Conecuh is an Indian name, to which have been given a variety of meanings. But the best translators of the Indian dialect believe its meaning to be "Cane Land," derived from the vast canebrakes which lined its numerous streams, and which covered its extensive tracts of lowlands.

The original word from which the present name is supposed to have been corrupted was "Eeouneka," which, in the Creek tongue, means "Land of Cane." This is the rendering given by Col. M. H. Cruikshank, of Talladega, to whom the author was referred by Prof. W. S. Wyman, of the University of Alabama. After venturing several conjectures himself, as to the meaning of the word, Prof. Wyman, with genuine good humor, says: "The name Conecuh means Polecat's Head; being a compound of kono, the Creek word for polecat, and ekukt head." "Then," continues the Professor, "this is my best conjecture, and if it should turn out that I have hit the right meaning, it is to be hoped that the good people of Conecuh will not be unduly distressed at the unsavory name of their county. As the rose by any other name would smell as sweet, so it stands to good reason that the goodly land of Conecuh, swept, as it is, by the resinous airs of its own healthful pine forests, visited by the fragrant breezes of the peninsula of orange flowers, and wooed by a touch of the sultry breath of old Ocean himself, smells sweet in spite of its ugly name." After several conjectures, against all of which he raised some objection, Prof. Wyman urged that the whole matter be submitted to Col. Cruikshank, whose practical knowledge of the Indian dialect enabled him to give the meaning presented on the first page. The county took its name from the stream of the same name which penetrates its eastern portion. To each of these streams the native tribes gave a significant name, derived from some prevailing characteristic, or from some notable event connected therewith. The statement already made as to the meaning of Conecuh, is further corroborated by the glowing description given by the earliest settlers of the appearance of the lace of the country. The virgin forests of Conecuh, as described by the pioneer fathers, must have rivalled in appearance the fairest spots of earth. Before one occupying a prominence there was spread out a scene of panoramic beauty. Vast stretches of land, dipping into occasional basins, ranged visibly in all directions, unbroken by the small undergrowth of shrubbery, which is now a prevailing feature in our forests. The land was radiant with long, waving grass, interspersed with the wild oat and the native pea-vine, aud relieved by the monarch pine trees, which stood like so many columns in the great cathedral of nature. Across these smiling landscapes, and through these verdant vales, there roved vast herds of deer and flocks of wild turkeys, together with other game—the evident tokens of a beneficent Providence. Here and there these lands of wild beauty were, streaked with clear, flowing streams, the track of whose shining currents could be followed for railes, by reason of the native cane, which grew in rank luxuriance along their banks. There was not then, as now, a mixture of tangled shrubbery with the cane along the banks of these streams. The streams themselves abouuded in the finest fish, while the lakes and ponds swarmed with countless flocks of wild ducks. From out the thicket jungles there would issue, at night, the hideous growls of wild beasts, the ferocious protests of the native denizen to the encroaching civilization of the white man. Such is the description given of Conecuh when the enterprising settlers first occupied its soil.

EARLY SKIRMISH.

The first item of historic interest is connected with a skirmish on Burnt Corn creek, thirteen miles south of Bellville, which was the commencement of the great Indian War. The settlers along the Tombigbee, having learned that Peter McQueen, with a body of warriors, numbering about 350, had gone to Pensacola for the purpose of obtaining supplies from the British, preparatory to an attack upon the whites, sent Col. James Caller, with a small body of cavalry, to intercept them. Returning from Pensacola, ladened with supplies, the Indians had stopped near the banks of Burnt Corn creek, to rest and cook dinner. Having driven their ponies across the stream to a basin of laud, thickly overgrown with tender cane, the dusky warriors lay down in the shade to rest, while the squaws prepared dinner. Coming from the opposite direction the advance guards of Caller's forces found the Indian ponies grazing in the tall cane, and immediately reported the discovery to their commander. With great caution the whites advanced, crossed the stream in single file, and commenced to fire upon the reclining warriors. Snatching up their guns, the Indians ran down under a bluff' that overhung the creek. Confident of easy victory, Caller and his men began to plunder the Indian camp and to reap the spoils of success. Meanwhile the brave warriors rallied and returned the fire with vigor, advancing all the while upon the over-confident whites. At the first fire from the savages, the unhitched horses of Caller's men scampered off in all directions. In much confusion the whites retreated to the top of the hill, and the results would have been disastrous, it is said, had not Capt. Sam Dale covered the retreat with a small body of men. Filled with a new fire of revenge, the Indians, a month later, fell upon Fort Mimms, the horrors of which event were appalling beyond description. When the earliest inhabitants came to Bellville they found the spot where the tribes held their war dance in honor of McQueen's victory over Caller. Thus was spilt upon Conecuh's soil the first blood of that terrible series of sanguinary conflicts, which culminated in the removal of the native tribes to the far West. What a melancholy history is that of the Red Man! The narrative of their unchecked dominion, contrasted with that of their rapid dispersion, is sad beyond measure. The history of their undisputed sway is written upon the rills and rivers of our fair land to-day. As Alabama's once gifted poet, Judge A. B. Meek, has sung:

