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TUSCALOOSA FEMALE COLLEGE
HUNTSVILLE FEMALE COLLEGE
Vol. 1-43
675
HISTORY OF ALABAMA
from Cahaba on horseback by S. G. Briggs, in September, 1818, and opened in the store of Frederick Peck, the first postmaster.
In 1819, when Alabama became a State, it was discovered that "Troy" occupied a six- teenth section, which under the constitution was reserved for school purposes. The in- habitants accordingly moved to the present site of Greensboro. The store belonging to Frederick Peck did not have to be moved as it was found to be outside the sixteenth sec- tion. In the "New Troy" as it was called un- til 1823, Jason Candy, merchant, Joseph Nail, Joseph Middlebrooks, Lawrence Carr, Silas Baggett, John and Peter Stokes, the Caldwell, Hopkins and Holifield families came to re- side. In 1820, James Yeates erected a frame building on the east corner of the lot later occupied by the residence of Searcy, and S. G. Briggs built a hotel on what is now known as the Peterson place. By 1821 there were five stores in "New Troy." The first ceme- tery, where the dead of "New Troy" were buried, is in the woods-lot now a part of the D. F. Mccrary place.
By 1830 a "cotton gin and screw" had been installed at "New Troy" to which the planters hauled their cotton to be ginned. Much of this cotton was bought by Greens- boro merchants, hauled to Erie, and shipped by boat to Mobile or New Orleans. In Janu- ary, 1867, the legislature created Hale County, and Greensboro became the county seat. The town purchased from the Alabama Baptist Convention, the
brick "Salem Church," which was remodeled and converted into a courthouse. The deed conveying the property from the Baptists, is signed by J. L. M. Curry and Charles Manly. The courthouse was donated by the town to the county, on condition that the county seat should not be moved from Greensboro. The document is signed by A. M. Dorman, mayor.
REFERENCES .- Acts, 1822-23, pp. 58-59; Brewer Alabama (1872), p. 271; Northern Alabama (1888), pp. 549-573; Polk's Alabama gazetteer, 1888-9, p. 393; Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1915; Yerby, History of Greensboro (1908).
GREENSBORO PUBLIC LIBRARY. See
Libraries.
GREENVILLE. County seat of Butler County, situated 10 miles northeast of the center of the county, in secs. 13, 14, 22, 23, and 24, T. 10, R. 14, on the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad, 45 miles southwest of Mont- gomery, and 141 miles northeast of Mobile. Altitude: 423 feet. Population: 1870- 2,856; 1880-2,471; 1890-2,806; 1900- 3,162; 1910-3,377. It was incorporated as a city by the legislature, March 9, 1871, and is now operated under the municipal code of 1907. In 1911 the city limits were changed, by cutting out the E. 12 of E. 12 sec. 13, and E. 12 of E. 12 of sec. 24. The city is gov- erned by a mayor and board of aldermen. It has a municipal building comprising city hall, market and jail, which cost $20,000, two school buildings, privately owned electric
light plant, municipal waterworks system in- stalled in 1897 at a cost of $23,600, and with a capacity of 300,000 gallons per day, 2 volunteer fire companies, equipped with 3 hose reels and 1,500 feet of hose, 10 miles of sanitary sewerage, constructed in 1906, at a cost of $15,000, 1 mile of paved streets, and 4 miles paved sidewalks. Its tax rate is one- half of 1 per cent, and its bonded indebted- ness, $115,600-$20,000 school bonds matur- ing in 1917, $15,000 funding bonds maturing 1921, $23,600 waterworks-purchasing bonds maturing in 1928, $15,000 waterworks bonds maturing in 1937, $20,000 street-paving bonds maturing in 1937, $12,000 street and improvement bonds maturing in 1938, $10,000 sewerage bonds maturing in 1937. Its banks are the First National and the Bank of Green- ville (State). The Greenville Advocate, es- tablished in 1865, and the Greenville Ledger, established in 1914, both Democratic week- lies, are published there. Its industries are 3 cotton ginneries, 5 cotton warehouses, a cottonseed oil mill, a fertilizer factory, a machine shop, a grain mill, an ice factory, a cold-storage plant, a feed mill, a brick yard, a lumber mill, and the public service enter- prises mentioned above.
