History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume I, Part 96

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

USA > Alabama > History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume I > Part 96

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Dothan was first incorporated, under the general laws in 1886. A charter was granted by the legislature on December 10, 1890, which established the corporate limits as an area of 4 square miles. On December 6, 1900, the legislature amended the charter in cer- tain particulars and conferred additional powers upon the corporation. The name was taken from the Book of Genesis. Dothan is

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an enterprising city whose growth has been both rapid and substantial.

REFERENCES .- Acts. 1890-91, pp. 204-218; Lo- cal Acts, 1900-01, pp. 30-36; Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1915.

DOTHAN PUBLIC LIBRARY. See Li- braries.

DOUBLE SPRINGS. County seat of Wins- ton County, located in the center of the county, on Clear Creek and on the headwaters of a branch of the Sipsey River about 10 miles east of Delmar, its nearest railroad shipping point, and about 25 miles north of Jasper. Population: 1880-100; 1910-225. It is not incorporated.

The Winston Herald, a Democratic weekly newspaper established in 1880, is published there. It has cotton ginneries and ware- houses, gristmills, cottonseed oil mill, feed mill, sawmill, and general stores. It is the site of the Winston County High School, and also has grammar schools. The Baptist and the Methodist Episcopal, South, have churches in the town. The county seat was moved from Houston to Double Springs in Decem- ber, 1882.

REFERENCES .- Brewer, Alabama (1872), p. 584; Northern Alabama (1888), p. 170; Polk's Alabama gazetteer. 1888-9, p. 322; Alabama Offi- cial and Statistical Register, 1915.

DOUBLEHEAD'S VILLAGE. A Cherokee village, situated on the south side of Tennes- see River, a short distance above Colbert's Ferry. It was settled about 1790, by chief "Doublehead" and forty other freebooting Creeks and Cherokees. A large spring known as Doublehead's Spring still marks the spot. This village really stood on Chickasaw terri- tory.

REFERENCES .- Haywood, Civil History of Ten- nessee (Reprint, 1891), p. 350; O. D. Street, in Alabama History Commission, Report (1901), vol. 1, p. 418.

DOWNING INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. An educational institution for the industrial training of white girls, maintained under the patronage of the Alabama Con- ference, M. E. Church South. The school is the final outcome of a hope long cherished by Rev. J. M. Shofner, an itinerant Methodist preacher. In his experience in many commu- nities of the State, he had noted the need for the industrial home training of young women. The realization of this need, determined him in the effort to provide institutional oppor- tunity for them. In May 1904 he set reso- lutely to work, appealing for donations, and in other ways building up sentiment for sup- port of the projected school. Brewton was determined upon as the location, and in Sep- tember, 1904, 117 acres of land, one mile east of Brewton, including the site of "Old Fort Crawford," was secured by purchase.

In July, 1906, the Downing Educational Society was formed, so named for E. Downing of Brewton, a liberal contributor and patron,

whose name was subsequently carried into that of the institution itself. The first ses- sion opened in the fall of 1906. As the claims of the school were presented through- out the country, both in Alabama and out- side of the State, generous friends came to its support, and from year to year the physi- cal plant was increased by the addition of new buildings, the enlargement of equipment, and the development of the grounds.

The school remained independent until De- cember 1912, when it was taken under the patronage of the Alabama Conference of the Methodist Church.

Elementary, high school, business and nor- mal courses, and departments of domestic science and music are maintained. Industrial instruction includes dressmaking, needlework, laundry, canning, cooking, dairying, poultry raising and floriculture.

The president is Rev. J. M. Shofner, who has held that position from the beginning. He is also financial agent. The management is in the hands of a board of trustees, elected by the conference, and divided into three groups, the terms of one-third expiring each year.

REFERENCES .- Catalogues, 1906-1917: Shofner, Address before the Federation of Women's Clubs (1911), and Story of the Downing In- dustrial School (1916).

