History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume I, Part 39

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 756

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Many magazines were distributed by the Library. During November, 1918, the library received a call for books to be sent overseas. About 8,000 volumes were shipped. During the closing period of March and April, 1919, 23,000 books were shipped to other camps, and when the library disbanded a good collection was given to the War Camp Community service, so that ex-service and service men might have good reading matter. The library was officially closed April 19, 1919.

The personnel was as follows:

Carl H. Milam, Birmingham, Organizer and Librarian, Oct. 30-Dec. 12, 1917; William Blair, Birmingham, Assistant, Nov. 15, 1917, to April 1, 1918; George L. Doty, Monroe, Mich., Librarian, Dec. 12, 1917, to Dec. 3, 1918; Arthur Nelson, New Orleans, La., As- sistant, March 5-April 17, 1918; Helmer E. Johnson, Minneapolis, Minn., Assistant, April 20, 1918, to April 12, 1919; Ernest L. John- son, Minneapolis, Minn., Assistant, April 1, 1918, to April 19, 1919, acting librarian after Dec. 3, 1918; Harriet Lane, Freeport, Ill., hospital librarian at Red Cross House.

REFERENCES .- Manuscript and letters in files of Alabama State Department of Archives and History.

CAMP SHERIDAN, Montgomery. United States army camp located three and one- fourth miles north of Montgomery on the Lower Wetumpka Road.

Vandiver Park had long been used by the national guard of Alabama as a training camp. When the president called the national guard together in 1916 for border service, they mobilized at that place. They were also encamped there, upon their return. When Montgomery was designated by the War Department as a mobilization center this tract of land with the purchase of additional property from Capt. A. G. Forbes and other citizens afforded the Government the two thousand acres which it had contracted with the city to furnish.

In 1917 several hundred officers and men arrived at Montgomery to start preparing Camp Sheridan for the 37th Division, com- posed of troops from Ohio.

Soon work was begun by the city to con- struct water mains, and to erect electric light poles, etc., and otherwise carry out its con- tract with the Federal government.

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The 37th Division, consisting of the head- quarters troops; the military police; two brigades of infantry; three regiments of ar- tillery; sanitary trains; field signal corps battalion; engineer regiments; engineer train; ammunition and supply trains, was instructed at Camp Sheridan before its departure for France.

A Remount Station, No, 312 (q. v.), was maintained at the camp, as well as a motor transport corps training camp, and a base hospital, with a bed capacity of 1,106.

Buildings were constructed for Young Men's Christian Association, Knights of Co- lumbus, Salvation Army and Red Cross workers.

The library building was constructed by the American Library Association and was one of the finest of its kind in the training camps of the United States.

When the 37th Division departed from Montgomery for France in 1918 it was de- cided to form a new division which should be known as the Ninth Division, and the 45th and 46th Regiments of Infantry were assigned to the camp to be used as a nucleus for the new division.

After the signing of the Armistice Camp Sheridan was designated as a demobilization camp.

Recently the property reverted to the city of Montgomery, which in turn sold it to the State for the site of a new State penitentiary.

The following is a brief summary of what was to he found at the time of the Armistice, November 11, 1918:

20 miles of road, 30 feet wide in the res- ervations; 227 mess shacks for soldiers; 86 mess halls for officers; 314 bath houses; 314 latrines; 4,000 tents; 40 large and small warehouses; 21 stock sheds for the remount station; 15 miles of 4-inch piping. More than 1,000 acres of land were available for drill grounds close to the camp.

Successive commanders at Camp Sheridan were: Major Gen. Charles Treat; Major Gen. William A. Holbrook; Brigadier-Gen. James A. Ryan; and Col. Charles C. Clark.

REFERENCES .- History of Camp Sheridan, by Ed May, together with personal reminiscences, letters and manuscript in State Department of Archives and History.

