History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume II, Part 94

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 94

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).

REFERENCES .- Gatschet, in Alabama History Commission, Report (1901), vol. 1, p. 408; Handbook of American Indians (1910), p. 413.

SAKTI HATA. This place name is written Chacteata on De Crenay's map. It means White Bluff in the Choctaw language, "Sakti" Bluff, "hata," White. Its location shows that it was the name of some bluff on the east side of Alabama River, about midway between the mouth of Pine Barren Creek and Bridgeport, in Wilcox County.

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

SAKTI HOMMA. On De Crenay's map this place name is written Chacteouma. The name means Red Bluff. " Sakti," Bluff, "homma," red. It is the name applied to the high bluff on which Claiborne in Monroe County is situated.

See Elm Bluff.

REFERENCES .- Manuscript references in Ala- bama Department Archives and History.

SAKTI LUSA. This locality meaning Black Bluff, "Sakti," Bluff, "lusa," black, is on the west side of the Tombigbee, two miles below the influx of Saskinatcha. Here a part of the Koassati lived for several years, 1764-1767, and here was the great war crossing, used by the Creeks, and Choctaws in their wars against each other. The trans- lation of the Choctaw name, Sakti lusa, was used for the locality in their respective lan- guages, by both the French and the English, the English usage continuing to the present day. The French Ecor noir, though English, Black Bluff.

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

SAKTI NAKNI ONTALA. On De Crenay's map written Ecor Naguene Ontala, meaning a bluff with a man on it. This bluff is hard to locate. It was doubtless somewhere on the Alahama River, not far from Lower Peach Tree in Clarke County.

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

SALT LANDS AGENT. An office or agency authorized February 23, 1866; and abolished by act of June 19, 1915. The agent was ap- pointed by the governor, who might remove him at pleasure, and who fixed the amount of his compensation, which should not exceed $1,000 a year. It was his duty to superin- tend the salt springs and lands of the State; prevent all waste and trespass thereon; make suitable leases of the springs and lands; set- tle all accounts with former agents or lessees; take charge of all property of every kind on such lands; collect all debts due the State on account of such lands, springs or prop- erty; and make a semiannual report to the governor of the business transacted.

The office was provided to afford an agency to care for the machinery, and other property

and assets, and to adjust outstanding ac- counts and contracts of the salt commission- ers appointed during the War. Gov. Lewis E. Parsons had urged the subject in his mes- sage of November 22, 1865, and the legisla- ture responded by creating the position. The agents appointed by the governor gave only indifferent attention to their duties, and they accomplished but little. The "works" have fallen into decay. The timber on the lands has been the subject of depredation, and for many years no revenues have been received from the springs and lands.

In August, 1911, Gov. O'Neal directed the State land agent to look after the salt lands and springs, and the offices were thus prac- tically merged. The office of State land agent was abolished by act of June 19, 1915. At the same time "the salt springs land reserva- tion," with other State lands, was placed un- der the supervision of the auditor.

No publications.

Agents .- No satisfactory list of agents under the act of 1866 has been made. The following served, beginning on the dates shown, but when their service terminated has not been ascertained, viz: John Y. Kil- patrick, 1866 -; Luck Wainright, 1875 -.

See Salt Springs, Salt Lands, Salt Works. REFERENCES .- Code, 1907, secs. 883-887; Acts, 1865-66, p. 89; Senate Journal, 1865-66, pp. 9-23; General Acts, 1915, p. 217; State Land Agent, Report, 1914, pp. 24-28.

SALT SPRINGS, SALT LANDS, SALT WORKS. By the act of Congress of March 2, 1819, certain lands on which salt springs were situated were donated to the State of Alabama, with stipulations as to the terms on which the springs might be worked or leased to private persons for working. December 17, 1819, the State legislature passed an act authorizing the governor to lease such salt springs and lands, "on such terms as will ensure the working the same most exten- sively, and most advantageously to this State." Practically all of these lands and springs are situated in the southwestern part of the State, most of them in Clarke, Wash- ington, and Mobile Counties.

In obtaining the salt, deep wells were bored, usually to a depth of 160 feet. At first they were artesian wells, but as their number increased, it became necessary to pump the water about 16 feet. The water was boiled in large iron kettles over furnaces using wood for fuel. As a rule. one kettle of salt could be obtained from seven or eight kettles of water. The three best known local- ities where salt has been manufactured were the Lower Salt Works, just north of Oven Bluff; the Central Salt Works, near Salt Mountain; and the Upper Salt Works, in township 7, range 1 east. All these localities are in Clarke County. There were, besides, numerous smaller works which made salt for sale or for domestic use on one or more plan- tations.

