Reminder! Youpon Event Next Saturday, September 23
Youpon Plantation will be the host site of our September meeting. Laura and Schley Rutherford, current owners of Youpon, have graciously agreed to host an early Saturday evening event at this home commonly known as the Mathews-Tait home. The historical event will be catered by John Broussard of The Faunsdale Bar and Grill. This event will start around 5:00 and last until ???. The cost to attend this party is noted below:
Historical Society Members - $15
Non-members - $20* This ticket price buys a one year’s membership in the Wilcox Historical Society (½ regular membership price)
The menu will consist of crawfish e’touffee, fried catfish, cole slaw, hush puppies, custard pie, and iced tea. Attendees are invited to bring beverages of their choice (beer, wine, etc.). Setups will be provided.
Please make your reservations by 5:00 PM, Tuesday, September 19 by calling Don or Mary Charles Donald at 682-9825 days or 334-746-2519 nights. This is a ticketed event, and we need your payment in advance. Checks should be made payable to the Wilcox Historical Society. Tickets will be issued upon receipt of payment.
This historic antebellum home is one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture in Alabama. It is located in Canton Bend a few miles west of Camden, and was built by a northerner, William T. Mathews who came to Camden by way of Haiti. Construction began in 1840 using a design by George Lynch, a local architect. It took five years to complete using both local and foreign artisans. This is a "empty house" tour, and you will be able to tour the home and grounds at your leisure and imagine what it may have looked like soon after construction.
Stuart Harris to Speak on November 17 at Gaines Ridge
Stuart Harris, noted educator, story-teller, musician, adventurer, and most of all, historical researcher, will speak to our Society on Friday, November 17. The meeting will be held at Gaines Ridge Dinner Club, and will be preceded by a luncheon which begins at noon. The cost of the luncheon will be $10 per person. Please make your reservations by calling Betty Kennedy at 682-9707.
Mr. Harris is a native of Birmingham and three time graduate of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa (M.S., M.A., and doctorate). He is now a retired Professor of History, and previously taught in Mountain Brook (one of our members, Garland Cook Smith, was one of his students), Birmingham University School, the University of Alabama, Marion Military Institute, and Judson College. He has authored 13 published volumes, including "Dead Towns of Alabama", "Alabama Place Names", "Perry County Heritage", "Things That Go Bump in the Night", and others. He wrote the textbook on Alabama History that was formerly used in about 95% of Alabama’s schools.
Some other life experiences of Mr. Harris include singing, performing on the auto harp, concert ukelele, banjo ukelele, and the dulcimer, plus lecturing on Southern and Celtic music. He has served in the military, dived on steamboat wrecks, explored caves, and done archeology work. He will be relating some of his adventures in each of these areas during his talk. Some of you have heard Stuart Harris before when he spoke to the Wilcox Historical Society, so you don’t need any prompting. This talk should be truly outstanding, so please plan to attend.
Loose Records Microfilming Work is Continuing
The local society is working with the State of Alabama Department of Archives and History in preparing loose records for microfilming by the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU). These records, which include pre-1915 estate case files, loose marriage and divorce records up to 1950, guardianship and apprenticeship files, slave records, and Confederate pension records, contain some of the most historically significant information held by Alabama Counties. Our volunteers, led by Ruth Liddell, are unfolding and flattening the records, cleaning as necessary, alphabetizing, and then placing the records in acid-free folders in preparation for the microfilming operation.
We are working on records in the courthouse and in the old jail building, and if you are interested in assisting in this ongoing project, please call Ruth Liddell at 682-9622. Ruth and Will have moved the loose records in the Woodruff files at the old jail into the library, and are currently arranging to have many other valuable records moved to a new location. Lyn Frazer and others from the State Archives and History Department have inventoried the records at the old jail, and made recommendations. A copy of her letter concerning this situation is available for review at the library if you misplaced yours that was sent out with the Summer Newsletter. We have "flattened" and filed several volumes to-date, so please join us in this worthwhile effort.
The Wilcox Historical Society was founded in the late 1960's, and its initial function was to preserve the Wilcox Female Institute on Broad Street. This building was acquired by the Society and restoration began in 1974. The local society was also able to acquire the Governor Benjamin Meek Miller law office in the early 1990's and have fully restored it. Both of these projects were accomplished with the assistance of grants from the Alabama Historical Commission. We are applying for a grant to complete the upstairs area of the Female Institute
. Our goal as a society is to preserve the history of this region and to act in some regard as a clearing house and reference source to people searching for genealogical information. Our local Wilcox Library is an excellent source of information and features one of the best genealogical rooms to be found anywhere. Please forward any comments that you may have to our local address: P.O. Box 464, Camden, AL 36726. You can also e-mail us at grsouth@frontiernet.net or call 334-682-9825 for information. And we have a web site link under www.wilcoxwebworks.com.The cost to join the society is $10 per person, or $15 per couple annually. Please join with us!
2001 Fall Pilgrimage
We have set the date for next year’s Pilgrimage. It will be on September 29 and 30, and tentative plans are to feature the Camden area, with possibly some homes and sites in west Wilcox County. We need a chairperson so that planning can start. Volunteers?
The Wilcox Historical Society officers for 2000 and 2001 are:
Don Donald, President
Garland Cook Smith, V.P./Program Chairperson
Secretary: Ruth Liddell
Treasurer: Roy MacIntosh
Membership Chairperson: Alyce Yarbrough
Curator: Ernestine Dunnam
As many of you are aware, the Wilcox Heritage Book will be published in the near future, and we will featuring entries that have been submitted for publication in each of our upcoming Newsletters. In this issue we are featuring Moore Academy School located in Pine Apple. Moore Academy has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Pine Apple was designated a National Historic District in 1999.
Moore Academy School - Pine Apple, Alabama
"To him that will, faith finds a pathway home". This quote is from "The Victory of Fire" by John Trotwood Moore, Founder of Moore Academy. Dr. Moore was a native of Marion and graduated from Howard College before teaching for several years in Monterey, Butler County, Alabama. He became principal of the school in Pine Apple in 1881, and the new two-story wooden building completed in 1882 was named Moore Academy in his honor. Dr. Moore moved to Columbia, Tennessee in 1885, and became involved in many activities there, including raising race horses, writing (he became Poet Laureate of Tennessee), and Director of Libraries, Archives, and History.
After Dr. Moore’s departure, several principals served the school in the period up to 1921. These included Sam Dinkins, Mr. Ellis, Claude Hardy, Mr. Henley, Mr. Sams, Mr. Denton, Edward Williamson, Mr. Henson, Mr. McLaren, Charles Newsom, and W. M. Bryant.
Starting in 1916, Wilcox County formed its first Board of Education with a Superintendent appointed. The Charter Members were J. Thomas Adams of Pine Apple, Dr. W. P. Roberts of McWilliams, Clay Sheffield of Pine Hill, and Dr. Ernest Bonner of Camden. The School Board members of Pine Apple were Dr. James G. Donald, Jr., Millard F. Jackson, and Dr. H. O. Moseley. These members spearheaded an effort to have a new school constructed in 1920. Will Ward was selected as the contractor, and the present school building was completed in 1923. William F. Crowe served as principal for 1921-23. Bill Jones began his long tenure as Wilcox Superintendent of Education during this time. Mr. Scarbrough served as principal of Moore Academy in 1924, and in 1925 Oscar Thomas (Ham) Weeks began his 14 year tenure as principal. Weeks, who had been an outstanding athlete at Birmingham Southern, initiated athletics at the school, thus beginning a sustained period of outstanding teams and players. He also added the Vocational Agriculture and Home Economics Departments, and hired outstanding faculty members.
H. B. Woodward succeeded Mr. Weeks in 1939 and served until 1945. He then returned to the University of Alabama, earned his Ph.D., and served there for many years as an outstanding educator. Mr. Mooney then served for one year, followed by John R. Stewart who served through the 1956 school term. In 1949, an enclosed gymnasium was completed, thus replacing the open clay courts used for many years. The new Vo-Ag and Homes Economics Building was completed during the first part of Mr. Stewart’s term. Roy Bragg became principal in 1956, and was succeeded by George Williams in the Fall of 1958. Mr. Hitchcock followed him, and was succeeded by Claude Ezell in 1965 who served as principal until the school was closed in 1989. Moore Academy, which had been a 12-grade school, was converted to an elementary school in 1971 and remained so until the 1989 closure.
There are many outstanding teachers and coaches who served Moore Academy during its history, too many to be listed in this historical summary. Readers are encouraged to check out a copy of "The History of Pine Apple" by Robert A. Smith, III and Frances Donald Dudley Grimes for a comprehensive history of the school, with names, dates, memories, etc. This book can also be purchased at the Pine Apple Gallery located in the old Bank of Pine Apple building. Moore Academy throughout the years could boast of one of the highest percentages of graduates receiving college degrees. There were some classes that had all of the graduating class go on to earn post secondary degrees. Graduates of Moore Academy can be found in prestigious professions throughout Alabama and the South.
The Moore Academy Alumni Association was formed in late 1989 in an effort to preserve the history and heritage of the school. A reunion of all graduates of the school was held in June 1990, and this reunion has become an annual event. In 1994, the Wilcox Board of Education (members Claude Ezell, John Gragg, James Ephraim, Lester Turk, Reginald Southall, Clifford Twilley) was approached again and requested to donate the school grounds and facilities to the Association. This request was granted, and the property was officially deeded to the Association in November 1994.
Needless to say, the buildings and grounds were in a sad state of disrepair after remaining dormant with no maintenance since 1989. Limited work began in the Spring of 1995 with contributions from Alumni. Moore Academy was placed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on June 30, 1995. Work continued with a loan and donations, and the organization was officially incorporated in 1995 with 501(c3) tax exempt status obtained in December 1995. The exterior painting and repair on the main building was finished in August 1996, and the interior work was completed in August 1997. Meanwhile, the Home Economics and Vo-Ag Building was undergoing extensive restoration/renovation including a commercial kitchen, primarily thought the private efforts of John and Kitty Lamkin in conjunction Pine Apple Promotions, an organization devoted to community service. Extensive restoration, including a new roof and floor, was performed on the gymnasium in 1999. The first dance since 1971 was held in the gym on February 26, 2000. Since then, there have been several community events held in this facility.
Moore Academy has a rich history, and was the benchmark facility in the selection of Pine Apple as a National Historic District on February 26, 1999. It continues to serve not only as a historic benchmark, but as a continuing contributor to people of Pine Apple and surrounding areas.
Wilcox Historical
Society.....dedicating to preserving the history of Wilcox County, Alabama.
P.O. BOX 464, CAMDEN, AL 36726 ~ PHONE
334-682-9825 ~ FAX 334-682-9387
E-MAIL: grsouth@frontiernet.net