# The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Alabama

Edition of 1879. See also Alabama on Wikipedia; and the disclaimer.
ALABAMA (Indian, “Here we rest”), one of the southern states of the American Union, situated between lat. 30° 10′ and 35° N., and lon. 84° 53' and 88° 30′ W., bounded N. by Tennessee, E. by Georgia and Florida, S. by Florida and the gulf of Mexico, and W. by Mississippi; area, 50,722 sq. m.
State Seal of Alabama.
Alabama is divided into 65 counties, viz.: Autauga, Baker, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Blount, Bullock, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Cherokee, Choctaw, Clarke, Clay, Cleburne, Coffee, Colbert, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, De Kalb, Elmore, Escambia, Etowah, Fayette, Franklin, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Henry, Jackson, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Marshall, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Randolph, Russell, Sanford, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa,
Walker, Washington, Wilcox, and Winston. There are eight cities in the state. Mobile, on the Mobile river, near its mouth in the bay of the same name, is the first in size and commercial importance, having a population in 1870 of 32,034. It is one of the most important ports on the gulf of Mexico, being the natural outlet for S. Alabama and S. E. Mississippi, and ranks next to New Orleans and Savannah in extent of cotton exports. The other cities are Montgomery, the capital, on the Alabama river (pop. 10,588), Selma (6,484), Huntsville (4,907), Eufaula (3,185), Talladega (1,933), Tuscaloosa (1,689), and Tuscumbia (1,214). The more important towns are Greenville (pop. 2,856), Marion (2,646), Florence (2,003), Grantville (1,761), Greensboro (1,760), Union Springs (1,455), La Fayette (1,382), Prattville (1,346), Wetumpka (1,137), Auburn (1,018), and Athens, Jacksonville, and Decatur, with populations less than 1,000. The following table shows the population of the state at each census since its admission into the Union:
Total. :
| 1820 | 85,451 | 571 | 41,879 | 127,901 |
| 1830 | 190,406 | 1,572 | 117,549 | 309,527 |
| 1840 | 335,185 | 2,039 | 253,536 | 590,758 |
| 1850 | 426,514 | 2,265 | 342,844 | 771,623 |
| 1860 | 526,271 | 2,690 | 435,080 | 964,201 |
| 1870 | 521,384 | 475,510 | ...... | 996,894 |
In 1866 the total population was 946,244, classified as follows: whites, 522,799, of whom 257,337 were males and 265,462 females; colored, 423,445, of whom 206,505 were males and 216,940 females. By the federal census of 1870, Alabama ranks 16th in population among the states. Of the whole number of inhabitants, 987,030 are native and 9,962 foreign born; of the former, 744,146 were born in the state. The gain in the total population during the decade between 1860 and 1870 was 3.40 per cent. There was a gain of 8.62 per cent. in the colored population, but a loss of 0.93 in the white. The effect of emancipation, by adding the two fifths of the slave population formerly excluded from the basis of representation, has been to add 23.40 per cent. to the representative population, of which the total gain has been 26.17 per cent. The whole number of male citizens 21 years of age and upward is 202,182. The number of Indians is 98. In 1860 the number of deaths resulting from unknown causes was 1,608, or 16.67 per cent.; in 1870, 730, or 7.21 per cent.—The Alleghany mountains exhaust themselves in N. E. Alabama, rendering that portion of the state uneven and broken, though the elevation is nowhere very great. The range extends W. with a slight bend to the S., and forms the dividing line between the waters of the Tennessee and the other rivers of Alabama, all of the latter ultimately flowing southward into the gulf of Mexico. From this range the face of the country slopes to the S., and is somewhat uneven as far as the centre of the state, where we find rolling
prairies, pine barrens, and very fertile alluvial bottoms. The extreme southern portion of the state is flat, and but slightly elevated above the level of the gulf of Mexico.—Alabama may be divided into five regions, viz.: the timber region, containing 11,000 sq. m.; the cotton region, 11,500; the agricultural and manufacturing region, 8,700; the mineral region, 15,200; and the stock and agricultural region, 4,322. The timber region, bordering on the gulf of Mexico and Florida, extends across the S. portion of the state and 40 m. N. from the Florida line. This section, covered with forests of long leaf yellow pine, yields excellent timber, tar, pitch, and turpentine. The state also produces in abundance different varieties of oak, bald and black cypress, the timber of which is remarkable for its durability, sweet and black gum, poplar, ash, walnut, hickory, locust, chestnut, red and white cedar, dogwood, maple, and elm. Groves of cedar of great height abound in the canebrakes of Marengo and Greene counties. Below the 33d parallel commences the long moss region. This moss, which