Thank you for your interest in Wilcox County and the Wilcox Historical Society. We are in the process of updating our website but welcome any emails to [email protected].
To answer your question – yes some of these structures are still standing!
Annette hooper
I enjoy all the news letters and history, is there any good history on a place named Gentry’s Gap or Old Lums Place in Shelby County or the town of Wilton in Shelby County?
Donna R Causey
Not at this time. Thanks for your comment.
JoeAnn Haigler
Always enjoy reading about history of places long ago.
I LOVE ALABAMA PIONEERS!!!!!!! I am a history buff and have been doing genealogy for over fifty years. The best thing about Alabame Pioneers for me is now that I am retired, I get ideas from you for places to explore right here in my own state!! I have never been one to hit the tourists spots……….AP spots are wonderful. Please keep up the good work!!
Donna R Causey
Thank you so much Julia. We enjoy finding the stories.
I love and appreciate articles like this one! I had a number of friends in college from Camden/ Wilcox county, and family in nearby Lowndes county.
julie brown
would like information on Thornton & Robert Brown 1816 Thanks
Duncan Taylor Black
Thanks, Donna, for the pictures of the old tavern at Allenton. This structure was built about 1835 by Conrad Sowerhaver, or a similar spelling. There are records of Mr. Sowerhaver in the German church in Orangeburg District near present-day St. Matthews, South Carolina prior to his arrival in Wilcox County. It is highly probable that he was a brother to Margaret Sowerhaver, the wife of Arthur Franz Ferdinand von Bardeleben and the mother of Henry DeBardeleben, who was an early settler in Autauga County and the patriarch of a large Alabama pioneer family that includes Henry Fairchild DeBardeleben, the founder of Birmingham’s coal and iron industries. I would be grateful for any information from Mr. Sowerhaver’s descendants if there should be any in Wilcox County. Thank you.
[…] Wilcox was a center of Alabama antebellum plantation life … – EARLY WILCOX COUNTY, ALABAMA (Much of this history has been transcribed from the History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, 1921 by Thomas … […]
I’m trying to clarify and expand on the commentary attached to the Tristram Bethea house in Canton Bend, Wilcox County. The original owner of this house and the “Plesant Ridge” Plantation were David and Mary Ann Pledger Bethea, my X 3 great Uncle and Aunt, both of Marlboro County, SC. David born 1765 in Gates County, NC, died 1845 in Wilcox County, Ala. Mary Ann born 1776 in Marlboro County, SC, died 1866 in Montgomery, cmy Oakwood. They pioneered in Alabama in 1822, purchasing Federal lands in Canton Bend. They had 10 children, but only 4 females survived. The youngest, Eugenia Volanto, married Tristram Benjamin Bethea an attorney and cousin from Mobile, Ala in 1831. Tristram became the overseer of “Pleasant Ridge”, and after David’s death, the owner of the “Tristram Bethea” house. The 1850 census shows he and Eugenia living in Canton Bend and owning real estate valued at $40,000. The 1860 census shows them living in Montgomery and owning real estate valued at $120,000 and personal property of $250,000. Tristram Benjamin was a state senator during the War.
David and Mary Ann Pledger Bethea have 15 pages devoted to them and their families in “Kinfolks” by William Curry Harllee. I would be glad to email you copies if you so desire. I think it only fair that David and Mary Ann be listed as the original owners of the “Tristram Bethea” home in Wilcox County, Ala. They were true Alabama pioneers. Thank you, Bill Bethea.
This web site definitely has all tthe info I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t
know who tto ask.
Phillip Gulley
Can anyone tell me about the African Americans who were in Wilcox/Butler County? I know the surname could have been Gulley, Gully, Gilley, etc…
William Shivers
Searching for information on Watson’s Crossing and Watson’s Crossing Road. There is a very old house oj this road, and I would love to find out its history, and wjo owns it currently?
William Shivers
I forgot to mention that my Grandmother Mary Etta Gates was born at Lower Peach Tree. Where would the best resources be found in researching Lower Peach Tree? She married my Grandfather William Thomas Shivers, and they ended up in Escambia County near Flomaton where I have lived my entire life upon their original homestead family land.
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Are any of these structures still standing now?
The Wilcox County Historical Society can probably answer your question here.http://wilcoxwebworks.com/history/index.html
Thank you for your interest in Wilcox County and the Wilcox Historical Society. We are in the process of updating our website but welcome any emails to [email protected].
