History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 111

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: 724

USA > Alabama > History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II > Part 111

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The soils of the various subsections in- cluded in the timber belt vary from the heavy, black, prairie soils of the black belt to the light, sandy soils of the pine hills. With appropriate methods of cultivation and by the use of proper fertilizer, plentiful yields of practically every agricultural crop may be obtained in any of the regions. The natural advantages of the timber-belt region, includ- ing favorable agricultural and climatic con- ditions, have brought its lands, especially those in the new or more recently cleared sections, into great demand within the last few years. It is possible that at present the counties of the wiregrass and southwestern pine hills regions are receiving a greater num- ber of immigrants from other States than those of any other section of Alabama.

See Agriculture; Appalachian Valley Re- gion; Black Belt; Canebrake Region; For- estry; Piedmont Plateau; River and Drain- age Systems; Soils and Soil Surveys; Ten- nessee Valley; Valley Regions; Timber and Timber Products; Wiregrass Section.

REFERENCES .- Smith, Coastal Plain of Ala- bama (Geol. Survey of Ala., Special report 6, 1894) ; Agricultural features of the State (Ibid, Monograph 1, 1884), passim; Harper, Economic botany of Alabama, Pt. 1, Geographical report (Ibid, Monograph 8, 1913); and "Forest re- sources of Alabama," in American Forestry, Oct., 1913, vol. 19, No. 10, pp. 657-670; Riley, Alabama as it is, (1893), pp. 194-243; Alabama's new era (Dept. of Agriculture and Industries, Bulletin, vol. 2, 1912), p. 27; Ibid, vol. 3 (1913), pp. 31-34.

TIMBER AND TIMBER PRODUCTS. Fifty of the trees growing in the State are useful for lumber. The pines and oaks are far in excess of all other trees, and the pines make up nine-tenths of the rough and seven- eighths of the finished lumber manufactured. The oaks, poplar, sweet gum, hickory, tupelo gum and cypress rank next in importance for this use.

The first houses were built of hewn logs but the sawmill was not slow in following

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

the pioneers. In some communities the whip- saw was first introduced, while in others the small circular saw was installed. A sawmill was often built in connection with a grist- mill, in order to have the use of the milldam and race, which served as power for both. With the development of the country and the realization of the splendid possibility of the pine forests for lumber, large mills were built, naval-store centers were established, crews were brought in to work out masts for ships, and the business of turpentine orcharding was inaugurated in a small way. It is re- corded that as early as 1777 small lots of pine were manufactured into tar at Mobile. The second-growth, or short-leaf pine, was utilized in making charcoal which was used by the early iron furnaces for fuel prior to 1860 and even later.

Red Cedar .- Through the Tennessee Valley section, there were extensive growths of red cedar. The best trees were found scattered throughout the hardwood forests, and Mor- gan and surrounding counties made up 20 to 30 per cent of this growth. On the limestone rock ridges the growth was dense, the trees large and free from knots and finely adapted for manufacturing purposes, and for tele- graph and telephone poles. For the 18 years prior to 1900 the Western Union Tele- graph Co. shipped from the Tennessee Valley with Falkville as a center, an average of 175,- 000 poles a year, and during the year 1890 there were shipped from Falkville alone 97,- 500 poles valued at $146,000. These trees were from 120 to 160 years old. Much of this north Alabama growth has been used by the pencil industry. The heaviest growth of this tree still intact is in the central section of the State between the Alabama and Tom- bigbee Rivers. The shipment of small trees for piling and for electric light wires and such purposes has been little less than that for telegraph and telephone poles. The cedar, however, is fast disappearing, due largely to too rapid consumption. In addition forest fires and stock grazing have combined to keep down the new growth.

Sawmilling .- The output of the sawmills in Alabama for 1909, according to Harris and Maxwell, in "The Lumber Trade Journal," May 1, 1912, was 1,465,623,000 feet of tim- ber converted into lumber, and valued at nearly $24,000,000. Forty per cent of this rough lumber was further manufactured in the State into finished products, thereby greatly increasing its value. Ninety per cent of the output was pine of the several kinds. Of the annual cut 770,000,000 feet is used in the rough, or is shipped out of the State to be further manufactured. Nineteen in- dustries within the State for manufacturing purposes, used 726,816,900 feet, 36,000,000 feet of which was imported.

These figures do not include the timber used for posts, crossties, and the slabs and lumber refuse which is used for fuel, nor the timber cut and corded and shipped or brought into the cities on wagons for fuel. No figures are available for such materials.

Considering all the foregoing the United

States Census estimate of standing timber for 1909 gave 200,000,000 feet of cypress and 38,000,000,000 feet of the several pines, still intact.

