The information on this page consists of transcriptions of taped presentations recorded in 1986 on Early Pickens County History, for Randy Hamilton, then a Fourth Grade Student at Pickens Academy, Carrollton, Alabama and 1990 on War Between the States to the Pickens County Historical Society.

"The first county seat was in Pickensville, but was moved to Carrollton in eighteen and thirty. At that time the United States government gave Pickens County a land grant, eighty acres, for the purpose of building a courthouse and a jail. People in the county had become very unhappy with the courthouse being placed over on the western edge of the county. Transportation was so poor back in those days that it was almost impossible to go to the courthouse and attend to your business, and get back home before night. At that time, they had to make plans to spend the night in Carrollton (Pickensville?).

Carrollton was named for Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. During the bicentennial an oil portrait of Charles Carroll was placed in the courtroom in Carrollton. He was a unique character in that he was the only signer of the Declaration of Independence that was willing to give his address. He signed his name, ACharles Carroll, of Carrollton, Maryland.

It is hard to believe that the very site upon which Carrollton was built was once inhabited by Indians. This was the mutual hunting ground of all the tribes. Many of them traveled from the Tombigbee River to Tuscaloosa to engage in sports, including baseball. When the pioneers came here in covered wagons, they found a wilderness, that Indians spoke a different language, and many wild animals. James Nance, an early settler, wrote back to his parents in North Carolina and told them about conditions as he found them here. He described the blackbirds in the forest, and then described another bird that he said the Indians called Aparakeet, that were as plentiful as the blackbird. His description of the parakeet was very much like the parakeets we have today. He said that the trees in the forest still bore the scars of Indian arrows.

The Indians also came to Carrollton to drink the minerals from the mineral springs that they thought would cure their illnesses. And for many, many years people still came to Carrollton to drink water from the mineral springs, staying at the Phoenix Hotel or, with, the home of relatives while they were here from, during the summer to drink the water. After the Indians had moved west, and for many years afterwards, these springs were known far and wide, and attracted many people to come here. All of you have probably heard of Johnny Wood Springs. Johnny Wood Springs was located at the end of Spring Street. Anyone will be interested to know that there is an Indian mound located between Spring Street and the old Watermill Road toward Tuscaloosa.

The Phoenix Hotel in Carrollton was built as early as eighteen and thirty-seven by Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Roper. Mr. Roper was the sheriff in Pickens County in eighteen thirty-two, and later operated the hotel. Behind the hotel was a livery stable where you could rent a horse and a buggy, and guests at the hotel boarded their horses there. When the hotel burned while being used by the Whig Party for their meeting, and most of the time behind closed doors, the Whigs helped to rebuild the hotel. It was renamed, named the Phoenix Hotel, for the phoenix bird, bird which rose from the ashes. The hotel was also used as a stage stop for travelers from Columbus, Mobile, and Montgomery. Columbus, Mississippi, and Mobile, and between Columbus and Montgomery. When the original building was destroyed by fire, the Whig Party, which had used the building as headquarters, went to work to rebuild, and it was completed in 1841. The name was changed from the Roper House to the Phoenix Hotel for the phoenix bird, bird which rose from the ashes. Mr. Roper was sheriff in this county in eighteen thirty-two. The family later moved to Mobile and operated the Roper House there. Well, the most unforgettable characters who kept the hotel was J. T. Duncan, who was a checker player, and never let a guest interrupt a game. Usually playing on the wide veranda, he would go inside, and yell, sign your name, take your baggage, pick out a room. There were twenty-seven rooms, and you will find several empty. The old register read like a who's who. The hotel, being situated across from the courthouse, the judges, the attorneys, and the jurors looked forward to court, and the good food served from the large lazy-Suzan type table. At noon the hotel operator would go out on the front porch and ring the dinner bell, that was a signal to adjourn court and come eat. It was a sad day in nineteen sixty-six when the hotel was demolished. Much of Pickens County history was interwoven into the Phoenix Hotel, and old timers still like to talk about the good times they had there. The Bell Tavern was operated here in eighteen forty-two by Peter Donaldson, and later the Carrollton Hotel was in business where the post office building is today.

