Robertoreg's Atlas of Alabama

2011-03-29T00:33:00.000-07:00

that mythical point on the west bank of the Chattahoochee down in Houston County where it all begins: the point where AL , GA & FL intersect- THE POINT NO ONE ON EARTH CAN IDENTIFY!

2011-01-18T18:52:00.001-08:00

THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO KEWL!
Oxford American's website features ME on their BEST OF BAMA'S RECORDED HISTORY
page. I'm the last one & they heated up TANTON's name in my interview so you can click on it & go to his SOUND CLICK page & listen to 40 of his songs FOR FREE! http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2011/jan/12/record/

2008-09-22T22:31:00.001-07:00

image courtesy of ROBERTOREG'S ATLAS OF ALABAMA http://atlasofalabama.blogspot.com

2007-02-20T18:28:00.000-08:00

The story of Burr's passing in custody through New Store, VA, on his way to Richmond for trial:
http://richmondthenandnow.com/Newspaper-Articles/Aaron-Burr.html

2007-02-18T20:21:00.000-08:00

PLEASE CHECK OUT ELLEN WILLIAM'S ARTICLE IN THE SOUTH ALABAMIAN concerning The 200th Anniversary of The Capture of Aaron Burr:

http://www.southalabamian.com/news/2007/0215/News/082.html

2007-02-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

Hi, Robert:
I sent you a note but apparently I had not used correct address! I will try again with the same message, but in addition, I discussed the arrest in my Alabama History Class at Huntingdon College on Tuesday.
Please let me know more your plans!

MARY ANN NEELEY

2007-02-07T00:02:00.000-08:00

BURR OAKS- located on the campus of Jefferson College in Washington, Mississippi, these oaks are said to be the site of Aaron Burr's arraignment for treason in February of 1807

photo courtesy of http://www.vaiden.net/mead_lineage.html

Robert,

I received the Winter Issue of Alabama Heritage yesterday, No. 83, Winter 2007, published by the Univ. of Ala. Press. An article, "A Traitor in the Wilderness, The Arrest of Aaron Burr," by Aaron Welborn. is featured on p. 10 with pictures. You can probably get a copy at www.AlabamaHeritage.com

Jackie Matte

2007-02-06T17:38:00.001-08:00

Ellen:
Please see if you can get a GPS # on the site of the capture.
With Burr, it's best not to have any opinions.[Today, you're dealing with a lot of Yankees who think he was the "NEXT COMING"]
The important thing is that he was caught here and that the only reason he was caught was due to the heroic effort of Nicholas "Bigbee" Perkins.
Don't worry about the public schools. Alabama History has been banned in all Alabama high schools for ten years so that should give you an idea of where the message of our heritage is found in the public schools.
Tonight, I'm gonna tune up this thread and send it to some newspapers in Mississippi. All the important events of THE BURR WAR
occurred in Mississippi so somebody over there might get interested. The capitol of the Mississippi Territory was Washington, Mississippi which is located about 7 miles east of Natchez. It was away from the river and had a great spring to provide fresh water so the powers that be moved the seat of government there.
Some good sources which you may be able to get from Mobile libraries:
http://www.jstor.org AARON BURR IN MISSISSIPPI The Journal of Southern History, Vol. 15, No. 1(Feb., 1949), pp. 9-21
The Burr Conspiracy by Thomas Perkins Abernathy (1954), pp. 220-235.
The Reminiscences of George Strother Gaines (1998), pp. 142-145.
JEFFERSON'S VENDETTA by Joseph Wheelan(2005), pp. 1-9.
AARON BURR: Conspiracy to Treason by Buckner F. Melton, Jr.(2002), pp.149-165.
AARON BURR: The Proud Pretender by Holmes Alexander(1937),270-279.
AARON BURR: Portrait of an Ambitious Man, 272-285.
AARON BURR: The Conspiracy and Years of Exile 1805-1836, 210-225.

THANKS FOR MAKING SOMETHING HAPPEN!
Best,
Robert Register http://robertoreg.blogspot.com

From: "Ellen" To: Subject: Aaron BurrDate: Tue, 6 Feb 2007 11:56:38 -0600
Dear Mr. Register,
Mrs. McCutcheon contacted me about your interest in a Burr article in view of the upcoming 200th anniversary of his capture here in Washington County. My publisher has already requested that I do an article/feature on Burr for our Feb. 15 edition. And she forwarded your email.
I surely agree with you that this was a "brush with history" for this local area; and one with which the local school system has not really done much, in my opinion. Are you aware that there is an old piece of tin, no longer legible at the "spot" where Burr was captured on Feb. 19, 1807. A member of our Washington County Historical Society has placed a granite marker there as well. (1995)
If you subscribe to Alabama Heritage, there is a good article on Burr in the latest, Winter issue. I found your account of the 2-4-07 trial in Washington, Mississippi Territory fascinating. None of the sources I contacted gave that information. I assume you do mean, Washington County, Mississippi Territory (as several counties were eventually carved out of that large area)?
The more I read of Burr, the more sympathetic I find myself becoming. He and Hamilton disagreed over monetary systems; and time may prove Burr correct on that.
So many questions about Burr cannot be answered because of his papers being lost in the shipwreck off the coast of NC when his daughter was carrying them with her.
Regards,
Ellen Williams

2007-02-05T22:02:00.000-08:00

KM:

I really appreciate you meeting with me today to discuss the possibility of your paper publishing an article this month commemorating the 200th anniversary of the capture of Aaron Burr on Monday, February 19, 2007.

The closest thing I have to a primary source is Albert J. Pickett's 1847 conversation with George S. Gaines. Eventually I would like to examine letters and transcripts found in the Library of Congress' Burr Manuscripts. I also need to examine a number of 1807 newspaper articles.

The following chronology gives you an idea of the importance of this February 1807 event which occurred near where you now reside; an area which at the time was called "the wildest and most isolated place in the whole of the United States."

1) On Friday, February 4, 1807, a federal grand jury in Washington, Mississippi Territory returned no indictment for treason or anything else against Aaron Burr.

2) Federal Judge Romney ordered Burr to appear in court and Burr did not show. Judge Rodney ordered Burr's bail forfeited.

Silas Dinsmoor [his name appears on the historic marker at St. Stephens Masonic Lodge #9] is quoted as writing, "We are all in a flurry here, hourly expecting Colonel Burr and all Kentucky and half of Tennessee at his [back] to punish General Wilkinson, set the negroes free, Rob the banks and take Mexico. Come and help me laugh at the fun."

3) Fearing military arrest, court martial and firing squad, Burr jumped bail and became a fugitive. On Sunday, February 6, 1807, Mississippi Territory Governor Williams issued a proclamation describing Burr as a fugitive and offering $2000 for his capture.

4) At about 11 P. M. on Friday night, February 18, Major Robert Ashley and a disguised Burr arrived at Nicholas "Bigbee" Perkins' cabin near Wakefield [near present-day Sunflower]. The visitors interrupted a game of backgammon Perkins was playing with Thomas Malone [Malone is also mentioned on the St. Stephens Masonic Lodge #9 historic marker]. The visitors asked for directions to Colonel Hinson's place located 7 miles south of Wakefield.

Nicholas "Bigbee" Perkins, II (1779-1848)http://www.tnportraits.org/30217-perkins.htm

5) Suspecting that his mysterious visitor is Aaron Burr, Perkins goes to Sheriff Thomas Brightwell's house and wakes him up. The two men proceed by horseback to Col. Hinson's.

6) Sheriff Brightwell & Perkins are invited inside by Mrs. Hinson where they meet the strangers.
Perkins goes outside to wait for Brightwell who does not come out. Because Brightwell does not return, Perkins proceeds to Ft. Stoddert. According to George S. Gaines, Perkins rode his horse 15 miles that night to Mr. Joe Bates' place on Nannahubba Bluff. Bates let Perkins have a slave and a canoe. Perkins and the slave canoe 8 or 9 miles down the river to Ft. Stoddert.

7) Perkins tells Lt. E.P. Gaines about Burr and after breakfast they and a group of 4 or 5 soldiers head north toward Hinson's place. On that Saturday, February 19 afternoon Gaines arrests Burr near McIntosh Bluff.

8) On March 5, 1807, Perkins and eight others accompany Burr on his 1500 mile trip to Washington, D.C. The party consisted of Colonel Nicholas Perkins, of Tennessee, who had, as we have seen, been the cause of his arrest; Thomas Malone, formerly a clerk in the land office at Raleigh, North Carolina, but who, at this period, was a clerk of the court of Washington County, Alabama; Henry B. Slade, of North Carolina; John Mills, a native of Alabama; John Henry, of Tennessee; two brothers, named Mc- Cormack, of Kentucky, and two federal soldiers. http://www.mindspring.com/~mchs/herald/burr.htm

9) On Thursday, March 26, the party delivers Burr to the authorities in Richmond, Virginia. They averaged about 30 miles per day.