DOZIER. Post office and incorporated vil- lage, in the southern part of Crenshaw County, on the Central of Georgia Railway, about 16 miles northeast of Andalusia, and about 18 miles south of Luverne. Popula- tion: 1910-288.

REFERENCE .- Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1915.

DRAINAGE AND RECLAMATION. In 1915, by act of March 4, the State of Alabama adopted a general drainage and reclamation policy. It provides a workable, permanent plan for the drainage of farm, wet, swamp and overflowed lands in the State, authorizes the organization of drainage districts, confers the right of eminent domain necessary to carry out the purposes of the law, and pro- vides for raising necessary funds by bond issue or otherwise. The act takes the high ground "that the drainage of surface water from agricultural lands, and the reclamation of wet lands, swamp lands, overflowed lands, and tidal marshes shall be considered a pub- lic benefit, and conducive to the public health, convenience, utility and welfare." This legislation is regarded as the most ad- vanced of its kind undertaken by any State. The act expressly provides that the terms "swamp and overflow lands," included in its terms, shall not be construed to apply alone to the commonly accepted classification of such lands under the laws of the State, but "shall extend to and include all lands that need drainage, regardless of former classifica- tion." To J. W. Moore, representative from Fayette County, is due the credit of present- ing and successfully pushing the measure to passage.

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Alabama has about 1,280,000 acres of swamp and overflowed land. By proper drain- age these can be recovered for agricultural purposes, with comparatively small cost. The pioneer method of drainage by ditches, dams and canals, has, with the opening up of the country and the increase of population, be- come wholly inadequate. The primitive methods referred to, apart from their failure to accomplish any really substantial, perma- nent improvement, have been a menace to public health. Tile drainage has proven effective where possible to employ such sys- tem, but in the swampy sections it is of no service.

With the advance of settlement, the natural drainage of many localities has been ma- terially obstructed. The clearing of the virgin timber, and allowing trees, when cut, to fall into the streams, has done much to produce this condition. The clearing up of lands ad- jacent to the swamps and streams without properly terracing or the proper care being taken to protect from washing, has in many cases resulted in much debris being carried into the natural drains. Localities of this character are found in practically all sections of the State, notably, the Luxapallila and the Sipsey Rivers sections of Fayette, Lamar, Pickens, and Tuscaloosa Counties, parts of Morgan, and Mobile and Baldwin Counties, and on Uchee Creek in Russell County. The Luxapallila swamp, 45 miles long, 34 mile wide, and containing 22,386 acres, is possibly the largest unreclaimed area in the State.

Looking to the relief of these sections, the legislature of 1915 enacted the above mea- sure, based in many particulars on the North Carolina statute on the subject, which is con- sidered by the U. S. Bureau of Drainage In- vestigations as a model law.

Acting on this legislation, which allows property owners affected to execute a bond guaranteeing the cost of a preliminary sur- vey, the 325 property owners along Luxapal- lila River have formed the Fayette-Lamar County Drainage District No. 1, which was chartered December 22, 1916. The prelim- inary survey has been completed. It is ex- pected that the actual survey and drainage of the district will be under way in 1917. A preliminary survey of Yellow Creek in Lamar County is in progress (December, 1916). Plans looking toward a survey in Morgan County and one in Mobile County are now being formed, and four other applications have been forwarded to the U. S. Bureau of Drainage Investigations.

Interest in reclamation of this class of lands in this and other Gulf States resulted in the establishment in November, 1916, of a drainage district including the States of Ala- bama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mis- sissippi, with headquarters in Montgomery. Mr. Lewis A. Jones, who had been prominent in the early investigations in the State, is engineer in charge.

REFERENCES .- General Acts, 1915, pp. 167-192; Geol. Survey of Georgia, Preliminary report on drainage reclamation in Georgia (Bulletin No.

