History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 114

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 114

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The subject of special facilities for the treatment and study of tuberculosis first re- ceived recognition from the State government in 1907, when a law was passed, establish- ing a State sanatorium for the study of tuber- culosis. Something had been done by private effort in various localities in the way of es- tablishing fresh-air camps, conducting anti- spitting crusades, etc., but these commenda- ble philanthropies had been without State support or encouragement, moral or financial. The passage of the law above referred to marked the beginning of a new public policy with reference to the "white-plague," but, un- fortunately, so far it has been little more than a policy or plan, for small progress has been made toward accomplishing the objects of the legislation, and most of the work of prevention and cure is still done through un- official and private agencies.

See Sanatorium for Consumption and Tu- berculosis, the Alabama; Tuberculosis.

REFERENCE .- General Acts, 1915, pp. 648-653.

1332

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

TUKABATCHI. An Upper Creek town in Elmore County, situated on the west bank of Tallapoosa River, opposite and a little above Big Talisi. It was about two miles and a half below the falls, and below the modern town of Tallassee. Tukabatchi was the an- cient capital of the Upper Creeks, hut at what time it obtained this distinction is not known. De Crenay's map, 1733, notes this town as Totepaches, and places it on the south side of Tallapoosa River, apparently on Cubahat- chee Creek. Some time subsequent it moved across the river. At different times the town appears to have occupied two separate loca- tions in its present vicinity. One was near the influx of the Wallahatchee Creek. The other, occupied in 1775 was its well known site on the right bank of the Tallapoosa, on the beautiful plateau about a mile from the bend of the river and opposite the influx of Yufahi. By the French census of 1760 the Totepaches had 200 warriors, and were lo- cated 10 leagues from Fort Toulouse. The English trade regulations of 1761, assigned "Tuckabatchee including Pea Creek and other plantations, Choctawhatchee, Euchees and Co.," with 90 hunters, to James Mc- Queen and T. Perryman.

Tecumseh came to Tukabatchi, and held a council with the Upper Creeks in the fall of 1811. This visit to Tukabatchi was to it as the national center, although he visited other parts of the nation, including Big Talisi across the river.

The meaning of the word is uncertain. The inhabitants have a tradition that their ances- tors fell from the skies, or according to others, they came from the sun. Another story is that they did not originate on this continent, hut when they arrived from their country they landed at the "jagged rock," Tchato tchaxa lako, and that they brought with them certain metallic plates, which they long preserved with great care. Adair records that they consisted of 5 copper and 2 brass plates, and that they were preserved under the "beloved cabbin in Tuccabagy square." They helieved that they were a different people from the Creeks. The town was anciently known under two names, Talua fatcha-sigo, "incorrect town," that is a town deviating from strictness. Ancient forms of the name were Tugibaxtchi, Tukipahtchi and Tukipaxt- chi.

At this town several national councils were held, accounts of which appear in Hawkins and Milfort. It was at the council held there in 1799, November 27, that the classification of the towns was made, and for which war- riors were appointed.

It is believed that the town included a number of Shawnees. It suffered much in later wars with the Chickasaws. Because of its importance a traders' trail from Kasihta to the upper part of the Creek nation crossed the river at Big Talisi and Tukabatchi. In 1799 it could muster 116 warriors. The cen- sus of 1832 ranks this town as the largest among the Creeks with 386 houses.

See Hoithlewalli; Talimuchasi.

REFERENCES .- Handbook of American Indians (1910), vol. 2, p. 833; Hawkins, Sketch of the Creek Country (1848), pp. 27, 51, 52; Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), p. 190; Bureau of American Ethnology, Eighteenth annual report (1899), pt. 2, map 1; Mississippi, Provincial Archives, vol. 1, p. 194; Georgia, Colonial rec- ords (1907), vol. 8, p. 523; Adair, American Indians (1775), pp. 178-179; Schoolcraft, Ameri- can Indians (1854), vol. 5, p. 283; Milfort, Memoire (1802), pp. 40, 266.

