THE STORY OF THORNHILL

Except for a handful of hardy pioneers who lived with the Indians, first settlement in the Thornhill area by English-origin white men first occurred about the time Alabama became a state around 1819. A few French trappers may have lived in the area for brief periods for a 100 years before the English came. It was only after General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River in 1814 that Alabama territory south of the Tennessee River became safe for the settlers of European origin. The government land office in Huntsville, Alabama sold some land in the Thornhill area beginning in 1822. It was in that year that the Byler Road begun in 1819 was completed from the Tennesse River area southward to Tuscaloosa, completing a connection to Nashville via the upper Natchez Trace (Military Road). Several of these first buyers had scouted out the land in advance of the sale and usually preferred the rich river bottom lands along with some prime ridge land between the coves for its prospective agriculture (mainly cotton) use and access to good drinking water. A man named Richard Priest (son-in-law of Joseph Burleson), who lived in the Moulton area bought the first 80 acre parcel in central Thornhill in 1821-1822 followed by John Green taking an adjacent 80 acres in 1823. Priest along with Joseph Burleson and others took land in the upper Buttahatchee river bottoms near the Whitehouse to Buttahatchee school area at this same time. This first-bought acreage in “central Thornhill” roughly coincided with the Mitchell-Hulsey-Postell farms of more recent times. There was a waiting period of about one year from application for the land until the “Patent Land” was issued to the buyer.

Note: The area called Thornhill was broadly used to cover much of eastern Marion county in some census takings of the 1800s. Actually in 1860 the area was referred to as Haleyville (and stretched northward to current Bear Creek, then called Allen’s Factory) after the Green Haley family presence in the Whitehouse area; and the area of Winston county now occupied by Haleyville was then referred to as Thornhill and therefore it is proper to call Haleyville, “Old Thornhill”. By 1870 census this was “flipped” and Haleyville was in Winston County and Thornhill in Marion, but for census purposes Thornhill still covered a broad area from the Whitehouse-Buttahatchee on the south to Old Ireland on the west, extending northward to near Bear Creek.

The First Wave of Settlement:

As one might imagine the demand for parcels to the south of current Thornhill along the Buttahatchee River bottoms were more prized and far more people took land along the corridor between the Whitehouse and the area known as Buttahatchee School.

Some of the earliest State land purchasers (before 1840) are as follows:

Thornhill Central (i.e., near the present church +- about 2 miles):

Richard Priest, 80 acres, Nov 29, 1822, Sec 23, T10S R11W
John Green, 80 acres, Oct 1, 1823, Sec 23, T10S R11W
Walter Matthews, 40 acres, 1838, Sec 33, T10S R 11W
Thomas Power, 40 acres, 1839, Sec 35, T10S R11W

Thornhill North (i.e., from the present Thornhill Rd/Hwy 129 [Mize store area] junction NE to county line):

Alex Underwood, 80 acres, Sept 10, 1838, Sec 11, T10S R11W
John McDaniel, 40 acres, 1839, Sec 12, T10S R11W

Thornhill South (from current Whitehouse to Buttahatchee School area):

Joseph Burleson, 240 acres, Nov 29, 1822, Sec 6 & 7, T11S R11W & Sec 1 of T11S R12W
Nathaniel Hobson, 80 acres, Dec 3, 1822, Sec 6, T11S R11W
John Hobson, 80 acres, Dec 3, 1822, Sec 4, T11S R12W
Isaac Reed, 240 acres, Oct 1, 1823, Sec 3, T11S R12W & Sec 4 11S 12W
John Burleson, 160 acres, Oct 20, 1823, Sec 4 & 5, T11S R12W
Nathan Self, 160 acres, Oct 20, 1823, Sec 28 & 33, T10S R12W
Hezekiah Fredrick, 80 acres, Oct 20, 1823, Sec 21, T10S R12W
Richard Priest, 80 acres, Apr 4, 1825, Sec 7, T11S R11W
Hilkiah Burleson, 80 acres, Jul 5, 1827, Sec 2, T11S R12W
William Nelson, 40 acres, Sept 10, 1834, Sec 30 T10S R11W
Joseph Burleson, 80 acres, 1834, Sec 6 & 7, T11S R11W
Daniel Stanford, 40 acres, Sept 10, 1834, Sec 1, T11S R12W
Lewis Love, 40 acres, Oct 14, 1834, Sec 7, T11S R11W
John Montgomery, 40 acres, Sept 10, 1838, Sec 7 T11S R11W
John Burleson, 40 acres, Sept 10, 1838, Sec 7 T11S R11W
John Johnston, 40 acres, Sept 10, 1838, Sec 12 T11S R12W
Hilkiah Burleson, 40 acres, Aug 1, 1839, Sec 1 T11S R12W

Letters would be sent “back home” by couriers to tell family of the fair new lands; and the word would spread. Wagons in the adjoining states would then be heaped with the family goods and the sturdy oxen or the best mules would be harnessed for the journey into Alabama, which largely followed Indian trails or primitive, quickly built roads.

An example of a letter sent back home is the following one sent in 1820 from a member of the Tucker family who settled down on the Marion/Fayette border.

