USA > Alabama > Butler County > The history of Butler County, Alabama, from 1815 to 1885 > Part 2
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After killing every person in reach, from the innocent little infant of Mrs. Stroud to the stout and brave William Ogly, the blood-thirsty heroes of the night marched triumphantly away, greatly rejoicing over the success of their victory. The profound silence which followed told the miserable woman that the bloody work was over. Early next morning the settlement was aroused with the sad news of the massacre, and many persons re-
They found six persons paired to the spot.
quietly asleep in death. Mrs. Stroud, who was tomahawked the night before, was not dead, but had managed to crawl into the house and pick out her little infant from the other mangled bodies in the room, and, having lost her mind, she was found stuffing her dead child's skull with leaves. Out of a family of eight, Ogly and four of his children were killed ; his wife and two small daugh- ters, Elizabeth and Mary Ann, were still alive, although these two children were scalped and
MISS ENG CONV.
RESIDENCE OF J. C. RICHARDSON, Esq., GREENVILLE.
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BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA.
tomahawked, and left for dead. The dead were all buried together in an old wagon-body under an oak tree near the cabin ; the living were well cared for among the settlers until Col. Dale sent an es- cort from Fort Claiborne, and immediately started with them to Monroe County. Mrs. Stroud died on the way, and was buried by the side of the road. Mary Ann expired after reaching Clai- borne. Through the kind treatment of Dr. John Watkins, Elizabeth recovered from the injuries re- ceived at the massacre, and lived for many years in Butler Country. Her hair never looked natural, and she never gained her right mind. She lived over twoscore years, and died during the war between the States, having never married.
Mrs. Ogly afterward married John Dickerson, and they lived in the Manningham neighborhood the remainder of their lives, and raised a large family.
It should have been stated that previous to the Ogly massacre Thomas Gary erected, at his own expense, a small fort or block-house, about two miles west of where Fort Dale was afterwards built. This fort was built by Gary for the pur- pose of collecting fees from the settlers as they would come in for protection. About the same time the people in the Flat erected a fort on the place of Captain Saffold, who had, only a short time before, moved from the Ridge to that place. When the people in the flat heard of the Ogly massacre, they forthwith took their families into the fort,
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which was soon named in honor of W. W. Bibb, the Governor of the Territory. The Governor had sent Colonel Samuel Dale to the place of ex- citement, and sent a good many soldiers with him to quiet the Indians. The people became dissat- isfied with paying Gary for staying in his fort, and at once decided to build another. Colonel Dale immediately put them to work on Fort Dale, about two miles from Fort Gary. When Thomas Gary saw that the settlers were all determined to build a new fort, he was greatly troubled, and soon lost his mind. This is the first case of in- sanity in this county.
One week after the Ogly massacre, William P. Gardner, Daniel Shaw and John Hinson, in com- pany with Captains William Butler and James Saffold, started from Fort Bibb to carry an im- portant message to Fort Dale, then in the course of erection. As the forest was filled with mad Indians, ever anxious for an opportunity for kill- ing some unfortunate wanderer, but few persons would dare to undertake such an adventure. Well armed and mounted, these five braves rode proudly through the gates of the fort on the morn- ing of March 20, 1818. There being no road cut out to Fort Bibb at that time, they took the trail up Pine Barren Creek. Having gone about the distance of four miles from the fort, and while passing around the head of a small ravine, they were fired upon by a band of Savannah Jack's warriors, who were hid in ambush.
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BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA.
Gardner and Shaw, being pierced with bullets, fell dead from their horses. Both Butler and Hin- son were wounded and thrown from their horses ; Saffold received no injury and was not thrown. Young Hinson soon caught his horse, which was a small pony, and remounted. As Butler could not recover his horse, and seeing that it was death to be left, he begged Saffold, who rode a large bay mare, to let him ride behind him. Saffold paid no attention to Captain Butler's earnest pleadings, but galloped away as rapidly as possible, leaving his poor comrade to his own fate. Saffold, being greatly frightened, soon reached Fort Bibb, and had told the news before Hinson arrived. The people in the fort were very indignant at the cow- ardly conduct of Saffold, and always blamed him for the death of Captain Butler, who was a man highly esteemed by everybody in the fort. There being no troops at this fort, they were compelled to send for aid to Colonel Samuel Dale, who was then at work building a fort at Poplar Springs.
To get a message such a distance under existing
circumstances was very dangerous.
After sev-
eral hours' discussion, it was finally decided by chance that Alph. McGlocklen should be the courier. He at once set out for Fort Dale, cross- ing Pine Barren, and going on the north side of the creek in order to miss the Indians. The courier reached his destination about sunset and delivered the message. A detachment of soldiers was sent soon the next morning to the bloody
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scene, and found Gardner and Shaw dead in one place, and Captain Butler horribly bruised and beaten to death two hundred yards from them. After burying the three dead heroes together, the soldiers set out in search of the red men. They found that the Indians had camped the night be- fore at a spring about three-quarters of a mile southeast of where Monterey was afterwards built. A blaze, indicating the direction of their course, was left on a pine on the top of the hill. They were traced into the swamp of Cedar Creek and given up as gone.
Every settler was by this time safe in the forts, which were well fortified and guarded. Troops were sent from Fort Claiborne to each of the forts in this county to assist in protecting the peo- ple against any further injury by the savages. The families remained in the forts the larger part of the year, expecting an attack from the enemy every moment.
In the spring of 1818, shortly after Butler was killed, the Indians came near Fort Bibb one night and took several horses from Dave Reddock, Thomas Carter and Josiah Hill, and a good many of Thomas Hill's fine beeves, which were killed and the flesh carried away in sacks. They were pursued by the militia and a few of the citizens, and the horses were tracked southward into the fork of Long Creek, where the Indians were found enjoying their spoils. Discovering the white men first, the savages hid themselves in the thick un-
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BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA.
'dergrowth of the swamp and awaited an oppor- tunity for an attack. The captain of the militia threw out a line of skirmishers, succeeded in catching the stolen horses, and began to burn the beef. One of the skirmishes, named William Cog- burn, who lived with James K. Benson, got upon a log in order that he might have a better view of the situation, and was commanded by one of the officers to get down. He replied that he was not afraid, but a bullet pierced his heart before he had hardly finished the sentence, and he fell dead upon the ground. The captain rallied his company, and attempted to make a charge against the en- emy, but not without some difficulty as a man could not be seen ten steps in the thick cane and bushes of the swamp, and the men were expecting to be shot down every moment. After firing a few volleys in the direction of the enemy, the com- pany set out for Fort Bibb, carrying with them the dead man and the captured horses.
The people, expecting an attack from the Indians every day, remained in the forts the larger part of the year 1818. They had considerable difficulty in providing themselves with food. It was some distance to Claiborne, and very dangerous to make trips through the forests when so many were be- ing killed by the savages. They, however, man- aged to make some corn during the year of fort life. Some would plow and hoe, while others would stand guard around the field with their guns ready to resist any attack.
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CHAPTER IV.
.All Danger of Another Attack by the Indians Re- moved, and Peace Restored - The County Rapidly Settled by Emigrants from Georgia and South Carolina-The Year 1819 a Year of Great Prosperity to the Settlers-Some of the Customs of the Times.
NEWS was received in October that the Indians had left this section entirely, and that there was no danger of further disturbance. These tidings brought great joy to the hearts of the settlers, who had remained in the forts the larger part of the year, enduring all the hardships of the fort life, and feeling great anxiety for the preservation of their lives from a bloody grave. They immediately returned to their cabins in the forest, and began to work with renewed energy, making preparations for the following year.
When the news was spread abroad over the land that peace had been restored in the Territory of Alabama, thousands of families from Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Kentucky, began to flock to this territory to find homes upon this fertile soil. A large num- ber of those coming from Georgia and South Caro- lina stopped in the present locality of Butler County. This was in the latter part of 1818 and
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the early part of 1819. About this time, the fami- lies of the Dunklins, Herberts, Bollings, Graydons, Judges, Parmers, Hutchinsons, Burnetts, Pick- enses, Smiths, Caldwells, Cooks, Waterses, Joneses, Dulaneys, Demings, Blacks, and Pickens, a large number of which settled near where Green- ville was afterward built. They were soon fol- lowed by the families of the Carters, Arringtons, Peavys, Donaldsons, Joneses, Mannings, Leving- stons, Crenshaws, Womacks, and others, who settled in different parts of the county.
All the land at that time belonged to the Govern- ment, and could be settled and cultivated by any person who so desired. Any one wishing to pur- chase land, could do so by going to the land office, which was then at Cahaba, on the Alabama River. There was nothing but a trailway to Cahaba at this early period; a plain road was, however, cut in a few years. At first, the land agent would knock off different pieces of land to the highest bidder on certain days of sale ; and it very often oc- curred that a settler would lose his homestead, after spending several months of hard labor build- ing the house and clearing the land around it. he did not lose it, it frequently happened that some person would bid against him, and make him pay about two or three prices for his home. A case is reported of a settler, who had spent both time and money on his place, and who had to re- build, after riding over a hundred miles on horse- back, and spending several weeks on the road to
If
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THE HISTORY OF
Cahaba-his place having been knocked off to an- other person who overbid him. Another settler, in the same neighborhood, seeing how his friend had been treated, determined that he himself should not suffer the same treatment ; and when his land was put up for sale, he mounted a barrel, with rifle in hand, and announced that he would put a ball through the first man that bid against him for his own land. His place was knocked off to him at fifty cents per acre without any opposite bidding from any of the bystanders. But this law was soon changed, so that no person could buy another person's land after it had been improved. The price of all the land was regulated by law at $1.25 per acre, for rich as well as poor. All were well pleased at this solution of the prob- lem, and no further trouble was given to the people about their homes. Every family was soon pro- vided with as much land as it desired, and was happy.
In these early days, the soil was very fertile, and money plentiful. The surface of the ground was perfectly loose, and yielded corn on the least attention. The settlers would kick a hole with the heel of their shoe, drop in a few grains of corn, cover it up, and would gather good corn by only hoeing it once. There being no horses, cows, nor hogs in the county when the settlers came, the range was magnificent. Cane, pea-vines, grasses of all kinds, covered the face of the earth. The people lived the pioneer life, having but little
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BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA.
use for money. Their dress, being almost entirely made at home, was of a very common type. The houses of the settlers were of the lowest order of architecture. They were roughly built of logs and poles, and covered with boards, held on by poles and pegs, as there were no nails to be had in the savage land in those days. The floor was generally of dirt, packed hard with mauls, and dried. Sometimes they were made of puncheons, which were poles split in half, with the flat side turned up. The chimneys were constructed of logs, sticks and dirt, and sometimes of rocks. The old-fashioned spinning-wheel and loom were a part of every family's furniture. The men spent their time in hunting, exploring the country, and work- ing some on the farm, while the women remained at home, looked after the children, spun and wove, cut out and made the garments, and cooked for the family.
There was no society at this time. Every- thing was work, although work to the adven- turous settlers was nothing more than a pas- time. They would frequently assemble to assist in a house-raising, a log-rolling, or a cotton-pick- ing. These meetings were both social and busi- ness-like. All the men and women, both young and old, would be present; the men would engage in the harder part of the work, and the other sex would prepare a meal, a kind of feast, for the settlers. After the work was done, they would spend several hours in telling tales of an adventur-
.
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THE HISTORY OF
ous character, or of news from friends and relatives back in the old country. The few old settlers still liv- ing in the county, take great delight in telling some of these interesting and blood-curdling stories of early pioneer life. The author has col- lected a great many of these exciting narratives, but for want of space, will give only one in brief.
While a settler was out hunting, his dog bayed a bear in the cane-brake. The hunter, not know- ing what it was, crawled along through the cane with his gun ready to fire on short notice. When he was within eight feet of the object, a large bear made at him, breaking the cane as it came, blow- ing and puffing as if mad. Being greatly sur- prised and frightened at the sight of so dangerous an animal so near, the hunter turned himself as quickly as possible to flee, but, in turning, his foot was caught in a bamboo, and in attempting to free himself, he fell headlong into a brook-the bear still coming on him, reaching out his claws and blowing. The faithful dog, seeing his master in such a predicament, seized the bear by the hind leg, and began to tear his flesh vigorously. The bear turned immediately upon the dog, and the hunter escaped without injury.
The settlers always laughed heartily at the nar- row escape of their comrades, and considered them great heroes.
There were no churches nor preachers in the county at this time, and the people would fre-
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BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA.
quently meet at some neighbor's house to engage in religious worship. A few chapters of the Scriptures being read, and a prayer or two offered, concluded the exercises, after which the settlers would spend some time in social and business con- versation. Some persons would walk six or eight miles to these meetings. The settlers never lived close together, and neighbored with families ten or fifteen miles distant. The men carried their guns with them at all times, and brought down a buck or a turkey wherever they happened to meet them, regardless of the day of the week, or the work they were engaged in, whether plowing, hoeing, going to meeting, a burial, a marriage, or visiting their friends-it was never out of order to lay up something for eating purposes. It was some time before many of the settlers regarded Sunday more than any other day, for every day of the pioneer life is a kind of holiday or time of rest and recreation.
The early settler cared but little for money, and spent a very adventurous, easy-going sort of life, caring more for his rifle, ammunition, dogs, and the best stands for deer and turkeys, than for speculation in lands and any of the industries by which he could soon lay up a large fortune for his family. None of them ever accumulated a large amount of wealth, but all provided their fami- lies with a comfortable country living. The edu- cation of the children was, for several years, almost entirely neglected, and a great many of
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THE HISTORY OF
them grew up to be men and women without the least mental training.
CHAPTER V.
Men of Capital Begin to Locate in the County-Es- tablishment of Commerce-Mail Routes-Seat of Justice at Greenville-General Growth and Prosperity of the New Country-Great Demand for Land, Etc., Etc.
THE report soon reached the older States of the natural resources of the new country-the vast amount of game, the large tracts of land, the fer- tility and diversity of the soil, covered with inex- haustible forests of all kinds of timber, healthful localities, good water and everything at extremely low prices. Men of means spared no time in in- vesting their capital in lands, in locating in the forests, and in devoting their energies to the ac- cumulation of more wealth. The best land in the county was soon taken up, and large fields of cotton and corn were seen where once stood all sorts of trees, making a perfect wilderness.
William Martin started a store at Fort Dale in 1819, carrying a small stock of general merchan- dise. A store was soon opened at Greenville, then called Buttsville. Stores near at hand, for
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BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA.
the convenience of the people, were very much needed at this time, as everything had to be ยท hauled over one hundred miles to market. The profits on goods of all kinds were then immense, and everybody soon tried to conduct a store. Nearly every man that could afford it soon started in the business, and a joke went the rounds, that when a person approached a set- tler's house, a cock would fly up on the front yard fence, flap his wings, and crow, "Master's got a store !" In 1821 permanent settlements had been made in the Flat, at Fort Dale, on the Ridge, and around Greenville, and the county was thickly enough settled to begin to want laws and courts to regulate the conduct of the people and give justice in all cases of dispute. The first court ever held in the county was held on some logs under the shade of a few large oaks, at Fort Dale, Judge Anderson Crenshaw presiding. The author was unable to find the nature of the cases on the docket at this term of the court, as no record of it can be found, nor does any citizen remember anything of it.
There was a great demand now for roads to differ- ent parts of the country. The citizens had already applied to the Legislature for commissioners to lay out these roads, to establish a seat of justice, and open mail routes to the important places in the State for their convenience. The Legislature, then in session at Cahaba, appointed a Board of County Commissioners, and passed an act author- izing this board to locate a seat of justice for the
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THE HISTORY OF
county, lay off as many lots, and dispose of the same in such manner, as they might think most expedient for the benefit of the county. This act was approved December 7, 1820. George W. Owen was Speaker of the House, Gabriel Moore, . President of the Senate, and Thomas Bibb was then acting as Governor of the State of Alabama. Joseph Dunklin, John Bolling and Jesse Stallings were members of this board. The board, having taken into consideration the best localities for the convenience of the whole county, finally decided on the place now known as Greenville as the seat of justice, and reported the result of their investi- gations to the Legislature at its next meeting.
