ALGenWeb: Marengo County

History of Marengo County

"In the Heart of Alabama's Black Belt Region"

Marengo County was created by the Alabama Territorial legislature on 1818 Feb. 6, from land acquired from the Choctaw Indians by the treaty of 1816 Oct. 24. The name of the county was suggested by Judge

1895 Color Map of Marengo County

Abner Lipscombe, and was given as a compliment to the first white settlers, expatriated French citizens and commemorative of Napoleon's great victory at Marengo over the Austrian armies on 1800 June 14.

Marengo County is situated in the west-central part of the state. It is bordered by Hale, Greene, Perry, Dallas, Wilcox, Clarke, Choctaw and Sumter counties. The county seat was originally known as "Town of Marengo." In 1823 the name was changed to Linden, a shortened version of "Hohenlinden," scene of a French victory in Bavaria in 1800. Other towns and communities include Demopolis, where French expatriates settled and formed the Vine and Olive Colony, Myrtlewood and Sweet Water. Courthouse fires occurred in 1848 and 1965. Source: Alabama Department of Archives & History, Alabama History On-Line

Native American Alabama Resource	Native American Records for Alabama
Native American Data Base	National Archives - Native American

	Early Families of Marengo County
	JONES - SPINKS. by Bob Jones
	WILLIAMS. J. B. Williams Skinner, Winnie Gee Williams Loranz, and Grace Bailey Mellard conducted extensive research on the Williams line in the 1960's. They spent years following up leads and interviewing old folks around Marengo County. The resulting document, dubbed The Skinner Papers, chronicles the girls' lives growing up in the extended Williams family at Williams Hill --located about half way between Gay's Landing on the Tombigbee and Nanafalia-- the home of their father Jacob B. Williams. Other families mentioned in detail are: Barron, Bailey, Caller, Hasty, Matthew, McGrew, Nichols, Russell, Schuyler and Terrell. Bob Jones has placed a few pages of The Skinner Papers online to whet the appetites of Williams and Marengo County researchers.