Here's a good article on the Web http://www.mindspring.com/~mchs/herald/burr.htm
and you can find other sources at http://atlasofalabama.blogspot.com

Any assistance you can give in sharing this story with others will be appreciated.

Best,
Robert Register http://robertoreg.blogspot.com

8)

2007-01-21T19:18:00.000-08:00

The point on the road above McIntosh Bluff and Bilbos' Creek where Burr was captured on February 19, 1807
From LaTourrette's 1837 map of Alabama and West Florida
http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/alabama/1826-1840.html

Looks like he was captured at about the 48' BM on the topo map.
Whitney

photo courtesy of Peter J. Hamilton's COLONIAL MOBILE

2007-01-09T22:34:00.000-08:00

My crew in Coden are wired and inspired about the Bicentennial of Aaron Burr's capture!

Greg called to say he's almost certain he's found the place above McIntosh Bluff where Burr was arrested by Lt. E.P. Gaines!

My discussion with Greg really helped me to piece together what happened during the hours before the capture of Aaron Burr on February 19, 1807. Greg was correct in suggesting that THE REMINISCENCES OF GEORGE STROTHER GAINES would be essential.

Greg and I have been having trouble understanding how Nicholas Perkins, the man who captured Burr, was able to travel the 20 miles between Wakefield and Ft. Stoddert at night.

Here's the explanation according to Gaines who was there and whose brother arrested Burr.

Nicholas Perkins was Register of the Land Office in Wakefield and he owned land on the Sunflower Bend of the Tombigbee. Greg believes he knows the location of the ghost town of Wakefield and the location is near the Sunflower Bend.

Burr showed up at Perkins' cabin a little after dark on February 18. Burr was dressed in disguise but Perkins believed him to be the former Vice-President so he made preparations to collect the $2000 reward posted for Burr's capture.

Burr and his companion were looking for directions to Col. Hinson's house which was 7 miles away. Hinson's place was south of Wakefield in the direction of Fort Stoddert.

After Burr and his companion left, Perkins convinced the Sheriff to accompany him to Hinson's house to see if they could capture Burr for the reward money. Sheriff Brightwell agreed to go with Perkins to Hinson's place.

Once they got there, Perkins let Brightwell go inside the cabin because he was on bad terms with Hinson. Undoubtedly, Sheriff Brightwell came under Burr's spell because he never came out of the cabin so about midnight Perkins decided to go get Lt. E.P. Gaines at Ft. Stoddert.

Perkins then rode 15 miles before daylight to Joe Bates' place on Nannahubba Bluff. Here he borrowed Bates' canoe and he and one of Bates' Negros paddled 8 or nine miles down the Tombigbee to Ft. Stoddert.

At the fort, he told Lt. Gaines about the man he suspected was Aaron Burr. After serving Perkins breakfast, Lt. Gaines along with 4 or 5 men accompanied Perkins on the ride north toward Hinsons' place. That afternoon, they found Burr riding the trail just south of Hinsons' along with Hinson and Sheriff Brightwell.

Burr asked Hinson who were the riders that were approaching them.

Brightwell said, "That's Perkins. You're gone."

Burr exclaimed, "God have mercy!"

This was when Lt. Gaines served Burr with the proclamation from the governor and the president which ordered Burr's arrest.

2006-11-14T00:30:00.000-08:00

From: "James A Miller Jr"
To: robertoreg2003@yahoo.com
Subject: RE: Thomas Malone, The Man Who Captured The Most Wanted Man In America!
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 22:58:51 -0500

Liked your Burr website, and good luck on your project. Suggest you
read the
biographies of the Gaines brothers, Malone, et al, concerning Burr. I
think
I was once a member of the Aaron Burr Society? Anyway, I think it meers
once
a year at Princeton University and that library has a collection oh it?
Family tradition is on a rainy night, Malone and Lt. Gaines were
playing
cards, and after Burr in disguise left, Gaines realized the quality of
the
mount, boots, etc., did not match the poor-man disguise. Malone did not
want
to go but did. At "Burr'sd Rock" S.C. (where is that, I'd like to
visit),
Burr escaped at a crossroads, seeking sucor from the locals (possibly
did
not know who he was?), not getting aid and seeing the futility, Burr
surrendered on his own to Malone who wept at seeing the sad plight of
this
once great man's fallen estate. Malone had been US Land Office Agent,
US
Magistrate, and ASST Indian Agent (to Gaines), and I think a War of
1812
militia Capt., Ft. St. Stephens, Ala. Thomas Malone, Sr., died
"Milford"
(where is that?), Alabama, Feb 17, 1850, age 78. His wife Mary S.
Malone
(who were her parents?) died Milfor Jan 14, 1838, age 49. I descend
their
son, Mobile-Galveston cotton broker, Capt. Edward Malone, Sr., CSA, who
wed
Ann Maria Russell, daughter of War of 1812, Mobile, 3rd US Inf., Col.
Gilbert Christian Russell, Sr., for whom Russell Co., Ala., is named.
James
A Miller Jr, 4978 N Hampton Dr., Southport, N.C. 28461-7420,

focusoninfinity@hotmail.com

2006-11-12T20:25:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all:

I spent some time tonight to begin AARON BURR'S SOUTHERN PILGRIMAGE 1806-1807.

Of course, most of my information will focus upon Burr's trip north after his arrest on February 19, 1807, however, there are lots of people and places from Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina which figure in the story of Burr's Conspiracy.

Please take time to at least scroll over this stuff and pass it along to anyone who might be interested in this story.

I was very excited tonight about finding the portrait of Nicholas Perkins, the man who had Burr arrested , who delivered him to federal authorities in Richmond and who collected the $2000 reward.

Let me hear from ya!

Best,
Robert Register http://atlasofalabama.blogspot.com

2006-11-12T19:53:00.000-08:00

CHESTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
HAS THE AARON BURR ROCK!
"The Aaron Burr Rock, erected in 1938 by the Mary Adair Chapter of the Daughters of the AmericanRevolution, is said to stand on the spot where Aaron Burr, a Vice-President of the United States under Jefferson, on his way to Richmond to face treason charges jumped from a carriage and asked Chester citizens for assistance."

I also found where someone says that the CHESTER COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM claims to have the bench on which Burr slept at the Lewis Inn outside Chester!!!!

Posted in THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER on Sun, Jun. 19, 2005 http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/states/south_carolina/counties/york/11932048.htm

NEARBY HISTORY
Burr begged, in vain, for help while in Chester
He was en route to Virginia to stand trial for treason charge
LOUISE PETTUS

In 1938, the Mary Adair Chapter, D.A.R. placed an inscription on a rough-hewn rock to commemorate a most unusual event in Chester's history. The inscription on the rock that sits on the highest hill in downtown Chester reads: "In 1806, Aaron Burr, when passing through Chester, a prisoner, dismounted on this rock and appealed in vain to the citizens for help."

The date 1806 is wrong. It was March 1807 when Aaron Burr, former vice president of the United States, the youngest colonel of the Revolutionary War, whose blue-blooded ancestors included the first president of Princeton, was marched into town under arrest by the U.S. Army and charged with high treason.

This was the second blot on Aaron Burr's otherwise satisfactory career. While vice president, Burr challenged and killed Alexander Hamilton, former secretary of the Treasury, in a duel. Dueling was legal in New Jersey, but the act ruined any chances that Burr might become President Jefferson's successor.

Burr made a Southern tour to Georgia, where dueling was more acceptable and came up the coast to visit his beloved daughter, Theodosia Alston, and her family at the Alston plantation (now Brookgreen Gardens, located between Georgetown and Charleston). He then returned to Washington and made a farewell speech to the U.S. Senate.

Burr next got involved in speculation in Western land. Spain gave him a grant for 400,000 acres in Texas for $40,000 with $5,000 down. An estimated 500 followers were ready to join Burr in what many thought was a project to establish a new country. President Jefferson had Burr arrested in Kentucky, but he was ably defended by Henry Clay and acquitted.

In February 1807, Burr was arrested in Mississippi Territory and charged with treason. The Army guards wished to avoid the populous coastal areas and especially the S.C. coast, where Burr was popular, so they marched him through the backwoods destined for Richmond, Va., to be tried by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall.

On horseback, the group reached the village of Chesterville. According to records, there were two soldiers in front of Burr, two behind him and one on each side.

As they approached a tavern, Burr flung himself from his horse, mounted the rock and shouted to the bystanders: "I'm Aaron Burr, under military arrest, and claim the protection of the civil authorities."

Officers forced Burr to remount and marched on. About dark, the party got to John Lewis' Tavern (the spot on S.C. 74 between Chester and Rock Hill now called Lewis Turnout).