CANALS. The construction of canals con- necting the navigable streams of Alabama represented one of the methods first con- sidered for developing the agricultural, com- mercial, industrial, and mineral resources of the State. This development was then con- ceived to be entirely dependent upon cheap and convenient transportation facilities. Other means suggested for accomplishing this end were the construction, by private means or with public aid, of systems of improved roads, including plank roads; improvement of rivers and large creeks so as to admit of navigation by keelboats and steamboats; and, later, the construction of railroads. During the first 25 years after the admission of the State into the Union, the question of water transportation was uppermost in the public

mind, but after that time the railroads sup- planted the canals in the estimation of most advocates of internal improvements as being more expeditious and cheaper of construc- tion, more practical in rugged country, and affording more rapid transportation. From the earliest times the opinion had been gen- eral among thoughtful men of Alabama that one of the essentials of State development was the connection of the fertile Tennessee Valley with the Gulf of Mexico through Mobile, the State's only seaport. The first plan suggested for accomplishing this end was the construction of a canal to connect the Tennessee River above the Muscle Shoals with the Tombigbee River, in order to bring to Mobile the produce which was then being sent to Savannah, Augusta and Charles- ton to be marketed or exported.

Beginnings .- The first canal actually con- structed in the State was the Indian Creek Canal which was authorized by act of De- cember 21, 1820, incorporating the Indian Creek Navigation Co. In order to make Indian Creek navigable by flatboats and keel- boats from the town of Huntsville to the Tennessee River at Triana, it was necessary to increase the volume of water in the creek by the construction of a canal from the Big Spring at Huntsville. In connection with the canal, wooden locks and dams were built in the creek, and for many years a large part of the cotton products in the vicinity of Huntsville were floated down the creek and thence to market at Natchez or New Orleans via the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

The construction of a canal to connect the Hiwassee River, a tributary of the Tennessee. with the headwaters of the Coosa River was proposed as early as 1821. Gov. Pickens referred to this project in his message of November 13 of that year, and commended it to tbe favorable consideration of the legisla- ture. In the same message he expressed the hope that the canal between Fort Deposit on the Tennessee River and Tuscaloosa on the Black Warrior would be constructed. Neither of these canals was constructed, nor appar- ently did the projects ever get beyond the stage of discussion. The first-mentioned scheme was the more practicable of the two, since a canal only 12 miles in length was necessary to connect the Hiwassee with the Coosa. The Tennessee-Tombigbee Canal, as the other project was called, was imprac- ticable because of the long distance between the proposed termini and the consequent prohibitive expense of construction.

Several years later the construction of a canal from a point. near Guntersville on the Tennessee River to connect with the Coosa River in the vicinity of Gadsden was much discussed, and continued to occupy the at- tention of public men until a comparatively recent date. As late as 1890 a Government engineer said in his report on the improve- ment of the Coosa River that the construc- tion of such a canal was entirely feasible and its cost probably would not exceed $12,000,- 000. However, no actual work has been

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done. The legislature, February 5, 1858, in- corporated the Covington Canal Co. to cut a canal connecting the Conecuh River with Black Water River. What progress, if any, was made with the venture is not known.

Muscle Shoals .- Almost from the first set- tlement of north Alabama, the navigation of the Tennessee has been a matter of great importance, as the river formed almost the only outlet for the produce of that entire sec- tion of the State. Various schemes for over- coming the impediment to navigation, even by shallow-draft boats, interposed by the Muscle Shoals were suggested. Among others the opening of the lower river by a canal around the shoals was favorably considered. In 1827 the board of internal improvement of the State made an examination of the river between Browns Ferry and Waterloo, and recommended in its report that plans for the improvement of that part of the river be formed, and carried out as early as prac- ticable. In aid of this scheme, Congress granted 400,000 acres of public land to the State of Alabama in May, 1828. In addition to its gift of land, the Government had its engineer examine Muscle Shoals and Colbert Shoals. A project was submitted by the engineer in 1830 for a canal from Browns Ferry to Florence and the removal of obstruc- tions from Florence to Waterloo, but it was not adopted. In 1831 the State undertook the construction of three canals around Big Muscle Shoals, using funds obtained from the sale of the ceded lands. The middle canal was completed and put in use in 1834. It was 60 feet wide and 6 feet deep. Because of the distance spanned by the canal, it was necessary to use 17 extra locks of 5 feet lift, 32 feet wide and 120 feet long. All available funds were used in its construction. There was nothing left for maintenance. As a re- sult all work was suspended during the finan- cial stringency of 1837 and the canal, locks and construction plant shortly fell into decay. The Government undertook the repair and enlargement of the old State canal in 1875 at an estimated cost of more than $4,000,000. This ended the State's connection with the improvement of the Tennessee River.