"Yes! tho' they all have passed away,—

That noblo race and brave,
Though their light canoes have vanished

From off the crested wave;
Though 'mid the forests where they roved,

There rings no huuter's shout,—
Yet their names are on our waters,

And we may not wash them out!
Their memory liveth on our hills,

Their baptism on our shore,—
Our everlasting rivers speak
Their dialect of yore!

Tis heard where Chattahoochee pours

His yellow tide along ;
It sounds on Tallapoosa's shores.

And Coosa swells the song;
Where lordly Alabama sweeps,

The symphony remains;
And young Cahawba proudly keeps

The echo of its strains;
Where Tuscaloosa's waters glide,

From stream and town 'tis heard,
And dark Tombigbee's winding tide

Repeats the olden word;
Afar, where nature brightly wreathed

Fit Edens for the Free,
Along Tuscumbia's bank 'tis breathed,

By stately Tennessee;
And south, where from Conecuh's springs,

Escambia's waters steal,
The ancient melody still rings,—

From Tensaw and Mobile."

CONECUH IS ORGANIZED INTO A COUNTY.

Conecuh did not become a separately organized county until January, 1818. Prior to this time it was embraced within the limits of Monroe county, which then embraced an extensive tract of territory, extending from east to west, from the Chattahoochee to the Alabama. But after the organization of Conecuh into a county, it was bounded on the north by Monroe and Montgomery counties, on the west by Clarke and Mobile, on the easl by Georgia, and on the south by Florida—then a Spanish province. Richard Warren became the first representative of the county in the Territorial Legislature, which met then at St. Stephens, in Washington county. Ransom Dean (brother-in-law to Col. J. H. Hawthorne), was the first sheriff, and by virtue of his office, was tax assessor and collector, as well. Joel Lee (the father of Rev. David Lee), was the first justice of the peace appointed in Conecuh. He was appointed by Gov. William Bibb.

BELLVILLE and HAMPDEN RIDGE

Reference has already been had to the settlements at Bellville and Hampden Ridge. Between the years of 1817 and 1823 the population of both these points was steadily increased. Several brothers, whose name was Bell, came to Bellville, then called "The Ponds," about 1818 or 1820, and having commenced an enterprising life in this region, they called the village after their own name—Bellville. At Hampden Ridge, the home of Mr. Autrey, as at every advance post in this uncivilized region of country, there was a nucleus formed, around which the elements of growth would accumulate as the stream of immigration would continue to flow. As has already been said, by the permission of Mr. Autrey, and partly by his direction, the first court house of the county had been built on Hampden Ridge during the year 1817. After this there came, in rapid succession, and settled hereabouts, the families of Savage, Charlton, Thompson, John and Duncan Mclntyrc, Dr. Houghton (who soon after died), Major Bowie, Stringer, Causer, Thomas Hodge and Jesse Baggett, the father of Richard Baggett, of Castleberry, who was the first white child born in the county of Conecuh.

