History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 60

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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Reference has been made to the invasion of De Soto, and of his sojourn at Towassa. Without doubt he and his men were the first Europeans whose eyes ever rested upon the site of Montgomery, for they passed directly by Ikanatchati on their way to Towassa, three miles below. It is not unlikely that the Spanish expedition of 1560 from Nani- pacna to Coosa passed by this point.

More than a century passed before there is any record of the site of Montgomery be- ing again seen or visited by European trav- elers or adventurers. In 1697 three adven- turous and hardy Englishmen from Caro- lina went down the Alabama river in boats to the Mobilian Indians, on Mobile Bay, and it may safely be conjectured that they spent a brief season at the Indian village Ikana tchati. In 1714 Bienville came up the Ala- bama river, and founded Fort Toulouse, near the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, as a remote French outpost against the British on the east. From this time forth this section, as indeed all Alabama, has a well-defined place in the historic development of the old South west.

The region, of which Fort Toulouse was the center, was known among the French as "Aux Alibamos." The Alabamas, to which previous reference has been made, were a component part of the Creek Confederacy.

The first white man to locate in all this section as a permanent resident was James McQueen, a Scotchman, born in 1683, and who came to the Creek Nation in 1716. He died in 1811 at the great age of 128 years, and is buried on the west side of Eufaubee Creek, in Montgomery County. Years after

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

the advent of McQueen, other white people came, and among them Abraham Mordecai; a white woman named Milly, widow of a deserter from the British army; and Colonel Tate, a British officer, who during the Revo- lutionary War, is said to have drilled squads of tories at Ikanatchati.

At the outbreak of the Creek War in 1813 the Alabamas were among the most hostile of all the towns of the Creeks. The result of this war, was disastrous to the Creeks. The Battle of the Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814, broke the power of this great abori- ginal Confederacy. On August 9, 1814, by the treaty of Fort Jackson, their lands west of the Coosa River and of a line drawn ap- proximately from Fort Jackson to the present Eufaula, were ceded to the Americans.

The year of the cession found Arthur Moore, previously referred to, in his lonely cabin, on the site which had come to be known among the traders and hunters as "Hostile Bluff."

With the close of the Creek War, and the throwing open of the new lands to settlement, hardy pioneers were not wanting, and when the new town received its charter in 1819, the population of both the town and the coun- ty of Montgomery was very considerable. The citizens were not wanting in enterprise. Andrew Dexter, the leading spirit, foresaw the metropolitan importance of the town and promptly laid aside a square, on which the State Capitol was subsequently to be erected, as he confidently believed. By 1821 steam- boats were making regular trips from Mobile to Montgomery, and in the same year the Montgomery Republican was issued by Jona- than Battelle.

The first framed storehouse and dwelling were erected in the fall of 1817, by Jonathan C. Farley, at the present Madigan corner, Dexter Avenue and Hull Street. Dr. James Mitchell was the first practicing physician in the town. The earliest teacher was Samuel W. Patterson, 1818, and the next was Neil Blue, 1819. The first lawyer was Nimrod E. Benson. The earliest merchants were Messrs. Klinck and Dice, Mr. Farley above referred to and John Falconer. The first postmaster was Mr. Falconer, and the postoffice was lo- cated in a store, near the present Capitol square. In 1821 a stage line, one trip each week, was established from Montgomery east- ward. Mr. Jonathan Battelle, above men- tioned, was the founder of the Montgomery press. Mr. James Vickers was the first inn- keeper.

Courts for Montgomery County were first held at Fort Jackson, within the limits of the present Elmore County. In 1817, however, the courts and county offices were removed to the present county seat, and in 1822, the court house was located on Court Square, the site of the present artesian basin. Here it remained until 1855, when it was removed to its present commanding position, corner Washington and Lawrence Streets.

The first Christian minister to hold relig- ious services in the City of Montgomery was the Rev. James King, a Methodist minister

from North Carolina. The first church serv- ices were held in the county court house, and in private residences. Near and south of the town, about 1819, the Methodists had erected a meeting house, which seems to have been the first in the vicinity of the city. In 1825 a union church building was erected on the site of the present Court Street Methodist Church, which was used by all churches until 1832, when it went into the hands of the Methodists.

Although not marking the first appearance of the members of the several denominations, the following are the dates of the formal institution of churches within the city limits: Presbyterian, as a congregation, January, 1824, and as a church, November, 1829; Methodist Episcopal, September 15, 1829; Baptist, November 29, 1829; Methodist Protestant, 1830; St. John's Protestant Epis- copal, January 9, 1834; St. Peter's Catholic, April 25, 1834; a Universalist Church, June, 1834; and Kahl Montgomery, June 3, 1849.

