Greensboro, Alabama - History (part 1 of 3)

History

The registration of this \york has not heen possible. The copl^ ^"^wv^ 4f^ therefore passed to the Order Division for filing on the shelves of the Libray of Congress.

To The Succeeding Generation

For some years past the author has purposed writing a History of Greensboro, Alabama, and has devoted much time and labor to gathering and verifying data, with that end in view.

The facts relative to the early history of the town were obtained from the late Henry Watson, Esq., for a long period a citizen of this place, but who, soon after the close of the war between the States, moved to Northampton, Mass., where he died several years since. He was a gentleman who took more than a passing interest in events, and made notes of all important occurrences concerning the town. He kindly favored the author of these lines with the notes he had taken during his residence here.

From the late Col. John G. Harvey, the late Samuel G. Briggs, Col. George Erwin and Mr. Robert B. Waller much valuable information was derived. Various other sources were laid under tribute - files of old newspapers, ancient records, and interviews with old citizens. Of course, much of the more recent history of the town is from personal knowledge.

These pages have not been penned with any hope of reaping pecuniary reward, but because of a sincere desire to preserve the histoiy of the author's native town in a more tangible form than the mere recollection of its citizens.

The attention of the reader is especially directed to the fact that the book does not purport to be biographical in its character, and in all cases - except in a few rare instances - the "personal"' is eschewed. Men are dealt with only as they are, or have been,, connected with some particular incident or institution.

The Author Chapter

GREENSBORO, ALABAMA^Early Settlement - Russell's Ride - - Names of First Settlers - Greensboro First Known as Troy - Log Huts as Residences - Coming of the Preachers - Who They Were - First Mail Brought From Cahaba by S. G. Briggs-^Appearance of This Section in the Early Days. Page 1 - 6

Chapter Ii

FIRST HOUSES - Built by John Nelson Silas Baggett and others - Where Located - The Jackson Road - To New York on Horseback - Location of Troy Changed-<^Original Survey - Village Known as Troy Until 1823 - Rapid Growth of Town - Character of Buildings - First Lawyers - Ezekiel Pickens, John Erwin and W. C. Chapman - Manner of Travel-r-How Merchandise Was Brought to Greensboro - Col. John G. Hai"vey - His Trip to New York on Horseback - Financial Crisis of 1825 and 1837 - Effect on Business - How a Wife- Beater Was Made to Mend Mis Ways - Rode Him on a Rail Page 7 - 13

Chapter Iii

THE PASSING OF TROY - First Charter for Greensboro - Horse Racing - How It Was Broken Up - Lapse of Charter - Revived in January, 1832 - Powers Granted - Corporate Limits - McAlpine Addition - Original Notice of Sale of Lots - Early Social Life - Influence of the French Upon Society - J. J. Cluis, Aide to Famous Marshal Lefebvre, a Hotel Keeper in Greensboro - Character of Entertainments Page 14 - 19

Chapter Iv

WEST GREENSBORO - The Old Red House - Yet in Existences- Cutting Down of a Tree Occasion of Intendant Being Hung in Effigy - Amendment of Charter - Building of Callaboose - Hale County's Jail a Present From Greensboro - Old Market House - Act Incorporating Southern University - Whiskey Forbidden to be Sold in Certain Territory - Entire County of Hale Became Prohibition Territory January, 1887 - Extension of Corporate Limits - Extent of Present Corporate Limits Page 20 - 24

Chapter Vi

/ DIVISION OF GREENSBORO IN EARLY YEARS - The White Settlement - The Black Settlement - Dogsboro - Territory Embraced in Each - Gambling and Horse-Racing Common Amusements - Princely Gambling - A Thrilling Story of a Game in Which $60,000 Was to be Won or Lost at a Single Throw of the Dice Page 29 - 35 y NEWSPAPERS - First Paper - The Halcyon - Extract From Issue of April, 1824 - The Patriot - No Personal Mention in Papers of That Period - Lady's Name Only Appeared in Print Twice. When She Married and When She Died - The Greene County Sentinel - The Alabama Beacon - The Alabama Republican - The Beacon Light of Liberty - The Greene County Gazette - The Greensboro Watchman - The Greensboro Record - Recapitulation Page 36 - 41

X History Of Greensboro, Ala Chapter Viii

THE GREENSBORO GUARDS - Complete List of Original Company - Left Greensboro May 1st, 1861 - Col. Allen C. Jones - Officers in the War From Greensboro and Hale County - Company of Boys Organized in 1864 - Those Who Composed Company - After the War - The Women of the Confederacy - Their Devotion and Sacrifices in Behalf of the Cause - Mexican War Veterans Page 42 - 50

Chapter Ix

THRILLING INCIDENT OF RECONSTRUCTION PERIOD - Federal Soldier Killed by "Tood" Cowin - Another Wounded by Tom Cowin - Escape of "Tood Cowin" - Reign of Pandemonium - Greensboro at the Mercy of Maddened Federal Troops - Timely Arrival of Colonel of the Regiment - Attitude of Present Generation to the Union Page 51 - 60

THE KU KLUX KLAN - Organized as Answer to Loyal League - First Notice of Appearance in Greensboro - Efforts of Federal Government to Disband the Organization - What the Ku Klux Accomplished Page 61 - 64

CONFEDERATE MONUMENTS - First Was Completed March, 1872 - Cost $204.50 - Account of Dedication - Second Monument - Completed April, 1904 - Cost About $1500 - Location - Dedicatoiy Exei-cises Page 65 - 68

Chapter Xl

RAILROAD - Projected by Gen. N. B. Forrest^Greensboro Issued $15,000 in Bonds to Aid in Construction - Hale County Issued $60,000 For Like Purpose - Completed to Greensboro November, 1870 - Event Celebrated by Barbecue and Speaking - Gen. Forrest Present - Completed to Akron in 1882 - Gen. N. B. Forrest - Personal Appearance - An Amusing Incident in Connection with the Signing of the Hale County Railroad Bonds - The Judge "Yanked" From the Bench by the General - Daring Cavalry Leader - Conduct at Ebenezer Church - Several Greensboro Men Members of Forrest Cavalry Page 69 - 72

BANKS - Planters Insurance Company - Organization and Officers - D. F. McCrary - A. Lawson - J. B. Coleman - M. Jones & Son - Shelby W. Chadwick - Bank of Greensboro - Lee M. Otts - First National Bank - People's Bank.

COTTON WAREHOUSES - First Established - Second Built From Materials From Old Nelson Mansion - Its Destruction by Fire - Third Building Page 72 - 77

Chapter Xii

GREENSBORO FEMALE ACADEMY - Trustees - Building Enlarged - Incorporation - Presidents - Title to Property Vested in Trustees - Closed in 1900 - Greensboro Graded School Using Building Page 78 - 80

FIRST PUBLIC SCHOOL - Taught by M. H. Yerby - Location of School House in 1869 - List of Pupils Enrolled For That Year - Old House Still Standing Page 80 - 83

Chapter Xiii

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY - Founding of School - First Board of Trustees - Endowment - Laying of Corner Stone in 1857 - First Session Opened 1859 - Dark Days - The Renaisance - List of Presidents - List of Faculty Page 85 - 90

Chapter Xvi

MODERN GREENSBORO - J. A. Blunt - First Houses Built After the War - First Brick Store - Lewis Lawson - Richard Andrews- - Effects of Birmingham Boom of 1886-87 - Steady and Substantial Growth Page 117 - 123

Chapter Xvii

WATER WORKS - First Water Supply - The Old Wells - First Steps Towards Getting Artesian Water - Charles E. Waller - Establishment of Water Works Page 125 - 127

Chapter Xviii

, GRAVES AND GRAVEYARDS - Many Scattered Graves - Dead of Troy - The May Graveyard - Burial Place of General Patrick May - His Bravery in the War With Indians - A Romance - Old Stokes Graveyard - Much Bad Feeling Over Removal of Burial Site Page 136 - 142

Chapter Xix

CLIMATOLOGY OF GREENSBORO - Situation - Elevation- Weather Obsei-vers - Record Began in 1855 - Average Tempei-atures - Rainfall - Table Showing Annual Fall For Thirty-Five Years - The Moundville Cyclone. Page 143 - 146

Chapter Xxl

POSTOFFICE - First Established in 1818 - List of Postmasters- First Money Order Issued - Rural Free Delivery - Hatch- Sanborn Incident - Truth Stranger Then Fiction - How An Innocent Person Came Near Being Made to Suffer for the Guilty - Dangers in Circumstantial Evidence - Celebrated Case Page 155 - 163

Chapter Xxil

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - Some of the Citizens Who Have Passed the Allotted Three Score and Ten Years - Mrs. M. D. Lightfoot - Mrs. M. L. Nutling - Mrs. Eliza A. Tunstall - Mrs. S. A. Kimbrough - Mrs. Mary J. Happel - Mrs. Mary W. Wadsworth - Mrs. Margaret C. Gulley - Mrs. Elizabeth Ward - Dr. R. H. Cobbs - Hon. George Erwin - Mrs. M. C Keady - Rev. E. M. Turner - Thomas F. Stickney - The Famous Marshal Lefebvre - Wm. A. Avery - Thos. J. Kinnaird - John M. Croom - Names of a Number of People Who Formerly Resided in Greensboro Page 172 - 187

Chapter Xxiv

CHAPTER OF MISCELLANIES - Mention of Many Things of Interest - Mayors - Marshals - Night Watchmen - Accidental Killing - Physicians - Population - Burning of Greene County Court House - First Ribbon Cane - First Appearance of English Sparrows - Cotton Worms - First United States Flag After the War - Practical Joke of the Old Days - Telephones - Telegraph Lines - Authors - Nut Grass - Dr. R. C. Randolph - Planters - Cherted Street - Cotton Oil Mill - Public Halls - Conclusion 188 - 200

Settlement

It was in the year 1816 that the first settlements were made in and around what is now known as Greensboro, Alabama. The pioneers came from Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North and South Carolina.

