Wilcox County, established December 1, 1819, is one day older than the state of
Alabama
.
Historic excavations of what is today Wilcox County, Alabama indicates that the
area has been occupied by indigenous groups of people since pre-historic eras.
Other evidence demonstrates that Native Americans had extensive communications
with the first Europeans that came to the area. The Native populations later
fell under attack. By the end of the 1814 Creek Wars, most of the original
inhabitants were killed or captured. European settlements began to replace the
Native American villages along the Alabama River.
Wilcox County was named for Lieutenant Joseph M. Wilcox, a graduate in 1812 of
the United States Military Academy at West Point. Wilcox was named First
Lieutenant in the 3rd Infantry and was dispatched to the territories in the
South.
Not
long after his arrival in the south, Wilcox was ordered to travel and hasten a
shipment of rations being sent up river by Colonel Russell from Fort Claiborne
(known today as, Monroe County).
Wilcox would never complete his mission. Instead, in January of 1814 Lieutenant
Wilcox was captured by Native Americans along with three other Europeans (two
escaped) in the Alabama River. Wilcox’s training at West Point was no match for
the Native Americans. Wilcox died in the arrest near the sand bar at the mouth
of Pursley Creek (in present day Wilcox County). Lieutenant Wilcox’s scalp was
taken as a trophy by the Native Americans who intercepted the canoe just two
nights after it embarked on its mission. Wilcox was buried on January 7, 1814 at
Fort Claiborne. Although his service was brief Wilcox was considered a hero by
the confederacy. Wilcox County’s first county seat was located in Canton Bend
along the Alabama River, a few miles west of Barboursville. Later Barboursville
became the county seat. Barboursville's name later changed to Camden.
During the early days in Wilcox County history and American Slavery, there were
more than 50 boat landings along the Alabama River in Wilcox County. Wilcox was
Alabama’s most wealthy county when cotton was the cash crop. Paddlewheel boats
transported both cotton and passengers along the Alabama River. The Peculiar
Institution was big business in Wilcox County. The entire economy was dependant
upon cotton pickers. For decades, slave owners in Wilcox County were among
America’s wealthiest entrepreneurs. Later, this group was so opposed to ending
slavery that they would attempt to separate from the Union and form an
independent Confederacy. Antebellum residents of Wilcox County included Alabama
Governor Arthur F. Bagby and Alabama's first Federal Judge, Charles Tait. Many
confederate groups and powerful organizations (i.e. The Daughters of the
Confederacy) were founded by Wilcox Countyians.
Ancient Slave burial grounds are located on the Alabama River at the Millers
Plantation and at a location called the Slaughter Field in the Coy
section of Wilcox County. The Millers place was among the last to have slaves in
Wilcox County and many of the Sharecroppers who remained on the Miller’s Place
post-slavery still live in various communities in the County today. The
Slaughter Field was where unruly slaves were taken and publicly slaughtered
in front of others slaves as a way of instilling fear and submission. Mass
un-marked graves were dug and the Slaughter Field later became the public
Negro cemetery in the late 1870’s.
Other boats transported slaves to various auction blocks throughout Wilcox
County. The bankers would close business at noon each Thursday, so as not to
miss the Slave auction in Wilcox County. Even after the end of slavery, this
tradition has continued as a reminder of times past. (In Dallas County many
banks still close at noon each Wednesday for the same reason. And in other
Black Belt Counties as well.)
Some
remnants of Slave auction blocks remain in the Lower Peach Tree riverbanks and
in the Clifton section of Wilcox County (formerly named “Upper Peach Tree”). It
is believed that there was a slave auction block in the Gee’s bend community as
well; however the actual site has not been identified. The reason for this
assumption is that, according to a historian who has researched Wilcox County
over several decades, Ernest Brooks, a boat that was carrying slaves got stuck
in a slue of the Alabama River at Gee’s Bend. This boat was later said to unload
its cargo and the passengers. The slaves and the European crew members were
forced to remain in Gee’s bend and take up residence. The ship owners became
Masters and the captives, servants. Because the ships crew was comprised of men,
the Gee’s Bend Slave Masters from the ship wreck had no children to will their
land to. With emancipation being near, the Slaves of Gee’s bend became some of
the first Negroes in Wilcox County (and the entire state) to be landowners.
Later the Colored farmers of Gee’s Bend became a serious force in the Civil Rights struggle of
Wilcox County. The economy of Wilcox County had
dwindled with the collapse of the cotton industry and Whites were desperate to
hold on to power and the segregation laws that were known as Jim Crow. To
date, the “Colored Only” fountain remains outside of the Historic Courthouse in
Wilcox County (1859). The sign that used to hang from the fountain is likely to
be tucked away in an old cabinet. According to many African Americans who were
interviewed during this research, that water pipe was one of the only places for
a Colored person to drink in Camden. Whites would often let their dogs drink
from the Colored fountain as well.
Most
of the Colored civil rights supporters from the Gee’s Bend area lead the movement since the threats of being evicted off of White
landowner’s land did nothing to harm them. To prevent the Gee’s
Bend freedom fighters from being able to reach
Camden, the then Camden City Judge, ordered that the
river ferry that the people in Gee’s Bend used to cross the water be sent to
Monroe County. That same ferry is still in Monroe County today and is still
operational. Sending the ferry to Monroe County effectively removed the Colored
landowners from the Gee’s Bend Community from the boycotts, protests and other
demonstration of the Civil Rights movement.
The
women in the Gee’s bend area were very good at the art of quilt-making. The
secrets and the skills required to making good quilts were passed down through
the generations. The quilts were used during slavery days as correspondences to
slaves who were on the run. Abolitionists would purchase quilts and would send
messages to help others understand how to read the quilts. For example: If a
slave was traveling north, and had acquired the assistance of abolitionists, a
white quilt hanging across a fence with green triangles on it would be the sign
that the slave had reached the right house to stop for a night. If the triangles
on the quilt pointed down toward the ground, then the slave would know to stay
down (in the woods or whatever was their hiding place, perhaps the back of a
wagon or in a swamp). If however, someone walked out of the house and re-hung
the quilt so that the triangles were pointing up, or pointing toward a door on
the house…the fugitive slave would then know that it was safe to approach the
house.
Gee’s Bend Quilters later formed groups such as the Freedom Quilting Bee and
cooperatives. The women from various houses would meet at a specified location
and would quilt together. This tradition is still important in the Gee’s bend
community. In recent years the quilts of Gee’s Bend have received national recognition and have been on tour of museums all
across the country. Different groups have come into the county and have offered
small remunerations to families in the Gees Bend community in exchange for their
old quilts ($40.) A book that illustrates the quilts has sold over 35,000
copies, with the hardcover price being $75 each. Most of these proceeds do not
return to the community. However; there are only a few women in the community
who receive checks each month, and the checks average less than $200.