Officer Perkins (we don't know his first name), in charge of Burr, later said that at Lewis' tavern, he found his famous prisoner, and the soldier leading his horse, in a flood of tears. Presumably, Burr's usual great self-assurance had vanished with the cold-shoulder treatment by the people of Chesterville.

That night, Burr reportedly slept on a bench at the tavern.
The next day, the party moved on to Richmond for the trial. His son-in-law, Joseph Alston, and daughter, Theodosia, were there to see 51-year-old Burr tried on the charge of conspiring to make himself emperor of a large part of the Louisiana Purchase land and Texas.

Historians still debate whether Burr, who was originally arrested on a misdemeanor charge, not treason, intended to create an empire for himself or whether he was mounting a filibustering expedition against Spain.

The trial was a sensation. Political passions created a stormy setting. Jefferson was summoned to testify but refused to do so. The law required that there be two witnesses to the overt act of treason, and Marshall construed the law narrowly. Only one creditable witness was found. The jury found Burr "not guilty under the indictment by evidence submitted to us."

After the trial, Burr sailed for England, but he returned to New York in 1812 at the same time that Joseph Alston was elected governor of South Carolina. Theodosia Burr Alston sailed alone for New York to see her father. She never arrived. The ship was lost at sea -- either the victim of Cape Hatteras' treacherous currents or of pirates who were active in the area off the Outer Banks at that time.

Usually, the monuments erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution commemorate the deeds of Revolutionary War heroes.
And although Aaron Burr was a genuine hero of the Revolution, the Aaron Burr rock inscription reminds us of one of the most interesting trials in American history.

2006-11-12T19:41:00.000-08:00

http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmamcrk4/pkt33.html#anchor902926
Chapter 33 of Albert Pickett's History of Alabama,
"The Arrest of Aaron Burr in Alabama"

2006-11-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

BURR EXPEDITION http://www.rootsweb.com/~msdesoto/military/hist1803-09.html
In December, 1806, the ketch Vesuvius, fourteen guns, the schooner Revenge, twelve guns, the ketch Etna, fourteen guns, and five gunboats of two guns each, under Commodore Shaw, were stationed in vicinity of Natchez to meet the army which, according to the rumors afloat, Aaron Burr was bringing down the Mississippi for the conquest of Mexico and the annexation of the southwestern United States to his proposed Mexican empire.

Major Joshua Baker of the Mississippi militia occupied Fort Adams with twenty-five men December 14th, and the First, Second, Fourth and Fifth Militia Regiments were ordered to muster in January [1807]. Col. F. L. Claiborne sent an expedition of about 300 men to the mouth of Cole’s Creek. Colonel Woolridge, of the militia, marched to Bayou Pierre, with thirty-five men, when Burr arrived, and with Captain Regan, and Lieutenant Lindsay visited him on the Louisiana shore. Col. Thomas Fitzpatrick next interviewed Burr and on January 16th the Governor’s aides, George Poindexter and William B. Shields, made with Burr arrangement under which he went to the town of Washington for an investigation of his expedition. There were about sixty men in Burr’s party. After a diligent search, Colonel Fitzpatrick discovered no indication that Burr’s expedition was of a military nature.

The country had been greatly excited over Colonel Burr’s mysterious movements, and the National Government had called on the Governor of Mississippi Territory for troops to suppress a warlike expedition. Whatever may have been Burr’s purpose it was thwarted by the prompt action of the authorities of Mississippi Territory.

(taken from “Military History of Mississippi 1803 – 1898” by Dunbar Rowland, 1908; 1978 Reprint, The Reprint Company, Publishers, pp. 1-3)

Mo' Mississippi references-
Rowland, History of Mississippi, 1: 370, 373, 421, 475; J. R. Taylor, “Aaron Burr: An Interesting Account of his Stay in the Territory of Mississippi,” Times-Democrat, Feb. 24, 1901; Stafford, Wells Family, 276-88.

2006-11-12T19:21:00.001-08:00

Documents Concerning Jefferson's Proclamation of November 27, 1806 and The Burr Conspiracy http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/burr/burrjeffproclamation.html

2006-11-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

I was personally acquainted with the following old and distinguished citizens of Alabama: Gen. Geo. S. Gaines, he told me about the arrest of Ex-vice president Aaron Burr, by his brother, Capt. E. P. Gaines, and his soldiers, in company with Nicholas Perkins, Tom Malone, and others. He was at Ft. Stoddard when Burr was brought there, he became fascinated with him, and regretted the down-fall of this brilliant and distinguished man. Aaron Burr remained in the Fort two weeks when he was taken in a boat up the river to Tensaw Lake where they landed within a quarter of a mile of where Ft. Mims afterwards stood he was taken on horseback through Baldwin Co., stopping at the comfortable residence of my grandfather, David Tate, for dinner. They continued their line of march through the wilderness north.

from the writings of Dr. Marion Elisah Tarvin
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmamcrk4/crkst1.html

2006-11-12T19:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.vaiden.net/cowles_mead.html

2006-11-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

The Williamson County, TN Historical Society has an article about the capture of Aaron Burr
http://www.tngenweb.org/williamson/resources/histsoc.html

2006-11-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

http://www.rockwood.k12.mo.us/LASALLE/stretch/eighth/aronburr/trial.htm

2006-11-12T18:45:00.000-08:00

AARON BURR 1756-1836 http://www.juntosociety.com/vp/aaronburr.html

2006-11-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

The men who escorted Burr north to Richmond:
Arriving at the Boat Yard, Burr disembarked and was delivered to the guard which was so long to be with him in dangers and fatigues. It consisted of Colonel Nicholas Perkins, of Tennessee, who had, as we have seen, been the cause of his arrest; Thomas Malone, formerly a clerk in the land office at Raleigh, North Carolina, but who, at this period, was a clerk of the court of Washington County, Alabama; Henry B. Slade, of North Carolina; John Mills, a native of Alabama; John Henry, of Tennessee; two brothers, named Mc- Cormack, of Kentucky, and two federal soldiers. http://www.mindspring.com/~mchs/herald/burr.htm

Here's a story about a cat who lives in Nicholas Perkins' old house in Tennessee
http://weeklywire.com/ww/12-01-97/nash_8-books.html

2006-11-12T18:34:00.000-08:00

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(194902)15%3A1%3C9%3AABIM%3E2.0.CO%3B2-1
Here's a link to Thomas Abernathy's article "Aaron Burr in Mississippi".
I'll try to go to the University's library to get the entire article next week.

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0022-4642(193508)1%3A3%3C320%3AEPGAFP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F
Edmund Pendleton Gaines and Frontier Problems, 1801-1849 James W. SilverJournal of Southern History, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Aug., 1935), pp. 320-344

2006-11-12T18:09:00.000-08:00

Post on Thomas Malone from Genforum:

I desc John Malone, 1750s Dinwiddie Co., Va., had Rev War Ens Wood Malone of Bute/Warren Cos, NC, had Ft St Stephens, Ala, asst Indian agent Thomas Malone with Lt Gaines arrested Aaron Burr, had Mobile, Ala., Capt Edward Malone, Sr., CSA, buried Trinity Epis, Galveston, TX 7912-H Harris Hill Lane, Charlotte, NC 28269=0704

Seek fellow descendants of Thomas Malone, Sr., Esq., circa 1805, U.S. Land Office Agent, Asst. Indian Agent, Magistrate; Fort Saint Stephens, Alabama; who with Lt. Gaines, captured Aaron Burr; and escorted Burr to trial, Richmond, Virginia. Thomas was a land agent, Raleigh, N.C.; the son of Ens. Wood Malone (Capt Bennett Wood's Bute Co militia) of Malone's Mill Creek, Warren Co., N.C.; the son of John Malone, of Malone's Bridge, Dinwiddie Co., Virginia. I descend Tomas Malone's son, Capt Edward Malone, Sr., a Mobile and Galveston cotton broker. James A Miller Jr, 4978 N Hampton Dr, Southport, N.C. 28461.

2006-11-12T17:57:00.000-08:00

Nicholas "Bigbee" Perkins, II (1779-1848)
http://www.tnportraits.org/30217-perkins.htm
Married his 1st cousin Mary Harden Perkins, 1808. Arrested Aaron Burr & took him to Richmond, VA for trial. Helped write State Constitution of Alabama.

Death notice from the 1848 Western Weekly Review, Franklin, TN
Major NICHOLAS PERKINS died January 6, 1848, "one of our most distinguished citizens." [In William K. Wall's DESCENDANTS OF NICHOLAS PERKINS OF VIRGINIA, Ann Arbor, 1957, pages 126-127, it is noted that Major Perkins was born in Pittsylvania Co., Va., March 14, 1779; died Jan. 6, 1848; married Mary Harden Perkins (1794-1840), Jan. 28, 1808; father of eleven children. It was he who arrested Aaron Burr for treason in 1807. He was a first cousin of Colonel Nicholas Tate Perkins, also of Williamson County.]