hangs in festoons from the trees so extensively as to darken the forest, is much used for mattresses. The cotton region joins the timber region on the north, and has a width of about 102 m. on the W. and 60 m. on the E. line of the state. This belt of land, interspersed with large prairies, with an unsurpassed climate and having a stiff black soil, remarkably rich, and from 2 to 20 feet deep, is considered one of the most fertile and healthy agricultural tracts in the South. The land will produce from 50 to 60 bushels of corn or 800 to 900 pounds of seed cotton per acre. Immediately N. of the cotton region lies the agricultural and manufacturing district, extending E. and W. across the state, and having an average breadth of about 35 m. The soil is sandy and poor, but there are numerous streams affording water power. The mineral region occupies the N. E. corner of the state, extending S. W. about 160 m., and has an average width of about 80 m. White marble of remarkable brilliancy, soapstone, flagstones, graphite or plumbago, and granite of good quality are obtained here. In this region are three distinct coal fields, covering an area of 4,000 sq. m., and containing bituminous coal in beds from 1 to 8 feet thick. Near these coal fields are extensive beds of limestone, sandstone, and iron ore producing from 36 to 58 per cent. of metallic iron. Bed and other ochres are found; galena and manganese exist in the limestone formations. The stock and agricultural region occupies the N. W. portion of the state; its productions are cotton, corn, grain, grapes, and stock.—Alabama has only about 60 m. of seacoast, extending from Perdido to the W. line of the state, a large portion of the S. boundary being cut off from the gulf by an intervening strip of Florida. Mobile bay, the great outlet to the navigable waters of the state, is the largest
and finest on the gulf, being 30 m. in length and from 3 to 18 m. in breadth, with 22 feet of water at the main entrance at low tide; but the channel for 10 m. below Mobile is not more than 8 or 9 feet deep at low tide. Perdido bay is of slight importance. About two thirds of the counties of the state are bounded or intersected by navigable rivers, the principal of which are the Mobile, Alabama, Tombigbee, Chattahoochee, Coosa, and Tennessee. The last named comes in at the N. E. corner of the state, and taking a circular sweep southward goes out at the N. W. corner, and empties into the Ohio at Paducah, Ky. Its continuous navigation is interrupted by Muscle Shoals, near Florence. The great river of the state is the Mobile, formed by the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee about 50 m. above Mobile bay, into which it empties at Mobile. The Tombigbee rises in N. E. Mississippi, and is navigable for light-draught steamers to Columbus, about 300 m., and for flat-boats about 125 m. further. The Black Warrior, a branch of the Tombigbee, has its source in N. Alabama, empties near Demopolis, and is navigable for steamers to Tuscaloosa, 285 m. from Mobile. During freshets the Black Warrior at Tuscaloosa rises to a height of 50 feet. The Alabama, which is the eastern branch of the Mobile, is navigable to Montgomery, about 320 m. The Coosa, a branch of the Alabama, is navigable from its mouth to Wetumpka, and from Greensport to Rome, Ga., altogether 160 m., while its course between Wetumpka and Greensport for 180 m. is obstructed by shoals. The Chattahoochee, a large river rising in Georgia and emptying into Appalachicola bay, forms the eastern boundary of Alabama for more than 100 m. It is about 500 m. long, and navigable to the falls at Columbus, Ga., 300 m. above its mouth. Among the smaller rivers are the Conecuh, emptying into the Escambia; the Perdido, emptying into Perdido bay; the Choctawhatchee, emptying into the bay of the same name; and the Cahawba and Tallapoosa, affluents of the Alabama. The attention of the general government and the states interested has been directed to the improvement of the Tennessee and Coosa rivers, and their connection by a canal, in order to form an outlet for the produce of the northwestern and southern states, which will possess advantages over that by the Mississippi river.—Among the natural curiosities are: a natural bridge in Walker county; Bladen and Blount springs, which are the resorts of health and pleasure seekers; and the sulphur springs of Talladega county. The remains of various mounds and roads have been found in different parts of the state, of which the Indians formerly occupying the country furnish no traditions. A stream of water issues from a large fissure in the limestone rocks at Tuscumbia, which is said to discharge 125 hhds. of water per minute, forming a considerable river which empties into the Tennessee. The N. E. corner of the state abounds in wild,
