History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 129

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

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Knowing of his life time interest and sup- port of Christian education, the heirs of Mr.

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John J. Flowers proposed to the commission of the projected college, that they would set aside $50,000 from their inheritance from his estate as a memorial to their husband and father, the fund to be applied towards a building at the college, conditional on the Methodists of the State giving a like sum for the same purpose. The commission in ac- cepting the gift stated, "We hereby state our purpose to name the main building on the Woman's college campus the John J. Flowers Memorial." All other conditions were met.

Sites were offered by the following citi- zens: J. G. Thomas, 50 acres, donation; Joseph Calloway, 50 acres, sale; A. Gerson & Sons, 50 acres, donation; Montgomery Heights Company, 50 acres, donation; B. L. Holt, 50 acres, conditional donation; George D. Noble, 25 acres, donation.

The property offered by J. G. Thomas was chosen by a vote of 8 to 4. The deed to the property is recorded in Vol. 65, p. 381, and Vol. 65, p. 385, of the Records of Pro- bate Court, Montgomery County.

Rev. F. P. Culver, who had been elected agent by the commission on May 13, 1907, declined the office and Rev. J. M. Dannelly was elected as his successor June 18, 1907.

A committee consisting of J. M. Dannelly and W. H. Thomas was appointed to visit and inspect a number of girls' schools in other sections of the country, to study college architecture so that they could advise with architects submitting plans. A building com- mittee was appointed at the meeting held July 23, 1907, of the following: A. W. Smith, J. D. Moore, J. M. Dannelly, W. F. Vandiver, and W. H. Thomas. They selected W. M. Poindexter of Washington City as architect, and B. B. Smith was selected as associate architect.

Upon the death of Dr. J. M. Mason, Dr. A. J. Lamar was elected chairman of the Board of Commissioners. The committee which had been appointed to select a presi- dent for the college, reported on June 3, 1909, that it nominated Dr. W. E. Martin, presi- dent of Sullins College, Bristol, Tenn. Dr. Martin was elected unanimously. The Ala- bama Conference Female College, located at Tuskegee, and conducted by the Alabama conference for thirty years, during the session 1908-09 wound up its affairs and closed its doors. The educational board was confronted with the problem of taking care of these young women who were now without a school. The board decided to organize a junior college to meet their needs until the Woman's college could be completed.

In the fall of 1909 Dr. Martin rented Ham- ner Hall, and several buildings near by, and the college exercises were begun most auspi- ciously in Montgomery. However, fire de- stroyed Hamner Hall and the girls had to go to Sullins college to complete the year's work.

The John J. Flowers Memorial Hall was finished in 1910, and the sessions of 1909-10 were conducted in it.

Mrs. Julia A. Pratt at this time made a donation of $10,000 and the Board of Com-

missioners decided to name the girls' dormi- tory, then being built, the Julia A. Pratt Memorial Hall.

Due to the efforts of the Alumna Asso- ciation of the Alabama Conference Female College a beautiful building to the memory of the life and work of Dr. and Mrs. John Massey was soon thereafter constructed.

Dr. Martin resigned his position as presi- dent in 1914, to become president of the con- solidated Ward-Belmont Seminary, Nash- ville, Tenn. During 1915, Miss Blanche Love- ridge, the Dean of Woman's college, was in charge of the work of the school.

Dr. Mifflin Wyatt Swartz, Ph. D., became president in 1916 and is at this time, 1920, in charge of the institution.

The college has a splendid library, and well equipped laboratories for students of chemistry, physics and biology.

A commodious infirmary, light, airy and well equipped, is part of the college equip- ment. The gymnasium is located ih the base- ment of Massey Hall, and the college has one of the finest swimming pools in the south.

The Woman's college offers a prize of five dollars for the best short story, and also a prize for the best poem written by students each year. A loving cup is presented to the class making the highest number of points on field day, and a cup is also given to the literary society which wins the annual debate.

Four scholarships are given by the college annually through the Federation of Women's clubs. Ten scholarships are granted to stu- dents who perform six hours work weekly in the library under the librarian. A. C. Darling of Andalusia and Mrs. Julia A. Pratt of Prattville maintain scholarships.

The college is handled, in matters of dis- cipline, by the student government associa- tion. The athletic association manages all sports. A thriving Young Woman's Chris- tian Association is maintained.

There are three literary societies, the "Currer Bell," "Philokalean" and "Ad Astra." Each department maintains a club, principal of these are the history, chemistry and Shakespeare clubs. A dramatic and glee club are also maintained.

