Quick Visit to a North Alabama Town: Joppa

I visit mom, watercolor artist Carolyn Shores Wright, in Huntsville on a regular basis. On the drive to and from Pelham I often make brief side trips to see some of the small towns along or near I-65. Arkadelphia is a recent example. I look for a landmark or two and research a bit of the town's history. This time Joppa is up.

There are several small towns along Alabama Highways 69 and 67 northeast of Cullman including Fairview, Baileyton, Hulaco and Florette. If you stay on 69 toward Arab, you pass through Joppa. 

So what's up with that name, anyway?? Jaffa, a Hebrew word for "beauty", was a port city in ancient Palestine; the area is now part of Tel Aviv. According to Virginia Foscue's Place Names in Alabama, a Mrs. Berry chose the name for this state's town. Foscue also notes a U.S. post office was established in 1888. The Geographic Names Information System maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey includes several places named Joppa in other states, such as Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia. 

Another source, Annals of Northwest Alabama, vol. 2, 1965, second edition [compiled by Carl Elliott] includes two essays with much information about Joppa. In his piece "Sketches of Early Cullman County, Alabama" [pp. 26-28], Marc Miller notes the presence of several farms in the area before the Civil War. By the early 1890's the population had grown enough to support a post office, which had to have a name. A Marion Berry chose Joppa; no reason is given. Four rural routes were started from the post office in 1904.

According to Miller the first school was established in the late 1880's in a Baptist church, but later moved to the Methodist one. Founded by Prof. J.B. Sherill, Joppa School was built in 1893 and eventually evolved to encompass grammar, junior high, high school and teacher's college levels.

The American Missionary Association bought the school in 1895 and renamed it the Joppa Collegiate Normal Institute. This facility had two dormitories for the students who studied religion and teaching. Sometime after 1900 a fire burned the school's library, but the books--mostly religious--were replaced. 

The town incorporated in 1900. As a college town, Joppa developed hotels, various stores, a stage stop, saloon and hospital. Eventually a telephone system with switchboard opened. At the time the Annals book was published in 1965, Joppa had a cotton gin, six stores, a post office, elementary, junior and high schools and three churches.   

Another essay in the Annals volume is "A Short History of Joppa, Alabama" pp. 192-200] compiled by fifth and sixth grade students at Joppa School during the 1954-55 school year. This piece notes that two boarding houses served  as dorms for the college students, and that a "Mrs. Berry" gave Joppa its name. A brick Joppa School was built in 1939 with eight classrooms, an office, library and auditorium. Two grades and a lunch room were located in the two-story frame building that had become the second college building after a fire. In 1958 Joppa School had 325 students and ten teachers. This essay gives more detail about many people in the community's history.

Joppa seems to have reached its greatest population in the 1920-1940 period; in 1930, 1894 people lived there according to the U.S. Census. By 2010 the population had fallen to 501. 

Henry Everett "Jack" Lively was born in Joppa on May 29, 1885. During the 1911 season Lively pitched for the Detroit Tigers in eighteen games and ended the season with a 7-5 won-loss record. One of his teammates was Ty Cobb. Prior to that season Lively had played for several minor league teams. "He won 23 games for Gulfport in 1907, 25 games for two teams in 1908, 18 for Montgomery in 1909, and 31 for Oakland in 1910", according to the Baseball Reference site. 

Lively was a right-handed pitcher who stood 5'9" and weighted 185 pounds. He may have begun baseball play while attending Joppa High School. Whether he played for other teams before Gulfport is unknown; the 1911 season was apparently his only one in the majors. 

Lively returned to Alabama at some point. The 1920 U.S. Census list he and wife Minnie as living on a farm they own in Arab. He died in Arab on December 5, 1967. He is buried in the Hebron Church of Christ Cemetery. His son Buddy played in the majors for the Cincinnati Reds for three seasons in the late 1940's. 

In 1999 the Thomas Corbin farmstead in Joppa was listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage; you can see a photo here.  

More comments follow the photos and illustration below. 