grand, and picturesque scenery. The “Suck,” a sort of maelstrom in the Tennessee river, and Paint Rock, a very high bluff with figures representing a man's face, are objects of much curiosity.—The climate of Alabama is healthy, except on the low river bottoms, where the prevailing diseases are intermittent, congestive, and bilious fevers; congestive fevers being the most fatal. According to the census of 1870, the rate of mortality was about one death to every 93 inhabitants. Mobile, in its early history, was several times severely ravaged by yellow fever. In the elevated portions of the country the climate is delightful, the heat of summer being materially mitigated by the gulf breezes. During summer the mercury ranges from 104° to 60° F.; in November and the winter months, from 82° to 18°; and in spring, from 93° to 22°. The mean temperature of the state is about 63°, or perhaps something less, and the mercury seldom rises above 95°. July is the hottest month in the year. The fall of rain for 1870 was 48.53 inches. Very little snow falls, and the rivers are never frozen over, though stagnant water is sometimes covered with a thin coating of ice. Fruit trees blossom from the 1st of February to the 1st of March, according to the elevation. In the lower portion of the country there is almost a total lack of good water, while that found in the higher regions is very good. In many parts of the state the inhabitants procure their water from artesian wells, which not unfrequently reach a depth of 1,000 feet, and some of them throw up water in sufficient quantity to turn mills and other machinery.—The soil of the state is various, but mainly productive. In the southern part there are considerable tracts of sandy barrens, but the river bottoms are remarkably fertile. Some portions of the highlands in the north are not worth cultivating, while by far the greater portion is very excellent land, having a productive soil of variable depth, resting on a limestone bed. By its great advantages of soil and climate, Alabama has always held a high rank as an agricultural state. Agriculture forms the principal occupation of the people, manufacturing being carried on only to a limited extent. The chief productions are cotton and Indian corn, though other grains are raised, as are also sugar cane and rice on the bottom lands in the extreme south; and tobacco is grown to a small extent. According to the census of 1870, there are 4,982,340 acres of improved land in the state, and 9,491,270 of unimproved, of which 8,034,700 acres are woodland. The assessed value of real estate is $117,223,043, and of personal property $38,359,552; true value of all real and personal property, $201,855,841; cash value of farms, $67,502,433; of farming implements and machinery, $3,256,101; of all live stock, $26,077,267; of home manufactures, $1,083,720; of slaughtered animals, $4,556,467; estimated value of all farm products, including betterments and additions to stock, $66,532,810; total amount of wages paid to agricultural
laborers during the year, including value of board, $11,791,191. The productions were 423,312 bales of cotton, 16,660,488 bushels of Indian corn, 1,049,960 of wheat, 18,594 of rye, 767,732 of oats, 152,456 of peas and beans, 157,446 of Irish and 1,806,264 of sweet potatoes, 222,943 lbs. of rice, 151,557 of tobacco, 370,773 of wool, 3,178,638 of butter, 21,068 of wax, 307,706 of honey, 10,553 tons of hay, and 166,009 gallons of cane and 261,986 of sorghum molasses. There were 78,962 horses, 75,644 mules and asses, 165,663 milch cows, 57,237 working oxen, 248,943 other cattle, 234,607 sheep, and 701,346 swine. The number of manufacturing establishments in the state was 2,231, employing $5,713,607 capital, 291 steam engines with 7,640 horse power, 736 water wheels with 11,098 horse power, and 8,349 hands, receiving $2,211,638 wages annually. The value of materials used in 1870 was $7,643,784, and of products, $13,220,655. Of the manufactories, the most important are 33 for ginning cotton, 10 for the manufacture of cotton goods, 3 for cotton thread and yarn, 20 for the manufacture and working of iron in various forms, 143 for leather, 13 for machinery, 284 lumber mills, and 613 flour and grist mills.—The foreign commerce of Alabama all centres at Mobile, where cotton is the chief article of export, though considerable quantities of sawed lumber and staves are shipped to Cuba, and cedar railroad ties to the northern states. The exports to foreign countries from Mobile for 1870 were $22,422,631, of which $11,829,786 was taken in American, and $10,592,845 in foreign bottoms. The imports for the same period were $1,349,488, of which $161,499 came in American, and $1,187,994 in foreign vessels. The exports of cotton were 188,761 bales (94,462,212 lbs.), valued at $22,376,498. The shipping entering Mobile from foreign ports for 1870 was 40 American vessels, 17,472 tons and 419 men, and 65 foreign vessels, 52,777 tons and 1,320 men. The clearances for foreign ports in the same time were 77 American vessels, 42,663 tons and 889 men, and 51 foreign vessels, 37,075 tons and 976 men. The number of merchant vessels belonging at Mobile in 1870 was 216, with a tonnage of 19,748. During the year 11 vessels, with a total tonnage of 548, were built.—In 1871 there were 1,502¾ miles of railroad—main and side track—completed in Alabama, with an aggregate assessed value of $25,943,052 59, as shown in the adjoined table. The Alabama and Chattanooga railroad connects the latter city with Meridian, Miss., by way of Tuscaloosa, and when completed will afford the most direct communication between New York and New Orleans, through East Tennessee. The Memphis and Charleston road extends through the northern part of the state, and connects the Mississippi river with the Atlantic ocean. The Mobile and Montgomery road extends from Mobile to Montgomery, a distance of 178 miles, connecting