The publications of the school are "Wo- Co-Ala.," "The Wo-Co-Ala. News," and "Bels and Pomegranates."

In addition to the academic work of the college a school of fine arts is maintained.

In 1920 there are around 400 students in the college.

The trustees (1920) are: Rev. M. H. Holt, Montgomery; Rev. J. M. Dannelly, Montgom- ery; Mr. E. P. Flowers, Montgomery; Mr. M. B. Houghton, Montgomery; Rev. W. M. Cox, Montgomery; Judge W. H. Thomas, Montgomery; Rev. E. M. Glenn, Birmingham; Rev. L. C. Branscomb, Birmingham; Mr. F. M. Jackson, Birmingham; Mr. J. A. Vann, Bir- mingham; Rev. J. S. Robertson, Cullman; Mr. J. H. Wilson, Lincoln.

REFERENCES .- Bulletins and circulars of the Woman's College of Alabama, 1908-09 to 1919-20; Manuscript minutes of the Board of Trustees and manuscript minutes of the

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Board of Commissioners, in the archives of Woman's College.

WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE ASSOCIATION OF ALABAMA. An organization of women in this State, which is a branch of the National organization, the object of which was to se- cure the right of suffrage.

REFERENCES .- Manuscripts in files of Ala- bama State Department of Archives and His- tory.

WOMEN'S CLUBS OF ALABAMA, FED- ERATION OF. See Federation of Women's Clubs, the Alabama.

WOODLAWN LIBRARY. See Librarles.

WOODMEN OF THE WORLD, THE. A fraternal and insurance order founded in 1890 at Omaha, Neb., by Joseph Cullen Root, the governing body being the Sovereign Camp of the World, with branches known as locals. The order pays old age benefits and erects a monument at the grave of deceased mem- bers. The insurance features are the most prominent ones and on this account its mem- bership has grown with strides.

The first Alamaba camp was organized in Mobile, in September, 1892, and was called "First Camp No. 1." The second camp was organized in Montgomery, October 28, 1892; the third at Selma, December 13, 1892. The Birmingham camp, or Number 4, was called the "Magic City Camp," and was organized January 8, 1893.

Alabama became a "head camp" in 1907 and the following meetings have been held: Birmingham, 1907; Montgomery, 1909; Mo- bile, 1911; Tri Cities, (Florence, Tuscumbia, Sheffield), 1913; Selma, 1915; Dothan, 1917. The total membership on January 1, 1917, for the State was 38,914.

Women's Circles .- Governed by the Su- preme Forest and are called "Groves." The first Alabama Grove or local lodge was or- ganized July 3, 1 1899. By August, 1918, there were 189 Groves in the State with a membership of 5,898. The first State con- vention was held at Montgomery in March, 1909; the second in Mobile, 1911; the third at Sheffield, 1913; the fourth at Selma, 1915; the fifth at Dothan, 1917.

REFERENCES .- Letters from Dora Alexander, supreme clerk, and John T. Yates, sovereign clerk, Omaha, Neb., in Department of Archives and History.

WOODRUFF SCHOOL. A private school for the education of boys and girls, founded by Miss Augusta Woodruff, and continuously conducted by her at her residence, 201 Ala- bama street, Montgomery. The training is limited to primary and high school prepara- tory courses. For many years Miss Eliza- beth Moore (now Mrs. Elbert A, Holt) and Miss Annie Lewis have been associated as assistants. Hundreds of the young men and women of Montgomery have received their early training under the wise guidance of Miss Woodrdff and those associated with her.

A report of the school to the State Super- intendent of Education, September 30, 1918, shows 4 teachers, and an enrollment of 34 boys and 41 girls.

REFERENCE .- Manuscript data in the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

WOODSTOCK BLOCTON RAILWAY COMPANY. See Louisville & Nashville Rail- road Company; Birmingham Southern Rail- road Company.

WOODSTOCK COTTON MILLS, Anniston. See Cotton Manufacturing.

WOODWARD IRON COMPANY. An indus- trial corporation, incorporated November 15, 1911, in Delaware, and acquired all the prop- erties of the Woodward Iron Co., of Alabama, and, of the Birmingham Coal & Iron Co .; capital stock: authorized and outstanding- $10,000,000 common, $3,000,000 preferred; total, $13,000,000; shares, $100; funded debt-authorized, $25,000,000, outstanding, $13,267,000; bonds of subsidiary companies guaranteed by this company, $2,000,000; properties owned in Alabama 3 blast fur- naces at Woodward and 2 at Birmingham; 50,000 acres coal lands, on which are located 7 coal mines, with an aggregate capacity of about 4,000 tons of coal daily; about 5,000 acres of red ore lands, on which are 4 red ore mines, with a total capacity of 4,000 tons daily; a brown ore mine at Docray, Ala .; 170 by-product coke ovens; 41.5 miles of railroad, with locomotives and cars; electric power plants; water plants, etc .; available tonnage estimated-coal, 380,109,000 tons; brown ore, 10,000,000 tons; red ore, 286,- 290,000 tons; offices: Woodward, Ala.