An act was then passed authorizing the judge of the county court and the commissioners to levy an extra tax upon the property in the county for the purpose of building a court-house and jail in the town of Buttsville (the name afterwards being changed to Greenville), said town having been made the permanent seat of justice for Butler County. This act was approved December 18, 1821. James Dellett, Speaker of the House ; John D. Terrell, President of the Senate; Israel Pickens, Governor of Alabama.
The commissioners appointed May 5, 1822, as the day for laying out the town and locating the court-house. According to an understanding, the settlers from all parts of the county assembled at an early hour on the appointed day for the specified purpose, and took great delight in assisting in
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BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA.
such a good work. No one ever saw a May day more beautiful than the one on which the town of Buttsville was laid out and the site of the future court-house was staked. It is not known whether the few silver-tongued orators of the new county made the primeval forests of this locality resound with their gifted eloquence, or whether the day was spent in the earnest, silent work of laying out the town in the best approved style and in discuss- ing its future prosperity. The writer, however, is of the opinion that there was no display of elo- quence on this occasion.
The tide of emigration had already flooded some parts of the county with new settlers just from Georgia, South and North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, some of these bringing large num- bers of negroes and already beginning to lay plans for farming on a large scale. The Ridge was now settled up very rapidly, and all the land on Cedar Creek was taken up by the eager farmers, who had an eye for growing corn and cotton and get- ting rich from the sale of the fleecy staple. The demand for land in some localities was greater than the supply, consequently some were forced either to locate on the thinner and less productive soil of the county, or to fold their tents and seek other climes.
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CHAPTER VI.
Great Need for Grist-Mills, Saw-Mills, Gin-Houses, Cotton Presses, Tanneries, Shoe-Shops, Black- smiths, Carpenters, etc .- The New Country Showing Signs of an Advance in Civilization, Etc., Etc.
THE accommodations of the settlers in every respect were very poor. There was no place for them to have their corn ground into meal, no mills to get lumber from, no place to gin their cotton, no tanyards to prepare leather for making shoes, and no person to make the shoes when the leather was furnished. If one desired to build a house, he could not engage a carpenter to perform the work, as there were none; if a horse needed shoeing, or if a plow or wagon was out of fix, there was no blacksmith to repair them. For several years some of the settlers made their meal with hand-mills, while others beat their corn in large mortars, burnt out of trunks of trees. The cotton that was used for making clothes- they at first raised cotton for no other purpose- was for several years separated from the seed by picking the seed out with the fingers. The few houses made of plank were very expensive, as the plank was sawed with a hand-whipsaw-quite a slow process of making plank compared with
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BUTLER COUNTY, ALABAMA.
the rapid manner in which our mills now turn it out.
The great demand for these accommodations and the necessities of the country soon brought them into existence, and the people rejoiced, although they were forced to go ten and fifteen miles to a mill, and sometimes farther to a blacksmith or shoemaker. There being plenty of water in the county, it was not long before every neighborhood had a mill. The first of these, of course, did not have all the improvements of the mills of to-day, being very rude imitations of our mills, and they ground corn very slowly. It is said, however, that the meal turned out by them was more whole- some and nutritious than that ground by our fast mills of to-day. One by one these conveniences were given to the settlers, and the colony grad- ually changed from a land of savages to that of civilization. These changes always come grad- ually, and can hardly be detected by the people themselves. The small log huts were constantly torn down and replaced by neat, country dwell- ings of hewn logs or sawed planks, put up in the frame style. Public roads, leading to different parts of the country, were continually being cut out, and the stage-horn was soon heard to echo in the forest as the thundering stages went on their way from one part of the State to another, carry- ing mail as well as passengers. The whole coun- try began to show signs of civilization and growth. Emigration continued, and every one that located
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