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Lamar County Genealogical And Historical Society
History :
The following article, written by Samuel A. Rumore, Jr. appeared in The Alabama Lawyer in March 1992. Mr. Rumore has researched and written a history of Alabama’s courthouses.
Lamar County, in northwest Alabama, has two interesting distinctions. It is one of only three counties in Alabama, the other two being Colbert and Etowah, to have been created, abolished and then re-established. And it is the only county in Alabama to have had three different names-Jones, Sanford and Lamar.
If any one person could be called the "Father of Lamar County" it must be John Hollis Bankhead, the patriarch of the family which produced such eminent Alabamians as Senator John H. Bankhead, Jr., Speaker of the House William B. Bankhead and actress Tallulah Bankhead. Bankhead's forebears were early Alabama pioneers who settled in the area near present-day Sulligent around 1816. He served as a captain in the Confederate Army and began his long career of public service in 1865 by winning a seat in the Alabama Legislature from Marion County. His political career continued until his death in 1920 when Bankhead was serving as a United States Senator from Alabama. He was the last Confederate veteran to serve in the United States Senate.
On January 21, 1867, the young and ambitious representative proposed the creation of a new county. The northern part of the county would be taken from Bankhead's own Marion County, and the southern part would be carved from Fayette County. He proposed that the new county be named "Stonewall" in honor of the Confederate hero, Stonewall Jackson. All went well until the third reading of the bill. Many "carpetbag" and "scalawag" members of this Reconstruction-era Legislature found the name Stonewall to be unacceptable, and so Bankhead's bill failed to receive the required two-thirds majority vote. A few days later, Bankhead resubmitted his proposal. This time, however, the word "Stonewall" was deleted. In its place he substituted the name "Jones". Elliot P. Jones of Fayette County was a prominent and influential member of the Legislature at the time whose support Bankhead needed. Bankhead was a master politician even from his earliest days, and he knew how to maneuver in order to obtain his goals. If the name he chose the first time hurt his efforts, then the name he chose the second time would ensure his success. On February 4, 1867 Jones County, Alabama was established.
By March 1867, Congress had passed the Reconstruction Act which ended Presidential Reconstruction and began the Congressional version. The civilian government of Alabama was now subject to Congressional Reconstruction policies. The actions of the newly created Jones County had to be approved by the Freedmen's Bureau and the military authorities, similar to Justice Department pre-clearance of political changes in Alabama today under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
On April 29, 1867 Jones County received approval from Wager Swayne, a commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, to conduct an election to determine the site of a county seat. Major General Swayne instructed the county that no person should be denied the right to vote in this election because of race or color.
The site chosen for the county seat was a 30-acre tract of land centrally located within the county. The government of the county began its business on August 26, 1867. One of the first orders of business was the selection of a name for the county seat town. The name chosen was Swayne in honor of Wager Swayne, who by July 1867 had been appointed the military governor of the State of Alabama.
General Swayne was an educated man from a prominent Ohio family and a distinguished member of the United States Army. He graduated from Yale in 1856 and the Cincinnati Law School in 1859, and practiced law with his father in Columbus, Ohio prior to the outbreak of war. His father, Noah H. Swayne, served on the United States Supreme Court from 1862 to 1881.
The younger Swayne entered the Army on August 31, 1861 with the rank of major. He suffered the loss of a leg during the war and was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery. Swayne completed his military career as the military governor of Alabama from July 1867 to July 1868, and as commander of the Alabama Freedmen's Bureau until January 1869. He retired as a major general and returned to the practice of law. He died in New York December 18, 1902.
By September 1867 the town of Swayne was surveyed, the future location of a permanent courthouse was chosen, and the construction of a temporary courthouse was authorized. Fifty lots were sold to individuals at a public auction to raise funds. And, on October 3, 1867, the first county tax was levied for courthouse and jail construction.
Despite the progress Jones County had made, a movement arose in north Alabama to undo the action which created the county. On November 5, 1867, a Constitutional Convention convened. At the convention, a delegate from Winston County introduced an ordinance to abolish the county of Jones. The proposal was referred to a committee on counties and municipal organizations. The committee decided to return all political boundaries of Alabama to those existing on January 10, 1861, the day before Alabama adopted its Ordinance of Secession. However, an exception was made to the policy of returning to the pre-war boundaries. Counties which had purchased property for the construction of public buildings and had already assumed a contractual public indebtedness were exempt. Jones County did not fit into the exemption.
On November 13, 1867, Ordinance No. I of the Constitutional Convention of 1867 abolished Jones County and returned its territory to Marion and Fayette counties. General Swayne did not favorably view this action of the radical Constitutional Convention. On December 11, 1867 he sent a letter to the probate judge of Jones County informing the judge that he had attempted to use his influence to save Jones County, but was unsuccessful. He stated that he would try to get the county re-established when the Legislature met again, and suggested that the county should continue its business as if it had never been abolished.
