USA > Alabama > Dallas County > Cahaba > Memories of old Cahaba > Part 2
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Mr. Crocheran was one of the firm of "Crocheran & Perine," a wealthy mercantile house that located in Cahaba in 1820 or 1821, and whose members were largely identified with the growth and improvement of the town.
In 1859 or 1860 Col. Sam Hill, another wealthy merchant and planter, owned this property, and the brick store back of the residence, fronting on Second North Street, was occupied by the mercantile firm of Hill & Somerville. In the same vicinity were sev-
Where Gen. Wilson met Gen. Forrest and arranged for exchange of prisoners after the battle of Selma.
THE OLD CROCHERAN HOUSE,
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ceral millinery establishments, shoe stores, the fashion- able tailor shops of John and William Bassett and Jerry Lister, and Brenner's tin shop.
In 1865 the Crocheran place was the residence of Col. Thomas M. Mathews, who was uniformly a Un- ion man without disguise, and it was here at his house that General Wilson, of the United States Army, met General N. B. Forrest, of the Confederate Army, and arranged the terms for the surrender of the Confed- crate forces or the exchange of prisoners captured at 'Selma.
On the southwest corner of Vine and Second North Streets, opposite the Bell Tavern, was an imposing two-story brick building, erected for W. P. Dunham (the father of Mrs. H. V. Weedon and Miss Willie Dunham), another wealthy merchant of Cahaba in its early history. In the fifties this was the handsome es- tablishment of E. M. Perine, who later on became one of the firm of Perine & Hunter. In the center of the block across the street was another dry goods firm of note-War ford & Blackwell.
All of these houses carried elegant stocks of goods. and their immense sales amounted to princely incomes. There were many other smaller stores and shops which also did a good business, for at this time Cahaba was still the largest shipping point on the Alabama River. Thousands of bales of cotton were handled there dur- ing the season, money was plentiful and always in cir- culation ; the people spent lavishly and enjoyed all that life could give.
In 1859 and 1860 Herbert L. Hudson, a young Englishman who settled in Cahaba and married a daughter of Mr. James D. Craig, a wealthy and in-
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fluential citizen, owned the handsome drug store on the southeast corner of Second North and Vine Streets, which was formerly Dr. Smith's old stand. In the same block of buildings at this time were located the large family grocery store of Thomas L. Craig, the jewelry store of Thom Fellows, the dry goods stores of H. I. F. Coleman, L. Engleman, and of Warford ; the harness and saddle shop of Hildebrand, the saloons with their swinging green blind doors, the post office. Bowe's bakery, and the fashionable barber shop in charge of Sam Edwards and "Joe the Bar- ber." a's he was generally known. These were two free negroes of the mulatto type, whose former own- ers had returned North and left them in Cahaba. They were well thought of and made many friends among the white people by their good behavior.
There was another negro known as "Free Joe," the most pitiable object I ever saw, and the only object of charity I remember ever to have known in Cahaba. He was also left there by his owners. and was too old and decrepit to provide for himself. He had no home and was utterly destitute, his clothing ragged and worn, and his feet so horribly frostbitten that he could hobble along only with the aid of a stick. He gained a precarious living by begging and slept in any old build- ing in which he could find shelter. His destitute con- dition appealed warmly to the children of the town, who would beg their parents for food and clothes to give him whenever he came to the different houses ; but, strange to say, the negroes had no sympathy for him, and called him an "old free nigger that had 10 owners;" in fact, the negroes of wealthy owners rather looked down with contempt on all free ne-
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groes, and would have but little if any association with them.
In recalling the above-mentioned free negroes I am reminded of two or three others, whose faithfulness as slaves deserves to be crowned with the "laurel wreath of fame." One of these, Walter Diggs, a strong, able-bodied mulatto man, was the body servant of the father of Mr. J. S. Diggs, of Cahaba. On one occasion Mr. Diggs was returning home from a visit to Louisiana with his two daughters and their maid, Walter's wife. On Red River the steamer caught fire and all would have perished but for the noble efforts of this negro, who threw himself in the stream, placed his master on his back, and swam to shore with him. He then returned for the two girls, carrying one under each arm, and after placing them in safety went back the third time and rescued his wife from the burning steamer just before it went under. Freeman or bond- man, what greater gift can a inan offer than to endan- ger his own life for the salvation of another? History can chronicle no braver or more heroic act, and none that speaks louder for the Southern slave's devotion to his master of the kindness of the master to his slaves, for only kindness will beget such love and devotion.
