Conecuh County AlArchives History .....History of Conecuh County 1881
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CHAPTER XXVI.

Population-Principal Town--Climate--Soil--Stock Raising-Productions-Industrial 
Resources-Forests-Streams-Numerous Advantages, Social, Educational, 
Agricultural-Colored Population, &c.

   According to the late census (1880) Conecuh has a population of 12,606. The 
population would have been much greater had the county retained its original 
territorial limits. By the formation of Escambia county, in 1868, Conecuh lost 
much of her southern territory, which included several thousand of her 
population. Among her numerous villages, Evergreen, the county seat, is the 
largest. It is one of the thriftiest towns of Southern Alabama; is situated on 
the Mobile and Montgomery Railway, nearly mid-way between these two cities, 
and has a population of nearly 800 inhabitants. Its location, in one of the 
most productive regions in this section of the State, the elevated tone of its 
society, its educational and religious facilities, and its mineral springs, 
make it quite a desirable point.

   Conecuh county lies in the southern part of Alabama, and is within the 
southern portion of the temperate zone. Its climate is such as to exempt it 
alike from the rigors of a Northern region, and the disease and debility of 
the tropics. The mean annual temperature is about 65 degrees. Within the 
limits of the county can be found every variety of soil, from the most 
productive to the most barren. From the centre of the county to its northern 
limits are to be found lands of great fertility, while in the southern portion 
the lands are for the most part, thin, but by no means valueless. In the 
earliest periods of the settlement of the county, the lands which lay along 
the streams had a deep alluvial soil, that had been enriched for ages by the 
steady influx of productive deposits. And when the forests were felled, and 
the implements of industry had begun to stir the soil, the yield from these 
lowlands was immense. The basin lands of Murder creek, Conecuh river, Bottle 
creek and the Sepulgas, furnished the most productive soil found in the 
county. Adjoining these regions, though elevated to uplands, are the red lands 
of the county, which are regarded the most unfailing and uniform in their 
yield, as well as being most resistful to the power of waste. In the lower 
portion of the county are the pine districts, made famous, in late years, by 
the vast quantity of timber furnished to foreign ports. Since the earliest 
settlement of the county, these regions have been held in high esteem as 
pasturage lands. The absence of undergrowth or shrubbery, gives unbounded 
freedom to the luxuriant grass that flourishes throughout this entire section. 
Though naturally thin, the soil is susceptible to a high degree of artificial 
cultivation, as there is usually found in this sandy region, a deep sub-soil 
of clay. These regions of sand and pine, though prevailing almost 
uninterruptedly in the lower half of Conecuh, are found in many portions of 
the county. These lands, almost without exception, are of level surface, 
thereby rendering quite easy the retention of fertilizers. And it is a subject 
of inquiry, if, with their subsoil of clay and their level surface, they are 
not destined to become the most unfailingly-productive lands in the county. It 
is a subject of regret that so many of the best lands of the county have been 
surrendered to the sway of "the tangled vine and riotous weed." Where once 
there waved the harvests of plenty, there are to be found, to-day, in many 
places, the thicket of briar and rustling sedge. Having undisputed sway, the 
early farmers would betake themselves to the invasion of uncleared forests, as 
soon as it became evident that their lands were being impaired by usage, and 
they would thus leave behind them broad acres of soil that needed but little 
careful attention to preserve their wonderful productive powers. These lands 
are only awaiting the hand of industry to become again the most yieldable in 
the county.

STOCK RAISING.

   Conecuh is peculiarly adapted to the raising of cattle, sheep, hogs and 
goats. Her extensive areas of grassy lands, which are covered with a verdant 
and luxuriant herbage, almost the year round, and well-watered with perpetual 
streams, places Conecuh in the front rank of stock-producing counties. In 
addition to the growth of these tender grasses, there is that of the wild 
cane, which grows throughout all seasons along the streams, and is much 
relished by every variety of stock. Beef in considerable quantities, and of 
superior quality, has for a long time been furnished from these, and adjoining 
regions, to the markets of Pensacola and Mobile. The production of wool is 
beginning to excite considerable attention in the county, and the time is not 
distant when it will become a source of vast revenue to the county.

FORESTS.

The prevailing growth in the forests of Conecuh is that of the hickory, 
poplar, ash, beech and pine, all the varieties of oak, and the queenly 
magnolia. The uncleared districts of the county cover at least 75 per cent. of 
its surface. Along the streams, and upon the most fertile soil of the county, 
are found abounding the oak, the hickory, and beech-the annual yield of whose 
fruit fattens hundreds of hogs. And in the near future the hand of Art will be 
laid upon these useful timbers, and they will be made serviceable in the homes 
and trades of men. For many years past, the pine timbers of Conecuh have been 
a profitable commodity to dealers in lumber. Hewn into proper shapes, these 
timbers are floated in rafts down the principal streams to Pensacola, whence 
they are transported to the ship-building yards of different countries.

