Butler County, Alabama - Chapter 6, 1885

Great Need for Grist-Mills, Saw-Mills^ Gin-Houses^ Cotton Presses, Tanneries^ Shoe-Shops], Blacksmiths, Carpenters, etc. - The New Country Showing Signs of an Advance in Civilizationy Etc., Etc.

The accommodations of the settlers in every respect were very poor. There was no place for them to have their corn ground into meal, no mills to get lumber from, no place to gin their cotton, no tanyards to prepare leather for making shoes, and no person to make the shoes when the leather was furnished. If one desired to build a house, he could not engage a carpenter to perform the work, as there were none ; if a horse needed shoeing, or if a plow or wagon was out of fix, there was no blacksmith to repair them. For several years some of the settlers made their meal with hand-mills, while others beat their corn in large mortars, burnt out of trunks of trees. The cotton that was used for making clothes - they at first raised cotton for no other purpose - was for several years separated from the seed by picking the seed out with the fingers. The few houses made of plank were very expensive, as the plank was sawed with a hand-whipsaw - quite a slow process of making plank compared with

The great demand for these accommodations and the necessities of the country soon brought them into existence, and the people rejoiced, although they were forced to go ten and fifteen miles to a mill, and sometimes farther to a blacksmith or shoemaker. There being plenty of water in the county, it was not long before every neighborhood had a mill. The first of these, of course, did not have all the improvements of the mills of to-day, being very rude imitations of our mills, and they giound corn very slowly. It is said, however, that the meal turned out by them was more wholesome and nutritious than that ground by our fast mills of to-day. One by one these conveniences were given to the settlers, and the colony gradually changed from a land of savages to that of civilization. These changes always come gradually, and can hardly be detected by the people themselves. The small log huts were constantly torn down and replaced by neat, country dwellings of hewn logs or sawed planks, put up in the frame style. Public roads, leading to different parts of the country, were continually being cut out, and the stage-horn was soon heard to echo in the forest as the thundering stages went on their way from one part of the State to another, carrying mail as well as passengers. The whole country began to show signs of civilization and growth. Emigration continued, and every one that located here seemed to be well pleased. The yield of the land in these early days was really astonishing. Everything being cheap, it cost but little to live, and consequently the prosperity of the thrifty was remarkable.

There is nothing of importance to record for several years. Everything was work, money, and abundance. Education and the various accomplishments, as well as the luxuries of higher civilization were gradually introduced, until the county and the people became enlightened in many respects. Everything moved on quietly and smoothly until 1855, when an effort was made to have a railroad run through the county for the transportation of produce and the accommodation of the people. This enterprise received great encouragement from the wealthy and influential men of the county, and was soon a reality. It was not until 1 86 1 that the road was completed. In May of that year Butler County was in communication with Montgomery and Mobile, the two principal towns in the State. Their cotton, corn, stock, timber, leather, and any other part of their products could be shipped to any part of the country in a few days.

This railroad, known as the Mobile and Montgomery, was of great value to the county. More emigrants flocked to the county, land rose in value, wages were raised and the whole county began to show decided evidences of an increased prosperity.