Andrew, Caleb and Isaac Russell, three brothers, came from Baldwin county, Georgia, in 1816, and located some three to four miles east of the present court house, on the Marion road, and so far as can be ascertained, were the first white people to settle in this immediate section. Caleb and Isaac Russell resided here for a few years, and then moved to Big Black, Miss. Andrew Russell remained after the removal of his brothers, but in a year or two removed, with his large family of children, to near Providence church in Perry county. The place near Greensboro where the Russells first located was for many years known as "Russell's Ridge."

It was also in the year 1816 that John Herran settled three miles south of the present town, near the 'Tickens Place," now owned by L. J. Lawson. He died in Newbern, Ala., in October, 1894, at the age of 86 years, and was buried in the Herran graveyard, situated near the spot where he first located in 1816.

The next year - 1817 - a number of others took up their abode in and around the present corporate limits of the town, among them being Frederick Peck, Edwin Peck, Anthony Kinard, Joseph Nail, Joseph Middlebrooks, William Lovell, Louis Stephens, Lawrence Carr, Benjamin Baldwin, James Yeates, Jason Candy, Shelby Cozine, Silas Baggett, M. Kinard, Messrs. Bennett, Davis, McConnico, Hopkins, Caldwell and Holifield.

These early settlers soon built up a small village near where the Southern University now stands, to which they gave the name of Troy. Jason Candy was the first merchant in the new village, or in fact, in the county of Greene. He is the same Candy that established the formerly well known "Candy's Landing" on the Warrior river.

Frederick and Edwin Peck were among the earliest merchants of Troy, and became, in the after years, quite wealthy and prominent citizens of this section. The Pecks were for a long while residents of Greensboro. The family graveyard is near the former home of Frederick Peck - the lot now owned and occupied by Mrs. W. W\ Powers.

John and Peter Stokes were also among the earlier settlers. They resided near the Murphy place on Tuscaloosa street, and owned hundreds of acres of land in that locality.

In these early times the country in and around Greensboro was an unbroken forest of primeval oaks, hickory, chestnut and pine. Caldwell creek was a large and beautiful stream, whose waters afforded abundant fish to all who cared to catch them. Game was plentiful - there being numbers of deer, an occasional bear, wild turkeys, and birds of all kinds. Indians frequently passed through this section. In fact, to the north, where Havana is now located, the then forest covered hills were still in possession of the savages, and large numbers of them resided there for several years after the settlement of Greensboro.

Coming Of The Preachers 3

The low places to be seen in and around the Greensboro of today - the depressions on Tuscaloosa street, the one where is now located the water works, and the one west of the colored Baptist church - were extensive reed brakes, into which cattle frequently went never to come out alive, on account of the boggy nature of the soil. The reed brake extended as far up as Main street from the depression in the rear of the Moore buildings.

The early settlers went industriously to work to erect houses in which to live. To be sure they were very rude affairs - typical log huts - and as for furniture, they had none - only that they made themselves. For bedsteads they bored holes in the logs of their cabins, into which were driven pieces of wood, across which boards were laid ; a three-legged stool for each member of the family, and a high bench for a table was the sum total of the furnishings for the houses. However, the inhabitants seemed contented and happy, and labored industriously to clear off the ground to make room for the crops they were to plant. The soil was rich and responded generously even to the rude cultivation given it, and large crops of grain were made each year. Cotton was not much of a commodity and the farmers gave but small attention to its cultivation. Cattle raising was quite extensively engaged in. They had but little money in those early years, but all had the necessities of life, and barter of the products of the soil largely took the place of ready cash.

It was then, even as now. The Methodist and Baptist preachers followed in the wake of all settlements, no matter how remote from the throbbing pulse of the great outside world. The first sermon ever preached in Greene (now Hale) county, was in the year 1818, at the town of Troy. In that year the Rev. James Monette, a Methodist minister, cultivated a crop and preached to the inhabitants of Troy. The next year he moved to Erie, and his house in that village was used as a place of worship for some years. Rev. Robert Payne - afterward Bishop Payne - filled regular appointments there, as he did also at the house of Capt. Edward Clement in Greensboro in 1820, at which time there was no church edifice in the town.

Close in the footsteps of the Methodist ministers came the Baptists. The Rev. Joseph Ryan, a Baptist preacher, settled in Troy, and was the first Baptist preacher to come to this portion of Alabama. He founded the Baptist church at Greensboro, which was located in the eastern part of the present town, very near where stands the residence of Mrs. Walker, at the forks of the Marion and Newbern public roads.

The Presbyterians and Episcopalians came later on. The first sermon preached in Greensboro by a Presbyterian minister was in 1822, by a Mr. Hunter. The same year the Rev. James Hillhouse of South Carolina, delivered his first sermon here, and established the present Presbyterian church, which was located near the Greensboro Graded School building. He died several years afterwards, and was buried in the Stokes graveyard in the northern suburbs of the town. His grave may yet be seen, as the tombstone is in an excellent state of preservation.

In 1833, the Episcopalians met and selected St. Paul's, Greensboro, as the name of the Parish, but it was not until 1840 that it was duly incorporated. The Rev. Caleb S. Ives was connected with the church at this place as early as 1834, and preached in the Presbyterian church. He was followed in 1837 by the Rev. J. S. Goodman, who in turn, was succeeded in 1842, by Rev. Julian Sawyer.

The First Mail 5

The first United States mail ever received in Troy was brought from Cahaba, the former capital of Alabama, which was at one time a flourishing city with splendid buildings of brick and stone, fronted by yards filled with choicest flowers, and possessing a citizenship of wealth and culture. But the old town is now only a heap of ruins, and in February, 1894, the site was sold in Selma, under a tax sale, and was bid in by an ex-slave for $550.00.

The Site Of Old Cahaba

The Capital of Alabama from 1820 to 1826. The house shown in the picture is the only one left standing of the great number of magnificent structures formerly in the Capital City. It was from this point that the first mail was brought to Greensboro; and it was also from Cahaba that the Greensboro merchants of the old days hauled their goods.

The first mail was brought to Troy in 1818, by Samuel G. Briggs on horseback, and was opened in the store of Frederick Peck, the first postmaster, on the 3rd day of September. The arrival of the mail was quite an event in the history of the little village. It had been carried to Cahaba on a barge from Blakely. The trip by the pioneer mail-rider was not unattended by dangers as he journeyed alone through the dense forest for half a hundred miles. Mr. Briggs resided in Greensboro from its foundation to the time of his death, which occurred Feb. 12, 1895, at the age of 82 years.

First Houses

The first house erected in what is now Greensboro was in the year 1818, and was built by John Nelson. It was a one-room log structure, and was situated nearly opposite the store of E. A. Powers & Sons on Main street. In this small house Mr. Nelson, for about a year, sold powder, shot, whiskey, tobacco, etc. In January, 1819, he sold out to Wm. Lovell, and settled on forty acres of land on the place south of Greensboro known as Midway, and engaged in farming. He continued to purchase the rich prairie lands and, at his death in 1856, he was very wealthy, leaving property valued at over half a million dollars. He is buried in the graveyard on the Jenkins place, three miles west of town, near the public road. Mr. Nelson has a number of descendants in this section. He was a man of great common sense and business sagacity.

In 1819, several other houses were erected in Greensboro - one by Silas Baggett on the lot where the Presbyterian church now stands. He used it as a wheelwright shop, and kept the rockaways and wagons in repair.

The same year, Mr. Whitehead built a small log house near where the First National Bank now does business. This house was used as a general merchandise store.

There was another store near the Andrew Pickens place, several miles to the south of the village, kept by Jason Candy, where he did a thriving business trading with the Indians on the Jackson road - a road cut out by the troops under Andrew Jackson when on their way to St. Stephens to quell the disturbances with Indians. There is a spring on the Rabb tract, a mile or two east of Greensboro, where it is said Gen, Jackson camped for a short while when on the mission noted above.

The next house in the present Greensboro was a log structure built by Frederick Peck on the site where now stands the two story brick building occupied by George Findlay and The Watchman office, and in this log structure Peck sold groceries and dry goods for several years. He annually went to New York City on horse back to purchase his stock of goods. For three successive seasons he made this long journey of over a thousand miles on the same horse.

In 1819 Alabama was admitted into the Union, and soon after its admission the inhabitants of the village of Troy were forced to move their place of residence, because of the fact that their town was situated on the sixteenth section, which, by Act of Congress, was reserved to every State for the benefit of the public schools.

