Dear WHS Members,

I hope you are all well and are enjoying the change of weather. As you know it has been a very exciting fall for the Historical Society. From two great meetings and a fabulous Harvest Arts Concert to receiving another big grant and announcing Lady Carnarvon’s visit, we are making a big impact in Wilcox County. Thank you for being a part of this dynamic team!

We have so many reasons to be thankful. First, we are the largest civic organization in the county with well over 300 members and counting. We had not one, but two families contribute $10,000 each last month to start our first matching fund campaign for the Female Institute’s Restoration. As if that were not enough, the Hunter’s stepped forward as our first Diamond Sponsor of the Tour of Homes making Lady Carnarvon’s visit possible. Thank you all for your support, generosity, and enthusiasm for our Historical Society. Without you all, we would not be where we are today.

Even with all that has already happened this fall, we are just getting started. I am looking forward to guiding our first WHS Trip to Natchez, Mississippi, the first week of November. We will be exploring the architecture of this great Southern City with its majestic homes filled with antiques. While there our group will be dining in some of the finest homes in the South. It is the first of what I hope will be a number of travel opportunities for the WHS. We are already looking at options for next year from Charleston to Newport and beyond.

“Membership has its privileges…” they say. Your membership in the WHS gives you the first opportunity to purchase tickets (at a reduced rate) to the 2023 Tour of Homes in Pine Apple with our Guest Speaker, the Right Honorable Countess of Carnarvon of Highclere Castle. Lady Carnarvon has been fantastic to work with and is going to be a dynamic addition to the Tour. I hope you will all return the WHS Member Ticket Order Form on the last page of this Newsletter to guarantee your ticket to this year’s Tour.

The homeowners of Pine Apple have been hard at work since the spring preparing their homes for the Tour. Houses are being painted, floors refinished, drapes are being made, and furniture purchased to ensure that our guests see Pine Apple at its best. Thank you all for your hard work, time, and investment. I understand the commitment it takes and we appreciate all of your efforts.

What a great time to be a part of the Wilcox Historical Society. My friends, together we will Raise the Bell at the Institute, host another successful Tour of Homes, and together we will show a Countess what Southern Hospitality is. We need your continued help and support to make this happen.

Thank you all,

Lance Britt, WHS President     

The British are coming!

We have been overwhelmed by the response to our announcement that the Right Honorable Countess of Carnarvon, of “Downton Abbey’s” Highclere Castle will be our Keynote Speaker at the Tour of Homes. We worked with Lady Carnarvon to plan a day full of royal experiences on March 24, the day before our Tour in beautiful Pine Apple. It will be the perfect way to start our Tour Weekend!

As you know, Highclere Castle is one of the most notable homes in the world and Lady Carnarvon has been integral in its preservation. We are honored she has agreed to join us to share her experiences in restoring and preserving a 300-room castle. She has been an absolute joy to work with and is looking forward to her first visit to Alabama.

Between her visit and our nine gracious homeowners, we are going to have a fantastic weekend. Not only will we raise money for the WHS, but we will also generate positive public exposure for Pine Apple and Wilcox County. As if that were not enough, our Tour generates thousands of dollars in tax revenue for the county and is a big weekend for our local business owners as well. You will find the WHS Member Tour of Homes Ticket Order Form on the final page of this Newsletter. IT MUST BE RETURNED NO LATER THAN NOVEMBER 10 TO BE ELGIBLE FOR THE MEMBER PRESALE. Please return it immediately so we can process these orders before tickets are released to the general public. We will not honor any requests received after November 10. You will know by November 15th if we were able to fulfill your ticket request.

We will fulfill as many of your requests as possible. However, we can only accommodate a limited number of guests at certain events. Please understand we will not be able to accommodate every ticket request. We will do our best to offer other options in the event certain tickets sell out. If we are not able to accommodate your request, the money for that specific event will be refunded.

Remember, with all the interest in our Tour of Homes and Lady Carnarvon’s visit, we are going to need your help to make it run well. As always, we will need volunteers to be guides in the homes on Saturday and we are going to need greeters at our various events Friday as well. Make plans now to be here March 24 – 25, 2023, and to be a volunteer one of the two days as we welcome British Nobility and over 1000 guests to Wilcox County. We are going to need all of your help!

to new members: from Alabama –David and Eleanor Cheatham of Orrville, John Crenshaw, Michael Respess and Betty Cooper Mathews of Montgomery, Lynne Givhan of Safford, Kathy McCoy of Atmore, Shirley McClurklin of Thomasville, John Deupree and Monica B. Rice of Camden. And welcome to new members Jaimie and Kelly Jordan of Rome, Georgia and Larry Lynam of Tucson, Arizona!

And welcome to new Life Members – M. Stephen and Lila McNair of Mobile and Jackie Sharp / Capell House of Camden! Thank you all for joining the WHS!

RAISE THE BELL NEWS

The Raise the Bell Campaign has taken off like a rocket. This is thanks to the generosity of two families who have pledged to match every dollar donated up to $20,000! As a result, we have already raised close to $3000 in additional contributions since our September meeting. Please continue to help us spread the word about this great matching fund program. For more information or to get our Sponsorship Form, please go to our website wilcoxhistoricalsociety.org. Together we can meet our $20,000 goal and Raise the Bell at the Female Institute.

In addition to the matching fund campaign, we received a $37,500 grant last month from the Alabama Historical Commission to help us restore the Institute! This is the third consecutive year we have received a grant from the AHC. We are very thankful for their continued support.

The Board would like to thank Ms. Katie Summerville of Faunsdale for writing this grant which was our largest award by far from the AHC. She is currently working on other grant requests for us as well. With her expertise and experience we hope to continue to raise grant funds for the Female Institute.

This award is our second this year. As previously reported, we received a $40,000 grant from the Alabama Council for the Arts this summer. Together, the $77,500 in grant monies along with those pledged and raised through our Matching Fund Campaign, have generated over $100,000! With your continued support and Katie’s grant writing skills, we will Raise the Bell at the Female Institute.

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT –

Martha Grimes Lampkin

I am pleased to be the WHS Newsletter Editor and Social Media Manager – two jobs that were created when I became WHS President in 2017. I served as president for 3 years. With the encouragement of my niece, Elizabeth Grimes, (then Wilcox Area Chamber of Commerce Director), plans for an annual WHS Tour of Homes were renewed in 2017. The

“Homes of the River’s Bend Tour” was a big success with Elizabeth as Tour Coordinator and the WHS tours have grown to one of the largest historical homes tours in Alabama under Lance Britt’s leadership.

I grew up in the little town of Marion Junction, Dallas County, Alabama and graduated from Auburn University Montgomery with a degree in Finance. After college I moved to Birmingham and worked in the AmSouth Trust Department for several years later moving to Daphne, Alabama and working for real estate developer, Tonsmeire Development Corporation. I returned to banking in 1989 working as a credit analyst and then a mortgage loan officer at Regions Bank in Mobile. 

Growing up hearing stories of family history and Alabama history with a few ghost stories mixed in as told by my grandmother, Frances Donald Grimes and my parents, Harold and Virginia Grimes, I learned to appreciate my Southern heritage. My grandmother was a wonderful historian and story teller and she was well known for her knowledge of local history. In 1978 she published My Family History and Memoirs for our family after years of genealogy research and the year she died, 1989, she completed a History of Pine Apple Wilcox County, Alabama 1815-1989 with Robert A. Smith, III.

Being greatly influenced by my grandmother’s love of family, history and research I have spent years researching my father’s family lines of the Grimes, Watts, Donald, Yeldell, Roberts, Thigpen and others as well as my mother’s family lines of Lamkin, Hamilton, Williams, Majors and others. As they say, “Genealogy is not a hobby, it is an obsession.” I am an active contributor to FindAGrave memorials and have transcribed and published the Friendship Baptist Church of Pine Apple records for the years 1862-1907.

I enjoy photography and gardening. I also manage social media accounts for the Butler County Historical and Genealogical Society as well as the Bear Creek Preservation Association and our guest house, The Pine Apple Bungalow. We are members of the Church of the Highlands in Montgomery.

Since 2015 I have worked as Marketing Coordinator for Lake Martin Voice Realty, a small real estate firm in the Lake Martin, Alabama area. In this job I manage the social media accounts, website updates and blog posts, coordinate the listings of new property for sale, continually update the LMVR app and help create real estate listing videos and photos.   My husband, James and I married in August 1991 in a church my family and I hold dear, the Mt. Moriah Fellowship Baptist Church near Monterey located at the Butler County / Wilcox County lines. This little “church in the wildwood” was established in 1828 with my ancestors joining in the 1830s and each October we gather for an annual homecoming celebration. Our wedding reception was held at Greenleaves in Pine Apple and I know my grandparents are pleased that we continue to enjoy time in the family home to this day. I feel so fortunate to be the owner of

Greenleaves and James and I are happy to be the caretakers of this beautiful old home that has been in my family for over 150 years.

James and I are the proud parents of two children, Harold Brooks Lampkin, MD married to Margo Edwards Lampkin and Virginia Frances “Ginny” Lampkin Morgan, OD married to Jake Morgan. We are also the proud G Daddy and Marmee of little granddaughters, Lucy Clare Lampkin and Julia Frances Lampkin. And I certainly don’t want to forget to mention we have two spoiled cocker spaniels, Kisses and Bentley.

The WHS 2023 Tour of Homes will feature nine historic homes in Pine Apple this year and we are happy to have two homes on the Tour – Greenleaves (pictured above) and the Pine Apple Bungalow. Greenleaves was built in 1854 by Augustus Powell. My great, great grandmother – Letitia Roberts Grimes, bought the home in 1869, two years after the death of her husband, my great, great grandfather, Wiley Grimes. 

