| Summary: | Folder contains 29 pages of Alabama folklore compiled for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.rBge I
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Carrollton, Alabama
!lester Pratt
at is It?
L876,
2 •
est £labamian, dated
C
This story was copied from an old
and was written by a Union Chapel correspondent.
~or a fortnight past the oolored population and a few of the
whites have been a little exercised and alarmed over the appearance of
a wonderful nondescript in the shape of an animal. It prowls about at
night and has been seen by several darkies along the public highways.
Various descriptions have been given of the monster. lt is said to ressmble
the Jackal and belongs to the feline race. It hae a long tail,
Short ears, st.eaked legs, a large hsad and about as high, but longer
than a cur. Its claws and teeth are said to be the very instruments of
death. its eyes are large and clear. it makes a noise like a pig. It
lies do n beside the road and lets people pass, but beoomes enraged at
the sight of a dog.
bat it sats no one knows, b~t it is t~t to be fond of human
flesh. It haa made one or two unt~ nstratio es but
John ~ilpin speed is uncomparabla with the manner in which the~ made
oU.
The Visitation of this animal has produced an alarming effeot.
sgroes are afraid to go to church; they won't go fishing and the women
can't be made to go to the feilds to work. Some whites are alarm-ed
equally as much. <.;owe go nnmilked. horsee and hogs unfed and siok
triends and neighbors ars neglected.
Some call it a catamount, some a panther and others say, • hat
is it?! •
age I Carroll ton,
How
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If Sandare on ~ifty Dollars
,
and ~ ~ew Suit Of Clothes.
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~any years ago on the streete of Tusoaloosa, ~labam~a crowd of
town folks and farmers hovered around a wire cage in front of a looal
saloon over whioh hung thie insoription:
" 25.00 Reward to the Owner of any Dog that .hips this
ild Cat."
Inside the oage orouohed a fieroe wild oat oaught in Sipeey e.aop·
The oat was an extra large one with the strength of a lion. He was
in no humor for foolishness. ~iS great white teeth showing between
his lips snd his ourling ola s like briar hooks extend-ing
from his heavy set feet were warnings to any man or beast who
might ooms in oontaot with him.
Vown the street oame a man Isading a large bull dog, .ho had/
never met defeat, and ready again to defend his title. The dog seemed
to know that he was ready for a fight and was rlaring for the oonfliot.
his master was smiling and oould almost fsel the 2 .00 reward
in his pocket. bUlger had nsver bsen whipped, and no 4ild cat in the
country oould lick him. lhe O&gs door was unlocked and ths ohain re-moved
from the dog's oollar. liS sprang into ths cage .ith
glaring eyes and shining teeth. ~he fight was on.
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Bulger made
a pasa for the oat, but the oat was not there. ~fore he oould turn
to eee .here the ~line animal had fled, the oat attacked him from ;'
the rear, almost ri ping his hide from his baok. In anger he rose from
his hind fe.t~o attaok the cat, and when he did the great teeth of t~
the oat olosed on his ja and ths briar hook ola.s ~t~;~~/~~/~~;/J~,
literally ripped his insides out and the fighting bull was no more.
The owner of the oat oolleoted his reward and snnounoed
age 2 ilf )
that his proposition was still open to all oomers •
• red faced, slender young man weighing about 150 pounds walked
up to the crowd and said, "Wha's all the 'oitement about?" He wae
told of the reward offered and eho~ed the dying dog lying on the ground
before him, his hide literally ripped into strings. lf, for it wae /
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none other than ~lf Sanders of near Gordo in iokens county, looked inA!
to the cage and said, " ich one of them oats are yer bettin' on?" He
was told that there was but one cat in the cage. Alf shook his head,
rubbed his eyes, stooped over taking a better look into the lage. He
straightened up, looked the crowd over and said, "You can't fool me,
I know two oats from one, but I'll tell you what ~ I'll do. r'll
Whip both of them cats bare handed for ~50.00. I can lick any damned
oat in klabama." The orowd roared and qUiokly raise4 the money to
match the owner's bet. Seeing the 50.00 plaoed in the hands of a /
friend, .If took off his hat and coat and said "mpen the door." The
door swung open and If orawled into the cage and looked for the cate,
but like the dog he found no oat when he reached the spot. He rub-bed
his eyes d said, "I knowed all the time you wae a damned co.-
ard. I can lick all the oats in Sipsey swamp at one time." About tnat
time the cat sprang for lf, ripping the shirt fro~ ~lf's body. He
turned in astonishment and said~ He's got my ,~; shirt." The orowd
oried, "Go ahead, we'll buy you a new shirt." ith this assurance
lf spat on his hands, rubbed them together, rubbeo his face in the I
bend of his arm and began to look for his enemy. lie sa~ the oat crouch·
ed in the corner of the oage and started for him. ~he oat made a
spring to jump over Alf's head and attaok him from the rear as before.