The people gathered together all their belongings that could be moved, and located in Greensboro, or rather where the town is now situated, for the new location continued to be known as Troy until the year 1823. The original plot of "new" Troy was made in 1820 by McAlpine, surveyor, and is recorded in Book "I", page 141, Record of Deeds for Hale county.

The citizens of Troy did not regret to abandon the old town, for the horse jockeys had taken the main street for a race course; whiskey shops, or "doggeries" as they were called in those days, were numerous, and drunkenness and rowdyism were very common, and life was made miserable to the more respectable portion of the community.

In 1820 a shoe-shop was the only thing located on the lot on which is now situated Dr. Carson's residence and sanitarium, and deGraffenried & Evins' law office. It was a small frame building in which James Yeaies resided

The First Lawyers 9

The same year (1820) Samuel G. Briggs located in "new" Troy and opened a hotel in a small house that stood where Thomas H. Jones' residence is located. Just across the street from him was a tailor's shop kept by a man named Clark.

Troy seems to have grown rapidly at this period, for at the beginning of 1821, the number of stores had increased to five. Malone and Lake kept one on the lot immediately west of the First National Bank; Blanton and McAlpine had a bar room on a part of the present hotel lot; William Lovell also conducted a saloon on the east corner of the Dorman block; Frederick Peck, as before noted kept a general store on the lot where stands the two-story building formerly known as the Shackelford building; and J. A. Wemyss kept a stock of goods in a store where the Greensboro hotel now stands. Absalom Alston had a hotel on the lot where the M. D. L. Moore stores are located ; Miles Johnson also conducted a hotel in a frame house located on the Dr. Peterson residence lot, and still another was located on the present court house lot, and was conducted by Edward Clement.

The buildings in which these men of a past generation did business were very rude aff:'airs - most of them being constructed of logs, the cracks being "chinked" with m.ud - and those in which lumber or plank was used were considered fine structures. The passage of more than three-quarters of a century has wrought wonders, for where stood the extremely modest homes and business houses of the ancient forefathers are now to be found splendid buildings of brick, and homes of the most beautiful architectural type.

History Of Greensboro, Ala

old homestead lot. The second was opened the same year by W. C. Chapman near where the Steinhart Grocery store is located. The latter part of the same year, John Erwin came from Kentucky and located. He resided first in a log house situated on the lot in the rear

Who came to Greensboro in 1818, whei-e he resided until his death in 1860. He was among the most able lawyers in Alabama and took a very prominent part in the Secession Convention.

of the Greensboro hotel, and opened a law office in a room near where stands the building in which the First National Bank does business. He was a man of strong intellect and business ability, and in the after years attained to prominence and amassed a fortune.

Financial Crisis Of 1825 11

early days, and the manner of travel to distant points was either on horseback, in buggies or by stage coach. The merchants frequently rode horseback to New York and Philadelphia to purchase their stocks of goods, which they had shipped to Mobile by water, thence to Cahaba, from which latter place the goods were hauled in wagons to Greensboro. The writer has often heard Col. John G. Harvey relate the fact that he was on his way to New York on horseback in 1833 when the stars fell. It was interesting to hear him describe the grandeur of the celestial display ; but he would admit that a person was not in a condition of mind to go into ecstacies over it while the stars were falling, but the beauty and grandeur came to the mind later on, when all sense of the danger of the arrival of the general judgment day had passed. The Colonel related that he was somewhere in North Carolina at the time, and he was specially impressed with the rarefied atmosphere the next day. He never remembered to have breathed air so pure and bracing. A lame horse would always remind the Colonel of the experience of '33, on account of the fact that the one he was riding to New York was lame at the time of this meteoric shower - which has gone down into history as the most phenomenal on record.

The financial crisis of 1825 was severely felt in Greensboro, and from 1825 to 1828 there were many bankruptcies, which created much business for the lawyers, who prospered greatly. This over, there came a lull, till the fearful crisis of 1837, when the financial fabric of the entire Union seemed to be ripped from top to bottom, and the whole nation nearly became bankrupt, and the effects of which continued until 1842 and 1843, at which later date the people of Greensboro seemed to have somewhat recovered from the shock. During the period the lawyers, clerks of courts, sheriffs and all judicial officers flourished.

For a graphic and true picture of the disastrous panic of 1837, the reader is referred to "Baldwin's Fhish Times of Alabama and Mississippi," wherein the author has portrayed the woes and miseries the people underwent during the period succeeding the "bursting of the bubble." Thousands upon thousands of acres of land in this section went under the hammer of the auctioneer when settlement day came after the fictitious fortunes that had been accumulated on a mere promise to pay had been swept away by one stroke of "Old Hickory" Jackson's pen. The wreck and ruin that strewed the financial pathway of that period served as danger signals for many long years - and there are those living in this day and generation who have learned from a study of the fearful crisis of 1837, that it does not pay, in the long run, for a person to become rich on a credit.

Back in the early days, when Greensboro was going through the formative period, there were quite a number of the rough and lawless element within its borders. Occasionally one of these would act so very badly that the better class of citizens would become outraged, and take the matter of punishment of the offender into their own hands.

In a log house located near where the residence of W. W. Overstreet now stands on Main street, there resided a man who frequently whipped his wife severely. He would be fined for the offence by the justice of the peace, but this did not seem to have the effect of stopping him. One night he gave his wife an unusually severe whipping. The matter became generally known next day, and some of the citizens - of the number Capt. John Cocke, Col. Scott, William Hopper and Richard Hatter - decided that they would endeavor to cure the offender of his wicked doings, so they got a good stout rail and placed it where it could be gotten hold of handily, and waited for the wife beater to come up town. In an hour or two he made his appearance, and seated himself in front of a little store where Northup & Hanna now do business. Capt. Cocke crossed over the street and engaged him in conversation, totally foreign to the subject of wife-beating. The culprit was whittling with a large, ugly-looking knife, and the Captain watched for a favorable opportunity to knock it out of his hand, but the man seemed to suspect something and kept close watch on him. Seeing the dilemma. Col. Scott crossed over to where the two men were talking, and soon caught the man off his guard. He picked his chance, and with a vigorous kick, landed the knife in the middle of the street. Cocke and Scott grabbed their victim and held him until the rail was brought by Hopper and Hatter. Other citizens joined in, and placed the man on the rail and held him on it, while others put the ends on their shoulders and paraded up and down Main street, singing at the top of their voices : "Here's the man what whips his wife!" After punishing him in this manner for some time, the fellow was given his liberty, with the injunction that if the citizens ever heard of his striking his wife they would take him out and wear the hide from him with switches.

In December, 1823, Abijah Peck and others made application to the Legislature of Alabama for a charter of incorporation for the town of Greensborough, in the county of Greene and on the 24th of that month the Act of incorporation was passed. Its chartered name was "the Intendant and Council of the Town of Greensborough," and the incorporation was "endowed with the same powers and privileges and subject to the same restrictions and regulations in all their proceedings and governed in the same manner as is provided in an Act to Incorporate the Town of Montgomery, passed on the 3rd day of December, 1819." And thus was Greensboro first given a name and a habitation on the map.

The spirit of the old Trojans had become quite prevalent, and the rougher element from the outlying districts made a practice of coming to town and running horse races up and down what is now the Main street of Greensboro. In addition to the enactment of the ordinance prohibiting this conduct, several of the prominent gentlemen of the town banded together, and informed the "sports" that they must discontinue their practice; in fact, our notes recite that the aforesaid gentlemen made their lecture to the lawless element more forcible by having their pistols with them, and informing the offenders that if they were guilty of running races on the Main street again they would be shot from their horses. This had the desired effect, and the "jockeys," in the after years - 1834 - made another track two miles west of town near the plantation known as the Jenkins place, and kept up the sport for a number of years. It finally fell into disuse in this section altogether, and there has not been a horse race in Greensboro for many, many years.

But to go back a little : A note before us says that on an extra gala occasion in Greensboro in the days of the reign of the "jockeys," that as a bunch of the racers came dashing up the street at break-neck speed, one of the horses flew the track and ran into a dogwood thicket where the old Whelan residence (now owned by Mrs. Ricard) stands, and killed the jockey. The name of the unfortunate fellow is forgotten, and even the place of his burial was not remembered by our informant.

During the period between 1823 and 1832, the citizens of Greensboro seem to have allowed their charter to lapse from non-use, for on January 21, 1832, the Legislature passed an Act "To revive, repeal in part and amend an Act to Incorporate the Town of Greensborough in the county of Greene, approved December 24, 1823."

the town was quite small, but the expenses were equally so. The officers received no salaries. The Intendant was allowed to charge only a small fee for the trial of criminal offences, and the Constable was also allowed to charge a nominal fee for making arrests, but it was a rare occurrence for a case to be reported to the Intendant. Nearly all the cases for breach of peace, if reported at all, were carried before the Justices of the Peace, whose courts were kept quite busy at times - and all were white people who were tried, as the negroes were slaves, and were rarely ever guilty of violating the laws either of the town or the State.

The corporate limits of the town at this time were the quarter section - 160 acres - and so remained until January 12, 1833, when they were extended to embrace the residence and lots now owned and occupied by Charles E. Latimer. The object of the extension was to relieve the owner - John Marast - of the duty of working the public road outside of the town.