After the 1893 marriage of my great grandfather, William Henry Grimes to Josephine Watts, the home was remodeled adding the three front gables and two front rooms and porches with gingerbread trim. Pictured at left is the Grimes family about 1912 on the front steps of Greenleaves.

James and I renovated Greenleaves in 2005 and live there part time and in Montgomery part time. 

The Pine Apple Bungalow next door to Greenleaves, was built in the early 1920s for my great aunt Lois Grimes and husband Hayden Lewis. Next my grandfather Harold Watts Grimes lived there bringing his bride, his childhood sweetheart, my grandmother, Frances Donald Dudley Grimes and her son, Hugh Dudley to live there when they married in 1927. In 1930 my father was born and the family lived there until 1931 when they moved next door to Greenleaves. My husband and I together with help from our children, friends and family have recently restored the bungalow and enjoy using it as a guest house and hunting lodge.

My Wilcox County roots go back to 1824 when Wiley Grimes first appeared in public records for his marriage to his first wife, Elizabeth Coleson. A number of my ancestors came to Alabama before the Territory became a state – 1815 with James Powers, to 1816 with Richard Warren and James Steen, to 1818 with Robert Anthony Yeldell. I am proud to support Wilcox County and preserve its history for future generations. I agree with Daniel Webster who said, “He who knoweth not from whence he came, careth little whither he goeth.”

D O N A T I O N S

Many thanks for your gifts and continuing support!

A memorial, birthday, anniversary or just a nice way to say thank you can be done in a donation to the Wilcox Historical Society. Your donation is tax deductible. Donations can be mailed to: WHS, P O Box 464, Camden, AL 36726 or contact our Treasurer, Mary Margaret Kyser for more details. She can be reached at 334.324.9353 or m2kyser54@aol.com.

WHS September Meeting  

The Search for Mabila and Medieval Spaniards in Alabama

On Sunday afternoon, September 18th, members and guests of the WHS enjoyed hearing from Dr. Ashley A. Dumas, Associate Professor of Anthropology at The University of West Alabama.  She is an archaeologist specializing in the late prehistory and history of the Southeastern United States.

“For more than a century, historians, archaeologists and anthropologists have scoured areas of west Alabama in search of the remains of Mabila – a fortified Indian village where, in October 1540, the forces of notorious Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto clashed with Native American warriors under the direction of their dynamic leader, Chief Tascalusa.” This battle is believed to be the largest battle every found between Europeans and the indigenous people of North America.

Now supported by a growing collection of artifacts, Dr. Dumas and the University of West Alabama team are convinced they are within a few miles of finding the site of the town and the infamous battle. Those in attendance were able to view some of the artifacts the team has found in Marengo County.

The meeting was held at the Wilcox Female Institute with a reception afterwards.

Pictured is Dr. Ashley Dumas with WHS members Andy and Kathy Coats examining a fragment of a 16^th century horseshoe which is one of the documented artifacts that is leading to the discover of the battle site. In Marengo County, Dumas and her colleagues have thus far found 52 confirmed pieces of Spanish-made metal, such as horseshoe remnants and iron chisels repurposed from the metal bands that strengthened wooden barrels.

MOZART AND FRIENDS

CONCERT IN CAMDEN

The Camden Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church was the venue for the Harvest Arts Harp Quintet on September 26th. A large crowd attended the concert sponsored by the WHS.

The concert featured performers on Violin, Viola and Cello in addition to Wilcox County favorites Madeline Cawley, Flute and Hannah Cope Johnson, Harp. The violinist and violist perform with the Nashville Symphony and the cellist just returned from a nationwide Broadway Tour of Oklahoma!

The WHS hosted a reception at the Wilcox Female Institute following the concert.

WHS October Meeting 

Rosemary Plantation and

the Families Who Called it Home

Our October meeting was held on Sunday afternoon, October 9^th at Rosemary Plantation in the Miller’s Ferry area of Wilcox County near Camden. Members and guests enjoyed hearing three speakers share the history of the home and the families who lived there.

The speakers included the present owner, Brock Jones and Mason McGowin, a descendant of the Mathews family and Carter Fowlkes, a descendant of the Mathews-Cade family. Mr. Fowlkes also shared with us portraits of Peter Early Mathews and wife Virginia Vaughan Mathews.

Rosemary sits near the Alabama River and was built on the highest land in the river valley. The home, circa 1856, was built for the Peter Early Mathews family on roughly 2,000 acres of land. Sadly, Mr. Mathews died in 1856 leaving the estate to his wife.  

After the death of Mrs. Mathews in 1891 “The Mathews Place” was inherited by nephew Frank Cade in 1897. The home was named “Rosemary” by Mr. Cade’s wife, Mary, not for roses or her own name, but for the fragrant herb. Mary also added a second story to the home and the large center staircase around 1900.

Those present at the meeting enjoyed touring the house and grounds as well as refreshments and fellowship.

Editor’s Note – the WHS Winter 2022 Newsletter has a more detailed article written about Rosemary by Mr. Carter Fowlkes and it can be found on our website. 

Hugh Joseph Dudley, 97, passed away at his home in Huntsville on October 5, 2022. Mr. Dudley was born in Montgomery, Alabama and grew up in Pine Apple, Alabama. He graduated from Moore Academy in 1943. He served in the Pacific during WWII in the Navy Seabees. Mr. Dudley graduated from Auburn University in 1949 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Mr. Dudley had been a resident of Huntsville since 1953. He worked for the Marshall Space Flight Center and served on the Space Sciences Laboratory staff before accepting a position in Advanced Development where he worked until retirement in 1980. At that time, Mr. Dudley accepted a consulting job to restore the Huntsville Depot. He was a leading authority on Railroad History and was honored for his community service and contributions to the North Alabama Railroad Museum by the naming of the Hugh Dudley Railroad History Center.

Mr. Dudley was the son of the late Hugh Joseph Dudley and Frances Donald Dudley Grimes. His wife of 58 years, Bobbie LaGrone Dudley preceded him in death.

Mr. Dudley is survived by his two daughters, and son-in-law, Terry Dudley Lott, Drs. Robbin (Dudley) Klemm and Mike Klemm, three grandsons and brother, Harold (Hal) Watts Grimes.

Margaret Jane Gaston of Belleville, Conecuh County, Alabama passed away on September 28, 2022. She was a lovely person with a heart of gold and an energetic and unique personality that made her loved and admired by so many. She was the one to ask if you had a question about local history or Hank Williams. She worked tirelessly on organizing the historical research room at the Rose Memorial Library in Georgiana, Butler County, Alabama. She donated many books to the RML and until only a few months ago was checking out and reading several books a week. Miss Gaston was a life-long learner and a loyal supporter of local history.

Miss Gaston was the daughter of the late James Allison Gaston and Willie Dent Rumbley Gaston.  

Dearest Mother and Daddy

A Letter by Hugh C. Dale

Shared by daughter, WHS member Jane Shelton Dale

Sabbath night

Dearest Mother and Daddy,

I saw the President-elect last night. Was just about to come back to Forest Home after the teachers’ meeting yesterday afternoon when suddenly I decided I wanted to go to Montgomery, so I went. It didn’t take me any time to find a mighty nice fellow going that way. He was a Methodist preacher who lives in Montgomery and is now chaplain for the State convict department. Had his son, a boy about my age, along with him and also a man from Evergreen, a Mr. Rushton who manages the Ford agency there. Got there about five-thirty. The president’s train was to get in at seven so I went up to the capitol grounds early and got me a good place to stand where I could see and hear well.  In fact, I think I had about as good a position as anybody; I stood just at the top of that long flight of steps leading up to the capitol and he and Uncle Meek spoke from the front porch, so, you see, I was just in front of them. There was certainly a mob of people there, and so many soldiers, national guards, etc. The Parade came up Dexter and then went around back of the capitol and they came in to the capitol from the back and on to the porch. Uncle Meek made a fine introduction and then Roosevelt’s speech was fine too. You’ll read them and all about it in the papers, of course. I could see them all perfectly and hear every word. I passed by the mansion and saw it all decorated up for the reception but of course I didn’t see any of the folks. Well, I really didn’t have any plans as to what I’d do after that – didn’t know whether I’d spend the night here or not – but decided I’d go to the Exchange and maybe run up on somebody from Camden. You know, if you’ll just stand around there, you’ll see everybody in Montgomery. I saw the J.R. Bells from Selma and talked with them awhile. Mrs. Bell asked about you. Also saw C. F. and Warb Primm, Jack Alford, Pettus Randall, the Banks girls, Miss Ruby Duke and her folks, some people from Greenville, and in fact about the first person I saw was Mr. Watt. He and two other fellows from here had gone up there in his car so they had plenty of room for me to come home with them. The other two fellows had his car off somewhere and were supposed to meet him there at nine, but they were real late getting back and we didn’t get home until about 2:15 this morning.   

Your devoted,

Hugh

Mr. Hugh Dale graduated from Erskine College in 1932 and his first job was principal at the school in Forest Home, Butler County, Alabama. Jane Shelton Dale shares that soon after this letter was written her Daddy went to Columbia University and received a Master’s in Chemistry and taught in Birmingham and Atlanta before WWII. 

Editor’s Note: President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt’s visit to Montgomery was on Saturday, January 21, 1933.  The Montgomery Advertiser’s headlines on January 22 read “Roosevelt Won by Tumultuous Welcome Here.” The headline went on to read “Visit Brings Largest Crowd Ever Seen In Streets; Governor Gives Dinner”. And Uncle Meek as mentioned in the letter was Governor Benjamin Meek Miller from Camden – Alabama governor from 1931-1935.