By mutual agreement between the white residents on Hampden Ridge, and the Indians, whose camps and villages lay beyond Murder creek, this stream was fixed as the boundary. But regardless of the agreement, the savages would now and then cross the creek in predatory bands, and commit depredations upon the white settlers, by stealing their cattle and driving them beyond the stream, and to the headquarters of the tribe at Old Town. So enraged did the whites finally become, that they resolved upon a total suppression of these wrongs. Accordingly they mustered every one who was able to bear arms and moved in a body to Old Town. This, they attacked with considerable spirit, driving the native inhabitants, terror stricken, away. They next proceeded to set fire to their town of huts and wigwams and reduce it to ashes. Flushed with victory, the triumphant whites returned to their homes, no more to be molested by the prowling Red Man. The Indians having disappeared from this region, the whites commenced to remove to the eastern side of Murder creek. Major Richard Warren was the first to venture across the stream and pitch his home in a region so lately filled with peril. He was soon after followed by his son, who located at the point where he died, one mile east of Sparta. During the same year Malachi Warren entered eighty acres of land and built a log cabin on the spot where, afterwards, stood the Rankin House. This cabin was the first building erected upon the site of old Sparta, which, at this period, had not been honored with its classic name. At this point Malachi Warren opened a place of business that might have been aptly described as a pop-corn grocery. Between the homes of Major Warren and his son, Hinchie, a gentleman, whose name was Spires, located. The place occupied by hirn was afterwards called the Callahan Place. He was the first to begin the improvement of what has been since known as the Cary Plantation. In 1819, Thomas Watts (uncle to Ex-Governor Watts), removed from Georgia and settled near Malachi Warren's home. During the same year a man named Gauf removed from Tallahassee, Florida, and built below the point where afterwards stood the Rankin House, on the road leading from Sparta to Brooklyn. It was near this spot, too, where the first jail was erected. Mr. Gauf established here the first hotel built in Sparta, and in honor of himself, called it the Gauf House. Like most other structures of this period, this primitive inn was of pine poles and flat upon the ground, and, in the absence of lumber with which to construct shutters for the doors, calico curtains and counterpanes had to be suspended as flaps. About this time there came to this community a Northern physician, whose name was Jonathan Shaw. He engaged board in the Gauf House, and built an office near where the Masonic Hall afterwards stood. It was just subsequent to the events already related, that the court house agitation sprang up between the rival communities of Hampden Ridge and the settlement on the opposite side of the creek. A vigorous effort was being made by the Warrens, Boykins and Hunters, to transfer the site of the county from Hampden Ridge into their own midst. Alexander Autrey led, in a stout opposition, but the decision of the ballot was against him, and, much to his dis-satisfaction, he had to yield. Accordingly, in 1820, a new court house was built, and the village thereupon received the name of Sparta—given to it by Thomas Watts, an attorney, in honor of Sparta, Georgia, from which point he had removed. This second court house is said to have been a slight improvement on the one originally built on Hampden Ridge. It was constructed of pine logs, and was, in size, about 20 by 30 feet, and had two doors. In the absence of a local church edifice, it served the double purpose of temple of justice and house of worship. Auother court house—the one consumed by fire in 1868—was erected three years later, by a man named Simmons, from Tallahassee, Florida, and the Masonic Fraternity gave him §500 additional to place the lodge room and attic above. Evidences of improvement began now to become manifest in all directions. The evidences of an ambitious civilization were beginning to show themselves in schools, and in more pretentious forms of business than had hitherto existed. The first school here was undertaken by John McCloud, who taught but a brief period, when he was succeeded by Murdock MePherson. The last named gentleman is said to have been the first Mason buried with the honors of that Fraternity upon the soil of Conecuh. To give marked solemnity to the occasion, a fiddle was brought into requisition, and its solemn tones were evoked in the strain of a funeral march, by a wooden-legged doctor, named Ogden. Anderson and Blackshear, two brothers-in-law, and John and Reuben Dean, built two places of business in this rapidly growing village. And after the removal of the court house, the bar of Conecuh was increased by the location of Samuel W. Oliver, Eldridge S. Greening and John S. Hunter, at Sparta.

BROOKLYN.

Prior to the settlement of Brooklyn proper, quite a community had been formed on Ard's and Bottle creeks. There were in this community, as early as 1818, two stores, owned respectively by McConnell and George Feagin. There was also a school being taught here by Mr. Graham, of Georgia; and a blacksmith shop, owned by John Brantley. No trace of this settlement, which was about six miles northwest of the prcseut location of Brooklyn, remains. The last vestige has been obliterated by plantations. Among the earliest settlers here were Asa and Caleb Johnston, and Aaron Feagin—their father-in-law. They removed from Georgia in 1818. Richard Curry, grandfather to Rev. W. G. Curry, now of Wilcox, was also one of the founders of this community. The first settler of the village of Brooklyn was a man whose name was Cameron. He established a ferry across Sepulga river. Edwin Robinson, from Brooklyn, Connecticut, bought out Mr. Cameron's interest, opened a store, and called the place Brooklyn, for his native village in New England. This occurred in 1820. He was reinforced pretty soon by the location of Dr. Milton Amos, after whom Milton, Florida, was named. Then followed the families of George and Reuben Dean and Benjamin Hart, who had first settled at Bellville. Improvements were rapidly made in the promising village, and thereabouts. A church was erected in 1821, the pastor of which was Elder Alexander Travis; a school was established under Mr. Scruggs; a grist mill contributed to the comfort and convenience of the expanding village; new places of business were opened, and thus Brooklyn became, in 1821, the emporium of trade to Conecuh, and the river, which runs hard by, became the commercial outlet of the entire region of country.

