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On a recent trip to Conecuh County I found myself with a few minutes to spare so I stopped by the library in Evergreen to do some light research on a McKinley ancestor who had lived in Conecuh in the early 1900s but about which I knew little else about the gentleman. Ms. Sherry Johnston, who is always a wealth of information on the area, gave me some valuable information on Mr. Pinkney McKinley and I greatly enjoyed my visit with her and Ms. Mattie McMillan from Newton, Mississippi who were in...
On April 3, 1906 Fred L. Hancock awaited his fate from an Escambia County jury for the slaying of Canoe School Professor Jesse Troutman. As one local newspaper printed, "Hancock will know early tomorrow whether the shackles of the law which have bound him fifteen months are to be burst or whether he is to be punished for slaying Jesse A. Troutman on January 1, 1905." The trial had been a sensational one, with more than 50 witnesses taking the stand and with Judge Samuel E. Brewer presiding over...
The lives of some are destined for tragedy. At some points in time the people who come into a person's life have unintended consequences for eternity. So was the case between Fredrick Hancock, Jesse Troutman and Ellie Winfied Weaver. Hancock married Ellie Weaver's older sister, Elizabeth in 1901. The couple lived in Brewton and Hancock was a successful horse dealer. Ellie, also called "Winnie," came to live with the couple. While living in Brewton, Winnie eventually met Jesse Troutman through...
There are many surnames which exist on the old census and newspaper rolls for Canoe, Alabama which no longer have living representatives in the Canoe area. Stackhouse, Kendrick, McCants and others just to name a few. The Jacobs family settled in Canoe early in the last century and below is a short extract of their history as provided by Mr. David Bethea of Mississippi. Luther Lee Jacobs was born on March 17, 1862 in Coffee County, Alabama. He met Eula Virginia McGhee, who was the daughter of...
Following the Civil War Southerners witnessed monumental changes throughout the region. The Reconstruction governments put in place by the North laid a heavy burden on the poor farmers and settlers and times were hard. Among the people who witnessed these events was Peter David Enfinger. Enfinger was born in Freeport, Florida on March 18, 1855. He was one of several children born to James Monroe Enfinger and his wife Melitha. Peter was interviewed by the Pensacola News Journal in August 1954 as...
Situated 3 miles east of the historical center of Atmore, along the old L&N Railroad (CSX) lies an area known as Malta. Little more than a highway sign along Highway 31 marks the rough location of the area although Malta is officially located at 31.025 latitude and 87.455 longitude. It has been said Malta's range is from the road known as Florida Highway to about where Parker and Sons Construction yard is presently located. In the old days Graham Oil was on this site. Several generation of...
As mentioned last week, the Canoe Highlands Colony remains shrouded in the hazy memory of our area's distant past. S.L. Baker, one of the colony's principal investor's, travelled to Chicago on a regular circuit expounding the benefits of settlement in the colony. Baker's son, Edward, also made trips to Chicago to stir up interest as evidenced by an ad in the Chicago paper, The Inter-Ocean from January 7, 1900: "An Ideal climate, no extremes, no blizzards no cyclones, no sunstrokes, sea breezes...
Shrouded in the foggy shadows of our area's distant past is the long-forgotten colony known as the Canoe Highlands. The colony was apparently made up of settlers from the Mid-West and our local newspapers from the late 1800s to early 1900s gave a fleeting mention of the colony over roughly a ten-year stretch. The fate of the colony; as well as the men and women who struggled to carve it out of the wilderness, is a forgotten chapter of our past. Perhaps the patriarch of the colony was the...
Escambia County Alabama was created following the War Between the States. The time immediately after the war was a dark time for many in that much of the infrastructure of the area had been destroyed or was primitive. Literacy rates were not exceptionally high during this era and historical documentation of local events was scattered and sporadic at best. Yet as our area slowly emerged from the war years, the stream of economic prosperity began to slowly flow south. As the population of our...
The nature of Southern rural life has always been about neighbor sharing with neighbor. From Virginia to Texas and from Tennessee to South Florida, it's a unique thing to be a Southerner and particularly a rural Southerner. Yet sharing sometimes has its limits. In the early 1900s near present day Baker, Florida lived Oscar and Lola (Kilcrease) Richards and family. Mr. Richards was a Holiness preacher who travelled a circuit of churches in the back woods of Northwest Florida. The Richards had...
By May, 1861 all the players were positioned for the opening battles around the Pensacola area. Since January 1861, peace had been loosely held in place by a gentleman's agreement between the outgoing administration in Washington and local officials. With the resupplying of Fort Pickens and events at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, the road to war was now open. The first salvos of war occurred in early May when the Confederates were attempting to move a large floating dry dock from the Navy Yard to...
History is usually written from the perspective of the victors, especially when it comes to wars. Never was this truer than in the American Civil War, also referred to as The War Between The States, as it relates to our area. Displays and recounting of Lucas' raid into Monroe County at the close of the war have been covered in several books and publications and most show that the Union cavalry were met on the Claiborne Road by the Probate Judge and a woman from town and they asked the Union...