Can't you just picture that old Phoenix Hotel on the night the mob gathered on the porches to escape the storm that left a picture of Henry Welles on the pane in the garret. Mr. J. T. Gates was sheriff at that time. It was during the night of November the sixteenth, eighteen seventy-six, that the residents of Carrollton were to be awakened by one of the largest fires ever witnessed in this town when the courthouse was consumed by flames. All the books and records were burned except a few in the sheriff's and clerk's office. Bill Burkhalter and Henry Welles were accused of burning the courthouse. In a confession later on after Henry Welles was caught, down across the river, he admitted going into the courthouse to open the safe, but failed, and left a candle lighted near some papers, which caught on fire. He escaped, and was missing for at least two years before it was reported that he was working across the river for a farmer. In the attempt to arrest him he had tried to escape, and was shot in the leg. Brought into Carrollton, he was placed in the garret of the new courthouse, which had been built during that two-year period. People gathered in the street below to lynch the one who was guilty of burning their courthouse, the second time that it had been burned. But a big rainstorm came up, thunder roared, lightening flashed, and most of the mob had to go up on the porch of the Phoenix Hotel. As Henry Welles watched from the garret above, a flash of lightening came, and left a likeness of him on the windowpane. Through the years this has been quite a tourist attraction for the town of Carrollton.

The first election was held in Carrollton in eighteen thirty-one, which the election officials being Norris Herndon, James Stanton, and William Castles. William Castles was the great uncle of Lola Curry, and was the surveyor here who helped lay out the town of Carrollton. The four streets, which led to the courthouse, and were once lined with trees. The people who settled here were people who were interested in building a good community. They wanted schools, churches, and newspapers. The churches date back to eighteen and thirty-four, when the Carrollton Methodist Church was built of logs, and had a slave gallery. The Carrollton Methodist Church was re-organized in eighteen fifty-four, which Rev. Charles McLoyd as presiding elder, and Rev. William Murray as preacher in charge. The name of the first pastor of which a record is found was A. P. Harris, who served the church for the years eighteen thirty-six to eighteen thirty-eight. Records of the Carrollton Baptist Church which was organized May the twenty-fourth, eighteen forty-six, show that the Baptists used the Carrollton Methodist Church for several years before the Baptist church building was completed. Rev. W. R. Stancel was the first pastor, and was followed by Montgomery B. Curry. This church was the offspring of the Big Creek Baptist Church, with the Bosticks playing a big part in organizing the church. Major E. D. Willitt was one of the prominent members of the Methodist church and died as he was praying while attending church one Sunday morning. His last words were, Oh Lord, fill me with thy Spirit. The beautiful brass bell in the Methodist Church was shipped from England to Mobile, and then up the Tombigbee River, and is still in use. It once fell and was cracked, and had to be shipped back to New York to be repaired. Today, that bell rings on Sunday morning at the Methodist Church in Carrollton. The first Presbyterian church in Carrollton was first organized in eighteen and thirty-nine. It was dissolved in eighteen forty-four, and re-organized in eighteen fifty-three, and again in eighteen sixty-eight. The present building was erected in nineteen oh one after the previous building was burned. The members of this church have always been, and are, a dedicated group. Big Creek Baptist Church, which is west of Carrollton, was west of Carrollton, about four miles, was one of the early churches in this county, and most of the people around Carrollton, and Pickensville, attended this church. Cindy Bott, an old slave who once worked in Carrollton, said, all de quality folks in Pickens County b'longs to Big Creek. Today only a marker and a cemetery nearby are left to remind us of this church that played such a prominent part in the spiritual life of Pickens County.