but .If was too quick for him this time, as the oat sprang lf rose to
his feet, catching the cat by the throat and in the jaw in mid air,
bringing nim to the floor of the oage. Crying in anger and pain the
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Page 3 Alf Sanders eto.
cat slashed the naked body with his front feet, and stripped off
lf's pants with his hind feet. Alf crisd, "Hs's got my pants." and
the eager crowd cried, "Go a¥_~ ahead, we'll buy you more pants." /
Alf's grip tightened over the throat of the wild oat. Ite soreaming
changed to a gurgle. The rapid and accurate ewinging of the fanged feet
began to miss the mark. The cat'a eyes turned baok in their sockets,
and it lay quivering in agony beneath the rag ed and bleeding body of
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the now sobered man. The owner of the cat, "Don't kill my cat." Well,
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said lf, "Count him out then and open the door." The owner of the '\
cat admitted he wss whippsd and opened the door. lf backed up to
the door, slung the cat to the rear of the cage and made a dash for
the wide open spaces.
ithout a stitch of clothing on his bod', except his shoes, cut I
and bleeding from his eyes to his feet, lf claimed his 50.00 reward
and got it, and along with it a new suit of clothes from the skin out.
any years later when lf was interviewed on the question of
wild cat fighting, he said he had not since that day entered into the
ring with a wild cat, but admitted he would almost be willing to try
it again if he had some of the kind of liquor he was drinking that
day.
Sent in by Hester rratt
age I
o
Carrollton. Alabama.
Heater Pratt
dino Griffin
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dino Griffin, the first sherriff of iokens oounty. removed
early to.this oounty from bbeville Distriot South Carolina and was
eleoted in 1820. He served his thrse years term and is said to have
msde an honsst snd upright offiosr. He was a good natured and simple
hsarted man with whoss good nature his friends sometimes took libsrties.
They told some aneodotes about him whioh have followed down to this
day. one of whioh exhibits the simplioity above named.
Judge ipsoomb hsld the first oirouit oourt here after the organization
of the oounty, Mr. Griffin then being sherriff. The aneodote
runs that the junge told the sherriff to open oourt. The sherriff
said. "I open oourt? How shall I open oourt? I don't know any more
... about opening oourt than a bobtailed ram." The judge said."Go to the
door and I will tell you." (Sherriff going to the dODr) The jUdge
then said. " ow ory out. .Yes. 0 Yes. 0 Yes." The sherriff repeated
the words in loud tones. t~,/~~ The judge then said. " ow open
oourt." (Sherriff) " I open oourt. I open oourt. I open oourt. "
The judged was vexed at the offioer and said. " ow you've done it."
ere-up-on Yr. Griffin lOUdly repeated. "Now I've done it. Bow I've
done it. ow I've done it."
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Story of an ld Landmark.
~aok in tha days .hen the site no. occupied by arrollton .aa
in a .ilderness there stood e atately oak, and .hen the axman appeared
to clear the site for the to.n this magnificent oak .as spared for
more than one re ason, the main one being that it had been a famous
deer stand, .her many huntsmen had taken a stand and sent a piercing bul
let through the body of some big buok.
~Tom oitizens seeking ne. homes in this oounty baok in the early
days .e have exidenoe of.this fact and is .idely kno~n that .here Uarrol
ton no. stands .as onoe a vast lIilderness, thicklj 1I0oded and cane-brake.
he old oak stood prominently among the other timber of the .ood
and braved the storms of many years. b'or nearly a century after the
town lias established this magnifficent oak stood prcminently out before
the public, occupying an important position on oourt square where
. it \las admired for its beauty, furniBhing an abundant ~y,~if..f/.rI shade to·
many a weary soul.