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

Written by Frances Donald Dudley Grimes in 1977 – the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II

In the early spring of the year 1926 George V sat upon the throne of England. Only one of his four sons was married, Prince Albert, Duke of York. Yet for 70 years the male succession to the throne had seldom seemed more secure.

Three years had passed since the splendid Duke of York’s wedding in Westminster Abbey to Elizabeth Bowes Lyon in 1924. Tho’ the Duke stood second to the crown, he and the Duchess had no permanent home, for known as the Industrial Prince, he travelled throughout the realm and they lived mostly out of suitcases.

When the happiness of a future baby became assured, the Duchess decided that she wanted her baby to be born in her parent’s London home at 17 Bruton Street.

This was the first public statement to herald the present queen: her Royal Highness, the Duchess of York was safely delivered of a Princess at 2:40 a.m. this morning, Wednesday, April 21^st, 1926. King George V and Queen Mary were awakened at 4:00 a.m. to tell them of the good news and Queen Mary said: “Such a relief and joy.”

Two weeks later, on May 29^th the baby princess was christened in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace, with ceremonial water brought from the River Jordan. She wore the christening robe of cream Brussels lace that had been used for the children of Queen Victoria. She was named Elizabeth Alexandra Mary.

The early years of the future Queen Elizabeth chronicled in some detail by her family, by friends and by at least one governess, Miss Marion Crawford, a Scot woman who became known as Crawfie by the two little princesses. Her family was dominated by her grandfather, King George V who was the first British Monarch to exemplify the majesty of the ordinary man. He personified all that his people felt most comfortable with and set the stage for British Monarchy that has been followed ever since, most notably by his granddaughter, Elizabeth II. Patriotism for the king was a personal thing. He believed in God, the invincibility of the Royal Navy, the essential rightness of whatever was British, the unquestioning subordination of thine to duty and a boundless capacity for hard work. These are some of the debts, instinctive and cultivated that Queen Elizabeth II owes to her grandfather and they have helped make her a descendant and successor of whom he could feel thoroughly proud.

Queen Mary, who was more than an ordinary grandmother set out to play the most active role in the upbringing of Princess Elizabeth and her influence on her life, work and personality was to emulate that of her royal Grandfather.

On August 21, 1930, the Duchess gave birth to another daughter, who was named Margaret Rose. Elizabeth might have been overshadowed in the public eye if her mother had given birth to a son but the arrival of Margaret Rose had the opposite effect. Queen Mary saw the danger of all of this –on one occasion, at Herrod’s one of London’s most prestigious stores, Queen Mary saw the little princess wriggling and asked if she wanted to go home. “Oh no Granny,” she said. “Think of all the people who are waiting to see us,” where upon Queen Mary had the little girl taken down the back way and sent home in a taxi. Gratifying the public, Elizabeth must learn was not an end in itself and being a royal was a matter of living out a role, not acting it.

When Elizabeth was 6 years old, Miss Crawford, her governess, organized a 6-day school curriculum for her, which included history, geography, Bible reading, with detailed emphasis on physical geography of the Dominions and India.

By the early 30’s life was taking on a pleasantly settled character for the Duke and Duchess of York and their two little daughters. It was about this time though that Edward, Prince of Wales first met Mrs. Wallis Simpson, which relationship led to his abdication in 1936 and put Elizabeth in direct line of succession to the throne. But even more important, it provided the awful example that overshadowed the Princess’s adolescence and remains a shadow over the royal family to this day, of how not to behave when one is blessed with the sacred trust of monarchy.

The Prince of Wales, David to his family, was Princess Elizabeth’s favorite uncle and he got great pleasure in indulging her. In her early childhood there was little suspicion a betrayal of this sacred trust by her uncle David. In fact, he seemed to be blazing a new trail for 20^th century monarchy to follow. He had fought to get close to the trenches in World War I and had won. He had been the first member of the Royal family to speak on radio and other incidents seemed to herald a more democratic approach to monarchy in the future. He was a playboy though and had several affairs with women which King George and Queen Mary tried to ignore, for the prince was the rogue factor in the representative monarchy that thy had so painstakingly molded and which made for constant tension in the family.

Now began the bitterness over Wallis Simpson, a twice married woman, which divided the British royal family well into the reign of Queen Elizabeth II for feelings began to harden as he began parading his relationship with her in the autumn of 1934. He bought fabulous jewels for her form Cartier in Paris, and as if that were not enough, to which hurt King George and Queen Mary especially was that many of the jewels that Mrs. Simpson paraded were royal heirlooms from the priceless collection of the King’s mother Queen Alexandra, who bequeathed them to the Prince of Wales to be worn by his future wife.

It was in 1934-35 that people began to see a dulling of the Prince’s appetite for work and a boredom and irritation on his face as he carried out his public engagements. King George was greatly worried as he spent long hours of the last September of his life discussing the problems of his son with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

King George V died on January 20^th, 1936; his death had taken everyone by surprise even tho’ he had been in bad health for sometimes. Before his father’s death, tho’ the Prince of Wales closest friends were talking about the possibility of him renouncing his right of succession in favor of his younger brother, the Duke of York.

Public opinion now began to focus upon the little Princess Elizabeth, who was now 10 years old but she was totally unaware of this.

Flouting the wishes of his elected government and pursuing personal enthusiasm with no regard for the reaction of the nation as a whole, Kind Edward VIII wanted to be himself on his own terms which was impossible. 

On the evening of November 16, 1936, he had dinner with his mother, Queen Mary, and spoke openly to her, for the first time, of his love for Mrs. Simpson. This was the parting of ways. In Edward’s eyes his duty was to the woman he loved rather than duty to the monarchy. Queen Mary wrote a letter to her son in 1938 giving him her interpretation of Duty from which are some excerpts, “You remember how miserable I was when you informed me of you intended marriage and abdication and how I implored you not to do so for our sake and for the sake of the country. You did not seem able to take in any point of view but your own. It seemed inconceivable to those who had made such sacrifices during the war, that you, as their king refused a lesser sacrifice. My feeling for you as your mother remains the same, and our being parted and the cause of it, grieve me by your words, after all, all my life I have put my country before everything else and simply can’t change now.”

On Friday, December 11, 1936, was the day that Princess Elizabeth formally became heir to the throne, for her father became King by the instrument of abdication which Edward had signed the day before. The Ex-King made his farewell broadcast that night which most of us remember, and I remember I cried.  (To be continued in the WHS Winter newsletter.)

EARLY RIVER DAYS

IN WILCOX COUNTY

A paper by Viola Liddell given for the Wilcox Historical Society, March, 1968

A few years ago I recall grieving over the fact that all the big things, all the progressive things, happening in the South were passing us by here in Wilcox county, But when we of this sleepy bend in the Alabama River, without a super highway, without an airway, with but a spur railroad and a handful of people, discovered that one of the largest paper and pulp mills in the world was locating here, we at first were startled, then skeptical, then, when we knew it was true, tremendously gratified that something of a miracle was really happening to us.

Thinking about other great things happening in our state set me to thinking that, by whatever names we may call them, giants are walking in our land. These giants, after slumbering for endless ages are just recently being awaked and, like Aladdin’s genie, being put to work. Our state was still dominated by King Cotton when the giants of coal and iron were aroused from their beds, mined, forged, and cast into the mighty muscles of tens of thousands of lesser giants of mechanized industry. The great green forest giant has come alive and now wherever he spreads his arms, other man-made giants of saw, and plane, and lathe have arisen. Only in the past few years has the great black oil giant risen from his millions of years of sleep under the skin of our earth and is shaking the southern portion of our state into a reservoir of industrial might.

The genial giants with which Nature has ever blessed Alabama – a temperate climate, abundant rainfall, rich soil – are just now being fully appreciated by those of us who have lived here always and even more so by those who have struggled in other areas with the inhospitable giants of snow and ice, heat and drought, rock and dust.

But perhaps the greatest giant of all – the wonder, life-giving giant of water – dozed and lazed leisurely on and on until the need for power and more power, mechanical and electrical, prodded him into flexing his muscles, first in the northern part of the state, then in the east and west, and at last in the south-central portion – particularly in Wilcox County when on April 15, 1963, Miller’s Ferry Lock and Dam and power house were begun. Once this giant is harnessed and put to work, other industries such as McMillan-Bloedel will come and cluster near his great sinews to receive strength of their endeavors. And people will come from miles around to find renewal of spirt in its thousands of acres of placid waters and evergreen play-grounds.

But since I must confine my talk to matters concerning Wilcox County, I have chosen for my subject that part of our beautiful and ever-lasting stream, the Alabama River, which is responsible for this new development in our county – one bound to be profound and far-reaching – how it has affected our lives in the past and how it has helped to mold and make us through our many eras of change. That it will be the maker and molder of life in Wilcox County for many years to come is a fore-gone conclusion.

There is no doubt that Wilcox County was in its pre-pioneer days heavily populated with Indians because of the length of the Alabama River passing through the county and because of the ample systems of creeks flowing into it. These waterways gave stability to Indian life as remains of their villages, mounds, relics, artifacts and history itself indicate.  And because of their stability the Indians here had reached a high degree of civilization before the white man came. There is strong evidence that besides the small villages that the great Indian city of Maubila where DeSoto decisively defeated the Maubilian Indians, was situated near the confluence of the Alabama and Pine Barren Creek in Wilcox County. Besides being a ready source of food, the streams were both highways and communication systems for the Indians.