Montgomery from the beginning has been the home of many of Alabama's most dis- tinguished public men, and many of the State's representative families. Among the latter are the Bibb, Graves, Hall, Caffey, Pickett, Harris, Jackson, Elmore, Fitzpatrick, Blue, Oliver, Ware, Baldwin, Goodwyn, Ab- ercrombie, Goldthwaite, Yancey, Holt, Gra- ham, Martin, Seibels, Clayton, Wyman, Far- ley, Winter, Gindrat, Thorington, Gayle, Bell, Bolling, Blakey, Gunter, Scott, Taylor, Crom- melin, Henry, Semple, MacIntyre, Lomax, Watts, Troy, Benson, and Sayre families.

The early settlers were enthusiastic patri- ots. Independence Day, and the birthdays of distinguished Americans were celebrated by feasts, balls, and the firing of cannons. Volunteer militia companies were early or- ganized. In 1835, a company from Mont- gomery entered the service of the Republic of Texas; in 1836 another company volun- teered for the Seminole War in Florida. Captain Rush Elmore carried a company to the Mexican War, and Col. J. J. Seibels raised a battalion, which did service at Orizaba. Hundreds of Montgomery's noblest young men saw service in the armies of the Confeder- acy, while many of her sons were general officers of high rank. William Lowndes Yancey, the great leader of Secession, resided in Montgomery. Montgomery was the home of Thomas Hill Watts, Attorney-General of the Confederacy, and third War Governor of Alabama.

As stated, at the time he laid off New Philadelphia, Andrew Dexter, reserved a square at the head of what was first known as Market Street, later to bear his name, as that of the real founder of Montgomery, on which he anticipated the ultimate placing of the State Capitol. The Capitol had been re- moved from Cahaba to Tuscaloosa, in 1826, and from time to time thereafter discussion arose as to its removal from the latter point. At the session of the Legislature, 1845-46, the subject was again advanced, and in Jan- uary, 1846, Montgomery was chosen. The news was received in the city on January 30,

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1846, and at once there was wide-spread rejoicing. A building was soon erected, paid for by the City of Montgomery. The Legis- lature of 1847-48 held its sessions in the new building. On December 14, 1849, during the sitting of the second biennial session of the Legislature, the building was destroyed by fire. It was at once rebuilt. From time to time additions and enlargements have been made.

On the Capitol grounds is placed a hand- some monument to the memory of the Con- federate dead of Alabama. Its erection is due to the Ladies' Memorial Association of Montgomery. . It is said to have cost forty- six thousand dollars. The corner stone was laid by Jefferson Davis, first and only Presi- dent of the Confederate States of America, on April 26, 1886. It was completed and dedicated December 7, 1898.

In 1861, when the Southern States were planning for the formation of a new Con- federacy, Montgomery was chosen as the place for the meeting of delegates to a Provisional Congress. It

is therefore, appropriately known as the first Capital of the Confeder- acy. In the Senate chamber of the State Capitol, on February 4, 1861, the deputies from six seceding States assembled, and after solemn deliberation, organized the Provis- ional Government of the Confederate States of America. There they adopted a provision- al constitution, and elected Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens, President and Vice- President, respectively, of the new Confedera- tion. On the portico Mr. Davis was inaugur- ated, February 18, 1861, in the presence of thousands of people. A brass star marks the spot where he stood. The government offices were located in what is now known as the Clancey Hotel, near the corner of Bibb and Commerce Streets. This fact is commemor- ated by a marble tablet, placed on the Com- merce Street side of the building by the Sophie Bibb Chapter, U. D. C. President Davis, while in Montgomery, occupied the two story residence, corner Bibb and Lee Streets, now know as the first White House of the Confederacy.

During its history, the city has been visited by many distinguished men and women, in- cluding LaFayette, the Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar-Eisenach, General Jacob Brown, Capt. Basil Hall, Washington Irving, the Siamese Twins, Gen. E. P. Gaines, John C. Calhoun, Martin Van Buren, Henry Clay, Tom Thumb, Gen. David Twiggs, Gen. James Shields, Gen. John A. Quitman, James J. Kolb, Mrs. Zach- ary Taylor, Sam Houston, Millard Filmore, "Ole" Bull, besides many others in more re- cent years.

