A Visit to Demopolis

In March 2018 Dianne and I went to New Orleans to visit our son. On the way back to Pelham we took a detour and spent the night in Demopolis so we could visit the spectacular structure that is Gaineswood. I'll be doing a couple of posts on that house museum soon, but in this one I'm covering some other sights in the town.

Demopolis, the seat of Marengo County, was settled in 1817, the same year that Congress created the Alabama Territory. The first arrivals were French immigrants, who had fled to Philadelphia after a slave rebellion in Haiti. The U.S. government granted them 92,000 acres in Alabama if they would grow grapes and olives. This effort, which became known as the Vine and Olive Colony, ultimately failed but Demopolis survived to become a center of the cotton trade in the antebellum period. Today many beautiful homes and other buildings survive in the town. 

In a previous post I've discussed The Fighting Kentuckian a 1949 John Wayne film set in Demopolis during the "vine and olive colony" period. The town has also been the birthplace of several prominent people. Although he is associated with Birmingham, businessman A.G. Gaston was born in Demopolis. 

Playwright Lillian Hellman based The Little Foxes on her mother's Demopolis family and the play is set there. Alabama actress Tallulah Bankhead starred in the play on Broadway; Bette Davis got the role in the 1941 film version. Hellman's 1946 play Another Part of the Forest is a prequel of sorts to Foxes and is set in the fictional Alabama town of Bowden. That play was filmed in 1948. In 1949 Marc Blitzstein's opera based on The Little Foxes, Regina, premiered on Broadway. 

Two authors born in Demopolis are Wyatt Blassingame and James Haskins. In the 1930's and 1940's Blassingame was a prolific writer of fiction for the pulp magazines. In the 1950's as that market dried up, he began writing non-fiction books for young people. He died in 1985. Haskins, who died in 2005, wrote more than 100 books for adults and youth, many of them related to African-American history. 

Although she grew up in Mobile, contemporary novelist Michelle Richmond was also born in Demopolis. 

Demopolis and Marengo County have numerous properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places; town and county are both rich in historical sites. 

Further comments are below many of the photos. 

Heading toward Demopolis we passed through a bit of the Cuba community; the town was incorporated in 1890. A post office existed in the area from 1850, and two years later planter R.A. Clay moved to the area with 100 slaves. His plantation acreage later became the town. 

Several impressive old homes, churches and a museum are located in Cuba, but we did not get to visit any. 

Further church history can be found here. "Trinity is one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic Church architecture in the United States."

Trinity Episcopal Church around 1940

Source: Alabama Mosaic

Bluff Hall was built in 1832 by Allen Glover using slave labor and overlooking the white limestone cliffs along the Tombigbee River. The residence, home to Glover's daughter Sarah and her husband Francis Lyon, was expanded n the 1840's and remained in private hands until 1967. At that time the Marengo County Historical Society purchased it and restored the structure to its 1850's glory. The society continues to operate Bluff Hall as a house museum. Unfortunately we did not get to tour it; perhaps next time. 

This building sits next to Bluff Hall. 

As far as I can determine the Demopolis Inn is not currently operating. 

Demopolis Inn building and further down that street

One of the many neat old homes in Demopolis

The Red Barn Restaurant has been operating since 1971 and has a very visible exterior. You can learn more about it at the Rural Southwest Alabama site.

The food was excellent!

One of Demopolis' most prominent Jewish businessmen was Julius Rosenbush, who arrived in the city in 1894. He founded the Rosenbush Furniture Company, which the family operated until 2002. The property was then donated to the Marengo County History and Archives Museum Foundation.  

Established in 1858, this Jewish congregation in Demopolis was the fourth one established in Alabama. The temple had about 150 members in 1929, but that number declined until it became inactive in the 1980's. In 1989 the title to this property was transferred to Trinity Episcopal Church which continues to maintain it. 

"[Rooster Hall] is one of the oldest buildings in Demopolis. It was built in 1843 by the Presbyterians of Demopolis using locally-made bricks. It served as their sanctuary until after the Civil War. During the reconstruction period, a garrison of Federal troops, stationed in Demopolis, moved the county seat from Linden, AL, and used this building for a courthouse. The building served as the Marengo County Courthouse through Reconstruction. The county seat returned to Linden in 1871 and the building was turned over to Demopolis city authorities. 