Its schools consist of the city high school, and the grammar schools in one building which cost $25,000, and a negro school in a building costing $7,500. Its churches are Methodist Episcopal, South, Missionary Bap- tist, Primitive Baptist, Christian, Protestant Episcopal, and Roman Catholic, besides 2 African Methodist Episcopal, 2 Negro Bap- tist, and 1 Negro Primitive Baptist. There is one small park.
Greenville was settled in January, 1819, when a train of emigrants from Greenville, S. C., encamped for the night. Eight fami- lies and several other men, with 12 wagons and 52 horses composed the party. They were so pleased with the location that they decided to make their homes near Routan's Creek. Each selected a spot for a home and built a log cabin. A few weeks later an- other party of emigrants arrived and later in the year, still another. Thus the town bad its beginning. In 1820 a committee ap- pointed by the legislature, selected Green- ville as the county seat of Butler County. The town was laid out in May, 1822, and named Buttsville, for a Georgia Indian fighter of the War of 1813-14; but in a short time, the citi- zens petitioned for a change of name, and selected Greenville, because many of them had come from the vicinity of Greenville, S. C. The name was formally changed by act of December 28, 1822. A substantial court- house was built and was used until 1852, when it was destroyed by fire, together with all the records. A temporary structure was erected and served until 1871, when the pres- ent brick building was completed. About 1822, James Johnson built the first store, a log structure. It was occupied by Caulfield & Bell, who hauled their goods from Clai- borne on the Alabama River, 75 miles dis- tant. The first Methodist Church was erected in 1822, on a spot now enclosed in the pres-
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HISTORY OF ALABAMA
ent cemetery. Its first pastor was Rev. James Dulaney. This church was used by other de- nominations for some years. The first Pres- byterian Church was built in 1830, and used by the Baptists also until 1854. In 1860 the Protestant Episcopal Church was established hy Rev. James Jarrett, of Montgomery. In 1881, Samuel J. Bolling gave a site to the Primitive Baptists for a church building.
The first school of high grade was the Greenville Female Academy, established in 1846, which still exists as The Institute. It was founded by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Her- bert, of South Carolina. The male high school was established in 1876, and the "Col- legiate Institute" in 1872, by Rev. J. Dunk- lin. The old stagecoach road from Montgom- ery to Mobile passed through Greenville. The railroad was afterward built on the same route. Within 3 miles of the city are the Roper mineral wells.
Among the pioneer settlers and promi- nent residents were Dunklin, Bolling, Stall- ings, Camp, Manning, Steiner, Herbert, Cole- man, Graydon, Gafford, Burnett, Caldwell, Bell, Caulfield, Pickens, Gilbert, Thigpen, Pal- mer and Hutchinson families, Judge Anderson Crenshaw, Judge Benjamin F. Porter, Judge J. C. Richardson, Gov. Thomas Hill Watts, John K. Henry, Rev. John Duncan, Rev. Dr. J. B. Hawthorne, Rev. B. H. Crumpton, Dr. W. B. Crumpton, W. W. Wilkinson, J. F. Thames, A. B. Dulin, Col. Hilary A. Herbert, Col. J. B. Stanley, Col. Thomas J. Judge, Mrs. Ina Porter Henry-Ockenden, Dr. Urquhart, Thomas Herbert, Prof. Mack, Prof. George Thigpen, L. A. Graham, Thomas W. Peagler, Rev. W. A. J. Briggs, Joseph Steiner, Pro- fessors Dyer, Hughes, Holmes, Butt, Rice, and Mustin, and Mrs. M. E. Garrett, educator, R. A. Beeland, A. G. Winkler, the Powell, Ham- ilton, Lane, Reynolds, and Herlong families.
REFERENCES .- Acts, 1822-23, pp. 25-26; Ibid, 1870-71, pp. 121-129; Brewer, Alabama (1872), pp. 145-150; Little, Butler County (1885) ; Polk's Alabama gazetteer, 1888-9, p. 395; Ala- bama Official and Statistical Register, 1915.
GRIFFIN VILLAGE. A small and unim- portant community in Marshall County set- tled by friendly Creeks by permission of the Cherokees about the time of the Creek War of 1813-14. It was located west of Brown's Creek on the old "Bill Griffin" place, about 212 miles south of Warrenton, and 4 miles north of Brown's Village. Its Indian name, if any, has not been ascertained.
