Sumter County AlArchives History .....Sumter County 1888 ************************************************ 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: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 September 15, 2011, 6:47 pm XVI. SUMTER COUNTY. Population: White, 6,451; colored, 22,217. Area, 1,000 square miles. Woodland, all. Acres—In cotton, approximately, 80,600; in corn, 51,400; in oats, 2,700; in wheat, 24; in rye, 162; in sugar-cane, 42; in tobacco, 13; in sweet potatoes, l,056. Approximate number of bales of cotton, 25,000. County Seat—Livingston; population, 1,200; on Alabama & Great Southern Railroad. Newspapers published at County Seat—Journal, Democratic. Postoffices in the County—Alamuchee, Belmont, Coatopa, Cuba Station, Curl's Station, Dove, Epes' Station, Gainesville, Gaston, Kinterbish, Livingston, McDowell, Ramsey, Rosser, Sherman, Sumterville, Warsaw, York Station. Sumter County was organized in 1832, and was named for Gen. Thomas Sumter, of South Carolina. A line running northwest and southeast through Livingston would mark approximately the limit of the prairies which form the upper part of Sumter County down to that line. This part of the county has an average elevation of 150 feet above tide, and is underlaid throughout with the rotten limestone of the cretaceous formation. This material is directly concerned in the formation of a considerable proportion of the soils, which are in some cases little more than the disintegrated limestone mixed with organic matter. Where this rock forms the surface the country is gently undulating, and the differences in level are very slight. Interpersed, however, throughout this whole cane-brake region, are ridges and hills cupped with sand and pebbles of the stratified drift formation. These ridges are occasionally elevated 150 feet and more above the surrounding country, and 250 feet above the river. Their distribution, structure and other circumstances point to the conclusion that they are the remnants of a once universal covering of drift. Where this formation is at the surface, the soils are sandy loams of the usual drift type. These loams, in mingling with the disintegrated limestone give rise to a class of soils known as post-oak or prairie soils. Southwest of the line above alluded to, and occupying a belt varying in width from five to eight miles, are the so-called flatwoods or post-oak flatwoods. This division shares with the prairies their gently undulating surface and elevation above tide. It rests, however, upon a bluish, tenacious clay of the lowest tertiary formation. Like the prairies this belt is covered in spots with the sands and other material of the drift, and the varieties of soils thus produced by intermixture are quite numerous. Beyond the flatwoods, in the southwestern part of the county, the sandy and clayey strata of the lignitic group of the tertiary are, as a rule, hidden from view by the overlying beds of sand and pebbles and red loam of a later formation. This portion of the county presents the usual characters of the drift regions so often previously described. The high, level table-lands which occupy the main water-sheds have a sandy loam soil and red-loam subsoil resting upon sand and pebbles, and these in turn overlie the laminated clays and other beds of the lignitic group. Sometimes the surface is made up of deep beds of sand, as is the case near Gaston. The growth upon these sandy tracts consists mostly of long-leaf pine and blackjack oak. Beds of lignite are exposed in many places throughout this section, and one of these, in a cut along the Alabama Great .Southern Railroad, has been on fire for many years. As yet this lignite has not been profitably used as a fuel. The agricultural relations of Sumter County are similar to the adjoining counties of Mississippi and Alabama, which are situated in the same belt, which is pre-eminently the cotton belt of the State. While the soils of this belt are, perhaps, in the elements of plant-food not much superior to those of other divisions, they are rendered more thrifty by the usually large percentage of lime. Livingston is a pretty city, and is the seat of several important institutions of learning. Gainesville, Epps, York and Cuba are the other points of interest. Transportation lines abound throughout Sumter. The Alabama Great Southern and the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railroads both traverse the county, and cross at York. A railroad is expected soon to unite Gainesville with Narkeeta, Miss. Both the Tombigbee and Noxubee Rivers are navigable. These several lines place the county in readiest communication with the north, west, east and extreme south. The points of interest in the county are Livingston, the county seat, with a population of 1,200, Gainesville, Epes, York, Cuba, and Warsaw. In most of these places the tone of society is excellent. Educational facilities are good throughout the county. At Livingston there is a high school for boys and young men, with an able corps of professors. This school will compare favorably with any institution in the State. There is also a normal college for girls. This is a school of great repute, and conducted by educators of State and National reputation. Lands may be purchased at prices ranging from $2 to $12 per acre. Many of these lands embrace beds of marl. This fertilizer is mined in large quantities near Coatopa, and shipped to Meridian, Miss. Sumter County embraces 3,040 acres of Government land. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical Birmingham, Ala.: Smith and De Land 1888 PART III. HISTORICAL RESUME OF THE VARIOUS COUNTIES IN THE STATE. COTTON BELT. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/al/sumter/history/other/sumterco404gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb