Vintage

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.

Last update: 10-03-2010 00:00

(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. 

Last update: 26-02-2010 21:46

(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.

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 

Last update: 26-02-2010 21:44

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.

Last update: 14-02-2010 15:22