During the War the salt works became of the utmost importance not only to Alabama, but to the Confederacy, which was shut off

1226

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

from its customary sources of supply. From 1861 to 1865 the three localities mentioned above were the scene of great activity. Hun- dreds of new wells were sunk and thousands of bushels of salt a day sent to the interior of Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia by boat on the Tombigbee or by wagon. The lower works, operated by the State during three and a half years, employed 400 men and 80 teams in running 20 furnaces, which produced 400 bushels of salt a day. The upper works, also operated by the State during three years, em- ployed 600 men and 120 teams in running 30 furnaces turning out 600 bushels a day. The central works were operated by a private company and manufactured more salt than either of the others-possibly as much as both. The price obtained for the salt at the works ranged from $2.50 to $7 a bushel in gold, or from $10 to $40 in Confederate money.

When salt became so scarce in Alabama, especially among the poor people, soon after the outbreak of the War, the legislature passed the act of November 11, 1861, "To en- courage the Manufacture of Salt in the State of Alabama," which authorized the lease of the public salt wells and springs to individu- als or companies, for terms of 10 years, and provided a bonus of 10 cents per bushel, to be paid by the State to the manufacturer.

An amendatory act of November 19, 1861, authorized the advancing of $10,000 from the State treasury to any responsible person or firm, "to be expended in the purchase of ma- terials required to commence operations, such as machinery, boilers and other indis- pensable fixtures" for the manufacture of salt. Another amendatory act was passed De- cember 7, 1861, increasing the maximum al- lowable price of salt, and authorizing the division of the $10,000 advancement between two persons or firms.

As the question of providing salt for the people of the State became more and more exigent with the progress of the War, vari- ous expedients were resorted to in the effort to obtain a supply. Several acts were passed by the legislature, at first to encourage and assist its manufacture, and then to restrict its distribution so as to insure a supply for the inhabitants of Alabama to the exclusion of nonresidents. Despite this State regula- tion of the salt supply, much suffering was caused for lack of it, though 500,000 bushels of good salt were produced in the State each year from 1861 to 1865.

At the close of the War, the State had claims upon much property in the salt re- gions, as a result of its advances and leases, and for the purpose of looking after its inter- ests, a salt lands agent (q. v.) was provided for in 1866.

Sce Asphaltum, Maltha and Petroleum; Natural Gas; Salt Lands Agent.

REFERENCES .- Toulmin, Digest, 1823, p. 691; Code, 1907, p. 493; Acts, 1861, pp. 25, 27, 28; 1862, pp. 56-62, 78-79; 1864, pp. 12, 67, 75; Gov. Israel Pickens, "Message," Dec 15, 1823, Ibid, 1823, p. 85, and a full discussion of the supply during the War is given by Gov. J. G. Shorter,

"Message," Oct. 27, 1862, in Senate Journal, called sess., 1862, pp. 5-20. The principal au- thorities on the subject are Ball, Clarke County (1882), pp. 645-649, 765; Fleming, Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama (1905), pp. 158- 161; Smith and McCalley, Index to mineral re- sources of Alabama (Geol. Survey of Ala., Bulle- tin 9, 1904), pp. 70-72. T. L. Head, Jr., then county supt. of education of Clarke County, in 1910 made a careful local survey of the salt wells, works, and lands of his county, and a copy of the manuscript is on file in the collec- tions of the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

SALVATION ARMY, WORK OF, IN ALA- BAMA. The Salvation Army is a religious and charitable corporation in the United States of America, devoting its work to orphan and destitute children, and to the reformation and rescue of weak and unfortunate men and women. For many years the Salvation Army has been laboring in Alabama and has done untold good for the communities in which the officers and members have worked.

The poor and needy throughout Alabama cities are cared for and entertained at Christ- mas time by Christmas trees and visitations, and annually picnics and outings are held. Posts are maintained in Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Selma, Anniston, Dothan, Flor- ence, Sheffield and Tuscumbia and a number of other points.

Salvation Army Rescue and Maternity Home .- Opened in Birmingham, in January, 1905, to meet the need of giving a home and training to "homeless and unfortunate girls, and a maternity hospital." The property is valued at $6,500. Rescue homes are also maintained in the cities above mentioned.

Industrial Home .- Maintained in Birming- ham. This institution was opened in 1907, to secure work for and to give a home to "workless and unfortunate men, helping them to recover their self respect and become bet- ter citizens of society."