In 1835 a further proposed addition was made to the town of Greensboro. At that time the corporate limits extended west only to the cross street dividing the Stollenwerck old homestead from the N. L. Castleman place. What is known as McAlpine's addition was, in 1836, sold at public sale. The following is a copy of the original advertisement of the sale:

Will be sold to the highest bidder, at auction, on the third Monday in January next, all of that tract of land known as the Mc- Alpine tract and designated as the South West Quarter of Section 17, Township 20, and Range 5, East.

The said land will be sold out in lots of various sizes, containing from one-fourth of an acre to six acres, with streets from 66 to 75 feet wide. The above tract of land is situated immediately

Early Social Life 17

Persons wishing to reside in the said town or its immediate vicinity, would do well to examine the above premises, in person, previous to the day of sale. Some of the lots have beautiful groves and elevated situations for building - one of them containing four acres, is verv well improved, having on it a comfortable frame dwelling, all other necessary out houses, a good garden, excellent well of water, and a fine peach orchard.

The undersigned Commissioners, will give to the purchaser or purchasers, a certificate for the lot or lots they may purchase; deeds given by them when the last payment shall have been made.

Terms of sale, one-third cash, and the balance in one and two years. Notes with good securities, will be required. Sale to commence at 10 o'clock and continue from day to day.

The social life of Greensboro has always been pleasant, even from the earliest days. Refinement and culture were brought here with the greater portion of the early settlers, and the children of the pioneers were given the best advantages available in the matter of education.

After the downfall of the great Napoleon at Waterloo, many of the French people who were identified closely with the Napoleonic party fled the country - one of them, J. J. Cluis, cultivated a farm near Greensboro in the early thirties. He had been a man of considerable note during the reign of Napoleon and was at one time an aide to the famous Marshal Lefebvre, the Duke of Rivigo, who was afterwards at the head of the police department of Paris. Colonel Cluis was then his secretary. At another time Cluis had the custody of Ferdinand VII, King of Spain, while he was imprisoned by Napoleon. Like the balance of the refugees, he found the cultivation of the vine and the olive an unremunerative business in Alabama, and became quite a poor man, but was always proud, and seemed to live back in the past when the world trembled beneath the onward march of the great "Army of the Republic" of which he was an honored member. In order to sustain life, this once famous man kept a hotel or tavern in Greensboro for some time. He moved from here to Mobile, where he died a few years afterwards.

Quite a number of other French people settled in this immediate neighborhood, and lent the charm of their manners and the elegance of their deportment to the social life of Greensboro in the long ago. Their descendants are yet to be found in this section.

The tournament was in great vogue in those days, and elaborate preparations were made for the exciting sport. Gallant knights came from miles around to participate in the tourney. Their costumes were splendid, and the plumed knights, as they rode in a body to the grounds, presented a fine appearance. The crowning of the Queen of Love and Beauty was attended with much pomp and ceremony, and was a great occasion.

Parties and dances were numerous. The dances were always given at private homes, and the host and hostess of the occasion spread a most sumptuous repast, at which champagne and wine flowed freely. The attire of the ladies was of the latest fashion and of the finest materials, and that of the gentlemen was of broadcloth. At the dances only the old Virginia reel and the stately minuette were danced - the German, with its many intricate figures, being an unknown accomplishment among the dancers of the old time. When the vivacious French people who entered into the social life of the town, fresh from "gay Paree," showed the assembled company how the round dance was executed, they looked on with pleased surprise, and as time went by they, too, learned the

Early Social Life 19

The girls were as beautiful and charming, and the men were as true and gallant in that distant time as are the girls and young men of today. But all those who lived in the period referred to have long since vanished - their very names, many of them, being forgotten.

They were happy and joyous beneath the self-same sky that bends above the Greensboro of today, but they now rest out under the quiet stars, forgetful of all life's joys and sorrows and disappointments - which will be recorded of you and me in the after-time. But

West Greensboro

In 1835, the road from Erie, the then county seat of Greene, made no turn at the N. B. Jones' front gate as now, but continued at an angle in the rear of the Benners' house near the present location of the Pasteur home, went across the Boardman front yard, and then entered Main street.

The Al Stollenwerck old homestead lot extended to the then road; a private dwelling, occupied by Mr. Lowry, known as the "Red House," so-called from the color it was painted, stood very near the road, so that in looking down Main street, it seemed to block it. This old house is still in existence, and was used for many years by the Stollenwercks as a kitchen. It is yet in the back yard of the Stollenwerck lot. 'The Red House" was regarded as quite a commodious dwelling when it was erected back in the latter part of the twenties. The above is a splendid picture of the old two-room building.

Beyond the Boardman residence was the home of Mrs. Ashe, and further on, as far as Dr. Wm. Jones' plantation, which was located in the rear of the present Hobson homestead, all was a dense forest covered with thick undergrowth. The hollow just east of where W. B. Inge resides, was a very dense thicket, with a rippling stream flowing through it.

The cutting down of an oak tree and the filling of a well in 1843 in Greensboro came near causing a riot. Much bitter feeling was manifested over the incident. In the exact center of Main street at the intersection of Tuscaloosa street, was a public well covered by a square shelter with a four-sided roof; shading it was a large, thrifty, beautifully shaped oak, beneath the shade of which the inhabitants rested and whiled away the dull, hot summer days. In 1843, the Town Council, after deliberating over the matter, and coming to the conclusion that the well and the beautiful oak were unnecessary obstructions to the highway, had the well filled up and the tree cut down. So great was the indignation of the populace over this act of vandalism (as they regarded it) that the Intendant, who was instrumental in removing the ancient landmarks, was hung in effigy. At the time of the existence of the well referred to, there was another in the center of Main street very near the Greensboro hotel. This well was also filled up. About ten or twelve years ago, this old relic was brought to the attention of the public by a sinking of the soil at this point. The old inhabitants then recalled the watering place of the old days. It is a fact that is not generally known, or at least not thought of by many, that a wound in the breast of old mother earth never heals if made beneath the top soil. The clay never runs together and forms again a solid strata, but the cut always remains.

On January 27, 1845, an Act was passed to "Alter and amend the several Acts Incorporating the Town of Greensborough." It somewhat enlarged the powers of the Intendant and Council.

On February 12, 1850, another Act to amend the charter was passed, the main feature of which was authorizing the town to build a jail, or calaboose, for the detention of slaves. The building erected is still standing in the rear of the old market house, located on the southern boundary line of the property of Gulley and Christian on Main street. It served as a county prison before the present jail was built, and many are the evil doers who have been detained within the narrow limits of the two little rooms composing the calaboose. It is still in use by the town as a city prison.

As a matter of historical interest we record here that the town of Greensboro presented the county of Hale with the building now used as a jail immediately in the rear of the court house. This was done in accordance with the proposition Greensboro made the county to the effect that it would present the county with a court house and jail if the voters would make the town the county seat. The brick of which the jail is built was burned in 1868 by the town authorities, and it is claimed that considerable money was saved by the operation. Hugh Watt was the contractor.

In 1850, the town erected the building that is now used as the Fire Company's House, as a public market, and all butchers and sellers of fresh meats were required by law to keep their places of business in stalls provided for the purpose. The stalls were rented to the butchers, and quite a neat sum was realized each year by the town from the rentals. The bell in the little tower - now used as a fire alarm - was rung each morning between four and five o'clock to notify the people of Greensboro that the market was open and ready for business. In those days every one buying beef had to go or send for it, or else they went without.

On January 25, 1856, an Act incorporating the Southern University was passed. Sections 4, 5, and 6 of this Act forbids the sale of liquors within a radius of five miles of Greensboro, except by druggists. Governor Winston vetoed the bill, but the Legislature passed it over his protest.

The exception in regard to druggists selling liquors was soon taken advantage of, and for some years the drug stores sold whiskey without apparent restraint. So flagrantly was the intent of the law violated, that at the session of the Legislature 1884-5, the charter of the University was amended so as to prohibit the sale of liquor by the druggists. For nearly a quarter of a century no liquor has been legally sold in Greensboro. On January 1, 1887, the entire county of Hale became prohibition territory by Legislative enactment.

It was not until the year 1858 that the limits of the town were extended beyond the original quarter section and the Marast lot. Acting under Sections 1220 and 1225 of the then General Statutes of Alabama, a petition was filed in the Probate Court of Greene county, praying that the matter of extending the corporate limits of Greensboro might be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of said town. The territory designated as an addition was the northeast, the southeast and southwest quarters of Section 16. Considerable opposition to the proposed addition developed, and the election was quite exciting. However, the extensionists won, the vote standing sixty for, and forty-two against extension. The territory annexed came under the jurisdiction of the town authorities in April, 1858.

ize the imprisonment of white persons, and also made the Intendant elective by the people instead of by the Council as before. The office of marshal was also created.

On March 1st, 1870, an Act was approved by the Legislature, by which all former Acts in regard to the Charter of the town of Greensboro were repealed, and the powers granted under the act of 1870, were regarded as the powers to be exercised by those in authority. New ordinances and new by-laws were enacted by the Mayor and Council.

