JACKSON COUNTY CHRONICLES “WM!13. IIIMBHH ISM-10714348 IMIIIMIV 2001 IABKSBII BOUNTY IIIS'I'IIIIIBIIIISSIIBII'IIIIIIWlllMEET SIIIIIIIY,MIMI"21. 2001. 2:00 PM, SCOTTSBORO PUBLIC LIBRARY, 1002S. BROAD STREET, SCOTTSBORO, ALABAMA. The JCHA, Northeast Alabama Community College,andtheScottsboro Public Library will co-sponsor a monthlyseries of programs relatedto Jackson County history. Thefirst speaker will be Attorney Stephen Kennamerwhowill addressseveralfacets of Jackson County’searly history on Sunday,January 21, 2001. Mr.Kennamer has been a student of Jackson County historyfromhisyouth and hasa talent for seasoning his discussions with humorous anecdotes gleaned from research and personal conversations with hiselders. Duringthe JCHA business meetingon January 21 (following the program), Dr. Ron Dykes, Library BoardChairman and JCI-IA member, will announce the complete schedule forthis series which will take place at the library during the first halfof 2001. Other speakers will include Dr. David Campbell of NEACC whowill discuss the depression years in this area (in March); Dr. LeahRawlsof Auburn University whowill discuss the nationalimportanceof the ScottsboroBoys case; and Dr. Hardy Jackson of Jacksonville State Universitywhowill address the impact of TVA and Guntersville Lake/Reservoir in this area. All meetings and discussions areopen to the public andwill also be announced in The Daily Sentinel. 2001 JCHA ANNUALDUES NOWPAYABLE If you have not paid your dues for2001, please mailyour checkin the amount of $1 0.00payable to JCHA Treasurer, PO. Box 1494, Scottsboro, _ AL 35768, to assure receipt of all quarterly issues of THE JACKSON COUNTY CHRONICLES. PLEASE Include nine numberzip code. Also, pleasesend any change of address to: JACKSON COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION P. 0. BOX 1494 SCOTTSBORO, AL 35768 JCHA 2001 OFFICERS President DRENDA KING ProgramVice President PattyWoodall Membership Vice President RubyeHahn Secretary Dr. Barbara Jacobs Treasurer KatyeTipton Board of Directors Clyde Broadway Dr.David Campbell John H. Graham Ralph Mackey John F. Neely CHRONICLES Editor Ann B. Chambless email: [email protected] CIVIL WAR NEWS FROM JACKSON COUNTY shared by William D. Page from 1864 HUNTSVILLE CONFEDERATE Recent advises from Jackson County, Ala., represent devastation throughout the county, except where there are mountain defiles andfastnesses favorable forguerrilla operations. We are told that Maj.Lemuel G. Mead is operating in that county withfive companies, andthat he recently captured and brought out20 prisoners. There arethree Tory companies there - theYankees feel contempt forthem and stigmatize them as the 1stAlabama Tory Battalion. We aretold that oneof the miscreants- Samby name- not longsince went to the house of Elias Barbour(Barber),a true Southerner, and beat Mrs. Barbourwith a hickorywithe, and only desisted when ..herdaughter heroically seized an axeand drove himoff. We are also told that an old ”Rebel” woman living near BellefOnte was struck by a Yankee with a stick on the back of herneck, breaking it. The Courthouse andallof the block on the West side of the Squarehave been burntby theYankees. CAPERTON STORE AT PLEASANT GROVE by Ann B. Chambless andPattyWoodall (witha great deal of information gleaned from Eliza Mae‘Woodall’s THE STEVENSON STORY) ._Business was brisk at Caperton Store in Pleasant Grove as Iearly as 1839 ( 15 years beforeactual settlement of thetown of Stevenson.) Customers’ names arepreserved in an old account ledger. It is interestingto notethe merchandisethe store carried, the prices, andwhat peoplebought.....whosmoked, who chewed, who drank, andwhowore store-bought clothes. Since the Pleasant Grove underdiscussion no longerappears on a contemporary map,today’s readers mayrightfully ask: Where was the Pleasant Grove of the 1820-1900 era? EarlyJackson County mapsshow Pleasant Grove in CrowCreek Valley just south of theTennessee-Alabama state line. In THE STEVENSON STORY, author Eliza MaeWoodall stated Pleasant Grove was Jackson County voting Beat8 in 1865. She also referred to T. Boyd Foster’smemoirs (written in 1878) when she documented theearly history of PleasantGrove. In 1878,T. Boyd Fosterwrote that he taught school in the “village of Pleasant Grovein CrowCreekValley in 1840.” Mrs.Woodall alsowrote aboutthefirst church in thevillage of PleasantGrove, the MountGilead Primitive BaptistChurch whichwasestablished in 1821,according to extant minutes of the MudCreek Primitive BaptistAssociation. Thefirst church waslocated on present-day Alabama Highway 117 about one-halfmilesouth of theTennessee state line. The church building no longerexists, butthe adjoining old church cemetery’s well markedgraves spell out the names of the area’s early settlers. Isaacand Frances (Wilson) Goncewere buried here in rectangularsarcophagi. Mrs.Gonce’sdates are 1775-1842, and Isaac’sdates are1770-1853. 