Excerpt from book
ALABAMA AS IT IS by Benjamin Franklin Riley, D. D., 1887 -
(transcribed and submitted by C. Anthony)
1887 - Fire Destroys the Court
House at Hamilton - (Marion Herald, April 5, 1887, pg
8)
1887 - Building of the
New Court House
1888 - Buttahatchie Bridge
Washed Away
Excerpt from::
ALABAMA AS IT IS by
Benjamin Franklin Riley, D. D., 1887 , Transcribed by C. Anthony
Lying directly south of Franklin is Marion county.
It was created in 1818 and named for General Francis Marion. The
extensive natural advantages possessed by the county are serving
to attract capital and enterprise, and though not enjoying the
transportation facilities of many other counties, it is rapidly
coming to the front as one of the most important in the State. It
joins Mississippi on the west, and is situated in that portion of
the State where some of the richest mineral deposits exist. The
county has an area of 810 square miles.
Population in 1870, 6,059; population in 1880,
9,364. White, 8,841; colored, 523.
Tilled Land; 42,925 acres.—Area planted in cotton,
7,269 acres: in com, 21,835 acres; in oats, 2,321 acres; in wheat,
3,925 acres; in tobacco, 44 acres; in sugar-cane, 15 acres; in
sweet potatoes, 477 acres.
Cotton Production: 2,240 bales.
The surface of the county is, for the most part,
broken. The soils are of moderate fertility, and of such variety
as to favor a diversity of production. In the western portion,
near the Mississippi line, the most fertile lands in the county
are to be found. These are the cotton lands. It is doubtful
whether any county in this portion of Alabama has soils which
exceed in fertility those which lie along the western border of
the county of Marion. Many excellent farms are found throughout
the county. They are mostly located upon the wide extended
tablelands which form a prevailing feature. These lands are most
desirable, both on account of the generous soil and the favorable
position of the surface with respect to drainage. Along these
broad tablelands the soil is a red loam. In other sections are
found soils which are of a sandy loam of a brown color. The
readiness with which the best grasses are produced is attracting
the attention of stock-raisers, and many good stock farms are
found in different sections of the county. The value of the county
as a stock-raising district is further enhanced by the fact that
it is favored with a great number of perpetual streams. Indeed,
the greater part of Marion county is drained by a single large
stream—the Buttahachie river—whose numerous tributaries, flowing
from all directions from the lofty tablelands and hillsides,
furnish inexhaustible supplies of the purest water. The principal
streams of the county are Battahatchie, Looxapalila, and Sipsey
rivers, Beaver, Bull Mountain, and Bear creeks, together with many
smaller streams. These streams flow southwest and empty into the
Tombigbee. It is reasonable to suppose that at some future time
some of these streams will serve for purposes of local
transportation. In many portions of Marion are to be found
extensive forests of timber. Chief among the numerous specimens
are short-leaf pine, hickory, post, red, and white oaks, sweet and
black gum, chestnut, poplar, cherry, beech, and bay. Through these
hilly forests is to be found much game, especially such as deer
and turkeys, and, indeed, all kinds of game usually found in the
forests of the South.
In addition to farming and stock-raising the people
devote themselves, to a limited degree, to manufacturing. On Bear
creek are two flourishing cotton mills, known as Allen's Factory
and the Fall Mills. The former has a capital of $20,000, and the
latter $15,000. Both are run by water-power, which serves to
illustrate the utility to which these bold mountain streams may be
devoted in the manufactures. Beneath the ranges of hills which
exist in every section of Marion are considerable deposits of
coal, the extent of the prevalence of which is indicated by the
outcroppings in every portion of the county. Gold has also been
discovered in some sections of Marion. The railroad which is being
rapidly constructed between Sheffield and Birmingham will be
within convenient reach of the people of the county, and will
afford advantages for transportation which have not yet been
enjoyed.
Such is the prevalence of valuable ore in the county
that roads will doubtless be built as branches to the main
thoroughfare running between Sheffield and Birmingham.
The brace of mountain air everywhere felt is a sure
guarantee of health. In no part of the county are there to be
encountered pestilential vapors or death-breeding lagoons.
