In 1800 there were only 14 slave owners in Winston County. They named the region as La Florida, which extended to the southeast peninsular state now bearing the name. 19. Eventually, the English won. The tribes of Indians living in Alabama inhabited specific and identifiable areas of the state. 2. Therefore, the people who settled in the Black Belt were primarily planters from Virginia and Georgia. THOMAS B. TUNSTALL died in this county, Aug. 13, 1842, at the age of 54 years. Lawrence County - Its Organization, Topography, and Soil. On "Watkins' Island " at the head of the Muscle Shoals - there are a half dozen of them - and on the upper end several acres are covered with shells, as if the natives had occupied it for many ages. Circuit Judges of Lawrence County. In the 1700's, Europeans began to move to Alabama to farm the land. Judges of the County Court. He was a native of Pittsylvania county, Virginia, but resided for many years in this county and in Madison. A secession convention was held on January 7, 1861 in Montgomery. The Alibamu and Koasati tribes … Thus, they basically ignored the Civil War the best they could. The French had to swear allegiance to the English king if they wanted to stay. U.S., Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1820-1908Images only. Appalachia (/ ˌ æ p ə ˈ l eɪ tʃ ə,-l eɪ ʃ ə,-l æ tʃ ə /) is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. Two brothers, natives of South Carolina, arrived in the area circa 1815. Indeed this is where the Indians lived. Early Settlers of Baldwin County, AL. Settlement and Growth. When Alabama was being settled in the early 1800s our first settlers were diverse in their origins. During the period of 300 or so years between the Spanish Expeditions of Navarez and DeSoto and the arrival of white settlers into the area in the early 1800s, Alabama’s more … After marriage, my first home was in Moulton, the county seat. That is why they are known in Alabama political history and folklore as the "Free State of Winston.". They intermarried with the Indians and quickly adopted many of the ways of the Indians for the sake of survival as well as for a better way of life. The French and English fought over land. There were monuments of occupation, which seemed to have existed for a long time, in mounds and fortifications. This area is known as the Black Belt. However, there were exceptions and some degree of tribal movement over time. Alabama Footprints: Settlement is a collection of lost and forgotten stories of the first surveyors, traders, and early settlements of what would become the future state of Alabama. 13 Favorites . But when Jackson County’s first settlers arrived, the people who had inhabited the region for centuries before … By the 1850s, 3,000 bales were shipped annually to Pensacola. (See here for other de Soto contactees) In the 18th century, the French arrived on the Gulf Coast and built a fort at what became Mobile, Alabama. These were people who went west before the Treaty of 1835. It was shortly after the secession convention that the majority of the good citizens of the northwest Alabama county of Winston met at Looney's Tavern to determine their course of action regarding the advent of the war between the North and the South. 1710–1763:The Alabama area was governed by France. Thomas A. French Establish First Settlement ... and in the 1920s the Alabama State Docks were conceived and realized as a means of providing and maintaining adequate port facilities. Our river regions were the most desirable lands. The vote was 54 to secede and 46 against secession. Though less tractable than the Choctaws, they were more hospitable than the Chickasaws, less turbulent than the Muscogees, and more civilized than either. Publication date 1899 Topics Frontier and pioneer life ... Be the first one to write a review. This region of our state is called the Black Belt because of the rich, black, luminous soil found there. It was hilly and less fertile. Many things in Alabama still remind us of the French. Several of these pioneers had already left their native state and were living in other counties in Tennessee. These folks were not interested in being cotton farmers anyway. They were well heeled slave owners and became the cotton growing plantation owners of the Black Belt. The Cherokee Indians. Janurary 19: The first legislature of the Alabama Territory convenes at the Douglass Hotel in the territorial capital of St. Stephens. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. HOME These North Alabamians voted against secession from the Union at this time. We call them Native Americans these days. … Timber was cut and transported on keelboats downriver for sale at Pensacola. It became and important American port. A few were from Georgia, Kentucky and Alabama. When the territory was opened up for colonization, settlers, both old and young, flocked into the area, mostly from South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Long, long before the current residents of Auburn, long before their ancestors who worked the canal and railroads, even before the first "settlers" migrated into the fertile lands of Pennsylvania, the original inhabitants of the Auburn area were the Native Americans (often commonly but inaccurately referred to as "Indians"). There were 100 delegates. Early missionaries were ministers, teachers, doctors, nurses, and friends, and their total impact was beyond measure. 1896 PAYMENT ROLL (West) – This roll is a record of payment to those whose names appeared on the 1851 Old Settlers list. Contrary to what most present day Alabamians think, it was not an easy unified decision that we should leave the Union. Strain, Lindseys, and Speaks, Battle of North Anna, 2nd Battle of Cold Harbor, The Seige of Richmond, The Ninth Alabama - Fate of the Lawrence Volunteers, Courtland Mechanics, Mr. Kouck, James Mudd, Robert Williamson, The James Family, Daniel Wade, Leonard Sims, The Puryears, Thomas Dunnevant, Jane Watkins, Robert Watkins, John Watkins. Alabama was the first state to declare Christmas a legal holiday, in 1836. The first white settlers of Alabama were English. Sale. The land they settled on was not conducive to growing cotton. 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