But there came a.time when the old oak received an injury from
which it never recovered. When the Carrollton Hotel burmed in 1901
the tree was burned to suoh an extent that it seemed it would pass
on IIi th other events of 0"P"~.1~..£1f"~"J~o'J~.I the ear1Y days of ths tOlln. But it
recovered to a certain sxtent, never regaining its full beauty again.
ere ths fire had burned deoay sst up and each year eesidents of the
town noted with regret that sooner or later it .ould be among the relios
of early days.
Vuring a heavy windstorm Sunday afternoon, June 20th 1924, every
limb was blolln from the old teee and nothing was left of this famoue
oak but the body, hollow to the ground, and it was used for fire wood,
but many ree ollections about the old landmark will be reoalled for
yeara to come and many referencea .ill be made to it for generations.
• Page I
I
arrollton, labama
"ester Pratt
Lofton Remembers
Yisit to Carrollton.
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tifty ysars ago Carrollton did not have a sids walk of any kind.
Soms of the merohants maintained a wide plaoe in front of thsir stores
~hi~h they oalled a side walk. Everybody out the oornsrs, lsaving a
pig trail through the bitter weeds that grew promisouously allover
ths town. ~hese oonditions were known over ths entire oounty and real-ly
beoame a joke among those living away from the town, so muoh so
tnat onoe upon a time the late .G.Lofton, while liVing at the Garden,
had oooasion to send his son, John • Lofton, who was then a very
small boy, to Carrollton with a messags to the Rsv. J.R. urry.
Before leaving his home ths young man was admonished by his
father to be oareful about riding on the side walks after reaching
Carrollton, telling him that if he rode on the side walke the sher- •
riff would arrest him and look him up in the jail house. He did not
kno the sherriff an was therefore afraid of every man he met.
After reaching the public square, the horse he was riding was recognized
by znooh asterling, and being anxiuus to bestow some friendli-nesa
upon the young boy, waved him for the purpose of aSSisting in
hitohing his horse. ~his was more than Johnny could bear, and with a
wave of fare you well Brer' atkins, he clamped his heels in the horse's
sides and lit out with all possible speed to the house of a relative,
l,ho resided on the south eastern part of town.
liis message had not been delivered, and after eating dinner he
told them of his errand and asked if there ~as any possible way to
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reach~. Curry's house without going t rough to~n? • Curry 11ved on
the opposite side of town and he finally maneuvere around on foot to
~. Curry's house and delivered his message.
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Carrollton, labama.
Hester ~ratt ~~t ~~. ,
I
Unity Grove Camp-meeting.
The Unity Grove oamp groun~ is located at ~almetto, and had 1~
its beginning before the War of the States. The grounds were laid off
in a large square, in the center of Ihioh was a large stand, furnish-
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sd with long, straight backed bsnc es, that would seat more than a thous
and psople. The floor was oovered with fine saw dust about three inohes
deep, and you had to be very careful or your shoes would get filled ;I
with the saw dust, making your feet very unoo. ortavle. round the
square were built tents with two large rooms and a hall between, whioh
ssrved as reoeption halls. The rooms were used for sleeping and dressing
quarters, one for the womsn and one for the men. Bedsteads were
bUiltin affairs that extended the entire width of the room, on whioh ~'1
were usaally laid three or four mattresses. Sometimes fifteen or twenty
people wold sleep on one of these beds, if one beoame too orampsd to lie
still, they would say turn over and all would turn tt the SBme time, ~~
but woe to you if you happened to get down between the mattresses. The /
tents were bUilt adjoining eaoh-other all around the square, sxcept on
the north side where the highway p ssed the grounds. Thie side was left
open, but no vehicles were allowed inside the encampment, but were park-ed
on the OPPOSite side of the road •
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Back of sach tent was a small room, that served as pantry and ~'¢
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. aook-room, where the meals were prepared by colorsd servants
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d served
at a table under a shed beside the tent. Back in the days before germs
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were known to exist, these places were left open, while tod y they are •
screened to keep out germs, flies & eta.
he tent holders moved to the camp-ground on ~iday before the
second Sunday in Oatober and took Saturday to prepare their tents for /
the week. They usually moved out on the next riday.