Finally the Legislature at its session of 1894-5 repealed all former Acts and gave the town its present charter. The corporate limits as set forth and defined therein are the same as the limits of today. The following is the territory embraced in the corporation: The West half of the Northwest quarter, the Southwest quarter and the West half of the Southeast quarter of Section 16 ; the East half and the Southwest quarter of Section 17 ; the North half of the Northwest quarter, and the Northwest quarter of the Northwest quarter of Section 20, and that part of Section 21 lying north of a line beginning at the Southeast corner of the Southern University grounds and running West to the Section line between Sections 20 and 21, all in Township 20, Range 5, East.

Ginning And Marketing Of Cotton

On the lot in the rear of Geo. Findlay's store stood, in 1830, a gin house and screw. The merchants bought cotton in the seed and had it ginned, and the small planters brought in their cotton to have it ginned for toll. The merchants also bought much cotton in bales. Mobile was the market to which it was shipped, and the shipping point was what is now known as old Erie - not a house being left to mark the site of the once flourishing town. The hauling to Erie gave employment to a number of professional white teamsters. The mule teams of these wagoners, as well as the teams of the neighboring planters, were decorated with bells, high up over the hames, bright and glistening, which, besides setting off the beauty of the animals, made the streets musical and lively by their merry jingle.

In 1830, on the lot where now stands the handsome three-story Opera House, there was located a wall-like erection of plank supported by braces behind (say 30 feet long by 25 feet high) like one side of a building, for the purpose of ball-play. The name of the game played by the men of that distant period was "Fives," and during the dull summer season, it was a very popular amusement. Base ball was one of the joys which the citizenship of the long ago never knew, and therefore never missed, just as the game of "Fives" is to the present generation.

Up to 1832 the public school lands (the 16th section) were rented out, and the proceeds applied to the schools. On January 13th, 1832, they were sold at auction - John M. Bates, Patrick May and Hugh McCann being the commissioners. The plat (which shows the location of the roads at that time) with the names of the purchasers, is recorded in Book E, page 511 Greene county deed records. After the sale, the lands were cultivated by the owners, or rented out. Some of the lots - that for instance on which stands the D. F. McCrary home, and others in close proximity, rented for $12 per acre per year for growing cotton. The land was rich and produced very fine crops.

Up to twenty-five or thirty years ago, Greensboro bore an unenviable reputation abroad for being a rowdy, turbulent place, - a place where murders were frequently committed. And it is a fact that there is hardly a corner on the streets of the town where the soil has not been reddened with the life-blood of some hum.an being. There were feuds and fights and killings that would have done credit to a mountain county of Kentucky, But all that passed away a quarter of a century ago, and in all the land there is not to be found a more quiet, refined, peaceable and lawabiding people.

It would require many pages to tell of the awful tragedies that have been enacted on the streets of the town. We shall mention only one of the many occurrences. It happened so far back that there is not a man now living who has personal knowledge of the unfortunate affair, but there are a few who have it from their fathers or mothers.

Killing Of Dr. H Ellen 27

the peace was being held in a store situated on the Steinhart corner. In those days the office was much sought after, and the campaign on this occasion was very warm.

A man named John Street, a lawyer, was a candidate for the position. During the progress of the election, a young physician named Dr. J. S. W. Hellen, became engaged in a quarrel with one of Street's brothers, and blows and a tussle ensued on the sidewalk near the polling place. The fighting men were soon surrounded by a crowd. John Street came to his brother's assistance. Dr. Hellen broke loose from his antagonists, rushed into the store, picked up a couple of scale weights, exclaiming: "Let me get back to the d - n scoundrels!" and as he went out of the door he fell dead on the sidewalk. An examination showed that he had been fatally stabbed.

The Streets were arrested, and either placed under bond or put in jail at Erie. They were indicted by the grand jury for the murder of Hellen. Col. John Erwin, the ablest lawyer in this section, was employed to defend them. Owing to the feeling of the public against the men, a change of venue was granted, and the trial took place in Marengo county. Although there was a large number of witnesses, no one could be found who knew which of the Streets struck the fatal blow, and as they were tried separately, both were acquitted.

At the time of his murder. Dr. Hellen was Worshipful Master of the Masonic Lodge in Greensboro, and was buried with the honors of the Craft on December 22, 1833. The funeral services were held in the Presbyterian Church - then located on the lot immediately in front of the Greensboro Graded School. The funeral sermon was delivered by Rev. John Ives.

Twenty or more years after the occurrence, there came to Greensboro on business a man from North Carolina named Brooks. He met Col. Erwin, the lawyer who had defended the Streets, and in the course of the conversation he remarked that it was his first visit to Greensboro since Dr. Hellen was killed. The reference at once aroused the interest of Col. Erwin, and he asked him what he knew about the fight, and he said that he saw the entire occurrence from beginning to end, and that he saw the man when he made the fatal stab at Hellen. "The man," continued Brooks, "reached over while the two men were clinched and plunged his knife into Hellen with all his might. He quickly withdrew it from Hellen's body, wiped the blade on the leg of his trousers, and walked off around the corner. He was a tall, slender fellow. The next time I saw him he was standing on the corner (near the present Lichtman store) dressed in an entirely different suit of clothes, but I recognized him as the man who did the killing."

This, declared the lawyer, was the first time that he knew certainly which one of the Streets struck the fatal blow, and from the description of the man given by Brooks he then knew that John Street was the person.

Division Of Greensboro In The Early Years Of Its Existence

A few years prior to 1830, Greensborough was divided into three imaginary wards, known as "The White Settlement," "The Black Settlement," and "Dogsboro." A diligent search failed to reveal the reason for the names. The reader is left to judge of the appropriateness of each by a description of the various wards.

The boundaries of the White Settlement were from Centreville street on the east to the street immediately east of the Greensboro hotel on the west - in other words, the two blocks east from the hotel. In this Settlement was a two-story frame hotel, painted white, located where the court house now stands. Opposite, was an imposinglooking (for those days) frame house, the residence of Dr. Hunter. The house is yet standing, but has been added to in the rear, and is known as the Gewin hotel. Further on towards the west, on either side of the street, were buildings variously occupied - two dry goods stores, in one of which was the postoffice, a tinner's shop, a tailor's shop, a lawyer's office, a printing office and two dwellings.

From the street east of the Greensboro hotel to Tuscaloosa street on the west was known as the Black Settlement. Within these limits were four or five dry goods stores, two liquor saloons, two lawyers' offices and three dwellings. On the Powers' corner stood a one-story double log cabin, kept as a hotel, its swinging sign a stag. Scarff's cabinet shop and residence stood where the large two-story brick store stands at the corner of Tuscaloosa and Main Streets - built in 1887 by Capt. S. T. Taylor - by the way, the first brick structure that had been erected in the town long before the civil war. Opposite the Scarff building was a red frame house, a hotel, kept by Maj. A. L. DesCourt, a French refugee, who had served under the first Napoleon, and participated in the battle of Waterloo ; further up, on the same side of the street, was a store and a tailor's shop.

Dogsboro extended from Tuscaloosa street on the east to the Stollenwerck old homestead on the west - the western boundary line being the corporate limits of the town. In Dogsboro stood the village blacksmith shop (Coleman W. Garrett, proprietor). It was located near the west corner of the present Methodist church lot, about as far back from the street as the church stands.

The passage of the years and the earnest endeavors of good people work wonderful changes. The progress of civilization is to be noted by the churches and schools along the pathway. Back in the days referred to, when Dogsboro precinct was in its glory, near where stands the Methodist church was a two-story frame store, which was used from 1833 to 1836, at the time of the races, as an open gambling house. It was filled with faro tables and gambling devices of many kinds, and the visitors to the place were numerous, and large sums were lost and won on the result of the races and around the gaming tables. The officers of the law paid no attention to such diversions, and gambling and horse-racing went on undisturbed. This house was occupied for a few years after 1836 by Levin Gayle as a dry goods store. In 1839, the lot was sold to the Methodists of Greensboro, and a church was erected thereon the next year.

Princely Gambling 31

tion was very common and considered quite a respectable occupation, and men of the highest standing, measured by the moral standard of the age, engaged in it and wagered princely fortunes on the turn of a card. To illustrate the reckless daring of those who sat at the gaming table in the days referred to, the following true incident is related :

Some time in the year 1833, there went aboard one of the magnificent steam-boats on the Alabama at Mobile, a young man, (whom we shall call Brown) on his way home at a point higher up^he river. He had spent several days in the city transacting business, and was returning with a very large sum of money to be used in the conduct of his business as a merchant. After selecting his state-room and looking to the safety of his baggage, he leisurely strolled about and made the acquaintance of his fellow passengers. He was of good address, handsome and well educated. He found, to his intense disgust, that he was so unfortunate as to have taken passage with quite a large anl accomplished set of gamblers. They were going up the river on a "professional tour."

No sooner was the steamer well under way before these gamblers brought forth the implements of their profession. Faro, roulette and various other gambling devices were exhibited to tempt the unwary to risk their money. At first, many of the passengers objected to having the cabin turned into a gambling hell; but the professionals were loud in their claims that they played on the square, and assured those who objected that if one of their number should be caught cheating, the stakes should be forfeited and he put off on the nearest land. After this, no further objection was made, and the numerous games went on without interruption.

By some means the gamblers found out that Brown had a large sum of money with him and they constantly besought him to ''try his luck," but he firmly declined all invitations. But one evening after supper, tiring of their solicitations he yielded, and consented to make one of a party of four who were about to sit down to a game of cards for small stakes.