Another illustration was found in Ben, the body servant of my Uncle Billups Gayle, a brother of my father, Col. Rees D. Gayle. In 1849 or 1850 my uncle, without the knowledge of my father, went to Missouri to buy lands, and carried with him a large sum of money in a leather belt buckled around his body, as was then the custom. At St. Louis he became violent- ly ill, and upon the advice of a physician Ben, his
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faithful body servant, placed him on a steamer and brought him home in a perfectly helpless and uncon- scious condition. On his arrival Ben at once un1- buckled the leather belt from around his own body, handed it to my father, told him the amount of money it contained, and asked him to count it and see that it was all there. He then handed him my uncle's purse. told him the amount that was in it, and accounted for every dime he had used on the trip home. Not a cent was missing out of the entire amount. This conduct, ยท on the part of a negro, impressed every one as a won- derful illustration of honesty and fidelity. While Mis- souri was not a free State, it was so near the "Missouri Compromise line" that Ben could easily have escaped to the free States, and with so large an amount of money been independent for life. He told my father that a number of abolitionists had tried to induce him to leave my uncle at St. Louis and go North with them, but he preferred to come home. He was after- wards offered his freedom, which he declined to ac- cept. When my uncle died, a year or two later, he became my father's coachman, and was a faithful, de- voted servant up to the day of his death.
Across on the west side of Vine Street, near Perine's store, was Krout's confectionery and restaurant, where at all times the most delicious confections could be found. Next were the offices occupied by the lawyers and physicians, who rested and enjoyed themselves in the long summer afternoons sitting under the venerable mulberry and China trees that still shade the walks on each side of the street. We see them now, heads un- covered, chairs tilted back, feet resting against the trees, laughing and talking as in olden days, but quick
VIEW OF VINE STREET,
Showing Perine's store and the mulberry trees on the left where the difficulty occurred in which the Bells were killed by Dr. Hunter and Judge Bird.
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to resent any infringement of their personal dignity or rights of property.
It was here, on Vine Street, between First North Street and Second North Street, that the celebrated encounter took place between the Bells, Judge Bird, Dr. Troy, and Dr. Thomas Hunter, marriage connections of Judge Bird. It was a fight to the death, in which Col. John Bell and his son, John Bell, Jr., both lost their lives. The difficulty grew out of a number of robberies that had but recently occurred in Cahaba and the burning of several houses which the most dis- passionate could but believe was the work of an in- cendiary. Suspicion rested on a notoriously bad negro by the name of Pleas, who at one time belonged to Mr. E. M. Perine, and who sold him to young John Bell because of his uncontrollable conduct.
Pleas was a bright, smart negro, and so efficient a servant that, despite his bad reputation, he became a great favorite with the Bells, from whom he com- pletely succeeded in concealing his faults.
In those days to accuse a gentleman's servant of crime, especially a favorite servant, was regarded al- most as great an insult as to accuse the gentleman himself, and a master would fight in defense of his slaves as quickly as he would in defense of his children -hence no one dared make public the accusation against the negro; but when Dr. Troy's residence fell a victim to flames, followed in quick succession by the de- struction of Judge Bird's house in the same way, then Judge Bird became so exasperated that he openly charged this negro with arson, and denounced the Bells as accessories to the crime. Accusation followed accusation, recrimination recrimination, until it ended
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in the fatal meeting. The parties involved were all prominent in social life. Feeling ran high on both sides, everybody in the town in a measure became in- volved in the feud, and it is impossible to describe the excitement and grief that prevailed when the difficulty terminated and the tragedy became known.
The Dallas Hall, the principal hotel in Cahaba in 1856 and 1857, was located one block south of Perine's store on the northwest corner of Vine and First North Street. In 1858 or 1859 this building was remodeled and known as "Aicardie's Hotel," which was famed for its magnificent cooking, elegant saloon, and fine bar.
Fronting on First North Street, back of Aicardie's Hotel, was Barker's livery stable with its large over- flowing well on the east side of the house near the front door. This stable was in charge of Burwell Gibson. It was well supplied with fine horses and with all the most up-to-date vehicles.