25, 1911); Reclamation of wet lands in the United States (S. Doc. 877, 62d Cong., 2d sess., 1912); Elliott, Drainage of farm lands (Farm- ers' Bulletin, No. 187) ; Kettleborough, Drain- age and reclamation of swamp and overflowed lands (Ind. Bureau of Leg. Information, Bul- letin. No. 2, 1914), an important review and dis- cussion; and Lewis A. Jones, "Benefits of tile drainage." in Ala. State Hort. Society, Proceed- ings, 1914, pp. 78-81.

DRUMMERS. See Travelers Association, Alabama; Travelers Protective Association of America; United Commercial Travelers.

DUCK RIVER BAPTISTS. See Baptist Church of Christ.

DUELING. The practice of dueling more or less obtained in Alabama from its earliest history until about 1861, notwithstanding stringent laws against it. The earliest legis- lation on the subject was an act of the Mis- sissippi Territorial Legislature, originally passed November 11, 1803, and re-enacted November 11, 1804, with this preamble, "whereas, from a false sense of honour, the inhuman, injurious, and detestable practice of dueling has been too often and unhappily re- sorted to as a mode of adjusting or settling differences of small magnitude between indi- viduals; and whereas, this barbarous and savage conduct has of late obtained a great degree of prevalence, to the destruction of the lives of some valuable members of society, and involving the feelings of others, who from principle, and respect for the laws of their country, will not engage in this per- nicious practice. The act made the sending or receiving or bearing of a challenge to fight a duel, a felony punishable, if neither combatant was killed, by a fine of $1,000 and imprisonment for 12 calendar months and in- eligibility for holding "any office of honour, profit, or trust under the government of this territory, for and during the term of five years" from the time of conviction; and if either party was killed, the survivor and all persons who had aided or assisted in the duel, were held guilty of "wilful murder," and on conviction, should suffer death.

The provisions of the act were made equally applicable to the fighting or the promotion of duels, whether the combats took place within the territory or elsewhere. The act also recognized and undertook to meet the diffi- culty of securing evidence in such cases, "oc- casioned by the secret combinations of the parties concerned," by authorizing any justice of the peace "upon his own knowledge, or strong suspicion of such offences, or on credible information thereof, to him given on oath or otherwise, to issue a summons, or at his discretion a warrant, in the nature of a capias against any person or persons suspected to be concerned in such offences, which sum- mons or warrant shall be returnable before one or more justices of the peace, who are hereby empowered, if necessary, to issue in- terrogatories in the premises to such person

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or persons, and to compel them to answer the same fully upon oath; and in case of their refusal, to cause them to be confined until they shall comply Neglect or re- fusal of officers of the law to carry out these provisions was made a misdemeanor, punish- able by removal from office and debarment from holding any office for a period of two years.

Penalties .- The first constitution of the State contained a provision that "the general assembly shall have power to pass such penal laws to suppress the evil practice of dueling, extending to disqualification from office, or the tenure thereof, as they may deem expe- dient." The first State legislature enacted a law, December 17, 1819, which was similar in most of its provisions to the Territorial legis- lation. but contained additional provisions that every member of the legislature and all other State officers and functionaries, whether elected or appointed, before taking office, should subscribe to an oath, in addition to the oath prescribed in the constitution, that they neither had been since January 1, 1820, nor would be during their term of office, in any way concerned in promoting or fighting a duel; and that "if any person or persons shall, in any newspaper or handbills, written or printed, publish or proclaim any other person or persons as a coward, or use any oppro- brious or abusive language for not accepting a challenge, or fighting a duel; such person or persons so offending, shall, on conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, as the court may order and direct."

At the session of the legislature of 1831 a bill was introduced to amend the dueling act, to which an amendment was offered, pro- posing an entire repeal of that act. The ad- verse report or a select committee of the Senate on the subject is preserved in the journals of that body. It contains a masterly discussion of the evils of the practice. "Your committee," the report declares, "conceive there is no absurd custom, no criminal prac- tice, no irrational prejudice that requires more strongly the interposition of the correcting hand of legislation, than that of dueling. Deriving its origin from the darkest and most barbarous ages, when power and violence gave law, and religion and learning were unknown or maintained but a precarious and uncertain existence. It has maintained its tyrannic sway, and been handed down, generation after generation. How often is it resorted to on the most frivolous pretexts, for causes that would hardly create a serious difference, the gratification of some quixotic humor, or some fancied slight or insult, fanned by sickly and ridiculous notions of honor."