“To Willia Rhew
Georgia Jasper County
to be left at Joel Wises ferry or at William Scottse ferry
1820

State of Alabama
Tuscaloosa County

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I gladly embrace the opportunity of riting to inform you that we are all in tolorable health at present hopeing when these few lines reaches you they will fine you all in good health. I have nothing vary particular to rite to you only I am well satisfied with the country I have taken a tripe upon the Sipsey and I like that cuntry better than where I live now and so nothing more at present only I want you Mr. William Rhew to push that note of Hambricks as quick as possible and you will oblige me vary much and so nothing more at present only,

remains your unworthy brother

January 20, 1820 Allen Tucker” [an uncle of Prudy Tucker Tidwell of Thornhill]

At some time in the late 1820 or 1830s, Joseph Burleson, born 1770 in the mountains of North Carolina, built an east-west road from the community of Houston (later to become the county seat of Winston) to Pikeville (the county seat of Marion). This road likely followed Indian and game trails and traversed along the north banks of Buttahatchee river in the Whitehouse area. Joseph Burleson had acquired several hundred acres centered around a homeplace on the high-ground hillside (now known as the Haley family and Whitehouse cemetery) which overlooks a sweep of verdant green pastureland that extends over a broad area along the north bank of the Buttahatchee river near its confluence with the Wyley (or Wiley) branch.

Joseph Burleson, Richard Priest and others from the Huntsville & Moulton area were land speculators of their time. Some of them were able to quickly turn their modest investments in prime land for profits of up to 400% within a few years.

The story of Joseph Burleson’s (b Feb 1, 1770 NC d Aug 2, 1849 TX) family history is most interesting and important to settling north Alabama and can be quickly summarized as follows:

Joseph’s father, Aaron II (b 1734-d 1782) was killed in 1782 by Cherokee Indians in the First Massacre of Mitchell County NC (valley between the Bald Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains; on the north side of the Great Smoky Mountains, south of Johnson City TN). Joseph was 12 years old and one of nine minor children left at home when his father was killed. One of Joseph’s sisters was also scalped by the Indians but survived. Some of this Burleson family, including Joseph, moved on into Warren County Kentucky, near Lexington by 1796. By 1807 Joseph and his brothers John & James B. Burleson had moved into Madison County, Mississippi Territory, living near the Huntsville spring. In December 1811, Joseph had taken a trip to Missouri to visit Burlesons there and experienced the great New Madrid earthquake in which the Mississippi River is said to have flowed backward. Back home in 1812, the three Burleson brothers and five of their sons joined the Mississippi Territory Militia (two were ranked Capt. and another a Lt.) under Andrew Jackson and all participated in the Battle at Horseshoe Bend Alabama, and later at the Battle of New Orleans. After the war, Joseph ran a public house (room and board) in Moulton and there met a traveling writer from the northeast named Anne Newport Royall, who wrote of the Burleson family adventures now captured in a book entitled, “Letters from Alabama, 1817-1822”. She later wrote a novel patterned after the life of Joseph Burleson. During the 1821-1835 period, Joseph attracted a number of his Burleson cousins to come down from TN to take land in Marion County. In about 1835, he was enticed to join with Sam Houston and others of his old Andy Jackson army comrades in fighting for Texas independence with the lure of free bounty land. Today, one of his sons (Aaron) and his son-in-law (James M. Hardeman) are portrayed in a large painting in the Texas State Capitol building in Austin as the two men holding the rope in the capture of Santa Anna. [Note: the Burleson's were strong believers in Christianity; a cousin of Joseph, one Rufus Columbus Burleson b 1823 in Morgan Co AL, went on to Waco TX where he was founder of Baylor University and served as its President for 50 years !]

Sons of Joseph’s first cousin, David F. Burleson, who had settled in Murphreesboro TN, were among the first and long-lasting residents of Marion County. David’s son John Washington Burleson (b Sept 3, 1775 NC d Apr 25, 1845 Marion Co AL - had ten children), and his son Hilkiah (Indian name; b 1786 NC d 1856 Marion County AL - had 26 children), and a daughter, Margaret “Peggy” (b 1791 NC d Jan 1, 1839 Marion County AL - had nine children) who married to Ezekiel Pope (b abt.1790 d ?). The mother of these Marion County Burleson pioneers was Ursula Weatherford Burleson (b abt 1755 in NC or TN d 1835 in Rutherford Co TN), said to be an Indian princess and a close relative of the half-breed William Weatherford or “Red Stick” who led the Creek Indians into war with the white settlers.

The story of the Church of Christ in this area is integral to the history of local families there. This story is told in part by an article which appeared in the Marion County Journal dated August 2, 1972:

“ALABAMA’S WHITE HOUSE...HISTORY LIVES ON TODAY

The history and establishment of the White House Church of Christ as told to Mr. Wesley Thompson in 1941.

Along in 1832, three dedicated young men, a Mr. Doss (possibly an uncle or cousin of Reuben J. Doss b 1820), a Mr. Burleson (possibly John Washington Burleson, Jr. b 1811) and a Mr. Cagle (possibly John Cagle b 1815) rode horseback to Huntsville, Alabama. These men were headed that way with plans to hear a great man speak of the Restoration Movement, (1832 documentary). The men then returned with a fire to bring people, fallen away from Christ, back to the original plan of the Disciples. The men started separate meetings around the community, they called the Headwater of the Butahatchee River, northwest Alabama until 1836 and established the White House Church of Christ as it is now.

Early preachers at the White House were: W.P. Caskey [further references on Caskey can be found in “CASKEY’S LAST BIOGRAPHY”]. He was from Tennessee and came in the 1830s to west Alabama and north Mississippi; Fannin B. Srygley: T.B. Larimore; Jerry Hallbrook; Tolbert Randolph and Charlie Wheeler. All these were here in the 1830s and 1840s.

The first minister of which there was any record of was Green Haley, who was also active in the “hill country” during the turbulent times of the war.