For a while, no special interest attached to the game, - it seemed tame and uninteresting, and the parties appeared to be evenly matched in point of skill. But as the game progressed, the professionals discovered that Brown was no novice at the card table, for he was able to hold his hand with the best. Larger sums were staked as the hours passed. Two of the professionals, either unable or unwilling to risk such amounts as were being bet withdrew from the game. Brown and one of the gamblers, however, still retained their seats, and with eager faces and shaking hands continued to play. All the **banks" were deserted, and every one in the cabin gathered around the table and in breathless silence watched the game. Fortune was favoring Brown, and he won stake after stake, when the professional, with a fierce oath, dashed down the cards and challenged him to give him his revenge with dice, to which proposition Brown assented.

The dice and cups were produced, and the now thoroughly excited men again bet their money, but not with the same result. Brown was the loser in every throw. He now seemed wild and beside himself with excitement. He doubled every time, until no less than ten thousand dollars lay upon the table to be won or lost on a single throw of the dice. Again the gambler was successful. Brown sprang from his chair, and telling his antagonist to remain where he was, repaired to his state-room and returning in a few minutes, threw upon the table a large roll of bank bills, saying to the gambler :

"You have already won from me over fifteen thousand dollars. The money I have just placed upon the table represents double that amount. I dare you to put up a like sum and let the ownership of the whole be decided by a single cast!"

Princely Gambling 33

The gambler, without hesitation, expressed his willingness to do so, but declared that he did not have so much money as that. The deficiency, however, was soon made up by his partners, and the two men prepared to resume the game. Lying near Brown was a large carving fork which the waiter had neglected to take from the table when he had cleared it that evening, and as he resumed his seat he carelessly, and apparently accidently, drew this fork close to his side.

A breathless silence pervaded the entire room. Men stood aghast at the tremendous nerve of the two players. Sixty thousand dollars to be won or lost on a single throw of the dice !

Brown seized the cup, and shaking the dice violently for a moment, dashed them before him. Those who were in sympathy with him could hardly suppress a cry of exultation as they saw that he had thrown double fives - within one of the highest number it is possible to make.

The professionals cast uneasy glances at each other, but the gambler who was playing with Brown only smiled scornfully, and drew the dice towards him. However, just as he was placing them in the box, they slipped from his fingers and fell upon the floor.

In an instant, he stooped and recovered them, but as he reached forth his hand to take the cup. Brown, whose eyes had a fixed and determined look, and had never for an instant been off him, suddenly seized the fork, and with a movement as quick as that of a rattlesnake, drove the sharp prongs through the wrist of the gambler, literally pinning it to the table, and at the same time presented a cocked pistol full at his head. There was a fearful yell from the wounded man, and a volley of oaths from his companions. Half a dozen weapons were instantly planted at the breast of Brown. He was, however, equal to the occasion. Not a muscle of his face moved, and his voice was as calm and undisturbed as if in ordinary conversation as he said :

"One moment, gentlemen. You yourselves have declared that should one of your number be detected in foul play, that the stakes should be forfeited and he summarily punished. If the dice under the hand I have pinned down on this table are not false, then do with me as you please. If, however, my assertion is correct, I demand the fulfilment of your pledge."

By this time every male passenger on the boat had collected around the table, and the gamblers saw by their looks and drawn pistols that they were not to be trifled with. So they were forced, reluctantly, to admit the truth of Brown's statement.

The gambler was held securely in his chair, the fork withdrawn, and the dice examined. They were found to be loaded. The true pair were concealed up his sleeve. His fate was sealed. In spite of desperate resistance, strong arms stripped him of his weapons, forced him into a boat and rowed him to the nearest land - a low sand bank entirely surrounded by the rapidly rising river. Upon this island, deaf to his piteous appeals, they left him, and the steamer resumed her course up the river.

But long after those on board had lost sight of him, there came to their ears through the black darkness of the night, wild cries and fierce denunciations from the doomed gambler who had been left upon the lonely sand bank, which was soon to be swept by the angry waters of the swollen river.

Brown hid his face in his hands and wept like a child. Strong men turned pale as they heard, above the dash of the ponderous wheels of the steamer and the rush of the waters, the despairing wails of the man of whose fate there could be no doubt, - for the strongest swimmer could not for a moment stem that fearful torrent, and to remain upon the bank was but to choose a lingering and more fearful death.

Princely Gambling

It would be profitless to follow him further, for the reason that this incident is simply noted in order that the present generation, and that to follow, may have some idea to what extent men went at the card table in the olden days when gambling was considered a proper and respectable occupation.

Col. John G. Harvey

As early as 1824, and presumably earlier, there was a newspaper published in Greensboro called "The Halcyon," and so far as the record goes, it was the first publication ever issued in the town. It was edited by Thomas Eastin. It was a four column sheet, - dimensions 22 1-2 by 17 1-2 inches. In 1825, Mr Eastin, merged "The Halcyon" into the "Greene County Patriot,"

From an issue of "The Halcyon" dated April 24th, 1824, is to be noted an act of Congress for the "better organization of the District Court of the United States for the District of Alabama, approved March 8, 1824, by James Monroe, It also contains an act of the Legislature of Alabama authorizing the Governor and five Commissioners to effect a State loan of $100,000, by the issuance and sale of State bonds. The proceeds to be used as capital in the State Bank then about to be established.

ever printed in the town, and their weekly advent was looked forward to with great interest by subscribers, and others. In those days, and even down to a much later date, there was no personal mention of goings and comings of the citizens, nor any reports of dances, card parties, meetings of Women's Clubs, etc. Indeed, it was the rule with the editors of the olden time to strenuously avoid the mention of the name of a lady in their publications. One of the editors belonging to the old regime - Col. John G. Harvey - told the writer that he thought no lady's name should ever appear in the public print except on two occasions, to-wit : When she married and when she died. And that was the idea entertained on the subject by nearly all the editors of fifty or more years ago. Could they come forth from their graves and take only a hasty glance at the average publication of to-day, they would be shocked beyond measure, and possibly think that we had fallen upon degenerate times.

In July, 1833, The Greene County Sentinel was established in Greensboro by Daniel F. Brown. It was a five column, four page paper, and was well patronized by the citizens of Greene county and of Mobile in the way of advertising. The subscription was three dollars per year, or four dollars if the subscriber waited until the end of the year to pay the bill. We have before us a copy of the Sentinel of December 26, 1835. It contains such names of former residents of the town as Young Bohannan, who offers "A Reward of $5.00 for the return of a Hound Dog with the end of his tail cut off";" Doctors McCann & Thompson who offer their professional services to the people; William W. Jackson, notifies all persons not to purchase a certain note of hand which he had given B. H. Covington ; Dr. Wm. P. Murphy tenders his services to the people of Greensboro and vicinity, and advertises his office "at the residence of Mr. John G. Harvey opposite Mr. Gayle's store;" Webb & Dugger advertise their mercantile business, as do also J. & G. Noble ; Wm. Myatt,.

Secretary of Lafayette Masonic Lodge, gives notice that there will be a Masonic and citizen's ball given at the Warrior House in Greensboro on the night of December 28th, 1835 ; Chas. Whelan advertises new and fashionable clothing, and Locke & Lowry, were merchant tailors in Greensboro seventy odd years ago; various tracts of land are offered for sale by John F. Sossaman, W. P. Brown, Wm. B. Lightfoot, George S. Dugger, John Carter, James S. Jones, Wm. F. Monett, James Yeates and others. The following advertisement from the Sentinel will prove to be something unusual to the reader of the present generation :

"Public Auction - Will be sold in the Town of Greensborough, on the 8th day of January, 1836, to the highest bidder, 6 Likely Negroes, consisting of two Men, three Women and one Boy; all of which are choice field hands. Tei'ms made known on the day of sale. GULEELMUS WOOD."

The Sentinel passed into the hands of Thomas DeWolf, who retained possession of it for a year or so, and then sold out to one McCormic, and he in turn sold the paper to John B. Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse tired of the newspaper business, and sold the plant to Charles Briggs, and in 1840 left Greensboro and became a Purser in the U. S. Navy. He died in Philadelphia, June 22, 1874, aged 62 years. He was on the retired list of the Navy at the time of his death. During The Sentinel's varied career its name was changed by some one of its owners to The Alabama Beacon - subscription $5.00 per year in advance - under which title Col. John G. Harvey purchased it in 1843 and continued its publication until his death, July 3, 1890, when the paper passed into the hands of Jas. W. Bondurant, who in a year or two sold it to H. G. Benners and Edwin S. Jack. Mr. Benners soon purchased Mr. Jack's interest, and was from 1893 to 1908 the editor and publisher, but in the latter year he leased it to Geo. K. Keady, and returned to the practice of the law. The career of The Beacon has been a long and honorable one.

The Alabama Republican was the name of a paper that was published in Greensboro by Thomas DeWolf in 1839. How long it survived, we do not know, and of its history we could learn nothing.