The first newspaper here was The Register, in eighteen forty-four, but lasted only a few months. The Pickens Republican, a Whig paper, was founded in eighteen forty-five. Jeremiah Marston, a lawyer and graduate of Dartmouth College, was the editor. He came here from Tennessee with a recommendation in his pocket from President James K. Polk. He also founded a male academy here. Nelson F. Smith was the next editor of this paper; he wrote the first history of Pickens County in eighteen and fifty-six. And in nineteen and eighty the Pickens County Historical Society had a reprint done on this book. In eighteen forty-nine Robert Eaton came from Tuscaloosa County and began the West Alabamian. Others to be associated with this paper was E. L. Neighbors, A. B. Taliaferro, Croxton, Hill, Andrew Henry, Lewis M. Stone, and Love Gilbert. This paper consolidated in nineteen five with the Pickens County Herald which was only one year old, and known as the Alabamian-Herald. In nineteen eighteen the West Alabamian and Pickens County Herald were consolidated. The Henry family lived in a two-story house where the Carrollton High School now stands. The Neighbors and Gilberts lived where Frank and Mary Daniel now live. This house was built in eighteen fifty-four.

We have many lovely old homes in Carrollton dating back to the early eighteen hundreds. Due to the burning of the records in eighteen seventy-six it impossible to give an accurate or complete history of these places prior to the War Between the States. Our town is rich in history, of the men who wore the gray, and also rich in friendly remembrances and traditions which have survived the years of entreating change. We can almost hear the sounds of the carriages as the dignified occupants winded their way in and out of the once tree-lined streets. Time will not permit us to go into detail about these homes, but we tell you only the present owners in some instances, and some of the former owners. The General Edmund W. Pettus home was formerly owned by the W.P. Nolands, later the Joel Puckett family. Major E.D. Willis, for whom our UDC chapter is named, is the property now of the B. G. Robinson family. The building now occupied by the T. L. Burgess family was occupied for years by Judge L. C. Hudgens, and was erected prior to the War Between the States. Mrs. Pearl Scott says her father rode away from this house to join the army in eighteen sixty-one. Judge Williams owned the home now occupied by Mrs. C. C. Cox, Sr., and is known as the Shepherd house. The Gilkey house is now occupied by Mrs. Burton Lancaster, and is where Mrs. Pinkey Stancel once lived. The home now owned by the Hill family was formerly owned by a Mr. Williams, and after the War passed into the hands of Mrs. Eliza B. Stone, the wife of Col. L.M. Stone, and in front of that house has been placed a marker in memory of the three families that lived there. The house formerly owned by the R.L. Blissetts, between the old Phoenix Hotel and the Stancel home is one of the oldest dwellings in this town. It is now owned by the county. The house across the street from the Presbyterian Church is known as the Alfred M. Prude home. It was once owned by Andrew Henry, editor of the West Alabamian for many years. The house formerly owned by the R., I. R. Hennon family is listed among the homes built prior to the War Between the States. The property on the Webb Ridge Road, and known as the Ware home, is now occupied by Eunice and Luis McGee, descendents of A. Moses McGee. And many of you remember the old Frank Stensen home on the edge of town, once occupied by Capt. J. A. Latham, the brother of Henry Wayne Latham. He was killed in the last battle in the War Between the States, at Bentonville, on March the nineteenth, eighteen and sixty-five. The north room of the law office now occupied by John Curry and Buddy Kirk, or W. O. Kirk, Jr., was built before the War by Judge Stint, and after the War Capt. D.C. Hutto acquired this property and practiced law there until his death, when it became the property of Mr. M. D. Curry, the father of John H. Curry. The south room was erected in nineteen fourteen when Judge B.G. Robinson became his law partner. The M. L. Stancel home was erected in the early years before the War. It was first the Sherrod home. Carl Stancel married two of the Sherrod daughters, bought and enlarged the house. It was once a one-story house; the second story house was added later.

