Excert from History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography
By Thomas McAdory Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Owen
Published by The S. J. Clarke publishing company, 1921
Settlement and Later History.—The history of Baldwin County is inseparably associated with two great Indian tribes, the Alibamos and Creeks, with three great European nations, France, Spain and England, and at different times and under peculiar circumstances, with the Americans, as friends or enemies. The first American settlements in the county were made on Lake Tensaw and on Tensaw River, mostly by Tory families which migrated from Georgia and South Carolina during the American Revolution, although some came after that struggle, leaving their homes in consequence of Whig intolerance. Intermingled with these Tensaw settlers, however, were Whig families. Some of the family names of the settlers have been preserved— Byrne, Easley, Hall, Kilcrease, Linder, Mima, Pierce, Sibley, Steadham, Stockton and Holmes. Of these, Captain John Linder was the most prominent. He was a native of Switzerland, and was in the British service for several years as engineer and surveyor. During the Revolution, Gen. Alexander Mc- Gillivray assisted him in removing his family and numerous negro slaves, and in settling them on Lake Tensaw. The settlers were later reinforced by the arrival into their midst of several Indian countrymen, with their Indian wives and halfbreed children. Benjamin Durant was a type of these newcomers. He was a Carolinian who had married Sophia, a sister of Gen. McGillivray.
The first saw mills in the county were owned by Byrne and by Joshua Kennedy. They were in existence in 1813, but no doubt had been erected several years previously. The first cotton gin was established in 1803 by John and William Pierce at the Boat Yard on Lake Tensaw. Another cotton gin was built at McIntosh's Bluff on the Tombigbee, but the year of its erection is not known. (page 86)
Post Offices and Towns.—Revised to December 31, 1916, from U. S. Official Postal Guide. (page 88)
| Barnwell Battles Wharf Bay Minette (ch)- Blacksher Bon Secour Bromley Carney (present-day Stapleton) Caswell Daphne Davies Dyas Elberta Fairhope Foley Fort Morgan Gasque Gateswood Hurricane Josephine Latham Lillian |
Little River Lottie Loxley Magnolia SpringsMiflin Montrose Oak Orange Beach Palmetto Beach Perdido Beach Perdido Station Point Clear Robertsdale Roscoe Scranage Seacliff Seminole Silverhill Stapleton Stockton Summerdale Tensaw |
Delegates to Constitutional Conventions.-
1819—Harry Toulmin
1861—Joseph Silver
1865—J. H. Hastie
1867—Stephen Moore
1875—Henry C. Lea
1901--B. F. McMillan
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Senators.— 1819-20—Robert R. Harwell. |
Representatives.— 1819-20—Thomas Carson.
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