In the year 1835 there was published in Greensboro a paper called the Beacon Light of Liberty, but as to its history we are in ignorance, nor could we ascertain any facts in regard to it. Back in those days the county officials were not required to keep bound file copies of all newspapers published in the county, as is now the case, and it is a very great pity that such a law was not in force at that time, for the history of the progress or retrogresion of any town or city in Alabama might be accurately written by a study of these old papers - for the papers then, as now, largely reflected the life of the communities in which they were published. In reference to the Beacon Light of Liberty, one might naturally suppose that the Alabama Beacon was the outgrowth of this publication, but the facts related above in regard to The Beacon were obtained from Col. John G. Harvey, who owned and edited it so long, and a more accurate and painstaking man in his statement of matters of fact could not be found.

In May, 1830, Jacob I. Cribbs conducted the Greene County Gazette at Erie. If the old saying to the effect that "the good die young" is applicable to newspapers, The Gazette m.ust have been a very proper and well-behaved periodical, for its existence extended over a period of only three years.

In November, 1876, W. C. Garrett established The Southern Watchman in Greensboro, which he conducted for several years, and then sold the plant to Alex H. Williams, who owned and edited it until his death in November, 1885. The paper was then purchased by Wm. E. W. Yerby, the present editor and proprietor of The Greensboro Watchman - Mr. Yerby changing the name from The Southern Watchman to The Greensboro Watchman - thus giving the paper the distinction and honor of being the first publication ever named for the town of Greensboro.

In 1902, The Greensboro Record Company established the Greensboro Record - Geo. K. Ready and Lee M. Otts editors and publishers. Mr. Ready severed his connection with the Record in the course of a couple of years, and Mr. Otts has continued its publication to the present time.

To recapitulate : The list is as follows : The Halcyon, The Greene County Patriot, The Beacon Light of Liberty, The Greene County Sentinel, The Alabama Republican, The Alabama Beacon, The Greensboro Watchman, The Greensboro Record - a total of eight.

The editors of the papers mentioned above have been, during the eighty-five years, as follows: Thomas Eastin, Daniel F. Brown, Thomas DeWolf, Mr. McCormic, John B. Rittenhouse, Charles Briggs, John G. Harvey, W. C. Garrett, Alex H. Williams, Wm. E. W. Yerby, Jas. W. Bondurant, H. G. Benners, Edwin S. Jack, George R. Ready, Lee M. Otts - a total of fifteen.

The Greensboro Guards Col. Allen C. Jones

The following is a complete list of the old Greensboro Guards, Company D, Fifth Alabama Regiment, Confederate States of America. This company, numbering 209, left Greensboro for the war on the first day of May, 1861, and served heroically in the fearful struggle from Bull Run to Appomattox :

Allen C. Jones of this company rose to the rank of Colonel of the 5th Alabama Regiment. The Confederate Veterans' Camp of Greensboro is named in his honor. This Camp was organized May 25, 1889. Col. Jones died at his home in Greensboro on January 9, 1894, at the age of 82 years.

a company of boys between the ages of 16 and 18 years in the counties of Hale, Greene and Perry. Those who went from Greensboro and Hale county were:

This company left Greensboro in June, 1864, and joined Lockhart's Battalion at Selma. Later, after seeing actual service at Chehaw, they were organized into the 62nd Regiment, Infantry, Daniel Huger of Mobile, Colonel. Fort Gaines surrendered to the Federals in August, 1864, and the boys were made prisoners of war and sent to New Orleans, where they remained until November of the same year, and were then sent to Ship Island, where they remained until January, 1865, when they were exchanged and joined their old command at Mobile.

Women Of The Confederacy 47

These gallant companies made a record during the war between the States of which their native town and county are justly proud. Many of the soldiers fell on the battle field, and the great majority of those who returned to their homes have died during the intervening period of nearly half a century.

Their hopes and spirits were high when they left for the front, carrying with them the blessings and prayers of loved ones and friends. They felt that they were going out to fame and triumph, and left with joy and gladness to serve their native land. But their going forth and the return of those who were spared from the shot and shell of battle and the ravages of disease, was in great contrast.

But they returned not to sit idly down and lament over their great misfortunes, but went heroically to work to retrieve their fallen fortunes and to meet the changed conditions that had come to the land they loved so well.

And through it all - through the four years of bitter warfare - who was it that aided them most faithfully and loyally? Who was it that really bore the larger share of sorrow and suffering incident upon the cruel strife? Was it not the fair and beautiful women of the Southland?

They were loyally true to the cause of their country, and thought no sacrifice too great for them to make for the men and boys who were at the front fighting for their homes and loved ones.

during the dark period of war, the following letter to the Greensboro Beacon of April 25th, 1862, and signed "A Rebel Daughter of Alabama," is copied :

"Col Harvey: Whilst our fathers, brothers and friends contend on the gory fields for the rights of freemen, we would gladly assist in every way within the sphere of woman's influence. Willingly will we deny ourselves the luxuries of life - aye, even the bare necessities - and count us happy to be able to aid them in the glorious cause of our country's independence. We claim a share in the lives of our brave countrymen; they are fighting for our common, rights - we with willing hearts, if feeble hands, are engaged in the soul-inspiring cause. We expect not, nor do we wish a voice in the councils of our nation; ours is not the ambition that would grasp the sword and take our places in the serried ranks of the battle field; we would only labor that our soldiers lack nothing that can be provided, and pray that our faith in the God of Battles may be undiminished in the hour of adversity.

The women of the South toiled unceasingly for the soldier boys ; they nursed them in sickness, wept when they died, and even down to this distant day they scatter choicest flowers on their graves with each recurring springtime; they begged for them; they sewed and knitted for them; they suffered, uncomplainingly, hardships, losses and privations; they wore "homespun" dresses; they made their own hats from palmetto; they made their own shoes, and knitted their own gloves and stockings; they drank cofi'ee made of wheat, okra or parched sweet potatoes, and tea made of raspberry leaves. They cared for the children and slaves, and in many instances superintended the plantations.

And such women as these have been called indolent and self-indulgent, incapable of meeting the hard, stern realities of the world! In the annals of the past there will not be found a record of more helpful, energetic,

Mexican War Veterans 49

While their hopes and endeavors were in vain, yet they had the proud satisfaction of knowing that they had discharged their duty faithfully, and that their endeavors were in the interest of the cause of which Earl Derby wrote :

In 1846 the United States and Mexico got into a dispute about the boundary line of Texas - Texas claiming the Rio Grande as the southwestern limit of her boundary, and Mexico contending that the line was the Uneces. A two years' war was the result of the disagreement, at the end of which period Mexico was whipped and signed a treaty of peace, in which she ceded all the land claimed by Texas, and also the territory comprising New Mexico, Arizona and California - for the latter territory the United States generously paid Mexico sixteen and a half million dollars.

There were a number of Greensboro people who took part in what is known as the "Mexican War." Captain Andrew L. Pickens organized a company of volunteers in Hale county, the company being composed of 108 members. It left Greensboro for the war on the 27th day of May, 1846. Those who joined the Greensboro "Independent Volunteers" in the town were: John L. Croom, E. B. Boast, B. F. Croom, E. A. Wemyss, Jesse J. Melton, P. E. Wolfe, G. A. Dew, John B. Hardaway, Chas. H. Foster, H. Kotch, P. Moss, Christopher Owen, Rich Haynie, H. Williamson, Jas. S. Simmons, Jas. M. Smith, J. W. Hawkins, S. Wm. Morris, J. L. May, John Marshall, W. A. Bell, S. H. W. Inge, Nat M. Murphy, John Witherspoon, Wm. P. Evans, G. W. Briggs, W. Thomp-

John L. Croom and Jesse J. Melton, so far as can be learned, are the only surviving members of this company - sixty-two years after its organization.

Col. James D. Webb

Who was Colonel of the 51st Alabama Regiment of cavalry. He was killed in battle at Shelbyville, Tenn . July 19, 1863. He is buried in Winchester, Tenn. Just nrior to his death he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, but did not live to receive his commission. He was for a number of years a prominent lawyer in Greensboro.

A Thrilling Incident Of The Reconstruction Period

Those were troublous times in the Southern country directly after the close of the war between the States. While the South was not treated altogether as a subjugated province - that is to say, to the extent of the lands being confiscated by the victors, yet they deemed it necessary to send thousands upon thousands of armed troops to the various towns and cities, whose duty it was to maintain general supervision of the affairs of the country. Occasionally one will meet a Northerner who has come to the conclusion in his own mind that in reality the South was treated very leniently by his section, and he will point with pride to the fact that the people of the South were allowed to retain their lands and houses and personal property of varioiis kinds, in contradistinction from the hitherto rule of war which dictated the taking possession of everything in the conquered territory, and the proceeds made to swell the coffers of the victors. But nevertheless, it is a historical fact that the policy pursued by the United States government during the period of Reconstruction came very near completely wrecking all that was left in the South after the four years of war.

But these remarks are simply made for the purpose of leading up to an incident full of thrilling and dramatic interest that transpired in Greensboro in 1865. At that time there were three companies, containing three hundred soldiers, camped in the town, with the object of keeping "order," and seeing to it that affairs

On the morning of August 31st, 1865, three Federal soldiers from this camp were seen strolling leisurely up the Main street of Greensboro. When they came to the general merchandise store of Robert B. Waller, Jr., - located two doors west of the present Masonic Hall building - they entered, and called for some fruit, which was passed over to them. They stood around chatting with each other and eating the fruit, and when they were about to leave the store, Mr. Waller asked for the price of their purchase, which they refused to pay, and with an oath left the store and continued on up the street. The merchant felt outraged over the treatment, and upon going to the door he saw the Captain of the Company to which the men belonged standing in front of the Tunstall building, and he immediately went to him and reported the conduct of his men. The Captain asked Waller to point the offenders out to him, which he did. He called them to him, and demanded, in a most positive manner, that they pay for the goods at once; and he further informed them that if he ever heard of their being guilty of like conduct he would have them tied up by their thumbs.