According to Jimmy Emerson, the college closed in 1918 due to declining enrollment. The county school system used the building until it burned in 1995. This structure is a replica built on the same site. Another photo of this building by Emerson has snow on the ground.

Many rural post offices have been closed in recent years; Joppa's remains. 

This card shows Lively on one of his minor league teams, Oakland in the Pacific Coast League. He won 31 games there in 1910, the year before he moved up to the majors. 

Source: Baseball Reference

Source: Gordon Brett Echols via Find-A-Grave

Source: Wikipedia

Actress Bonnie Bolding from Joppa

 On this blog I've written a number of posts about actresses with Alabama connections, mostly those whose careers began before 1960. These have included Lois Wilson, Gail Patrick, Dorothy Sebastian, Boots Mallory, Lottice Howell, Cathy O'Donnell, Wanda McKay, Viola Allen, Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Crawford, Frances Bergen, and women with more recent credits such as Gail Strickland and Kim Dickens. Next up is Bonnie Bolding, who had only seven acting credits from 1956 until 1958, four of them uncredited, but whose subsequent life was even more fascinating. 

According to her BhamWiki entry, she was born February 22, 1933, in Joppa, a small town in Morgan County. I've written about Joppa in a previous post. In his later years my uncle John Shores, mom's older brother, had a goat farm there, and I remember visiting a couple of times. 

Her parents were Aron T. [Oran? Orin?] and Gertha Earwood Bolding. In 1920 they were living in Ryan's Cross Roads in Morgan County according to that year's U.S. Census. He was 20 year's old, a farmer and could read and write. The same census says Gertha was 17 and also able to read and write. 

The Find-A-Grave site tells us more about Gertha. She was born in Hulaco in Morgan County on April 14, 1902 and died December 25, 1973; she is buried in Birmingham's Elmwood Cemetery. The site has an Earwood family photo in which Gertha can be seen. Find-A-Grave also says she married preacher Orin Thomas Bolding in June 1946; he was born in Joppa. His World War I draft registration card has the spelling of his first name as "Oran", and lists Gertha as his wife. 

I don't think I'm going to try and sort out this mess; I'll leave it to a family genealogist. See the map below to locate Ryan Crossroads, Hulaco and Joppa in Morgan County. 

Bonnie attended what is now Samford University, where she was a cheerleader, drum majorette and drama student. She was first runner-up in the Miss Alabama contest on her fourth try, which may have led her to Hollywood. She received a scholarship to the Pasadena Playhouse, but didn't remain in the business long. By 1969 she had been through two marriages--both to oil tycoons--and then become a stockbroker in New York City. She met  and married John Swearingen, CEO of the company that is now BP America. Her third oil man was the charm.

For three decades she was a major figure in American high society, making frequent appearances in newspapers and various magazines as the couple mingled with the likes of Prince Charles and Pierre Cardin, Bob Hope and Kirk Douglas, and Presidents--or former ones--Johnson, Nixon and Ford. They also engaged in major philanthropic efforts. Samford University received almost $3.5 million, much of it in support of the arts; and a campus building was named after her. 

Bonnie Bolding Swearingen died in Birmingham on August 2, 2020. Husband John had died in 2007. She is also buried in Elmwood Cemetery. Read more about her in the Chicago Sun-Times obituary. You can read a piece on the couple's generosity to Samford here. You can see some of the items at her estate sale held in early December 2020 here.

A very long piece from 2015 about the "John and Bonnie Show" is here. 

Bolding in the "Incident at Indian Springs" episode of the Cheyenne TV series first broadcast 24 September 1957

Source: BhamNow

Bonnie and John Swearingen

Source: Samford University 

On this map we see Ryan Crossroads, Hulaco, and Joppa [not to mention Egypt and Arab!] in Morgan County.

Source: Google Maps

A Quick Visit to Arab

East and south of Huntsville you can find several small Alabama towns with "exotic" names: Arab, Egypt, Joppa and to the east of Scottsboro there's even a Hollywood. On a trip last year winding through that part of the state my younger brother Richard and I visited Owens Cross Roads, Scottsboro and ended up going through Arab. 