TUKABATCHI TALAHASSI . See Tali- muchasi.

TUKPAFKA. An unidentified Upper Creek village, on the Chattahoochee River, probably in Chambers County. A creek of the same name is one of the upper tributaries of Potchushatchi, hut what relation, if any, there was between the name of the creek and the location of the town is unknown. Hawk- ins says that Niuyaka was settled from this town ahout 1777, but Swanton is authority for the statement that the modern Creeks have a tradition that Tukpafka belonged to a group with Wakokayi and Weogufki, and that they were entirely distinct from the Okfuski group, to which Niuyaka belonged. The word means "punkwood, spunk, rotten wood, tinder." It contained 126 families in 1832. See Niuyaka; Wakokayi; Weogufki.

REFERENCES .- Hawkins, Sketch of the Creek Country (1848), pp. 45, 46; Gatschet in Ala- bama History Commission, Report (1900), p. 412.

TULAWAHAJAH. An old Creek Indian town in Shelby County, on the west side of the Cahaba River, almost due south of Bir- mingham.

REFERENCES .- Manuscript records in Alabama Department Archives and History.

TURKEY CREEK. An old Creek Indian town, on Turkey Creek in Jefferson County, probably a few miles north of Trussville.

REFERENCES .- Manuscript records in Alabama Department of Archives and History.

TURKEY TOWN. Choctaw Indian village on the Tombigbee River, at E. S. Thornton's upper landing in the West Bend section of Clarke County. Very few facts concerning it are preserved.

REFERENCES .- Ball, Clarke County (1882), p. 164.

TURKEY TOWN. A Cherokee town founded about 1770, and situated in the bend of Coosa River opposite the town of Centre, in Cherokee County. It was a place of great importance in the Nation, and was named for one of its most noted chiefs, "The Turkey." Here under his leadership, origi- nated many of the hostile expeditions against the white settlers of Tennessee and Ken- tucky.

REFERENCES .- O. D. Street, in Alahama Hls- tory Commission, Report (1901), vol. 1, p. 420;

1333

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

Pickett, History of Alabama (Owen's ed., 1900), pp. 146, 556; Handbook of American Indians (1910), vol. 2, p. 840.

TUSCALOOSA-Post office and station on the Mobile and Ohio and the Alabama Great Southern railroads in the south central part of Tuscaloosa County. It is located on the War- rior River, at the falls, about 60 miles south- west of Birmingham and about 175 miles northwest of Montgomery. Altitude: 223 feet. Population: 1870-1,689; 1890- 4,215; 1900-5,094; 1910-8,407; 1920- including Courthouse, 15,605.

In 1809, when the government at Washing- ton was establishing trading posts through- out Mississippi Territory, a Creek chief, by name Ocechemotla, obtained the consent of the Choctaws to locate a settlement known as Black Warrior Town at the falls of the Warrior River. This settlement was visited by Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, on his re- turn from the Alihamo towns. This expedition had been undertaken with a view to enlisting the Southern Indians in a general uprising against the whites. After the massacre at Fort Mims and the sanguinary events follow- ing in its wake, the garrison at Seminole Fort at Warrior Town was captured and the settle- ment was destroyed.

In 1815 Isaac Cannon and John Wilson came to Warrior Town selecting an old In- dian field, near Seminole Fort, as a place of settlement. The early inhabitants came to this section from the upper districts of the Carolinas and Georgia, first migrating to Ten- nessee and later to Alabama. Patrick Scott, Jonathan York, John Barton, Joseph Tilley and William Wilson were among these early settlers. William Wilson built the first log hut near where the old State capitol now stands and Jonathan York built the first board shanty in the county of Tuscaloosa. The first frame residence of any size was erected by William R. Colgin and the first brick resi- dence by Dr. James Guild.

