Our Alabama History section is comprised primarily of the selection, organization and editing of out-of-copyright publications and historical documents.
Melvins Alabama History with Melvin Cane (alias) has been a popular topic of discussion among his relatives for over a hundred years. Melvin was born in north Alabama in 1890 and the family discussions started when Melvin first walked off the family farm around the turn of the century. Melvin was seldom seen after he walked away but he would show up often enough to let others know he was still alive. His random reappearances added further to the mystery of this man. He did not emerge from his enigmatic existance until he was 42 years of age at which time he started his family.
Bart Thrasher, the notorious Bibb county outlaw, who, with six other convicts, recently broke out of the Pratt mine’s penitentiary and, overpowering the guards, escaped, turned up at Horse Creek with an unknown pal, and had a night of robbing and murdering.
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more mills or factories, usually cotton mills or factories producing textiles.
Counterfeiters Jugged
A Secret Service Official Runs In Some Shovers Of The Q–r.
Montgomery. Advertiser Calera, Alabama
May 3, 1887
On the train tonight your correspondent met the famous Mike O’Brien of the United States Secret service on his way from Mobile northward. From him was had an account of the running down and arrest of a band of counterfeiters in Choctaw County. O’Brien spent three weeks there disguished as an Irish peddler working up the case. The band consisted of Sheriff Hudson, County Clerk McClurg, an Englishman, and engraver named McLeon, one Randall and two others all of whom were arrested and cried to Mobile and on a preliminary hearing before commissioner today were committed to jail without bond.
In the 1890s, Choctaw County received national media attention for what became known as the Sims War, which erupted after Robert Sims, a Confederate war veteran turned preacher, amassed a following of 100 parishioners and declared he and his followers owed no allegiance to an earthly government, should not pay taxes, and had the freedom to make and distribute whiskey. In 1891, U.S. marshals charged Sims and his followers with moonshining and put out a warrant for his arrest. In the ensuing months, skirmishes involving the marshals, a local posse, and Sims followers resulted in several deaths. Sims and a number of his men were eventually captured and hanged by a mob. The Simsite War
Transcribed from the Vernon Coourier (Lamar County, AL) April 7, 1892
THE SIMSITE WAR
The Sims War in Choctaw County is not yet over. Although six or seven of the gang were lynched, enough religious fanaticism is left to cause trouble. The Simsites are extremely bitter against all preachers whom they call agents of the devil. Fearful of his life, Rev. C. R. Lamar, the Methodist preacher at Bladen Springs, recently left his charge, and Rev. T. Cooper took his place, saying the would face the music. The result was that a few nights since some unknown party fired at him from the bushes near his home, and narrowly missed sending the bullet home.
Nauvoo is a town in Walker and Winston counties. As of the 2010 census, the population of the town is 221, down from 284 in 2000. The town of Nauvoo began as a small agricultural community known as Blackwell’s Crossing. The construction of the Northern Alabama Railway through the area in 1888 led to increased exploitation of the area’s abundant coal and timber resources.
Nauvoo Alabama Camp McDowell
Camp McDowell, the official camp and conference center of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, is located here.
With attractions and jobs within an easy driving distance, Hanceville is a great place to live and raise a family. Wallace State Community College offers a top-notch location to start your higher education journey, and our schools, Hanceville High, Hanceville Middle, and Hanceville Elementary are a great asset to our growing community.