I've written about West Station Antiques and Gibson's Books in Owen's Cross Roads and Scottsboro in two posts here and here. In this posting I'm discussing Arab. Perhaps one day we'll visit Egypt and Hollywood. 

So why is the town named Arab? Stephen Tuttle Thompson settled in the area around 1840. By the late 1850's a community known as Thompson's Village had developed around his farm. In 1882 Thompson applied to the U.S. government for a post office; one of the possible names he submitted was "Arad", the middle name of his son. The story goes that a postal official interpreted that as "Arab". And here we are. 

This truly was a quick visit, so I'm not doing justice to the town here with just a few photos and a bit of history. One thing we missed was the Historic Village near the city park. This complex of ten buildings recreates life in the area from the 1880's until the 1940's using authentic furnishings and decor. You can read about the origin and development here. A Veterans' Memorial is located at the entrance of that city park. 

The population of the town was just over 8000 in the 2010 U.S. Census. Yet despite its small size Arab can claim several notable people. Liles Burke is a native and a U.S. judge for the northern district of Alabama. Vernon Derrick was a musician who lived most of his life in Arab; he died in 2008. He played mandolin and fiddle with the Stanley Brothers, Jimmy Martin's bluegrass band and Hank Williams, Jr.'s Bama Band. Jill King is a country music singer born in Arab; she released her first album in 2003. Another country music singer, Wayne Mills, was also an Arab native who was murdered in Nashville in 2013. He had released five studio and two live albums. Baseball pitcher Jack Lively was born in Joppa, but settled in Arab after his athletic career ended. 

One of the most famous people associated with Arab is Fred Nall Hollis, who was born in Troy but graduated from high school in Arab after his family moved there. "Nall" as he is known professionally has since become an internationally renowned artist. He studied in France and under Salvador Dali and works in many media, including mosaics, sculpture, drawing, porcelain and carpets. He has traveled and lived widely, but in 2005 returned to Alabama where he built a studio in Fairhope.

More comments are below.

Businesses along a portion of Main Street [Alabama 69]

This photo and one below are the view as we drove into town on Main Street.

Tuttle Thompson Park is located downtown.

Looking back toward downtown from the pocket park

Our Uncle John and Aunt Myrna Shores, mom's older brother and his wife, are buried in Brookwood Cemetery and Memorial Gardens.

Uncle John and Aunt Myrna in the mid-to-late 1990's 

Arabian Motel in Arab, 1940

From the Wade Hall Collection at Troy University Libraries
via Alabama Dept of Archives and History 

Hotel Thompson in Arab, 1940

From the Wade Hall Collection at Troy University Libraries
via Alabama Dept of Archives and History 

Dickson's Truck in Arab, 1940

From the Wade Hall Collection at Troy University Libraries
via Alabama Dept of Archives and History 

Arab is one of several Alabama towns included  in James W. Loewen's Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism [2018]. Historically the term "sundown town" indicated a place to be vacated by blacks before dark. Today's broader definition indicates a neighborhood, town or county with planned discrimination against blacks, Jews and/or others. You can read more about Loewen's Alabama towns here. 

 

Guy Morton, the "Alabama Blossom"

I recently did a post on the town of Joppa, the hometown of major league baseball pitcher Jack Lively. He played for the Detroit Tigers in the 1911 season. His son Buddy played for the Cincinnati Reds for several years during the late 1940's.

In researching Lively, I came across another father-son pair of major league players, Guy Morton, the "Alabama Blossom", and his son Guy, Jr. The state has produced numerous professional baseball players over the years, and I plan to return to this topic in the future.

The elder Morton was born in Vernon on June 1, 1893. I found the family in Vernon in the 1900 U.S. Census via Ancestry.com indexed as "Mortin". No father was listed, so he was either deceased or otherwise absent. Mother Mary and 12 others made up the household. Ten of these individuals are Mary's sons and daughters. Two are grandchildren--the sons of daughter Eliza Guin. At 7, Guy is the youngest child. 

A lengthy biography of Morton has been written by Chris Rainey for the Society for American Baseball Research. He notes that Morton's father was Dr. Martin W. Morton, son of a doctor, who died a few days before Guy's birth. According to Rainey, Guy was playing baseball for the Columbus team in the Cotton States League in 1913. He ended that season with a 5-5 pitching record, and a scout recommended him to the major league Cleveland Naps (later Indians) team. 

In the spring of 1914 he played in the Eastern Association, but was soon called up to Cleveland and pitched his first game on June 20, 1914. His final game in the majors came ten years later, on June 6, 1924. At the time of the 1920 U.S. Census, Guy and his wife Edna were living in Vernon. Guy's occupation was listed as "baseball player." Guy and Edna had married the previous year in Birmingham.

Morton ended his major league career with a 98-88 record and 830 strikeouts. Rainey's biography gives many career highlights, including pitching against Babe Ruth in 1917. He won ten games in four of his seasons pitching. The Indians sold his contract in 1924, and he played seven more seasons in the minor leagues, including five in the Southern Association for teams in Memphis, Mobile and Birmingham. 

Morton and his wife moved to Sheffield where he went to work on the Wilson Lake Dam in the TVA system. He pitched several years on semi-pro teams in Florence and on the TVA team until his death by heart attack on October 18, 1934. He is buried in Sheffield; his gravestone notes his 2002 induction into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame and declares that he was "Alabama's First Great Major League Pitcher." In 2001 he was named to the greatest 100 Cleveland Indians list. 

Many major league baseball players have had nicknames over the years. Rainey does not give the source of Morton's "Alabama Blossom" nickname; perhaps Morton was a rare player from Alabama at the time. 

The couple had one child, Guy Morton, Jr., who was born in Tuscaloosa on November 4, 1930. More about "Moose" Morton is below. 

Guy Morton

Source: Baseball Reference

Guy Morton

Source: Wikipedia

Guy "Moose" Morton, Jr.

Source: Baseball Reference  

After his father died, the Guy, Jr.'s mother moved to Tuscaloosa to work in a University of Alabama museum, and he was sent to live with grandparents in Mississippi. His mother married Vaughn Shirley when Guy, Jr., was 11; his stepfather owned a grocery story in Mobile. The young Morton played for Murphy High School for two years, but graduated from Tuscaloosa High School in 1948 after his stepfather bought a grocery store in that city.

Moose started college at the University of Alabama on a scholarship, but tryouts led him eventually to a contract with the Boston Red Sox after his freshman year. He played a number of years in the minors as a catcher. He was called up by the Red Sox for one game, on September 17, 1954; he had one at bat and no hits.

After his baseball career ended, Moose coached youth teams in Alabama and Ohio where he eventually moved. He became a Baptist minister and served for many years; he died on May 11, 2014. Bill Nowlin has written an extensive biography for the Society for American Baseball Research. "Moose" is included in Richard Tellis' 1998 book, Once Around the Bases: Bittersweet Memories of Only One Game in the Majors (pp. 166-176). See the Nowlin link and the obituary link for more about his many achievements on and off the baseball diamond.

Alabama History & Culture News: August 24 edition

 

Here's the latest batch of links to just-published Alabama history and culture articles. Most of these items are from newspapers, with others from magazines and TV and radio station websites. Some articles may be behind a paywall. Enjoy!

“The South's Forgotten Fire-Eater: David Hubbard & North Alabama's Long Road to Disunion” By Alabama Public Radio Along the way he draws our attention to Alabama figures we might have overlooked. His book “The Million Dollar Man Who Helped Kill a President” ...

Earthquake Rattles Northern Alabama on Sunday Afternoon - Weatherboy Weatherboy This map shows epicenters of historical Alabama earthquakes since 1886 and surface and basement faults. Image: Geological Survey of Alabama.

Old Autauga Historical Society Brings History to Autauga County Courthouse

Elmore-Autauga News

... formation of Alabama in 1819.” The Old Autauga Historical Society officially formed January 1, 2020 and they currently have about 300 members.

The Rosenbaum House Is the Only Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Building in Alabama Southern Living Florence, Alabama, is home to many historic structures, but one in particular has become a destination for those interested in architectural ...

Comeback Town: Birmingham may have lost historic Terminal Station, but... - al.com AL.com But where are the historically rich buildings they replaced? ... We saved our Alabama and Lyric Theatres—unreplaceable gems.

Alabama singer-songwriter Rock Killough bringing new book to Fairhope - al.com AL.com Alabama native Killough is singer-songwriter whose writing and co-writing credits include songs recorded by a long list of stars: The Oak Ridge Boys ( ...

Laura Hunter's new novel is based on awful eugenics scandal | DON NOBLE Tuscaloosa News It opens in a sweltering, dry July of 1968 in the fictional hamlet of Hyssop, Alabama, not far from Eufaula. The teller of this tale is Margaret ..

Hundreds of renowned naturalist E.O. Wilson's books donated to Alabama nature research center CBS 42 Finch, founder of the Paint Rock Forest Research Center in north Alabama's Trenton area, had known the acclaimed Harvard naturalist and biologist ...

Alabama researchers discover 'gigantic' 83 million-year-old turtle species - al.com AL.com The turtle was officially named this week from fossils found in the collection at the Alabama Museum of Natural History.

Ryan Baptist in Joppa celebrates 100 years The Alabama Baptist Joe Teal (left) of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission presents a ... years of church history to add to the history of the first 75 years.

How you can help restore the Red Mountain Cut Geologic Walkway - Bham Now Bham Now In early April, the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) and a public/private ... History of the Red Mountain Cut Geologic Walkway.

Revolutionary War veteran of Madison County to be honored Saturday

The Madison Record

The small cemetery is easily accessible and located just north of Bob Wade ... Patriot Powell was a first generation settler in north Alabama who ...

New director of Sloss Furnaces named - Alabama Political Reporter Alabama Political Reporter It operated from 1882-1970, making it the longest continually running blast furnace in Birmingham's history. Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark ...

Mooresville Post Office: Oldest Post Office In Alabama - Only In Your State Only In Your State There are many historic buildings located throughout Alabama. In fact, some of them are even among the oldest buildings in the U.S. One of these ...

Alabama event to exhibit rare Spider Martin photos at Beth El Civil Rights Experience Alabama NewsCenter “We're building this project to provide a thorough, historical perspective on our local Jewish community's actions and attitudes within the larger ...

Meet William King, the only Alabamian ever elected as vice president | WHNT.com WHNT.com (Photo: Alabama Department of Archives and History). (Photo: Alabama Department of Archives and History) Read Less. by: Zach Hester.

An Alabama boy is taking on the Nazis in new WWII-era Savannah Theatre show, 'We'll Meet Again' Savannah Morning News The World War II-era play follows an Opelika, Alabama, resident who ... set to make its world premiere on Friday at The Historic Savannah Theatre.

Indian who led attack on local fort topic for historical society meeting - Thomasville Times Thomasville Times He is also well-known for both his You Tube channel and app called “Two-Egg TV” which explores the history of Alabama and the Florida panhandle.

Opinion | Legendary Alabamians: Howell Heflin - Alabama Political Reporter Alabama Political Reporter The longer I continue to write about Alabama politics, ... In this article:Alabama history, Featured, Howell Heflin, Judge, Legendary Alabamians.

Community Hero Steve Murray: Keeper of the Alabama's true history - Montgomery Advertiser Montgomery Advertiser Alabama Department of Archives and History director Steve Murray is telling the complete story of the state's history, not just the Confederate ...

New user-friendly website highlights Alabama Department of Archives and History resources - WTVY

WTVY

The “Alabama History Hub” is a one-stop resource for K-12 educators in the classroom. The new website includes robust databases for conducting ...

How you can help restore a historic, fire-damaged Alabama house - al.com AL.com A fire earlier this month at an Alabama landmark did extensive damage but it wasn't fatal. The St. Clair Historical Society is accepting donations ...