Mary Hardin Perkins 1794-1840
Nee Mary Harden Perkins. Married her 1st cousin, 1808. 12 children.

I found this post on Genforum:

Since I last posted on the Perkins Family Genealogy Forum I have researched my family in the William K. Hall book, "Descendants of Nicholas Perkins of Virginia."

I have also found mentions of Perkins and Burr in Milton Lomask's book, "Aaron Burr: The Conspiracy and Years of Exile 1805-1836." So I think I can clear up the Burr-Perkins connection now.

My ancestor, Nicholas "Bigbee" Perkins, b. 3-14-1779, Pittsylavian Co., VA, was mentioned in both of the above books as being instrumental in the arrest of Burr (Hall, p. 127; Lomask, pp. 222-225). Hall states, "It was while living there [the Mississippi Territory]that he [Bigbee Perkins] apprehended Aaron Burr in Feb. 1807." Lomask states, "Gaines [a lieutenant at Fort Soddert] announced that he had not arrested Burr 'militarily,' that the onus for that action rested on the shoulders of Nicholas [Bigbee] Perkins. Perkins accepted the burden with pleasure."

This Nicholas (Bigbee)Perkins married Mary Harden Perkins; their son, Philip Gaspard Stiver Perkins (1818-1881), was my great, great,grandfather on my father's maternal side.The Hall book has been a great help. Thanks to all who have mentioned it.
Bette Hill
bhill@eohio.net

2006-10-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

Chapter ll of AARON BURR by Milton Lomask

THE TRIAL AT RICHMOND BEGINS

Burr, an the time of his disappearance into the piney
woods and red clay hills of western Mississippi, was "disguised," according to Wilkinson, "in an old blanket coat begirt with a leathern strap, to which a tin cup was suspended on the left and a scalping knife on the right." Squinched on his head was a weather-stained beaver, whose broad brim, even when deliberately pulled down, failed to extinguish the luster of his dark eyes. When on the night of 18 February, in the village of Wakefield near the Tombigbee River, he and Major Ashley paused to ask directions to the farmhouse of a Colonel Hinson, the eyes gave him away. Nicholas Perkins, who supplied the requested information, was a backwoods attorney, currently eking out a living as head of the Federal Land Office in Mississippi Territory. Perkins had read the governor's proclamation offering a reward of $2000 for the seizure of the former Vice President. He remembered the description in it, the statement that the eyes of the wanted man "sparkled like diamonds." The minute Burr and his companion moved on, Perkins made haste to rouse Sheriff Theodore Brightwell from his bed. Soon the two of them were riding in the wake of the strangers. Reaching the Hinson place about eleven o'clock, they halted at the gate for a conference. It had occurred to Perkins that Burr, recognizing him, might take alarm and escape. He proposed to post himself in the
woods near the farmhouse, while Brightwell went in, confirmed the identity of the man with unusual eyes, and then slipped out to make his report. But once inside, for reasons never revealed, the sheriff stayed where he was and Perkins, after an hour or so of shivering in the bitter cold of the night, resolved to act on his own!

HEY YA'LL,

We gotta an incredible opportunity to focus public attention upon Alabama History.

February 19, 2007 marks the 200th anniversary of Aaron Burr's arrest in present-day Alabama.

Please check all this out and try to help THE BICENTENNIAL REENACTMENT OF AARON BURR'S ARREST IN ALABAMA ON FEBRUARY 19, 1807! http://www.aaronburrassociation.org/

bEST,
RR HTTP://ATLASOFALABAMA.BLOGSPOT.COM

HTTP://MYSPACE.COM/PAULBEARBRYANT

HTTP://MYSPACE.COM/ROBERTOREG

HTTP://SNAKEDOCTOR.BLOGSPOT.COM

2006-10-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Pete:
I left three books on the shelf tonight and I couldn't get Abernathy's article from the Feb. '49 Journal of Southern History. It's in storage so I'll have to request it tomorrow.

I got Wheelan's book. Brand spanking new copy and I'm the first person to check it out.

I also got three other books:

Aaron Burr : Portrait of An Ambitious Man by Parmet & Hecht (1967)

Aaron Burr: The Proud Pretender by Holmes Alexander (1937)

Aaron Burr: The Conspiracy and Years of Exile 1805-1836 by Milton Lomask (1982)

What I really want to do right now is go back on the Net and outline Great Grandson James Wilkinson's defense of General James Wilkinson http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/_Texts/LHQ/1/2/Wilkinson/2*.html

I also plan to ask for some assistance tonight from folks who might be interested in producing THE BICENTENNIAL REENACTMENT OF AARON BURR'S 1807 ARREST IN PRESENT-DAY ALABAMA.

Thanks for the reference. I already love Wheelan's JEFFERSON'S VENDETTA, especially what Burr said in 1836 when he first heard about Texas Independence:

THERE!
YOU SEE!
I WAS RIGHT!!!!

I was only thirty years too soon.
What was treason in me thirty years ago,
is patriotism now.

Best,

RR http://atlasofalabama.blogspot.com
http://myspace.com/paulbearbryant
http://snakedoctor.blogspot.com

2006-09-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

THESE FOLKS ARE SERIOUS ABOUT AARON BURR!!!!
http://www.aaronburrassociation.org/

2006-09-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

ElReg,

Tried to call you but haven't connected yet. . .

I know exactly where Wakefield is- remember the Sunflower court case that went to the AL Supreme Court- the premption private claim of Wyche Whatley? Anyway, during my reconnaissance I was beating the bushes all around it ( & then was shown) where Wakefield is- talk about a ghost town.Those who seek to profit from others research had better watch their backs in those Tombigbee bottoms- it would be easy for someone to just disappear off the face of the earth- kind of like Old Wakefield did.

The Weasel, I am told, has recently announced that he thinks he has found the Fort (Ft. Louis) at Twenty-seven-mile Bluff. Talk about serial rape of the scientific method. I know that absolute truth will never truly be gleaned utilysing scientific method & theory but to hide behind such fiction and lying as has been invented (& published) by the Weasel who used up approx 800,000 tax dollars to "prove" the fort slipped into the river, only to drag it back up onto the bluff, soon after the Ala. Power Company got its permits for SALCO Industrial Park, is as despicable as it ought to be illegal. AND NOW we have to listen to his bullshit again.

Beer for my horses! Whiskey for my men!
Greg

2006-09-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.jerseyhistory.org/news_detail.php?recid=68

Thirty years ago this summer, the citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania celebrated the Bicentennial of the United States. We who live in what is known as The Old Southwest have yet to have an opportunity to genuinely join in on this celebration.

February of 2007 is an superb opportunity to focus public attention upon U. S. Bicentennial in The Old Southwest. In only seven years, 2013, we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the advent of the American flag in the Port of Mobile followed by the Bicentennial of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the Battle of New Orleans.

In February of 2007 Aaron Burr was arrested at Wakefield in what is now Washington County, Alabama. His crime was that he was trying to get a little land from the Spanish crown.

In Chapter 7 of Cotterill's SOUTHERN INDIANS entitled Debts, Bribes and Cessions 1803-1811, the author writes:

The epidemic of land cessions which for several years had been devastating the Southern Indians ended with the Cherokee pact of 1806, and seven years passed before a Southern tribe suffered a recurrence of the plague. Indian respite during this period was the result not of Indian resistance, but of the forbearance of the United States, distracted by a vain struggle for neutrality, an assertion of doubtful claims to a portion of West Florida, and the prosecution of an alleged conspiracy on the part of Aaron Burr.

The following information pertains to the arrest of Burr in present-day Alabama in 1807.

This is a portion of a March 19, 2006 Mobile Register article by Llewellyn Toulmin:

Keeping the peace
Some historians credit Judge Toulmin with helping prevent war with Spain on several occasions -- a claim that, given the history of the time, is not far-fetched.

Spain controlled Mobile and Florida, but was weak, and numerous American "filibusterers" wanted to kick the Spaniards out by force. Acting on orders from President Jefferson, Judge Toulmin was able to prevent numerous minor incidents from escalating into war, and even arrested people planning to invade Spanish territory.

Toulmin even issued the arrest warrant for Vice President Aaron Burr, who was allegedly scheming to establish his own empire west of the Mississippi, with himself as emperor. Just three years earlier, Burr had killed Alexander Hamilton in the most famous duel in American history.

After Burr's arrest, Toulmin and his daughter kept Burr busy playing chess in Toulmin's log cabin for several days, until a military escort could be assembled to take the dangerous man to Washington, D.C., for trial.