The Woodward Iron Co., of Alabama, was organized in 1881. The furnace site and contiguous ore and coal lands had been pur- chased soon after the War. The first log- cabin school of Jones Valley is said to have been located on the property acquired by this company. Its first furnace went into blast August 17, 1883. It is situated very near, if not upon, the spot formerly used as a rose garden by Mrs. Fleming Jordan, from whose husband the old homestead had been bought hy the Woodward brothers. In 1886 the capi- tal stock of the company was increased from $450,000 to $1,000,000. The company pros- pered from the outset, and was the controlling factor in the formation of the present con- solidated company.

The Tutwiler Coal, Coke & Iron Co. was organized in November, 1893, by Maj. Edward M. Tutwiler. In 1906 it sold its properties to the Birmingham Iron Co., which was there- upon reorganized as the Birmingham Coal & Iron Co. The latter was merged with the Woodward Iron Co. in 1911, as shown above.

REFERENCES .- Poor's manual of industrials, passim; Armes, Story of coal and iron in Ala- bama (1910).

WOOLEN MILLS. There is but one woolen . mill in the State-the Killebrew Woolen Mill (T. J. Killebrew & Sons), Newton, Dale County; incorporated 1912; capital, $40,000;

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

368 ring, 240 wool spindles; 1 set wool cards; 2 cotton cards; 12 narrow looms; 2 pickers; 16 sewing machines; 1 boiler, I water wheel; dye; jeans. - Davison, Textile blue book, passim.

WORKMAN'S COMPENSATION ACT, ALA- BAMA. One of the notable achievements of the 1919 legislature was the passage of the Alabama Workmen's Compensation Act, which was approved August 23, 1919, and became effective January 1st, 1920.

The passage of this law resulted from the report of the Alabama Law Reform Commis- sion, which was created by Act of the legis- lature, approved September 15, 1915, com- posed of the Governor, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the presiding judge of the Court of Appeals, the Attorney General, and the Director of the Department of Archives and History. This Commission sub- mitted a report to the legislature of 1919 which recommended a Workmen's Compensa- tion Act, and which Senator Leith, of the 12th District, used as the base of the bill which was enacted into the present law.

The original bill was introduced into the senate on January 17th, 1919, and was im- mediately referred to the Mining and Manu- facturers' Committee. Official notations on this bill on file in the State Department of Archives and History show that it received favorable report on January 23, 1919, but was re-committed on January 28th, reported favorably on January 3Ist, and put on the Calendar. On July 18th it was read first in the House, referred to the Committee on Judiciary, reported favorably and passed the house August 5th, the senate concurring on the same date.

The Act provides that the Director of the Department of Archives and History shall be compensation commissioner, ex-officio, whose duties consist of preparing the necessary forms for carrying out the law, compiling statistics, and submitting a report to the next regular session of the 1923 legislature, with such recommendations and amendments to the Act as experience would suggest.

The Act provides that all corporations, firms, etc., who employ as many as sixteen persons are subject to the law, with the ex- ception of common carriers doing an inter- state business, domestic servants, and casual or farm laborers. In case either the employer or employee desire not to be bound by the provi- sions of the Act, they signify the same by filing written notice with the probate judge of the county in which they are located. Any em- ployer with less than sixteen persons may elect to operate under the provisions of the Act by filing written notice with the probate judge of each county in which he does business.

The employer cannot refuse payment of compensation on the grounds that the em- ployee was negligent. or that his injury was caused by the negligence of a fellow em-

ployee, or that he had assumed the risks of, adherent in, or incidental to the work.

In case of temporary total disability the employer must pay to the employee with no dependents, 50 percent of his average weekly wages, subject to a maximum of $12.00, and in cases of dependency, an amount not ex- ceeding $15.00. In cases of permanent par- tial disability and permanent total disability, the same scale as above applies. The period of time for which compensation is payable in cases of temporary total disability and per- manent partial disability is limited to 300 weeks, and in cases of permanent total dis- ability the period of time for which compensa- tion is payable is limited to 550 weeks.