When the first penal code was adopted in 1841, the killing of a person in a duel was made murder in the second degree; and giving, accepting, or knowingly carrying a challenge in writing or otherwise, to fight a duel, either in or out of the State, was made punishable by imprisonment in the peniten-

tiary for two years. The provision of the new code with respect to disqualification of duelists from holding office was more sweep- ing and more stringent than those of the old laws, namely, "Every person, who shall here- after, in this state, or in any other state of the United States, or in any territory or district thereof, give or accept a challenge to fight with any deadly weapon in single com- bat, shall be disqualified from holding or be- ing eligible to be elected or appointed to any office whatever, under the constitution and laws of this state, and it shall not be neces- sary, in any indictment under this section, that a previous conviction for giving or ac- cepting the challenge aforesaid shall have been had."

The legislation against dueling included in, and that enacted prior to the adoption of the penal code, have continued in force until the present, varying only in the degree of severity of the prescribed penalties or punishment. The six constitutions have empowered the legislature to enact laws to prevent dueling, and in much the same terms. The "dueling oath" is still required of State officers, and any connection with a combat of the kind permanently disqualifies for office. The pres- ent penalty for giving, accepting, or know- ingly carrying a challenge, is imprisonment in the penitentiary not less than 2 nor more than 10 years; and publishing another as a coward for not fighting or accepting a challenge to fight, is punishable by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $500, and by imprisonment in the county jail, or hard labor for the county. for not less than 6 nor more than 12 months.

Code of Honor .- The "Code of Honor; or Rules for the Government of Principals and Seconds in Duelling," which prevailed among gentlemen in Alabama during the vogue of the duello consisted of about 11 or 12 printed pages, and was divided into 8 chapters of several sections each, covering the following topics: (1) "The person insulted, before challenge sent," and "second's duty before challenge sent;" (2) "The party receiving a note before challenge," and "second's duty of the party receiving a note before challenge sent;" (3) "Duty of challenged and his second before fighting;" (4) "Duty of challengee and second after challenge sent;" (5) "Duties of principals and seconds on the ground;" (6) "Who should be on the ground;" (7) "Arms, and manner of loading and presenting them;" and (8) "Degrees of insult and how com- promised."

Historic Duels. - Notwithstanding these constitutional and statutory inhibitions and penalties, a number of duels have been fought by Alabamians, both within and without the State. Some of the most prominent and in- fluential men in the entire State have in- curred the penalties for dueling; and the legislature has found it expedient from time to time to pass a special act to relieve a leading citizen of the disabilities thus in- curred, in order that he might be elected or appointed to office. Probably the best known

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of such special acts was the one for the relief of William L. Yancey and of Daniel Sayre, passed over the governor's veto on January 31, 1846. With reference to Mr. Yancey, the act provided that thenceforward in all cases where it might be necessary for him to take the oath against dueling, it should be ad- ministered "in reference to time," from July 1, 1845; and further, that he should not, "in any manner be liable to the pains and penalties prescribed in sections eleven and twelve, chapter three, of the Penal Code, for any act or thing which have been done" by him prior to the date mentioned.

There have been several duels fought upon Alabama soil, and several others in which one or both the combatants were residents of the State. There are no records of many of them except in contemporary newspapers, and doubtless no records whatever of a number of others, particularly where there were no cas- . ualties. Among the more famous may be mentioned those between William Rufus King and Maj. M. J. Kenan; ex-Gov. Gabriel Moore and - Callier; and William L. Yancey and T. L. Clingman, of North Carolina.