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Sunday was the BIG
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Y. when people from all parts of the
surrounding oountry and from the towns and cities would attend the meet
ing. It was a great treat to the oountry people to have the oppertunity
of seeing how oity people acted and dressed. The biggest preacher in
the North Alabama Oonferenoe was seoured to preach on Sunday. They cJ,
oame in wagons, oarriages and buggies. It was great excitement to hear
the shouting and einging of the people, the niokering of the horeeAS and
the braying of the mulea.
Every morning just before snnriee. a horn was blown for sunrise
raysr service. L••Shelton for a long number of years blew the horn fori
the assembling for all services. He had the biggest, longest horn that
blew a musical blast that could be hsard a long distanoe. Presiding elder
Wilson always said that when the horn blows that means to oane right
"orn" and his plea was most always obeyed, far the people would oome in
flooks fran evsry direotion immediately.
If you misssd the sunrise service you missed ons of ths bsst servioes
of the day. ~he songs and prayers of thanksgiving of those saint-ed
people would lift you right up from sarth to heaven. fter this ser-vics
breakfast was served, after whioh you had time to visit friends on
the grounde and dress for the ten o'clock service. t this service the/
good brethe\n end sisters would tell of their ohristian experiences. ~h
This laeted for about thirty minutes, by this time people would begin to
gather from all parts of hhe country end by eleven o(olook, whioh was ~~
the big servioe of the day, there was hardly room for all the pe~ple,
tsams and vehioles. t this servioe the best preacher on the grounds
delivered the best sermon he knew and there was shouting and singing.
lor a great many years old Dr. Tom SlaUghter was an important
figure in these meeting•• He was surs to draw large crowds. by his ,
earnestness with a mixture of Wit.
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c
age 1'3
t noon dinners ~ere served at tents and at various places. ViS.;!
iting among friends .as then enjoyed until three o'olook, .hen another
prsaohing .ervioe .as held, after ~hioh the msn repared to one side of
the grounds and the omen to another for prayer servioe. These were usu
ally great servi•oes. t dusk the grounds were lighted with pine torohes
made on stands about three feet t 11 and the st nd .as lighted ~ith kerosene
lamps and the horn .as blo~ for the evening servioe and it was
no wonder that one enjoyed sleeping three deep after the day was spent.
or a long number of years George .J/4#'IJ.#J Graham, .H.:Linebarger
and Hose Darr were the great leaders at the oamp meeting, but f
with their passing interest seemed to lag in the meetings, but during
their time the greatest revivals of religion of all time were held at
amp Ground. tJHJ-in
I906 for some reason the meeting .as disoontinued~for about
t~enty years the meeting .as not held. In I926 some of the descend-the
Unity Grove
ants of the old f milies re_organized the oamp meeting and it is
still held snnually, but in ugust instead of otober, as formerly.
Yet the keen interest of the old days seems laoking, beoa.se
of modsrn oonveyanoe the people prefer to oome and go rather than to
tent on the old oamp ground ~ith its inoonvenienoes. There is also a
laok of "Old time religion."
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Page I
Hail storm in
Piokene County
Carrollton, Alabama
Heeter Pratt 0,
A strip ot territory more than a mile wide and several miles long
;~1/~t; lying about six miles north ot Gordo, was hit on _ay 22, I928
by the worst hail storm ever witnessed in Alabama. ore than eighteen
inches ot hail and rain tell in the oourse ot two hours and the tields
and toreete were oompletely destrofed. ill tarms were practioally
ruined trom washing rains and every liVing plant was destroyed. Cattle
and other stock had to be driven into other territor~ tor pasture.
The hail laid six teet deep in valleys wher banked tor ten days or
more and it took thirty days for it all to melt.
titteen pound lard can standing in Dewy alons's front yard was
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tilled and running over with hail when the storm stopped. There was no
object standing near by to oause the hail to fall into the oan. It
just tell that deep over the surface ot the earth in the wake ot the
storm.
ritory
It is estimated that more than two thousand oars
~.
within a week, averaging tour ~~to the oar
visited the ter-ran
the number ot
visitors to eight or ten thousand. People trom all parts of the county
and many from a distanoe ot one hundred miles or more were looking
over the ter~itory daily tor more than a week.
People oarried hail away in boxes and baskets tor freezing ioe
oream. One man whose house is a double room log house with an open
hall between, stated that hail meaeured two teet deep in his hall af-ter
the storm was over. rees were stripped ot leave limbs and bark.
age I
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parr
------~
ton. lab ,
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Hester Pratt
Hail St orm in
arrollton. labama.