Planing mills and finishing factories it will be seen use a very large percentage of the rough lumber manufactured. They make planed lumber and planing mill products, sash, doors, blinds, packing boxes and crates, baskets, cars, vehicles and parts, excelsior, chairs, tobacco boxes, agricultural imple- ments, furniture, show cases and store fix- tures, handles, spokes, hubs, shuttles, spools, bobbins, sporting and athletic goods, refriger- ators and kitchen cabinets, caskets and cof- fins, ships and boats, woodenware, toys and novelties, wheels, cotton gin parts, lathes, shingles, pencils, brooms and barrel staves.

The last named industry is large, there be- ing 12,978,000 tight cooperage staves, those for barrels and kegs meant to contain liquids, and 14,977,000 slack cooperage staves, those intended not to hold liquids, all made in 1909. Four million sets of pine headings, and 150,- 000 sets of oak hoops were also produced.

The cut of lumber in Alabama in 1909, as given by Harris and Maxwell, supra, was:

Yellow pines

. 1,322,950,000 feet

Oaks

67,485,000 feet

Yellow poplar

26,701,000 feet

Red cedar

13,693,000 feet

Red gum (sweet gum) ..

10,541,000 feet

Tupelo gum

6,227,000 feet

Hickory

5,079,000 feet

Cypress

3,340,000 feet

Maple

2,231,000 feet

Ash

2,146,000 feet

Cottonwood

1,683,000 feet

Chestnut

637,000 feet

Elm

561,000 feet

Beech

497,000 feet

Basswood

461,000 feet

Black walnut

332,000 feet

Sycamore

207,000 feet

Birch 7,000 feet

All others 870,000 feet

The latest available statistics give about 600 sawmills and 100 other establishments of a woodworking character, large enough to ship their products. There are 200 wood- working plants of a higher rank than saw- mills. Among the extensive plants in the State are the Jackson Lumber Co., of Lock- hart, the capital of which is $1,800,000; and the Kaul Lumber Co., of Birmingham. Both concerns control extensive timber lands throughout the State.

Turpentine .- The turpentine industry, be- gun in Mobile as early as 1777, has been con- tinuously more or less active, and forms one of the leading industries of the State. At the beginning tar was the chief product. During the past 20 years Alabama has ranked third in the production of naval stores. The records of 1909 show 175 turpentine stills in operation, 1,445 crops being worked (10,500 boxes or cups allowed to each), 2,840,000 gallons of turpentine produced at a value of $1,254,000, and 310,000 barrels of 280 pounds each, of rosin at a value of $1,214,- 000. The industry has declined in recent

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

years, but from 1904 to 1909 the State pro- duced 10 per cent of all the turpentine and rosin made in the United States. Wood dis- tillation, a comparatively new branch of the industry made up a large part of these flg- ures. Alabama leads all other States. There were 46,478 cords of soft wood (mostly stumps, knots, etc.) converted by distillation into charcoal, turpentine, rosin, etc. Of the total for the United States, 40.3 per cent made by this process, was produced here in 1909.

Organization .- Sporadic efforts have been irregularly made to organize the lumber men of the State, particularly the yellow pine manufacturers. The Alabama-West Florida Lumber Manufacturers' Association, organ- ized probably in the nineties, was one of these. Another was the Long Leaf Yellow Pine Manufacturers of Alabama and Georgia, which held a called meeting in Montgomery, May 5, 1899. The Southern Lumber Manu- facturers' Association was of wider scope, and undertook the adoption of standard classification, grading and dressing rules. The local organizations, however, although of praiseworthy purpose, accomplished little, and were only short-lived.

See Forests and Forestry; Jackson Lumber Company; Kaul Lumber Company; Manu- facturing and Manufactures; Plant Life; Timber Belt.

REFERENCES .- Mohr, Plant life of Alabama (1901), Notes on the red cedar (1901), and Tim- ber pines of the Southern United States (1896) ; Harper, Economic botany of Alabama, pt. 1 (1913), and "Forest resources of Alabama," in American Forestry, Oct., 1913, vol. 19, pp. 657- 670; Harris and Maxwell, "The wood-using in- dustries of Alabama," in The Lumber Trade Journal, New Orleans, May 1, 1912; Hill, "Tim- ber resources of Alabama," in Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1907, pp. 315-316; U. S. Bureau of the Census, Forest products. 1912 (1914), and Manufactures, 1909, vol. 10 (1913) ; Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910); Alabama- West Florida Lumber Manufacturers' Associa- tion, constitution and by-laws (n. p. n. d., p. 8); manufacturers' convention, proceedings, May 5, 1899, p. 8; U. S. Bureau of Corpora- tions, The Lumber Industry (1914), Parts 1-3, index.

