In 1883, there was an attempt to burn the Woodstock Hotel in Anniston, Alabama in 1883
(Transcribed from Anniston Hot Blast, Anniston, Alabama, October 20, 1883)
INCENDIARISM
AN ATTEMPT TO BURN THE WOODSTOCK HOTEL
Monday morning it was discovered that there had been a deep laid and well planned plot to burn the Woodstock hotel. Some miscreant without fear of the devil or the law broke the plastering in one of the servant’s room, and filled between the walls with lightwood saturated with kerosene. Kerosene was then poured in profusion on the floor and against the wall, and a match applies.
In a little while the room was a sheet of light and the fire made rapid headway. The cook and one of the dining room servants were sleeping in the room, and without alarming the guests the fire was extinguished with water drawn from a well near by. The inmates of the room declare that the windows were down and the door bolted, and a lamp burning on the mantel when they retired and when they were awakened they were in the same condition save that the room was on fire.
It was clearly the work of an incendiary, and a bold one at that. No motive can be ascribed, and as yet the matter is wrapped in a cloud of mystery. A special watchman has been detailed for the hotel and shrewd detectives are at work trying to unravel the mystery. The punishment in such a crime is death, and we hope the guilty man so mean will be discovered.
ALABAMA FOOTPRINTS – Volume I – IV: Four Volumes in One
The first four Alabama Footprints books have been combined into one book,
From the time of the discovery of America restless, resolute, brave, and adventurous men and women crossed oceans and the wilderness in pursuit of their destiny. Many traveled to what would become the State of Alabama. They followed the Native American trails and their entrance into this area eventually pushed out the Native Americans. Over the years, many of their stories have been lost and/or forgotten. This book (four-books-in-one) reveals the stories published in volumes I-IV of the Alabama Footprints series.