Although DeSoto came overland into Alabama, most of the early explorers came up-river; traders in furs, French missionaries, English speculators, and finally settlers themselves. These pioneers used skiffs, rafts and keel-boats – the heavier craft for downstream traffic which, being too heavy to fight the upstream current, had to be built anew for each trip to the Gulf. But in the early 1800’s the Alabama River became a red carpet for the River Queens which churned and hooted through Alabama’s cotton kingdom taking out the white gold and bringing in all the kingdom needed to sustain and enhance it – from needles and plows to Italian marble and Parisian gowns.

Because of its tortuous course through its diagonal length, Wilcox County can boast of more miles of river frontage that any other county in the state, which fact is perhaps a reason for it having more river landings than any other during the steam-boat days. Another reason was that, as part of the Black Belt, Wilcox County was also part of this Cotton Kingdom which shared in a sort of Gone-with-the-Wind glory in ante-bellum days. Of eighty-four recorded landings in the county, many bore names of pioneer families, others of incidents buried in folklore. But all will for years to come sprinkle the conversation of our native inhabitants: Yellow Jacket, Prairie, Clifton, Walnut and Hurricane Bluffs; Tait’s, Burford’s, Ellis and Bridgeport landings; Cobb’s and Miller’s Ferries, and many, many more.

Once bustling points of traffic and travel, so much so that a typical one – Prairie Bluff – was at one time considered for the capitol of the state – now largely obliterated by the onslaughts of time and neglect, they are still bleak reminders of a past which, though brightly embroidered by nostalgia, will ever be cherished as places of refined and gracious living. Though the towns have disappeared, a few private homes of this era remain intact – the Starr, Ervin, Tait, and Harris homes, and the Shook and Beck (now the Darwin) homes in Camden, if Camden might be, and I feel that it can, be classified as a river town.

And the steamboats which plied the river, their memorable exploits and frightful disasters, as well as their colorful and intrepid captains, pilots and crews were as familiar topics of conversation to the past generation as moon rockets and space ships are today. Built for speed, beauty, and business, these River Queens, often called and quite often mis-called Floating Palaces, were the hand-maidens of King Cotton; and with the affluence of the ante-bellum era, were pace-setters for the social and economic life of the Black Belt of Alabama during those halcyon days. Some, with swept-back smoke stacks, decked out in fancy ginger-bread trim, were two hundred and more feet long and boasted of as many as six steel boilers. The pilot house perched atop the Texas which housed the officer quarters; below the Texas were the passenger deck and quarters; and near the water level, the freight deck with its cargo and crew of deck hands.

The early river boats were usually side-wheelers with powerful machinery, often pushed to dangerous and explosive pressures by the heart pine fed into their fire-boxes – plus fat-back or pure rosin when a race or delayed schedule demanded maximum speed. The later boats were often stern-wheelers which were considerably more dangerous in the unpredictable river waters. A special and exclusive whistle, a sort of trade-mark for each boat, elicited great pride and envy among captains and pilots, while a calliope – if the boat were prosperous enough to own one – furnished gay tunes for dockings and farewells or any festive occasion.   (To be continued in the WHS Winter newsletter.)                  

  

YOU CAN HELP US RAISE THE BELL!

 

There are a variety of ways you can help us restore the Female Institute. For more information on naming opportunities for the archives or either phase of the restoration, please contact Lance Britt, WHS President, 256.975.7616.

To contribute to the cause, send a check made payable to: Wilcox Historical Society, P.O. Box 464, Camden, Alabama 36726. Your potential tax deduction is based on the stated value for goods or services provided.

TOGETHER we can Raise the Bell at the Wilcox Female Institute!

Give the Gift of Membership

Gift memberships are now available! Help us grow our membership and take pride in the history of Wilcox County. If you are interested in gifting a membership to a friend or family member for a birthday or other special occasion let us know. We will mail them a beautiful gift certificate along with our latest newsletter. For more information, please contact us at wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com. 

 Inquiries and Comments 

We often receive genealogical and local history inquiries on the WHS Facebook page, Instagram page and website. If you have any information to help with these inquiries, please let us know and we will be happy to pass it along or put you in contact with the interested party. Our email address is wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com or you can text or call Martha Lampkin at 334.296.1076. We also love receiving comments on our posts on social media. The more comments, likes and shares also help our posts be viewed by more people. Here are a few inquiries and comments received since our last newsletter:

Hello, I have been working on genealogy. My third great grandfather was John Jared Roach who lived in Camden, Alabama. He was born in 1811 and died in 1891. He was a lawyer and judge and married first to Martha Fluker Hill and second to Sarah Frierson. My Uncle remembers seeing a portrait of him in his robes somewhere in Montgomery he thought in a government building – this would have been around 1955. The state archives do not know anything about it though. I was just wondering if y’all have any information on John Jared Roach or know of this portrait.

Do you know if there are any records of the burials in Camden Cemetery? I have a genealogy book that says John Jared Roach is buried there but I notice his grave is not listed on FindAGrave. Thanks so much for everything. I would like to visit Camden one day.  Shannon Douglas Cotham, West Columbia, SC

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Camden Cemetery Association 2014 Camden Cemetery Survey compiled by WHS members, Will Liddell, Jr. and Ruth H. Liddell did not indicate a tombstone for Mr. Roach; only one for his second wife.

Hello, I need help with family information for the Jordan, Jackson, Reid and Englett families in Wilcox County as follows: Willie Eugene Jordan (1870-1902), Isabella Jackson Jordan Reid (1870-1938), Mary Bell Dunn Jackson (1840-1924), James Robert Jackson (1834-1895), Thomas w. Englett (1892-1957) and Thomas J. Englett (1848-1924). Thank you for any information!  Krista Pilkilton, Florence, AL

I came across a relative’s WWII US draft card that lists employment at W.M. McGowin Lumber Company in Pine Apple. His name was Willie Morris Henderson and he was living in Georgiana. I would love to know if the spelling is correct and a rough time period in which it was in operation. I live in Savannah Georgia and grew up in Panama City Florida. My mother was born in East Chapman, Butler County. Nearly all her relatives including brother, father and grandfather worked for W.T. Smith Lumber Company. Chriss Perkins, Savannah, GA

I am doing research on my great-grandmother, Minnie Lee Jay Forte. At age 7, according to the 1880 US Census, she was living in Fox’s Mills, ED 185, Wilcox, AL. I have tried to find this location with no success. I was wondering if someone at the Wilcox Historical Society could help me with this location.

I have found information on the Fox Mill Plantation and wondered if there was some area connection. My Great-Grandmother was orphaned at a young age and raised by her mother’s family “up in the Foxs Mill area”. Her parents and younger brother were “going west” but only got to Claiborne where there was a yellow fever outbreak. They were returning to their families in Wilcox County, but only got as far as McWilliams where the parents and brother died.

In the 1930s my grandfather met “an old-timer” at a store in McWilliams who remembered the story and said he could show my grandfather where they were buried beside the road outside of McWilliams. He had been told the little girl was taken to her family. Sadly, my grandfather was working and couldn’t go with the man. When he returned to the area, the man had died.

If someone could give me some clue as to the location of Fox’s Mills, ED 185, Wilcox, AL as listed on the 1880 census I would sincerely appreciate the help.

I have also bookmarked your site for information on the 2023 tour. I have taken several tours in Monroe County in the past, but only learned of the Wilcox tours today. Will be looking forward to attending in March 2023.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
Sheila Forte Gresham Morrissey

I am looking for any information about the Moseley Place near Bellview in Wilcox County as mentioned in The Slave Narratives. Jim Phillips

I am interested in information about the L&N train route in Camden as it headed to the sawmill in Vredenburgh. David Boykin, Forestville, MD

We are looking for a contractor to help with some repairs at Snow Hill Institute. I am a grandson of the founder and would appreciate any referrals. Wendell Edwards, Northport, AL

WHS DATES TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR

• Tuesday – Friday, November 1-4 -Trip to Natchez, Mississippi
• Saturday, November 26 – Hunter Appreciation Day, Pine Apple
• Saturday, December 3, 3-5pm -WHS Christmas Open House, Magnolia Glen, Furman
• Sunday, December 18, 6:30pm – Christmas in Furman, Bethsaida Baptist Church
• Thursday, February 23, 2pm – WHS Meeting, Female Institute, Tom McGehee, Speaker
• Saturday, March 11, Time -TBD – WHS Trip to Bellingrath Gardens, Mobile
• Friday–Saturday, March 24–25, 2023, WHS Tour of Homes, Pine Apple

A LOOK BACK…  

12 July 1878

Wilcox News and Pacificator, Camden

FATAMA ACADEMY

IS AT FATAMA, WILCOX CO., ALA.,

NINE MILES SOUTH OF CAMDEN

Open to young ladies and gentlemen, and solicits patronage in Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Commercial Arithmetic, Book Keeping, English Grammar, Latin Grammar, Composition and Rhetoric, Phonography and Elocution, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and Plain and Ornamental Penmanship.

Specimen of Penmanship fresh from the pen of S.S. LANDRUM, Principal of Academy, Professor of Mathematics and Penmanship

June 14, 1878

27 July 1887

Wilcox Progressive Era, Camden

Miss Minnie Presley, who has been teaching music in N.C., returned to Oak Hill on the 19^th inst.

W.J. Bonner, our efficient circuit clerk, was visiting relatives on Oak Hill last week.

Mr. E.I. McBryde’s store came very near being destroyed by fire on the 19^th inst., in the following way: He had some fireworks left over from Christmas, among which was a substance composed of Sulphur and gun powder, which ignited, it is supposed, from the intense heat on that day, and but for the presence of his clerk and others, the store would certainly have been consumed.

