stories
Last update: 10-03-2010 00:00
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Early North Alabama -Chapter Five- by Reuben Davis |
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Early Alabama Stories
(continuation from Chapter Four)
EARLY NORTHERN ALABAMA
(while part of the
Mississippi Territory)
From Recollections of
Mississippi and Mississippians
By Reuben Davis
1889
Note*(Names have been
capitalized by the transcriber to assist the reader)
Chapter Five
I NOW settled down in Russellville, and
there began the practice of medicine. My first patients were the
young men of my own age, who were, I suppose, willing to risk their
lives in the cause of friendship, and who were probably too ignorant
of the deadly nature of the treatment then in use to be aware how
great the risk realty was. Calomel and laudanum, drastic purgatives,
blisters and starvation, was the rule, and it is no wonder that few
survived to tell the tale. During the summer and fall my practice
steadily increased. For this I was largely indebted to DRS. GRAY and
HOLLAND who were the leading physicians of the place, and widely
known throughout that whole country for skill and experience. Both
these gentlemen treated me most generously, giving me the benefit of
their advice and instruction, and recommending me to the public as
well-informed in the principles of medicine, and prudent in practice.
It was in the fall of that year, 1828,
that pneumonia prevailed as an epidemic, and the mortality was
frightful. GRAY and HOLLAND not only controlled the practice, but
dictated the treatment to practitioners of less note. I was perfectly
familiar with the system of treatment observed by these two eminent
men, and being called in by a MR. HARALL to attend his son, I adopted
the usual remedies. In less than two days I was convinced that my
patient grew worse with every dose I administered. He was rapidly
approaching the verge of death, when a little negro girl belonging to
MR. HARALL was taken ill, and she also was put under my care. I saw
in a few hours that her malady was taking the same fatal course which
had so alarmed me in the case of her young master. In this extremity
I insisted that DR. GRAY should be called in. He came, and after
examination said the treatment was his own, and continued to follow
it. In three days the girl died, and the boy was scarcely alive. This
was frightful, and I resolved to take a bold step. In the meanwhile
still another boy had been stricken down, and my first prescription
had been equally unfortunate. I felt certain that the whole theory of
depletion was wrong, and that all the symptoms of the disease
indicated a tonic treatment. It was necessary to act quickly, so I
went to the father and said, " MR. HARALL, I have killed your
little negro, and if you hope to save your boys, you had better
dismiss both DR. GRAY and me at once." He was astonished, and
asked if he should send for DR. HOLLAND. I told him all the practice
was the same, and his only safety was in dismissing all who followed
it, and striking out on a new plan. I promised to come back as a
friend and try the new treatment. We abandoned all purgatives except
in alterative doses, and gave Peruvian bark and whiskey freely. This
plan was suggested by the fact that all the victims of that disease
craved stimulants. Both boys recovered. Soon after that time I
removed to Fayette Court House, in Fayette County, Alabama. There I
found the same epidemic of pneumonia, and was able to test the merit
of the new system. Out of forty-nine cases, I had the good fortune
not to lose one.
When I returned from Mississippi, I
found little change in the population of Russellville, except that
some of the youngsters, like myself, had grown into the cares and
business of manhood. We were of the same generation, had enjoyed
about the same opportunities, and had been formed by the same
influences. Their fathers and mine had felled the first forests and
opened the first fields. They owned few negroes, and it was the
industry of the white man which enriched the country with abundant
harvests of corn and cotton. The woods abounded with fine natural
grasses, and great herds of cattle were fattened in them. There was
also abundance of game; and as every boy owned and could use a
shot-gun, we never lacked the best and most wholesome food.
Russellville was in a beautiful valley,
and the lands were so fertile that immigration was invited, and the
growth of population unusually rapid. Government soon offered these
lands at public auction, and the average price per acre was about one
hundred and twenty dollars. The speculator showed no mercy to the
actual occupants. One third cash, and the residue in one and two
years. These prices were so ruinous that Congress finally interfered.
A law was passed remitting the second and third payments, and
allowing the cash paid at first to be applied in full payment of the
debt at a low rate fixed by law. In this way homes were secured to
the people at reasonable rates.
There is a great
valley extending from Huntsville west along the Tennessee River to
the mouth of the Big Bear Creek, at its junction with the Tennessee.
This whole valley seems to have been at one time a river bed, six or
seven miles broad. On its south boundary there is a high, and, in
some places, a rocky bank. From this bank to Russell's Valley there
runs a plateau of poor lands, of so little value as to be scarcely
populated. The valley on the Tennessee River is unsurpassed for
beauty, being like the " garden of the Lord, well watered and
fertile." Such favored spots of the earth are generally occupied
by a superior population. From every old country there issues a band
of its best and bravest, to seek for themselves new homes and a
broader field of enterprise.