It is proper to note that in Montgomery the first electric trolley car ever known in the world's history was operated. The story of the discovery of electricity as a motive power and its practical application as a means of rapid transit is a thrilling one. To Charles Vanderpoel, a Belgian chemist, work- ing in an improvised shop in Detroit, Mich., is due the distinction of the discovery. The initial trip of the car was made on the morn-

ing of April 7, 1885, in the City of Mont- gomery, the whole work being done by Mr. Vanderpoel, under the direction of J. A. Ga- boury, then the chief owner of the Mont- gomery street car lines.

The location of Montgomery at the head of navigation on the Alabama River, gave the place from the beginning a commanding position. The main line of travel from Georgia and the East pased through or near it. The removal of the Indians, and the con- sequent opening up of all East Alabama to settlement, increased its commercial, social and political importance. With the coming of railroads, the most important trunk lines of which ran through the city, its commer- cial ascendency was still further emphasized.

More Recent Facts .- The city administra- tion since January, 1916, has been run by a commission form of government. Montgom- ery is one of the largest distributing centers in the south for farm products and agricul- tural implements and fertilizers. Six trunk line railroads, with river traffic competitive rates give the city a mercantile advantage. The city water system, supplied from artesian wells is a great asset, the quality being so pure that it is shipped to other points and used on trains for drinking purposes. There are a number of handsome churches of all denominations; a good public school system with a modern high school building named for Sidney Lanier, the Georgia poet who at one time resided in Montgomery.

Woman's College of Alabama, (q. v.) .- Built by the Methodists of the State is located south of Cloverdale and is a growing institu- tion of A grade rank.

Negro Schools, of the public school system, include among others the Swayne school, erected in 1867, by Northern contributions and named in honor of Gen. Wager Swayne, who at that time was in charge of the Freed- man's Bureau in Montgomery. The State Normal School for Negroes is also located there, the ground having been donated by Jim Hale, ex-slave and wealthy Negro con- tractor.

Park System, includes Oak Park, a natural woodland of thirty acres within the corporate limits and several small parks or playgrounds.

Points of Interest, in the city are the State capitol, the central portion of which is his- toric, especially for having been the meeting place of the provisional government of the Confederacy; the Confederate monument on the capitol grounds, the cornerstone of which was laid by Jefferson Davis; St. Margaret's hospital, the west building of which was the former home of Thomas H. Watts, Alabama's war governor; the building on Dexter Avenue, whence was sent the telegram from LeRoy Pope Walker, Secretary of War of the Con- federate States of America to Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard, commander of the Confederate forces in Charleston, S. C., the immediate incident that precipitated hostilities between the sections; the Exchange Hotel, successor of the old Exchange Hotel, which was the official headquarters of the Confederacy while Montgomery was the seat of government;

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Oakwood and Greenwood cemeteries where many distinguished Alabamians are buried; the Governors' Mansion on Perry Street; the First White House of the Confederacy, which was rented by the Confederate Government as a residence for the President of the Confed- eracy and occupied by Jefferson Davis and family for the few weeks of their stay in Montgomery before the removal of the seat of government to Richmond, Va .; Woman's College; the County Club and its fine golf links.

Mayors .- Samuel D. Holt, 1838; Jack Thorington, 1839-1840; Hardy Herbert, 1841; Perez Coleman, 1842-1846; Nimrod E. Benson, 1847; Edwin B. Harris, 1848- 1849; Robert T. Davis, 1850; Thomas Welsh, 1851; Samuel D. Holt, 1852; Charles R. Hans- ford, 1853-1859; Andrew J. Noble, 1860- 1861; J. F. Johnson, 1862-1863; Walter L. Coleman, 1864-1868; Thomas O. Glasscock, 1868-1870; H. E. Faber, 1870-1875; M. L. Moses, 1875-1881; J. B. Gaston, 1881-1885; W. S. Reese, 1885-1889; Edward A. Graham, 1889-1891; John G. Crommelin, 1891-1895; John H. Clisby, 1895-1899; E. B. Joseph, 1900-1903; Thomas H. Carr, 1903-1905; W. M. Teague, 1905-1909; Gaston Gunter, 1909-1910; W. A. Gunter, Jr., 1910-1915; W. T. Robertson, 1915-1919; W. A. Gunter, Jr., 1919 -.

Clerks of the City Council .- Moseley Hook- er, 1838-1839; Richard A. Colclough, 1840; Marton Pond, 1841; Nathaniel H. Wright, 1842; Leonidas B. Hansford, 1843-1860; Stephen Hooker, 1860; Augustus Underwood, 1861-1865; A. J. Noble, 1865; William B. Hughes, 1866-1875; R. B. Snodgrass, 1875- 1897; C. P. Hardaway, 1897-1906; W. F. Black, 1907-1911-15; E. J. Deviney, 1915- 17; C. J. Fay, 1917-19; Brooks Smith, 1919-

See State Capitals; Davis, Jefferson; Con- federate Monuments; Montgomery Federal Building; Confederate Government at Mont- gomery.