Toulmin also served as a postal and road contractor, while still exercising his judicial duties. He built one of the first roads from the Mobile River at Fort Stoddard across southwest Alabama to Mississippi, established ferries on the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, and built the first road from St. Stephens to Natchez.

Toulmin is so highly regarded that he will be inducted -- along with the Honorable Hugo L. Black and other notables -- into the Alabama Lawyers Hall of Fame by the Alabama State Bar Association. That ceremony is scheduled for April 14 in Montgomery.

The first steps

To find the judge and his mystery town, I first went to the area described on my father's sketch map and interviewed local residents. Hunters were especially useful, since they often cover ground that is rarely visited. I found a local hunter who said that his uncles, now deceased, often told him about "Court House Hill" and even where the courthouse was located, near where my father estimated its location.

for more.... http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/living/114276400950830.xml&coll=3

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/duel/sfeature/burrconspiracy.html

http://www.mindspring.com/~mchs/herald/burr.htm

2006-09-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Albert James Pickett: HISTORY OF ALABAMA
(Kindly contributed by William C. Bell)
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmamcrk4/pkt32.html
CHAPTER XXXII.

GOVERNOR TROUP, OR THE MCINTOSH FAMILY--INCIDENTS IN THE MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY

Mar. 27 1804: The distance of Natchez from the Tombigby was so great that Congress authorized the President to appoint an additional Superior Court Judge for the benefit of the people settled upon that river.

The Hon. Harry Toulmin was selected. He was born at Taunton, in England, the 7th April, 1766, and descended from a learned and respectable family. He became a pastor of the Unitarian church, at Chowbert, in Lancashire, in 1788, where he occupied a prominent position, officiating before a congregation of a thousand hearers. Becoming an object of suspicion to the government, it determined to silence not only his efforts, but those of every other person who indulged in an independent expression of opinion. Frequently threatened with personal injury, and often surrounded by mobs, who extended their violence to his private residence, as well as his church, Mr. Toulmin determined to seek a land where all religious opinions are tolerated.

Landing at Norfolk, Virginia, he proceeded to Winchester, where he had the misfortune to lose two of his children. The year following, he became the President of Transylvania University, of Lexington, the duties of which he discharged for four years. He was then Secretary of State of Kentucky for the long period of eight years, and wrote most of the public documents of that day. Having pursued the study of law and attained great proficiency in it, he compiled a code of laws for Kentucky in the most satisfactory manner.

A fine writer, an excellent scholar, an amiable man, and a delightful fireside companion, Judge Toulmin won upon the hearts of his friends and engaged the confidence of the public. He came to Alabama by way of New Orleans, settled at a cantonment near Fort Stoddart, and afterwards removed to the court house, which he called Wakefield, in memory of Goldsmith's good vicar.

His first court was held in the fall of 1804, he having been diligently engaged for several months previous in arranging the judicial department of Washington county. There was no newspaper here, and Thomas Malone, the clerk, advertised libels against boats for smuggling in a New Orleans paper, published by Bradford & Anderson.

Albert James Pickett: HISTORY OF ALABAMA.
(Kindly contributed by William C. Bell)
http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cmamcrk4/pkt34.html
CHAPTER XXXIV.
ST. STEPHENS--HUNTSVILLE--INDIAN COMMERCE KEMPER EXPEDITIONS.

Dec. 7 1807: The military movements of Burr increased the population and wealth of the Mississippi Territory, for hundreds of his followers became permanent citizens. About this time the cultivation of indigo was much abandoned for that of cotton, and some salutary laws were enacted in relation to the toll for ginning the latter staple. The cotton receipts obtained from the owner of a gin were also made a legal tender, and passed as domestic bills of exchange. St. Stephens was laid off into town lots. A road was cut out from thence to the city of Natchez.

Sept. 8 1807: Notwithstanding the revenue exactions upon the settlers, which now subjected them, by means of the Spanish custom-house at Mobile and the American at Fort Stoddart, to a duty of from forty-two to forty-seven per cent, ad valorem for articles essential to family comfort, while at the same time their fellow-citizens about Natchez were entirely free from such exactions, paying only four dollars per barrel for Kentucky flour, when the Tombigby planter paid sixteen--yet they remained loyal to the Federal Government; and both whigs and tories participated in an animated public meeting at Wakefield, pledging their support to the United States to avenge the wanton attack of the British upon the American ship Chesapeake, in a string of eloquent and patriotic resolutions, drafted by James McGoffin.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION CONCERNING WAKEFIELD AND JUDGE HARRY TOULMIN
http://www.toulmin.family.btinternet.co.uk/GeorgesWebPage/AppL.htm

2005-12-13T21:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3880/is_200304/ai_n9173002#continue
BLOUNT : Home of #8!

Here are some 1976 reminiscences of Blount Springs by Charles Henry Hamilton:

After Ex-Mayor Drennon and Mr. Sloss of the Sloss Furnace bought the hotel property, they would charge people who would come to Blount Springs, $1.00 a week for the sulfur water they drank from the springs. He did not charge the people who stayed at the hotel, but others that would come to Blount and stay elsewhere. He had a gate put up going to the spring yard to keep people out.

Miss Mary found out about his gate and went to Mr. Drennon and Mr. Sloss and said to them, "The very idea of charging people to drink of this water! God put it there. The water is for human beings." Mr. Jim Hood was the constable in Blount County. Mr. Drennon and Mr. Sloss had hired him to guard the gate at the spring yard. One day Miss Mary went to the springs and Mr. Hood told her his orders were not to let anyone in that did not have a receipt showing they had paid for the water for that week. Jim Hood was a crippled man. Miss Mary took his walking stick away from him and opened the gate, turned to Hood and said, "Jim don't you ever lock that gate again or close it to the people that come here for water. That is God given water. He put it here. You or no man have the right to keep people out or to sell this water. I never want to hear or see this gate closed again!" So far, as I know, the gate was never closed again and I have been there many, many times.

One spring was so strong (with sulfur) you could smell it for a half mile ways. If you dropped a silver coin into the water, it would turn black minutes, it was so strong. My great uncle, Isaac McPherson, who was my great grandmother's brother, said he smelled the spring before he found what it was. Jane McPherson Hamilton, my great grandmother used to tell us children about clearing around the spring and finding other springs there, also. One spring was hot, the others cold. The seven springs was within one acre and a half of ground. I have played there as a boy many, many times.

In later years, this become a beautiful place. The people of Blount Springs built a white lattice Gazebo near the spring yard. The gazebo had steps going into it from four sides, with benches around to sit on. On a Sunday afternoon, you would find a band there, sometimes a string band. And people just walking around on a pleasant day would stop and listen to the band and often join in singing. There was always a crowd around on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon, in the summertime; even Spring and Fall. Often times at night a string band would play and people would dance and sing. There being several large hotels, with room of 100 or more and some small hotels along with boarding houses; there were many people who enjoyed Blount Springs, most of them from Birmingham and vicinity.

BLOUNT COUNTY IS WORLD FAMOUS FOR ITS OLD COVERED BRIDGES

http://www.alabamatv.org/bridges/photos.htm

Easley Bridge (1927) is the oldest of the three remaining covered bridges in Blount County, all of which are still in use. Located in the Rosa community, the bridge spans the Dub Branch. Members of the Tidwell family built all of the Blount County bridges.

Horton Mill Bridge (1935) towers over a deep gorge cut by the Warrior River in Blount County and is the highest covered bridge built over water in the US. Talmedge Horton, a descendant of the family that founded the gristmill for which the bridge is named, helped construct the bridge. He says that it took "fifteen men working from sunup to sundown for a year and a half" to build it.

2005-12-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

Bibb County:home of the #7 Alabama license plates
http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/bibb.html

http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/counties/bibb.html
Bibb County was originally created as Cahawba County by the Alabama Territorial Legislature on 1818 Feb. 7. Alterations were made to the boundaries in 1818, 1819, 1820, 1821 and 1868. The county name was changed to Bibb on 1820 Dec. 4, in honor of Alabama's first governor, William Wyatt Bibb.
The county is located near the center of the state and is drained by the Cahaba River. The terrain is very hilly and there are significant mineral deposits in the northern part of the county. Bibb County encompasses 625 square miles. The county seat is located at Centreville, the site of the falls in the Cahaba River. Other towns include Blocton, West Blocton, Brent, Six Mile and Ashby.

Centreville, the county seat, was laid out in city blocks in 1822 making its city blocks some of the oldest in Alabama.

A superb place to begin exploring Bibb County's heritage is the following chapter of Bibb County history entitled MRS. CHOTARD'S RIVER TOWN by Rhoda Coleman Ellison. Mrs. Sarah Chotard, the original owner of Centreville and the woman who had its city blocks laid out in 1822, had a daughter named Eliza who married William Proctor Gould who inherited John McKee's estate in Boligee.This plantation, Hill of Howth, was originally constructed using Indian labor and until its demolition in the Sixties , was the oldest home in all of West Alabama. I have collected numerous bottles from the artesian spring which still flows at the foot of the hill.