TOBACCO. According to the official esti- mates there were three thousand acres of to- bacco, with a two million one hundred thou- sand pounds production, and valued at four hundred and twenty thousand dollars, for the State of Alabama in 1920. The estimated yield per acre was seven hundred pounds, with a value of one hundred and forty dol- lars. The yield is greater than 1919, but shows less valuation. For the entire State the value of the crop is about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars short of that of 1919.

The planting of tobacco in this State has increased materially during the last three years. In 1916, the Bureau of Crop Estimates estimated two hundred acres in tobacco, with an average yield of three hundred pounds. In 1910, the Alabama acreage was two hun-

dred and eleven, scattered in small areas over the entire State, the largest acreage in any one county being seventeen in DeKalb. The average yield per acre that year was four hundred and twenty-five pounds.

The soils of the State are not especially suited to the growing of the plant. Houston County, in its lower sections, has some fine land, which produces a high grade of tobacco, but this cannot be claimed for any other sec- tion of the State.

REFERENCES .- Alabama Markets Journal, Vol. 5, No. 4, January, 1921; Mss. records in Ala- bama Department of Archives and History.

TOHOMES. See Mobilians, Naniabas and Tohomes.

TOMBECBE, FORT. A French fortified post on the Tombigbee River, at what is now Jones Bluff, in Sumter County, near where the Alabama Great Southern Railroad crosses the river.

In anticipation of his campaign against the Chickasaws, Bienville in 1735 sent De Lusser up the Tombigbee to establish a base of sup- plies, which would later serve as a permanent establishment for trade. The site chosen was just below the Choctaw-Chickasaw boundary, and was well located as a point for the con- trol of the Indians.

In the spring of 1736 Bienville arrived at the fort, which he found unfinished. Here he remained for several days, after which he moved his army against the Chickasaws. In the battle of Ackia the French were disas- trously defeated, and with difficulty they re- treated, only after losing many of their brav- est men. Upon returning to Fort Tombeché, Bienville placed De Berthel in command, with a garrison of 30 French and 20 Swiss soldiers.

In 1752 Marquis De Vaudreuil, who had succeeded Bienville, made a second and also unsuccessful expedition against the Chicka- saws. On his return to Mobile, he, like Bien- ville, stopped at Fort Tombecbé, which he ordered enlarged and strengthened.

In 1759, Bossu, a captain of the French marines, made the trip up the river from Mo- bile with provisions for the fort, now com- manded by Chabert. It took 36 days to ac- complish the trip. Bossu kept a journal of his travels, which was almost wholly given up to a description of the manners and cus- toms of the Choctaws. It was printed in French in 1768; and in the only English edition, 1771, in two volumes as Travels through that part of North America formerly called Louisiana.

At the close of the French and Indian War, 1763, Fort Tombecbé went into the hands of the British. From the date of its establish- ment it had been a powerful factor in retain- ing the friendship of the Choctaw Indians. James Adair, the Indian trader, ascribes the Choctaw invasions of the Carolinas to French influence. But the French authorities at Mo- bile had the additional motive of maintain- ing the fort to keep the Choctaws hostile to the Chickasaws, who always favored the Eng-

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

lish. The British renamed the post Fort York, and continued to maintain it because of its favorable location with reference to the Indians. However, they abandoned it in 1768.

But few evidences of the old fort now re- main, and the site is covered with large cedars and undergrowth. On June 12, 1915, the Colonial Dames in Alabama erected a suitable monument to permanently mark the spot on which it was located.

REFERENCES .- Pickett, History of Alabama (Owen's ed., 1900), pp. 283-285, 302, 314, 318; Brewer, Alabama (1872), p. 526; Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), pp. 127, 195, 196, 222, 246, 259; Ala. Hist. Society, Transactions, 1898- 99, vol. 3, pp. 228, 229; Hamilton, Mobile of the five flags (1913), p. 184.