The property is valued at $22,211.33.

The Salvation Army during the World War maintained, stations at the encampments in Alabama, and did much toward cheering up the personnel of the divisions stationed in the State.

REFERENCES .- Circulars, printed letters, and appeals, made to the citizens of Alabama at different times by the Salvation Army officers, letters from National officers, and correspond- ence with local organizations in the files of the Alabama State Department of Archives and History.

SAMSON. Post office and incorporated town in the western part of Geneva County, about 15 miles northwest of Geneva, and the junction of the Central of Georgia Railway and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. Population: 1910-1,350; 1916-2,000. It was incorporated under the general laws in 1905. It has the First National, and the Peoples Bank (State). The Samson Ledger, a Democratic weekly etsablished in 1906, is published there.

1227

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

REFERENCES .- Manuscript data in the Ala- bama Department of Archives and History.

SANATORIUM FOR CONSUMPTION AND TUBERCULOSIS, THE ALABAMA. A State eleemosynary and scientific institution, auth- orized by the legislature, August 14, 1907, "for the study of tuberculosis, disseminating the results of the study, showing the best methods of treating it and preventing its spread; and for the care and treatment of such persons as may be admitted." A hoard of seven trustees was created, of which the governor and the State health officer were ex officio members, acting as chairman and secre- tary respectively, to carry out the provisions of the act. The other five members, at first appointed by the governor for terms ranging from one to five years, are now selected, two by the governor's appointment and three, who must he physicians, by election of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, and all serve for five years, or until their successors are elected and qualified.

The trustees elect a superintendent, who must be a learned physician of skill and ex- perience, and who shall reside in and give his whole time to the management of the sanatorium. His salary and term of office are fixed by the trustees. The superintendent selects his assistants and the necessary agents and servants, subject to the approval of the trustees, by whom their salaries and the terms of their employment are prescribed.

The law imposes upon the trustees the duty of selecting and purchasing a tract of land of not less than 160 acres, in a healthful locality, with good natural drainage and an abundant supply of good water, and causing to he erected thereon the necessary buildings for residences, lahoratories, storerooms, harns, stables, cottages for patients, etc. The estab- lishment of a dairy farm to supply the sana- torium with milk, poultry, fresh meats and vegetables was intended, and the purchase of enough fertile land for the purpose is man- datory. An appropriation of $40,000 was made, payable in four stipulated installments, to buy the land, construct suitable buildings, and provide the necessary equipment for farm and sanatorium. In addition, $10,000 annually was appropriated for maintenance. The law divides tuhercular cases into three classes, viz, curable, questionable curability, and incurable. Only patients coming within the first two classes may he admitted to the sanatorium, and those who are financially able must pay their own board and hospital fees; hut for indigent patients the State will pay the charges, not exceeding 60 cents a day for each.

The institution contemplated by the fram- ers of this law was to be similar in its plan and scope to the State hospitals for the in- sane, affording a place, thoroughly modern and well equipped, to which persons suffering from tuberculosis in its curable stages, who could not otherwise receive proper care and treatment, without risk to other people, might be brought from any part of the State, wheth- er ahle to pay the cost or not.

The governor failed to appoint the trustees required by the law until some time in 1911. At that time, $20,000 of the appropriation for purchasing land and building the sanatorium had lapsed, and it was only hy virtue of a spe- cial provision to the effect that "all of the sum appropriated for the year ending on the 30th day of September, 1907, may be paid after that date and shall be available till used hy the trustees for the purpose for which it was appropriated," that there was any portion of the funds available when the board of trus- tees was at last appointed. Six hundred and forty acres of land in Cullman County has been purchased as a site for the sanatorium and dairy farm, and wells have been bored to furnish the water supply. No further pro- gress has been made in carrying out the pur- poses of the act.

See Institutions, State; Tuberculosis Com- mission, the Alabama.

REFERENCE .- General Acts, 1907, pp. 705-710.

SAND VALLEY. See Wills Valley.

SANDS. See Building Stones.

SANDSTONES. See Building Stones.

SANFORD. Post office and station on the Alabama & Florida division of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, in the north-central part of Covington County, midway between Opp and Andalusia, about 7 miles east of the latter point. Population: 1910-742. It is not incorporated.

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

SANFORD COUNTY. See Lamar County.

SATAPO. An Upper Creek town, most probably located in the extreme northern part of the Creek habitat. It is mentioned by Juan de la Vandera in 1567, hut it has not been identified.

