Cleburne County AlArchives News.....Newspaper notices for MARCH 1907 March 1907 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Candace Gravelle tealtree@comcast.net December 6, 2004, 1:59 pm The Cleburne New Era NEWSPAPER NOTICES FROM "THE CLEBURNE NEW ERA", Heflin, Cleburne County, Alabama for MARCH 1907 NEWSPAPER issue of Saturday, March 2, 1907 To the Editor of the New Era; But few of our people know that reposing among our honored dead in Heflin Cemetery lies a hero of Fort Mims, one of the bloodiest massacres ever known among southern people. It was this massacre that enraged Gen. Andrew Jackson and brought him and his brave men to Alabama soil. There is no stone to mark his resting place, I mean no inscription to tell who he was. He was only a boy in his teens when he met with this awful ordeal. This article is a short sketch sent in to one of the state papers from Heflin at the time of Mr. Morris' death, and I send it to you for publication, thinking that this might be of interest to the boys and girls of Heflin who have studied American history. I hope it may and that they may not pass his grave unnoticed. L.E.M. THE LAST SURVIVOR WHO ESCAPED THE MASSACRE AT FORT MIMS; A.J. MORRIS DIED AT HIS HOME Heflin, Ala., April 6th - - - Today the friends of A.J. Morris tenderly laid him to his last resting place and Heflin's cemetery holds the remains of one whose name graces the pages of Alabama's history. Mr. Morris had been in feeble health for several months and Sunday morning at 4 o'clock he breathed his last. He was near 100 years old, was comparatively illiterate, yet he could speak very eloquently of our state's early history. Mr. Morris was an active soldier in the Creek War, and was one of the lucky ones to make his escape at the terrible massacre of Fort Mims. When the fort was only partially constructed, but the work still going on, families rushed in from everywhere near and by the time the fort was finished, there were 553 souls inside its walls for protection. Up to the time of the attack the officers in charge felt they could repulse any number of Indians. Many alarms had reached them of the coming Indians which has as often turned out to be false. This massacre came, like the great battle of Waterloo, in an unguarded moment. The inmates had become free from alarm and consequently careless, giving themselves up to have a good time. The officers were preparing for dinner, the settlers were engaging in games at cards, the young people were dancing, and many innocent and happy children were sporting about the grounds, never dreaming that danger was near, but at that moment, just 400 yards from the fort, lay closely secreted 1000 Creek warriors impatiently waiting the time for the bloody fray. At 12 o'clock as the drum beat the officers and soldiers to dinner, the Indians made their rush into the fort through an open gate. It is enough to make one's blood run cold to contemplate the scene of this unexpected attack, the confusion, the horror, the bloodshed. The Indians were well attended by their prophets, whom they believed could not be pierced by an American's bullet. The prophets had been assured that the bullets would glance off when they came in contact with their sacred bodies. This emboldened them to lead the way, dancing and distorting their faces and uttering the most unearthly screams. They were among the first to be killed by the Americans. The battle raged for three hours and was the most terrible in the history of Alabama. Many a brave and heroic deed were enacted during those awful three hours that history does not record. The five who escaped through the picket were Martin Rigdon, Samuel Smith, Joseph Perry, Jesse Steadham and A.J. Morris. History has his name as Maurice. After every hope of doing further good to their friends was lost the lucky five leaped over a fence and over the heads of squatting Indians. Two of them received wounds. Mr. Morris received a wound in the shoulder. After several days wandering and meeting with many perilous adventures, they reached their friends at Mount Vernon. Mr. A.J. Morris died a very poor man. He was legally entitled to a pension but through neglect somewhere he never obtained it. He was tenderly nursed and cared for in his old days by his affectionate children and all the necessary comforts that their spare means would allow, were bestowed upon him. I suppose he was the last survivor of the Fort Mims massacre. The funeral services were largely attended. School was dismissed. The teachers and the entire school were present. L.E.M. ______ MANY WAR RELICS IN AND ABOUT JAMESTOWN Norfolk, VA - Feb 22. - - On account of the Jamestown Exposition, many veterans of the late great war will tread the soil of Old Virginia again this summer after a lapse of forty odd years. They will come with a little less fire in their eyes, a little more halt in their footsteps and a little more gray in their locks, nevertheless they will come with memories as bright and minds as keen as when they followed the fortunes of battles with Grant and Sheridan or Lee and Jackson. They