REFERENCES .- O. D. Street, in Alabama His- tory Commission, Report (1901), vol. 1, p. 418; Ala. Hist. Society, Transactions, 1899-1903, vol. 4, p. 193.
GRINDSTONES. See Millstones, Grind- stones and Whetstones.
GROVE HILL. County seat of Clarke County, and interior town in the central part of the county, about 51/2 miles west of Poun- cey, its shipping point on the Southern Rail- way, and on the headwaters of Tattilaba, Jackson, Bassett, James, and Mill Creeks.
Population: 1880-1,609; 1890-2,160; 1900-2,859; 1910-3,195. It was for many years an incorporated town. Since 1911, the charter has been allowed to lapse. The Bank of Grove Hill (State), is located there, and the Clarke County Democrat, a weekly news- paper established in 1856, is published there. Its industries are stores, a gristmill, cotton ginneries, cottonseed oil mill, a cotton ware- house, a sawmill, a lumber yard and plan- ing mill, a brick kiln, and a wagon and black- smith shop. It is the location of the Clarke County High School, and also has public gram- mar schools. Its churches are Baptist, Meth- odist Episcopal, South, and Universalist.
As early as 1813, Fort White was built to protect the settlers in this village. The names of only a few of these settlers have been pre- served, viz., Robert Hearin, Sr., who resided near Bassetts Creek, James S. Dickinson, Cy- rus Allen, and John Smith from North Car- olina, and James Magoffin, who had the first store, a little north of the present town. By 1817 other settlers had come in. In 1824 the Dickinson home stood where the academy was afterward huilt. In 1826 Mrs. Wright lived where the courthouse now stands. The community was first known as "Magoffin's Store," then as "Smithville," then as "Ma- con." In 1832 the county seat was removed from Clarkesville, to "Macon" which was re- named Grove Hill, on account of the grove of oak trees in the vicinity. In 1853 the settlement was almost destroyed by an epi- demic of yellow fever. Many of the promi- nent citizens died.
When the War began, Grove Hill raised a company known as the Grove Hill Guards, which became a part of The Fifth Alabama Regiment. The women were no less patri- otic, organizing themselves into a military aid society, nursing sick and wounded soldiers, preparing comforts for the men at the front, and relieving distress among the poor at home.
Among the prominent settlers and resi- dents have been Rev. T. H. Ball, educator and author, Isaac Grant, Drusha Daffin. Hon, J. J. S. Dickinson, Simeon T., Richard J. and Charles E. Woodward, Col. George D. Meg- ginson, Isham Kimball, John Y. Kilpatrick, Edward A. Scott, and Mrs. Elizabeth Ball Woodward.
REFERENCES .- Ball, Clarke County (1882) ; Brewer, Alabama (1872), p. 173; Polk's Ala- bama gazetteer, 1888-9, p. 399; Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1915; Northern Ala- bama (1888), p 231.
GUIN. Post office and station on the "Frisco" Railroad, in the southwestern part of Marion County sec. 33, T. 12, R. 13, about 18 miles south of Hamilton. Altitude: 432 feet. Population: 1900-249; 1910-356; 1916-600. The Marion County Banking Co. (State) is located there. It was settled by the Allen Haley family about 1840. They were followed by the Adams, Ackers, Frank, Gann, Matthews, Baird, May, and Guinn fam- ilies. J. M. Guinn was the founder of the town, the nucleus of which was a gristmill,
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HISTORY OF ALABAMA
flourmill and cotton ginnery built by him in 1873. Its industries are 2 sawmills, a stave- mill, 2 gristmills, and 2 ginneries. The Tus- caloosa and Florence highway runs through Guin. The county high school is located there.
REFERENCE .- Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1915.
GULF AND CHICAGO RAILWAY COM- PANY. See New Orleans, Mobile and Chicago Railroad Company.