In 1876 the city leased the building to the Demopolis Opera Association. The Association rehabilitated the building for live performances and public speaking events. The Opera House featured mostly local talent but also featured talents from New York and New Orleans for special performances. The Opera House closed its doors in 1902. Since that time the building has served several other functions including city hall, a fire station, a meeting house and auditorium, voting station, and office building. This building is a contributing property to the Demopolis Public Square which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 29, 1975. Rooster Hall is located on the northeast corner of the Public Square at downtown Demopolis."

Quote Source: Rural Southwest Alabama

Attorney George Lyon began construction of the Greek Revival Lyon Hall in 1850. He was the nephew of Francis Lyon of Bluff Hall. Construction continued until 1853; then Lyon and his wife journeyed to New York City to find furnishings. Family occupied the house until 1996; it was donated to the Marengo County Historical Society the following year. 

Merchants Grocery Company building and Coca-Cola sign

Alabama Once Played 3 Football Games in a Day

Well, sort of. Let's investigate.

In 1931 the Alabama football team played its first season under new coach Frank Thomas and did well. The final record was 9-1; the only loss came on October 17 at Tennessee when the Tide was shut out 25-0. Thomas followed another Tide coaching legend, Wallace Wade. In 1930 Wade's final team went 10-0, winning the 1931 Rose Bowl and a share of the national championship. Almost all the starting players from Wade's last year were gone when Thomas took over.

Thomas coached at Alabama until 1946 and had great success. According to Wikipedia, "During his tenure at Alabama, Thomas amassed a record of 115–24–7 and won four Southeastern Conference titles while his teams allowed an average of just 6.3 points per game.^[2] Thomas's 1934 Alabama team completed a 10–0 season with a victory over Stanford in the Rose Bowl and was named national champion by a number of selectors."

After the last game of the 1931 regular season, Alabama played a charity game against Chattanooga at that team's Chamberlain Field. The purpose was to raise money for unemployment relief efforts during the Great Depression. Alabama won that game 39-0.

A week later on December 12 Alabama played another charity "game", but this one was a bit different. Here's what the Wikipedia entry says: 

"After the first charity game against Chattanooga, an all-star team of former Alabama players was assembled to compete in the second charity game [in the District of Columbia] to benefit the unemployed.^[30] The game was played at Griffith Stadium and featured three separate contests against George Washington, Catholic University and Georgetown.^[30][31]Each of the three games consisted of two, ten-minute halves, and because the Alabama team was playing three separate squads, the Crimson Tide was allowed to make unlimited substitutions.^[30]

"The players on the Alabama team were primarily from the current and 1930 team that captured the national championship, and were led by coach Thomas and assistant coach Hank Crisp.^[30] The players selected included: Dave Boykin, Herschel Caldwell, John Campbell, Joe Causey, C. B. "Foots" Clement, Edgar Dobbs, Jess Eberdt, Albert Elmore, Ellis Hagler, Frank Howard, Allison Hubert, Max Jackson, Leon Long, Ralph McRight, John Miller, Claude Perry, Clyde "Shorty" Propst, Joe Sharpe, Fred Sington, Ben Smith, Earl Smith, John Henry Suther, John Tucker and Jennings B. Whitworth.^[30]

"With all three played on December 12, Alabama faced George Washington in the first contest. Although the game ended in a 0–0 tie, Alabama had several long plays that included a pair of successive runs by John Campbell for 75 yards and a 55-yard passing play from Allison Hubert to Campbell.^[31] The Crimson Tide then defeated Catholic University in the second game 7–0. The only score of the game was set up after Leon Long intercepted a Catholic pass at their own 42-yard line. After five runs for 31 yards by Hubert and one by Herschel Caldwell for three yards, Long scored the game-winning touchdown on a three-yard run.^[31] In the final game, Alabama tied Georgetown 0–0 after Long intercepted a Hoyas pass in the end zone on a fourth-and-three play late in the second period.^[31]"

So, depending on how you look at it, the Crimson Tide played three games that day, or one game against three different opponents. Some of the coverage in a Washington, D.C. newspaper the day before the game can be seen below. Follow the link to read more. 

The headline writer seemed impressed by the "size of Alabama gridders."

Washington, D.C., Evening Star 11 December 1931

Griffith Stadium in the District of Columbia in 1960. The stadium was demolished in 1965, and Howard University Hospital now occupies the land.

Source: Wikipedia

Alabama at the Louisiana Book Festival

On a recent Thursday Dianne and I headed to Baton Rouge to meet up with our son Amos and attend the fifteenth annual Louisiana Book Festival. Amos arrived around lunch time on Friday, and we all took in the festival on Saturday. Amos appeared on a panel that afternoon with two other authors of recent short story collections. 