will walk over the battlefields of Seven Pines or Fair Oaks, Cold Harbor or the Wilderness and stop occasionally to gather up a leaden bullet or minie ball or a rusty grape shot. They may, by a little search, discover the point of a bayonet protruding from the soil or it may be only a buckle from a soldier's vest with U.S.A. or C.S.A. enblazoned with the brassy green of the bygone years. In some places the scenes of that great conflict are fast becoming obliterated by the storms of the seasons as they pass and by the plow of the unsentimental farmer, yet a thousand years will not be sufficient to entirely destroy the great earthworks which the vast armies threw up, sometimes in a single night. At Sewell's Point where the Jamestown Exposition opens April 26th, there are huge piles of earth, fortifications and ruins, erected by the Confederate forces for the defense of Norfolk and in making the streets and boulevards of the exposition, many relics such as pieces of cannon, cannon balls, rusty muskets and the like have been unearthed. At old Jamestown, where the crumbling church tower stands as the sole remnant of the first English settlement in America, the earth works of near three hundred years ago may be seen where they were thrown up in a defense against the Indians, built a little higher by Lord Cornwallis in Revolutionary days and added to yet more by McClellen in the days of '62. At Williamsburg, a few miles distant from Jamestown, are some of the best preserved earthworks of them all. Here much of the original "Fort Magruder" stands, a high circular embankment with its accompanying deep moat. In a tangle of blackberry bushes on this embankment there was recently discovered a heap of nine pound loaded mortar shells, which had laid there undisturbed for nearly forty-five years. Every household of the community has its priceless collection of battlefield relics turned up by the plow or uncovered by the frosts of winter and the rains of summer. Here may be seen some of the best preserved riflepits thrown up during the war. The railroad from Williamsburg to Newport News cuts through some of these huge earthworks about a mile out of Williamsburg. At Yorktown there may be seen traces of the famous redoubts thrown up by Cornwallis and in which he put too much confidence. Newer and more extensive earthworks appear there also, mementos of the Penisular campaign of the civil war. At Petersburg a thousand men might yet shelter in the "Crater", the Balaklava of the civil war, where so many brave lives were sacrificed. All about Richmond, the Confederate capitol, are signs of the city's defense in the days which tried the souls of men. Embankments, trenches, redoubts, riflepits and fortifications of every kind dot the landscape, especially to the east and north of the city. Similar earthworks abound all over Virginia from Manasas to Appomattox and it will not be difficult for the old veteran of the blue and the gray to get their bearings as they traverse the scenes of their battles of long ago. The Jamestown Exposition promises to serve many useful purposes to the country at large and not the least of these will be the bringing together of the soldiers of the North and the soldiers of the South in closer compact and fraternal friendship. The lapse of years has healed the wounds of passions and at the Jamestown Exposition the old soldiers will gather at the "Building of the Blue and the Gray Veterans" and will fight their battles o'er again without a semblance of the animosity of former years. _______ PERSONAL & LOCAL News On the 27th of February at 7:30 o'clock, Mr. Elisha Lake and Miss Minner Snider were united in matrimony by Rev. Jno. A. Scott. ___ Married, at the residence of W.A. Porter in Heflin on the 28th inst., Mr. S.F. Harris and Miss Delilah Cochran, with W.A. Porter, J.P. solemnizing the rites. ______ Wilburn Dewberry, who has been visiting his brother-in-law, Mr. R.A. Smith for some time has returned to his home at Waco, GA. __ FLORIDA LETTER Long Key, Fla. Feb. 30th. To Editor, New Era - - Will send you a few dots from this part of the country. We are settled for a while on Long Key after a delightful trip through the whole state of Florida. The land of flowers is indeed beautiful, made more so by the groves of orange, lemon, pineapple, guavos, qumquots, etc., trees hanging full of golden fruit. The principal cities are crowded with tourists from all parts of the United States. The most popular places are St. Augustine, Armand, Palm Beach and Miami. We certainly enjoyed the quaint old picturesque Spanish city of St. Augustine. Visited Fort Marion and other places made famous by history. After stopping over at other cities of interest we came on to Miami, a city built on solid white coral rock, which seems as though there had been a snow storm. The principal industries are gathering and shipping vegetables, oranges and other tropical fruits. The homes of the wealthy people from New York and other cities are lovely beyond description. They have expended thousands of dollars on beautifying their possesions, merely