REFERENCES .- Rand and McNally; Official and Statistical Register; Mss. in Department of Ar- chives and History.

MONTGOMERY AND EUFAULA RAIL- ROAD COMPANY. Incorporated by the leg- islature, January 13, 1860, which authorized Arnold Seale, Richard H. Powell, Francis Bugbee, Israel W. Roberts, Lewis Owen, Wil- liam D. Mathews, William B. Gilmer, Marion A. Baldwin, John H. Murphy, Thomas H. Watts and David S. Blakey, "directors of the Montgomery and Eufaula Railroad Com- pany, together with the subscribers and stock- holders of the said company heretofore or- ganized, or attempted to be, and such other persons as shall associate with them for that purpose," to construct a railroad from Mont- gomery to Eufaula, through Union Springs; capital stock, $2,000,000 in $100 shares; sub- scriptions payable in money, labor, materials or supplies; company empowered to make contracts, and joint stock with other com- panies if considered advisable; right-of-way, 100 feet in width plus needs for depots, turn- outs and borrow-pits; authorized to borrow

money and execute bonds and mortgages; tolls collectible as portions of the road were . put in operation at rates to be fixed by the board of directors.

Very little was accomplished by this com- pany toward building its road prior to the outbreak of the War, notwithstanding the fact that $30,000 had been loaned to it from the three per cent fund (q. v.) shortly after its incorporation-under act of February 18, 1860.

Blue (History of Montgomery, p. 35), says: "The construction of the Montgomery and Eufaula Railroad was commenced in 1860, with Col. Lewis Owen as President and John Gray as Civil Engineer, the latter hav- ing surveyed the route at his own expense. Only a few miles were completed, when the late war came on and the work ceased. A locomotive named John H. Murphy was put upon the track on the 16th of September, 1860. After the war, Col. Owen re-com- menced the work, in the face of heavy ob- stacles, and labored on, with assistance from the city, and 'State aid,' until the road was completed in 1871, securing to Montgomery a long-desired and most important railroad connection with the Chattahoochee river at Eufaula. This road now is part of the fa- vorite route to East Florida."

On February 17, 1866, the legislature passed an act for the purpose of extending the indebtedness of this company for five years from May 16, 1865, at the same rate of interest, provided the sureties on the ex- isting contract gave their written assent to the extension. The "Reconstruction Legis- lature" passed a law on December 30, 1868, directing the governor to endorse the bonds of this company. It read: "That the gov- ernor of this State be, and he is hereby au- thorized to endorse the bonds of the Mont- gomery and Eufaula Railroad Company to the extent authorized by the act 'To establish a system of internal improvements in the State of Alabama,' passed and approved 19th February, 1867, and the amendments made to said act, nothwithstanding the indebted- ness of said company to the State of Alabama, for thirty thousand dollars, and the mortgage made by said company to the State, under the act approved 17th February, 1866; Pro- vided, That all sums of money which has been heretofore advanced by the State of Ala- bama by the endorsement of bonds hitherto shall be reckoned and regarded as so much of the amount authorized to be extended to said road by the authority of this act." Under this law, the company received the endorse- ment of the State on its total mileage at the rate of $16,000 per mile, amounting to $1,280,000.

On March 3, 1870, the legislature passed an act, "To lend the credit of the State of Alabama to the Montgomery and Eufaula Railroad Company," for the purpose of ex- pediting the construction of its railroad with- in the State, having the following preamble: "Whereas, The multiplication of the means of transportation by railway from the cen- tral, and other portions of Alabama to the

Capt. H. D. Capers, left, Capt. George W. Dixon, right, of Auburn Guards

Capt. N. H. R. Dawson

FOR

Lt. Col. Owen K. McLemore 4th and 14th Alabama Infantry Regiment

Lt. Charles Lewis Tuskegee Light Infantry 0

CONFEDERATE SOLDIERS, ILLUSTRATING C. S. A. UNIFORMS

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

best harbors or ports of the Atlantic, is es- sential to the reduction of the high rates which still prevail for transportation between the points above indicated;

"Whereas, The railroad of the Montgom- ery and Eufaula Railroad Company will in- crease the facilities and reduce the price of transportation between said points, and thus contribute materially to the welfare and prosperity of the people of Alabama;

"Whereas, The considerable portion of said railroad must necessarily be constructed through one of the best agricultural regions of the earth, but which is a region of prairie requiring extra ordinary expense in the con- struction and maintenance of a railroad: Therefore," etc., etc.

