Catfights and Coffins: Stories of Alabama Courthouses

Catfights฀and฀Coffins:฀Stories฀of฀ Alabama฀Courthouses “THE฀COURTHOUSE฀IS฀AN฀OUTGROWTH฀OF฀CIVILIZATION.฀It฀may฀be฀said฀ that฀erection฀of฀a฀courthouse฀in฀new฀and฀virgin฀territory฀signified฀the฀ establishment฀of฀a฀stable฀government฀dedicated฀to฀law฀and฀order.”1 ฀ This฀comment฀by฀a฀historian฀writing฀about฀the฀early฀Montgomery฀ County฀Courthouse฀is฀reflected฀in฀the฀actions฀of฀settlers฀in฀all฀parts฀ of฀Alabama.฀ ฀ In฀colonial฀times฀on฀the฀Eastern฀seaboard฀there฀were฀usually฀two฀ public฀buildings฀in฀most฀settlements:฀a฀church฀and฀a฀tavern.฀Both฀ of฀these฀were฀often฀used฀by฀circuit-riding฀judges฀to฀hold฀court.2 ฀In฀ pioneer฀Alabama฀it฀is฀probable฀that฀this฀practice฀was฀common,฀but฀ there฀is฀also฀evidence฀that฀a฀building฀devoted฀to฀the฀conduct฀of฀judicial ฀affairs฀was฀an฀early฀priority฀for฀settlers.฀One฀of฀the฀first฀actions฀ taken฀when฀a฀county฀was฀established฀was฀the฀selection฀of฀a฀site฀for฀the฀ county฀seat฀and฀the฀building฀of฀a฀courthouse.฀On฀early฀maps฀you฀will฀ find฀town฀names฀such฀as฀Chambers฀Courthouse,฀Fayette฀Courthouse,฀ and฀Dale฀Courthouse,฀showing฀the฀importance฀given฀to฀the฀location฀ of฀these฀structures. ฀ Even฀though฀emphasis฀was฀placed฀on฀a฀building฀dedicated฀to฀the฀ law,฀many฀counties฀had฀judicial฀business฀to฀conduct฀before฀they฀got฀ A N N E ฀ H E R B E R T ฀ F E AT H E R S Anne฀Feathers฀is฀a฀retired฀speech-language฀pathologist฀living฀in฀Greenville.฀The฀author฀ would฀like฀to฀thank฀the฀editors฀of฀The฀Alabama฀Review,฀Robert฀J.฀Jakeman฀and฀Carey฀E.฀ Cauthen,฀and฀Norwood฀Kerr,฀Frazine฀Taylor,฀and฀the฀research฀staff฀of฀the฀Alabama฀Department ฀of฀Archives฀and฀History.฀In฀addition฀to฀those฀listed฀in฀the฀references,฀the฀author฀is฀ extremely฀grateful฀to฀all฀those฀who฀helped฀in฀gathering฀courthouse฀lore.฀Some฀of฀these฀are:฀ Inez฀Barnett,฀Ed฀Bridges,฀Susan฀Cranfield,฀Wayne฀Deloach,฀Ralph฀B.฀Draughon฀Jr.,฀Sandra฀ Fowler,฀ Shannon฀ Hall-James,฀ Patricia฀ Blondel฀ Harden,฀ Doshia฀ Harper,฀ Davida฀ Hastie,฀ Bert฀Hitchcock,฀Mary฀Frances฀Jones,฀Gene฀Kerlin,฀Dot฀Moore,฀Steve฀Murray,฀Phyllis฀J.฀K.฀ Owens,฀Ranee฀Pruitt,฀Frances฀Robb,฀Margaret฀Clayton฀Russell,฀Bobby฀Joe฀Seales,฀Mary฀Jane฀ Skinner,฀Lori฀Smith,฀T.฀Larry฀Smith,฀Judy฀Taylor,฀and฀G.฀Sidney฀Waits฀Jr.฀This฀presidential฀ address฀was฀read฀at฀the฀annual฀meeting฀of฀the฀Alabama฀Historical฀Association฀held฀in฀the฀ Shoals฀(Florence,฀Muscle฀Shoals,฀Sheffield,฀and฀Tuscumbia),฀April฀19,฀2008. 1฀ National฀Society฀of฀the฀Colonial฀Dames฀of฀America฀in฀the฀State฀of฀Alabama฀(CDA),฀Early฀ Courthouses฀of฀Alabama,฀Prior฀to฀1860฀(Mobile,฀1966),฀52. 2฀ Nancy฀Means฀Jackson,฀“I’ll฀Drink฀to฀That,”฀American฀Spirit,฀September/October฀2007,฀33. T H E ฀ A L A B A M A ฀ R E V I E W 164 around฀to฀building฀a฀shelter฀in฀which฀to฀conduct฀this฀business.฀Legend฀ has฀it฀that฀the฀first฀court฀hearings฀in฀Baldwin฀County฀were฀held฀with฀ the฀judge฀sitting฀in฀the฀forks฀of฀a฀huge฀live฀oak,฀with฀jurors฀gathered฀ on฀his฀right฀and฀spectators฀on฀his฀left.฀The฀tree฀was฀ever฀thereafter฀ known฀as฀“court฀oak.”฀Another฀old฀tree,฀known฀as฀the฀“hangman’s฀ oak,”฀grew฀nearby฀and฀was฀used฀to฀carry฀out฀executions.3 ฀The฀first฀ courts฀in฀what฀would฀become฀Butler฀County฀were฀held฀at฀Fort฀Dale฀ under฀the฀“sheltering฀branches฀of฀several฀oak฀trees.”4 ฀The฀first฀judge฀ in฀Walker฀County฀sat฀on฀a฀“big฀rock฀near฀a฀larger฀rock฀on฀which฀sat฀ the฀jury.”5 ฀These฀rocks฀can฀still฀be฀seen฀in฀Jasper. ฀ When฀the฀first฀court฀in฀Randolph฀County฀was฀convened฀in฀1833,฀ the฀judge฀“presided฀over฀the฀opening฀session฀sitting฀on฀a฀log฀and฀ leaning฀against฀a฀large฀oak฀tree.”฀The฀first฀commissioner’s฀court฀was฀ held฀under฀a฀mulberry฀tree฀near฀the฀ferryman’s฀house.฀The฀next฀year฀ the฀first฀indoor฀court฀was฀held฀in฀the฀dwelling฀of฀Chief฀Wedowee.฀ Even฀after฀a฀place฀to฀hold฀court฀was฀found฀through฀the฀courtesies฀ of฀the฀chief,฀a฀place฀to฀hold฀prisoners฀was฀still฀a฀problem;฀a฀prisoner฀ in฀the฀first฀jail,฀a฀hollow฀log฀on฀the฀river฀bank,฀had฀come฀“near฀to฀ drowning฀when฀a฀sudden฀rise฀in฀the฀Tallapoosa฀floated฀him฀off฀in฀his฀ prison.”฀After฀that฀episode,฀the฀jail...