at Pollard with the Mobile and Girard road, which is intended to secure direct communication between Columbus, Ga., and Mobile.
Value. :
| Alabama and Chattanooga | 250 | $6,120,995 00 |
| Memphis and Charleston | 164 | 2,719,800 00 |
| Mobile and Girard | 84 | 1,076,760 00 |
| Mobile and Ohio | 84 | 1,474,552 00 |
| Mobile and Montgomery | 178 | 2,862,580 00 |
| Montgomery and Eufaula | 57 | 824,289 50 |
| Nashville and Decatur | 29 | 386,435 00 |
| Nashville and Chattanooga | 26 | 480,434 00 |
| Savannah and Memphis | 21 | 263,900 00 |
| Selma and Gulf | 31 | 425,275 00 |
| Selma, Marion, and Memphis | 48 | 771,000 00 |
| Selma and Meridian | 83 | 1,843,981 72 |
| Selma, Rome, and Dalton | 177 | 2,464,812 69 |
| South and North | 102 | 1,625,200 00 |
| Southwestern of Georgia | ¾ | 14,337 68 |
| Western | 167 | 2,588,700 00 |
| Total | 1,502¾ | $25,943,052 59 |
Running easterly from Montgomery is the Montgomery and Eufaula, which will ultimately form a part of a line to Brunswick on the Georgia seaboard. The Western road, a connecting link of the Mobile, Atlanta, and Augusta line, is completed from West Point via Montgomery to Selma, where by its junction with the Selma and Meridian a continuous line of railroads is formed from Savannah, Ga., to Monroe in Louisiana, from which point connection can be made with the projected Southern Pacific railway. Sixty miles of the Mobile and Ohio road lie in the S. W. part of Alabama; a branch of this road, the Mississippi, Gainesville, and Tuscaloosa, is completed to Gainesville. The Selma, Rome, and Dalton is completed from Dalton, Ga., to Selma, 236 m., and affords a direct outlet to Charleston for the cotton and minerals of central Alabama. The Selma and Gulf line is in process of construction from Selma to Pollard, a distance of 100 m., where connection by railway to Pensacola is made. The Selma, Marion, and Memphis, and the South and North railroads are under construction. The latter connects Montgomery with Decatur, where a junction is made with the Nashville and Decatur road; it will afford an air-line communication between Nashville and the gulf, and serve as an outlet for the mineral stores of central Alabama. An important road is projected from Eufaula to Guntersville, which in the absence of a canal will afford communication between the Coosa and Tennessee rivers. Other projected lines are the Selma and New Orleans, the Mobile and Alabama, Grand Trunk (from Mobile via Marion to Elyton, 240 m.), the Savannah and Memphis, and the Vicksburg and Brunswick. The legislature has empowered the governor, when any railway company incorporated by the state shall have completed and equipped 20 miles of road, to indorse on behalf of the state the first mortgage bonds of the company to the extent of $16,000 per mile for the portion completed, and $16,000 for each section of five miles subsequently completed. These liabilities on Sept. 30, 1871, were as follows:
Amount. :
| Alabama and Chattanooga | 295 | $4,720,000 | |
| Alabama and Chattanooga, reported excess issued | .. | 580,000 | |
| East Alabama and Cincinnati | 20 | 320,000 | |
| Mobile and Ala. Grand Trunk | 20 | 320,000 | |
| Mobile and Montgomery | .. | 2,500,000 | |
| Montgomery and Eufaula | 60 | 960,000 | |
| Selma and Gulf | 80 | 480,000 | |
| Selma, Marlon, and Memphis | 45 | 720,000 | |
| South and North | 100 | 2,200,000 | |
| Savannah and Memphis | 20 | 320,000 | $13,120,000 |
| STATE BONDS FOR RAILROAD PURPOSES. | | | |
| Alabama and Chattanooga | .. | $2,000,000 | |
| Montgomery and Eufaula | .. | 300,000 | $2,300,000 |
| Total contingent liabilities | .. | ........ | $15,420,000 |