Through the enterprise of Messrs. Bellingrath and Redwine, a turpentine 
manufactory has just been established at Castleberry. This article will no 
doubt become quite a commodity in the future commerce of the county.

PRODUCTIONS.

   The productions of Conecuh are as varied as the soil upon which they are 
grown. The soil is peculiarly adapted to the growth of cotton, which is its 
all-prevailing staple. All the cereal crops, except wheat, are cultivated and 
yield in abundance. Improved systems are obtaining very generally throughout 
the county, and as a consequence, production is progressive.

   Of staple farm products, corn, oats, rye, peas, rice, potatoes, peanuts, 
millet, sugar-cane, and cotton, are produced quite early.

   Of fruits, the apple, pear, peach, fig, grape and melons, are the chief 
productions. Vast varieties of grapes are being introduced into different 
parts of Conecuh, and they never refuse to yield handsomely. The forests and 
abandoned fields abound in nuts, grapes, and berries, in large variety, which 
are furnished by Nature without cultivation. Because of the diversity of soil, 
the variety of productions, the favorableness of climate, and the easy 
accessibility to market, no field is more alluring to the immigrant than 
Conecuh. Vast regions of her land can be purchased at figures quite low. To 
the farmer, the horticulturist, the gardener, the shepherd, and the 
manufacturer, facilities are afforded for easy settlement and rapid 
accumulation.

GEOLOGICAL RESOURCES.

   Within the county is found a great variety of useful stone. In different 
sections the lime rock abounds. Mica has been discovered within the last year 
in such quantities as to encourage the hope of future profit.

STREAMS.

   Conecuh is penetrated in different directions by some of the noblest 
streams of South Alabama.

   Along its eastern border runs the Conecuh river into which flows Sepulga 
and Bottle creeks, while farther in the interior is Murder creek-a stream of 
great width and depth-and the southern portion is watered by Burnt Corn creek 
and its numerous tributaries.

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANTAGES.

   The county of Conecuh will compare favorably with any other in the State, 
with respect to the tone of its society and the character of its institutions. 
The society is, for the most part, moral and refined. Schools and churches 
abound. Two academies of high grade are to be found-one at Evergreen and the 
other at Bellville-presided over respectively by Professors Tate and Newton.

THE COLORED POPULATION.

   The colored people of the county are as intelligent, industrious and 
thrifty as any in the South. Since their emancipation many have secured 
comfortable homes by energy and frugality. There is a number who are well-to-
do-having amassed to themselves respectable property.

CLOSING REMARKS.

   Together, dear reader, we have passed over the scenes enacted in the county 
of Conecuh from the time that the first white man faced its perilous wilds, to 
the present time. Through all the shifting scenes incident to human life, we 
have passed, in this rapid review. Together have we stood with the gray-haired 
sires of the long-ago, and gazed upon the sunlit hills and green valleys of 
Conecuh, ere the tread of civilization broke their slumbering echoes. We have 
seen the hardy settler leave his home in the distant States and confront the 
barriers and hazards of a long journey, and finally pitch his home in a region 
as yet unwrenched from the grasp of the wild savage. We have seen the heroism 
with which he addressed himself to the colossal task of subjecting the wild 
forces of nature to his control. W e have watched the growth of civilization 
along successive decades, and have seen its struggles with frowning 
disadvantages. Through poverty and pinching distress, through smoke of battle 
and radiant prosperity, we have come up to the Present. And looking back from 
our present eminence-height, along the stretch of past years, we see the 
monuments of worth erected along the track of six and a half decades-monuments 
reared by the energy and pluck of our fathers and grandfathers,-yea, we see a 
county reclaimed from its wilderness wilds and made to "rejoice, and blossom 
as the rose." The determination to snatch from oblivion the records of their 
heroism and success, and embody it in perpetual form, was alike honorable to 
sire and son. These brave men and women of the past, many of whom slumber 
beneath the sods of Conecuh, have bequeathed to the present and succeeding 
generations a rich legacy-a priceless bequest-in their deeds of nobleness; 
they "being dead, yet speaketh." Upon the generation of the present-the sons 
and grandsons of a noble ancestry-rests the duty of continuing the work of 
advancement commenced sixty-six years ago, when Conecuh was enfolded within 
her own virgin forests. Let them seek to preserve intact the institutions 
designed to ennoble the masses, and let them be as diligent in service to the 
generations to follow as were their ancestors to the generation of the 
present. So shall Conecuh continue her onward progress, and her people shall 
continue to be elevated in the scale of intellectual and moral excellence, "to 
the last recorded syllable of time."


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
History of Conecuh County, Alabama
By

Rev. B. F. Riley
Pastor of the Opelika Baptist Church

Columbus, Ga.;
Thos. Gilbert, Steam Printer and Book-Binder
1881



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