The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-29
Charncter of Pioneers |.


 The urinary cause that set Marion's feet in the path they have trod was no doubt the character of the men ana women who formed its earliest settlers of the town and of the County Of Perry. It has been said, and with truth. that immigrants do not form tne best class of people in the countries or in the sections from whlch they come, The assertion Is equivalent to saving that the best people. those whose daily life renders most of value and of service to their fellowmen and their State are those whose homes are permanently fixed and who have no in- ducements to go wandering afield in search of new homes under new con- ditions.
 less true that contingencies may arise, because of which a part or its best population may be lost to one section and a virgin country may secure u class of immigrants who will lay for it a cornerstone of future distinction and greatness. It was Marton's good fortune to profit from such a contin- Eency Marion and the section around about it were settled mainly by Vlr- rinians. This section is meant to in clude such agricultural counties as Dallas, Perry, Marengo. Hale and oth- CTS. It is the section which Is so rich in the agricultural lands, the section of the planter and before the war the section of the slave holder. It hap pened some time that the Virginia plantations became over-crowded and uyerstocked with slaves, it happened some time that the shareholder was young and ardent and desirous of the adventure and the experience or HIe in a new country.
 To the people who had lived the life of the upper class of the South, for be- foro the war the class distinctions were marked in such way as we Know them not in this day, to those who llved the life of She upper classes the Black Belt and the Care Brake offered most inviting place for settlement ana TO. home building as the immigrants had known their homes in other sections. The lands were fertile beyond those they had left. The great rich and Ter file lands would produce cotton as It had not been produced on the planta- tions of the older States. AS neld for the successful operation of slave labor they were above and beyond the claims of other sections.
 For these reasons, no doubt, the country was settled by the wealthier class of immigrants, the slave holder and the plantation owner. His inter est was greatest and influence was the most widespread. It was he who gave the section it's individuality for intelli- Rence for culture and for refinement .n the early days before other sections of tha great region then known as the Southwest had emerged from pio- neer conditions.
 This class all but monopolized the interest in higher education Those who formed 1t were those who sent their children to the colleges of the older States and they were those who in time first recognized the needs for institutions of higher learning in the then new State of Alabama. And being people of wealth and determination those Ideas were embodied and carried out Out of this comes the fact that the western portion of the State first became noted for It's devotion to higher education and out of this came the fact that the western portion of the State soon came to have more colleges than the remainder of the State combined. Conditions have changed somewhat, but West Alabama's loyalty to higher educations has undergone no change and 1t is still distinguished by the veal, number. and the influence of Its institutions of learning.
 The history, the success and the scope of the great college, Judson College for girls at Marion. have been written of in this series of letters. What is to be written here now will be written of the other two schools which are a part of Marions pride, the Marion Military Institute and the Marion Fe- male Seminary.
 Marion Military Institute.
 In a way the Marion Military Insti- tute is a continuation of the honorable history of Howard College and In an other way 1t Is not a continuation of the history of that great Baptist school. For the Marion Military Insti- tute Is not a denominational school It is neither supported nor controlled