We can also say the same of these old homes and buildings. No years could dim the glory of these homes that stand today to remind us of the past, present, and the expectancy of tomorrow. But times have really changed. The first courthouse was built for only eighteen thousand dollars, had two stories of brick, and a third story of wood. The second courthouse, which was built after the War Between the States, when there was so much poverty in the country, only cost eleven thousand, seven hundred sixty dollars. The first courthouse was burned by Croxton's Raiders as the Yankees came through our county in eighteen sixty-five. I will tell you all later about Croxton's fight in Sipsey Swamp, the burning of Lanier's Mills, spending the night at King's Store, and so forth. Reconstruction during the administration of William Lipsey, sheriff at that time, was a difficult time for Pickens County, and the old newspapers show pages of mortgages, foreclosures; poverty and suffering touched every home. The population dropped from six hundred to two hundred and seventy-eight before nineteen hundred. But it didn't start growing again until the railroads reached here.

Carrollton had nine attorneys here at one time. Judge A. V. Cutherall, Orville Eastland, Lemuel Gilkey, Jeremiah Marston, E. L. Neighbors, Nelson F. Smith, M. L. Stancel, Martin Van Hoose, and John Terry. Other ladies well known to us were: D. C. Hutto, l. M. Stone, E. B. Willitt, Isham Kelley, I. R. Hinton, M. B. Curry, D. D. Patton, Jack Pratt, Graham Hinton, and Mr. Joe Johnson was a very prominent layer here, in years past. Samuel B. Moore, the sixth governor of Alabama, practiced law here. He was a lawyer; he was governor at the time that Tuscaloosa was the capital. He is buried in the Carrollton cemetery. Isham Kelley, and attorney here, was the father of John Herbert Kelley. John Herbert Kelley lacked only six days of being the youngest general to serve during the War Between the States. He lived in Carrollton until he was seven years old in the house now called the Hill house.

Carrollton has had a Dr. Hill since eighteen forty-four when Dr. Samuel F. Hill came here. Hill's Drug Store was built in eighteen forty-eight, remodeled in nineteen thirty-eight, and again years later. His son, Samuel F. Hill, Dr. Hugh W. Hill, and now Dr. William E. Hill, complete over a hundred thirty years of medical service by the Hill family. Dr. Hugh Hill Day was held here in nineteen fifty-four. He was writing his memoirs when he died and he was telling it like it really was. Dr. Hugh was not only a good doctor, he was a good friend. He enjoyed talking about his school days at the Academy in the home of the late Mrs. Alice Jones.

And did you know that there was located here a select school for young ladies, and operated by Mrs. Latham? I've heard Mrs. Mattie Funderburk tell about the girls would go down to the branch of the stream behind the school, and young men would appear, unannounced.

People here have been patriotic since there has been a county, and even before. More than twenty Revolutionary soldiers lived here. Men from Pickens County have served in every war. In nineteen twenty-seven a monument was erected here to honor the men and women of three wars. It was dedicated on July fourth, nineteen twenty-seven, and over four thousand people gathered for the Confederate union in dedication. Mr. Andrew Summerville and Mr. Joe Puckett cooked fifteen hundred pounds of barbecue. Because of poor roads and little money, the people provided homes and community entertainment back in those days. It included box suppers and old fashioned parties in the homes. And Johnny Woods Springs was a popular meeting place for picnics, and for the young people who found this spot an enchanting place as they strolled down Spring Street on a Sunday afternoon. Going to meet the train was another popular pastime. People gathered to see the people get off and on, and to chat through the open windows with those planning to continue on their trip. By the way, the A, T, and N made their last run through Carrollton on June the twenty-ninth, nineteen seventy-six. And wasn't it fun back in those days to go to the open-air theater, next to the bank, and see those continued pictures that drew you back for the next show, with sawdust on the floors and old wooden benches. If a rain came up, you had to get a rain check. In nineteen sixteen, Clemens AutoBus Service ran daily to Reform and back. And that's the year that the speed limit in Carrollton was set at twelve miles an hour. The oldest citizens met with the city council to complain the fast drivers disturbing their sleep. And Carrollton once had an ordinance that a dead carcass could not carried by a female academy. I've heard that the boys in town sometimes made life miserable for Mrs. Henry Latham, proprietor of the academy.

Carrollton had its own light plant, years ago, and some of the owners were George M. Collins, Mr. Willie Kilpatrick, and his son Howard Kilpatrick, and later a Mr. Murray. Remember when the lights would have to go out by ten or eleven o'clock? Hugh Lipsey once told me that the first automobile was owned by the A. H. Dabbs family, and then Dr. Upchurch, W. H. Owen, and W. W. Beasley owned cars. I remember those cars, with running boards and no trunks for luggage, and the rumble seat, it was some fun! I have heard that the first radio was owned by Dr. Ben Rathport, and the Beasleys had the second one. Prude McGee told me Mr. Lloyd Beasley had a radio with earphones, and he would listen to the ball games, and broadcast the World Series to the men who would gather around the store.

The county treasury was robbed on March the twelfth, eighteen eighty-eight, and only seventy-seven dollars was taken. That's easy to understand because the previous year the county had been in the red nine hundred and twenty-three dollars. The first Probate Building stood where the Standard Station is today. It was sold to E. D. Willitt, who built onto it a house, part of Lawyer's Row, the Post Office, and the Cleaning Plant. Almost all the buildings were destroyed by fire in nineteen eighteen, and the Dew Drop Inn was later built on this property.

The first Confederate Reunion, of old soldier's reunion, as it was called, was held here in eighteen eighty-nine, and more that four thousand people came, including five hundred blacks. In eighteen seventy-two the Hayes-Hauley Letters became important. Remember that Hayes was a Radical character from Sumter County who wrote so many letters detrimental to the South to Ha. to Hauley, a publisher and friend in Washington, that they became known as the Hayes-Hauley Letters. He said that Pickens County in west Alabama is where they boast no man has ever voted a Republican ticket and lived through the year. In nineteen four the E.D. Willitt Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was organized, with Mrs. E. D. Willitt as the first president. It was re-organized in nineteen twenty-seven, with Mrs. B. G. Robinson, Sr., as the president. In eighteen eighty-two Pickens County went dry for the first time. There was a saloon which stood where the bank today stands. It was operated by Mr. Crowell, and activity there equaled any in Dodge City. Telephone service was established in eighteen ninety-six, with Carrollton, Pickensville, and Reform getting the first phones. How many of you could ever remember the party line? There were no secrets kept back then. When a phone rang, you could hear click, click, click, click, click, as everyone picked up the receiver to hear the news. Yes, there was one phone in each town, placed in a hotel, and later the telephone switchboard was placed in the Phoenix Hotel and service expanded.

Jack Pratt was the first solicitor of this county. He and Mrs. Pratt published the Pickens County Herald and the West Alabamian, and his colyumn, his column, AHere, There, and Everywhere, was read far and wide. The Pratt family, including Mrs. Hester Pratt, played a big part in the growth of Carrollton. Mrs. Pratt served as postmistress. Prude McGee and Jewel Haney were in the Post Office after that. And how many can remember when we had Jack Pratt Day, and Governor Wallace came to speak? I know of two who will never forget it: Helen Hill and myself. At one time, Mr. W. B. Curry, AUncle Bill, as everyone called him, and the father of Mrs. Annie Collins and Bess McGee, moved his family from Benevola and bought the academy, now the Alice Jones home. They lived upstairs and the school was operated downstairs.

Just south of Carrollton was a thriving little village known as Lois Springs, named for Lois Belle Ross, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Bell. There are many families in Carrollton today that once lived in that little village: the R.M. Alexander family, the Griffiths, Estelle Griffin Fitzpatrick, the Kerneys, Faye Kerney Fitzpatrick, and Lois Bell Ross, herself.

There are thirteen Confederate soldiers buried in the Carrollton cemetery, and each year the UDC chapter places flowers on each grave. There is one Yankee buried there: the monument only says AMr. Dodd, a Yankee soldier. There are many old people, or elderly people I might say, living in Carrollton today. Two of the oldest people in the town passed away a few years ago. Mr. E.V. Bridges, living to the age of one hundred and one, and Mrs. Annie Collins, who passed away at the age of ninety-six.

