Children of Industrial Huntsville, 1908-1915

Yes, here's another entry in my continuing series, "Downsizing My Book Collection." This title is a bit of an oddity, so let's explore it.

The book contains affidavits filed with the probate judge's office in Huntsville between January 1, 1908, and September 1, 1915. These filings were the result of a state law making it illegal for anyone under the age of 12 to be employed in a mill, factory or manufacturing company. These affidavits were required of workers between the ages of 12 and 18 until the passage of a later law prohibiting children under 16 from working with dangerous machinery. 

The introduction shown below gives the details of this process. I have also included the book's copy of the 1908 law, the list of manufacturing facilities in Huntsville, and one of the sample affidavits included in the book. Finally, three sample pages of listings are given. The book is 315 pages long, consisting almost entirely of the affidavit listings in alphabetical order by child's name. A state law forbidding children under 14 from working had been repealed in 1894, and reformers finally managed passage of the 1908 and then 1915 laws. B.J. Baldwin's 1911 article, "History of Child Labor Reform in Alabama" can be found here.

Behind these listings with some basic information are hundreds of real children who worked in the Huntsville mills. We do learn names, dates and places of birth, and names of parents associated with the affidavits. Many of the children came from small towns surrounding Huntsville, even many in Tennessee. If the children worked in more than one facility their movements are tracked during this period.

One interesting byproduct given in many entries are the names of physicians or midwives who attended the births. They will be listed for example as Dr. Sutton or Mrs. Rose. The doctors could be traced in various physician directories; the midwives would be more problematic. I did not notice any midwives listed as "Miss". 

This book's author was the mother of one of my classmates at Lee High School in Huntsville, Curtis Maulsby. She published at least one other book, Merrimack Cemetery, Huntsville, Alabama, which I presume is an inventory of the cemetery founded in 1900 for workers and families at the Merrimack Mills. The cemetery can be searched at Find-A-Grave. 

This 1987 self-published Children's book was obviously an effort dear to the author; apparently few copies have been distributed. There's an entry on Amazon, but no copies were currently for sale. None were offered on eBay or Bookfinder.com either. According to WorldCat.org, only 10 copies are owned by reporting libraries, half in Alabama. 

I have also included two photographs of the 38 taken by Lewis Hine when he visited the Merrimack Mills in 1910 and 1913. Hine [1874-1940] was a sociologist and documentary photographer. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about his work with child labor:

In 1908, Hine became the photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), leaving his teaching position. Over the next decade, Hine documented child labor, with focus on the use of child labor in the Carolina Piedmont,^[3] to aid the NCLC's lobbying efforts to end the practice.^[4] In 1913, he documented child laborers among cotton mill workers with a series of Francis Galton's composite portraits.

Hine's work for the NCLC was often dangerous. As a photographer, he was frequently threatened with violence or even death by factory police and foremen. At the time, the immorality of child labor was meant to be hidden from the public. Photography was not only prohibited but also posed a serious threat to the industry.^[5] To gain entry to the mills, mines and factories, Hine was forced to assume many guises. At times he was a fire inspector, postcard vendor, bible salesman, or even an industrial photographer making a record of factory machinery.^[6]

More than 200 of Hine's Alabama photographs can be seen at the Library of Congress digital collections. He also visited Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery and Bayou La Batre documenting child labor. 

Hines' Huntsville photos name 11 children; 10 of them are included in the Maulsby book: Frank and George Baldwin (both p. 12), Madeline Causey (p. 52), Gracie Clark (p. 57), Millie and May Crews (p. 70), Pinkie Durham (p. 84), Charlie Foster (p. 95), Buford Fox (p. 97), and Sanford Franklin (p. 99). I did not find Pete Henson. I've included two photographs below, along with details from Hine's notes and the Maulsby book. 

You can see a photo of Dallas Manufacturing here and Merrimack Cotton Mills here. That Merrimack photo is on a postcard. 

