People and Things From The Blount County News and Dispatch 1890 - 1897

357 pages; 8.5 x 11, softcover hard spine, full name index. For pricing, write bobwonda@hiwaay.net

Part of my on going research on Blount County Confederates has been to review early Blount County newspapers for articles involving the old soldiers. The earliest newspaper available was The Blount County News. It later merged with The Blount County Dispatch and renamed the News-Dispatch. The Southern Democrat began publishing about 1894. An obituary index of some of the earlier issues of the papers is located on this site; however, it was has been found to be incomplete and sometimes unreliable. The index starts with 1894, but available issues of the News begins in 1879.

Microfilm of the Blount County News-Dispatch were acquired from the Alabama State Archives and examined page by page and column by column. All mentions of births, marriages, and deaths were completely transcribed. Additionally, news items, Grand and Petit Jury lists, and articles of historical interest were completely transcribed. The result is the very first comprehensive review and abstract of the early history of Blount County from the available issues of The Blount County News and Dispatch. Much of this material has been available only to hard core researchers who spent hours in front of a microfilm reader.

Every mention of a birth, death, or a marriage was completely transcribed. In addition, news articles were selected based on their relevance to the history of the early development of Blount County: exploitation of her natural resources, political struggles over the location and reconstruction of the Blountsville Court House, the coming of the railroad which would soon prove to be the most significant event of the era, and moving the County seat to the new town of Oneonta.

These transcriptions capture some of the essence of our ancestors who were then alive and going about their daily business. This is what makes genealogy more than just collecting dusty dry dates and assigning them to lists of ancestor names.

The Blount County News and Dispatch contains genealogical nuggets of pure gold. While most marriages mentioned can be verified with Blount County Marriage License volumes found in the County court house, many births and deaths recorded in The Blount County News and Dispatch were seldom recorded in any other place. The paper also records marriages, births, and deaths which took place in Cullman and Jefferson County. It also keeps up with those former families of Blount who moved out West.

Many of the deaths described were for people who never had a tombstone, or if they had one, it has been lost to time. The transcriptions recorded here not only describe such vitals and births, marriages, and deaths, but also capture the humanity of the moment by including everyday Blount County activities which are sometimes tragic and sometimes humorous. This book will generate a real feeling of place and time as you read about your ancestors in so-called "real" time.

Here is a complete Table of Contents with page numbers. Keep in mind this is only a brief Subject List and does not include all the births, marriages, and deaths to be found in the book. It also does not cover the scores of smaller news items which were only a paragraph or two long.