Fort Mitchell Dueling Ground .- The most famous dueling ground in the State was prob- ably near Fort Mitchell, in Russell County, about 10 miles southwest of Columbus, Ga., and just across the Chattahoochee River, which forms the boundary between the two States. At least three combats with fatal re- sults are said to have been fought there. Of two of them there are somewhat full accounts extant, namely, the Crawford-Burnside duel in 1828, and the Camp-Woolfolk duel in 1832. The participants in both were Geor- gians. In fact, most or all of the duels which occurred at Fort Mitchell, so far as is now known, were fought by men from other States. It was customary for gentlemen to conduct their "affairs of honor" outside of their home States, partly to gain greater se- curity from interruption, and partly, no doubt, to avoid the law of their own States, particularly in the event of fatal results.

Fort Mitchell afforded a convenient and appropriate scene for such encounters among Georgians, being within easy traveling dis- tance from Columbus, and on a United States Government reservation, which, in a sense, with respect to the civil officers both of Georgia and of Alabama, was neutral ground. The fort had been built by the Georgia Militia in 1811, on the old Indian trail from Augusta, Ga., to St. Stephens, Ala., and had been the site of a United States Creek Indian agency for many years. During the period when it was most popular as a dueling ground, it was the headquarters of Col. John Crowell, the Indian Agent, who was noted for his lavish hospitality and chivalric manners. This may have had something to do with the pop- ularity of the place among gentlemen of similar tastes, who may have spent the night preceding a meeting at sunrise as the colonel's welcome guests. In any event, one of the

vanquished combatants was laid away in the family burying ground about a hundred yards from the long avenue of magnolia trees, lead- ing from the trading post to the Crowell resi- dence. And the grave of still another duelist is in the old military cemetery at Fort Mit- chell. These graves are still to be seen by the curious traveler.

REFERENCES .- Constitutions, 1819, art. 6, sec. 3; 1861, art. 6, sec. 3; 1865, art. 4, sec. 28; 1868, art. 4, sec. 28; 1875, art. 4, sec. 47; 1901, sec. 86; Toulmin, Digest, 1823, pp. 261-266; Aikin, Digest, 1833, pp. 134-137; Clay, Digest, 1843, p. 414; Codes, 1852, secs. 11-12; 1867; secs. 3551- 3552; 1876, secs. 4104-4105; 1886, secs. 3767- 3768; 1896, secs. 4657-4658; 1907, secs. 1467, 1475, 6771-6772; Acts, 1819, pp. 64-67; 1821, pp. 16-17; 1823-24, p. 47; 1825-26, p. 41; 1845-46, p. 216; John Lyde Wilson, Code of honor; or rules for the government of principals and seconds in duelling (Charleston, 1838, pp. 22) ; Lorenzo Sabine, Notes on duels and duelling (1855) ; Lucian L. Knight, Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends (1914), vol. 2, pp. 1-48; John H. Martin, Columbus, Geo. (1874), pp. 32-33; King-Kenan duel, in Brewer, Alabama (1872), p. 212; Moore-Callier duel, Ibid, p. 349, and National cyclopedia of American bi- ography, vol. 10, p. 426; Yancey-Clingman duel in National Cyclopedia, etc., vol. 4, p. 319, Gar- rett, Public men of Alabama (1872), p. 682, and Memoranda of the late affair of honor between Hon. T. L. Clingman of North Carolina, and Hon. William L. Yancey, of Alabama, n. p., n. d. (1845, pp. 8); Century Dictionary, vol. 3. The copy of Wilson, Code, supra, is a part of the Yancey collection in the Alabama Depart- ment of Archives and History.

DWIGHT MANUFACTURING CO., Ala- bama City. See Cotton Manufacturing.

EAG" ES, FRATERNAL ORDER OF. The order was organized February 6, 1898, at Seattle, Wash., and incorporated under the laws of that state May 12, of that year. The charter covers fraternal operation in all the States of the United States and in Canada.

The Eagles organized at Birmingham Oc- tober 21, 1902, Aerie 268 after which the following Aeries were formed: Aerie No.