 

Madeline Causey at Merrimack Mills, November 1913. About this photograph Hine wrote "Been working there for four months. Fills batteries. Mother said she was born July 7, 1903". The Maulsby book has her birthdate as July 7, 1901, which made her 12 years old when she began work at Merrimack on October 20, 1913. Her birthplace is given as Hillsboro, Alabama. Mrs. Rose was the midwife and J.T. Causey is the parent listed. Her brother Oscar, born in February 1900, also worked at Merrimack. 

Source: Library of Congress 

Charlie Foster at Merrimack Mills, December 1913. Hine wrote, "Charlie Foster has a steady job in the Merrimack Mills. School Record says he is now ten years old. His father told me that he could not read, and still he is putting him into the mill." Charlie, from New Market, Alabama, was born May 3, 1901, with Dr. Charlie Blanton attending. Jess Foster was the parent listed. He began work at Merrimack on May 9, 1913; he moved to the Huntsville Knitting Company on May 11, 1914. 

Source: Library of Congress

Note at the end of the third paragraph in this introduction, the author locates the affidavits in the basement of the Madison County Courthouse. That means she or someone spent who knows how much time there collecting the information in this book. Real old-time research, folks, no Google, no digital collections to search from the comfort of home. 

I've done a lot of both types of research over the decades, and that hands-on-the-real-documents way is a lot more exciting. Too bad I don't get to do much of that anymore. There's nothing like spending a few hours in the dark, lonely basement of a big library, going through page after page in bound newspaper volumes, making fascinating discoveries. 

I need to monetize that on Tik Tok, don't I?

Boys Swearing in Huntsville in 1881

As one is apt to do on a hot summer day, I recently wandered around the Library of Congress' collection, Chronicling America, which offers digitized newspapers from around the country. In the June 18, 1881, issue of the Huntsville Gazette, I found the following item of editorial comment. 

That is all...

Harry Townes: From Huntsville to Hollywood and Back

I've written a number of posts on this blog about Alabama natives who have  found success in Hollywood, ranging from actresses before 1960 such as Dorothy Sebastian and Gail Patrick to more recent individuals such as Gail Strickland and two who also graduated from my high school, Kim Dickens and Ned Vaughn. Now comes Harry Townes, Huntsville native, prolific television actor and Episcopal priest. 

Harry Rhett Townes was born in Huntsville on September 18, 1914. I found him and his family in the 1920 U.S. Census via Ancestry.com At that time they rented a home on Eustus Street [probably Eustis Avenue near Maple Hill Cemetery; mistakes by census enumerators were common]. Harry was the younger son of Charles and Jeanne Townes; his brother was Halsey. Sister Jena was three years younger than Harry, who was listed as five at the time of the census. In the 1930 census when Harry was 15, the family lived at 809 Randolph Street. Father Charles is not listed; he had died on November 23, 1922 and is buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville. 

Presumably he graduated from high school in Huntsville, although I've yet to determine which one. Recent discussion about Townes on the Facebook "Huntsville Revisited" board indicated he went to Huntsville High. He spent time at the University of Alabama, where he may have caught the acting bug. Townes did not graduate; he's not listed in the UA directory of alumni anyway. He next appears in New York City, where he studied acting at Columbia University. I've run across one source that says he graduated there, but have yet to confirm it. His draft card, included below, puts him in New York in October, 1940. 

He picked up some Broadway credits before enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps, in which he served from 1942 until 1946. After his service, Townes returned to New York to act, picking up more stage work and making his first forays into television. 

As noted in the next paragraph, Townes' first tv credit was a Dumont program; the network broadcast from New York. Townes played the character of Peter Postman from 1949 until 1951. He also acted in episodes of two other programs from New York, Trapped and Robert Montgomery Presents. During this same period, 1950-1953, he also began acting in programs broadcast from Hollywood. 