Colonel McKee opened the Land Office in Tuscaloosa and was Tuscaloosa's first representative to Congress. He was a strong supporter of the establishment of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and he assisted many Tuscaloosa residents in getting their War of 1812 veteren's benefits.

http://www.dbtech.net/bibbco/history/bibb100c4.html
By 1822, a year before this unfavorable verdict, Mrs. Chotard had located as another part of her grant the quarter section in Bibb County already cleared and occupied by the straggling little village of Centreville.9 She must have seen several advantages in this location. According to tradition, she expected that its position near the center of the state might recommend it as the future site of the capital. In the previous year, when the usual flooding of the town of Cahaba by the Alabama River was more serious than in the past, speculation had begun that the capital would need to be relocated.

Yet an even more significant reason for Mrs. Chotard's choice of the location at the Falls of Cahaba must have been that it was at the head of navigation on the Cahaba River. From the moment that the first U.S. government surveyor saw this site in the spring of 1817, he expected that here, as also at the Falls of Black Warrior, an important commercial town "would spring up at no distant day."10 Mrs. Chotard, residing with her daughter in the booming little river town of Tuscaloosa, saw the prediction beginning to be fulfilled there. She must also have heard of the budding traffic in flatboats during certain seasons between Centreville and Mobile. These conveyances typically forty feet long and twelve feet wide, built with a covered section in which the oarsmen (more accurately called polemen) slept and cooked, could carry from fifty to a hundred bales of cotton to market.11

By the end of the decade, Bibb farmers were depending on a fleet of these heavy barges. John Logan, a colorful character who had migrated from North Carolina by way of Tennessee to Centreville by 182812, came to be called "captain" of the , flatboats. Besides these vessels, it was hoped that steamboats from Mobile would soon travel up to Centreville, especially after the first one reached Montgomery in 1821. Snags and sandbars in the Cahaba, however, were especially hazardous when the river was low. For that reason, plans to improve the channel must have been under discussion in the early1820s, though the act to incorporate the Cahaba Navigation Company was not approved by the state legislature until January 10, 1827. 13

One further attraction in this location may have been its recent acquisition of mail service, a further promise of communication for the prospective commercial city. The first post office in the county was established at Centreville in 182 1, the first local postmark bearing the date of February 1, 1821. Only half a year earlier, in the summer of 1820, William Ely had complained to his wife in Hartford, Connecticut: "I wrote you a few lines from the Falls of the Cahawba River about 10 days ago, and sent it 40 miles to a Post Office, by a private Conveyance, to be forwarded thence by Mail, but whether it will ever reach you or not is quite uncertain."14 A map of postal routes in Alabama in the early 1820s shows the Falls of Cahaba in a strategic position at the crossroads of the two chief lines: the east-west road from Augusta, Georgia, to Tuscaloosa and thence by a spur to Columbus, Mississippi and the north-south road from Washington, Tennessee, to Cahaba and St. Stephens. 15 Bibb's mail service, only by horseback before the first stagecoaches in 1830, was irregular and painfully slow, but Centreville's location on the route was advantageous.

Because of government red tape or her dilatoriness, Mrs. Chotard's patent to this land was not issued until October 10, 1823, but by the fall of 1822 the intrepid widow had apparently come to Centreville and employed Thomas Crawford as her surveyor. The squatters had probably built their shops on the riverbanks where they could be accessible to the flatboat traffic, sometimes using them also as residences, and erecting public buildings and other residences to the rear on the west side of the river. It is impossible to locate the sites of either shops or residences before Mrs. Chotard introduced lot ownership. Only on rare occasions is a privately owned house mentioned in the records, as when the county court minute of April 1820 note a temporary move of the sessions to "the east bank occupied by Henry Moody," and those of July 1820 record the payment of house rent to Stephen Potts for a similar use. The original village had undoubtedly grown up in its first few years without any preconceived plan, but now Mrs. Chotard, through the labors of Crawford, set about putting it in order, apparently without regard to any of the log cabin claims already staked out. He signed the plot of her town on Christmas Day 1822.16 In one margin he wrote two names, "Centerville" and "Williamsburg," as if she might be planning to choose between them.

Evidently some problems had arisen in completing the survey, however, for only a week later, on New Year's Day 1823, Mrs. Chotard was appealing for assistance to none other than the popular hero, General Andrew Jackson, at his home in Tennessee. It is not known how she had become acquainted with him, but he was obviously on friendly terms with both her and her daughter, Eliza Chotard McGee, with whom she was then living in Tuscaloosa. Mrs. Chotard must have been around fifty years old at this time, and her request of the general in her New Year's Day letter reveals that she was still exercising the aggressiveness and tenacity that had kept her land claim alive for three decades.

According to Jackson's reply of March 3, she had urged him to instruct General John Coffee, director of the U.S. Public Land Surveys in northern Alabama, to run a line midway across her quarter section. Jackson stoutly refused to do this, assuring her that Coffee lacked authority for such a line from Congress or from the commissioners of the land office at Washington.

Here's some more information about Mrs. Chotard's daughter, Eliza Chotard Gould.http://home.earthlink.net/~jimsturges/mia/mckee.html

2005-12-04T15:30:00.000-08:00

BARBOUR COUNTY - Home of the #6 Alabama License Plates
http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/barbour.html
http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/counties/barbour.html

http://www.eufaula-barbourchamber.com/home.htm
March 24, 1832: In Washington, D.C., representatives of the Creek Indians sign a treaty ceding "to the United States all their land, East of the Mississippi," which included large portions of east Alabama. Known as the Treaty of Cusseta, it was negotiated in the wake of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Approximately 20,000 Creeks were removed to the Oklahoma Indian Territory by 1840, although some remained, including the ancestors of the Poarch Band of Creeks, who are concentrated near Atmore, Alabama.

The above date is really important to my ancestors who made Barbour County their home. Nine months later on December 18, 1832, portions of existing Alabama Counties along with newly acquired Indian territory were formed into Barbour County, named for Governor James Barbour of Virginia http://www.palladiorestaurant.com/private_parties.php .

I have a few facts and family traditions concerning my Barbour County ancestors. My Great-Great Grandfather Timothy Lee [born 1826?] came to Alabama from the Darlington, South Carolina area in 1833. He was probably about 7 years old. He settled down south of the Indian Treaty Boundary Line[1832] at White Pond below Baker Hill in the southern part of the county near the Henry County line. In 1836 at the age of 10, Timothy witnessed the Second Creek War of 1836.

He married Nancy Beth Parmer[1829-1884?] on November 14, 1845. He and Nancy had 5 sons and 4 daughters. My Great Grandfather Leamon D. Lee[1849-1936] was their oldest boy. Great Grandpa Lee married Margie Jimmerson on December 22, 1870. They had 4 boys and 4 girls. My Grandma, Ludie Lee[ 1883-1973], was their next to oldest daughter. My Great Grandparents are buried at Belcher Bethel Cemetery south of Baker Hill.

Ludie along with my Grandpa Joe Belcher[1886-1965] are also buried near Baker Hill at the County Line Primitive Baptist Cemetery on U.S. Highway 431 on the Henry County Line. My Great Grandparents, John [1865-1954] and Hettie [1866-1934] Belcher are buried nearby.

My mother, Lucy Kate Belcher[1918-1985], was delivered by Dr. Wallace, Gov. Wallace's Grandfather, on October 7, 1918 near Baker Hill . Less than a year later Dr. Wallace's grandson, GEORGE C., was born in nearby Clio.

I haven't tracked down all of the Barbour County information that I want to collect. There are lots of old houses and historic sites I need to post. Some of my most vivid memories of childhood come from reminiscences of visiting Barbour County farm houses and barns being moved before the backwater from the Chattahoochee River formed Lake Eufaula in the early Sixties.

Interesting and exotic Barbour County place names:

Adkinson Head, Baker Hill, Big Eddy, Black Gum Corners, Boot Hill, Bush, Coal Springs, Cowikee, Fort Barbour, Galilee Corner, Hoboken, Kiwikaki, Lime Sink, Lingo, New Topia, Okitiyakni, Pea River Battleground, Roaches Mill, Tabernacle, Tipping Store, Texasville, Wylaunee, Yufala, Zorn's Mill.

