Blount Springs


Book Description

For close to a hundred years Blount Springs was the center of society for many of the elite of Alabama and the South. It served as a watering place and social gathering spot serving the planter class and later the industrialists of the New South. Patrons came to enjoy the health-giving water, dancing, spirits and especially legal gambling Preserving history is an important aspect of our society that, unfortunately, is often overlooked in our fast-paced, I want it now world. Slow down and take a look at a time when leisure and socializing were the preferred way to spend time. Look back at a cure for life's ills and pains that were available at the "Saratoga of the South".




Blount County, Alabama Cemeteries, Volume 1


Book Description

Blount County was carved out of the territory ceded to the State by the Creek Indians following their defeat at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The earliest settlers began streaming into the former wilderness as early as 1817. Blount was originally a large county, but over the decades pieces were taken to make up other adjoining counties such as Jefferson, Marshall, Etowah, and Cullman. Every cemetery within the contemporary boundaries of Blount was visited by the author and each readable tombstone was copied to develop the contents of this three volume series. Most of the cemeteries were read in 2002. Volume 1 covers alphabetically A through H, beginning with the Alldredge Family Cemetery and concluding with the High Rock Methodist Church Cemetery. This book is vital to any serious student of Blount County genealogy and history.




People and Things from the Blount County, Alabama News-Dispatch 1890 - 1903


Book Description

The Blount County News was established by Lawrence H. Mathews in Blount Springs as the Blount Springs News in March of 1877. In 1887, Mathews' newspaper merged with the Blount County Dispatch to become the Blount County News-Dispatch. Mathews moved his paper for the last time in 1889 when Oneonta became the new county seat. Mathews died in 1896 but his paper continued until 1903 when it succumbed to the dominance of a new paper called the Southern Democrat. Microfilmed copies of the News-Dispatch were studied page by page and within this volume are found every mention of births, marriages, deaths, obituaries, and news important to the genealogy and history of Blount County. This volume also contains a rare and complete collection of Mary Gordon Duffee's Sketches of Blount County. Hidden nuggets of information of interest to the descendants of Blount County pioneers are found within this volume.




Blount County, Alabama Cemeteries, Volume 2


Book Description

Blount County was carved out of the territory ceded to the State by the Creek Indians following their defeat at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The earliest settlers began streaming into the former wilderness as early as 1817. Blount was originally a large county, but over the decades pieces were taken to make up other adjoining counties such as Jefferson, Marshall, Etowah, and Cullman. Every cemetery within the contemporary boundaries of Blount was visited by the author and each readable tombstone was copied to develop the contents of this three volume series. Most of the cemeteries were read in 2002. Volume 1 covers alphabetically H through P, beginning with the Hipp Family Cemetery and concluding with the Phillips Cemetery (sometimes called the Old County Line Cemetery). This book is vital to any serious student of Blount County genealogy and history.




Tales of Old Blount County, Alabama


Book Description

Many of the people and events in Blount County history are well documented. Others, not so much. This book of essays is an attempt to revisit some of the well known events of our county's past, add a little more background, and present our history from a Blount County point of view. In addition to illuminating some familiar topics, this book attempts to bring to light people and events who played significant roles in the development of Blount, but were somehow overlooked or skimmed over by the primary reference books-people and events which were the topic of conversation among our ancestors but over time, have been forgotten. These fun to read tales will promote a greater understanding of the history of Blount County.




Sketches of Alabama


Book Description

Mary Gordon Duffee's father, Matthew Duffee was born in Ireland and immigrated to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1823. In Tuscaloosa he operated a popular tavern, and he later bought a resort hotel at Blount Springs. Mary Duffee was born in Alabama in 1840 and spent many summers with her family at the resort. It was the journey to and from Blount Springs that inspired Duffee's best-known work, Sketches of Alabama, which originally appeared as fifty-nine articles in the Birmingham Weekly Iron Age in 1886 and 1887. She also contributed articles to several out-of-state newspapers, wrote guide books, advertising copy, and poetry. She died in 1920. This collection contains typescripts of some of Mary Gordon Duffee's Iron Age columns "Sketches of Alabama," manuscripts of seven of Duffee's poems, a typed biographical sketch of Duffee, undated, and Duffee's obituary from the Birmingham Age-Herald.




Blount County, Alabama Confederate Soldiers, Volume 3: Miscellaneous


Book Description

Mary Gordon Duffee wrote: "When the drums beat, and the bugles called for men to march to the front, I tell you old Blount responded nobly, and sent hundreds of her gallant sons to march, fight, suffer and die for the flag that now lies furled forever." This series of books attempts to identify all the Confederate soldiers who enlisted in organizations from the Blount County area, along with those who moved to Blount County after the Civil War. Whole company rosters are captured and entire service records, pension applications, birth dates, spouses and marriage dates, newspaper clippings and obituaries, and dozens of pictures are contained in these volumes. This is the first time ever all this information has been available in a single reference book. Volume 3 contains information on soldiers who enlisted in other Alabama organizations and those who moved to Blount County after the Civil War. These books are vital to any serious student of Blount County, Alabama genealogy and history.




People and Things from the Blount County, Alabama News and News-Dispatch 1879 - 1889


Book Description

The Blount County News was established by Lawrence H. Mathews in Blount Springs as the Blount Springs News in March of 1877. Mathews moved his paper to Blountsville the following October after the citizens of Blount County elected that town to remain the county seat. In 1887, Mathews' newspaper merged with the Blount County Dispatch to become the Blount County News-Dispatch. Mathews moved his paper for the last time in 1889 when Oneonta became the new county seat. Mathews died in 1896 but his paper continued until 1903 when it succumbed to the dominance of a new paper called the Southern Democrat. Microfilmed copies of the News and News-Dispatch were studied page by page and within these pages are found every mention of births, marriages, deaths, obituaries, and news important to the genealogy and history of Blount County. Hidden nuggets of information of interest to the descendants of Blount County pioneers are found within the pages of this volume.







People and Things from the Blount County, Alabama Southern Democrat 1920 - 1927


Book Description

The Southern Democrat was established by Forney G. Stephens at Blountsville in 1894. After fellow newspaperman Lawrence H. Mathews of the Blount County News-Dispatch died in 1896, Stephens moved the Democrat to Oneonta. When the News-Dispatch folded in 1903, the Democrat was the preeminent Blount County newspaper. Stephens died in 1939, but the Democrat continued to publish in Oneonta for almost 100 years. In 1989 the old Southern Democrat was renamed the Blount Countain. Microfilm for the old Southern Democrat was acquired from the State Archives in Montgomery and studied page by page. Every mention of births, marriages, deaths, obituaries and news important to the history and development of Blount County was reproduced here. This book is vital for any serious student of Blount County, Alabama genealogy and history.