Almost always it is
the young men of largest brain and most active energies who push out
and secure for themselves the desirable portions of new countries.
These adventurous spirits came in numbers from Virginia and Kentucky,
and bought up the rich lands in the valley. Most of them were men of
family and education, and many of them had what was then considered a
great fortune. The settlers of Russell's Valley were of the same
order of men, but had in proportion a smaller amount of property. It
was soon understood that no part of the South could boast of better
intellect or higher civilization than this section. Such men as
KELLY, CLAY, HOPKINS, the MARTINS, COOPER, WALDRIDGE, and others
would of themselves have given reputation to any country. They were
giants in the land, and to see and hear them expanded my soul, and
filled it with aspiration and ambition.
The first trial I ever heard in a
court-house was held in Russellville during the summer of 1828.
Though I have taken part in so many since that time, they have not
effaced the smallest detail of this suit, which still remains like a
vivid picture in my mind. It was a suit to recover damages for libel,
brought by SMITH against DONALDSON. The parties resided near
Florence, in Lauderdale County, Ala. SMITH was the son-in-law of
JAMES JACKSON, a wealthy planter, who belonged to a family of
considerable pretension. The charge was perjury. Family pride was
outraged, and JACKSON would willingly have poured out blood like
water to wash out the insult. SMITH, however, was a member of the
Methodist Church, and professed a desire to use only lawful remedies.
DONALDSON, on the other hand, was of the GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON
stock, and was ready at any moment to vindicate, at his own peril,
his family honor. He also was a planter, and possessed a large
property. Damages were laid at one hundred thousand dollars. So
numerous were the social, religious, and family ties of each party to
the suit that the whole county was wrought up to the wildest
excitement, and by common consent the venue was changed to
Russellville. SMITH had employed as counsel HOPKINS and CLAY of
Huntsville; and DONALDSON'S lawyers were KELLY, of Huntsville, and
WILLIAM MARTIN, of Florence. The change of venue induced SMITH to
employ WOOLDRIDGE, of Tuscumbia, and DONALDSON employed my brother,
JAMES DAVIS, of Russellville. There were more than a hundred
witnesses on each side. The case was called, and the defence plead
not guilty and justifiable. These pleas were antagonistic. With the
plea of not guilty, the burden of proof remained with the plaintiff.
The opening and concluding argument was with him. The charge of
perjury had been openly made. Being made, the plaintiff would stop,
and thus force the defendant to proceed with his justification. There
was too much ability with the attorneys for the defence not to
perceive this blunder, and they exerted their utmost skill to relieve
their client from the consequences. A motion to withdraw the plea of
not guilty was made, and, after hot discussion, was allowed. This was
a triumph, and the friends of the defendant shouted. DONALDSON opened
with his testimony. He had the burden of proving the perjury. His
witnesses were bold, and I think honest, because they never faltered
or became confused.
Early Alabama Stories
Last update: 26-02-2010 21:46
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| Keywords : jury trials, practicing medicine in early Mississipi Territory, Russellville, DRS. GRAY, DR. HOLLAND, MR. HARALL, TREATMENT OF PNEUMONIA, KELLY, CLAY, HOPKINS, WILLIAM, MARTIN, COOPER, WALDRIDGE, HON. JAMES T. HARRISON, JAMES DAVIS, DONALDSON, SMITH, JAMES JACKSON, FLORENCE, LAUDERDALE COUNTY, MISS OUTLAW, HEADEN, JUDGE HOUSTON, JUDGE SALE, COLONEL DOWD, ABERDEEN, GENERAL W. S. FEATHERSTON, REUBEN WIGGLE, JUDGE HUGH R. MILLER, JUDGE S. J. GHOLSON, MINT JULEP |
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Early Northern Alabama Chapter Four by Reuben Davis |
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Early Alabama Stories
(continuation from Chapter Three)
EARLY NORTHERN ALABAMA
(while part of the
Mississippi Territory)
From Recollections of
Mississippi and Mississippians
By Reuben Davis
1889
Note*(Names have been
capitalized by the transcriber to assist the reader)
Chapter Four
My two years of study ended, I returned
home for a short visit, and had the satisfaction of being commended
by my family for what they considered an improvement in manly
qualities. From there, I went to Memphis, Tennessee, hoping to find a
good opening for future work in that new place. After several days'
journey on horseback, I reached Memphis late one summer afternoon. It
was then a small town, ugly, dirty, and sickly. While supper was
being got for me at the tavern, I walked through the miserable
streets, and out upon the banks of the river. I shall never forget
the dreariness of that night, nor the despondency into which I fell
when I tried to bring myself to consider this as my future home. I
passed much of the night in reflection, and became convinced that I
could not maintain myself there. Everything pointed to the certainty
that in a short time this squalid village must grow to be a great and
wealthy city, but I had no confidence in my destiny as one of the
builders of it. For many years the population would be rough and
lawless, and the locality and sanitary condition of the town promised
that disease and death would hold high carnival there.