More details are below. 

On Friday the weather was chilly and raining in Baton Rouge as you can tell from this view of the I-10 bridge. 

We stayed at the Hampton Inn only a short walk from the park and buildings where the festival was held in downtown Baton Rouge. The hotel uses some interesting room number plates. 

Barnes and Noble sponsored the large book and signing tents at the site. Here is Amos' book and to the left the new books by his fellow panelists. More details are below. 

The rain finally ended mid-afternoon on Friday, so we walked to the festival site. Here's a view of the book tent with the Louisiana capitol building in the background.

Many festival events were held in the state library building.

Here's the wall of books by festival authors in the foyer of the state library. Amos' collection of short stories can be seen in the very upper left corner. 

Here's a close up of that upper left corner.

The site of the Louisiana state capitol building and park contains the former Pentagon Barracks military post which was later used as housing for LSU cadets. A portion can be seen here in the foreground, with the capitol in the background and framed by one of the areas neat old trees. 

The substantial program for the festival featured artwork by William Joyce, author and illustrator of various children's books. His work has also appeared on covers of New Yorker magazine and in galleries and museums.  

We went to a couple of panels in the morning before having lunch and heading to the capitol building for Amos' appearance. The first panel was "Writing and Environment: A Multi-Genre Perspective" with environmental historian Jack E. Davis, poets Martha Serpas and Neil Shepard, novelist Kent Wascom and moderator Jack B. Bedell. 

The second panel, "Family-Influenced Fiction" featured two novelists, Nicole Seitz and Spencer Wise; the moderator was Olivia Clare, a poet and fiction writer. 

At this writing information about these authors and their works can be found at the Festival web site.  Both panels were stimulating and gave me several possibilities for future reading. 

The 34-story Art Deco Louisiana state capitol opened in 1932. Legendary politician Huey P. Long was assassinated in the building in 1935 and is buried in the park. Dianne said the building looks like something out of Ghostbusters.

Here Amos and David Langlinais are waiting for the panel to begin. Not pictured is Genaro Ky Ly Smith.

One end of the festival's signing tent opened toward the cooking tent, which was behind me as I took this photo. The festival also included music, various food vendors, an exhibitors tent and many authors and publishers at tables lining the walkway up to the capitol. 

Here are the panel members David Langlinais, Amos Wright, and Genaro Ky Ly Smith in the signing tent. 

After the festival we retired to the Bengal Tap Room and enjoyed a local beer, a Tin Roof Voodoo. 

Amos' book is available here. You can learn more about the book and his other writing at his website. 

David's book is available here. 

Genaro's book is available here.

A Show of Fans

After my paternal grandmother died in 1997, we cleaned out her house in Gadsden and found many things of interest, some family-related and some not. The latter group included several hand fans that I've photographed and put together for this post.

Hand fans both folding and rigid have been around for many centuries in Asian and Western cultures. Although having practical uses, many examples also feature elaborate decorations. They originated in ancient Egypt, India and China more than 5000 years ago, and were brought to Europe in the 12th century as a result of the Crusades.

The ones below are strictly utilitarian, and I presume predate wide-spread air conditioning in the southern U.S. Those featuring an address include no Zip Code, which was introduced in 1964 and did not become widespread until later in the 1960's. One of the fans includes 800 phone numbers, so it must be a more recent date.

There are two hand fan museums, one in California and the other in the United Kingdom. 

More comments are below the photographs. Businesses represented include Crestwood Funeral Home and J.P. King Auction Company both in Gadsden and an insurance company in Decatur. 

Crestwood Funeral Home, which opened in 1940, continues to operate today.

This auction company in Gadsden opened in 1915 and is still operating.

UPDATE: Since I posted this item, one of my informants--my cousin Charlotte Shores Ryder--suggested about this fan " the one from King Auction may have actually been used to notify auctioneer of a bid since it has a bidders number on it.." Makes sense to me!

This business in Decatur no longer seems to be operating, at least under that name. A listing turns up on Google, but the Romanian-American Mission seems to be at that address now. I wonder if they give out hand fans.

This funeral home opened in 1910 and is still in business. The fan seems to be the oldest in the group based on the cars in the photo and the phone number. I'm not sure why my grandparents had this one; I don't know of any relatives in Kentucky whose funeral they might have attended. 

My grandparents Amos J. & Rosa Mae Wright lived for many years in this house at 1313 Chandler Street in Gadsden. My grandmother died in January 1997, and soon after that we began cleaning out the house. Among much other memorabilia, we found the fans shown in this post.