The year 1868 was an interesting time in the life of the then non-existent Jones County. In May of that year, the state superintendent of registration sent instructions to the sheriff on how to draw jurors in the county. In July, the probate judge remitted to the state the county taxes he had collected. In August, the tax collector of the nonexistent county received instructions from the state auditor on conducting his job. And, during the year, the county government let contracts for a courthouse and jail.
To further complicate matters, after the first Jones County was abolished in north Alabama, a second Jones County was created by the Alabama Legislature in south Alabama. On August 6, 1868, the name of Covington County was officially changed to Jones County in honor of Josiah Jones, a local political leader and former legislator. Jones, however, did not want the county named for him. Therefore, in 1868 Alabama had a nonexistent Jones County in north Alabama which was functioning and seeking to be recreated, and an existing Jones County in south Alabama that its namesake wished to disavow. To end the confusion, Jones County in north Alabama was re-established on October 8, 1868, but was renamed Sanford County, while on October 10, 1868, Jones County in south Alabama again became Covington County. The Reconstruction Era was certainly an unsettling time in Alabama history!
The new Sanford County was named for Henry C. Sanford. He was a native of the Greenville District in South Carolina, a pioneering settler in Cherokee County, Alabama, a minister and a teacher. But, the most important apparent reason for the selection of his name for the new county was that he was a sitting member of the Alabama Senate in 1868. The Alabama Legislature at that time had a particular propensity for honoring its own.
With the county getting a new name, it was decided that the county seat town should also have a name change. On November 10, 1868 the name of the town of Swayne was changed to Vernon. The county commissioners had met to choose a new name when one of the local residents, Edmon Vernon of Vernon, England, asked that they name the town for him and his native city. The commissioners agreed and the town today remains Vernon.
The first courts in the county convened in a log house belonging to Daniel J. Molloy until a temporary structure was built. The county paid L.H. Jackson and Thomas W. Finch $300 for the temporary courthouse. The first permanent courthouse was designed to be located on the public square at Vernon. Daniel J. Molloy and Jesse Little Taylor established a brickyard at Vernon for making the courthouse construction materials. The courthouse and jail were completed by 1870, and the total cost was approximately $14,000.
The following article, written by Samuel A. Rumore, Jr. appeared in The Alabama Lawyer in March 1992. Mr. Rumore has researched and written a history of Alabama’s courthouses.
Lamar County, in northwest Alabama, has two interesting distinctions. It is one of only three counties in Alabama, the other two being Colbert and Etowah, to have been created, abolished and then re-established. And it is the only county in Alabama to have had three different names-Jones, Sanford and Lamar.
If any one person could be called the "Father of Lamar County" it must be John Hollis Bankhead, the patriarch of the family which produced such eminent Alabamians as Senator John H. Bankhead, Jr., Speaker of the House William B. Bankhead and actress Tallulah Bankhead. Bankhead's forebears were early Alabama pioneers who settled in the area near present-day Sulligent around 1816. He served as a captain in the Confederate Army and began his long career of public service in 1865 by winning a seat in the Alabama Legislature from Marion County. His political career continued until his death in 1920 when Bankhead was serving as a United States Senator from Alabama. He was the last Confederate veteran to serve in the United States Senate.
On January 21, 1867, the young and ambitious representative proposed the creation of a new county. The northern part of the county would be taken from Bankhead's own Marion County, and the southern part would be carved from Fayette County. He proposed that the new county be named "Stonewall" in honor of the Confederate hero, Stonewall Jackson. All went well until the third reading of the bill. Many "carpetbag" and "scalawag" members of this Reconstruction-era Legislature found the name Stonewall to be unacceptable, and so Bankhead's bill failed to receive the required two-thirds majority vote. A few days later, Bankhead resubmitted his proposal. This time, however, the word "Stonewall" was deleted. In its place he substituted the name "Jones". Elliot P. Jones of Fayette County was a prominent and influential member of the Legislature at the time whose support Bankhead needed. Bankhead was a master politician even from his earliest days, and he knew how to maneuver in order to obtain his goals. If the name he chose the first time hurt his efforts, then the name he chose the second time would ensure his success. On February 4, 1867 Jones County, Alabama was established.
By March 1867, Congress had passed the Reconstruction Act which ended Presidential Reconstruction and began the Congressional version. The civilian government of Alabama was now subject to Congressional Reconstruction policies. The actions of the newly created Jones County had to be approved by the Freedmen's Bureau and the military authorities, similar to Justice Department pre-clearance of political changes in Alabama today under the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
On April 29, 1867 Jones County received approval from Wager Swayne, a commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, to conduct an election to determine the site of a county seat. Major General Swayne instructed the county that no person should be denied the right to vote in this election because of race or color.
The site chosen for the county seat was a 30-acre tract of land centrally located within the county. The government of the county began its business on August 26, 1867. One of the first orders of business was the selection of a name for the county seat town. The name chosen was Swayne in honor of Wager Swayne, who by July 1867 had been appointed the military governor of the State of Alabama.
General Swayne was an educated man from a prominent Ohio family and a distinguished member of the United States Army. He graduated from Yale in 1856 and the Cincinnati Law School in 1859, and practiced law with his father in Columbus, Ohio prior to the outbreak of war. His father, Noah H. Swayne, served on the United States Supreme Court from 1862 to 1881.
The younger Swayne entered the Army on August 31, 1861 with the rank of major. He suffered the loss of a leg during the war and was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery. Swayne completed his military career as the military governor of Alabama from July 1867 to July 1868, and as commander of the Alabama Freedmen's Bureau until January 1869. He retired as a major general and returned to the practice of law. He died in New York December 18, 1902.
By September 1867 the town of Swayne was surveyed, the future location of a permanent courthouse was chosen, and the construction of a temporary courthouse was authorized. Fifty lots were sold to individuals at a public auction to raise funds. And, on October 3, 1867, the first county tax was levied for courthouse and jail construction.
Despite the progress Jones County had made, a movement arose in north Alabama to undo the action which created the county. On November 5, 1867, a Constitutional Convention convened. At the convention, a delegate from Winston County introduced an ordinance to abolish the county of Jones. The proposal was referred to a committee on counties and municipal organizations. The committee decided to return all political boundaries of Alabama to those existing on January 10, 1861, the day before Alabama adopted its Ordinance of Secession. However, an exception was made to the policy of returning to the pre-war boundaries. Counties which had purchased property for the construction of public buildings and had already assumed a contractual public indebtedness were exempt. Jones County did not fit into the exemption.
On November 13, 1867, Ordinance No. I of the Constitutional Convention of 1867 abolished Jones County and returned its territory to Marion and Fayette counties. General Swayne did not favorably view this action of the radical Constitutional Convention. On December 11, 1867 he sent a letter to the probate judge of Jones County informing the judge that he had attempted to use his influence to save Jones County, but was unsuccessful. He stated that he would try to get the county re-established when the Legislature met again, and suggested that the county should continue its business as if it had never been abolished.
The year 1868 was an interesting time in the life of the then non-existent Jones County. In May of that year, the state superintendent of registration sent instructions to the sheriff on how to draw jurors in the county. In July, the probate judge remitted to the state the county taxes he had collected. In August, the tax collector of the nonexistent county received instructions from the state auditor on conducting his job. And, during the year, the county government let contracts for a courthouse and jail.
To further complicate matters, after the first Jones County was abolished in north Alabama, a second Jones County was created by the Alabama Legislature in south Alabama. On August 6, 1868, the name of Covington County was officially changed to Jones County in honor of Josiah Jones, a local political leader and former legislator. Jones, however, did not want the county named for him. Therefore, in 1868 Alabama had a nonexistent Jones County in north Alabama which was functioning and seeking to be recreated, and an existing Jones County in south Alabama that its namesake wished to disavow. To end the confusion, Jones County in north Alabama was re-established on October 8, 1868, but was renamed Sanford County, while on October 10, 1868, Jones County in south Alabama again became Covington County. The Reconstruction Era was certainly an unsettling time in Alabama history!
The new Sanford County was named for Henry C. Sanford. He was a native of the Greenville District in South Carolina, a pioneering settler in Cherokee County, Alabama, a minister and a teacher. But, the most important apparent reason for the selection of his name for the new county was that he was a sitting member of the Alabama Senate in 1868. The Alabama Legislature at that time had a particular propensity for honoring its own.
With the county getting a new name, it was decided that the county seat town should also have a name change. On November 10, 1868 the name of the town of Swayne was changed to Vernon. The county commissioners had met to choose a new name when one of the local residents, Edmon Vernon of Vernon, England, asked that they name the town for him and his native city. The commissioners agreed and the town today remains Vernon.
The first courts in the county convened in a log house belonging to Daniel J. Molloy until a temporary structure was built. The county paid L.H. Jackson and Thomas W. Finch $300 for the temporary courthouse. The first permanent courthouse was designed to be located on the public square at Vernon. Daniel J. Molloy and Jesse Little Taylor established a brickyard at Vernon for making the courthouse construction materials. The courthouse and jail were completed by 1870, and the total cost was approximately $14,000.