In the adjoining beat, Fox’s Mill, DeWitt Sadler, accidently killed a Mr. Harrison, with a shot gun, on the 19^th inst.

Sometimes ago one of our colored citizens was paid off by the railroad company and remarked that “he was going to Selma, get drunk, and kick up h—l generally.” I supposed he executed his threat, as the last that was heard of him, he was in the chain gang.

We noticed R. Harriss, of Pineapple, on the streets yesterday.

Several of our farmers report caterpillars.

Quivive 

5 March 1914

Wilcox Progressive Era, Camden

SEDAN

Sedan beat which was established about the time of the battle between the Germans and French, about 1870, is located in the south western part of our county and tradition has that it was given its name by the late Capt. E.R. Cannon, who was a German sympathizer. It is almost a level section of the Pursley and Gravel creek hills. There is however considerable broken and hilly lands. Here and nearby are the residences of Messrs. W.P. Preston, J.B. Sessions, D.J. McCarty, Capt. O.H. and W.F. Spencer, and others. Mr. D.J. McCarty, W. P. Preston, A.J. Bigger, J.B. Sessions and W.J. Griffin have stores in the beat, and D. J. McCarty, J.B. Sessions, S.C. McMurphy and A.J. Bigger have steam ginneries. Considerable cotton and corn is raised in the beat and much attention is given to hog and cattle raising. Bellview is the post office, and is at Mr. J.B. Session’s store. Reeve’s Chapel is a Methodist church of which Rev. Hastings in pastor.

19 March 1914

Wilcox Progressive Era, Camden

The railroad reached Camden in 1902, bringing in new citizens and putting new life into the old so that much of the town is now new with continued improvements, and very much of the credit for bringing this railroad to Camden is due to the efforts of Hon. S.D. Bloch.

6 June 1957

Wilcox Progressive Era, Camden

Graduation Exercises at Moore Academy

Graduation exercise of Moore Academy were held in the school gymnasium Thursday, May 23, at 8:00 p.m.

The invocation was given by the Reverend Robert Glass, pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church. The salutatory was given by Rosa Lee Jones and the valedictory by Winston Stuart.

The address was delivered by Dr. H.B. Woodward, former principal of Moore Academy and now director of the Bureau of Educational Research at the University of Alabama.

Honors and awards were presented by W.J. Jones, county superintendent, Mary Alice Jones received the Good Citizenship Girl award; and Winston Stuart, the Balfour award.

Roy F. Bragg, principal, presented diplomas to the following: Leon Girlie, Rosa Lee Jones, Julia P. Steen, Jr., Mary Alice Jones, Gordon Strickland, Doris Ann Beard, Winston Stuart, Barbara Faye Evans, Mary Effie Griffin and Lewis Jones. 

30 August 1962

Wilcox Progressive Era, Camden

Five Camden Boys Take Boat Trip

Five young men left very early Wednesday morning on a three-day boat trip which will take them to Cahaba and Selma before their return to the Camden landing Friday.

Fleet Lane, Bud Selsor, Ed Wetherbee, Charlies Wetherbee and Harry Ratcliff spent Tuesday night “on the river” so that they might be ready to shove off early Wednesday morning on the trip which should prove to be interesting and scenic.

The trip is being made in the 62-foot paddle wheel river boat designed by the father of one of the boys, Bob Lane of Camden, and also built by Mr. Lane with the help of his boys and some of the employees of Lane Butane Co,

The boat is spacious and well-built and completely powered with LP gas, as Mr. Lane says, “even to the whistle”.

If you are interested in submitting an article for the newsletter, please let us know!

Email us at wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com or send via snail mail to P O Box 464, Camden, AL 36726. We will be happy to review it for a future issue.

Don’t forget!  Annual dues are $30 for a couple, $25 for single. Lifetime dues are $300 for a couple and $250 for single. Dues are renewed in January.  A membership form is available on our website: WilcoxHistoricalSociety.org. Or if you prefer, please mail dues to: P O Box 464, Camden, AL 36726 and be sure to include your name, mailing address, email address and phone number. Payment may also be made with PayPal. Questions? Email us at wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com. Thanks!

Wilcox Historical Society 2023 Tour of Homes Sponsorship Opportunities

DIAMOND SPONSOR – $7500 and above

• Name placed prominently in the Tour of Homes Brochure

• Recognition of your support at the Welcome Reception

• 4 Royal Package Tickets to the Tour of Homes – $1400 Value

• 2 Tickets to the Luncheon – $500 Value

• Personalized, Signed Copy of Seasons at Highclere – $50 value

• Complimentary 1 year membership in the Wilcox Historical Society

• Name included in all print/social media Tour Advertising

PLATINUM SPONSOR – $5000

• Name included in the Tour of Homes Brochure

• 2 Royal Package Tickets to the Tour of Homes – $700 Value

• 2 Tickets to the Luncheon – $500 Value

• Personalized, Signed Copy of Seasons at Highclere – $50 value

• Complimentary 1 year membership in the Wilcox Historical Society

• Name included in all print Tour Advertising

GOLD SPONSOR – $2500

• Name included in the Tour of Homes Brochure

• 2 Royal Package Tickets to the Tour of Homes – $700 Value

• Personalized, Signed Copy of Seasons at Highclere – $50 value

• Complimentary 1 year membership in the Wilcox Historical Society

SILVER SPONSOR – $1000

• Name included in the Tour of Homes Brochure

• 2 Highclere Package Tickets to the Tour of Homes – $300 Value

BRONZE SPONSOR – $500

• Name included in the Tour of Homes Brochure

• 1 Highclere Package Ticket to the Tour of Homes – $150 Value

TOUR SPONSOR – $250

• Name included in the Tour of Homes Brochure

• 2 Tour Package Tickets for the Tour of Homes – $100 Value

Checks should be made payable to the

Wilcox Historical Society

PO Box 464 Camden, Alabama 36726

Your potential tax deduction is based on the stated value for goods or services provided.

Wilcox Historical Society Tax Exempt #63-0737652

Dear Historical Society Members, 

I hope you are all well and enjoying this beautiful fall weather. We have a number of events on the horizon starting with our next meeting Sunday afternoon, November 14 at 2:00pm, at the Wilcox Female Institute. Our guest speaker will be Mr. Jeff Mansell from the Natchez National Historic Park. His talk is entitled “Souvenirs of travel: Southerners on the Grand Tour.” I hope to see you all there!

Congratulations to our members Chris Bailey and Ryan Dunagan, Laura and Schley Rutherford, and the Hamilton family whose Camden area homes were featured in Mobile Bay Magazine this month. It was a fantastic article which included beautiful pictures of each of their homes. Congratulations also goes out to WHS members Mitchell and Jennifer Britt whose Huntsville home is featured in the current Christmas issue of Victoria Magazine. It is wonderful to have so many of our member’s homes featured in these publications.

I am happy to announce that we currently have 346 members in the Wilcox Historical Society! We are by far the largest civic organization in Wilcox County. In addition, we have members from throughout the State of Alabama and many other states as well. Thank you for being a part of this special organization.

With a membership as large as ours, we can achieve any goal. Now that the Miller Law Office is nearing completion, we will set our focus on the restoration and improvements to the Wilcox Female Institute. A project of this magnitude will take more than the Board to make it a reality.

I challenge you to find a way to get involved. Help us locate corporate partners, grant sources, or private donations. With your help we will not only add the much-needed restroom facilities, but we can complete the restoration of the upstairs/bell tower and add the original wing to the building as well. Thank you to Ms. Billie Gibbs for being the first to volunteer to help this cause. She has already reached out to two sources to help us raise the needed funds. We will share more information about this project at the November meeting.

I am pleased to announce that the Harvest Arts Ensemble is coming back at Christmas! Currently their schedule includes a full Christmas concert in Camden on Saturday night, December 18^th. We are very excited they are returning to Wilcox County and are pleased to be their concert partner.

It is an exciting time to live in Wilcox County. There is a renaissance happening in Downtown Camden, historic homes are being bought and restored throughout the county, and member’s homes are being featured in regional and national publications every year. The Wilcox Historical Society has been a big part of this positive change. From our annual Tour of Homes which brings thousands of people here to bringing concerts to the county, we are making a difference. Get involved and help us restore the Wilcox Female Institute! We need your help!

Sincerely,

Lance Britt, WHS President      

Welcome to new members: from Alabama – Bruce and Faye Bennett of Pine Apple, Dan Brooks of Camden, Mr. and Mrs. Andy Coats of Birmingham and Camden, Grey Davis and Keller Monet Leathers of Grove Hill, Bobby Dees of Auburn, Bobby and Caroleene Dobson of Birmingham, Al and Sue Gaston of Georgiana, Edgar and Mary Glenn Grant of Camden, Dr. & Mrs. Phil Hardee of Beatrice, Virginia Kelly of Enterprise, Gayle Leathers of Grove Hill, Greg and Susan Luce of Mobile, William and Daphne Malone of Camden, Tennant and Susan McWilliams of Fairhope, Dr. and Mrs. Arthur Moore of Headland, Harvey Nobles of Robertsdale, Adrian and Sheila Percival of Catherine, John and Sarah Potts of Evergreen, Kay and Luisa Reyes of Tuscaloosa, David and Andrea Snyder of Homewood, Shirley Stinson of Greenville. And from Athens, Georgia, Peggy Galis and from Four Oaks, California, Margaret Wisnicky.

And welcome to new Life Members – Scott Mitchell and Mary Martin of Montgomery!

THANK YOU for joining the WHS!