Back of Barker's stable, fronting on Second North Street, opposite the old Ocheltree House, was another large livery stable known as Bell's stable.
On the northwest corner of Walnut and Second North Streets stood the market house and calaboose, a brick building of unimposing dimensions. Every night, exactly at nine o'clock, rain or shine, this old market house bell rang, and after that hour any negro found on the streets without "a pass" from his own- er was arrested by the patrols (or "patarollers," as the negroes called them), and thrown into the cal- aboose. This was one of the strictest ordinances of the town, and one most rigidly enforced.
In front of the market house, on the southwest corner
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of Walnut and First North Streets was Barker's Hotel, afterwards kept by Bob Travers. On the southeast corner of-Walnut and First North Streets stood the Odd Fellows' Hall, a two-story brick building erected in 1859 or 1860. On the southwest corner of Vine and First North Streets, in the center of the town, was the large two-story brick building known as Saltmarsh Hall, a part of which was used as a Masonic Lodge. Here in the late fifties or early sixties all the public entertainments were given. Here gathered the oligarchs of fashion. Here the courtly, dignified N. H. R. Dawson opened the ball on the 25th of January, Jackson's day, or the 22d of February, Washington's birthday, at "the head of the set," in the old-fashioned cotillion, with beautiful, fascinating Mrs. Beene, or led the grand march at the G. G. H. balls, when the gen- tlemen were all "in masque," with graceful, charming Mrs. Pegues, or Mrs. Virginia Mathews, stately in point lace and diamonds, with the air and manner of an empress. Here assembled the wealthy Minters and Moletts, the aristocratic Boykins, from Portland beat, and the talented Saffolds,* from their plantations in the surrounding country. Here were seen tableaux representing magnificent, historical scenes, romantic scenes from Byron and Moore, and political scenes, illustrative of the stormy times of the secession period. Here were held the political meetings of the sixties when those old walls reverberated with the patriotic eloquence of E. W. Pettus, John T. Morgan, George W. Gayle, Rees D. Gayle, John White, C. C. Pegues,
*Judge Milton Saffold, later of Montgomery, and Judge Ben Saffold, of Selma.
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and noted Southern orators who visited the town. Here the flag was presented to the Cahaba Rifles, Dal- las County's bravest and most gallant sons, on the eve of their departure for the scene of conflict, in an ad- dress eloquent with patriotism by Miss Anna M. Vas- ser; and here in the name of that company Capt. Christopher C. Pegues accepted that banner and swore to bear it on to "victory or to death." Right royally was that oath fulfilled. In the front, on every battle- field, from Manassas to Fredericksburg, the flag of the Cahaba Rifles was borne proudly aloft and never seen to waver. Three of its standard bearers fell, yielding their lives in its defense.
The third young Horace Chilton, one of the most valiant-"the bravest of the brave"-carried it in the thickest of the fight at Cold Harbor, Va., and was killed in the battle; other loyal hands came to its res- cue before it "trailed the dust," and the standard of the Cahaba Rifles continued to wave until captured on the retreat from Pennsylvania. Only a few, "a mere handful," of those brave men were left to tell the story of that retreat and of this flag, furled forever in the hands of the enemy.
In the center of Vine Street, between First North Street and Capitol Avenue, was another large over- flowing well, from which a sparkling flow of water fell in a cemented basin, covering it like a delicate silver- drapery. Near by this well, fronting on First North Street, was the courthouse, a double, two-story brick. building, with iron shutters painted green, and two small oblong windows placed like eyeglasses in the east and west ends of the house just below the roof, suggestive of the ever-watchful and all-seeing eye of
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justice, and it was here in front of the courthouse o11 First North Street that all negroes sold at public sale were put on the block and auctioned off to the highest bidder. In the same vicinity were the jail, the steam- boat offices, and the private residence of Mrs. Eliza Babcock, and immediately back of the residence on the banks of the Alabama River was the old Babcock warehouse.
On the east side of Vine Street, in the center of the block between First North Street and Capitol Avenue, were the Probate Court office and the Public Land office, a flat, one-story brick building of four rooms, with hall between.