Even should I
survive these perils, what prospect had 1 for success ? I was very
young, had studied medicine in no college, had only money enough to
support me for a few months ; and, with all these disadvantages,
would have to compete with men fully equipped for the struggle. My
courage failed, and, after an early breakfast, I turned my face
homewards.
My brother WILLIAM at that time lived
in Sornerville, Tennessee. He was a lawyer of considerable standing
in that place, and was making both money and reputation. It was upon
his suggestion, and his promise of assistance, that the plan of
location in Memphis had been made. When he saw me return, he was very
much surprised and disgusted. He was a man of unusual mental force,
and had such strong common-sense and knowledge of business that his
judgment was almost unerring. He was prudent in the management of his
affairs, but always just and generous in the highest degree. In this
place I may say that he afterwards removed to Texas, where he was
widely known and honored. He accumulated a handsome fortune, and
reared a large family, none of whom survive him, except three sons
who now reside at El Paso.
I never knew a manlier man than my
brother WILLIAM 9DAVIS), and he continued the same until his death, which
took place in Texas some years ago, he having reached a very advanced
age. With him perished the last link that connected me with the
scenes and associations of our earlier lives.
My brother had a just confidence in his
opinions, and was somewhat absolute in maintaining them. I had great
affection and respect for him, and always hesitated to question the
wisdom of his advice. In this case I ventured to defend my own
opinion, and he finally agreed that I had perhaps acted wisely. I
remained with him a few days. In returning home, my road lay through
Bolivar, and thence to the house of MR, CHAMBERS, on the line between
Tennessee and the Chickasaw Nation of Indians.
My brother had collected thirty-six
hundred dollars for some merchants in Russellville. It was not easy
to transmit money safely at that time, and he proposed to send this
by me. I do not believe I had ever seen that much money at one time
before, and I was appalled at the responsibility of carrying such an
immense sum through the solitary region I must traverse. The
possibility of being robbed and perhaps murdered was bad enough, but
the fear of losing the money and being suspected of conniving at its
loss, in order to purchase my own safety, made the blood run cold in
my veins. Protests were in vain. Brother WILLIAM was inflexible, and
I departed with the gold concealed about my person, and the burden of
it heavy upon my spirits. I had not even a pocket-knife as a
defensive weapon, and there had been recently reported several cases
of robbery and murder on the trail between CHAMBER'S house and
Buzzard's Roost. If I could reach Buzzard's Roost, which was near the
Alabama line, in safety, my way thenceforward lay through a thickly
settled country. I left Bolivar at dawn the second day, hoping to
reach Chambers's before sunset. Darkness overtook me some four miles
from that place, and I got very nervous. Seeing a fire by the
roadside, I felt that my time was come, but it proved to be only an
emigrant camping out. The next morning I was delayed by a late
breakfast, and set forth with a profound conviction that my
possession of a large sum of money was known all along the road, and
that I should surely be robbed before nightfall. Before I had gone
ten miles I saw a man on horseback beside the road, apparently
waiting for some one. To my utter consternation he called out, "
Come on, I have been waiting for you all the morning." All my
fears now became certainties. This man was a rough, ill-looking
fellow. I thought I could behold a " laughing devil " in
his face.
Early Alabama Stories
I examined his
horse, and was somewhat reassured by the certainty that I could beat
him if it came to a race. He wore a butcher-knife stuck in his belt.
I kept on his left side and watched him narrowly. After we had
traversed several miles in this way, I joyfully beheld a large open
knife lying by the roadside, and lost no time in securing this
treasure. About noon we came to a creek, and the man insisted that I
should stop to eat and rest. As I refused, he kept on with me, and I
never halted until I reached Buzzard's Roost. Next morning I found
him again waiting for me on the road, and he informed me that an
Indian had stolen his knife while he slept. I parted with him at
Russellville, giving him the knife I had found. Ten years afterwards
I met him in the town of Houston, Mississippi. He recognized me, and
referred to the journey we had taken through the woods together. I
was at that time acting district attorney for the Houston court. The
grand jury found several bills against the man, who called himself
JOHNSON, for corn stealing, and he fled from the country.
I have always
believed that my finding that knife by the wayside saved my money,
and possibly my life, from this rascal. How came it there ? Was some
good spirit watching over me, or did chance befriend my inexperienced
footsteps ? These questions have come to me more than once in my
life, when I have been led safely through perils which seemed about
to overwhelm me.