TOMBIGBEE RIVER. One of the main branches of the Alabama-Tombigbee River system which drains the larger part of Ala- bama as well as a considerable portion of eastern Mississippi. Its length is about 503 miles, 298 miles within the State of Alabama, and its width from 125 to 400 feet, with a mean low-water depth of 2 feet below Demo- polis, and 1 foot above. The river rises in northeastern Mississippi, whence it flows southward to its junction with the Alabama (q. v.), 45 miles north of Mobile Bay, to form the Mobile River (q. v.). That portion of the river above the confluence of the Warrior and the Tombigbee is popularly known as the Lit- tle Tombigbee. Its principal tributaries in Alabama are the Warrior (q. v.), the Sipsey (q. v.), the Luxapallila (q. v.), and the But- tahachee (q. v.), of which the Warrior is most important, forming, with the Tombigbee and Mobile Rivers, a water route of transporta- tion from the Warrior mineral district to the Gulf. Besides these, there are seven other tributary rivers and creeks worthy of men- tion: Browns and Mackeys Creeks, which unite and form the Tombigbee; Bull Moun- tain creek, which joins it at Smithville, Miss .; Old Town Creek or West Fork, at Amory, Miss .; Sakatonchee River, about 6 miles above Columbus, Miss .; Lubbub Creek, near Alice- ville, Ala .; Noxubee River, at Gainesville, Ala.

Topography and Geology .- The width of the Tombigbee River Valley is approximately 3 miles, and the river, in its meandering course through the alluvial plain, which is overflowed during floods, occasionally comes in contact with the cliffs of rotten limestone of the "black belt," or with the red clay hills to the north and east of the "black belt." This gives high bluffs at various points on the river. The bed of the river over almost the whole distance is composed of blue rock or rotten limestone. In nearly all places the surface is of sand and gravel. The sec- tion of the river between Columbus, Miss., and Demopolis, Ala., 149 miles, flows either through or along the edge of what is known as the "black belt" or "prairie land." This land is very rich and productive, and belongs to the geological formation known as the Selma chalk, or rotten limestome. The soil is soft and sticky when wet, but is baked by

the sun into a hard crust resembling rock. Cultivation and the wear of traffic pulverize the soil into a fine powder, practically free from grit, which is washed into the river by heavy rains, making the Tombigbee a heavy silt-bearing stream. The counties of Ala- bama traversed by, or contiguous to the river, are Pickens, Greene, Sumter, Marengo, Clarke, Washington, and Choctaw.

Navigability .- Originally steamboat navi- gation of the river was practicable only dur- ing high water as far as Aberdeen, 199 miles above Demopolis, the channel being 70 feet wide and 1 foot deep below Columbus, 149 miles above Demopolis, and 50 feet wide and 1 foot deep from Columbus to Aberdeen. The channel was obstructed by shoals, logs and overhanging trees.

Improvement for Navigation .- The im- provement of the Tombigbee River by the United States Government was commenced under the project of 1871, which contem- plated the removal of obstructions and the widening and deepening of existing channels through various bars between Columbus and Demopolis. In 1879 this project was modi- fied so as to provide for a channel of navi- gable width and 3-foot depth at low water between those points. Under these plans a total of $63,382.98 was expended. In 1890 the present project for the improvement of that section of the river was adopted. It provides for securing a channel 6 feet deep at low water, by snagging, tree cutting, bank re- vetment, bar improvement, and the construc- tion of locks and dams, at an estimated cost of $779,400. In 1902 this project was merged with the project for the canalization of the Black Warrior, Warrior (q. v.), and the Tom- bigbee.

Above Columbus, the present project, which is also the first, provides for securing high-water channel as far as Walkers Bridge, 169 miles, by the removal of obstruc- tions at an estimated cost of $47,000 and $6,500 annually for maintenance. The river and harbor act of February 27, 1911, con- solidated the improvements from Demopolis to Walkers Bridge and made one appropria- tion for the entire section. Since that time work has been restricted to improvement at and below Aberdeen, Miss. The present gen- eral project for the improvement of the War- rior-Tomhigbee-Mobile River system has for its object the securing of a 6-foot channel at low water from Mobile to Sanders Ferry on the Mulberry Fork of the Black Warrior, and to Nichols Shoals on the Locust Fork of the same river, by the construction of 17 dams and 18 locks, the extra lock being at Dam 17 where the lift of 63 feet is equally divided between 2 locks in tandem. The locks are from 320 feet 8 inches to 332 feet long be- tween miter sills, with a clear width of 52 feet and a depth of 61% feet over sills at low water.

The total estimated cost of these improve- ments is $9,497,000. At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915, this project was about 98 per cent completed. All the locks and dams were completed and a

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

6-foot channel obtained as projected. The total cost of the work, up to that time, was $9,137,989.93.

Water Power and Flood Control .- The questions of water power, flood control, and land reclamation do not enter into the prob- lem of improving the Tombigbee River. Only intermittent water power could be developed, and this during the low-water stages of the river, as the dams would' be drowned out during a large part of the year.

Appropriations .- The dates, amounts, and the aggregate of appropriations by the Fed- eral Government for improvement of this stream, as compiled to March 4, 1915, are in Appropriations for Rivers and Harbors (House Doc. 1491, 63d Cong., 3d sess., 1916). (See Warrior River.)