Tuscaloosa was incorporated by an Act of the general assembly of Alabama, approved December 13, 1819, and comprehended the fraction of land known as the south fraction of Section 22, Township 21, Range 10 west. The limits were extended by an act of the legislature of 1825-26, so as to include frac- tional sections of 21 and 22, and sections 23, 26, 27, and 28 of the same township and range. On January 12, 1828, a new charter was granted and this and all subsequent char- ters confine its limits to fractional sections of 21 and 22 south of the Warrior River. The population in 1817 numbered about 200 people and had increased to 600 at the time of the land sales in 1821.

In 1826, the State Capitol was removed from Cahaba to Tuscaloosa where it re- mained until its removal to Montgomery in 1845. On December 29, 1827, Tuscaloosa was selected by the general assembly as the location of the State University.

Among its early schools were: "The Thrashing Machine," opened in 1829 by Wil- liam Price, Sims' female academy opened the

same year, the Tuscaloosa female academy organized August 1, 1831, Alabama central female academy, Alabama female Institute chartered in 1824, the University high school incorporated in 1887 . and several private schools of the highest type. The present system of public schools ranks with the best in the State. The Baptists in 1817 built the first church, which was soon followed by a frame structure erected by the Methodists. The Presbyterians early erected a house of worship and during the years 1829-30, Christ church was built by the Episcopalians of the city. The Catholics erected a church in 1845 but before this date had held services in various buildings and private homes.

In 1820, the first newspaper, the "Ameri- can Mirror" was published by Thomas M. Davenport. This paper was merged into the "Tuscaloosa Chronicle" in 1827. The "Ala- bama Sentinel" was edited by Washington Moody in 1826 and contained the proceedings of the first sessions of the legislature held in Tuscaloosa. These were followed by the "Alabama State Intelligence," 1827, the "Spirit of the Age," a weekly journal es- tablished by A. M. Robinson, 1829, the "In- dependent Monitor," 1836, the "State Jour- nal and Flag," 1842, which later became the "Tuscaloosa Observer," 1845, the "Blade," 1871, and the "Clarion," 1879. The "Tus- caloosa News and Gazette," the present city paper, was established in 1888.

Tuscaloosa has coal mines in its immediate vicinity, is the trade center for cotton grow- ing and lumbering district, farming district and a pickle growing industry. Iron ore, tim- ber and fire clay are found in its district. The division point of the Mobile and Ohio railway shops, cast iron pipe shops, hosiery mills, box factories and blast furnaces are among its industries.

The Warrior River is navigable as high as Tuscaloosa. The United States government has built locks and dams in the upper War- rior in order to secure slack-water naviga- tion.

See also: State Capitals, University High School, Insane Hospitals, Alabama female in- stitute.

REFERENCES-Northern Alabama illustrated; Pickett, History of Alabama (Owen edition), 1900; DuBose, Alabama History, 1915; Brewer, Alabama, 1872; Alabama Official and Statistical Register, 1919.

TUSCALOOSA COUNTY. Created by an act, February 7, 1818. Its original northern boundary was that of the present counties of Marion and Winston; as far east as the Sip- sey Fork of the Tuskaloosa, and down the same to include the present east boundary of the county; as far south as Five Mile Creek in the present Hale County, and from the mouth thereof due west to the Tombeck- hee River; up the same to Cotton Gin Port; thence northeast to the present line of Marion. By an act of February 13, 1818, the dimensions of the county were reduced by the establishment of Marion County. The dimensions of the county were again

1334

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

reduced by the creation of Greene County, by legislative act, December 13, 1819, and by the creation of Pickens County, by act of December 19, 1820. The final shape and dimensions of the county were given by the act of December 20, 1820, when part of Perry County was added to Tuscaloosa. It has an area of 1,355 square miles, or 867,200 acres.

It bears the name of the river which flows through it. The name is from the Choctaw, "tashka," warrior, "lusa," black.

A courthouse and jail were in Tuscaloosa at the time of its incorporation in Decem- ber, 1819. In 1822 as a result of an election held by the people it was moved to Newtown, which had been incorporated in December, 1820, under the name of "the Lower Part of the Town of Tuscaloosa." Soon after the town of Tuscaloosa was laid off and it was moved back to this place.