The people, especially about the centers of
interest, are fully alive to the importance of education. Good
schools are found in every portion of Marion.
Unusual inducements are afforded in this county for
investments in laud. No matter for what purpose desired, they can
now be bought at a figure far below their intrinsic value. Of
course, this will cease when the county is penetrated by
railroads. The stock-raiser, the farmer, or the investor in
mineral lands, will find it advantageous to examine the
inducements offered in Marion county.
Hamilton, Pikeville, Shottsville, and Barnesville
are the points of greatest importance in the county. The first of
these is the county-seat, which has recently been established, and
is said to have one of the best court-houses and safest jails in
the State.
Extensive tracts of land may now be purchased at
figures wonderfully low, even as low as $2 per acre. Anxious to
have the material wealth of the county enhanced, the inhabitants
of Marion look with great favor upon immigration.
There are in Marion county 85,000 acres of land
belonging to the government.
A BIG FIRE - MARION
COUNTY'S TEMPLE OF JUSTICE - IN ASHES - GREAT DESTRUCTION OF
PROPERTY
On last Wednesday night about half past 10 o'clock
the Court House at this place was discovered to be on fire. Before
any possible effort could be made toward rescuing anything in the
house, it was in a solid mass of flames, and it was only by
Herculean efforts that the business houses adjacent were kept form
burning, so intense was the heat. The wind was very high, which
fact rendered the staying of the flames much more impracticable
and difficult. Some idea of the intensity of the heat can be
gained from the fact that from the front of the store houses of W.
R. WHITE & G. B. MIXON, both of which were near fifty yards
distant, the rosing was drawn so as to disfigure the houses. Mr.
WHITE in trying to save his store ran between it and the burning
building without having on his hat, and the heat blistered one
side of his neck, and singed his hair a little. Mr. HAMILTON'S
Store house, which is now unoccupied, caught fire two or three
different times, and his fodder house, in his lot, once, but by
prompt action the fire was extinguished before it had time to make
any headway.
The loss to the county cannot be estimated. All the
records, dating back to the time when the county was established,
were consumed. If it could be known what amount of money would be
required to adjudicate the claims, disputes and contentions that
will now arise, and which the records would have settle, then an
estimate could be placed upon the loss that Marion county and her
citizens have sustained. The house was a wooden structure and was
a splendid building, and cost the county a remarkably small amount
- only about four thousand dollars. The County Library, said to
have been one of the best and most complete in the state was worth
about fifteen hundred dollars, several of the books being almost
out of print and valuable on account of their scarcity. The
indictment record, and all the books, papers, etc, belonging tot
eh offices of the Circuit Clerk, sheriff, tax Collector, and
Assessor, and all the bonds and notes taken by Mr. LODEN as County
Administrator were destroyed. In fact no books nor records
belonging to any of the offices were saved except those of the
County Superintendent and the County Treasurer.
Besides the great and inestimable loss to the
county, several individuals sustained considerable loss, the
heaviest of which was probably upon W. H. KEY, Esq. he having
about seventy-five dollars in money burned besides a large number
of notes and accounts which had been placed in his hands for
collection and about sixty-five dollars worth of law books. Mr. A.
J. STANFORD lost about one hundred dollars worth of books and Mr.
B. R. FITE about fifty dollars worth.
Nothing is known as to how the fire originated, and
nothing but theories and conjectures can be advanced, and after
all the theories in the world were given, the grim and lurid fact
still remains that the court house is in ashes and that the cause
thereof is enveloped in mystery. - (Marion Herald, April
5, 1887, pg 8-)
HAMILTON’S
FIRE
[Special Correspondence to
Age]
Hamilton, Ala., March 31 – Last night about
1:30 o’clock the court house at this place was discovered to be on
fire. It was
completely enveloped in flames, and nothing could be done toward
saving any of the records, papers, county library, etc., which
were in the offices, and not in vaults or safes. The building was
a wooden structure and cost about $4,000. The county library was
valued at about $1500, and is said to have been as good as nay in
the state. The records are absolutely beyond replacing and dated
back to the time the county was first established. There were also
about one or two thousand dollars worth of blank records in the
office of the probate judge. The tax assessment for the past year,
and all the books and papers belonging to the tax assessor’s and
collector’ offices were destroyed. In fact, everything was
destroyed that belongs to the court
house.