REFERENCES .- U. S. Chief of Engineers, An- nual report, 1896, App. P, pp. 1437-1447; 1906, App. R, pp. 362-368, 1272-1279; 1907, App. R, pp. 376-382, 1370-1379; 1909, App. R, pp. 416-423, 1412-1426; 1910, App. R, pp. 465-474, 1564-1577; 1911, App. R, pp. 497-508, 1702-1717, with maps; 1912, App. R, pp. 615-626, 1921-1938; 1914, App. R, pp. 687-699, 2187-2206; 1915, pp. 760-773, 2531- 2549; U. S. Chief of Engineers, Reports on sur- vey and preliminary examination of Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers (H. Ex. Doc. 156, 51st Cong., 1st sess.) ; Report of examination of Tom- bigbee River from Demopolis, Ala., to Columbus, Miss. (H. Doc. 1334, 59th Cong., 2d sess.) ; U. S. Chief of Engineers, Reports on preliminary ex- amination and survey of Tombigbee River from Demopolis, Ala., to Columbus, Miss. (H. Doc. 1137, 64th Cong., 1st sess.)

TOMBIGBEE TURKEY TOWN. See Fakit Chipunta.

TOMEEHETTEE BLUFF. See McIntosh Bluff.

TOMONPA. An Alibamu town in Elmore County, situated on the right or west bank of the Coosa River, fronting the falls. The only available information concerning this town as to location, is found on Danville's map, 1732, and De Crenay's map, 1733. On the latter the town site has changed from its location at the falls, and is placed a few miles lower down on the same side of the stream, but apparently opposite Fort Toulouse. The name on the latter is spelled Tomopa. A later reference is found in a French census of 1760, in which the Thomapas are given 70 warriors, and are located a quarter of a league from Fort Toulouse. The town evidently lost its identity, and was absorbed by other villages in the vicinity.

REFERENCES. - Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), pp. 188, 190; Mississippi, Provincial Archives (1911), p. 94.

TOUALE. A town, located a short dis- tance from Ikan' hatki, on the Tallapoosa River. The name would indicate that it was a Choctaw or Alibamu town. If so it would be included in the group of towns of that tribe in this region. It is noted on De Cre- nay's map on the Tallapoosa River, but a

little distance from the river, south of Fusi- hatchi. The word Towhali in Choctaw is a term used to describe the open woods, in which grow only low brush, with glades run- ning through it. The location on the map and (1910), p. 190; Alabama History Commission, the signification of the name would place the town in the open fields near No. 4 prison camp, a short distance above Pickett Springs.

REFERENCES. - Hamilton, Colonial Mobile Report (1901), p. 398.

TOULOUSE, FORT. A French fortified post on the east bank of the Coosa River, about a mile above its junction with the Tal- lapoosa and 4 miles down the river from the present town of Wetumpka, Elmore County. It is said to have been built at the invitation of the principal chief of the Alibamons, dur- ing a war between the English and the Creeks. Such an opportunity was immediately seized, and Bienville is credited with erecting the fort in 1714. The site was particularly well chosen as it commanded the Indians and the great trade route from the Carolinas to the Louisiana country, and was at the head of navigation of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers. It was also a great factor in check- ing the military and commercial advance of the British.

The fort was first called "Aux Alibamos," but was later changed to Toulouse in honor of Comte Toulouse, son of Louis XIV, and head of the French Navy. It was considered most formidable with its four bastions, manned with two cannon each and an abundance of ammunition and firearms. However, the chief object of the French in locating the fort was not for military purposes, but as a center from which to control the Indians, and as a trading post. The first commandant was Mandeville. He had many successors; and the fort was always occupied by one priest.

The period during which Marchand was commandant, probably about 1722, was marked by peculiar hardships and trouble, and ended in a mutiny of the soldiers of the garrison, who killed him and then made their escape. Lieut. Villemont, second in com- mand, overtook the deserters, and had them shot. But more important than either dis- cipline or mutiny is the story of the mar- riage, according to Indian customs, of March- and with the Indian princess Sehoy, by whom he became the father of a little girl, who years later, married the Scotch trader Lach- lan McGillivray, and herself became the mother of the distinguished Alexander McGil- livray. Many influential and aristocratic families of south Alabama are to-day proud of their descent from this union.

Another commandant around whom is woven a romantic story is D'Aubant. It is said that he was married to a Russian prin- cess, and that he brought her to the fort, building a cabin in a field nearby that she might have more comfortable quarters.

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 111

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: 724

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: 724