~riday night, Deoember 30th. 1927'will long be remembered by the
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people of Carrollton. The property damage was not so great aa to make
it so impressive. but that awful soare given the villagers.
The hail was preoeded by a most awful roaring that soun~ed like
a rushing oyolone. The lightning was a oonstant flash and the thunder
at times shook the earth like an earthquake. hose who ha4 oellars made
a quick retreat, but those who were not so fortunate gathered into rooms
in order to be close together when they were swept away by the oyolone.
uddenly the hail came almost like a sheet of ice., ~~~,i orashing •
windows and shattering roofs. The inhabitants knew the town was be-
,
ing blown away. yet the treeS in the streets did not seem to be sway-ing.
attle that had been housed were stampeded and went bellowing
in all directions. Chickens and turkeye roosting in trees were floundering
on the ground with broken neokS and bruised heads. ~he hail ceased
as suddenly as it had started and the people realized that houses
still stood and families were still united.
The hail storm was followed by the heaviest rainfall ever witness-ed
here. ithin a few minutes the the whole town was a solid sheet of
water. rushing over streetS. ourbe or sidewalks, but it laeted but a f'
few minutes and everything was quiet, followed by a oold wave and ever,
ything was frozen over with a solid sheet of ioe.
The damage to Carrollton ran around ~6.000. All windows on the
north ,t~"/~1~~tt~t~g,and west sides of bUildings unless proteoted
were shattered. nly one pane was left in the windows on the north
age I Carrollton, labama,
Hester fract. J..,t.,,/l4
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Rapport's in izsie.
,hen automobiles were first introduoed into £iokens oounty,
Ben I Rapport of arroll.on purohaeed a seoond hand "Tin izsie" that
had seen its best days before it reaohed Carrollton.
ne day Ben had trouble with his old "Tin Lizzie" she balked on
oourt square, she roared. roared, rattled and spat, and baoked instead
of going forward.
L.C.Hudgins, who was then probate judge of iokens oounty, bea~
e tired of the noise that Ben and the ford were oreating and stepped
to the oourt house door and e id, "G THit..T THl G \JUT OF T ". The old
hen he reaohed
Rapport yelled to
ford eeemed to sense that there was trouble brewing and immediately leaped
forward neaded for the depot, baokfiring every jump. Everybody in
town was out to see the fun. Rapport thought Judge Hudgins was shooting
IU1U
at him, and h~/frantioallY trying to maKe hie esoape.
the depot the thing went dead and would not bUdge.
the people, "STO
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H "• "I'll burn the dam thing."
ote;this story was told to me by Ben I. apport, the subjeot of the
story
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.cage I
aeny O:ouohett.
>"
arrollton. ~labama. LJY~
Hastar fratt.
~,8ny years ago. there lived at emph1e. iokene ooun,y ~labama. 10oated
in the Tombigbee valley. a man by the name ot 7~,i' O.R. ouohett.
He .. as oalled " eeny·. beoause of his diminutive eize
•
en he lIIas a boy,
Teeny lias not \Ii thout intelleot, but beceuse ot a disease oalled ""hi te
s elling'he "as nervous and irr.table. and lllhen exoited he beoame pan-ioy.
he onoe got very ill and sent tor the doctor. and ..hen the dootor
arrived he found him in great distress and believed he ..as going to die.
The doctor told him that he .. as in no danger. he ..ould give him some-thing
to ease his pain and he .. ould soon be alright. eeny said. "Doo-tor.
I'm starving for ..ater. but I m atra1d to drink it." e had been
told by old dootors that water .. ss very bad for a s10k man. The doctor
aas~red him that ..ater ..as just IIIhat he needed and rooeeded to give
him. all the fresh ,,~er he oould drink. Teeny got qUiet and began to per~
spire. he dootor remained ,,1th him tor "hile and left ,,1thout admin-istering
anyto1ng else.
eeny lived alone and did his o"n cooking and "as a noted co~k.
He raise. poultry to supply his table. he had a loog partitioned box
tor his oens to lay and sit in. noe he had a hsn that. s not satisfied
"ith her nest. e "ould sit on ~ a"hile and then get on another. Teeny
"ould put her on the proper nest and finally tle" into a rage and picked
her up and picked all the teathers oft of her. set her do"n and "said
• 0". t~, by granny. you "ouldn't set right, so I've tixed you so you
can't set at all."