The soldiers paid the money rather reluctantly, looked very sullen, but said nothing. Dismissing the matter from his mind, Mr. Waller returned to his store and began to wait on customers who had come in during his absence.

Sitting in front of the store, enjoying the bright sunshine, was Robert Jeffries, and in his lap was seated W. S. (Tood) Cowin, a young man who had seen much service in the Confederate army. After consulting together up the street the three soldiers, who had been made to pay the debt they owed Waller, came back to the store, and without a word of warning one of the men, Jos. Adams, of Co. H, 11th Missouri Infantry, struck

A Thrilling Incident

Cowin a most vicious blow in the face with a slung shot - mistaking him (it is supposed) for the merchant who had reported the men to the Captain. Writhing with pain from the sudden and unexpected blow, and with the gleam of a tiger in his eyes, Cowin sprang from his seat, drew his pistol and fired on his assailant, but miss- ed him. Adams retreated hastily across the street towards Stollenwerck's drug store, and as he retreated he looked back to watch Cowin. When he had nearly reached the opposite sidewalk, Cowin steadied his pistol

When Cowin fired the first shot and missed his man,, another of the Federal soldiers, S. Bryant of Co. D, 11th Missouri Regiment, who was standing near, quickly pulled his pistol and was in the act of shooting him at close range, when Tom Cowin, a brother of "Tood" shot Bryant down before he could get his pistol in position. The ball entered his side, and he fell in the gutter. The wound, while quite severe, did not prove fatal.

The pistol shots soon attracted a large crowd to the street, and in a short while the soldiers began to pour into the town from the camp, which was located in the rear of the residence of Col. George Erwin. They raged and swore and were beside themselves with anger when they learned what had transpired, and demanded, in their frenzy, to.be shown the man who had killed their comrade. Cowin saw the storm gathering and walked off down the street, but before he had gone a great many stepshe was recognized by some Federals who had witnessed the difficulty, and a number of the soldiers made for him, but Cowin faced them and kept them at bay by presenting the ugly looking weapon with which he had killed the man who was lying in the street a short distance away. When he had walked sidewise to Powers' store, keeping the men back with the presented pistol, he noticed a horse hitched in front of the store - a magnificent animal that had been ridden into town that morning by some one from Gen. Cocke's plantation, to whom the horse belonged. She was a thoroughbred racer, and many times had come down the home-stretch a winner on the race-track. Now fully realizing his great danger, Cowin sprang from the sidewalk, cut the bridle reins, leaped into the saddle and clapped his heels into the sides of the splendid charger. With a snort of fright at the unexpected treatment, she reared and then bounded away as if on the wings of the wind, while the air resounded with the angry shouts of the soldiers calling to those past whom the horse and rider were sweeping, to "stop him! Stop him!"

Seeing that the man they most desired to capture was about to elude their grasp, half a dozen or more soldiers quickly secured horses and started in pursuit at breakneck speed. On and on sped the thoroughbred racer. She was in her element, and seemed to enjoy the wild dash down the public highway. And wildly and furiously also rode the pursuers. But only once or twice did they catch even a glimpse of horse and rider as they sped down some long, straight stretch of road, and then the crack of their pistols rang out on the air - but only with the effect of causing the noble racer to quicken her pace just a little. When about six miles out of town - to the westward - Cowin checked his horse and looked around to see if he could catch a glimpse of his pursuers, but no trace of them could be discovered. He then left the main road, and went into a thicket on a hill overlooking the surrounding country. From this position, a short while afterwards, he saw his pursuers, with horses under whip and spur, pass on down the road, and also saw them when on their return from their fruitless effort to capture or kill him. The next day, Cowin was in Mississippi.

Pandemonium reigned on the streets of Greensboro. Tom Cowin, who had wounded the soldier who had undertaken to shoot his brother, passed rapidly through Waller's store - the doors being shut behind him by some one within - went into the back yard and came out to Main street near Powers' store. He was recognized by the Federals, and was immediately taken in charge by an angry mob, who swore they would hang him at once.

A proposition was submitted that if they would wait until sundown, an effort would be made to have his brother "Tood" come in and give himself up, which proposition was agreed to; but the half dozen soldiers who had returned from the pursuit had but little hope that he would ever be overtaken, for they reported that they had ridden hard and furiously after him, but to no avail - that all traces of him were lost.

Then Captain Kelley stepped to where the dead soldier was lying in the street, placed his sword across the body, and with a terrible oath swore that if the man who had slain his comrade was not delivered up to the soldiers by the going down of the sun, then, by all the gods, he purposed to hang Tom Cowin, and burn and sack the town.

Squads of soldiers were deputized to go to every house in Greensboro and take therefrom all weapons, and to disarm all the citizens. Realizing the extreme gravity of the situation, and that the town was entirely at the mercy of the frenzied Federals, some of the citizens slipped a runner out of town on a fleet horse to Marion, Ala., where the colonel of the regiment (Lieut.-Col. Green), was stationed at that time.

While awaiting the delivery of "Tood" Cowin to them by the citizens, the soldiers broke open Waller's store, where the difficulty began, and threw all the goods into the street. As the hours passed by the soldiers drank more freely of whiskey, grew more turbulent, and it seemed to those who had sent the messenger to Marion that he would never return. Minutes seemed hours.

The sun began to sink in the west, and still the man the soldiers so much desired to get into their possession did not appear. They placed a rope around Tom Cowin's neck led him in front of the hotel - which his father kept - threw one end over a sign board, and stood facing the west, watching for the going down of the sun. Cowin's father stood by and urged him to die like a man, and he replied that he proposed to do so. Not a tremor passed over him, and not a trace of fear could be dis-

A Thrilling Incident 57

When hope had gone, and the citizens thought the very worst would happen, the sound of horses' feet was heard, and looking eastward, they saw approaching at breakneck speed, two horses with distended nostrils and flecked with foam, drawing a buggy in which were two men - one of them proving to be the Colonel of the Regiment. Hastily alighting from the vehicle, he pushed his way into the midst of the vast crowd of angry, turbulent soldiers, and went to where Cowin was standing with the rope around his neck. With fire in his eye, and anger in his tone, he demanded of the Captain what he meant by allowing those under his command to be guilty of such conduct. The Captain related the circumstances of the killing of one soldier and the wounding of another by the Co wins, and said he thought he was justifiable. The Colonel replied that it was contrary to military law to hang a man without giving him the benefit of a courtmartial, and that he might consider himself under arrest.

Turning to the troops, he ordered them to fall into ranks. Some of them began to murmur disapproval. The Colonel stepped into the street, drew his pistol, and again commanded them in a loud voice to "fall in," and swore that the first man who refused to obey the command would be shot dead in his tracks. This seemed to restore their reason; they fell into ranks and were marched back to camp.

The rope was removed from Tom Cowin's neck and he was also taken to the camp, where he was held as a prisoner. Frank Peterson (Dr. Francis M. Peterson, former President of the Girls' Industrial School at Montevallo, who died March 21, 1908) went out to the camp and was permitted to spend the night with his friend. The next day, Cowin was taken to Tuscaloosa under heavy guard, and placed in prison, to await trial for

There is a bit of romance connected with his escape from prison, which shows the devotion of the Southern woman to the Confederate soldier, A beautiful young lady, who was a staunch friend of Cowin's, set herseli to work to liberate him.

She was very pretty and most charming and fascinating in her manners. The young lieutenant, who was in charge of the prisoners, fell in love with this sweet Southern girl, and as the two strolled about the streets of classic old Tuscaloosa, or watched the placid flow of the river hard by the city, she would plead with him earnestly to allow Cowin, the friend of her childhood, to escape from prison. For days and days, and time and again the young officer refused to grant the petition - stating that his honor and his position would not permit him to do so. Finally the young lady told him that she would never consent to marry him until her friend was a free man, and reinforced the statement by telling the officer never to see her again. A short time after this, Cowin was missing from prison. How he escaped or whither he went, no one knew.

It would be a pleasing close to this bit of romance to be able to state that the young lady married the young officer - or at least that she married her friend for whom she pleaded - but the truth of history requires it to be said that she did neither, but in the after years married another man.

Neither of the Cowins was ever captured by the Federal officers. As the years passed on, and affairs quieted down, both of them returned to Greensboro, and resided here for quite a while - "Tood" Cowin died in the town a few years after the killing of the soldier; and Tom Cowin, after keeping the Greensboro Hotel for some time, went to Birmingham, where he kept a hotel. From there he went to Anniston, where he died June 27, 1890.

A Thrilling Incident 59

It was never known certainly what influence was used to secure the safety of the Cowins after they had shot the soldiers, as related above, but it developed, in the course of time, that their father, who was quite well-todo at the time of the trouble, had parted with nearly all his worldly possessions - and it was whispered about that he had let somebody have in the neighborhood of twenty thousand dollars - possibly in the nature of a loan.