Location and Physical Description .- It lies in the west-central part of the state and is bounded on the north by Fayette and Wal- ker Counties, on the east by Jefferson and Bibb, on the south by Hale and Greene, and on the west by Greene and Pickens Counties. The surface features range from hilly and broken in the northeastern part to gently rolling over the upland Coastal Plain coun- try. Roughly, three-fourths of the county lies in the Coastal Plain, the northeastern one-fourth being within the Appalachian province. The Black Warrior River and its principal tributaries in the northeastern sec- tion of the county have cut their channels to depths of several hundred feet, and the county contiguous to these drainage lines is rough and broken to mountainous. This is a region of Palezoic shales and sandstones. In the coal measures region the soil is sandy and seldom very fertile. The bottom lands are the best farming lands in the county. The high level lands of the lower half of the county are also very fertile. A variety of clays afford material for the manufacture of bricks, earthenware and tiles. The county is well drained by the Black Warrior, North Fork, and Sipsey Rivers and their many tributaries. The forests abound with the long and short leaf pine, poplar, ash, white oak, hickory, beech, walnut, cypress, syca- more, sweet and black gum, elm, maple, and many other species. The climate is equable and temperate throughout the year and the annual precipitation is 52 inches.

Aborginal History .- The first record of Tuskaloosa is on DeLisle's map of 1707, spelled Taskaloussas. If, according to the view of the writer, the town of Maubila, de- stroyed by DeSoto in 1540, was in the south- ern part of Greene County, as the chief of this town was "the suzerain, of many terri- tories, and of a numerous people," it is likely that Taskaloussa may have existed in 1540 as one of the towns of the Maubila confed- eracy. It is not implied by this statement that there is any connection between the name of the Maubila Chieftain, Tuscalusa, and that of the town bearing same name on the Black Warrior. It cannot be deter- mined whether the Taskaloussas .on DeLisle's

map was an inhabited village, or one that had been abandoned and the name still ad- hered to the locality. The people of Maubila were certainly a Choctaw-speaking people and all the Choctaw names found on ancient maps on the Alabama River, from Autauga down to Baldwin County, are certainly memo- rials of the Maubila Indians, whose habitat covered this wide extent of country. The people of Tuskaloosa doubtless followed the southern drift of the Maubila Indians after the destruction of their chief town. The second notice of Tuscaloosa is by Captain Bossu, writing in 1759. He had charge of three boats, which were ascending the Tom- bigbee to Fort Tomhecbe, having aboard soldiers, munitions of war, and prisoners. When about sixty leagues from Mobile per- haps near Forkland he met a party of Choc- taws, who told him that they had crossed the river, meaning the Black Warrior, "at a place, called in their language, Taskaloussas." This statement implies an abandoned place, and the party evidently crossed the river at the shallow ford above the falls, the place being called Taskaloussas from the name of the dead town. But Adair in his "American Indians" is the best evidence that there were no inhabitated Indian towns on the Black Warrior in the eighteenth century. He

states that about the close of 1747 the French for a while contemplated moving their gar- rison from Fort Tombecbe and establishing it on Potagahatche "in order to decoy many of the Choctaws to settle there by degrees, and intercept the English traders, on their way up from our settlements." The absence of inhabited towns on the Black Warrior is plainly shown by this language. In short, if Tuscaloosa had been an inhabited town at any time during the French dominion they would certainly have kept its warriors con- stantly employed against the English traders traveling the Carolina-Chickasaw trading path. Potagahatche as spelled by Adair and Patagahatche as spelled on Mitchell's map of 1755, restored to the correct Choctaw form, "Apotaka Hacha," was the Choctaw name of the Black Warrior River. In Choctaw, "Apotaka" means, edge, border. "Apotaka Hacha," Border River, so named because it was the border or frontier river between the Choctaw and Creek Countries. Towards the close of the eighteenth century Apotaka Hacha as the name of the river began to pass out of use, and it began to be called Tuscaloosa or the translated name, Black Warrior.