Transportation was begun on the Conecuh and Sepulga rivers in 1821. It is believed that George Stoneham was the owner of the first boat that sailed upon the waters of Conecuh. The inauguration of this movement was but the signal for many similar enterprises; for in rapid succession were boats entered by Messrs. Edwin Robinson, James and John Jones, Starke and Harry Hunter, aud Frank Boykin, so that within a few years the river was alive with well-ladened boats, plying between Brooklyn and Pensacola, and when the depth of water would justify it, ascending as high as Montezuma, above Brooklyn. These were keel-boats, and would carry from fifty to sixty bales of cotton. In capacity they were from sixty to seventy feet long, and eight to ten wide. They were entered in the Custom House at Pensacola, tonnage paid, and then license obtained for steering into port. But the heroic enterprise of these early inaugurators of navigation on the Conecuh river, deserves more extended mention than a bare passing notice, and hence a detailed account of their reverses and successes is reserved for a subsequent chapter. Fresh additions were constantly being made to the population of Brooklyn, and but a short time after its location, we find the families of Hart, Hodges, Meeks, Manning, Slaughter, Folks, Amos, Turk, Burson, Horton, Lee, Halstead, and several families of the Stoneham relationship. These were, for the most part, men of enterprise, and under their direction the work of advancement went steadily on. Vast tracts of land were cleared in the direction of the river, where were soon some of the best improved plantations in the county. Eleven miles below Brooklyn there was a settlement founded on the river, the first inhabitant of which was Malachi Ethridge, who removed with his family from North Carolina in 1818. This well-to-do colony were not neglectful of the advantages which they had enjoyed in the older States, and hence one of the first considerations was the erection of houses of worship. The first church built in this region was a Methodist house of worship, which enjoyed the pastoral ministrations of Rev. James King—favorably known for many years after, as "Father King." In another portion of the community a Baptist church was erected, under the ministerial auspices of Elders Travis and Ellis.

One of the chief attractions of this thrifty community was a manufacturing establishment, which had been built by Thomas Mendenhall, whose ingenuity at that time was proverbial in all parts of the county. Here he was resorted to, from all directions, as the only manufacturer of chisels, augers, cotton-cards, spinning-wheels and gins. Near the village of Brooklyn is a large cave, knowu as Turk's Cave. A tradition among the earliest inhabitants has it, that it was a place of resort to the noted highwayman, Joseph T. Hare, and his accomplices. It is said to have been the spot where they stored their treasures, and whence "they sallied forth to rob and murder the traders who plied their vocation between Pensacola and the Indian country."

FORT CRAWFORD,

now in Escambia county, was one of the points earliest settled in Conecuh. It derived its name from an officer in Jackson's command. Benjamin Jernigan seems to have been the first to pitch his tent in this region. He settled within two and a half miles of where Fort Crawford subsequently stood, and on the west side of Burnt Corn creek, within three-quarters of a mile of the present site of Brcwton. This was in the latter part of 1816, or early in 1817. Not more than two or three settlements had been made in the county at that time. Soon after Mr. Jernigan came here, he was joined by James Thomson, Benjamin Brewton, R. J. Cook, Lofton and Loddy Cotten. At this time the fort was occupied by the Seventh Georgia Regiment. General Jackson was in the habit of visiting the home of Benjamin Jernigan—the father of the venerable William Jernigan, now a resident of Pollard. Mr. Jernigan had removed with his family from Burnt Corn Springs for the purpose of herding cattle for Jackson's army. From the direction of Pensacola, Jackson sent the Jernigan family supplies by the Conecuh river, and many were the annoyances to which the boatmen were subjected by the Indians firing upon them from the thickets along the banks. The army quartered at this point received their supplies from Montgomery Hill, on the Alabama river. They were hauled in wagons across the Escarnbias to Fort Crawford, where for a time all the citizens of this section went to procure bread. The erection of the fort was commenced in 1817. Prior to this time only temporary earthworks had been thrown up. No Indian settlements were then near; but now and then prowling bands would pass through the country, ostensibly on hunting excursions. They usually encamped about the heads of streams, and built temporary shelters of pine and cypress bark. Sometimes they would linger at such points a week together, and then pass onward. In the winter of 1817, tracts of swamp land were cleared of the trees and rank cane, which were burned in the following spring, and the soil planted in corn. Though unprotected by fences, these cleared spots yielded immense crops. The following year an effort was made to fence with the tall cane, but failed.