GULF, FLORIDA AND ALABAMA RAIL- WAY COMPANY. Chartered for 99 years on February 6, 1911, under the laws of Florida. Its road extends from Pensacola, Fla., to Broughton, Ala., and from Gateswood Junc- tion to Gateswood, Ala., with branches to Cantonment and Goulding, Fla .; mileage op- erated June 30, 1915-main track and branches, 104.59, side tracks, 11.42, total, 116.01; mileage operated in Alabama-main track, 45.37, side tracks, 14.19, total, 59.56; capital stock authorized-common $6,000,- 000, preferred, $1,500,000, total, $7,500,000; actually issued, common, $1,835,700, pre- ferred, $433,000; total, $2,268,700; shares, $100; voting power, one vote a share; and funded debt, $2,857,000 .- Annual Report of Company to Ala. Public Service Commission, 1915.
In the latter part of 1911 this company acquired the railroad of the Southern States Lumber Co., extending from Cantonment, Fla., to Local, Ala., 64 miles. A portion of the road was put in operation January 1, 1913. It is projected to connect with the Southern Railway at Pine Hill, Uniontown and Greensboro; with the Louisville & Nash- ville at Pensacola, Atmore and Thomaston; with the Mobile & Ohio and the Alabama Great Southern at Tuscaloosa; and with the Illinois Central and the St. Louis & San Francisco near Jasper, Ala.
REFERENCE .- Poor's manual of railroads, 1912 et seq.
GULF STATES STEEL COMPANY. An in- dustrial corporation, incorporated October 31, 1913, in Delaware, and later acquired from the Standard Steel Co. the properties for- merly belonging to the Southern Iron and Steel Co., capital stock, authorized-$7,500,- 000 common, $3,000,000 first preferred, $5,000,000 second preferred, total $15,500,- 000, outstanding, $3,284,308 common, $1,260,- 000 first preferred, $3,112,069 second preferred, total $7,656,377; shares, $100; prop- erty in Alabama-240 acres at Alabama City, on which is situated a plant consisting of blast furnaces, open hearth steel plant, bloom- ing mill, rod mill, wire mills, and warehouse; rolling mill, near Alabama City, for the pro- duction of merchant steel bars; Altoona coal mine, about 15 miles from Alabama City, com- prising 3,000 acres of coal lands in fee and 86 acres of surface rights; Virginia coal mine and coke ovens, situated about 16 miles from Birmingham, consisting of 2,367 acres of coal land in fee and 1,093 acres of mineral rights;
301 beehive coke ovens with a total capacity of 500 tons a day; red ore iron mines at Shannon, 6 miles from Birmingham, compris- ing 1,672 acres, of which 300 acres are owned in fee and 1,260 acres of mineral rights to- gether with 112 additional acres of surface rights; 400 acres of land in fee simple and 319 acres of mineral rights at Porterville; 2,052 acres in fee and 2,716 acres of mineral rights near Gaylesville; 207 acres in fee and 392 acres in mineral and surface rights near Crudup; 16 acres land in fee at Ensley; 1,490 acres land and rights at Trussville; 275 acres land and mining rights near Lewisburg, and certain property at Gadsden; owns the entire capital stock of the Georgia Steel Co., now in bankruptcy, which held, besides property in Georgia, 3,328 acres mineral lands in Jack- son and DeKalb Counties, Ala .; offices: Bir- mingham.
GULLETTE'S BLUFF. A high point on the left bank of the Alabama River, a short dis- tance below the mouth of Pursley Creek in Wilcox County. On De Crenay's Map the point given in the aboriginal name is Bachele. The meaning of the word is "dead ridge," that is, Bachcha, "ridge," illi, "dead." It was at the sand bar in the mouth of Pursley Creek that Lieut. Joseph M. Wilcox and a companion were mortally wounded by the In- dians, February 14, 1814. For him Wilcox County was named.
REFERENCES. - Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), p. 190; La Tourrette, Map of Alabama (1838) ; Ala. Hist. Society, Transactions, 1897- 1819 p. 154, Footnote.
GUM CYPRESS LAKE. Swampy marsh in Autauga County, so designated in early rec- ords, and known to the Indians as Kunsha Chipinta. It appears as Coucha pita on De Crenay's Map, 1733. The meaning of the word is "little reed brakes," referring to the growth of cane or reed surrounding the pond. The marsh is located on the north side of the Alabama River, into which it drains. It is known on modern maps as Bear Swamp, and the stream draining into the river as Bear Creek. The locality is rich in flora and fauna. The museum of the Ala- bama Department of Archives and History has numerous specimens taken in its vicinity.