The eastern boundary line claimed by the Choctaws at the treaty of Hopewell in 1786 was recognized by the Creeks. Early in the nineteenth century, a body of Creeks, were permitted by the Choctaws to form a settle- ment within their boundary at the falls of the Black Warrior, on the site of the ancient town. The name of the Creek chief was Ochooche-Emathla; the Creek name of the town has not been preserved. The town be- came decidedly hostile at the outbreak of the War of 1813. On October 4, 1813, before the Choctaw nation had declared war against the Creeks, nine Choctaw warriors left Major

1335

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

Pitchlynn's house and went to Tuscaloosa. They found that the people, two hundred in number, had abandoned the place, except a few men and women in a stockade fort, who were preparing to go in canoes down the river. All the stock had been removed and the corn was left unharvested in the field. The Choctaws soon returned to Pitchlynn's with their report. Very soon after the Choc- taws had left, the place was visited by Colonel Coffee commanding a detachment of Tennes- see soldiers. After securing some supplies from the fields and cribs, Coffee ordered the town to be burnt. The Creeks, however, did not leave the county for they had other towns and fields in the vicinity unknown to Colonel Coffee.

Early in December two Choctaw chiefs, Humming Bird and Talking Warrior, made an expedition against the Creeks on the Black Warrior, in which they killed four Creeks and several renegade Choctaws. But the final ex- pedition was made in January, 1814, when a Choctaw force of four hundred men under Col. John McKee crossed the Black Warrior. They utterly routed the Creeks, burnt two towns, one fort, destroyed a great deal of corn, killed some live stock, and altogether did their savage work so well that the Creeks in de- spair utterly abandoned the Tuscaloosa coun- try. No settlements were made on the Tus- caloosa by the Choctaws after the Creek war, and the country became an American possession by the Choctaw treaty of the Trading House, October 24, 1816.

At several points on the Black River, notably at McCowin's Bluff, R. H. Foster Landing, Jones' Ferry Landing, Hill's Gin Landing, and Foster's Ferry Landbridge, are mounds which in a few instances show burials, but none are burial mounds. Ab-

original cemeteries are found in connection with some, and a short distance above the last named point is a large burial site from which numbers of objects have been secured, being turned up from time to time, by the plough. During the year 1875, two immense earthenware vessels were ploughed up on the plantation of Mr. H. Wynn. Five miles north of Cooling, just above the confluence of Lit- tle Creek with Big Hurricane Creek, there formerly existed very evident remains of a fortification, thought to have been aboriginal. Town sites are found in some other points in the county away from the rivers, but re- mains are not numerous.

Early Settlement and History .- The first settlers came in 1816 and settled on the site of the town of Tuscaloosa. These early set- tlers were largely of Scotch-Irish extraction, with a sprinkling of English, coming from the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, Ken- tucky, and Georgia. Among the first settlers were Thomas, Jonathan and Emanuel York, John Barton, a blacksmith, William Wilson, Patrick Scott, Josiah Tilley, Pleasant H. Dearing, and John G. King. In 1817 the pop- ulation increased largely, all of whom settled at Tuscaloosa and vicinity. Among these was Joshua Halbert who was the first white man that ever drove a farm wagon on the

site of Tuscaloosa, and who kept the first tavern in the town. Other settlers were John and Matthew B. Click, James Penn, Abel Pennington, Dr. John L. Tindall, Mar- maduke Williams, John Smith, the first sheriff, Ebenezer Horton, the first coroner, Dr. Jeptha V. Isbell, probably the first phy- sician, Thomas Lovell, tavern keeper, Irvin Powell, first tax collector, Richmond Carroll, blacksmith, Simon L. Perry, Henry T. An- thony, Hirman P. Cochran, Manly Files, and William Strong.

Agricultural Statistics .- From U. S. Cen- sus 1910:

Farms and Farmers.

Number of all farms, 4,715.

Color and nativity of farmers:

Native white, 3,054.

