The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-08-21
Chronicles Of The Canebrake
CHAP TER TX
by JOHN WITHERSPOON DUBOSE

day or two with friends in Green's
boro, Ala.
Mr.. DuBose purchased a body of land
in, what is known the flat woods" of
Marengo county, in the vicinity of the
present town of Mckinley in Its original
proportions known as New Ruin" "Old
Ruin" was at the crossroads, three miles
SOUTH where the surface soil was very
muddy for tipsey people to walk after
rain. So the change was made to
locality less muddy.
| Mr.. DuBose, though only 30 years of
age when he came to Alabama, brought
a wife and several small children. He
had married soon after returning from
the University of Virginia, where he was
| educated, Miss Harriet Evans Pegues.
! The Pegues stock was Hugenot and from
the earliest period had been people of
prime Importance in the Pee Dee region
of South Carolina. Mrs. Du Bosses par
ents and brothers and sisters moved to
| Dallas county, and her husband followed
| TO Marengo.
The Hugenot blood In South Carolina
| seems never to have aspired greatly to
| public office, but the influence of that
| class of the population on the character
of the state is too well known to require
| explanation. Mr.. DuBose himself de-
| seended from Isaac DuBose, of the Mill
wood" plantations, French Santee, 8. c.,
who came from Normandy In 1886. The
Hugenot element of immigrants settled
some in Charleston, like Laurens, De-
| Saussure, etc. Others on ~e Ashley
river. Gailliard, Porcher, Huger, Bacor,
| DuBose and many others comprised the
| French Santee" and from there General
| Marion raised a large proportion of his
men. Marion himself was Huguenot
blood, from the French Santee settlement
J This settlement prospered from the start.
/ The Huguenots never had any trouble
| with the Indians. A number of Indians
willingly sold themselves as slaves to the
settlers. The settlers soon built up a
trade in timber slaves, pelts honey, cat
tie, etc, with the nearby coast ship
masters. From these, they bought Afri-
cans. They built a church and a race
track, they translated the English book
of Common Prayer into their own Ian
guage, but the English colonial govern
ment denied them the ballot for many
| years.
| After ten or twelve years residence in
| the flat woods Mr.. DuBose purchased
the "Richland" plantation from Mr.. r.
Montague. He moved his family there
and prepared them to enjoy the social
| customs of the community. He built an
annex to the Montague house and so pro-
vided the largest and handsomest frame
residence of the parrish. The whole was
destroyed by fire before the new part
was ready for occupancy.
Mr.. and Mrs. DuBose reared a large
family Of sons and daughters, performed
their part in support of St. Andrew
church, and in the duties of the society of
the community. He was enterprising
man, after the custom of the times He
owned also a body of land near Jeffer
son, some ten miles away, where he
made cotton and operated a saw mill.
ROBERT A. MORGAN,
oF ba bro 10 nj
owned no land or slaves. He was fixed
part of the situation, nevertheless. His
Importance was recognized by the statute
law of Alabama. We had a statute
which provided that on every plantation,
possessed of slaves up to a given number,
. perhaps, the white owner or his white
representative must reside. This was
precautionary in the interest of good or
der, where slaves were ten to twenty |
times more numerous than whites.
Morgan was admittedly the foremost
man among overseers. His education In
school was sufficient to allow him to cor
respond with his far-distant employer and
to keep the elementary accounts of the |
plantation.
He came to the Canbrake from Vir- |
gnia as overseer for one of the several
Tayloe brothers, and finally received the |
management of the Windsor plantation,
owned by Benjamin Ogle Tayloe of Wash |
lnRLOn CITY, VINO IN quarter VI Ctu-
fury visited the property only twice.
Morgan remained manager for 26 years,
rearing a family there. He was known
as a flrst-class manager. His discipline
was strict but equal. The negroes under
him worked rapidly and steadily but
they were literally fed and well clothed.
The plantation physician, Dr. Browder, |
was promptly called whenever needed.
Contrary to the practice of his class,
Morgan invested his savings in slaves, |
whom he hired out. He loaned money |
to planters also. By emancipation his In
vestment in slaves, of course, was sacri- |
feed
After the war, in 1872, he was elected
one of three representatives from Ma
rengo county in the legislature. There
upon hangs a tale. When Morgan, KIM
brough and o Neil were assembled at the
Faunsdale railroad station to take the
train for Montgomery. they were arrest
ed by the United States marshal and
taken to Mobile. The pretense was illegal
interference with the election. They were
released promptly at Mobile by the fed
eral authorities, and proceeded to Mont
gomery But when they arrived to take
their seats, Federal Senator George e.
Spencer, carpetbagger, had already or
ganized his own legislature in the United
States courtroom. and had been thus re-
elected for second term. Had the men,
hers of the house from Marengo been
present a quorum would have been pres
ent in the capitol or regular body, and