3 CAPERTON STORE AT PLEASANT GROVE (Continued) After theirfirst cousins (John E. andGeorge W. Caperton), movedto Texas, John Clay Caperton andhis brother, James 'VGibson Caperton, operated Caperton Store in Pleasant Grove for a numberof years. At thetimeof the1850Jackson County, Alabama census, John Clay andJames Gibson Caperton were . enumerated as merchants. Robert(Bob) Rogers and Dennis Gamble were recorded as blacksmiths, Solomon Sparks was listed as a grocer, Dr. Alfred A. Russell was recorded as a physician, andThomas Overstreet was enumerated as a shoemaker - all in the Pleasant Grovecommunity. James Gibson Caperton also performed as a Justice of the Peace in hisprecinct. His Day Book, beginning June 4, 1839, reads likea rollcall of menwholived in thenorthern halfof Jackson County. Another interesting insight from James G. Caperton’s 1839 Day Book is his“receipt” (recipe) for making vinegar: “4 gallons of rainwater, 2 quarts of molasses, and 112 gallonof whiskey .” The Caperton Day Book entries weredivided intoWRlTS Served and CAPIASes Served. According to Attorney John Graham, a WRIT is an order issued from a court requiring the performance of a specified actor giving authority to have it done. A CAPIAS is a WRIT, andtheword is still usedin Tennessee. Forinstance in a court in Tennessee, if thecriminal defendant fails to appear, thejudge will announce “capias served.” ' This directs the properauthority to pickup andholdthedefendant untilthe nextsessionof court. Basically,it is a writ of arrest. Therefore, Capias Served would meanthat morethan one arrest warrant was served on a single defendant or defendants. Black's LawDictionarysays theliteralmeaning of capias fromtheLatinis “thatyoutake.” It is “thegeneralnameforseveralspeciesof writs, the common characteristic of whichis theyrequiretheofficer to take thebody of thedefendantintocustody.” 4 CAPERTON STORE AT PLEASANT GROVE: JAMES W (Continued) W James Mundy W John McMahan 13311 Joseph N. Calvert/Calvert D.J. Calfetholvert ? vs John Wiley A. Fletcher Fletcher George W. Keath/Keith Benjamin Dotsonvs James Lazarus Fletcher Mundy Thomas Busby Robert Dotson vs W.M. King Thomas Williams Andrew Kelsoevs William EdwinAshley Weatherly Arthur Matthews Joseph Fears vs John John McReynolds McMahan William D.Sutton Alexander Read/Reid vs W. I. John Sutton Longacre Alexander H. Price Griffin Keath/Keith vs Will Weatherly John McMahan ‘ John McMahan_ W. l. Longacre W W John McMahan Harrison H. Hurt William M. King James Winn (Wynne) James Mundy Joseph D.Smith John F. Cloud Moses L. Pinkston John McDaniel W KingL. Henderson John Hanes/Haynes James L. Bolton Henry Carlton Isaac D. Alan/Allen Jackson Reynolds Andrew Collins E. Stark (?Elijah Starkey) Leroy Hammon(d)s JohnWright Simeon Kirkpatrick Allen K. Hays 5 CAPERTON STORE AT PLEASANT GROVE: JAMES G. CAPERTON’S DAY BOOK (Continued) V W STATE -vs- STATE -vs! Mr.A(ndrew) Briggs Jeremiah Coats Anderson Hawk Jesse King George Smith John Hames/Haynes Samuel Welch David Caufield Thomas Scruggs William Smith STATE -vs! Archibald White James Chambers Berry Johnson James Hardwick Thmas Hill George Scruggs STATE -vs! William Moore, Jr. John Pate Alex(ander) McFarlane James Dicus Thomas Scurggs, Esq. Charles Justice John Callfield/Caufield STATE -vs! GEORGE MILLS -vs- MosesL. Pinkston John F. Baldridge John MckDaniel Young Sellers S.M.Cowan James Munday James Munday William Marten (1’) Carter (1’) Thomas Longacre STATE -vs! Warrington Gentry STATE -vs- Charles M. Hall King L. Henderson Eden/Edwin Price RICHARD GRIFFIN Elijah Starky/Starkey -vs! McNary Harris STATE-vs- Thomas Hawkins Josiah B. Woodard Edmond Reaves Leroy Hammons Hiram Baily Charles Barrier b Pleasant and Elijah Jones CAPERTON STORE AT PLEASANT GROVE: JAMES G. CAPERTON’S DAY BOOK (Continued) STATE -vs! JAMES C. HARDWICK -vs! Simon Kirkpatrick William Cameron Josiah B. Woodard H. B. Caperton Charles Barrier - witness John E. Caperton Joseph McFarlane DANIEL McCOY -vs! James Coats Benjamin H. Price Hamilton Anderson Samuel BriantlBryan Archibald Jacoway Jefferson Herron Matilda Cameron Edwin Price Meredith Price Samuel Keys FrancisYoung William Marshall Thomas Longacre STATE -vs! STATE-vs! Calvin Thornton Daniel Norman John Starkey Wiley B. Nicholas witness Preston Halfacre Berry Ledbetter STATE-vs! James Shepherd STATE -vs! John Justice witness King L. Henderson Edwin Price STATE -vs! A. J. Cheshire Lazarus Dodson Adam DannellDaniel JohnJustice witness Alexander Blancet(t)' Allen Nichols STATE-vs! JohnAlright RICHARD GRIFFIN -vs! James Justice McNary Harris JohnJustice Charles Justice Drury Thompson Henry Blancett WILLIAM 3. PRICE~3! MeridylMeredith Price Samuel GillemlGilliam