In addition to the weekly compensation for injuries, the employer is also required to pay for medical and hospital attention to the injured employee to an amount not ex- ceeding $100.00.

Where death results from an injury, the dependents of the deceased employee receive compensation ranging from 30 to 50 per- centum of the average weekly earnings of the employee, subject to a maximum of $ 15.00 per week, for a period of 300 weeks. The employer is also required to pay the expenses of last sickness and burial to an amount not exceeding $100.00 in each case.

In case of dispute arising between employer and employee as to the payment of compensa- tion, the matter is submitted to a judge of one of the circuit courts for adjustment. Lump sum settlements in cases of specific injuries or death must also be submitted to a circuit judge for his approval.

REFERENCE .- Workmen's Compensation Act, Acts of Alabama, 1919, p. 206. Y

YAGNAHOOLAH. A locality on the east side of the Tombigbee River in Clarke County, and known among the Indians as the "Be- loved Ground." It is thus described by Romans, "We came to Yagna-hoolah (i. e. the Beloved Ground), which lies on the east side and is very high, continuing above two miles along the river bank; its lower part is steep and of whitish grey, and at the end above two hundred feet high, reckoning perpendicu- larly." It was evidently in the vicinity and south of Wood's Bluff, and its southern ter- minus was Witch Creek Hill.

REFERENCES .- Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), p. 283; Romans, Florida (1775), p. 329.

YAKNIPAKNA. An unidentified Indian town, encountered by De Soto on his march through Alabama. The meaning is "on top of the earth," and indicates that it was evi- dently situated on a rocky hill.

REFERENCES .- Narratives of De Soto (Trail makers series, 1904), vol. 1, p. 99, and vol. 2, p. 129.

YAMASEE. A tribe of the Choctaw- Muskhogean linguistic stock, associated at

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

various times with the history of South Caro- lina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama. It is first found in historic times in Florida, and along the coast region and the islands of south Georgia. After conflicts with the Span- iards, during the sixteenth century, they fled to the English colony of South Carolina, where they were given lands. After some years they organized with other Indians against the colonists, killed the traders, and engaged in a general massacre of the settlers along the Carolina frontier. On being de- feated the Yamasees were driven out of the colony, and they again retired to Florida. Some took refuge with the Catawba Indians. They had various vicissitudes, and small set- tlements were evidently established among the Creeks and in other parts of the then Louisiana.

On De Lisle's map of 1707 Amassi is laid down east of the Alibamos, apparently in the mid-country between the Alabama and the Chattahoochee Rivers. In 1727 the Catholic church registers at Mobile show the baptism of Francoise, a Hiamase refugee among the Apalaches of St. Louis. Hamilton notes a set- tlement in 1744 at the mouth of Deer River, called Yamanė, which he says were probably Yamasees. On Mitchell's map, 1755, the Massee are placed on the east side of the Tallapoosa just below Tukabatchi. In the map published in the American Gazetteer, 1762, it is given the same location. It is certain that they had settlements in this sec- tion, since the treaty of 1765 between Great Britain and the Upper and Lower Creek In- dians, at Pensacola, May 28, 1765, provides among other items, that the boundary run around the bay and "take in all the planta- tions which formerly belonged to the Yan- massee Indians." This was probably Pensa- cola Bay according to Hamilton. He also calls attention to Yamasee Point, which juts into Pensacola Bay from the north. The fore- going fragmentary references indicate their presence both among the Creeks and on the Gulf in the eighteenth century. Their sub- sequent seats are only imperfectly known, but they were doubtless absorbed by their stronger neighbors. Woodward speaks of them as the "flat-footed Yemassees." They are said to be darker than the Creeks.

REFERENCES .- Handbook of American Indians (1910), vol. 2, p. 986; Woodward, Reminiscences (1859), pp. 25, 29; Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), pp. 111, 113, 233, 245, 246; Winsor, Nar- rative and Critical History of America, vol. 2, p. 294; Ibid, The Mississippi Basin (1898), p. 47; Ibid, The Westward Movement (1899), p. 31; Bureau of American Ethnology, Eigh- teenth annual report, 1899, p. 560.

YELLOW FEVER. Alabama was first visited by this dread scourge in 1704, when a vessel from Santo Domingo brought the disease to Fort Louis de la Mobile, then the chief town of French Louisiana, and barely two years following settlement. The trouble assumed epidemic proportions, and among those who succumbed was Henri de Tonti.

Since that date there have been many visita- tions to this and other towns in the State. In 1873, the disease reached the town of Huntsville in the Tennessee Valley.