On the southwest corner of Vine Street and Capitol Avenue, on the grounds where the statehouse once stood, known as Capitol Square, was the office and resi- dence of Col. George W. Gayle, a pretty frame cottage, with a long gallery in front standing far back in the yard at the end of a broad avenue, shaded by wide- spreading mulberry trees, said to be the same that or- namented the capitol grounds. Here were enjoyed many social pleasures in the old days in the genial soci- ety of Colonel Gayle and his family, who loved to gath- er their friends around them. Adjoining Colonel Gayle's office on Pine Street was an old place, in early years occupied by Mr. E. M. Perine, but which in 1866 or 1867 was the hospitable home of Mr. Frank Milhous.
Fronting on Capitol Avenue, on the northeast cor- ner of Pine Street and Capitol Avenue, was the Son- erville place, a landmark of earlier days, when it was kept as a hotel by Mr. William Curtis, one of the old- est citizens of Cahaba.
Immediately on the banks of the Alabama River,
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also fronting on Capitol Avenue, was Babcock's brick warehouse, in which three thousand Yankee prisoners were confined during the war between the States.
Back of the Somerville lot, fronting on Pine Street, opposite the Frank Milhous residence, was the pretty little Episcopal Church (St. Luke's) built in Gothic style, with exquisite stained glass windows. This church stood within a short distance of the banks of a broad, deep ravine that had cut through from the northern portion of the town, across several of the principal streets, and emptied itself in the Alabama River, at the foot of what was said to have been originally a part of First South Street. This ravine was spanned by a large frame bridge on Capitol Avenue and one also on Walnut Street. On Vine Street it was crossed by a dirt bridge, built over a brick culvert.
Just above the banks of the ravine, across from the business part of the town, on the west side of Vine Street, was the Burwell Gibson place, which in the sixties became the home of Judge Fambro. At the death of Mrs. Fambro she willed this place to the Presbyterian Church as a parsonage.
Across Vine Street, in front of the Fambro place, were several vacant lots on which stood a number of gigantic pines. Beyond these lots at the end of Third South Street, on the banks of the Alabama River, was the cottage home of Judge James Evans, surrounded by broad galleries and the same growth of aged pine trees. The waters of the artesian well on this place were strongly impregnated with sulphur. Opposite the Evans place was the cottage of Mrs. Sallie Bush, with a yard full of beautiful flowers at all seasons of the year.
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ST. LUKE'S CHURCH, CAHABA, ALA.
PERINE RESIDENCE.
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On the southwest corner of Vine and South Streets was the handsome two-story Abernathy house, com- pleted just after the war began. Farther down, on the corner of Vine and Fifth South Streets, was the resi- dence of Judge Rainer.
At the foot of Vine Street and extending several blocks on South Street were the grounds surrounding the palatial residence of E. M. Perine, "a merchant prince of ante-bellum days," a Northern gentleman of the old school who was universally beloved by all who knew him. A massive iron gate opened into the grounds, laid off in broad, circular walks, bordered with closely clipped hedges of boxwood, surrounding mounds of rare flowers and ever-playing fountains, whose waters rose and fell, glistening and sparkling in the sunlight, with a perpetual flow of indescribable brilliancy.
The front walls of the spacious brick mansion were covered by masses of old English ivy, its delicate ten- drils and green leaves, twining in and around the iron balcony, up the turret that formed the vestibule in front, clinging to the eaves and climbing out into the chimneys, like some pictured castle of old baronial days.
The house contained twenty-six rooms, finished in the most artistic manner. There were long, broad halls, with winding stairway, reception rooms, parlors, and ballroom, with embossed ceilings and chandeliers of silver and crystal, shimmering and flashing bril- liantly over the beautiful marble mantles imported from Italy. The capacious dining room with its mag- nificent mahogany, handsome silver, and beautiful cut glass, in which it was no unusual occurrence to find
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seventy-five or a hundred guests seated around the massive mahogany tables with their heavy damask so thick that no silence cloths were needed. Back of the residence were the conservatory, vineries, and artesian well nine hundred feet deep, with a marvelous stream of water gushing and falling into a large cemented basin, from which it was conducted off through the beautiful grounds in cemented branches to the pas- tures beyond.
On the banks of the Alabama River east of the Perine place on Fifth South Street was the distillery, owned and carried on during the war by Shepard Diggs and Aicardie.