 TOUR OF HOMES UPDATE 

The Tour of Homes is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 25-26, 2022. The reception will be on Friday night with a guest speaker we hope to announce soon. Registration on Friday night will be held at the Wilcox Female Institute.

Saturday’s tour will be in Furman and will include eight homes and two churches. Breakfast will once again be provided to ticket holders Saturday morning at The Brittany House Antiques in Oak Hill. Registration on Saturday will be at the Furman Methodist Church.

As Furman is a very small community, we will need volunteers to help guide at the various houses throughout the day. Please plan on volunteering for a two-hour shift that Saturday. Mary Glenn Phillipi Grant is the Volunteer Coordinator for the Tour of Homes. We are very thankful for her help in coordinating our volunteers this year. Please plan to help up on this important day for our organization.

Member Spotlight – J. Paul Hawthorne

The Hawthornes of Wilcox County

The Hawthornes have a long history with Wilcox County. Several families moved from Conecuh County to Wilcox County starting in the 1830s. My direct line hails from Rev. Kedar Hawthorne (1797-1877) who came from Conecuh County in 1828 to minister at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, located on the Wilcox and Butler County border. Rev. Kedar bought land and farmed there while preaching for several years until he moved his young family near Camden in 1833.

Other Hawthorne families moved from Conecuh County in the years to come, including Kedar’s sibling, Col. Joseph Richard Hawthorne in 1852, who built Hawthorne House in Pine Apple. Also, siblings Thomas Jefferson Hawthorne and Martha Hawthorne Langham moved to Wilcox County by 1860. 

Rev. Kedar and his wife Martha (Baggett) Hawthorne continued to prosper in the 1830s and 1840s near Camden raising their children and farming. Kedar was a staunch supporter of the Temperance Movement and was the chaplain of Wilcox Temple of Honor, No. 18 in 1851. One article I found about Kedar’s preaching style was written in 1917 by W.B. Crumpton, “Brother Hawthorn, when he approached the close of the sermon, put on the ‘rousements,’ closing each sentence “and arah.” He had a way, in his excitement, of spitting on the floor and wiping it up with his foot. Many times, his foot went through the motion not hitting the spittle. I was at first alarmed at his antics, afterwards amused.” 

Rev. Kedar helped establish many different denominational churches throughout Wilcox, Monroe, and Conecuh counties. He even travelled to Eastern and Middle Florida as a Missionary for a time. Kedar made sure his children received the best education. His oldest, Alexander (pictured above), went to Yale Law School, while his other son, J. Boardman (pictured at left), received a Doctorate in Divinity from Howard College.

Kedar moved to Mobile in 1856 where he built a house which is still standing and a registered landmark. In Mobile, he opened a book and stationery store and worked with African American churches. It is said in the History of Conecuh County by Rev. B. F. Riley that Kedar had baptized more than 4,500 believers in his useful career that spanned 50 years. I have not found a photo of Kedar yet, but I am still looking!

Children born to Kedar and Martha Hawthorne: Brig. Gen. Alexander Travis Hawthorne (1825-1899), Martha Ann Hawthorne (1829-1913), Mary Ann Hawthorne (1833-1926), Maj. Adoniram Judson Hawthorne (1834-1877) my line, Rev. Dr. James Boardman Hawthorne (1837-1910) and Pvt. Hartwell Kedar Hawthorne (1842-1863).

Note: Kedar named all his sons after Baptist ministers.

A Little About Me

I have been interested in my family history from an early age. I remember asking my grandfather, J.B. Hawthorne (1899-1993), about his family when I was 12 or 13 years old. I remember him telling me he was named after his great-uncle, Rev. Dr. James Boardman Hawthorne, the prominent Southern Baptist minister, who was born in Wilcox County in 1837.

For years, I looked aimlessly for information on my Hawthornes in libraries, picking up bits of information here and there, until I got a computer in the late 1990s. That opened a whole lot of possibilities. I discovered family chat websites like GenForum, where I finally met a cousin from Decatur named Judson Hawthorne. He sent me his un-published book that traced our family back to the 1500s in Bray, Berkshire, England!

On the internet I found old church minutes from the Bellville Baptist Church in Conecuh County listing my 3x great-grandparents, Kedar and Martha (Baggett) Hawthorne transcribed by historian Margaret Jane Gaston. Years later, I finally met Ms. Gaston in Greenville where she and Judy Taylor of the Butler County Historical & Genealogical Society helped me locate the Hawthorne plot in Magnolia Cemetery.

I have many cousins still to this day living in Wilcox County and surrounding areas. I forgot to tell you, I’m a California boy! My grandfather was born in Greenville, Alabama, my dad in Houston, and myself in California. So, I have been doing long distance research all these years with a few trips to Alabama when I can. I hope to visit the county courthouse in Camden to look for records soon. I want to thank all the people who have helped me in my endeavor to uncover the past, including Martha Grimes Lampkin, Margaret Jane Gaston, Judy Taylor, Woody Hawthorne, Judson Hawthorne, Stacey Hathorn of the Alabama Historical Commission, and many cousins!

Miller Law Office Restoration Update

The Miller Law Office restoration is almost complete. As stated last month, the interior has been completely restored and painted, the documents and photographs have been framed with acid free papers and the porches/steps/columns have been restored or replaced following the guidelines of the National Register. The exterior has been painted and really looks wonderful. The final stage of this project is the addition of shutters to the windows/front door and replacing the damaged HVAC system. At that point the Law Office will be ready to open!

The Brittany House Antiques in Oak Hill donated this roll top desk (pictured above, left) to the Miller Law Office. It is very similar to the one pictured in the 1937 HABS photo shown here. It will go in that location in the Law Office.

Chris Bailey has done an outstanding job in overseeing this project. We truly appreciate his hard work and dedication to this important restoration project. It is our plan to open it on Saturday afternoons from 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm for self-guided tours. We will need volunteers willing to monitor it those days. If you are interested, please let us know at wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com.  

WHS September Meeting

with the Honorable Jeff Sessions

On Sunday afternoon, September 19, members of the WHS gathered at the historical Camden Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. Our guest speaker was the Honorable Jeff Sessions. Sessions was our US State Senator from Alabama from 1997 – 2017 and the 84^th US Attorney General from 2017 – 2018. From 1981 to 1993 he served as the US Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama.

Sessions, who attended 12 years of school in Camden, shared stories from his youth, lessons he learned growing up in Wilcox County, and his family’s history in the region. He also shared his thoughts on the importance of our Constitution, respect for our Founding Fathers and the importance of teaching true history in our society.

MEMORIALS

Member, Camille Armstrong Selsor Jones, age 89, a resident of Camden, Alabama, died at her home on September 1, 2021. She was born February 1, 1932.

She was a graduate of Wilcox County High School. Following marriage and the rearing of three children, she earned a degree in nursing and served as a nurse in Camden and Pensacola, Florida. She served two short terms in Pakistan before going there in 1994 to serve on the mission field in a variety of ministries, including teacher at the Nancy Fulwood Hospital School of Nursing, manager and hostess of the Pakistan guest house and part-time homeschool teacher for the children of missionaries. Until her return to Alabama in 1997, she served in many other ways to help relieve the loads of Sahiwal-based missionaries.

Mrs. Jones was a lifelong member of the Camden Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. 

Member, Palmer Clarkson Hamilton, a native of Mobile, Alabama died Friday, October 15, 2021.

He was head of the Washington, D.C. law office of Jones Walker, and as a partner in the firm’s Governmental Relations Practice Group split his time between there and Mobile. Early in his legal career he served as an assistant to the Comptroller of the Currency and as chief of new bank chartering. He returned to Mobile and practiced law at Hamilton, Butler before becoming a founding partner of Miller, Hamilton, and Snider. In 2008, that firm merged with Jones Walker.

Mr. Hamilton served on a variety of federal, state, local and volunteer boards throughout his career and worked tirelessly to support The Episcopal Church, both locally and nationally. He was deeply committed to historic preservation. Individually, with others, and through the Oakleigh Venture Revolving Fund he restored dozens of structures in Mobile. In the last few years, he worked on one of his most enjoyable rehabilitations – the former St. Mary’s Church in Camden, Alabama. He quickly became a proponent for and advocate of all things Camden.

WHS MEETING NOVEMBER 14 AT 2PM

Souvenirs of Travel: Southerners on the Grand Tour

Our next meeting will be held on Sunday afternoon, November 14 at 2 o’clock at the Wilcox Female Institute in Camden. The speaker for the afternoon will be Jeff Mansell of Natchez, Mississippi. A native of Pickens, MS, Jeff currently serves as the lead historian for the Natchez National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park Service. Prior to joining the Park Service in 2011, he spent twenty years directing private, non-profit preservation organizations across the country, including ten years in Alabama as the Assistant Director of the Cahaba Trace Commission and the Executive Director of the Tuscaloosa County Preservation Society.

Mansell’s program is entitled “Souvenirs of Travel: Southerners on the Grand Tour.: He will discuss travel in the mid-19^th century and examine the objects these intrepid Southern travelers acquired on their European journeys.

TWO EVENINGS OF MUSIC IN CAMDEN

On September 10th and 11th, a three-piece trio of classical musicians charmed sold out crowds at the Wilcox Female Institute in Camden. The Harvest Arts ensemble consisted of three, female musicians: cellist Mary Grace Bender, harpist Hannah Cope and flutist Madeline Cawley. The WHS together with The Brittany House Antiques, The Pecan on Broad and The Fox and Hen were sponsors of these very special concerts.

The Harvest Arts musicians will return Saturday night, December 18^th to perform a Christmas concert in Camden.