—The present constitution of Alabama was adopted in 1868. The legislative power is vested in a general assembly, consisting of a senate and house of representatives. The latter is composed of not more than 100 members, apportioned among the different counties according to population, but each county is entitled to at least one representative. The present number is 100. The number of senators cannot be more than one third nor less than one fourth, that of the representatives. The present number is 33. Senators and representatives are elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, the former for four and the latter for two years. One half of the senators are chosen every two years. Persons qualified as electors to vote for members of the general assembly are eligible as representatives; but senators must have attained the age of 27 years and resided for two years in the state. The general assembly meets annually on the third Monday in November, and cannot remain in session longer than 30 days except by a two-thirds vote of each house. A majority of the whole number of members in each house is sufficient to pass a bill over the governor's veto. The executive department consists of a governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and attorney general, who are elected on the same day as the members of the legislature for a term of two years, except the auditor, who is chosen for four years. The judicial power is vested in a supreme court of three justices, with appellate jurisdiction only, except that it may issue writs of injunction, mandamus, habeas corpus, and quo warranto; five courts of chancery and twelve circuit courts, each of which is held by one judge; a probate court for each county; and city courts for Mobile, Montgomery, Selma, and Huntsville; in addition to which the legislature may establish inferior courts of law and equity. The supreme court sits at Montgomery. The judges of the several courts are elected by the people for a term of six years, and may be removed by impeachment or for reasonable cause by the governor on the address of two thirds of the legislature. Judges of the supreme, circuit, and chancery courts cannot hold any other office
of profit or trust under the state or United States during their judicial term. The salary of the governor is $4,000, and of the judges of the three higher courts $3,000 each. The right of suffrage is given to all male citizens and those who have declared their intention to become citizens, who have attained the age of 21 years and resided in the state six months next preceding the election, and three months in the county where their votes are offered. Those who during the late war violated the rules of civilized warfare, those disqualified on account of participation in the rebellion, those convicted of crimes punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, and those who are idiots or insane, are by the constitution prohibited from voting. The general assembly must provide from time to time for the registration of electors. Every person before registering is required to take an oath to support the constitution and laws of the United States and of the state of Alabama, and to swear that he is not disqualified by law from registering; that he will never countenance or aid in the secession of the state; and that he accepts the civil and political equality of all men. All able-bodied citizens between the ages of 18 and 45 are liable to duty in the militia. The governor is commander-in-chief of the militia, with power to call it forth to execute the laws and preserve the peace, and is required to appoint with the consent of the senate one major general and three brigadier generals of militia. The common schools and other educational institutions of the state are under the management of a board of education, consisting of the superintendent of public instruction, elected by the people for two years, and two members from each of the congressional districts, chosen for four years. The board is required to establish throughout the state, in each township or school district, free schools for all children between the ages of 5 and 21 years. By the law of 1870 it is forbidden to unite in one school white and colored children, except by the unanimous consent of their parents and guardians. The fund appropriated annually by constitutional provision for the support of public schools consists of the proceeds of all lands granted by the United States for school purposes, special appropriations, escheated estates, money paid for exemption from military duty, one fifth of the aggregate annual revenue of the state, and a poll tax of $1.50. The constitution requires a state census to be taken in 1875, and every ten years thereafter, and provides for the establishment of a bureau of industrial resources at Montgomery, under the management of a commissioner, whose duty it shall be to collect statistical information concerning the productive industries of the state, to disseminate among the people knowledge tending to promote their agricultural, mining, and manufacturing interests, and to make an annual report to the governor, to be laid before the general assembly. It also provides for the