To answer your question – yes some of these structures are still standing!
I enjoy all the news letters and history, is there any good history on a place named Gentry’s Gap or Old Lums Place in Shelby County or the town of Wilton in Shelby County?
Not at this time. Thanks for your comment.
Always enjoy reading about history of places long ago.
I had family that settled in Wilcox and found the article very interesting. Thank you.
This is just wonderful
<3……..
History
I LOVE ALABAMA PIONEERS!!!!!!! I am a history buff and have been doing genealogy for over fifty years. The best thing about Alabame Pioneers for me is now that I am retired, I get ideas from you for places to explore right here in my own state!! I have never been one to hit the tourists spots……….AP spots are wonderful. Please keep up the good work!!
Thank you so much Julia. We enjoy finding the stories.
Angela Williamson Newsom
I love and appreciate articles like this one! I had a number of friends in college from Camden/ Wilcox county, and family in nearby Lowndes county.
would like information on Thornton & Robert Brown 1816 Thanks
Thanks, Donna, for the pictures of the old tavern at Allenton. This structure was built about 1835 by Conrad Sowerhaver, or a similar spelling. There are records of Mr. Sowerhaver in the German church in Orangeburg District near present-day St. Matthews, South Carolina prior to his arrival in Wilcox County. It is highly probable that he was a brother to Margaret Sowerhaver, the wife of Arthur Franz Ferdinand von Bardeleben and the mother of Henry DeBardeleben, who was an early settler in Autauga County and the patriarch of a large Alabama pioneer family that includes Henry Fairchild DeBardeleben, the founder of Birmingham’s coal and iron industries. I would be grateful for any information from Mr. Sowerhaver’s descendants if there should be any in Wilcox County. Thank you.
[…] Wilcox was a center of Alabama antebellum plantation life … – EARLY WILCOX COUNTY, ALABAMA (Much of this history has been transcribed from the History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, 1921 by Thomas … […]
Faye Swanner
I’m trying to clarify and expand on the commentary attached to the Tristram Bethea house in Canton Bend, Wilcox County. The original owner of this house and the “Plesant Ridge” Plantation were David and Mary Ann Pledger Bethea, my X 3 great Uncle and Aunt, both of Marlboro County, SC. David born 1765 in Gates County, NC, died 1845 in Wilcox County, Ala. Mary Ann born 1776 in Marlboro County, SC, died 1866 in Montgomery, cmy Oakwood. They pioneered in Alabama in 1822, purchasing Federal lands in Canton Bend. They had 10 children, but only 4 females survived. The youngest, Eugenia Volanto, married Tristram Benjamin Bethea an attorney and cousin from Mobile, Ala in 1831. Tristram became the overseer of “Pleasant Ridge”, and after David’s death, the owner of the “Tristram Bethea” house. The 1850 census shows he and Eugenia living in Canton Bend and owning real estate valued at $40,000. The 1860 census shows them living in Montgomery and owning real estate valued at $120,000 and personal property of $250,000. Tristram Benjamin was a state senator during the War.
David and Mary Ann Pledger Bethea have 15 pages devoted to them and their families in “Kinfolks” by William Curry Harllee. I would be glad to email you copies if you so desire. I think it only fair that David and Mary Ann be listed as the original owners of the “Tristram Bethea” home in Wilcox County, Ala. They were true Alabama pioneers. Thank you, Bill Bethea.
Joan Crocker
That don’t look like Tara…
Ha!
Love the pix of the old tavern.
I have been told that my grandfather James Andrews 1802- death after 1850owned this tavern at one time.
I’m from Yellow Bluff in Wilcox County and never knew the history of Wilcox Count until now . Thx !
Thanks for the comment, Mike. There is so much history about Alabama that has been forgotten. We are trying to shed some light on it.
This web site definitely has all tthe info I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t
know who tto ask.
Can anyone tell me about the African Americans who were in Wilcox/Butler County? I know the surname could have been Gulley, Gully, Gilley, etc…
Searching for information on Watson’s Crossing and Watson’s Crossing Road. There is a very old house oj this road, and I would love to find out its history, and wjo owns it currently?
I forgot to mention that my Grandmother Mary Etta Gates was born at Lower Peach Tree. Where would the best resources be found in researching Lower Peach Tree? She married my Grandfather William Thomas Shivers, and they ended up in Escambia County near Flomaton where I have lived my entire life upon their original homestead family land.
Rickie Piggott, any of your Russell’s?