During the Civil War some of the early members were; the Dosses, the Burlesons, the Cagles, the Underwoods, the Phillips, the Mitchells and the Anson Hydes.

After the Civil War, in connection with the White House some of the people were the Lang C. Allens, the Jim Allens, Baz Tidwell, Riley Cole, William Weatherford and R.H. Logan...”

The Second Wave of Settlement:

The period between 1850 and the beginning of the Civil War in 1862 was a time of much immigration into the area. Most of the immigrants came north from Tennessee or east from Georgia/South Carolina/North Carolina. This “second wave” of settlers were often relatives or friends of those in the first wave. Some may have waited until after the Indians were removed and some roads built before venturing into the virgin forestland of NW Alabama. Among the families who came in this second wave are the following:

Name/BORN----------Name/BORN

Adams Sidney KY ...Jeffreys Evin TN
Akers Larkin ...Johnson James
Armstrong John AL ...Johnston Jacob S. TN
Armstrong Leroy ...Kennedy/Canady David S. TN
Baggett A.J. TN ...Kennedy Hamilton TN
Basil Andrew AL ...Kimbrough Pleasant TN
Bates John A. AL ...King John KY
Bates William C. TN ...Little George GA
Beard Constantine ...Logan James W. TN
Bishop Pinckney SC ...Logan William KY
Bradford William ...Lovett Andrew AL
Bull John TN ...McGuire John L TN
Burnet Lemuel SC ...Mitchell John NC
Cagle Charles NC ...Mitchell Joseph NC
Cagle John TN ...Mitchell Washington GA
Cagle Valentine AL ...Mitchell William NC
Cantrell T.T. SC ...Mobley James Jr. TN
Carr A.A. SC ...Mobley James Sr. NC
Chadwick Michael ...Nix Ambrose
Chambliss Henry SC ...Pate Samuel NC
Chambliss James M TN ...Pate Timothy NC
Clayton Simpson GA ...Peterson John NC
Clayton William SC ...Phillips John R NC
Cock Charles TN ...Pope James TN
Cockran Andrew K. NC ...Pope Solomon NC
Cockran Robert NC ...Pope William SC
Cole Martin GA ...Price Harmon SC
Craddick Isham AL ...Pugh Nathan SC
Damron William ...Roberts Asmus SC
Davis Jesse NC ...Russell Thomas TN
Davis Orrin RI/NC ...Sheffield Marquis NC
Dickinson Alfred GA ...Sherwood William TN
Dickinson George GA ...Sims George TN
Dickson Wylie R. GA ...Smith W.S. AL
Dickson Joseph SC ...Southern Alfred B. TN
Dikes Thomas AL ...Spradlin James
Dodd William AL ...Stanford Daniel SC
Downing William SC ...Stanford William AL
Evans John ...Steel James NC
Farrow Reuben SC ...Stembridge John TN
Flippo Sandy NC ...Stewart Franklin H. AL
Flowers Phillip NC ...Sullins James TN
Ford E.B. NC ...Sullins Jarret
Franks Elijah S. TN ...Tennison J.H. NC
Franks Elisha NC ...Thompson John NC
Freshours GeoWashington ...Thompson Solomon TN
Green Elijah C. TN ...Tidwell Wiatt N. SC
Green Samuel VA ...Watters William
Haley Green M. KY ...Weatherly Andrew NC
Harp Wiley GA ...Weatherly Jesse AL
Hammonds James ...Webb Joseph TN
Hill Charles ...Webb Winfield TN
Hill Thomas SC ...Wilson John NC
Holcomb David GA ...Wood Jesse GA/TN
Holcomb Thomas G. SC ...Wood William GA
Howard James ...Woods Aaron SC
Howell Burrel W. NC ...Wylie Peter AL
Howell John NC ...Wylie Samuel AL
Hudson David GA ...Wylie William
Hyde brothers GA ...Young John W. SC
Ingle Peter Jr. TN

The end of the arrival of these second wave pioneers is marked by the beginnings of the secession of Alabama from the Union in 1861 and the beginning of hostilities which would divide loyalties of local families. As a general rule with numerous exceptions, the river bottom families tended to own slaves, be reasonably prosperous and favored the Confederacy. The hill county ridge-toppers tended to be resistent to war (many preferred a pacifist course) or loyal to the Andrew Jackson concept of America; they usually took the Union side when push came to shove. The majority sentiment throughout the hilly country of north Alabama from GA to MS was to support the Union until seccession became unavoidable; then only the bravest of the hill-toppers from Jefferson County northward could summon the courage to defend the Union loyalties.

Whitehouse Community Leader - Green Monroe Haley

Green Haley was perhaps the most prominent man of the area during the Civil War period. The census indicates he had considerable wealth for that time and place. He was a successful merchant of mules and horses, moving them from Tennessee to Columbus, Mississippi and places between. Green and wife, Juliet, had raised a strong family of 13 children. At some point, believed to be about 1850 or so, Green and Juliet were baptized as members of the Church of Christ. He became widely known as a man of integrity and honor - one who could be trusted in friendship and in business. By the late 1850s, the diary of John R. Phillips reports him to be the area's pre-imminent churchman/minister and a productive caretaker of community needs.

Green Monroe Haley

b. Mar 13, 1820 - KY, d. Nov 6, 1882, buried at Haley cemetery adjacent to Whitehouse. He owned two slaves in the 1860 census and a few more by 1860. Green served as a representative to the 1861 Secession Convention in Montgomery, Alabama but reportedly opposed Secession. In 1865, he was elected to the State Legislature from Marion County to be part of the reconstruction of Alabama State Government under Federal supervision.