~eeny .a8 a zoolog18t. He as acquainted 1th all toe habits ot
the different birds. ild turkeys and animals and could 1mm1tate to per-
age I Carrollton, Alabama.
lies ter aat t
Old Chill Benly
A Iegro Simpleton.
Long years ago there lived in Piokensville, Piokens oounty labama
a negro simpleton, named Chill Henly, who lived to a great old
age. Chill never worked a dsy in his life, but begged for his living
and was tolerated by the white people and hated by his own raoe. He
would go to one white man'e house today and ask for bread, knowing he
would get something more than bread. ~omorrow he would go to some 01~~/
other houae and repeat his plea for bread and always he got more taan
he had asked. If he needed a shirt he would go to some of the mer-
•
ohants of io~ensville for the oloth and taere was alwsvs some kind /
11 oman ho 1I0uld make it for him. ~o anyone who never .etused him he
was loyalty itself. Chill had suoh a friend in John R. ~ong of r1okensville.
~. Long never refused hill food or oloth for his oloth-ing.
Chill never had a pair of shoes. he didn't need them. His feet
had teoome so aooustomed to all kinds of weather, that the skin had
beoome impervious t oold. ~he skin on the soles of his feet had so
thiokened and dried taat he oould walk bris~ly, as he always did,
throw up the sole of his foot and strike a matoh on it and light his
pipe without breaking his gait.
unoe upon a time, oR. ong Chill's loyal friend had to go to /
obile on business. en the 'ombigbee steamer sounded its whistle,
Chill followed~. ~ong to the boat. wr. ong told Chill he would
be gone several days, but ~ould return on Thursday. Chill walked
bris~ly baok to to~n, with a higc head, telling everybody he met
that John ~ong would be baoL on Thursday. lie repeeted this u and
do n the streets every day till Thursday oame, and on the eveatf~l
age 2 Chill nenly etc.
"hursday Chi11 ~as at the boat landing at the break of day, calling
to everyone .ho oame along, "John .Long is oomin' on that boat."
OIl When the boat came into viell, Chill yelled, "Is John Long on that boat'
This he oontinued to do until I.,r. Long appeared at the gang-plank.
yhill rushed up to the gang-plank and took • Long, .ho lias a small
man, in his arms and carried him dOlln the gang-plank and up the steep
hill, and ould have carried him to Fickensville had not Lr. Long
protested.
~hill and the ,ashpot.
"here lived in ~arrollton an aged la~yer, Col. ~rtin Luther stansel,
1100 1Ias much loved and honored by great men of the etate.
ld 'hill 1Ias indicted for throlling the llashpot of Josiah ddins
into the 1Iell. Col. Stansel had mOlln old Jhill all his life
and "ished to do all he could to keep Chill out of the jail, and at /
the trial made this speech, "Your Honor, I've known ~hill all his
life. He is a non compos mentis. The people ...here he is mo.n are
U- a.ara of his proclivity to stael and do mischeivious things, but
A
all his life theae trifles heve been condoned."
Just here Chill jumped up saying, " arse _uther, Marse Luther."
Col. teDsel turned upon vhill and said sternly, "Sit do n Chill" and
teen procseded,"Ae I "as saying, Your ~onor, before Chill interrupted
me, he is of UOSOun2 mind, but has never committe a ross crime,
and 1 believe he did this just as a matter of amusement and not for
the purpose of injuring an.v one."
utoer," I Here hill arose again, crying, n~rse uther, arse
he Colonel became vexed, and turning on hill said, " it do"n hill.
U you don't ait dOlin, I'll knook you ;;)'An. " • The volonel then said
to vhill. "What made you throll tnat pot into the lIell,sir." I thro1lit
into the "ell to hear it say, "~~RCHU K" replied hill.
Page I Carrollton, Alabama,
Hester ratt
•
Deaoon Ferguson and
Yellow Jaokets.