The first television credit listed for Townes at the IMDB is The Magic Cottage, a program on the Dumont TV network from 1949 until 1952. His final appearance came on the series Valerie in 1988. Between those dates he acted in episodes on dozens of shows, many multiple times. These included Perry Mason (5), Rawhide (4), Route 66 (3), Twilight Zone (2), Playhouse 90 (3), Studio One (12), Climax! (9), Kraft Theatre (15), Armstrong Circle Theatre (10), Ponds Theater (6), Gunsmoke (7) and The Fugitive (5). He played four different doctors in that many episodes of Quincy, M.E. Townes made single appearances on such programs as Ben Casey, The Outer Limits, The Virginian, Branded, Star Trek, The Big Valley, Mod Squad, Marcus Welby, M.D., Lou Grant, and Magnum, P.I. Whew! And all of these listed only scratch the surface of his tv credits. 

Townes acted in more than 200 television programs, but he also appeared in several films. These include Operation Manhunt [see more on this one below], The Mountain, The Brothers Karamazov, Cry Tough, Sanctuary, The Bedford Incident, In Enemy County and The Hawaiians.  

While in his thirties his sister Jeanne was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Following a vision she had, her disease went into remission. This event prompted Townes' own spiritual journey that eventually led him to the priesthood. He continued acting but put himself through theology school in Los Angeles. In 1973 at age 59 and following ten years of study he became a transitional Episcopal deacon and then was ordained Father Harry Townes at St. Paul's Cathedral in Los Angeles on March 16, 1974. He had several non-stipend assignments in that city, Hollywood and Palm Springs  as he continued to earn his living with film and television work. 

Townes retired from acting in 1988, and returned to Huntsville. According to city phone books available via Ancestry.com, he lived on Randolph Avenue near a childhood home in the mid-1990s and on Mountain Brook Drive SE from 1998 until his death on May 23, 2001. He apparently never married. Townes outlived the other members of his family. Mother Jeanne died in 1967 and is buried in Maple Hill. Sister Jean died in 1998 and is also buried in Maple Hill. Older brother Milton died in 1978 and was interred in Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.

Townes & Barbara Hale as Della Street in the Perry Mason episode “The Case of the Lazy Lover” first broadcast 31 May 1958. Townes made five appearances on the program.

Perry Mason "The Case of the Lazy Lover" May 31, 1958

Townes played a pharmacist in the "Incident of the Town in Terror" episode of Rawhide first broadcast March 6, 1959. A few of the herd's cattle die of what is feared to be anthrax, but Townes' character determines it's the milder cowpox. 

Nancy Kovak and Townes in Perry Mason "The Case of the Golfer's Gambit" January 30, 1966

Both of these photos are from the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Woeful Widower" March 26, 1964. That's Jerry Van Dyke, younger brother of Dick, in the one below with Townes. 

Royal Dano, Inger Stevens & Townes in the "My Brother Richard" episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents January 20, 1957. You can read discussions by Jack Seabrook  of other appearances by Townes on this series here and here. 

Townes in "Tail to the Wind" an episode of Gunsmoke from October 10, 1959

The Outer Limits "OBIT" November 4, 1963

Townes as Captain Jesse Coulter in Rawhide "Seven Fingers" May 7, 1964

Townes appeared twice on Wanted Dead or Alive which starred Steve McQueen. This still is from "Mental Lapse" first broadcast on January 2, 1960. The other episode was "Vendetta", also in 1960.  

Operation Manhunt released in 1954 was an early film appearance by Townes, and he was even the male lead!

Townes World War II draft card filled out on October 16, 1940. Note his employer and place of employment! According to the Internet Broadway Database, Townes appeared in seven productions on Broadway between 1942 and 1969. I've yet to discover what he was doing for Warner Brothers, owner of the Strand in 1940. 

Source: Ancestry.com

Harry Townes' grave marker in Huntsville's vast Maple Hill Cemetery

Booklegger Used Books in Huntsville

For many years whenever my brother Richard and I are in Huntsville together visiting mom, we always try to make it by Booklegger Used Books. Our dad used to visit before his death in 2003; he probably introduced us to it. I've taken my son Amos at least once. 