Green Haley's war claims at the conclusion of the Civil War indicate him to have been a Union Loyalist during the war. Even so, some of his children took sides or chose mates that give clues to the family diplomacy that would be required of him.

Martha A. Haley married Joseph Marshall Underwood, Capt. 5th Alabama Cavalry (CSA)

James Vardaman Haley, 10th Alabama Cavalry (CSA)

Elizabeth "Bettie" Haley married Simeon Tidwell (son of strong Unionist, Andrew J. Tidwell)

Charles Little Haley married Martha Jane Phillips (daughter of Unionist, John R. Phillips)

Susan Haley married King David Tidwell (son of strong Unionist, Andrew J. Tidwell)

According to a report by Madison "Matt" Haley, as handed down through the generations, there was a day during the Civil War period when a group of Tories came in search of Preacher Green Haley to rob him. Justification for this act was possibly drawn from the fact that Haley had at least one son & one son-in-law in CSA service. Green Haley would not tell the Tories of any money, so they proceeded to hang him. Fortunately, the bandits rode off quickly after hoisting him up the rope. Green's wife stood underneath him, giving limited ability to support himself, until help came to cut him down. It was a close call for the central figure of this community.

John Roberts Phillips Autobiography presents the setting of life in the Thornhill area at that time (first arrived in February, 1859). Following is a generous excerpt from that work:

“ We struck the Biler Road near what was called Littleville, the home of Ap Little, then to “old” Thornhill --now Haleyville-- where Judge Orrin Davis [b 1800 in RI or NC d aft 1860] lived. He had a lot of nice cottages furnished for the accommodation of summer visitors for it was a health resort, also for the accommodation of the traveling public. The many horse and hog drovers, also Negro drovers, found lodging and board here. He had a post office here also, the only one that was know of in that part of the county...

I had an introduction to Judge Davis. He was a large landholder. He had a Negro quarter on Lost Creek where Carbon Hill now is, and he also had land cultivated on Buttahatchee and on “Big” Bear Creek by slaves...

We went on down the Biler Road to what was known as Boar Tusk Springs, where “Crooked” John Cagle [b 1797 SC d aft 1860] lived. After we left Cagle’s, William Bradford, who had bought land from Judge Davis and who lived in The Cove, came along and Judge Davis told him about us... He had over-bought and wanted to sell some of his land.

The next morning, we struck The Cove at “Right Roden Deanening” [a place where a Mr. Roden had deadened trees to make “new ground”]. The land was very rich and in very small bodies. It was heavily timbered, with no improvements and no roads. We proceeded down the road to the land that Bradford wanted to sell us. It lay in much better bodies and a good deal of it had been in cultiation, but had grown up in cane, elder, muscadine and grape vines. I liked the land fine and bought it that day. I let him have one of my ponies on it and owed him the balance, whcih was to be in payments...

I had learned that a man named Bill Dodd [b 1825 d ?; had a store on the Biler Road, southwest of Delmar; married to Elizabeth Tittle] owned land adjoining the land I had bought, and that he had a little empty cabin on it near the line of my land... He said I could get the little cabin, but only for a short time. It was about 12 by 14 feet, so one can imagine the situation with my wife, two children, me, my friend Suits, his wife, one child, and his wife’s sister, Sarah Redmond, who was about grown. There were eight of us in all.

We got there on Saturday night and spent Sunday locating a suitable place for building our house. We also entertained many visitors who had heard of us in advance and came for several miles to see what we looked like, we supposed. They also wanted to congratulate us on our arrival and offer any assistance we might need in building our home. Among them was “Stuttering Charlie” Cagle [b 1835 AL or TN d ?]. We highly appreciated this, but told them we would only ask for help to handle the logs in the erection of the building...

We were soon ready to raise the building...We built a stick and dirt chimney in each end and were ready to move in. This we immediately did.

We had nothing to do now but go to work clearing land and preparing for a crop. About this time, I sold my last pair of oxen to a man who agreed to clear five acres of land and pay the balance in corn. I had already bought 15 bushels of corn from Burl Howell [b 1820 NC d 1877 Buttahatchie/Barn Creek], a well-to-do farmer some ten miles west of here. One of my neighbors, Reuben Farrow [b 1820 SC d ?], recommended me to him and signed a note with me as security for the corn. I then had, with what corn the man owed me, enough corn to do me. I was quite happy about being so well fixed...

I had some liesure days as I did not have enough land to keep me busy all the time. Mr. Farrow, three miles away, told me he would give me 70 cents a day if I would bring my horse and plow for him. I was glad of this as we needed the money. We had meat only when I would kill a deer or turkey, which was right often...

I couldn’t get any work to do, save the few days I plowed for Mr. Farrow through the summer. There was lots of game in the woods and wild bees too. We found a number of bee trees and lots of wild honey to eat... We also had all the venison we needed and some to give away. I bought some hogs and they increased and grew. The earth was covered in many places with acorns and beech nuts, so the hogs had nothing to do but grow and thrive...

Along about then, I got acquainted with a man by the name of Green Haley [b 1820 KY d 1882 at the Whitehouse] who was a slave holder, a farmer, horse trader and what was then called a “Campbellite” preacher. He was one of the most accomodating men I ever met. I told him of my trouble, about giving up my last horse, that it would take all the money I had owning me to pay off my indebtedness, and I did not know what I would do to get something to plow to make a crop with. He told me not to suffer any uneasiness in regard to that. He would furnish me with any kind of a horse I wanted, and that I could just set my own time to pay for it...

I admired Mr. Haley as much as any man I ever met, except his Campbellism, which I could not endure. [J.R. Phillips later was to be a lay church leader at Thornhill and after 1880 in the Bear Creek, Marion Co area] We had never talked on the subject of Christianity, but I had heard enough about their sort to settle the matter once and for all. My father and his people were Methodists, while my mother and her people were Baptists. So I held with the Methodists after my father died, but my mother went back to the Baptists. We went to all the camp meetings of each one every year and attended the regular meetings. My mother encouraged me in reading the Bible, and I had read it through by the time I was ten years old. Nearly all of my neighbors were Campbellites, and I had many discussions with them on the Bible. Quite often I would, I thought, get the best of the arguments. As soon, however, as they would confer with Mr. Haley, they would meet my argument and show my interpretation to favor them and confound my position.

The mill I went to weekly was kept by a Methodist Circuit Rider, who preached for the Old Ireland congregation. They were not able to support him and got him the position of miller to assist them. I told him of my discussions with the Campbellites, and desired him to come over and help me out. He said if I could get a place for him to preach, he would come. So I got him to make an appointment at my house...

When the appointed time came, we had quite a crowd... I wanted the preacher to skin the Campbellites, just rip them up and back, but he didn’t...I had some children that would soon be old enough to need teaching the religion of the Bible, the old, reliable religion of our fathers and mothers. I did not want them to hear such stuff as they would hear at what is now called “The White House”. He told me the best thing I could do was not to go to their meetings and not to associate with them any more than I could help...I had good neighbors among these Campbellites who had helped me roll logs and were good and kind to me...

I sold Judge Davis 50 bushels of corn at 60 cents a bushel. I was to have it gathered by a set time...I asked the Judge why he had not sent for the corn that day as he had promised to do...He replied that his wagons were all broken, and he was not in any shape to get the corn now...

Well, I started back home mad and discouraged. Old man Alec Underwood [b 1797 d abt 1865 - reportedly hung by Union sympathizers] lived on the road that I passed on my way home [Underwood’s original land grant acquired in 1838 was the current Mize Store area]. I told him the treatment I had got from Judge Davis, and he demeaned him to the lowest degree for the way he had treated me and said, “Well, John, I will pay you 50 cents a bushel for your corn and will come and get it as soon as you come back. I will give you the money now to enable you to go right on and meet your matters in North Carolina on time”.

[note: the term "Campbellite" is considered derogotory by church members who seek to return to an “original new-testament pattern” rather than give any special significance other than historical to the formative work of Alexander Campbell or his father, Thomas]

The Civil War Period around Thornhill:

The reader is referred to the books by Wesley Thompson and the autobiography of John Roberts Phillips for this period.

Local USA soldiers included: John R. Phillips; Andrew D. Mitchell; Mordecai M. Cox; Jeremiah Cock; John B. Kimbrough; George W. Dickinson; Andrew Jackson Southern; Columbus Bishop; Elijah Green; Benjamin F. Wylie.

Local CSA soldiers included: numerous Burlesons; several Underwoods; (needs research).

Post-War Period of Thornhill (focus or writer is now solely on Thornhill central):

During the war and afterward in the 1865-1880 period of Reconstruction, families regrouped and a number moved on west generally with the idea of being near other family members. In the Thornhill central area some of the new faces were Larkin Craft, William Howell Chastain, Reuben J. Doss, Andrew Mitchell, Baz & Prudy Tidwell & Ahaz Caudle. John R. Phillips returned from the war and operated a general merchandise store, complete with a postoffice, blacksmith, cotton gin, barber, rooms for rent and even had a physician, Dr. Richard Watkins, living as a boarder by 1880. This was the pinnacle of the commercial development life of Thornhill.

The period began with optimism about a better life and the economy was showing the normal post-war growth trend. Cotton prices were good and local textile operations were springing up around the county. Unfortunately, the former Union Army Generals (such as General Buell) and other officers who became railroad barons after the war decided to build the Illinois Central Railroad along a route from Nauvoo to Lynn to Natural Bridge to Delmar to Haleyville. This route drew the population to the new rail depots which also formed the new trade routes of that time. Thornhill was off the beaten track. John R. Phillips decided soon after 1880 to relocate to Allen’s Factory (west Bear Creek) and get into textiles as well as form a cross-tie supply operation for the railroad. The community became solely a farming and logging community after this action was taken.

John R. Phillips raised a large, fine family. He had 16 children by wives Mahalia Bellew and Mary Eveline Roberts. And he had one out-of-wedlock child named Donah Pate (married a Holcomb) about 1867, and she is shown living in his household in the 1880 census. Donah’s mother is reported to be Mary E. Pate daughter of Samuel and Martha Pate who homesteaded a farm more recently known as the Harp Place, which was acquired jointly by Albert and son Gene Mize about 1948.

The life of the community after the departure of the Phillips family was to become even more closely connected with the combination church and school located just about 1/2 mile south of the Phillips Merchandise Store area.

According to an article published in the Northwest Alabamian (formerly Haleyville Advertiser) dated May 28, 1964 by J. Dossy Stone:

“The Church of Christ at Thornhill was established approximately 75 years ago [i.e., about 1889; but perhaps much earlier as the John Roberts Phillips Autobiography discusses the area being involved actively in arguing the bible when he arrived in 1859 ].... Some of the ministers who have served the Church in the beginning were: C.A. Wheeler, George Weaver and Jim Wade. These were pioneer preachers that a few people now living can still remember.

Mrs. Austraylia Doss, who lives in South Haleyville and is 84 years of age [b abt 1880], can point with pride to the days when she was just a young girl. She still remembers the days when she attended church at Thornhill and about the building being purchased from the state when schools were consolidated. Purchase of the property was arranged by the late Andrew D. Mitchell [b 1846 GA d 1931 at Thornhill] for the price of $5.00. The present building is something like 65 years old [built about 1899]. The school house, as it used to be called, was first remodeled by the late A.B. Putnam [b 1884 SC d 1953 Haleyville AL, grandfather of web site owner] in the 1930s. Later, in 1942, it was again given a new face by Bro. Hugh Foster and fellow workers, and four new classrooms were added to the back and side of the building.

Membership of the church at its most prosperous growth was under the preaching of B.F. Harding, now deceased. Bro. Harding, during his best days, held 21 revivals for the church, in succession. John T. Underwood of Spruce Pine [Franklin Co AL], held the first major revival for the Church in 1916, during which 16 persons were baptized.

The community of Thornhill was first settled by such men as J.R. Phillips [b 1837 NC d 1925 at Bear Creek, Marion Co AL], Andrew D. Mitchell, Ancel Hyde [b 1830 GA d 1885 at Thornhill], Kale Hyde, and Mordecai McKinney Cox [b 1837 GA d 1923 at Thornhill]. They lived in this community during the Reconstruction days, following the Civil War...

Incidentally, one of the most beloved characters serving the Church as a leader from 1928 to his illness and death, was J.R. Brock, affectionately known as “Uncle Belton”. He served the Church faithfully for a period of 24 years.

Editor’s note: J.D. Stone was asked to provide information for the above story, and he did. However, he failed to point out his important role in the success and growth of this Church. A couple of Sunday’s ago, he preached his 49th consecutive sermon at the annual Decoration [from abt 1915-1964] Services, which we feel is a State record.

Bro. Stone and his wife still live in the Thornhill Community and he preaches there each second Sunday. Each first Sunday, services are donducted by minister Coil Dickinson.

At Decoration Services, the cemetery was aglow with many hundreds of flowers, and each grave have been freshly covered over with white sand.

A nice marble memorial to Sgt. Andrew D. Mitchell, who served in Co. L of the 1st Alabama Cavalry of the Civil War, is easily found when the cemetery is visited. He was born in 1846 and died in 1931 at the age of 85. He was Thornhill’s first Postmaster.

Other old graves in the cemetery include that of Catherine Southern, wife of A.B. Southern, born in April 1826, and buried in March of 1876. That grave alone dates the cemetery back 88 years.”

Catherine Stiles, a descendant of Reuben J. Doss [b 1820 GA d 1912, buried at Thornhill], Pleasant Kimbrough [b 1818 TN d aft 1860 Marion Co AL] and other Thornhill families, has provided the following letters which describe how some of the Thornhill residents went to Tennessee (perhaps familiar with those area from their Civil War refuge experiences) for better income opportunity and to avoid some fueds left over from the Civil War era.

Catherine Stiles, P. O. Box 52, Lancaster, CA 93584

carrie@ptw.com

April 26, 1997

I have copies of two letters from J. B. Kimbrough to S. P. Kimbrough (his brother, and my grandfather). I only have xerox copies. The originals were in the possession of Mrs. Esther Luster of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who was the widow of Arthur Luster, a grandson of S. P. Kimbrough.

Thorn Hill Ala Dec the 8 1880

Dear brother and family. I was glad to hear that you was all well... we are all up not well... my health is better than it has been... nothing new nor strange to write you... the connections is well... the Railroad is at work at the Boars Tusk giving 125 a day for hands.. for a team and driver 325... 25 for cross ties a good chance to make money here I heard from Sary and Jackson the other day they are well and doing well

[Boar Tush, just south of Haleyville; prob $1.25 per day wages & $0.25/cross tie]

Peat, they is the best chance to make money here I ever saw... Peet Fanny Weaver is ded... I heard today that Isaac Snow’s wife was ded... Jesse Underwoods boy was shot ded near James Pearces riding the mail ... cant find out who dun it... come and see us... I dont think they wood be any danger ... if you cant come write and tell us the name of your post office yours as ever J. B. Kimbrough

[Jesse Underwood’s family were Confederates as were the James’ Pearces - who lived in the Pearce’s Mill community along the Buttahatchee]

May the 17 1885 (date is not clear--could be 1885 or 1888)

Dear brother.. we are all up not well... I am not well.. I have been sick all spring... times is about as hard here as common... we are trying to make a crop

Well Wes McNutt is a working with us.. it is the coldest dryest weather I ever seen for the time a year .. truck that is planted is doing no good.. we heard that you and Linkern set in to make a crop and they whiped Linkern bad and run you off and you all quit your crop... I heard of some quiting there crops here for lack of Rashens.. corn one dollar a bushel... baken 11 cents and no money

I have not heard anything from Sarah and Jackson since you left here... I have been sick and at home nearly all the time... tell tom and Caroline to come over and less go to New River a fishing

I heard that Tom was a doing the best of any body that had went to Tennessee... tell James southern when he wants to come home to let me no I will try to send for him... has Ben Dickinson come after his wife.. tell James Crouch (or maybe Cronck) to not stay there and bee imposed on for I will come after him if he will let me no... the connections is all well they are trubbled about (paper has been folded--can’t read) corn.........will get it up

they has been a heap of sickness in this country last winter and a grate many deaths

we have five boys at our house

let me hear from you yours as ever J. B. Kimbrough to S. P. Kimbrough

John B. Kimbrough, b 1842 AL d 1891 buried at New Hope Bapt. cem; 1st Ala Cavalry.