REFERENCE .- Handbook of American Indians (1907), vol. 1, pp. 469, 470.

SATSUMA ORANGES. See Fruits.

SAUGAHATCHI. An Upper Creek town in Tallapoosa County, situated on a stream of the same name, and some distance north- east from its junction with the Tallapoosa River, and probably near the ford of the highway from Tallassee to Dadeville. The word has been rendered as "cymbal creek." Gatschet says that "Sauga is a hard-shelled fruit or gourd, similar to a cocoanut, used for making rattles, saukäs, 'I am rattling,' " and hatchi, "creek."

REFERENCES .- Gatschet, in Alabama History Commission, Report (1901), p. 408; Handbook of American Indians (1910), vol. 2, p. 471; Hawkins, Sketch of the Creek Country (1848), p. 49.

SAUTA. A Cherokee village, established about 1784, and situated in Jackson County, on North Sauta Creek, a short distance from

1228

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

its mouth. It was a small village, and of little importance. The trail from the Lower Creek Crossing for Middle Tennessee passed it. Here it is said Sequoya first made known his invention of the Cherokee Alphabet.

REFERENCES .- O. D. Street, in Alabama His- tory Commission, Report (1901), vol. 1, p. 420; Foster, Life of Sequoya (1885), p. 93.

SAVANNAH, AMERICUS AND MONTGOM- ERY RAILROAD COMPANY. See Seaboard Air Line Railway.

SAVANNAH AND ALBANY RAILROAD COMPANY. See Seaboard Air Line Railway.

SAVANNAH AND MEMPHIS RAILROAD COMPANY. See Central of Georgia Railway Company.

SAVANNAH AND WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY. See Central of Georgia Railway Company.

SAVANNAH, FLORIDA AND WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY. See Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company.

SAVANNAH, GRIFFIN AND NORTH ALA- BAMA RAILROAD COMPANY. See Central of Georgia Railway Company.

SAWANOGI. A Shawnee town in Mont- gomery County, settled by Shawano-Algon- quins, but belonging to the Creek confederacy. It stood on the left or southern side of Talla- poosa River, about two miles above Likasa Creek, in a pine forest, and back from a swamp bordering on the river. The fields were on both sides of the river, on cane- hrake land. Its inhabitants were industrious, working in the fields with their women, and made fine crops of corn. They had a few horses and hogs, but no cattle. The inhab- itants (in 1799) retained the customs and language of their countrymen in the north- west, and had joined them in their late war against the United States. Some, Yuchi In- dians lived among them. The "townhouse" was an oblong square cabin, roof "eight feet pitch," sides and roof covered with pine- bark, and on the left side of the river. These Shawnee were of the Hathawekela hand. The short lived pioneer American town of Au- gusta occupied the old site of Sawanogi.

This Shawnee town was known to the French as "Petit Chaouanons," or Little Shawnees, perhaps so called to distinguish them from those of Chalakagay. The French census of 1760 gives the Little Shawnees 50 warriors and their location 3 leagues dis- tant from Fort Toulouse. The English trade regulations of July 3, 1761, show that Sawa- noki had 30 hunters and it was assigned to William Irwin. Sawanogi was a Red Stick town during the war of 1813-14. It was the home of Savannah Jack, a cruel and bloodthirsty Indian leader in that war and in the years immediately following.

See Augusta; Line Creek; Shawnees. REFERENCES .- Hawkins, Sketch of the Creek

Country (1848), pp. 34, 35; Handbook of Ameri- can Indians (1907), part 2, p. 481; Gatschet in Alabama History Commission, Report (1900), p. 408; Manuscript records in Alabama Depart- ment Archives and History.

SAWOKLI. A Lower Creek town in Rus- sell County, situated on the west bank of the Chattahoochee River, and up from the mouth of Wylaunee Creek ( Wilani, "yellow water.") The site is on the present Hatchi- chubbee Creek. The word is variously spelled as Great Sawokli, Saukli, Chewakala, Swaglaw, Sauwoogaloche, and Sauwoogelo.