exemption from sale on execution of personal property of any resident to the value of $1,000, and a homestead not exceeding $2,000 in value. The real and personal property of a woman, whether acquired before or after marriage, is not liable for the debts of her husband, and may be devised and bequeathed by her the same as if she were a feme sole. The crimes of treason, murder in the first degree, rape, carnal intercourse with a woman by false representations of being her husband, and arson in the first degree, are punishable with death or imprisonment. Killing in a duel is murder in the second degree, and any one aiding in a duel is made incapable of holding any office under the state. Absolute divorce is granted for habitual drunkenness after marriage, physical incapacity, adultery, abandonment for two years, two years' imprisonment, or extreme cruelty. The legal rate of interest is 8 per cent. Alabama has 7 representatives and 2 senators in the federal congress.—The total taxation not national for 1870 amounted to $2,982,932. The total receipts into the state treasury during the fiscal year were $1,283,587, of which $1,242,886 25 was from taxation and licenses. The total disbursements by the state treasury were $1,366,399, of which $23,843 was for the executive department, $112,860 for legislative expenses, $66,855 for judiciary, $674,410 for educational purposes and schools, and $251,504 for interest. The bonded debt of the state Sept. 30, 1871, was $5,442,300, with interest amounting to $321,106 annually; the total state debt was $8,761,967 37.—Among the public institutions in the state are the penitentiary at Wetumpka, the insane hospital at Tuscaloosa, the asylum for deaf, dumb, and blind, and the freedman's hospital, at Talladega, and an asylum for the blind at Mobile. By the census of 1870 there were 611 blind, 401 deaf and dumb, 555 insane, and 721 idiotic; number of homicides during the year, 100. The number of convicts in the penitentiary in 1869 was 374.—The whole number of children attending school during the year 1870 was 77,139, of whom 31,098 were white males, 30,226 white females, 7,502 colored males, and 8,313 colored females. The number of persons 10 years old and upward unable to read was 349,771; unable to write, 383,012. Of those 21 years old and over who could not write, 17,429 were white males, 31,001 white females, 91,017 colored males, and 98,344 colored females. According to the state auditor's report, the number of public schools in 1869 was 3,225, and of normal schools 16. The total number of children of school age was 387,057, of whom 229,139 were white, and 157,918 colored. The state appropriates about $500,000 annually (1871, $590,605 50) for the support of common schools. By the census of 1860 there were 17 colleges, with 116 teachers and a total endowment of $124,894; 206 academies and private schools, with 400 teachers and 10,778 pupils; and 395 public libraries, with 155,275 volumes. The university of Alabama, founded in 1831,
is situated at Tuscaloosa, and is under the control of the state board of education. During the civil war this institution was converted into a military academy. The principal building having been burned in 1865, the legislature in the following year loaned $70,000 to the university for the erection of a new building, which has since been completed. The university owns some valuable lands and has an endowment of $300,000, with an annual interest of $24,000. Since the war it has not been in a prosperous condition. In January, 1871, there were 4 professors and 21 students.—In 1871 there were 71 newspapers and periodicals published in the state, of which 58 were weekly, 2 tri-weekly, 10 daily (which also issued weekly editions), and one semi-monthly. Their aggregate annual circulation was 8,891,432, and their average circulation 1,070.—The leading religious denominations are Methodists and Baptists. The former in 1860 had 777 churches, with accommodations for 212,555 persons, and church property valued at $606,720; the latter 810 churches, worth $495,449, with accommodations for 245,255 persons. There were 202 Presbyterian churches, valued at $368,500, with accommodations for 65,004; 34 Episcopal, valued at $196,050, with seats for 13,840; and 9 Roman Catholic, with 8,000 seats and church property worth $230,450. There are other denominations in the state of less importance as to numbers.—The territory now forming the state of Alabama was originally a part of Georgia. In 1798 the country now included in the states of Alabama and Mississippi was organized as a territory, called Mississippi. At this time Florida, which then belonged to Spain, extended to the French possessions in Louisiana, from lat. 31° to the gulf of Mexico, cutting off Mississippi territory from the gulf coast entirely. During the war with Great Britain in 1812, as a precautionary measure, that part of Florida between the Perdido and Pearl rivers was occupied by United States troops, and finally annexed to Mississippi territory. After the removal of most of the Creek Indians from this territory as the result of a vigorous war in 1813-'14 (see Creeks), the country was rapidly settled by the whites, and in 1817 the western portion was admitted into the Union as the state of Mississippi, while the eastern part remained as the territory of Alabama till 1819, when it was also admitted as a state. The slave population increased much more rapidly than the free, the proportion of slave to the free population being, according to the state census of 1855, as 239 to 289. The popular vote cast by Alabama at the presidential election of 1860, which resulted in the choice of Abraham Lincoln, was: for Douglas, 13,651; Breckinridge, 48,831; and Bell, 27,875. The state had instructed her delegates to the national convention held at Charleston in April of the same year to withdraw from that body unless the convention should adopt, among others, a resolution