Continued in Chapter Five
Early Alabama Stories
Last update: 26-02-2010 21:44
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Early Migration Trails to the Natchez Country |
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Early Alabama Stories
Early Migration Trails
To the "Natchez Country"
(posted as Public Story
by gnerdtude on
Ancestry.com)
There were several different routes
that the early pioneers used to move their families to the "Natchez
Country" which would become the Southwest Mississippi Territory
and at statehood the counties of Jefferson, Franklin, Adams,
Claiborne, Amite and Wilkinson.
From the Pee Dee River
Valley to Cole's Creek and Curtis Landing
The pioneers to the new "Natchez
Country" would leave the Pee Dee River area of SC/NC and travel
about 200 miles using pack-horses to the Holston RIver in
northeastern Tennessee. They traveled via the South Carolina
State Road (North) on the Warriors Path. They continued
on the Catawba Trail to the Wilderness Road Fort near Kingsport,
Tennessee. (Some of the present day towns and cities they would
pass through were: Cheraws, SC; Wadesboro, NC; New Salem, NC;
Lenoir, NC; Blowing Rock, NC; Boone, NC; Hampton, TN; Johnson City,
TN; and Kingsport, TN. The automobile driving distance
today would be over 250 miles.)
At the Wilderness Road Fort they
secured/built flat boats. The flat boats were sturdy with one
end enclosed for protection from the elements. The flat boat
had to be designed to allow for the women, children, food, bedding
and household items. They had to transport a milk cow,
chickens, horses, hunting dogs and farm implements. Once aboard
the flat boats they followed the Holston River to the Tennessee River
which they entered near Knoxville, TN. (They traveled near
present day towns of Surgoinsville, TN; Chalk Level, TN: Cherokee
Lake; Buffalo Springs, TN; and Mascot, TN).
Indian attacks
were a frequent occurrence. The pioneers always had to be
prepared. The women often steered the boats while the men
fought the Indians. Following the Tennessee River they reached
the Ohio River near Paducah, KY. (On this leg they traveled
near present day towns of Dayton, TN; Chattanooga, TN; Scottsboro,
AL; Guntersville, AL; Decatur, AL; Florence, AL; Savannah, TN;
Perryville, TN; Sycamore Landing, TN; Eva, TN; Aurora, KY; and Lake
City, KY) From Paducah the flat boats floated down the Ohio
River where they entered the Mississippi near Cairo, IL. (This
is near present day Metropolis, IL; and about 30 miles south of
Cape Girardeau, MO)
At Cairo, IL the flat boats embarked on
the "mercy" of the mighty Mississippi River for the rest of
the journey to the "Natchez Country." (They traveled
near present day towns like Hayti, MO; Cathursville, MO; Heloise, TN;
Osceloa, AR; Memphis, TN; Helena, AR; Rosedale, MS; Greenville, MS;
Lake Providence, LA; and Vicksburg, MS) South of Rodney
one group of pioneers steered the flat boats into Boyd's Creek (now
Cole's Creek) for the 15 mile trip to Curtis Landing on the
South Fork of Cole's Creek. Other pioneers continued on to
Natchez or Wilkinson County steering their flat boats up St.
Catherine's Creek, the Homochitto River or Buffalo River.These
pioneers had made a trip of approximately 1400 miles by flat boat on
water. The total miles traveled by horse-pack and flat boat
would be about 1650-1700 miles.Upon arrival it was necessary to fell
trees and build log houses quickly. Fields needed to be cleared
and cultivated. The survival for the first year was dependent
on the family's ability to fish and hunt. Squirrel, deer,
ducks, and wild turkey were the family's fresh meat.One of the
pioneer families who had a British land grant in Jefferson County
included James Cole who arrived October, 1772 with the paperwork
finalized in 1776. Richard Curtis who arrived in 1780.
From Nashville to the
"Natchez Country" on the Natchez Trace
Of course let's not forget those
who traveled The Natchez Trace from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS or
stops along the way... Tupelo, Kosciusko, Madison, Jackson, Clinton,
Port Gibson, Lorman, Fayette, Washington, or Natchez. The
Natchez Trace was one of the trails which the Indians allowed the
settlers to use in accordance with a treaty with the United States
government. It was the most traveled of the land routes into
the Natchez country.One land route went from Knoxville to Natchez by
way of the Tombigbee River. This went through the Cherokee
Indian territory.The other land route to Natchez left the Oconne
settlement in Georgia crossing the Alabama River to Fort Stevens and
the Tombigbee River.
Early Alabama Stories
Last update: 14-02-2010 15:22
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