Shelby County AlArchives History - Books .....Chapter LXVI, The County Of Shelby 1872 ************************************************ 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: Carolyn Golowka alabamagengal@gmail.com July 10, 2008, 6:14 pm Book Title: Alabama: Her History, Resources, War Record, And Public Men From 1540 To 1872, By Willis Brewer, Published in Montgomery, Alabama 1872 Pages 518, 519, 521, 522 The following is as copied here as written: Shelby was established by an act passed Feb. 7, 1818, out of territory nominally taken from Montgomery. As it first formed, it embraced St. Clair, and Wills creek was its northeast boundary; but the southern boundary line was the township line north of Columbia. In November of the same year the dimensions of the county were fixed as they stood till the establishment of Baker, when the two lower tiers of townships were cut off. Shelby lies just north of the centre of the State, contiguous to Jefferson on the north and west, Talladega on the east, Baker on the south, and Bib on the southwest. It was named for Gov. Shelby* of Kentucky. Its area is about 845 square miles. The following gives the population at regular intervals: 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 Whites..... 2011 4549 4494 7153 8970 8840 Blacks..... 405 1155 1618 2383 3648 3378 The assessed value of real estate in 1870 was $935,957; personalty $266,122; total $1,202,069. The cash value of farm lands – 48,376 acres improved, 147,957 acres unimproved – was $516,136 in 1870. The value of livestock – 1174 horses, 642 mules, 6603 neat cattle, 3524 sheep, 9787 hogs – was $311,0188. In 1869 the farm productions, valued at $692,911, were 30,275 bushels of wheat, 221,618 bushels of corn, 26,189 bushels of oats, 24,960 bushels of potatoes, 73,099 pounds of butter, 3710 pounds of tobacco, 2194 bales of cotton, 6283 pounds of wool; and the value of animals slaughter was $86,668. The surface is hilly; the soil is generally light, with alluvial lowlands. The county is between the mountainous and level region of the State. The Cahaba waters the western portion, and the Coosa is the eastern boundary, but neither is navigable. The railway from Montgomery to Decatur crosses the southwestern portion for twenty miles, and the Selma and Rome Railroad passes over thirty-four miles of the southeastern portion. Shelby is rich in natural productions, and they are better utilized than in any other county of the state. Iron ore is abundant, and the Shelby Iron works do an extensive business. Coal exists in exhaustless quantities, and much of it is exported. Slate and sand-stone, both of the best quality, and marble of an inferior kind, are plentiful. There is much blue limestone, and three furnaces are now converting it into lime. Even gold and copper have been found. Of the mineral waters, Shelby springs have wide celebrity. Columbiana, the seat of justice, has about 450 inhabitants. Shelbyville, where the courthouse first stood, is deserted. Montevallo has about 650 inhabitants; Harpersville and Wilsonville about 250 each. David Neal, Job Mason, Benj. C. Haslett, Ezekiel Henry, Henry Avery, James Franklin, and Thomas Beecher, sr., were appointed in 1821 to select the site for the courthouse; and, a year later, Daniel McLaughlin, Wm. Gilbert, Isaac Hutcheson, Edmund King, Bennett Ware, Webb Kidd, and Abraham Smith were appointed for the same purpose. The army of Gen. Wilson passed through Shelby on its way to Selma in 1865. The Cahaba Rolling Mills, the Red Mountain, Central, and Columbiana Iron-works, five collieries, and other valuable property, in the vicinity of Montevallo, were destroyed. March 30, Wilson’s forces arrived in Montevello. Resuming the march, for several miles south they were engaged in a protracted skirmish with Roddy’s and Crossland’s brigades, under Gen. Dan Adams, in which there was a number of casualties on each side. The contending forces moved on to Selma, and had severe skirmishes on the way, in which Gen. Forrest was engaged in several daring personal encounters near Randolph and Maplesville, and a number of men were disabled and captured. George Phillips and Thomas A. Rodgers represented Shelby in the convention of 1819; George D. Shortridge and John M. McClanahan in that of 1861; and James T. Leeper and N. B. Mardis in that of 1865. The following is a list of members of the legislature. Senators 1819 - Bennet Ware 1822 – Jack Shackelford 1825 – James Jackson 1828 – Thomas Crawford 1831 – Joab Lawler 1832 – Alexander Hill 1834 – James M. Nabors 187 – Daniel E. Watrous 1840 – D. E. Waltrous 1843 – D. E. Waltrous 1847 – James M. Nabors 1849 – D. E. Waltrous 1853 – Moses Kelly 1855 – H. W. Nelson 1857 – John S. Storrs 1859 – H. W. Nelson 1861 – John P. Morgan 1863 – M. T. Porter 1865 - Gilbert T. Deason [No election in 1867, or since.] Representatives 1819 – Jesse Wilson, Arthur Taylor 1820 – Benj. Davis, Jack Shackelford 1821 – Benj. Davis, Thos. McHenry 1822 – Benjamin Davis 1823 – Samuel W. Mardis 1824 – Samuel W. Mardis 1825 – Samuel W. Mardis 1826 – Joab Lawler 1827 – Joab Lawler 1828 – Joab Lawler, Sam’l W. Mardis 1829 – Joab Lawler, Sam’l W. Mardis 1830 – Joab Lawler, Sam’l W. Mardis 1831 – Leonard Tarrant, James M. Nabors 1832 – Leonard Tarrant, George Hill 1833 – Leonard Tarrant, George Hill 1834 – Martin H. McHenry, Alphonzo A. Sterrett 1835 – M. H. McHenry, A. A. Sterrett 1836 – M. H. McHenry, John M. McClanahan 1837 – John M. McClanahan, John T. Primm 1838 – John M. McClanahan, Wm. J. Peters 1839 – James M. Nabors, Wade H. Griffin 1840 – W. J. Peters, Wade H. Griffin 1841 – W. H. Griffin, John S. Storrs 1842 – John S. Storrs, Wm. M. Kidd 1843 – John S. Storrs, David Owen 1844 – John S. Storrs, Wm. M. Kidd 1845 – John S. Storrs, Joseph Roper 1847 – John S. Storrs, Th. H. Brazier 1849 – John S. Storrs, Thomas H. Brazier 1851 – John S. Storrs, W. L. Prentice 1853 – W. L. Prentice, Joseph Roper 1853 – A. A. Sterrett, T. P. Lawrence 1855 – J. M. McClanahan, N. R. King 1857 – N. B. Mardis, J. P. Morgan 1859 – D. T. Seal, W. G. Bowdon 1861 – J. P. West, S. Brashier 1863 – J. Keenan, Samuel Leeper 1865 – J. C. Hand, Samuel Leeper 1867 – [no election] 1870 – Burwell B. 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