Soon after the formation of the settlement, Rev. Radford Cotten, a Methodist clergyman, settled in its midst. He was afterwards joined by Rev. Mr. Shaw, also a Methodist minister. Some time prior to this, services had been from time to time held at the fort by Rev. Thomas Walls, a Baptist minister. These services were held at the request of the officers of the fort. In 1818, a church edifice was built on the west side of the river, about four miles above the fort, at a point called "The Bluff." It is thought to have been erected through the influence of Elder Walls. Near this spot a store-house was also built.

The inhabitants living in the neighborhood of Fort Crawford were devoted to farming and to raising cattle and hogs. As early as 1817 they furnished to the markets of Pensacola vast quantities of peas and pumpkins, which they transported in wagons, and exchanged for such delicacies as coffee. So highly were these farm products valued by the Pensacolians, and so great was the abundance of coffee at that period, that a bushel of peas was readily exchanged for a bushel of coffee. The year 1818 was one of sore trial to this interior settlement. The soil had been most fruitful in its yield, but the resources of the earliest farmers had been subjected to great drain by reason of the constant influx of immigration. Such were the straits to which this region was subjected, that corn was sold for four dollars per bushel. Duriug that year the community sent Bartley Colley to New Orleans to purchase supplies of corn, which were shipped to Pensacola. As the Indians persisted in their disturbance of all boats ascending or descending the river, wagons were employed to convey these necessaries across the country. A decided check was put upon these troubles from the Indians, in 1818, by the capture of four hundred warriors, by General Jackson, at Ferrv Pass.

In 1818, Mr. Walls, brother to the minister, erected a small grist mill near "The Bluff;" and a few years later, Thomas Mendcuhall built a saw mill above Fort Crawford. Very little of the lumber sawn here was sold to the citizens, and Mr. Mcndenhall, aided by a man whose name was Roily Roebuck, transported his lumber on rafts to Pensacola. Prior to the erection of this mill, the "whip saw" had been used to some extent in the community. The lumber with which were built the houses of the officers of Fort Crawford, was sawn with the "whip saw." Other timbers were cut and rafted down the river to Pensacola. The readiness with which man adapts himself to surrounding circumstances is strikingly illustrated by the unique plan adopted here by the residents for conveying the products of their diminutive farms to a favorable market. These fresh bottom lands were abundant in their yield of pumpkins. In order to ship these to Pensacola, a huge cypress was scooped out, somewhat in the shape of a mammoth batteau, and of sufficient capacity to hold three hundred pumpkins. With a cargo like this these heroic farmers would speed away down the river, and Pensacola reached, their golden fruit was readily sold—realizing for each pumpkin twenty-five or fifty cents—and rejoicing, they would return.

Game abounded here, as elsewhere in Conecuh. But, strange enough, the community about Fort Crawford was destitute of dogs. To obviate this disadvantage, the officers of the fort, having become very intimate with Willie Jernigan, then a boy of sixteen, engaged him to "play dog" for them in routing the deer from their hiding places at the bushy heads of the streams. With many a bark and yelp, he would plunge into the thick coverts, and the affrighted deer would scamper out in all directions, only to be greeted by the leaden bullets of the officers from their stands.

When, in 1819, it was determined to erect a court house on the east side of Murder creek, Benjamin Jernigan, R. J. Cook, Allen and Alexander McCaskill, Mabry Thomas, and several others, were chosen by this community to select a site for its erection. As has already been stated, the point fixed upon was Sparta.

Transcribed by C. Anthony

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