REFERENCES. - Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), p. 190; La Tourrette, Map of Alabama (1838).
GUNPOWDER. See Nitre.
GUNTER'S VILLAGE. A Cherokee Indian town in Marshall County established about 1784, and situated on the sites of the pres- ent towns of Guntersville and Wyeth City. Its headman was John Gunter, a full-blooded Sotchman, who had been adopted into the trihe. Gunter married a Cherokee woman and raised a large family of sons and daugh- ters. His sons, John, Samuel, and Edward, were conspicuous figures in the Old Cherokee Nation, and west of the Mississippi their de- scendants are influential. This was an im-
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HISTORY OF ALABAMA
portant settlement, and included some very intelligent Cherokees. An Indian trail ex- tended from this village across Sand Mountain to Will's Town and Turkey Town.
REFERENCES .- O. D. Street, In Alabama His- tory Commission, Report, (1901), vol. 1, p. 419; Ala. Hist. Society, Transactions, 1899-1903, vol. 4, p. 193.
GUNTERSVILLE. County seat of Mar- shall County, in the north-central part of the county, on the south bank of the Tennessee River, and the northern terminus of the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway. Altitude: 592 feet. Population: 1870-244; 1880-480; 1890-471; 1900-618; 1910- 1,145. It was incorporated by the legisla- ture, December 12, 1871, and its charter amended December 15, 1873. In 1909, Wyeth City was annexed. It has the Marshall County High School. It has the Bank of Guntersville (State) and the Citizens Bank ( State). The Guntersville Democrat,
a weekly established in 1880, and the Gunters- ville Advertiser, a weekly established in 1914, are published there. Its churches are Meth- odist, Cumberland Presbyterian, Baptist, and Episcopal. Its industries are mining, cotton ginnery, river and railroad shipping trade.
Guntersville dates from 1790, when the Cherokees located a village on the present site. Its Indian name was Kusanunnahi, meaning Creek Path, from its situation near the great trail leading from the Creek country in middle Alabama to the hunting grounds in the valleys of the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Ohio Rivers. Its modern name is de- rived from that of John Gunter, a Scotchman or possibly a Welchman, who lived among the Cherokees, married an Indian woman, and reared a large family. He and his sons, Edward, Samuel, and John were the leading men of the village. He died in 1835.
The first English name of the place was "Gunter's Ferry," because Edward Gunter as early as 1818 operated a ferry there across Tennessee River. With the increase of navi- gation of the river, it came to be known as "Gunter's Landing," because it was a favorite stopping place for the fleets of "lighters," or flatboats, which brought down from east Tennessee freights to be hauled as far south as Tuscaloosa. At this period of its history Gunters Landing was a noted place. Old inhabitants say that often the flatboats would be lying at the landing as many as 8 or 10 rows deep, laden with merchandise, apples, whiskey, corn and other commodities. About 1836, John Gunter, Jr., built a large frame store and painted it white. From this cir- cumstance the place became widely known as the "White House." The post office was first called "Helicon." When in 1838 the town became the county seat, it was incor- porated as "Marshall." Gradually, however, the name Guntersville superseded all others, the first record of its use being in August, 1848.
From its establishment until about 1830, the Indian community continued to grow. From the latter date, it declined in popula-
tion because of the removal of many of the Indians to lands west of the Mississippi. At its maximum, the community numbered be- tween 600 and 800 Indians of all ages, and filled the Brown Valley for several miles south of Gunters Landing.
In 1820 the Presbyterians, through the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, established a mission church and school in this community, which they suc- cessfully maintained until the final removal of the Cherokees in 1838. In 1822 the Metho- dists established where Guntersville now stands, another church and school for the Indians. The organization has been in con- tinuous existence to the present time. As the Indians moved away and the whites came in, this congregation from exclusively Indian became exclusively white.
When Marshall County was formed by the legislature, January 9, 1836, Claysville, a vil- lage north of the river became the county seat by popular election, although more votes were cast for the place now known as Guntersville; but, as some of them were cast for "Gunter's," some for "White House," and some for "Gun- ter's Landing," they could not, because of the difference in name, be added together. In 1838 "Marshall" became the county seat and so continued until 1841, when in a gen- eral election Warrenton, 5 miles away, was chosen. However, in 1848 Guntersville was chosen, and has remained the county seat.