268 Birmingham, Ala .- Oct. 21, 1902 .*

878 Decatur, Ala. (Alabama Aerie)-July 15, 1904 .*

879 Montgomery, Ala .- Aug. 18, 1904 .*

880 Mobile, Ala .- Aug. 31, 1904.

972 Pratt City, Ala .- Jan. 23, 1905.

973 Bessemer, Ala .- Feb. 1, 1905 .*

1150 Ensley, Ala .- June 16, 1905 .*

1151 Huntsville, Ala .- June 14, 1905 .*

1169 Tuscumbia, Ala .- Aug. 2, 1905 .*

1170 Florence, Ala. (Lauderdale Aerie)- July 18, 1905 .*

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1192 Cullman, Ala .- Aug. 15, 1905 .*

1257 Gadsden, Ala .- Aug. 23, 1905 .*

1266 Anniston, Ala .- Nov. 28, 1905 .*

1302 Selma, Ala .- Jan. 31, 1906 .*

1323 Tuscaloosa, Ala .- Feb. 19, 1906 .*

1370 North Birmingham, Ala .- Apr. 6, 1906* 1384 Opelika, Ala .- Apr. 11, 1906 .*

1414 Avondale, Ala .- May 18, 1906 .*

1451 Sheffield, Ala .- June 12, 1906 .*

1458 Warrior, Ala .- July 16, 1906 .*

1466 Dora, Ala .- July 11, 1906 .*

1481 Jasper, Ala .- Institution report located .*

not

1482 Woodlawn, Ala .- Institution report not located .*

1925 Birmingham, Ala .- Feb. 7, 1910 .*

1972 Selma, Ala .- July 29, 1911 .*

1995 Alabama City, Ala .- July 20, 1912.

There remain but three local bodies of the order in the State at this time, Aerie 880, Mobile; Aerie 972, Pratt City; Aerie 1995, Alabama City. In recent years the Order has had no representative in Alabama, Col. Wil- liam L. Grayson of Savannah, Ga., Past Grand Worthy President of the Order, being occas- ionally commissioned to attend to the neces- sary work in this State. The national mem- bership in 1919 was approximately 400,000, largely confined to the manufacturing States north of the Ohio and East of the Mississippi Rivers.

REFERENCES .- Letters in Department of Ar- chives and History.

EAST ALABAMA AND CINCINNATI RAILROAD COMPANY. See Central of Georgia Railway Company.

EAST ALABAMA MALE COLLEGE An educational institution of high grade, estab- lished by members of the Methodist Church in east Alabama and chartered by the legis- lature. The charter was vetoed by the gov- ernor, but finally passed by the constitutional majority over his objections, February 1, 1856. The trustees named in the act of in- corporation are as follows: Rev. John B. Glenn, Col. N. J. Scott, A. Frazer, J. M. Carl- ton. J. B. Ogletree, W. T. Davis, Isaac Hill, C. Raiford, Maj. J. F. White, Col. F. W. Dillard, Prof. John Darby, Dr. J. W. Jones, Maj. Wes- ley Williams, Simeon Perry, Edwin Reese, Auburn; Rev. W. A. McCarthy, Rev. O. R. Flue, Rev. Mark Andrews, Rev. Samuel Arm- strong, Rev. C. D. Oliver, Rev. W. B. Neal, Hon. John E. Groce, Talladega; Hon. Wm. Garrett, Coosa; Hon. E. R. Flewellen, Barbour; Rev. F. G. Ferguson, Rev. W. H. McDaniel, Rev. Lewis Dowdell, Rev. E. J. Hamill, Ala- bama Conference; Daniel Pratt, Autauga; Hon. James F. Dowell, Rev. Sam. Harris, Chambers: Rev. A. Lipscombe, D. D., David Clopton, Esq., J. W. Willis, Hon. Robert Dougherty, Tuskegee; Hon. R. A. Baker, Duke W. Goodman, Mobile; Dr. N. B. Powell, Dr. W. H. Ellison, J. B. Banks, Esq., Hon J.

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume I, Part 96

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