Recently the desirability of constructing canals to connect navigable waterways has again been brought to public attention as a means of providing competition for the pur- pose of controlling freight rates. The atti- tude of the people of Alabama toward recent canal projects, considered from the national as well as from the local standpoint, is indi- cated by joint resolutions of the legislature, December 13, 1900, with reference to the proposed canalization of Valley River from Bessemer to the Warrior River; and of March 5, 1901, commending the project of a ship canal across the peninsula of Florida. See Internal Improvements; Railroad Building; River and Harbor Improvement.

REFERENCES .- Acts, 1820, pp. 97-99; 1842-43, p. 219; 1900-01, pp. 84, 203; W. E. Martin, "In- ternal improvements in Alabama," in Johns Hopkins University, Studies in Historical and Political Science (1902), pp. 9-63; Betts, Early

history of Huntsville, Alabama (1916), p. 61; Gov. W. W. Bibb, "Message," Oct. 26, 1819, in S. Jour. 1819-20, pp. 7-17; Gov. Israel Pickens, "Message," Nov. 13, 1821, Ibid, 1821, pp. 27-34; U. S. Chief of Engineers, Annual report, 1890, App. Q, pp. 1644-1645; U. S. Chief of Engineers, Report of surveys of Coosa and Tennessee Riv- ers, and of a route for a canal connecting Coosa and Tennessee Rivers, Apr. 8, 1872 (H. Ex. Doc. 243, 42d Cong., 2d sess.), and Acts, 1857-58, p. 144.

CANEBRAKE. The name applied to a smaller region within the black belt, consist- ing for the most part of river-bottom lands of great fertility, on which there was origi- nally a dense growth of cane. The region is perhaps the most fertile in the State, and is especially well suited for growing cotton, corn, wheat, and other staple grains. The section includes parts of Greene, Marengo, and Perry Counties. The valley of the Tom- bigbee River is the heart of the canebrake region.

See Black Belt; Cotton; Geology; Soils and Soil Surveys.

REFERENCES .- Smith, Report on agricultural features of the State (Geol. Survey of Ala., Monograph 1, 1883), pp. 268-272; Alabama's new era (Dept. of Immigration Bulletin, vol. 2, 1912), pp. 91-93; "Canebrake region of Ala- bama," in Monthly Journal of Agriculture, New York, 1847, vol. 2, p. 56.

CANEBRAKE AGRICULTURAL EXPERI- MENT STATION. "A branch agricultural experiment station for the purpose of con- ducting and making experiments in scientific agriculture," located at Uniontown, Perry County. It is governed by a board of con- trol, consisting of the commissioner of agri- culture, director of the Alabama Experiment station at Auburn, and five progressive farm- ers, actually engaged in cultivating canebrake lands. The board is clothed with general powers for carrying on the work, the appoint- ment of officers, the holding of institutes "for the benefit of the farmers in the county that surrounds it," the purchase of lands, plant- ing of crops, experimentation in crops, live- stock and poultry, etc. Twenty-five hundred dollars annually are appropriated for the sup- port of the work. The station is immediately under the control of an assistant director in charge. He is aided by a veterinary surgeon, and necessary laborers.

It was originally established merely as "a branch agricultural experiment station," February 17, 1885. Its object was to provide a local agency to "advance the interests of scientific agriculture, particularly on cane- brake lands." The present name was adopted February 16, 1887. In the spring of 1885, the board purchased forty acres of canebrake land near Uniontown, in which was repre- sented three types of the soil peculiar to the region. Possession was obtained in January, 1886. Under the "Hatch Act," the trustees of the A. & M. College (now the A. P. I.) supplemented the State appropriation by an addition of $2,000. Reorganization under

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the Hatch Act took effect April 1, 1888. Dur- ing its existence the following subjects among others have had attention: Chemical needs of the soil; Remedies for physical defects of the soil; Improvements in methods and economy in cultivation; Varieties of field and garden crops adapted to the canebrake soils; Varie- ties of fruit adapted to prairie soil; grasses and other forage plants most profitably grown and the best methods of preserving them for cattle food; the silo and best materials for silage; and comparative value of home ma- terials available for cattle and pig feeding. Very soon after the establishment of the sta- tion a silo was built, and, under plans pre- pared by the noted engineer, George E. Waring, 12 acres of land was prepared with underground tile drains. It is claimed that this was the first silo erected, and the first tile drain system laid within the limits of the state. Meteorological observations are made and recorded for station use.