So many interesting people have lived here that one could never begin to mention them all. There was once a judge who liked the bottle so well that it was hard to keep him sober enough to ever hold court. There was a goat that liked to hang around the courthouse and one day when the judge was stoned he sat down by a tree and dropped off to sleep. The goat spotted the old judge, and getting a good start, butted him several feet from the spot. Another time a group of defendants kept giving this judge little nips, hoping he'd not be able to come to court. When he passed out in his room in the hotel, Nelson F. Smith, with the aid of some hot coffee and hot cup of tea, got him back on his feet and back to the courtroom. As the group of defendants sat around a stove in one of the stores laughing, and thinking the judge was incapacitated, the judge ruled against every one of them. There was little for them to laugh about then.

Sammy Spencer's grandfather, Mr. E. L. Shirley, was sheriff of this county at one time. Yes, and Clayton C. Cox, Jr., uh, Bootie's great-grandfather, Mr. John W. Cox, was circuit clerk four different times. Mr. M. B. Cole was in the legislature in eighteen ninety-nine to nineteen three, and was elected county solicitor at the age of seventy-two years. He was the son of John Hardy Curry and Nancy Ferguson Curry.

Many prominent educators were Carrollton residents, some graduates of Yale and Dartmouth. Mr. W. H. Story and Mr. John W. Dowdle were prominent in the educational field during the late eighteen hundreds, and through nineteen and thirty-three, with J. A. Summerville being the first county superintendent of education.

Some of the prominent Negro families in this community were Frank Stinsen, Owen Ferguson Lipsey, Charlie Gregory, Lucy Ware, Hugh McCafferty, and many others. Two outstanding citizens of Carrollton were Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Owen, both later being the directors of the Department of Archives and History. They lived in the old home now occupied by John Eubanks and his family. Familiar names in the early days of Carrollton and surrounding community included such names as Wares, Kilpatricks, Furnderburks, Owings, Baxtons, Shephard, Castle, Bridges, Windle, Mullens, Ferguson, Easterling, Gardner, Laumier, Allen, Bishops, Bosticks, McCafferty, Bates, Noland, Pate, McGee, Coleman, Hill, Curry, McKinstry, Stinson, Phillip, Hamilton, Puckett, Laumier, McCafferty, and many others. Mr. J.T. Hamilton was sheriff in 1892, and Mrs. Hester Pratt has told me that many of the articles that she wrote in the old newspaper was from information that she had gotten from Mr. Hamilton.

One thing that I have not touched on which should be of interest to all of you is how the mail was received in the early years of our county and city. Many of the Indian trails were later used for roads and the mail in early times was carried by riders on horseback, some of the routes extending from the ports in Georgia entirely through the state and on into Mississippi. Therefore, there had to be relays of carriers. Some of the routes through Pickens County were from Tuscaloosa to Columbus by the Pickens courthouse as early as eighteen nineteen. From Greensboro, in Greene County, through what is called the Forks of the Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers, by the Garden, to the courthouse in Pickens County. From Livingston in Sumter County, by Horner's old store, Mount Sterling, McCardis, and Carrollton, from Washington Courthouse in Washington County, Alabama. Don't you know when the mail did arrive that it was a thrill to all these old settlers?

At this time I would like to tell you that many people have contributed to the information that I have given you today. Much of it has come from Nelson F. Smith's history. Some of it has come from Franklin Clanahan's history, and other sources. I guess I became interested in the history of Pickens County and Carrollton when I found in Nelson F. Smith's history that my ancestors, Jonathan and Louis Ellison, came here in eighteen twenty-four, and helped mark out the roads of the county. They left here and went to Yazoo County where they founded the Ellison Methodist Church, which is still active today. My grandchildren, Tom and Lowell Walker, Buster, Belinda, Marty, and Samuel Sims, are the youngest descendents of the Ellison family left in Alabama."