Besides the great loss
of the county, several individuals sustained considerable
loss. W. H. KEY, Esq.
had about $75,000 in money in the office, which he had collected
for various parties, all which he will have to restore from his
own pocket. He also had several valuable law book burned and about
$4,000 worth of notes that had been placed in his hands for
collection. About
$2,500 worth of these notes belonging to Messrs. FRAZIER &
GAST, merchants of this county, the others to different parties.
MATTHEWS & GUYTON’S mercantile ledger, which was in Mr. Key’s
hands, was also burned. A. J. STANFORD, Esq. lost about $100.00
worth of law books in the
conflagration.
It was only by Herculean efforts that the stores around the
court house were saved, the resin being drawn from several of them
by the heat. The wind
was very high, which rendered the fighting of the flames very
difficult. It was
feared at one time that the whole business portion of the town
would be consumed, but luckily the wind shifted and the buildings
were saved. It was a
grand and awful sight, and represented a lost to Marion
County of at
least $40,000 and is a severe burden to the already debt-burdened
county. At this
writing it is impossible to estimate the loss, but it is believed
that $40,000 is a conservative estimate. Nothing is known as to
how the fire originated.
It may have been the act of an incendiary or it may have
originated in some of the offices.
(Lamar News, April 7,
1887)
BUILDING OF THE NEW COURT
HOURSE
The specifications for a new court house drawn up by
Mr. FRANK ALLEN was presented to the Honorable Court of
Commissioners on Monday last and accepted. Bids of contractors
will be taken until January 9th. (Marion
Herald, Nov. 17, 1887)
LETTING OF THE COURT HOUSE TO BE BUILT AT HAMILTON -
Notice is hereby given that the Plan and Specifications of the
Court House to be built at Hamilton, Marion County, Ala. is on
file in the Probate Judge's office of said county for the
inspection of anyone wishing to see it. The bids for the building
of said Court House will be received by the Probate Judge at any
time from this date until the 9th day of January 1888. The bids
accompanied with a bond double the amount of the bid with good and
sufficient security, with all rights of exemption waived, shall be
sealed up in an envelope and delivered to the Probate Judge and on
the 9th day of January 1888 the Court of County Commissioners will
meet and break the seals and award the contract to the lowest
bidder with approved bond. Said Court House to be completed by the
10th day of November 1888. Done by order of the Court of County
Commissioners, this Nov. 14th 1887. WALTER H. MATTHEWS, Clerk.
(Marion Herald, Nov. 17,
1887)
Mr. JOHN C. CAMP, of Pine Springs, was awarded the
contract of the building of the court house. His bid, $3,750.00
being the lowest. (Marion Herald, Jan.
12, 1888)
Mr. JONES BAYETTE is removing the rubbish from off
the ground to be occupied by the new Court House.
(Marion Herald, Feb. 2, 1888)
Mr. JOHN JAGERS of Fulton, Miss. spent part of last
week in town. Mr. JAGERS is a painter by trade, and has taken the
contract for painting the new Court House at this place. He
returned to Fulton on Monday last. (Marion Herald, Feb
9, 1888)
Mr. J. T. WHITE is putting up the pillars for the
new court house this week. Mr. CAMP has found a suitable location
for his mill about five miles from town, and will soon be cutting
the lumber. (Marion Herald, Feb 9, 1888)
The pillars for the new court house are completed.
(Marion Herald, Feb. 23, 1888)
BRIDGE WASHED AWAY - The bridge
across Buttahatchie River, one mile southeast of this place, was
washed away by the heavy rain of last Sunday night, which is
conceded to have been the heaviest known in this section for
years, if, indeed, not the heaviest ever known here. The bridge
was a wooden structure erected some three years ago at a cost of
$2,100, and its loss will be sorely felt by our people from the
fact that it cannot immediately be replaced, owing to the present
depressed condition of finances arising from the late loss of the
court house. (Marion Herald, March 29, 1888)