The act authorized and required the gov- ernor to lend the company $300,000 in the bonds of the State, payable in not less than 15, nor more than 30 years from their date, bearing interest at the rate of 8 per cent per annum, payable semiannually in the city of New York, upon the execution of its second- mortgage bonds for the like amount, and with like interest, the interest on these second- mortgage bonds to be payable in every in- stance at the treasury of the State, at least 15 days before the corresponding interest on the State bonds was payable. The accept- ance of the loan bound the railroad company never to apply for any further aid from the State. The act further provided that the bonds should not be sold for less than 90 cents on the dollar; that the company should create a sinking fund for the liquidation of the principal of the loan; that before receiv- ing the loan, the company should furnish to the governor "undoubted and satisfactory security for the faithful application of the bonds, or the proceeds thereof, to the further construction and equipment of the road;" that bond with personal security should be given for the completion of the road to Eufaula by October 1, 1871.

The State board of equalization for the year 1871 fixed the value of the road and its equipment at $824,289.50. At this time the actual and contingent liability of the State on straight and endorsed bonds of the company aggregated $1,580,000. Charges of bribery in securing the enactment of the loan law were made. A former president of the road refused to answer when questioned on this point by the house investigating com- mittee. On January 19, 1872, the legislature again came to the relief of this company, which, in spite of the liberal aid extended by the State, had failed to pay its taxes, by passing an act to release it from the payment of the penalty of 10 per cent imposed under the revenue laws on its delinquent taxes for the year 1871.

In 1873 a proposition was made by capital- ists to lease and operate the road for a rental equivalent to the interest on its bonds, pro- vided the State would release the road from its lien on account of the $300,000 State bonds and the $30,000 of the three per cent fund loaned to the company. On April 15 of that year, an act was passed which directed

the governor to make a settlement with the road on the following basis: that the State be released from or protected against liabil- ity for its endorsement of the first-mortgage bonds of the company, amounting to $1,280,- 000, and in consideration of the release of the State from such liability, the State to surrender to the company its second-mort- gage bonds for $300,000 and the past-due coupons thereon, and to assume the payment of the bonds given by the railroad company to secure the payment of the $30,000 loaned it from the three per cent fund, with the ac- crued interest thereon.

Central Railroad and Banking Co .- The same year the road went into the hands of a receiver, and was operated by him until May 1, 1879, when it was sold under a foreclosure decree of the United States District Court to satisfy the claim of the State. It was pur- chased for $2,120,000 by Wm. M. Wadley, who later transferred it to the Montgomery & Eufaula Railway Co. A contract was made by this company with the Central Railroad & Banking Co. of Georgia to operate the road, the rental being an amount sufficient to pay the interest on outstanding bonds, any sur- plus going to the lessee. In the years 1879 and 1880 this surplus was applied to improv- ing the road. The connections made with other lines after the lessee took charge, and the advantages of through traffic derived from these connections, increased the earn- ings of the road to such an extent as to pro- vide for its interest charges and for a profit to the lessee. In 1881 the profit received by the Central Railroad & Banking Co. was 10 per cent; in 1882, $5.88 per share; in 1883, $8.6712 ; and in 1885, $8.43. In 1884 the net earnings were used to purchase steel rails and to improve terminal facilities. During this period the rolling stock and other equip- ment was added to and improved, and the general character of the property was raised from a local road to what in this section at that time was considered a trunk line rail- way.

The operation of the road continued to be reasonably profitable until 1893, when the financial panic of that year retarded business of all kinds. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1893, the deficit from operation amounted to $28,020. The interest due on bonds, $90,- 000, brought the total deficit up to $118,020. The Central Railroad & Banking Co. charged this deficit to its own income account, and continued to operate the road, but was unable to pay, or to fund, the interest due July 1, on the bonds of the Montgomery & Eufaula and several of its other subsidiary companies. The Central had defaulted in interest pay- ments on its own first-mortgage bonds and certificates of indebtedness in the previous year. Upon default on the Montgomery & Eufaula bonds, the Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. of New York brought suit, and in July, 1894, obtained a judgment for $1,640,000, being the principal and interest since July 1, 1893. The court's order directed the receiver to ten- der the possession of its leased roads to their owners, giving them the option of leaving

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 60

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