Foreign-born white, 10.

Negro and other nonwhite, 1,651.

Number of farms, classified by size:

Under 3 acres, 1.

3 to 9 acres, 222.

10 to 19 acres, 659.

20 to 49 acres, 1,593.

50 to 99 acres, 895.

100 to 174 acres, 709.

175 to 259 acres, 298.

260 to 499 acres, 240.

500 to 999 acres, 74.

1,000 acres and over, 24.

Land and Farm Area.

Approximate land area, 861,440 acres. Land in farms, 450,211 acres.

Improved land in farms, 163,119 acres.

Woodland in farms, 257,968 acres.

Other unimproved land in farms, 29,124 acres.

Value of Farm Property.

All farm property, $7,659,502.

Land, $4,733,058.

Buildings, $1,327,129.

Implements and machinery, $347,104.

Domestic animals, poultry, and $1,252,211.

bees,

Average values:

All property per farm, $1,624.

Land and buildings per farm, $1,285. Land per acre, $10.51.

Domestic Animals (Farms and Ranges).

Farms reporting domestic animals, 4,560. Domestic animals, value, $1,211,691.

Cattle: total, 16,481; value, $244,058.

Dairy cows only, 7,676.

Horses: total, 2,290; value, $222,692.

Mules: total, 5,174; value, $662,968.

Asses and burros: total, 21; value, $2,335.

Swine: total, 20,752; value, $73,208.

Sheep: total, 2,923; value, $4,538.

Goats: total, 1,930; value, $1,892.

Poultry and Bees.

All poultry, 101,594; value, $36,122. Bee colonies, 2,970; value, $4,398.

Farms Operated by Owners.

Number of farms, 2,416. Per cent of all farms, 51.2.

1336

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

Land in farms, 333,756 acres.

Improved land in farms, 99,958 acres. Land and buildings, $4,843,311. Farms of owned land only, 1,982. Farms of owned and hired land, 434. Native white owners, 1,977.

Foreign-born white, 9.

Negro and other nonwhite, 430.

Farms Operated by Tenants

Number of farms, 2,283.

Per cent of all farms, 48.4.

Land in farms, 106,693 acres.

Improved land in farms, 59,483 acres. Land and buildings, $1,834,036.

Share tenants, 1,015.

Share-cash tenants, 40. Cash tenants, 1,088. Tenure not specified, 140. Native white tenants, 1,063.

Foreign-born white, 1.

Negro and other nonwhite, 1,219.

Farms Operated by Managers.

Number of farms, 16. Land in farms, 9,762 acres.

Improved land in farms, 3,678 acres.

Value of land and buildings, $382,840.

Live Stock Products. Dairy Products.

Milk: Produced, 1,601,008; sold, 66,661 gal- lons.

Cream sold, 1,240 gallons.

Butter fat sold,

Butter: Produced, 653,268; sold, 77,559 pounds.

Cheese: Produced, 40; sold, 40 pounds.

Dairy products, excluding home use of milk and cream, $145,111.

Sale of dairy products, $31,910.

Poultry Products.

Poultry: Number raised, 208,984; sold, 49,- 083.

Eggs: Produced, 462,739; sold, 178,670 dozens.

Poultry and eggs produced, $140,740. Sale of poultry and eggs, $45,550.

Honey and Wax. Honey produced, 22,468 pounds. Wax produced, 1,042 pounds. Value of honey and wax produced, $2,558.

Wool, Mohair and Goat Hair.

Wool, fleeces shorn, 1,839. Mohair and goat hair, fleeces shorn, Wool and mohair produced, $1,170.

Domestic Animals Sold or Slaughtered. Calves-Sold or slaughtered, 511. Other cattle Sold or slaughtered, 10,018. Horses, mules, and asses and burros-Sold, 424. Swine Sold or slaughtered, 10,477. Sheep and goats-Sold or slaughtered, 824. Sale of animals, $153,929. Value of animals slaughtered, $112,918.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 114

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