Yellow fever has never been known to originate in the United States, and all epi- demics have been traceable to the West Indies where, up to a few years since, it existed throughout the year. The first re- corded epidemic in the history of the world occurred in December, 1493, in Santo Do- mingo, at the town of Ysabella, which had been only that month founded by Columbus, during his second voyage to America.

Since the occupation of Cuba in 1899 by the United States, when the cause of the spread of the disease was ascertained, and Havana and other towns were cleaned up, there has been no recurrence of yellow fever in Alabama except in sporadic cases. The last reported cases were in 1905, when it manifested itself at Castleberry, at Montgom- ery and on board a vessel in Mobile Harbor. The subjects at Castleberry and Montgomery were refugees from Mobile.

Effective quarantine regulations have in a large measure been responsible for the ar- rest of the trouble in recent years, the United States Public Health Service having been very strict in its enforcement.

A survey shows the mortality rate at Mo- bile in all epidemics to be high. This is accounted for principally from the fact of laxity by municipal authorities in the en- forcement of preventive measures and quar- antines during the early days of the epi- demics. The suppression of facts in refer- ence to the prevalence of the disease has also contributed to its spread. Even as late as 1899 the State health authorities were se- verely criticised for reporting the disease immediately after it manifested itself, it be- ing felt that injury in a financial way was done by circulating the information. Preva- lence of the disease in other towns in the State is traceable to refugees from Mo- bile, New Orleans, or Pensacola in all cases. Prior to the discovery of the mosquito theory in 1899, no cleanup campaign had ever been waged, and practically no preventative ef- forts were used except disinfectants, the popular theory being that the coming of the first frost was the only means of arresting the trouble. Statistics show that the large per cent of deaths was among refugees who returned to the infected districts after the first frost, contracted the fever and died. Many cases among negroes have been re- ported, but the percentage of deaths among them has always been small.

Statistics .- Below will be found statistics of recurrence, cases, deaths, periods covered and other items of importance. For early years but few facts are available, although there can be hardly any doubt that the mor- tality of the early colonists in the eighteenth century is to be traced to the scourge of yellow fever.

1704. Severe epidemic among the then small colony at Mobile, introduced from

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

Santo Domingo. Many deaths, but no avail- able statistics.

1765, 1766. In each year severe epidemics at Mobile, introduced from Jamaica. The fa- talities were largely among newcomers, or late arrivals.

1805. Few deaths at Mobile. Disease in- troduced from Havana.

1819. Severe epidemic at Mobile from August 19 to November 30, with 274 deaths. Many cases occurred after frost. Epidemic at Fort St. Stephens from July 4 to Decem- ber 1; and at Fort Claiborne July 4 to De- cember 1. Introduced from Havana.

1821. Sporadic cases; and seven deaths in Mobile during October. Other points not affected.

1822. Severe epidemic at Blakely. "Only four or five cases" reported at Mobile.

1824. Six deaths in Mobile, the last Sep- tember 25, more than a month before frost. 1825. Severe epidemic at Mobile. The

board of health concealed the true condi- tions, and although the disease made its ap- pearance as early as July, no official report was given out until September 2, when only one case was announced. It was not until September 11 that official admission of epi- demic conditions was made. Many deaths reported.

1826-27. Sporadic cases in Mobile in Sep- tember.

1828. Mild epidemic in Mobile, but no statistics available.

1829. Epidemic in Mobile; 130 deaths. First case August 14.

1837. Four cases appeared September 20 at Mobile, but no more at that time. On October 2 a frost fell and those who had left the city returned. On October 10, cases broke out in every section of the city, and the disease was soon epidemic, running to the end of November, 350 deaths reported.

1838. Few sporadic cases at Mobile.

1839. Severe epidemic at Mobile among the new inhabitants. The first case occurred August 11, and the last case October 20. Deaths, 450.

1841. A few scattering cases among in- habitants of the interior, then visiting in Mo- bile.

1842. Slight epidemic in the southern sec- tion of Mobile; 160 cases, and 70 deaths.

1843. Severe epidemic at Mobile. First case reported August 24, and the last, Novem- ber 5. The public was kept in ignorance, the disease became widespread. Cases 1,- 350, with 750 deaths. The infection was traced to New Orleans.

1844. Epidemic at Mobile. The first case reported August 14. Deaths, 40.

1845. Few cases at Mobile, though it did not manifest itself until November 9. Only 1 death.

1846. Four deaths at Mobile. The first case appeared September 11.

1847. Epidemic at Mobile. The first case, August 2. Deaths, 78.

1848. Mild epidemic at Mobile. The first case August 18. Deaths, 24.

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 129

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