affirming “the unqualified right of the people of the slaveholding states to the protection of their property in the states, in the territories, and in the wilderness in which territorial governments are yet unorganized.” The convention having refused to declare in favor of this doctrine, the Alabama delegation withdrew. Early in December commissioners were sent by Alabama to the other southern states to urge the withdrawal of these states from the federal government, and their union in a separate confederacy; and on Dec. 24 an election was held for the choice of delegates to a state convention. These delegates were classified as immediate secessionists and coöperationists, the latter being in favor of secession with the coöperation of the other southern states. The convention assembled at Montgomery Jan. 7, 1861, and on the same day communications were received from the representatives of the state in congress, who had held a meeting in Washington, and passed resolutions advising immediate secession. On Jan. 11 the ordinance of secession was adopted by a vote of 61 to 39. The immediate cause of this action was stated in the preamble to the ordinance to be “the election of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin to the offices of president and vice president of the United States of America by a sectional party, avowedly hostile to the domestic institutions and to the peace and security of the people of the state of Alabama, preceded by many and dangerous infractions of the constitution of the United States by many of the states and people of the northern section.” The convention held secret sessions and refused to submit its action to the people. These proceedings were followed by the withdrawal on Jan. 21 of the senators and representatives of Alabama from the federal congress, and the election of delegates to the southern congress, which assembled at Montgomery Feb. 4, to organize the southern confederacy. Forts Morgan and Gaines at the entrance to Mobile harbor and Mt. Vernon arsenal were seized by order of the governor, and on the 9th five companies of volunteers were sent to Pensacola, at the request of the governor of Florida, to assist in capturing the forts and other property there belonging to the United States. Subsequently a commissioner was sent to Washington to negotiate with the president for the transfer to the state authorities of the forts, arsenals, custom houses, and other United States property in the state. The president declined to receive this commissioner except as a “distinguished citizen of Alabama.” On March 13 the state convention, which had reassembled on the 4th, ratified by a vote of 87 to 6, without submission to the people, the constitution adopted by the confederate congress, and subsequently passed an ordinance transferring to the provisional government the arms and munitions of war acquired from the United States, and also all authority over the forts and arsenals in the state. Laws were enacted by
the legislature placing the state upon an efficient war footing and appropriating $500,000 to aid the cause of southern independence. On April 10 the president of the Confederate States made a requisition on the governor for 3,000 troops, and on May 1 the first battalion of the third state regiment left for Virginia. No important military operations occurred within the borders of Alabama during the first years of the war. In February, 1862, immediately after the capture of Fort Henry, Commander Phelps, with three gunboats from the fleet of Commodore Foote, proceeded up the Tennessee river and took possession of Florence at the foot of the Muscle Shoals. This was the first appearance of the national flag in northern Alabama since the beginning of the war, and was received with demonstrations of loyalty by many of the inhabitants who had opposed secession. On April 9 Gen. O. M. Mitchel, who had advanced from Nashville with a division of Gen. Buell's army, took Huntsville by surprise and gained possession of 100 miles of the Memphis and Charleston railroad between Stephenson and Decatur. He advanced westward to Tuscumbia, and thence as far south as Russellville, capturing confederate property without loss of life. The federal forces were soon compelled to abandon the territory south of the Tennessee river, but, having burned the railroad bridges at Decatur and Bridgeport, held all of Alabama north of that river. In the spring of 1864 a naval expedition was fitted out at New Orleans under Rear Admiral Farragut to operate against the fortifications guarding Mobile bay. He defeated the confederate fleet under Admiral Franklin Buchanan, Aug. 6, and, with the