Here's an interesting fact from Barbour County history. In the late 1850s Jefferson Buford from Barbour County led 250 Alabamians to Kansas in order to support the pro-slavery forces being attacked by John Brown and his ilk.
http://www.territorialkansasonline.org/cgiwrap/imlskto/index.php?SCREEN=bio_sketches/buford_jefferson&PHPSESSID=ab7763eba0cbd146132f27fe0422b2d3
Jefferson Buford, 1807 - 1861
Materials relating to Jefferson Buford
Jefferson Buford, leader of the famous “Buford Expedition” to Kansas Territory, was born on August 17, 1807, in Chester County, South Carolina. After studying law he became a lawyer in Eufaula, Barbour County, Alabama, and during the Creek Indian War of 1836 he served in the Alabama, earning the rank of major for his efforts.

Following the war he returned to Alabama where he owned and operated a slave plantation on the Chattahoochee River.

The passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 left the slavery question undecided in the newly established territories. The act's proviso allowed the people of the territory to determine the slavery question at the time they ratified their state constitution for admission into the Union of states. As a result, the settlement of the territory of Kansas with actual proslavery voters became a crucial issue, if slavery were to be successfully approved at the ballot box and then incorporated into the written laws adopted under the new, proslavery state constitution.
By late 1855 the border ruffians from Missouri were finding it difficult to maintain a majority voting presence in Kansas because of the large influx of free-state men emigrating from the northern states. The Missourians responded with an open appeal to the other slave holding states to send men to Kansas in order to secure the “peculiar institution” as the predominate socio-economic system in place within the territory.

On November 11, 1855, Buford heeded the call. He enlisted fellow southerners in a colonization effort that would locate in Kansas and make sure the territory entered the Union as a slave state. “Buford's Expedition,” as it became commonly known, encompassed some 400 men gathered mostly from the states of Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia. These men all agreed to settle in Kansas in return for free transportation there, a year's guaranteed means of support while there, and a homestead of 40 acres of first rate land upon arrival. On April 5, 1856, this group of proslavery men finally left by steamboat from Montgomery, Alabama, for Kansas and they arrived in the territory on May 2.

The newly arrived proslavery group was immediately enrolled into the Kansas territorial militia to help arrest several free-state men in Lawrence, who had been indicted by a Douglas County grand jury. The posse, as it became known, was under the leadership of U.S. Marshal Israel B. Donalson. It entered Lawrence and made a few arrests of free-state men. After disbanding, the posse was once more reconstituted under the leadership of Douglas County Sheriff Samuel J. Jones to assist in serving some writs. What soon followed was the sacking and burning of several buildings known to be free-state businesses. After the looting and burning had ended, Buford disclaimed he had come purposely to Kansas to destroy property and condemned the course of action that had occurred in Lawrence.

In June Buford left Kansas for the South and then Washington, D.C., where he attempted to muster greater support among proslavery men for relocating as colonists to Kansas. Late in 1857 he finally returned to Kansas only to find the company of proslavery men he had originally raised in 1855 had disbanded with many returning south to their respective homes. Upon learning of the course of events, Buford also elected to leave Kansas for Alabama. He journeyed to Clayton, Alabama, where on August 28, 1861, he died of heart disease.
___________
Blackmar, Frank W. Kansas: A Cyclopedia of State History . Chicago, IL: Standard Publishing Co., 1912.
Fleming, Walter L. “The Buford Expedition to Kansas.” American Historical Review 6 (October 1900): 38-48.
Owen, Thomas M. History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography . Chicago, IL: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1921.

Martha Reeves was born in Eufaula but moved to Detroit before her first birthday

http://classic.motown.com/artist.aspx?ob=ros&src=lb&aid=36

2005-11-24T14:41:00.000-08:00

Another County Older Than the State of Alabama–Baldwin County , land of the #5 Alabama license plates!http://www.baldwineda.com/Quality_of_Life/museums_attractions.htm

http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/baldwin.html

http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/counties/baldwin.html

http://www.perdidovineyards.com/

http://www.bluegillrestaurant.com/
The Bluegill Restaurant on the Causeway in Spanish Fort was probably the greatest place in Baldwin County to hear live music before Katrina. They hope to reopen soon. Their sister restaurant, The Beach House Grill http://www.thebeachhousegrill.com/websites/BeachhouseGrill/BeachhouseGrill/, is also located on the Causeway up the hill so it has taken over as the main music venue since the devastation of the Bluegill by the hurricane on August 29.

http://www.florabama.com/index.htm The legendary FLORA-BAMA is located in Escambia County, Florida at the Alabama-Florida line on the Baldwin County portion of Perdido Key. The bar has reopened since IVAN & rebuilding has begun!

BALDWIN COUNTY HISTORY
Third oldest county in Alabama. Created in 1809 while still part of Mississippi Territory. Named for Abraham Baldwin (1754-1807), founder of the University of Georgia, delegate to the Constitutional Convention, member of Congress, 1789-1807. This county once lay west of the Tombigbee River; but, after series of boundary changes, it now lies east of the Mobile and Alabama Rivers. County seat at Bay Minette since 1901; earlier seats at McIntosh Bluff, Blakely, and Daphne. It has long been a center of conflicting claims: by Spain, France, and England; by royal governors of Florida, Louisiana, Carolina, Georgia, and West Florida until the Mississippi Territory formed in 1798 and from it, the Alabama Territory in 1817. In struggle for control of the Southeast, many armies have camped in this area:
1528–Narvaez, Spanish conquistador http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/n/narvaez.shtml

1588–DeLuna, Spanish colonizer
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/LL/fluff_print.html

1719–Bienville, French colonizer
http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=35608

1780–Galvez, Spanish conqueror
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/fga10.html

1813–Red Eagle, Indian revolter
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4113/is_200410/ai_n9464310

1814–Jackson, American defender
http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/jackson/7.html

1815–Packenham, British invader
http://www.galafilm.com/1812/e/people/pakenham.html

1864–Maury, Confederate defender
http://home.earthlink.net/~southernshamrock/mobile.html

1865–Canby, Federal invader.
http://www.multied.com/Bio/UGENS/USACanby.html

Here's a great description of birdwatching sites in Baldwin County:http://www.alabamacoastalbirdingtrail.com/trails/eastern_shore_loop.asp

This site for the Magnolia Springs Bed & Breakfast introduces you to the extraordinary Magnolia River/Weeks Bay area, home of the only all-water mail route in the U.S., with daily delivery by boat http://www.magnoliasprings.com/

The Mound Line (Ellicott Line) Historic Marker
http://stockton.civic.club.home.att.net/
[this marker is located in the town of Stockton in North Baldwin County. The text to the marker was written by my close friend, Greg Spies of Coden. The marker was erected during the U.S. Southern Boundary Bicentennial in April of 1999]

Mile Mound #216 located 1200 feet East
Surveyed in 1799 to mark the 31° North Latitude, this line charted the first southern boundary of the United States, separating the U.S. from Spanish Florida. The line was marked at one-mile intervals by earthen mounds approximately fifteen-feet square and three-feet high with a charred lighter-pine post at the center, hence the name Mound Line. Jointly surveyed by Major Andrew Ellicott, U.S. Commissionerhttp://www.lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2338
, and Esteban Minor, Spanish Commissioner, to determine boundaries as agreed in the Treaty of San Lorenzo in 1795. The line began at the Mississippi River, ran east along 31° North Latitude to the Chattahoochee River, thence eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. Stockton was divided by this line, with some residents living in the United States and some in Spanish Florida. Although Stockton became a "border town," U.S. law generally prevailed in the area.

Confederate Rest Cemetery Historic Marker
The Grand Hotel [damaged by Katrina but will reopen around the first of the year. The cemetery is located on the grounds of The Grand Hotelhttp://www.marriottgrand.com/hotel_info/hotel_info.cfm
built in 1847] and the Gunnison House served as a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers from the Battle of Vicksberg during the Civil War. The Confederate Rest Cemetery commemorates more than 300 Confederate soldiers who died while in the hospital. The original tract of seven acres included markers erected to the Unknown Confederate Dead. The records of the soldiers were kept in the hotel until a fire in 1869, when the identities of those buried in Confederate Rest were lost.

Ellicott's Stone Historic Marker
[this marker is actually now located in Mobile County but I suppose the Alabama State Department of Archives & History included it in Baldwin since Baldwin was originally located west of the Tombigbee. On April 9, 1999, I was priviledged to be one of a group of dignitaries who participated in the groundbreaking for this park and the dedication of this historic marker.Earlier that same year, I was chosen to take the stage at Auburn University & receive the plaque which placed ELLICOTT'S STONE in the State of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.]

http://www.aspls.org/history/index.html
Erected April 9th, 1799 Marks 1st Southern Boundary of the United States and the Mississippi Territory created in 1798 900 feet East
Stone marked 31° North Latitude separating the U.S. & Spanish Florida. This line of demarcation ran from the Mississippi east, along the 31° parallel to the Chattahoochee River, thence down that river to the mouth of the Flint River, thence on a line to the headwaters of the St. Mary's River, thence down that river to the Atlantic Ocean. Major Andrew Ellicott, appointed by George Washington as U.S. Commissioner to survey the boundary as defined in the Treaty of San Lorenzo (1795), was engaged in this expedition from 1796-1800. Esteban Minor was appointed Commissioner on the Spanish side. In 1803, the Ellicott Stone was selected as the Initial Point to begin the U.S. Public Land Surveys which control land boundaries in southern Alabama & Mississippi (St. Stephens Meridian).