The town appears as Chaouakalé on De Crenay's map, 1733, and is situated on the Chattahoochee River. The French census of 1760 spells the name as Chauakle, with 50 men, and it is located 31 leagues from Fort Toulouse. The English trade regulations of 1761 assign the town to Swagles and Co. with 50 hunters, to the traders, Crook and Co. Hawkins spells the name Sauwoogelo, and refers to it as "six miles below Oconee on the right bank of the river, a new settle- ment in the open pine forest," a statement which may indicate a change of the original location. Here Welaune Creek flows into the river. Hawkins says that on the Kawaiki Creek the town had some settlements. The village of Sawokliudshi was settled from the main town at a point on the east bank of the Chattahoochee, 4 miles below Okoni. Bartram says that the inhabitants spoke the "Stincard" language. The inhabitants be- longed to the Hitchiti. In 1832 the town had 2 chiefs and 56 families. Among the Sawokli the mikalgi were appointed from the Raccoon gens only. The place is called Swagles Town in the American State Papers, vol. 4, p. 383. The word Sawokli means "Raccoon town," that is, Sawi, "raccoon," yukli, "town."

See Hatchitchapa; Sawokliudshi.

REFERENCES .- Handbook of American Indians (1910), vol. 2, p. 481; Hawkins, Sketch of the Creek Country (1848), pp. 65, 66; Gatschet, in Alabama History Commission, Report (1901), vol. 1, p. 408; Bartram, Travels (1791), p. 464; Hamilton, Colonial Mobile (1910), p. 190; Mis- sissippi, Provincial Archives (1911), vol. 1, p. 96; Georgia Colonial Records (1907), vol. 8, p. 522.

SCALAWAG. An epithet applied by the southern people to persons of southern na- tivity who affiliated with the Republican party, or consorted with carpetbaggers and negroes. The word originally signified a small, inferior, ill-conditioned, worthless ani- mal. In reply to a question from a member *of the Congressional Ku Klux Committee, Gen. James H. Clanton defined the term and explained its use as follows: "Southern men we call scalawags. The name originated in a fellow being kicked by a sheep so that he died. He said he didn't mind being killed, but he hated the idea of being kicked to death by the meanest wether in the whole flock, the scaly sheep. We mean by scalawag a meaner man than the carpetbagger."

1229

HISTORY OF ALABAMA

Most southern people felt that under the conditions obtaining from 1865 to 1870, It was necessary that people of a similar situ- ation and interests should work together against the extraneous influences which were becoming more and more marked and disturb- ing with the passage of the months. Out of this grew the resultant feeling that, of all contemptible persons, the southern man who deserted his own people and identified him- self with the strangers in the land, or with the negroes, was the most contemptible. He was looked upon as a renegade. The expres- sion was intended to express supreme con- tempt and was regarded as more opprobrious than any other, even carpetbagger. The defi- the scalawag and the carpetbagger were much alike. They had usually the same ambition for public office, and resorted to similar methods to gratify their ambition. In other respects, the only difference in the significa- tion of the terms was one of degree, scalawag representing the superlative of contempt. Two or three witnesses before the Congres- sional Ku Klux Committee stated their belief that the numbers of carpetbaggers and scala- wags were about equal in the State.

The epithet "scalawag" like "carpetbagger" was frequently indiscriminately used, and was sometimes applied to men who had always been Unionists and opposed to secession, but in no sense chargeable with advocating polit- ical rights for the negroes and associating with them for the purpose of obtaining office for themselves. Sometimes it was a case of being either "for or against us," and any na- tive-born man who was not an outspoken Dem- ocrat was likely to be stigmatized during the heat of political agitation as a scalawag.

See Carpetbaggers; Reconstruction.

REFERENCES .- Committee on Affairs in Insur- rectionary States, Report on Ku Klux conspir- acy, Alabama testimony (H. Rept. 22, 42d Cong., 2d sess.), passim; Fleming, Civil War and Re- construction in Alabama (1905), pp. 518, 529, 530; Herbert, Why the Solid South? (1890), pp. 29-69.

SCOTCH-IRISH SOCIETY, BIRMINGHAM. Organization .- Organized March, 1891, through the suggestion of Dr. J. L. Bryson, of Huntsville, one of the vice-presidents of the National Scotch-Irish Society.

Objects .- Same as those of the National Society.

First Officers, 1891-92 .- President, Gen. R. D. Johnston, Birmingham, Ala .; secre- tary, William G. Montgomery, Birmingham, Ala.

The Society is now practically inactive.

SCOTTSBORO. County seat of Jackson County, on the Southern Railway, in the southern part of Brown Valley, and about 7 miles west of the Coosa River. It is about 45 miles east of Huntsville. Altitude: 652 feet. Population: 1870-357; 1888-1,000; 1890-959; 1900-1,014; 1910-1,019. It was incorporated by the legislature, January 20, 1870, and adopted the municipal code of 1907 as soon as the law went into effect. The

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 94

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