Simon Peter Kimbrough b 1848 AL d ?0

[I don’t know where my grandfather was when John wrote these letters to him. Evidently somewhere in Tennessee. My maternal great grandfather moved to Hardin Co., Tennessee about 1882, and S. P. and my grandmother were married there, so he may have been in that area. The Jackson and Sarah mentioned in both letters is my grandfather’s first wife (from whom he was divorced) and his son. I have no idea what “danger” John means in relation to my grandfather coming back. A James Southern was living with John and Viney in the 1880 census--this may be the same one. Tom and Caroline---I think this may be John’s sister Caroline and her husband, whom I think is the son of John I. Dickinson...(New River is in northeast Fayette County, near present Hubbertville). The Fanny Weaver that John says is dead, is, I believe, Viney’s sister Francis Catherine Dickinson, also called Nellie), wife of George. They are buried at Crooked Creek Cemetery, but there are no dates shown for her. John B. Kimbrough’s wife was Rachel Vina Dickinson,, daughter of John I. Dickinson. - notes of Arthur Luster]

The main community building in Thornhill served as both a church and a school until school consolidation in the 1930s to Craft School, located in north Thornhill about 1/2 mile south of Mize’s store. Aunt Annie Mae Putnam Halbert [b 1905 GA, now living in San Antonio, TX] remembers from her school days at Thornhill in the 1915 period that the school had a piano (or organ), and on Sunday the fundamentalist, Restoration Movement, non-instrumental music christians would roll the piano/organ off-stage into a wooden box custom built for the purpose.

Aunt Annie Mae also remembers how she ran to Marilda Mitchell’s house to ask for her help when one of her mother’s [Susie Putnam] babies was born. She said “we loved the Mitchells”.

Karlton Halbert lived in Haleyville and would court Annie Mae by driving down to Thornhill in the period around 1920. Annie Mae told me the following about her early years in Thornhill leading to her honeymoon. As a young teenager, she had three boyfriends - Jim Bates and his brother, Gilbert Bates and Chester Estes. But the city boy, Karlton Halbert, outdid the others by coming down to see her every sunday for about a year in a rented horse and buggy. The other three boys were a bit jealous and surrounded Karlton one day but fisticuffs were avoided - perhaps by the intervention of Preacher Wilcutt. Well, eventually she and Karlton were married [June 11, 1921] and went to Birmingham on a one week trip for their honeymoon. It seems the honeymoon was just about ruined by a peeping-tom; during one passionate moment, Annie Mae looked up and saw a "nigger" looking in the transom ! The honeymoon was never the same after that (pardon my use of the “n-word”, please).

The Great Depression Era at Thornhill:

The Depression of the 1930s was a devestating event across much of the country but few places suffered as much as the rural south, which had not been rebuilt since the Civil War except in a few areas such as Birmingham. Those who owned farm lands generally were obliged to take in tenant farmers who would perform designated work or farm a portion of land in return for an agreed upon split of the result. Most of the farmers in the Thornhill area took in such tenant families to work the cotton, corn or timber cultivation and harvest. People subsisted on produce from the land with little or no room to spare.

All farm women (and the men & children) tended a generous vegetable plot in which was normally raised turnips, collards, onions, radish, squash, runner-beans, okra, purple-hull peas and often larger plots would be set aside for peanuts, field peas, water-melons, cantaloupe, pop-corn, etc. Meat came from home raised chickens, pigs and cows. Pork was smoked and salted and put in a large wood box. Little wild game was available as the surrounding woodlands had been overhunted in earlier years.

Cotton was the primary cash crop (along with illegal wildcat whiskey which was secretly made in locations not likely to be found by the US Government “Revenuers”). New farm land was created by clearing “new ground” by using axes to cut stump roots and then pulling stumps over by pulling with a team of mules. The brush would be pulled into a pile and set afire, leaving rich nutrient ash. The land would be turned with a 10-inch Oliver plow, section harrowed and planted. Plowing equipment was all one-row equipment which included a fertilizer distributor, planter, Georgia stock, Joe harrow, scratcher and other minor equipment. After planting, cotton was thinned to one or two stalks each 12-14 inches and corn was thinned to one stalk each 42 inches in rows that were 36-42 inches apart. Corn was far enough apart to drop sodium nitrate around individual stalks by hand, thereby only fertilizing the corn and not much of the grass.

The cotton was harvested and hauled by wagon to the gin (Irving Batchelor’s gin in South Haleyville) and sold. Part of the cotton seed was kept and fed to the cows.

Only a few people had radios, because batteries and an outside antenna, which cost money, were required. Kerosene lamps were the only lights and they were about equivalent to 7-10 watts (this situation persisted until REA came into the area in about 1949 or 1950).

During this period, a cotton mill had been built to serve the area from its factory by the railroad tracks at Haleyville. Several Thornhill people moved into its “mill village” when they got a job at the factory. The factory organized and went on stike and was shut down for years as much needed jobs were lost. The railroad would buy oak crossties at selected locations along the track, paying from 25-45 cents each.

Dr. Olivet served the community as a physician who made house calls during those days. A standard treatment for a variety of ailments was a round of calomel followed by two tablespoons of castor oil.

A few citizens of the community had bought cars when times were good during the 1920s. But during the depression, gasoline was much too expensive and most cars sat idle. A number of car owners took the axles and wheels off and adapted them with a wagon bed, and these were know as “Hoover Wagons” throughout the countryside.