Marriage of Susan Zopfi 1
John A. Lusk 3
Letter From Captain Burns Prognosticates About Blount County 5
Letter From an Outsider about the Future of Blount County 7
Grand and Petit Jurors Spring Term 1890 10
What Shall We Do With the Old Court House? 12
Rube Burrows Returns 12
A Trip to Compton Mines 17
Story About Bill Conant 20
Champion Mines, Alabama 22
Remlap, Alabama 23
Letter From Captain Burns About Blount County College 25
Clarence, Alabama 28
John W. Inzer 29
Grant and Petit Jurors Fall Term 1890 32
Capture and Death of Rube Burrows 37
Cleveland County 44
The Absent Sons of Blount 45
Strange Wild Beast 46
The Absent Sons of Blount Continued 46
Rube Burrows Family 47
Grant and Petit Jurors Spring Term 1891 48
The Tennessee River, Ashville & Coosa Railroad 53
A Trip To Brooksville 56
Court House Question: Blount Springs or Bangor? 59
Walnut Grove, Alabama 59
Blount College Exercises 60
A Drummer [Traveling Salesman] Described Changes at Blount Springs 61
Blount Springs, Alabama By Mary Gordon Duffee 64
The Blount Springs Barbecue, July 1891 67
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Early Explorers) 68
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Early Explorers) 72
Obituary of Benjamin Franklin Lea 75
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (DeSoto) 76
Lynching in Cullman County 79
Obituary of Josie Self Mitchell 80
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (DeSoto) 81
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (DeSoto) 84
Compton Mines, Alabama 88
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (French Settlers) 89
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (American Revolution) 91
Obituary of Leah Jane Self 94
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Newspapers and Indians) 95
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Bear Meat Cabin) 98
Grand and Petit Jurors, Fall Term 1891 101
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Land and Crops) 103
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Story of Stooka) 105
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Removal of the Indians) 107
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Dimensions and Topography) 109
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Minerals and Rivers) 112
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Rivers) 114
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Pioneer Circuit Riders) 117
Grand and Petit Jurors, Western Division, Dec 1891 119
Murder of Steve Capes 122
Murder of George Brazeale by Robert Gunter 124
Murder of John McNelis by Julius Griffith 124
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (Apple and Other Trees) 130
Obituary of Miss Birdie Livingston by Mary Gordon Duffee 133
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (History of the Mills) 135
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (More About the Mills) 139
Sketches of Blount County, Alabama by Mary Gordon Duffee (More About the Mills) 141
Grand and Petit Jurors, April 1892 144
Our Trip to Blountsville 147
Grand and Petit Jurors, Western Division, June 1892 148
Walnut Grove College 149
Invitation to a Confederate Reunion July 1892 151
A Visit to Blountsville 155
Grand and Petit Jurors Eastern Division, Fall Term 1892 156
Grand and Petit Jurors Western Division, Fall Term 1892 159
Grand and Petit Jurors Western Division, December 1892 162
Reminiscences of Blount County by James W. Palmer 163
Robbery At Blount Springs 164
Sketch of Isaac Quimby Melton 165
The Bynum Hotel Fire 167
Obituary of Bertha Idelia Blackmon 169
Obituary of Zipporah Calvert 171
Grand and Petit Jurors, Eastern Division, Spring Term 1893 175
Faculty of Blount College Resigns 177
Death of a Yaller Dog 177
The Village Springs Picnic 179
Grand and Petit Jurors, Western Division, Spring Term 1893 180
Death of a Pioneer Chicken 181
A Trip to Bradford Mines 181
Whited and Crutcher Marriage 183
Reminiscences by James W. Palmer 184
Buried Gold Scam at Arkadelphia 184
Confederate Camp at Bangor 185
My War Experience by James W. Palmer 186
War Reminiscences by James W. Palmer 187
War Reminiscences by James W. Palmer 191
Grand and Petit Jurors, Fall Term 1893 193
Sam Smith Elopes With His Sister-In-Law 194
Grand and Petit Jurors Western Division, December 1893 199
Cullman Fire 208
Grand and Petit Jurors, Spring Term 1894, Eastern Division 210
Headquarters United Confederate Veterans 211
List of Beat Registrars, Blount County 212
Double Murder at Village Springs 216
A Cullman Muddle 217
In Memory of Hon. J.W. Moore 218
Judge John B. Tally Impeached 222
Letter from Hill County, Texas 225
Grand and Petit Jurors, Fall Term 1894, Eastern Division 226
Grand and Petit Jurors, Fall Term, 1894, Western Division 231
Blount College Burned 235
Appeal for Rebuilding Blount College 238
Oneonta Went Wet 242
Grand and Petit Jurors, Spring Term 1895, Eastern Division 243
Grand and Petit Jurors, Spring Term 1895, Western Division 247
Letter from Oak, Ellis County, Texas 248
Prof. A.A. Murphree 250
History of Cullman 251
Crump Cave 252
History of Cullman (Continued) 253
Higginbotham Will Case 256
Grand and Petit Jurors, Fall Term 1895 259
Confederate Pensions 261
Grand and Petit Jurors, Fall Term 1895 263
White Cappers in Blount Count 273
Grand and Petit Jurors, Spring Term, 1896 274
Beat Registrars, 1896 275
Beat Chairmen, 1896 278
Grand and Petit Jurors, Spring Term, Western Division, 1896 278
Reunion of Murphrees and Bynums Announcement 280
Bangor Cave 280
Wyeth City Cyclone 282
Grand and Petit Jurors, Spring Term, Eastern Division, 1896 288
Grand and Petit Jurors, Fall Term, Western, 1896 291
Confederate Pensioners, 1896 292
The Cofer Bill to Redraw the County Lines 296
Intrigue at Blountsville College Regarding Misappropriation of Funds 299
County Government Leaders, 1897 303
Grand and Petit Jurors, Spring Term, 1897, Eastern Division 307
Grand and Petit Jurors, Spring Term, 1897, Western Division 312
Road Supervisors, 1897 318
Letter from Oak, Texas 321
Grand and Petit Jurors, Fall Term, 1897, Eastern Division 323