Newspapers in our area have always profiled local residents and their human interests pursuits. Yet in an era when most people were "closer to the earth" it was well thought of to cover farms and agricultural interests. It is almost a forgotten fact of local history but our area was once awash in peach orchards, produce growing and strawberry patches. The area between Canoe and Malta was no different and many farmers made their livelihood growing such crops. The Brewton Standard was one in a lon...
Today new cell phones, electronic gadgets and other technological innovations are all the rave when they are released for consumer consumption each year. Yet in an earlier age, a new car was the cutting edge of the day and it put you in the "jet-set" if you could tool around your town in a shiny new vehicle. This was especially true when the automobile was first introduced in the early 1900s. In our area, three Maxwell model automobiles were shipped to the Atmore area in 1910. Among those...
In the early days of the automobile travel was anything but consistent. Muddy pig trials and dangerous bridges awaited travelers who dared venture upon the roads on their iron horse. As time passed the state legislatures determined that roads needed to be uniformed and cover long distances. Early attempts can be seen in Santa Rosa County where the county built a brick paved road which was intended to connect to the roads of other counties. Eventually the state governments saw that large scale...
Following the War Between the States, the South lay in great devastation. Many farms and homesteads lay burned to the ground and poverty and despair was a constant companion. Veterans returned home from the war with many physical and emotional issues. One Union soldier was found roaming aimlessly through a rail yard in tattered clothing. The man could only mumble and had a far away look in his eyes. He carried a sign around his neck which read simply "Michigan." He was placed on a train and...
A blue tinged cloud of cigarette smoke hanging in the air; as a juke box cranks out a Lefty Frizzel tune against the faint glow of a dimly lit dance floor. Cars parked out front proudly displaying their tail fins as their long, shiny frame casts silhouettes against a moonlit night. If you found yourself at a place like this; it might be the 1950s in our area and a weekend night. Farmers, Chemstrand workers, servicemen and others would be making the rounds from the South Flomaton bars, to the...
Much has been written about the cannons on the Escambia County Courthouse lawn. They stand as silent sentinels, bearing witness to decades of local history and the ebb and flow of attorneys, judges and residents through our collective memory. Yet their own history beckons the curiosity of any who stop and examine. The Thursday, April 5, 1906 edition of The Brewton Standard carried the story; "The United States government having presented to this county two cannons at Fort Barrancas, we suggest...
As mentioned last week, Ms. Annie Bowman was a well educated and prolific local writer. The earliest newspapers of our section give notice to her on a regular basis, when, as a young lady, she made many of the social events of our area. Brewton's Pine Belt News noted a "School Entertainment At Canoe," in their March 13, 1902 edition. "A rare musical treat and enjoyable literary feast and many hearty laughs were in store for the listeners on that occasion. Our musicians, Mrs. Fannie Brock, and...
The 1930s were hard times for many Americans. Wall Street had crashed, and the nation was in the depths of the Great Depression. The government sought desperately to put people back to work as in many jobs had disappeared overnight. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal sought to restore confidence and create economic security through a host of projects. The effects of those projects can be seen today. Little River State Park was a Civilian Conservation Corps project, whereby young men from...
Trains and the railroad have always been a big part of Canoe. The earliest recordation of the presence of a depot in the Canoe area may be a blip in The Standard Gauge, a Brewton, Alabama newspaper which noted on December 8, 1898; " A nice new depot is nearing completion at Canoe." North of Canoe, the Alger Sullivan logging railroad ran through the woods around Seizmore and Big Escambia Creek. The exact date of construction of the original depot in Canoe is lost to the fog of history but The...
During the enthusiasm that followed the early months of the War Between the States, many young men committed their lives and fortunes to the Confederate. In December 1861, a seasoned warrior from Wilcox County, William Howell Hanks, joined the ranks of the Confederate Army as he enlisted in the 23rd Alabama Infantry Regiment. His decision would take him to some of the most gruesome battlefields of the war and have everlasting consequences on his life and family. Hanks joined Capt. J.J....
Area restaurants have always been places to grab a meal, share fellowship with friends and family and solve the world's problems. Down through the years numerous local establishments each had their own faithful followers who were regular fixtures at lunch, breakfast or supper. One such eating house was Grubbs' Café in the South Flomaton/Century area. An early morning conversation with my mother, Helen McKinley provided much of the information for this story. The little café set unimposingly a...
As mentioned in earlier articles over the years, the Confederate veterans who came to Escambia County after the war built many of the local institutions we know so well. Detractors attempt to paint these brave men as racists, traitors and in other ways worthy of contempt. Yet it is both foolish and misguided to judge a generation by contemporary social mores and norms. It is also very short-sighted from a historical perspective to take one perceived aspect of an era and apply it to an entire...
The history of churches in our area cover the family lines of many locals and early settlers. Among the early churches in the Canoe area was Canoe First Baptist Church which was founded in 1884. Among the early church members was the Lowery family. The Lowery family moved from the ghost town of Evansville in the mid-1870s. Young Andrew Monroe Lowery was raised in a Christian home and grew up to own sawmill and other business interests in the community. He was ordained a minister at the church...