The town grew slowly, enjoying a good trade, until 1861. It was first incorporated as Guntersville by the legislature, February 3, 1848, and Walter P. Macfarlane was its first intendant. Between that date and 1870, the charter lapsed more than once. In 1871 it was again incorporated, and has so con- tinued.
On July 30, 1862, the town was shelled by Federal forces, from the north side of the river, and the village at the landing was burned, but only slight damage was done to the main part of the town half a mile farther from the river. On March 2, 1864, the Fed- erals attacked the town at night, but were driven out. In January, 1865, the Federals burned every building in the town but seven, including the courthouse, jail, schoolhouse, and Masonic hall.
For several years after the War the town was prostate; but by 1872 it had begun to revive, and has since enjoyed a steady growth. In 1892 the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway was built through it, but it had always enjoyed good shipping facilities and low freight rates by being on the river. It has from the very beginning been noted for its excellent trade and the refinement of its people.
REFERENCES .- Acts, 1871-72, pp. 216-227; Ibid, 1873, pp. 138-139; Brewer, Alabama (1872), p. 383; Northern Alabama (1888), pp. 58, 391; Polk's Alabama gazetteer, 1888-9, p. 400; Ala- bama Official and Statistical Register, 1915, Hodgson, Alabama manual (1869), p. 59; Street. Marshall County (1903) ;
Neely, Marshall County (1895).
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HISTORY OF ALABAMA
. GURLEY. Post office and incorporated town in the eastern edge of Madison County, in the NW 14 of sec. 13, T. 4, R. 2 E., and on the Southern Railway, 17 miles east of Huntsville. Altitude: 647 feet. Population: 1888-400; 1890-570; 1900-831; 1910- 750; 1916-1,000. It has a branch of the Tennessee Valley Bank of Decatur. The Gurley Herald, a Democratic weekly news- paper established in 1894, is published there. It has privately owned electric lights, water- works, sawmills, and cotton ginnery. It is on the Huntsville and Scottsboro highway, and the Gurley and New Hope turnpike. There are Baptist, Presbyterian, Cumber- land Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Methodist Episcopal, South, churches in the town, and it has a county high school and city grammar schools.
In 1830 Thomas McBroom located there, on the present Gurley homestead, and John Gur- ley entered land and built the old Gurley home at Steger Spring. Caswell Derrick, John and Charles McCartney, George Lane and Thomas Ferguson settled near him. In 1830-1840, Wm. C. McBroom, the Clay, Coles and Robertson families entered lands and set- tled on them. The Memphis & Charleston Railroad was built through the town in 1857. Gurley is the highest point but one on the old Memphis & Charleston Railroad (now Southern Railway), and is notable as a health resort.
REFERENCES .- Brewer, Alabama (1872), p. 370; Northern Alabama (1888), pp. 60, 247, 260; Polk's Alabama gazetteer, 1888-9, p. 401; Taylor, History of Madison County; Betts, Early His- tory of Huntsville (1916).
H
HACKLEBURG. Post office and station on the Illinois Central Railroad in the north- ern part of Marion County, sec. 18, T. 9, R. 12 W., 1 mile from Big Bear Creek, and 17 miles northeast of Hamilton. Popula- tion: 1912-286. The Bank of Hackleburg (State) is its only bank. The town was named by the sheep-drovers of Tennessee, on account of the thick growth of thorny plants called hackles in the northern part of Ma- rion County, which were destructive to the fleece and fatal to the sheep. It is located at the crossing of the Russellville Pike and the Allens Factory and Iuka stagecoach road. It has waterworks, supplied from a cold spring some distance away. There are other large springs near Big Bear Creek, and this circumstance made Indian villages numerous in the neighborhood. Trees are still stand- ing whose bark was carved by the Indians. There are also mortars in the rocks where they pounded their corn and wheat. Other carvings are to be seen on the bluff and the cliffs near the springs. Robert Cochrane, of Mecklenburg, N. C., was the first settler in the vicinity. He was soon followed by the Kennedy, Self, and Fredericks families.
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