The Most Beloved Building in Wilcox County

By Frances Donald Dudley Grimes, (1901-1989)

(Reprinted with permission from her granddaughter, Martha Grimes Lampkin )

“Wilcox County is steeped in history. The United States came into possession of this region by the Treaty of Ft Jackson on August 9, 1815 with the Creek Indians. It’s one of the larger counties and is named for Lt. Joseph M. Wilcox from Connecticut who was massacred by the Indians in 1814 on a sandbar at the mouth of Pursley Creek. The Maubilla Indians were the earliest inhabitants of Wilcox County and there is good reason to believe that DeSoto marched through Wilcox on his ruthless way to Maubilla in 1540.

Settlers began coming into the County in 1816, most coming from Virginia via of the Carolina’s and Georgia. Many were wealthy slaveholders and planters. Beautiful homes were built and large plantations established, many of which are still owned and maintained by descendants of the original owners.

A town like a person develops a character uniquely its own and mirrors the character of those who founded and developed it through the years and so it was with Camden, the county seat.

In the beginning a cultured society was maintained. Religion and education formed an important part in the community, which brings me up to my subject; the old Wilcox County Female Institute – the most beloved building in Wilcox County. 

In 1848 a board of citizens made up subscriptions for the construction of the building to be known as “The Wilcox County Female Institute.” It was built by slave labor and the bricks used throughout were made from the clay in the space now used as the athletic field of Wilcox County High School.

The Institute opened in 1850 with an enrollment of 250 girls, coming from all parts of the state and until 1866 belonged to the board which fostered its erection. In that year, Dr. John Miller, father of Alabama Governor Benjamin Meek Miller, bought and taught there several years. It was deeded to the State of Alabama in 1908 and became Wilcox County High School.

In 1963 a move began to tear the old building down and make way for a modern vocational building. A battle got under way to save this beloved landmark and through the untiring efforts of several dedicated citizens, members of DAR and UDC and most especially Dr. Peter Brannon, Mr. Milo Howard of Montgomery, Judge Jas. A. Hare of Selma, and Architect, Mr. Arthur Joe Grant of Montgomery, we won the battle with one compromise, that the rear of the structure, which was originally used as a dormitory for girls and an auditorium, be torn away, leaving the main portion.

In 1968 a historical marker was placed in front of this historic and beloved building through the efforts of the Wilcox County Historical Society. Many dignitaries were present for this occasion which included Mr. Milo Howard who ran interference for us all the way.

Now that our public school system has been greatly altered and in grave danger of being destroyed, this old building is again in danger, not only of being torn down but also of being ruthlessly abused. We sincerely hope that it can be placed on the National Register of Historic Places for its preservation.” 

Source: Notecards written by Frances Donald Dudley Grimes; date unknown, occasion unknown.

Editors Note: The Wilcox Female Institute was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in April, 1976. It is assumed Mrs. Grimes’ appeal above was written in 1976 in support of this recognition. Mrs. Grimes was a founding member of the WHS and served as its first President.

HISTORY OF THE MATHESON LIBRARY 1921-1971

PINE APPLE, ALABAMA

 By Bertha Matheson Adams, (1892-1972)

On April 29, 1921, a group of women who were interested in forming a literary club met at Moore Academy in Pine Apple. The officers elected for the year 1921-1922 were: Mrs. B.W. Watson, President; Mrs. J.A. Seale, Vice President; Miss AdaSue Hawthorne, Secretary; Miss Bertha Adams, Treasurer and Mrs. E.L. Williams, Federation Secretary.

The Club was named the Century Club. It was to meet each Thursday before the fourth Sunday of the month.

The object of the club was mutual benefit, intellectual culture and community welfare. Through the years the members have taken this objective seriously.

The group met again at Moore Academy May 19, 1921. It was decided to have monthly musical programs through the summer.

In June, the Club met by invitation with Mrs. Finklea. At this meeting Mrs. J.A. Seale read the constitution and by-laws. Each article was discussed and voted on. Mrs. L.P. Cone furnished the music. The name of the club was changed to the Culture Club.

In July 1921 the Club met with the president, Mrs. Watson. At this meeting it was decided that the program for the first year’s study should be Civics.

The regular meetings of the Club began in September 1921. The name was again changed. This time the name New Century Club was selected.

A membership committee composed of AdaSue Hawthorne and Bertha Adams was appointed. Every woman in town was invited to join. The only conditions were that she was interested and willing to do what she was asked to do.

There were twenty-four members that first year. They all worked with enthusiasm.

Mrs. E.L. Williamson, Mrs. H.R. Moseley and Mrs. Finklea had had experience in club work and they were very active. Mrs. Seale, the wife of the Methodist preacher, was also an active leader but she left Pine Apple in January. Mrs. Williamson gave her untiring energy to seeing the young club established and to her more than any other one person the club owes the success of its early years. All of the members worked very hard. The programs always consisted of both papers and music. The study was taken seriously and each club member gained much knowledge. Parliamentary laws were stressed.

Outstanding programs included a year’s study on music, on art, on the Bible and on Shakespeare. The year the Club studied Shakespeare the story of the play was given character sketches of the main characters and songs from the play by the music club.

In 1923 a Junior Club was formed. Mrs. Williamson was the first Director. The New Century Club sponsored the Junior New Century until 1957. A member of the senior Club always acted as Director.  The young women had wonderful training in club work. They were always cooperative and helped with any thing that they were called upon to do. The bond between the two clubs was very close. Always on Reciprocity Day the Club was invited to meet with the Senior Club. Members of the Senior Club took the junior members over the state of Alabama on educational sightseeing trips.

Reciprocity Day was an important occasion. Members from the neighboring towns were invited to attend. For a number of years, the Reciprocity meetings were held on the lovely grounds of Dr. and Mrs. H.O. Tucker’s home.

At the beginning the dues were only $1.00 a year per person. The Club did various things to supplement the dues.

In 1922-23 the new school building of Moore Academy was erected. The Club was proud of it and wanted to be represented. For its’ part they decided to give cement steps leading to the side walk. Mrs. M.F. Jackson, Sr. was appointed chairman of this committee.

In 1925 trees were planted on the side of the highway between the Pine Apple Depot and the town itself. Each member planted one in memory of her mother and the Club planted four in memory of members who had died. In 1937–38 the Club planted more trees on the highway nearer town.

The first spring the Club sponsored Cleanup Day. The town was divided into districts and a prize was given to the members whose districts showed the most improvement. Prizes were also given to the Negroes who had the cleanest homes. This kept up for a number of years, the whole town taking part in it. The Club encouraged the planting of trees and shrubs on private property. The Club helped sponsor the building of sidewalks from town to school.

A County scholarship by the Federated Clubs of Wilcox County was established in 1937. The scholarship committee was composed of a member from each club. In the beginning $100.00 a year for four years was loaned to an outstanding young man or woman who needed assistance. This was later raised to $200.00 a year. Quite a number of worthy young people were helped by this scholarship.

The Club has cooperated with many causes that were not local. It has sold goods made by the blind each year and contributed to other scholarships. During World War II tin cans and old silk were saved for defense work. Cadets from Craig Field in Selma were entertained. Clothing was sent to foreign countries after the War. Free will offerings were taken at various times. One year $14.75 was given to cripple children and $49.00 to a polio drive. Books were sent to the Veteran’s Hospital in Montgomery. Each Christmas a box was sent to Bryce’s Hospital in Tuscaloosa.

During the War refreshments were not served at the Club meetings, but it did not dampen the enthusiasm. Attendance at the meetings was good.

Starting in 1935 the Club sponsored a community Christmas tree each year.

Down through the years the great objective of the Club was the establishment and sponsorship of the community library. Even the first year of the Club a reading circle was formed and as many books bought as there were members of the club. They were passed every two weeks, alphabetically from one member to another. In 1925 it was decided to erect a library building. Mrs. J.A. Matheson was elected treasurer of the building fund. At that time there were 30 members in the Club. She divided them into five committees and asked each committee to raise $100.00. At the end of the year the $500.00 had been raised but the Club found that that was only half enough. The next year the committees were formed again and asked to raise another $500.00. A good deal of money was donated. Various moneymaking schemes were used. There was a baby show, an amateur hour, an advertising sale and oyster dinners.

The library was opened April 17, 1927 at a cost of $1,235.79 with no outstanding debts. The Club has always felt the responsibility for its maintenance. In the beginning the Club members took turns acting as Librarian. During WPA days the government furnished three workers and since that time there has been a paid Librarian under the supervision of a Club member. The State Library Department has been generous in supplying books and each year the Club gave new books.

We have been told that the library would do credit to a town of 10,000 inhabitants. The whole town was proud of the library and helped contribute to its support. In the establishment of the library, we thank all the members but especially Mrs. Matheson for her interest and leadership. After Mrs. Matheson’s death in 1928 the library was named for her in appreciate of their work. Thanks are due Mrs. Georgia Jackson for her work in raising the standards and general oversight of the library.