for them a winter play house. We drank water from a place near Cocoanut Grove known as the Devil's Punch Bowl where a great Indian massacre occurred in the early settlement of Florida. Tradition says take a cup of water from the Bowl and you will live and die in Florida. My mind wanders back to dear old Alabama. After leaving Miami we got aboard the steamer Biscayne and came to this island which is situated about 100 miles south of Miami. We enjoyed the novelty of a storm at sea; thunder, lightning and all that went to make a storm. "Yours truly" put on a life preserver as there were no cyclone pits near. After a day and night we landed on Long Key our present home, a pretty island seven miles long and nearly one half mile wide. The entire island is covered with large cocoanut trees full of blooms, small cocoanuts and the ripe fruit, also many beautiful flowers blooming; 'tis summer here. There are a great many shells, sponges and sea weed on the beach. We are lulled to sleep by the roar of the ocean; we live in a tent in trees Gypsy fashion. The F.E.C. Railroad are extending their road over the Florida Keys and through the ocean to Key West, and from there the train will load on barges to Cuba, an enterprise second to none but the Panama Canal. Thousands of men are employed by the company. When twilight comes the men are in groups talking piers, coffer dams, catamarans, etc. During the great storm last November 200 men were carried out to sea from this island; and only 49 rescued. Captain Bravvo, the captain we came down with, lost his ship, the St. Lucie, in the same storm. She went down with about 150 souls, some were rescued. It was thrilling indeed to hear the brave old captain talk of his experiences on the stormy deep. He has sailed the seas for thirty long years. This has been a grand never to be forgotten trip with us and when the sun is setting over the vast expanse of ocean, "we gaze where pathless waters pale and gloom, and tremple restlessly all touched with gold; deep through the darkening west, and talk of home." Francis Almon Vincent. _________ NEWSPAPER Issue of Saturday, March 9, 1907 BELL MILLS News Mr. J.A. Champion and family were visiting W.J. Davis near Heflin Saturday and Sunday. __ PERSONAL & LOCAL News Wash Cook was in town this week. __ J.L. Groover was in town this week. __ Davis Pearce and wife of Ashland were in the city Sunday the guests of Dr. and Mrs. J.D. Duke. __ J.M. Evans and wife were in Bowdon, GA several days recently visiting relatives. __ Mrs. Nannie Chaney and sister, Miss Haley were in Birmingham this week. __ M.F. Morrison of Corinth was in the city Tuesday. __ N.A. Holley of Shoal Creek was a visitor to the city the latter part of the week. __ Miss Jessie Mae Cooke of Cooks Springs is in the city the guest of Mrs. W.B. Merrill. __ Uncle Burl Higginbotham is in the city today. __ Miss Susie Beavers of Birmingham was in the city last week, the guest of her cousin Mrs. J.J. Wager. __ NEWSPAPER Issue of Saturday, March 16, 1907 PERSONAL & LOCAL News Mrs. Jas. M. Evans has returned from Bowdon, GA where she has been for the past two weeks visiting her mother, Mrs. Downs. __ Raleigh Gibbs, who has held the position as night operator at the station for a long while, has recently been removed to Pell City. __ Col. Edgar Hanna of Anniston was in Heflin yesterday. __ E.P. Pesnell was in town yesterday. __ J.L. Groover of Edwardsville has purchased a home in south Heflin, having bought a part of the J.C. Gibbs plantation. ___ NEWSPAPER issue of Saturday, March 23, 1907 PERSONAL & LOCAL News Mrs. J.C. Taylor has moved from Anniston to Heflin. __ Thomps. Cheatwood of Edwardsville was in Heflin on Thursday. __ J.B. Weir, after an extended visit to relatives in Marion, Winston and Franklin counties passed through the city Thursday enroute to his home near Bell Mills. __ Dennis Springer of Ensley was in Heflin this week. __ Rev. R.H. Hicks died at his home near Bell Mills on Wednesday last and was buried on Thursday at Pine Grove church with Masonic honors. The deceased was about 50 years old and was a good citizen. __ W.Z. Brown and G.W. Gay of near Bell Mills, two progressive and enterprising citizens were in Heflin Thursday on business. They are readers of the New Era. __ NEWSPAPER Issue of Saturday, March 30, 1907 BELL MILLS News Rev. Henry Hix died last Tuesday and was buried Wednesday in the Pine Grove cemetery by the Masons. We feel that Bro. Hix is at rest and we who have lost dear ones can sympathize with Mrs. Hix and family. __ Mr. Tom Jurden and wife were visiting J.E. Garner Saturday and Sunday. __ N.J. Chaffin and wife spent Sunday with T.B. Champion and family. __ PERSONAL & LOCAL News Mrs. J.C. Taylor and daughter Miss Callie and her granddaughter Miss Zaide Mims have moved to Heflin, coming here from Anniston. __ Sheriff Rowell went to Tuscaloosa this week to carry Mrs. John Blake to the Bryce insane hospital. ___ File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/cleburne/newspapers/gnw246newspape.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 15.8 Kb