PUBLICATIONS .- Bulletins, Nos. 1-35, 1888-1917; Annual Reports, 1888-1898.

REFERENCES .- Acts. 1884-85, p. 144; 1886-87, p. 828; General Acts, 1915, p. 201; Code, 1907, secs. 54-58; and Publications supra.

CANEBRAKE COTTON MILLS, Union- town. See Cotton Manufacturing.

CANJAUDA. See Kanchati.

CANOE FIGHT. An episode of the Creek Indian War, November 12, 1813. Following Fort Mims massacre, numerous depredations were made by Indians throughout the entire settled sections of the country, temporary forts were erected, and a general unrest pre- vailed. However, events were slowly matur- ing for relief. Among the settlers themselves, brave and adventurous spirits rallied the people, and many thrilling examples of dar- ing are recorded. Capt. Sam Dale organized a scouting party, and set out from Fort Madi- son toward the river to drive out the Indians. During the first day many traces of the latter had been found about the abandoned planta- tions. The next day the party marched to Brazier's Landing (now French's), and at night crossed over to the eastern bank. Jerry Austill and some others were directed to row the canoes up stream. He reached Randon's plantation ahead of those on the shore. As they advanced Capt. Dale and his company encountered a number of Indians, who re- treated under a hot fire. The entire com- mand then crossed to the west bank, except Capt. Dale and eleven others. Just as they were preparing something to eat, a canoe of eleven warriors swept down the stream ap- parently with the intention of joining a num- ber of other Indians, in order to attack from the rear. Dale and some of his party opened fire upon the boatload of savages, but without injury. About this time two of the Indians swam ashore higher up. One was killed by James Smith. Dale then ordered the larger canoe brought across. Eight men started over, but turned back on seeing the number in the Indian canoe. This exasperated Dale,

and he sprang into the smaller boat followed by Smith and Jerry Austill. A negro of the party, named Caesar, was already in the boat, and by Dale's direction he rapidly paddled the canoe towards the Indians. Within twenty yards the Americans rose for a broadside, but only Smith's gun fired. Caesar courageously pushed the boat alongside the Indians, and bravely held them together during the rest of the engagement. Instantly both parties were in a fierce combat, mainly with clubbed guns. Because of the crowded boat, the Indians were a little at a disadvantage al- though they fought viciously. Austill struck at the chief with his gun, but without effect. At the same moment the clubbed rifles of Smith and Dale came down on his head caus- ing instant death. The rifle barrel in hand, Dale fought with demon-like fury. Austill and Smith fought with equal valor, and al- though they were badly bruised and had sev- eral contused wounds, the three white men and Caesar all escaped, while their nine an- tagonists were destroyed. One Indian had fallen into the river during the combat, and the others were then thrown over-board, to the great joy of the other members of the party on shore. The expedition then marched to Cornell's Ferry, but later returned to Fort Madison.

REFERENCES .- Pickett's History of Alabama (Owen ed. 1900), pp. 560-573; Brewer, Alabama (1873), p. 435; Halbert and Ball, Creek War of 1813 and 1814, (1895), pp. 229-240; Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), p. 422; Alabama His- torical Reporter, Aug., 1884, vol. 2; Acts, 1821, p. 115.

CAN'T GET AWAY CLUB. A local relief society organized at Mobile in 1839, during a yellow fever epidemic. The club took for its model the Red Cross of Geneva. It was char- tered by the legislature February 1, 1854, with John Hurtel, Nathaniel Moore, D. R. W. Davis, John T. Webb, Alfred G. Ross, John Rolston, James Y. Blocker, James W. Marsh, Jacob Reese, Martin B. Harper, Chester Root and Theodore Guesnard, sr., as incorporators. During the great epidemics in the period of organization, in the fifties, seventies and as late as 1897, the club was the one organiza- tion in Mobile, ready with doctors, nurses, medicines and food for sick and hungry alike. They also performed the last offices for many victims. During its various periods of activity the club lost many members, including doc- tors, clergymen and men from all walks of life. Its funds were made up from the purses of members, and by miscellaneous contribu- tions. No one connected with it received com- pensation for time or service. While its greatest work was confined to Mobile, it also rendered aid both in Memphis and New Or- leans. Of the work of the organization the Mobile Register editorially says:

"Mobile and other cities of the South bear in grateful remembrance the name of the organization, which, as suggested by Mr. God- frey Mertz on Thursday night, should have been 'Won't Get Away Club.' The members were not compelled to stay in the neighbor-

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hood of infectious disease and could have taken up their residence away from it until the danger had passed. But they elected to fight disease; to combat an insidious enemy that might unseen attack them in the night; that might, and did many times, attack their own families and strike down their friends. It requires a higher order of courage to make such a fight than to face visible danger. Hap- pily the raison d'etre of the club no longer exists; yellow fever as a scourge is a thing of the past. The name of the organization that the disease called into being will not pass away, however. The handful of members who remain alive and those who have gone before have their names written indelibly in the annals of Mobile as types of citizens of whom we are justly proud."

See Epidemics; Yellow Fever.

REFERENCES .- Hamilton, Mobile of the Five Flags (1913), pp. 234-235, Acts (1853-54), p. 393; and The Mobile Register, June 7, 1908.

CAPITALS, THE STATE. The city or town officially designated by law as the "seat of government." The city of Montgomery is the capital of the State of Alabama, so made by formal election of the legislature January 28, 1846.

The constitutions of 1875 and 1901, con- tain the following section, substantially the same in each, the copy, however, taken from 1901, sec. 78:

"No act of the legislature changing the seat of government of the state shall become a law until the same shall have been sub- mitted to the qualified electors of the state at a general election, and approved by a ma- jority of such electors voting on the same; and such act shall specify the proposed new location."

There are other constitutional provisions in reference to the seat of government and the statehouse or capitol, namely, the legis- lature is required to meet quadrennially at the capitol, but the governor may convene, or remove, it elsewhere if from any cause it hecomes impossible or dangerous to meet as designated; returns of elections held for gov- ernor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, state auditor, secretary of state, state treas- urer, superintendent of education and com- missioner of agriculture and industries are to be "sealed up and transmitted by the re- turning officers to the seat of government, directed to the speaker of the house of repre- sentatives," and, returns for members of the legislature and for all other civil officers to be commissioned by the governor, and returns in elections proposing amendments to the con- stitution, shall be made to the secretary of state; the sittings of the supreme court are to "be held at the seat of government, but if that shall become dangerous from any cause, it may convene at or adjourn to another place;" impeachment proceedings provided under section 173 of the constitution are to be conducted at the state capitol; and the governor, attorney general, state auditor, sec- retary of state, state treasurer, superintend- ent of education and commissioner of agri-

culture and industries are required to "reside at the state capital during the time that they continue in office, except during epidemics."

The state capitol, or statehouse, is located in Montgomery, the official seat of govern- ment, or capital of the state. It is erected on a striking eminence, familiarly known as Capitol Hill, but locally called "Goat Hill" in the early history of the city. It is situated at the head of Dexter Avenue, formerly known as Market Street, and faces directly west. As indicated in the preceding paragraph it is the official headquarters of the several executive offices, departments, commissions, hureaus and boards, except as otherwise directed, and of the supreme court, the court of appeals and the state and supreme court library, and of the legislature when in session. Over it the state and national flags are displayed on ap- propriate occasions; in it are kept the state official seal, the official standards of measure and length, surface, weight and capacity as established hy Congress; and here, in the cus- tody of the department of archives and his- tory, are preserved the official archives, "mili- tary records, banners, and relics of the state," and other historical collections.

The title to the lands, on which the capitol or statehouse in the city of Montgomery is erected, is in the State of Alabama. The central section of the square was deeded by the City of Montgomery, October 26, 1847, and is of record in the probate office of Mont- gomery County, in Book X, page 417. The deed describes it as "that parcel of land lying within the corporate limits of the said city at he head of Market Street, bounded east hy Union Street, and west by Bain- bridge Street, and measuring on Union and Bainbridge streets three hundred feet, and measuring east and west on the lines of said lot four hundred feet, forming an oblong square, being that parcel of land in the city of Montgomery, on which the new State House has been erected and which was set apart for that purpose on the original plan of the City of Montgomery called 'New Philadelphia,' to- gether with all the apputenances belonging to the said lot of land."

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume I, Part 39

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 756

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 756