Fort Bowyer Historic Marker
Built during War of 1812.
1803 United States claimed Mobile and the bay as part of Louisiana Purchase.

1813 On order of President Madison, this point seized from Spain by U.S. Regulars under Gen. James Wilkinsonhttp://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/WW/fwi87_print.html
and militia under Col. John Bowyer. This act extended Mississippi Territory to Bay area. Fort Bowyer, a wooden fort, was built here.

1814 British with Indian allies attacked Fort by land and sea. After three days of fierce assault, the British ship Hermes was sunk; the enemy withdrew to friendly Spanish port of Pensacola.

1815 After Battle of New Orleans, British under Gen. Pakenham attacked here with 500 men from land and 38 war ships. Maj. Lawrence, U.S.A. surrendered with 360 men on the third day. Since peace treaty had already been signed, British retained Fort Bowyer only a few weeks. Americans again occupied the Fort.

1819 work begun on construction of brick fort.

1822 Fort greatly strengthened as urged by President James Monroe. Later renamed Fort Morgan.

Fort Morgan Historic Marker
1833 This fort replaced Fort Bowyer. Built on the star-shaped design of Michelangelo, it is one of the finest examples of military architecture in the New World.

http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/73morgan/73morgan.htm
1861 Seized by Alabama troops on order of Governor Moore.

1861-1864 Strengthened and garrisoned by Confederates guarding the pass against Federal blockading fleet. Guns of fort protected blockade-runners in and out of Mobile Bay.

1864 Admiral Farragut, U.S.N., forcing passage into bay, landed 3000 men. After heavy bombardment by Federal fleet, the interior of Fort lay in smoldering ruins. The garrison surrendered next afternoon.

1865 General Canby U.S.A. landed nearby with 32,500 troops and supplies. He moved up east shore of bay to join 13,200 men from Pensacola and laid siege to defenses of Mobile.

1898 During War with Spain the Fort was strengthened and modernized.

1946 Congress deeded the Fort and 400 acres to Alabama for use as State Park.

Fort Mims Massacre Historic Marker http://home.att.net/~fortmims/
Here in the Creek Indian War (1813-14) took place the most brutal massacre in American history. Indians took the fort with heavy losses, and then killed all but about 36 of some 550 in the fort. The Creeks had been armed by British at Pensacola in this phase of War of 1812.

Kennedy Mill, C. 1811 Historic Marker

Site of one of Alabama's first sawmills.

In 1811, Joshua Kennedy engaged Jesse Ember to build two water-powered sawmills, convertible to grist mills, for a total of $1400. The mills were operated by Kennedy through 1820; were burned twice, once by Indians. The mill dam and site were later used by the Bryne Brothers, and then by Hastic & Silver Co. until 1906, when they were abandoned.

Noble Leslie DeVotie Historic Marker
First Alabama soldier to die in the Civil War. Drowned February 12, 1861, while on duty as chaplain of the Alabama troops here. Before enlisting, he was the pastor of Selma Baptist Church. He was 23 at time of death. Noble Leslie DeVotie–First Alabama soldier to lose life in Civil War. DeVotie graduated in 1856 from University of Alabama; Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Princeton in 1859. In 1856 at the University of Alabama, he was chief founder of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, the only national social fraternity founded in the Deep South. (Located at Fort Morgan)

School of Organic Education Historic Marker
On this site, a significant educational experiment was launched by Marietta Johnson, who founded the School of Organic Education in 1907. Believing that children should be motivated by natural free development rather than by competition, she did away with examinations and concentrated on the growth of the whole person. In 1909, the Single Tax Corporation provided this 10-acre plot. John Dewey, whose progressive education principles were shared by Johnson, visited the school in 1913. The school reached its zenith during the 1920's. The City of Fairhope acquired the campus in 1987 and leased it to Faulkner State Junior College. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

http://www.siteone.com/tourist/blakeley/
The Battle of Fort Blakely, the last major battle of the Civil War. 55,000 troops participated in this campaign to capture Mobile. This site is considered by experts today to be the best preserved Civil War battlefield.

http://www.asama.org/visitor/index.asp
This museum in Daphne is believed to house the largest collection of sport art in North America.

http://www.mosaic-tile-design.com/malbis-plantation-alabama.html
The interior of Malbis Greek Orthodox Church, one of the most impressive sanctuaries you will ever see. This experience will stick with you.

http://cb4go.com/State%20Park/StateParksAlGulfStParkGulfShoresGulfStateParkOvAll.htm
6000 acres of Paradise located on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico: GULF STATE PARK!

Some interesting Baldwin County place names:

Battles Wharf, Bay John, Bon Secour, Darling Landing, Dixie Landing, D'Olive, Fobbs Ferry, Fort Mims, Gopher Hill, Minnie, Narcissus, Navy Cove, Old Island Landing, Palmetto Beach, Paradise, Perdido Beach, Pilot Town, Pinchona, Redtown, Roscoe, Sea Cliff, Seminole, Shell Banks, Soldier Creek, Steam Mill Landing, Styx, Sumatra, Tensaw Station, Whitehouse Forks, Wilkens Bend Landing, Yupon

2005-11-18T16:17:00.000-08:00

The State of Alabama, which entered the union in 1819, is now composed of 67 counties. ROBERTOREG'S ATLAS OF ALABAMA covers each, beginning with the first in alphabetical order, Autauga, and ending with the last, Winston. This endeavor is definitely a labor of love because it will be necessary for me to describe 48 counties before I get to my favorite, Mobile,however, next week presents an interesting challenge because by Saturday, November 26, I plan to have completed my second installment which will describe Baldwin County.

I anticipate that this work will not be completed until March of 2007. As Spring after next blossoms forth along Portersville Bay south of Bayou La Batre, I look forward to being able to cruise out on the water of the Mississippi Sound at sundown and to have the satisfaction of knowing I've finished a job well done.

AUTAUGA COUNTY http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/autauga.html
http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/counties/autauga.html

Autauga County, organized in 1818, is older than the State of Alabama itself. Autauga takes its name from the Alibamo Indian village, Atagi, meaning "border". During antebellum days, Autauga's county seat, Prattville, was home of the world's largest factory for the production of cotton gins. Unfortunately some of these original factory buildings constructed in the 1850s recently burned.

http://www.rkmcal1.com/ginfire

Most folks are introduced to the green hills of Autauga County while traveling U.S. Highway 82 or Interstate 65 on their way to and from Montgomery. It takes less than 30 minutes to drive 82 from the Northwest Autauga County line with Chilton County southeast toward Montgomery. Along this highway you will cross bridges which span Little Mulberry, Swift, White Water and Autauga Creeks. During the late spring and summer you'll notice many produce stands selling peaches, tomatos and other local products.

Two short sidetrips near Prattville will probably extend your visit to this land of #4 car tags[Most Alabama license plates have a numerical prefix which symbolizes the county where the automobile is registered] by half an hour but both ventures will provide memories which will stick with you for the rest of your life.

THE GIANT BAMBOO FOREST AT WILDERNESS PARK ON UPPER KINGSTON ROAD
http://www.prattville.com/departments/leisureservices_parks.html

http://www.gethep.net/road/index.html

http://www.thecross-photo.com/W._C._Rice
http://www.interestingideas.com/roadside/artrice.htm
http://www.haxan.com/portfolio/freakylinks/WWWFRE~1.COM/FREAKO~1/MONDO_~1/CROSS_~1.HTM
W.C. Rice died in December of 2004 so I'm not sure the status of his Cross Garden just off the 82 bypass as you come into Prattville. I saw some of his crosses for sale on the Internet.

http://www.popsiephotos.com/rock1.htm
THE WICKED WILSON PICKETT & JIMI HENDRIX

On March 18, 1941, THE WICKED PICKETT was born in Prattville. He was brought up in Prattville until about 1955 when his family moved to Detroit so next time you hear "In The Midnight Hour" or "Mustang Sally", please remember that the roots of that music run deep in Autauga County.

Some exotic & not so exotic Autauga County place names you will encounter on the backroads of this county:
Alpha Springs, Booms Store, Fig Tree, Hoar, Madera, Mt. Sinai, Netezen, Peace, Ousley Store, Onoqua, Autaugaville, Posey's Crossroads, Pine Flat, Spur, Jones Switch, Washington Ferry