coöperation of a land force under Gen. Granger, reduced the forts at the entrance to the harbor—Fort Gaines on the 7th, and Fort Morgan on the 23d. Early in 1865 a combined military and naval expedition against Mobile was organized at New Orleans under Maj. Gen. Canby and Rear Admiral Thatcher; and a force of cavalry under Maj. Gen. J. H. Wilson was ordered to coöperate by a southern march from Eastport, Tenn. Wilson's command, numbering about 15,000, of whom 13,000 were mounted, advanced from Chickasaw March 23, and on April 3 occupied Selma, one of the most important military depots in the southwest. The arsenals, founderies, arms, tools, and military munitions of every kind, together with a large amount of cotton, were destroyed. From Selma Gen. Wilson moved eastward to Georgia, taking possession of Montgomery, the capital, on the 12th of April. On the same day Mobile was taken by Canby and Thatcher. During these operations “the last cannon,” says Pollard, “was fired for the Confederacy.” On May 4, at Citronelle, Ala., the forces, munitions of war, &c., in the departments of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana were formally surrendered by Gen. Taylor to Gen. Canby; and on the same day Commodore Farrand
surrendered to Rear Admiral Thatcher all the confederate naval forces—12 vessels—then blockaded on the Tombigbee. No official statement of the number and losses of Alabama troops in the war has been made. In an official proclamation, in June, 1865, Provisional Governor Parsons stated the number of troops furnished by the state during the war to be 122,000, and the losses 35,000. Montgomery was the seat of the confederate government until its removal to Richmond on the 20th of May, 1861. Immediately upon the close of the war measures were instituted by the general government for the restoration of Alabama to the Union. For this purpose Lewis E. Parsons was appointed provisional governor June 21, 1865, with instructions to call a convention for the purpose of altering and amending the constitution and laws of the state in conformity with the federal constitution. At the election held Aug. 31 for choice of delegates, those citizens were qualified as electors and delegates who were entitled to vote by the constitution and laws of Alabama in force immediately prior to Jan. 11, 1861, and who had taken the oath of amnesty as set forth in the president's proclamation of May 29, 1865. After assembling on Sept. 10, the convention reordained the civil and criminal laws, except those relating to slaves, as they existed previous to the adoption of the secession ordinance of 1861, declared that ordinance and the state war debt null and void, passed an ordinance against slavery, and provided for an election of state officers and members of congress to be held in November. On the assembling of the legislature, United States senators were chosen, and on Dec. 19 the newly elected governor assumed executive control. The government thus organized continued in force until supplanted by the military government provided by congress in pursuance of the reconstruction act passed March 2, 1867. By this act Alabama was made subject to the military authority of the United States, and, with Georgia and Florida, constituted the third military district. On April 1, 1867, Major General Pope assumed command of this district with a sufficient military force to protect the rights of all persons, and to preserve the public peace. In accordance with the supplemental act of congress of March 23, 1867, a registration of qualified voters (excluding unpardoned participants in the civil war) was made in August, when 165,813 persons were registered, of whom 61,295 were white and 104,518 colored. An election was held on the first three days of October to decide the question of calling a convention for the purpose of forming a constitution and civil government, and also to choose delegates to the convention; 90,283 votes were cast for the convention and 5,583 against it. The convention assembled in November and framed a constitution, which was submitted to the people in February, 1868, when 70,812 votes were cast for ratification and 1,005 for rejection. The total vote thus
cast, being less than the majority of all the registered voters required by the reconstruction law of congress, was not sufficient for ratification. The constitution was, however, by a subsequent act of congress, declared adopted. At the same election state officers and members of congress and of the legislature were chosen. The legislature having assembled and complied with the requirements of the law of congress for the admission into the Union of certain southern states passed June 25, 1868, Alabama became entitled to representation in congress, and on July 14, 1868, the control of affairs passed from the military to the civil authorities. The 15th amendment to the federal constitution was ratified by Alabama Nov. 16, 1870, the 14th amendment having been previously ratified as a condition of representation in congress.