Uarrollton oolored Baptist had held a revival of ten days duration
and a large number had been oonverted and joined the Carrollton
Baptist ohuroh and had assembled at Blue Hole on Bigoreek, the usual
baptizing plaoe on a beuatiful Sunday afternoon. Everything was in
readiness for the solemn oeremony of Baptizing the new oonverts. Zol-lie
Horton, the pastor wae in the water and the oandidates for baptism
were standing in military formation. Deaoon wen Ferguson, with an averdupoiee
of more than three hundred pounds, and another deaoon were
leading the oandidates to the water's edge as the paator baptized
them. Some misoheivous boys saw a hole in the ground under deaoon
Fei$uson's feet and jabbed a stiok into it. 0 sooner than done yellow
jaokets swarmed out, and oovered veaoon Ferguson, whioh sent him sorambling
into the woods and to the dootor's offioe.
The baptism was almost over when he got baok to the grounds,
but he was still able to see them thOUgh, his faoe was badly swol-len.
at he said as he left the aoene was not a part of the baptis-mal
servioe.
•
age I
LitHe Bill and.
The Yellow Jaokets.
(0
Carrollt on,
hester
labama,
ratt
•
The tollowing is a true story. The inoid.ent ooourred. in Bostioe
beat in iokene oounty and. is reprod.uoed. as it was written by
the author, Silas W.Williams who signs his name as "Little Bill" who
is a trequent oontributer .to The iokens County Herald. and. has been
tor more than thirty years.
Long time ago on a very hot d.ay in July brother and. I were plow-ing
in a very rough new ground., and. Oh, ho hot we were. ~other says
to me, "Let'. pull ott our breeohes and. go in our shirt tails." I liked.
the id.ea, so we pulled. ott our little pants and. hung them on the
tenoe. Gee, boys, how good. and. 0001 we telt, as the breezes tanned. our
little shirt tails up and. d.own. We were just as happy as two little
negroes in a water melon patch. ~olly boys, you d.on't know how good.
our nud.e legs telt as we plowed. up and. d.own the row. Alas, las, just
as the gentle breezes litted. our shirt tails up and. d.own.
betore us
so
.. happy
were tne greatest troubles ot our lives. h, we were just _
Like good. brothers we plowed. sid.e by sid.e, but like a bolt ot light-ning
torm a clear sky, brother yelled. out "HELL D TIO " as the
yellow jaokets oovered. him and. his horse. Ths nsxt moment they had.
oovered. me and. my horse. Brother nearly "cussed." and. I would. have 1¢~
"ouseed.2, but old. d.ad. would. not tolerate "oussin".
Boys, d.on't ask me it we were stumg. Don't ssk me where the jaok~
ets stung us, tor they were und.er our little shirts and. in our hair.
They stung us everwhere and. I d.on't mean maybe.
erhaps no other boys on earth would. have held. on to those horees
as they kioked. up more and. more ye~low jaokets. ~other and. I
•
•
Fage I
Carrollton, labama,
Heeter rratt
Prisoner ~iven House
arming in jail
Baok in the early days ot ohiropraotio praotioe in riokens oounty,
there .as looated in ~ordo, one Dr. Harris, Chiropraotor, .ho was be-ooming
quite popular and was getting quits a numbsr ot patients. The med-ioal
dootors in that vioinity did not approvs ot suoh methods ot healing,
so they'.ent about tinding some way to stop him. Upon investigation
they tound he had no oertitioate ot qualitioation trom the state
board .ot health. He .as tried in the spring term ot oourt and a verdiot
had been rendered him by a jury. He was ordered by the oourt to stop
the praotioe till he got a oertitioate.
~ttorneys ot Harrie stated that an appeal to Supreme Court
be made by harris, and Harris aoting upon the theory that he oould oon-tinue
his praotioe until the oase was deoided by upreme Court, resUffi-ed
the praotioe until oitation was on tor oontempt ot oourt.
In the hearing ot the oontempt oase the oourt held that the
~ bonds tiled in the appeal ot the oase were not suttioient and the ap-peal
was lost. he oourt held that Harris had praotioed the protession
in striot violation ot the law and a tine and sentenoe was imposed upon
him.
~obably nevr betore had the ooucty jail been made the reoeption
hall tor sympathizsrs ot a prisoner, but during the oontinement ot Dr. H
Harrie in jail there was a oonstant stream ot men, women and ohildren I
who tlooked to the jail to see and talk to Dr. Harris, who had raoeived
the sentenoe at the hands ot Judge John oKinley.
On Sunday a large delegation ot more than a hundred oame down trom
~ordo and held a house warming in the jail oorridore.
were made tor the benefit ot the prisoner.
any speeohes
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