I have no idea about the history of the place, and have been unable to find any online. Booklegger may be one of the last bookstores in America with no email address, no web site, no Facebook page, no presence on Instagram or Twitter. They do have a telephone, however; you can call them at 256-895-0082. The store also has an address and zip code: 4001C Holmes Avenue in Huntsville, 35816. 

Booklegger also has a vast collection of hardback and paperback books housed in three large rooms. Richard and I usually start at the new arrivals section and branch out from there. There are sizeable sections for Civil War and military history, which Richard spends some time in. I check out the Alabama books and then graze through the biographies, fiction, poetry and even the health section because sometimes an interesting medical history tome will turn up there. 

More comments are below some of the photos. I highly recommend Booklegger where you can spend some quality time with many, many books you might want to purchase. I only wish I could get by there more often. 

I've written several other posts about Alabama bookstores: one in Cullman formerly known as Deb's Bookstore, Books  Etc in Pelham which closed a few years ago, some long gone bookstores in Auburn and an adult bookstore that operated in Birmingham in the 1970's. 

One day soon I'm going to get serious and do a batch of posts from materials I've collected over the years about Alabama bookstores. 

The Booklegger is located in a small retail strip at the corner of Holmes Avenue and Jordan Lane. Interestingly, the building that houses Infinity College Bookstore is right next door. 

And here we are in some kind of nirvana. The photos below are all of different rows of books, or the same row from the other end. Yes, a veritable maze....

Ah, the familiar yellow and black covers of a few CliffsNotes! 

I like to read a western or two each year, and being out I hoped to pick up a couple at Booklegger this time. Unfortunately, I couldn't make up my mind...there is a good selection of paperbacks in the genre. The former Deb's Bookstore in Cullman linked above and now known as Camelot Books & Comics also has quite a few. 

Notice a few Ralph Compton books on these shelves? Let's investigate.

Compton was born on April 11, 1934 in St. Clair County, Alabama; he died September 16, 1998, at the age of 64. Before his death he authored numerous popular western novels. As sometimes happens, his publisher Signet Books has continued issuing titles under his name by other authors. You can see the extensive lists of titles and other authors here and here. 

Ralph Compton [1934-1998]

The store has a large selection of titles related to films and tv shows--either novels or non-fiction adapted or tie-ins based on particular films and shows. 

That Time a Tree Fell in Mom's Back Yard

On Saturday afternoon, June 19, my 91 year old mother Carolyn Shores Wright  was sitting peacefully in the sunroom on the back of her house in Huntsville. Suddenly she heard a loud crash and soon realized a huge pecan tree in her back yard had fallen completely over. Luckily the tree fell more or less between the house and a garden shed; as shown below, only minor damage to the roof of the house occurred. 

On the following Wednesday Eager Beaver Tree Removal, which had been out the previous week removing another tree for mom and several for a neighbor, returned to do their thing. This time they brought a huge crane. 

More details below some of the photos. 

Here's a view from behind the root ball of the tree; mom's house is on the right. Visible is the screened porch and a chimney. That white siding is on the sunroom where mom was sitting. 

Two closer views of the tree against the house.

Another view of the tree in the yard. 

Here's the corner of the sunroom on the back of the house. Mom was sitting on a couch close to that window when the tree fell. 

This view was out the basement back door; you can see the top of the garden shed behind the treetop. 

This photo was taken on the morning of the removal. Those green leaves behind the roof are the downed pecan. 

Oh, boy, the crane has arrived! I wish my three-year old grandson Ezra had been there to watch this big machine in operation. 

Clearing the top part of the tree out took several hours. Then the crane work began!

Finally the roof damage was clearly visible. 

Several of these giant pieces were lifted over the house. The entire tree was reduced to sawdust by another giant piece of equipment the tree service brought along. 

And a third piece of equipment was used to reduce the stump to sawdust.

Here's all that was left of that tree when the job was finished. Amazingly, there was no other damage to the yard. 

Luckily there was no serious damage to the roof and the roofing company was able to repair it pretty easily and even matched the twenty year old tiles pretty closely.