(the above section has borrowed much content from the work of Bill Burleson of Guin, Marion Co [now of Meridianville] AL and his book The Burleson Family History, pub. 1988)

Those Were the Good Ole Days

The memories of my days at Craft School in 1948-1951 are most enjoyable. In particular, my memories are centered around my grandparents in the upper Thornhill/New Hope community and is told by the following excerpt from a eulogy to my grandfather, Albert Mize, upon his death in October, 1979.

"Aside from providing a simple but well feathered nest for Maggie, himself and the sevenchildren to come, Albert had a range of interests. He had one of the first home electricalgenerating plants in rural Marion County. He chauffered an uncle to Oklahoma andTexas in a new motor car in 1920. Business operations included various sawmills, a gristmill, country store, farm crops, growing chickens and livestock. For many years he alsoowned and drove a school bus. One bus lasted 17 years and heaven knows how manymiles. During the 1930's he transported students from the Thornhill area to Phillips HighSchool at Bear Creek and drove their athletic teams to all the sporting events. In the1940's and 50's he had multiple routes carrying elementary school students from SouthHaleyville and Thornhill to the Craft School on Thornhill Road. He was my bus driverduring the first three grades of my school at Craft and how I looked forward to seeing himeach morning and afternoon. The perfect ending to a day in those years was to completethe final route with him and then drop by the store to see Mama Mize and have a bigorange and a moon pie.

People came from all over that area to get corn meal ground by Daddy Mize. Thespinning belts and pulleys soon filled the hoppers with meal for bagging. The milling wasalways done in return for part of the meal, which was then sold in his country store. Daddy Mize would shake the meal dust off his overalls and off the sweaty brim of his hatbetween his morning and evening bus runs, but you could always tell he ran a grist mill. That is, he did until 1950 when self-rising meal started getting so popular that he shut themill down. But people kept coming to the country store as much to laugh and joke withDaddy Mize as to buy groceries or gas. I never knew him to have an enemy or be in anargument with anyone. Well, not unless the subject was politics ! The country store'spotbellied stove was a forum for hot political debates over the likes of Big Jim Folsum,George Wallace, Rankin Fite, etc. But county road commissioners stirred the hottestdiscussions. Everyone had pet road projects and had a special inside track with the roadcommissioner or else he was an outsider until next election. Andof course everybodyknew who bought whose vote -- be it with whiskey or hard cash.

Daddy Mize seldom dressed up. For about 35 years he only needed one pair of "SundayShoes" which he wore each decoration day to New Hope Baptist Church where hisparents and his own infant daughter are buried. His family had donated land for thechurch and cemetery and its red and yellow clay is the final resting place of most AlabamaMizes (of Marion County), their kin and neighbors.

The future will bring occasions to reminisce with nostalgia about the Alabama hillsidesaround Daddy Mize's house. I'll recall the persimmons and wild grapes after the first frost;visiting minstrels with guitars and home grown popcorn at Halloween; shellin' peas,shuckin' corn, pickin' cotton at harvest time, feedin' chickens, milkin' cows, sloppin' hogs,hoein' corn, pickin' berries, ad infinitum. I'll remember the people of the communitywho've hone before like Pa, Emmer, Nate Hulsey, Jeff Prestridge, Pheebe Craft, TomGuinead, Dossy Stone, Jake and Ed Stults, Lifus Whitworth, Sid Daniel, Rel Norris,Clovis Hodge, Arthur Putnam, Jack Harrison, Jack Kelton, John Bailey, Joe Forrester,Howard and Curtis Hulsey, Tom Dickinson, the Lauderdale brothers and all the rest. There will be favorite places like the Harp Place with its fist pond carved out by "oleHitler", the tough old Chevy truck, and the clean cool water from the spring. I'll think ofhaying time and the little Ford tractor or the big John Deere or maybe I'll see the turningplow pulled through the sandy red clay as Daddy Mize commands the mule to gee or haa."

[story under construction]

References & Sources:

US Census, various decades.

Marion County Alabama Tracks, various volumes, Marion County Genealogical Society

Trails, North Alabama Genealogical Society, Inc.

The History and Genealogy of Some Pioneer Northern Alabama Families; by Brittian, Mary Novella Gibson, Northland Press, Flagstaff, AZ, 1969.

Sherman’s Horsemen by David Evans, 1995

The Free State of Winston, by Thompson, Wesley, 1968

Tories of the Hills, by Thompson, Wesley, 1960 -3rd edition

Winston: An Antebellum & Civil War History, by Dodd & Dodd, 1972

First Land Settlers of Marion County, Alabama 1820-1850, by Lawler, James C., 1981

John Roberts Phillips, An Autobiography, Genealogy, History, by Campbell A.G., 1986

Burleson Family Association Newsletters, various volumes

The Burleson Family History, by Wm Gene Burleson, 1988

Letters from Alabama 1817-1822, by Royall, Anne Newport, Univ. of Ala Press, 1969

Alabama Records, compiled by Gandrud, Pauline Jones, pub by Southern Histr Press, vol 12, Easley SC.

Cemetery Inscriptions of Marion County Alabama, compiled by Stalcup & Stalcup, volumes I, II & III.

Tennessee Cousins, by Ray, Worth S.; pub by Genealogical Pub Co, Baltimore MD.

Personal Records, of Catherine Stiles, Lancaster, CA & Allana Tidwell Rucks of Taft, CA

Peter Ingle, by Wm D. Ingle of Cullman AL

T.B. Larimore & His Boys, by J.C. Srygley (son-in-law of John R. Phillips)

Southern Loyalists, by Gary B. Mills

The Hightower Family Book, by R.O. and A.C. Grubbs

Records of John R. Phillips, in the pocession of Don Umphrey, Dallas TX

[to be continued, story under construction]