Back of the distillery, farther down on the banks of the Alabama River, was the Portis place, with its beautiful glens and glades, in the midst of a mag- nificent forest growth.
Going west parallel with Vine Street was Walnut Street. On the corner of Walnut and Second South Streets, just above the ravine, was the residence of Mrs. John English. Opposite, on the southeast cor- ner of Walnut and Second South Streets, was the old Vogelin place, another one of the early landmarks of Cahaba. On the northwest corner of Walnut and Fifth South Streets was the Bird place, the old resi- dence of Judge Bird, afterwards owned by Col. John White, and which later became the home of Dr. E. M. Vasser.
On the southeast corner of Walnut and Fourth South Streets was the residence of Judge George Evans. In the same neighborhood, on Fifth South Street, was the residence of Dr. Troy. In the early days of Cahaba this place was the home of Dr. J. F.
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Heustis, Sr., who removed to Mobile. It was also the residence of Dr. John English during his life.
Each of these places occupied a separate block of ground, with well-kept yards, ornamented with beau- tiful flowers, stately magnolias, and where roses of all varieties bloomed profusely. Farther south on Wal- nut Street was the little suburban villa of Herbert S. Hudson, with its terraced grounds in imitation of his old home in England.
Beyond the Hudson place was the cottage home of Shepard Diggs, built in 1860, and the Foulks place, a two-story brick residence which was never com- pleted.
Parallel with Walnut Street, running north and south through the town, was Mulberry Street, which was but little improved, and in the sixties contained but few buildings. The most important of these was the Methodist church, built of brick and surmounted by an imposing cupola. Near the church, around the square on First North Street, was the residence of Dr. C. K. Farley, and just north of the church was a frame building of two rooms, known as the "Boys' Academy."
On the west side of Mulberry Street were the grounds belonging to the residence of Judge Camp- bell, located on First South Street, in the center of the block between Mulberry and Oak Streets. This place was afterwards bought and remodeled by Mr. William Boynton, a nephew of Dr. Saltmarsh and a prominent young lawyer of Cahaba, who married Miss Fannie Isabel, of Talladega. At one time Gen- eral Pettus lived here ; later on it became the home of Mrs. Eliza Babcock.
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South of the Methodist church, on the west side of Mulberry Street in a small grove of pines, was the negro church, built by the people of Cahaba for the negroes. It was a large one-story frame building, painted white with green blinds and surmounted by a belfry.
In all the churches seats were provided in the gal- leries for the negroes, but their regular worship was held at two o'clock on Sunday afternoons at their own church, when they were seen gathering in crowds, neatly dressed, but always in bright colors. Their voices were remarkably rich and melodious, and it was a treat to hear them sing, especially "The Old Ship of Zion" and that grand old hymn, "The Year of Jubilee Is Come." As they sang they would keep time to the music in swinging their bodies, bowing their heads, and clapping their hands, which they called "patting Jubil."
Extending from the Cahaba River north and south through the center of the town was Oak Street, one of the prettiest and best-improved streets of the place. Here was the beautiful home of Mrs. Simeon Watts, occupying a block, on the corner of Oak and Fifth North Streets. . The home of Mr. John A. Lodor was at the southwest corner of Oak and Fourth South Streets, the residence of P. G. Wood being diagonally across from it. The Episcopal parsonage, occupied by Dr. Cush- man, was on the same block at the southwest corner of Oak and Third South Streets. The residence of Col. Rees D. Gayle on Oak, between First and Second North Streets, shaded by huge water oaks, china trees, mulberries, and large bushes of cape jessamine, a house whose hospitable doors were ever open and
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a home of delightful entertainment, ever celebrated for its refinement and culture, its cordial Southern wel- come, and large-hearted, elegant hospitality.
The artesian well on the Rees Gayle place was sec- ond in size only to the one on the Perine place, which was said to be next to the largest well known in the world, at Paris, France.
Occupying the block on Oak Street, between First South Street and Capitol Avenue, was Academy Square, with its Indian mounds. The two-story brick building was ornamented by a large observatory and belfry. Across the street, in front of the Academy on the corner of First South Street, was the residence of John Guiwn, another old landmark of early days. Adjoining the Guiwn place, at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Walnut Street, was the Presbyterian church.
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