Inquiries and Comments 

We often receive genealogical and local history inquiries on the WHS Facebook page, Instagram page and website. If you have any information to help with these inquiries, please let us know and we will be happy to pass it along or put you in contact with the interested party. Our email address is wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com or you can text or call Martha Lampkin at 334.296.1076. We also love receiving comments on our posts on social media. The more comments, likes and shares also help our posts be viewed by more people. Here are a few inquiries and comments received since our last newsletter:

I am reaching out for assistance. I am in the very beginnings of researching my family history in Pine Hill, Alabama. What I know so far is that my great-great-great-grandfather Horace Carmichael was living in Pine Hill (source 1880 Census); he was originally born in Dillon, South Carolina and I surmised that he was brought to Pine Hill by the Carmichaels of Dillon; William Carmichael (1817-1888) buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery. Horace was a blacksmith and I think he had a son named Horace Carmichael that was employed by the McClure Lumber Company in Wager, Alabama prior to WWI. Any assistance you can provide I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you. V. Crawley, Richmond, VA

 I am looking for additional information on the Pritchett family. Ida Pritchett, buried at Bear Creek Church Cemetery in Caledonia, Wilcox County, is my great grandmother (1883-1907). She was married to Jake Till. They had two children, Willie Ethyl Till (married Philip M. Bowdoin). She is buried in New Brockton, AL. The second child, a son, JJ Till, died in 1907 at 3 months old and is buried along with his mother. Family stories tell me Ida may have died from birth complications or fever. From FindaGrave I know that Ida’s parents are TJ Pritchett (1848-1922) and Alice Pritchett (1859-?). Both are buried in Bear Creek Church Cemetery. FAG only shows Ida as their child. Thanks in advance for any help.  R. Bowdoin, Santa Clara, CA.

I am looking for information on the 78 enslaved persons and land sales and other listings for John Giddeon Horn and his son John Andrew Clement Horn. The will was disputed when John Giddeon Horn died in 1858. It was disputed to the Supreme Court and the 78 enslaved persons were split up; the children drew straws. John Andrew Giddeon Horn had property both in Camden and in Marengo County, Alabama. His land appears to be in Coy. He died in Marengo County 31 July 1889 but lived in Camden according to the 1870 Census with his wife Margaret McArthur. I am hoping to find someone locally to look at Probate records in hopes of finding sales and other documents listing the name of the plantation and other information.  A. Ezzell, Buffalo, NY

I was doing some family tree research and I saw a story that one of my ancestor’s named Ned Brown was a free man who fell in love with a slave named Ada Gilmore or Graves and he bought her and her mother Dicey from slavery. I would love to know if this is true or not. Thank you! M. Carstarphen, Toledo, OH

From a WHS Facebook post highlighting the photos taken by Laura Agee at the 2021 Tour of Homes:

Hello. Is RiverBend ever on tour? It is beautiful! V. Girod, Flora, MS

We were there! Loved every one of the homes! Can’t wait for the 2022! It’s a wonderful time for sure! J. and Z. Hunter, Hilton Head Island, SC

Every home was lovely! K. Bradsell

I was there. Hard to say my favorite! S. Beverly

From a WHS Facebook post shared from Lee Peacock – “Wilcox County Alabama News Flashback for October 13, 2021” featuring a photo of Martha and John Lamkin and Mr. Lamkin’s obituary, Albert Bloch’s obituary along with news from Pine Hill, Bellview, Camden and Allenton:

I treasure each of these posts with sneaks into past residents in Wilcox County! L. Hall

From a WHS Facebook post sharing a photo and information about the What’s Cooking in Wilcox County cookbook published in 1947 by the Wilcox County Home Demonstration Club. Included were committee member’s names and various advertisements. 

Would you show some of the recipes? Very interesting! K. Geiger

I have my grandmother’s Butler County Home Demonstration Club cookbook. Very well worn. J. Sanders

Mrs. Glen D. Liddell = my grandmother! J. Shannon

Cecil Shanks of Furman was my cousin. What a treasure. M. Nichols

First Pilgrimage Ball in Furman

The First Pilgrimage Ball was held on March 27^th, 2021 at historic Wakefield in Furman as a fundraiser for the Furman Historical Society. It was a wonderful celebration at the end of a very successful WHS Tour of Homes weekend.

As guests arrived and during the ball, photographs were taken by the talented Laura Agee of Agee Images + Film. These photos are now available for purchase with the proceeds going to the Furman Historical Society for the work the group is doing to preserve its historic structures.

For more information, email wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com or call 334.296.1076. The photo pricing is as follows: 4×6 – $1, 5×7 – $5, 8×10 – $10 and shipping is $5. PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and check are accepted.

Make plans to attend the 2022 WHS Tour of Homes in Furman on March 26, 2022!

Give the Gift of Membership

Gift memberships are now available! Help us grow our membership and take pride in the history of Wilcox County. If you are interested in gifting a membership to a friend or family member for a birthday or other special occasion let us know. We will mail them a beautiful gift certificate along with our latest newsletter. For more information, please contact us at wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com.   

If you are interested in submitting an article for the newsletter, please let us know! Email us at wilcoxhistoricalsociety@gmail.com or send via snail mail to P O Box 464, Camden, AL 36726. We will be happy to review it for a future issue!

A LOOK BACK…  

26 October 1907

The Birmingham News

People Went to Polls Early

Camden, Ala., Oct. 26 – The local option election today brought out a big vote in Wilcox county, early hours at the polls showing that the balloting would be heavy. Prohibitionists declared themselves entirely satisfied with the morning showing, and predictions as to the prohibition victory ranged from two to one to five to one.

The whisky men had practically given up the fight by noon, admitting that it was only a question of how great the prohibition majority would be.

13 October 1921

Wilcox Progressive Era

The ladies of the A.R.P. Church are busy getting ready for a Bazaar to be had early in December. They have started a movement to raise money to paint the church.

The Friday Afternoon Club had a pleasant meeting with its former secretary, Mrs. Alice Foster, on Clifton Ave. After an interesting program on “Modern Drama” the guests were invited into her beautifully decorated dining room where a salad course was served.

Schuster Springs Farm

Joe H. Bonner, Proprietor.

Invites your Patronage

No one in Wilcox county need to be told what these wonderful waters can do in stomach and kidney troubles and their kindred ills, and in general run down conditions.

Price of water $1.00 per five (5) gallons plus $2.25 for carboy or for case of quarts which will be refunded when containers are finally returned.

Cash must accompany all orders. Address all correspondence to Joe H. Bonner, Oak Hill, Ala.

Shipping Point: Pine Apple, Ala.

1 November 1961

The Birmingham News

‘Crash’ said meteor fall

A meteor which flashed across South Alabama may have fallen in Wilcox County, the Pensacola, Fla. Weather Bureau said this morning.

The Birmingham News received calls from persons in Dallas and Wilcox Counties, who said that an airplane may have crashed in Wilcox County. They reported seeing a flaming object fall from the sky.

The time of their sighting and that of the Pensacola station – about 11 p.m. – coincided.

18 February 1962

The Birmingham News

Woman born as a slave dies at 114, funeral Sunday

In the hills of Wilcox County where she was born a slave 114 years ago, Mrs. Ida Dumas will be buried at 1 p.m. Sunday after services at Canaan Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Arlington.

Her grave will be beside that of her husband, Doss O. Dumas, who died March, 1936, at 70.

The Rev. Thomas Threadgill will conduct the services. Davenport-Harris Funeral Home of Birmingham will be in charge.

Mrs. Dumas was born at the Kimbrough plantation at Arlington in 1848 the daughter of Wash and Martha Kimbrough. She clearly remembered when Yankee soldiers came to Wilcox County in the War Between the States and when she was freed along with other slaves.

Her first husband was Jack Fisher. They had several children. After her marriage to Dumas, a number of other children were born. She lived to see the fifth generation of her offspring.

Nine children survive and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

In 1958, Mrs. Dumas came to Birmingham to live with her daughter, Mrs. Robert L. Wheaten, and Mrs. Wheaten, at 6620 Third Ave., North, where she died Monday.

24 October 1963

Wilcox Progressive Era

Nuff Said-

Students of Wil-Co-Hi have been electing “Who’s Who” this week. There’s really a lot of tension and anxious anticipation in the as to who got this, that and the other. So far, Nuff has learned that:

Taking the reign of “Mr. and Miss Wil-Co-Hi” are Pat Chestnut and Jackie Capell. Being chosen “Wittiest” are Pug Hayes and Charles Tait. Johnny Ross and Sandra Harvell were chosen “Most Popular” and Nell Tait and Jimmie Cook “Most Intellectual”. “Best Dressed” Connie Hayes and Will Bruse.

The Senior Class has also been busy electing “Favorites” for the year. They are Jimmie Cook, Johnny Webb, Johnny Ross, and Andy Johnson.

Being elected from the girls are Nell Tait, Pug Hayes, Martha Sue Philpott, and Jackie Capell.

Congratulations, students, on being elected “Who’s Who” and for being honored in this manner by classmates and fellow students.

We know “You” will make the 1964 Wil-Co-Hi Annual more attractive.  

WHS DATES TO MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR

• Sunday, November 14, 2PM – WHS Meeting, Wilcox Female Institute

            Mr. Jeff Mansell, Natchez National Historical Park Historian, Guest Speaker

• Saturday, December 4, 2-4PM Christmas Open House, Furman, Wakefield

            Join us for the annual Christmas Open House in Furman at Historic Wakefield which will be photographed December 7–8, for Victoria Magazine’s 2022 Christmas Issue.

• Saturday, December 17 -18, 7PM Christmas Concert, Camden, Wilcox Female Institute

            Harvest Arts musicians, Madeline and Hannah, return for the debut of their Christmas Album. Tickets go on sale November 26^th.

• Sunday, December 19, 6PM Christmas in Furman, Bethsaida Baptist Church

            Driving Tour starts at dusk, Christmas music/candlelight service begins at the church at 6PM.

• January 2022 (Date TBA) Piano Concert, Wilcox Female Institute

            We are working to bring Hungarian Concert Pianist, Vince Vajda, to perform on the 9′ Mason & Hamlin concert grand piano at the Institute.

• • Sunday, February 27, 2022, 2PM – WHS Meeting, Wilcox Female Institute