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The years between 1861-65 were a trying time for those involved in the War Between the States. Adding to the turmoil was the misery experienced by those in captivity on both sides of the Blue and the Gray. Among the worst prisoner of war camps was Camp Douglas, Illinois which was located in what is today's Chicago city limits. In late December 1862, a very young Monroe County lad by the name of Private John William McKinley was captured at the Battle of Murphysboro and sent to the camp. In those...
At Century’s ASHS Museums treasures abound. Although the monetary value of almost everything here is minimal, the historical merit of many items cannot be measured because they offer unique windows to our past. One artifact placed on a glass shelf among several other trinkets here is a small ring of keys. It is typical of most, attached are a few keys to unknown doors and locks. But, also on the ring is a brass fob, and engraved on the fob is a simple epitaph: Levi Sampley 1935 I.O.O.F. Lodge. Such things stir my curiosity and make me think ...
For Americans from coast to coast, Independence Day is a celebration of our nation’s birthday with friends and family. The day also offers an opportunity for reflection. In Washington, President Trump held a “Salute to America” celebration on the National Mall in honor of our troops. The patriotic spectacle, featuring military bands, aircraft flyovers and fireworks, was highlighted by a speech in which President Trump praised our “truly extraordinary heritage” and recounted our unique American story. “It is the epic tale of a great nation whos...
Folks, don’t look now, but the 2020 Presidential Election is upon us. Indeed, as many as 21 Democratic aspirants are already announced and campaigning. They are quite a liberal group as you might expect. Leading the pack of Democrats trying to take Donald Trump out of the White House is an avowed, true socialist, Bernie Sanders. Behind ole Bernie are a host of ultra-liberal U.S. Senators who are socialists wannabes. They hail from either the left coasts of California or New England. Included in the pack of CNN/MSNBC/Stephen Colbert watchers a...
Determining citizenship in a census of the United States of America would seem intuitively appropriate and logical. Most Americans probably assume the census is supposed to count all citizens to determine representation in Congress. In part the answer is yes, but there is more to it than just that. Last included in the 1950 census, the Trump Administration is trying to include the citizenship question again which has precipitated several lawsuits alleging the citizenship question is intended to suppress the count of non-citizens and thereby...
I'm taking this advice from Rick Bragg: "I'm tired of explaining myself and I ain't doing it no more; just write from the heart." So here’s to you, my writing hero. I don't know how else to write except my own experience. So, in mid June when the peaches were bending the limbs, we ate them fresh off the trees as we sat afork in-between. Mama had us toting big old galvanized washtubs of peaches to the work bench under the shade of the Chinaberry tree so as to prep them for canning. The peaches kept ripening and falling to the ground, some c...
Last Thursday, July 4, almost 90 runners came to participate in the 20th Celebrate Freedom 5K and One Mile Fun Run/Walk in Jay at Bray-Hendricks Park. The annual event was cancelled, then fortunately made a comeback. In 1980, the ‘running boom’ had spread across the U.S. and the Town of Jay decided to host a community road race on the 4th of July. They called it the ‘Jay Oil Run,’ since oil had been discovered within the city limits and neighboring communities just 10 years earlier. Former...
WHOA! It is so-oo-ooo HOT! Every time I have stepped outside the last few days, I imagined that I stepped into a room in which someone was pouring water on hot rocks. It's hot, steamy, and hard to breathe. But I'm not really in a sauna—I'm just in Lower Alabama on a HOT summer day! Even though this article was written last summer it’s very relevant now!. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), one or more parts of the United States will experience a heat wave each summer. Heat waves in our part of the country tend to combine high tem...
As you read this, I am in the midst of a 4-month, 6,000 mile trip through 19 western states. Presently, I am in the beautiful state of Utah. I am traveling back to all the cities west of the Mississippi River where I played pro baseball. I have been blessed to have been in all the states with the exception of Alaska. Over the years, my travels have taken me to every city in our great country with over 150,000 people. I have seen some beautiful sights along the way…many of which will mean a great deal more to me now as I revisit them. As I t...
Lanace Turner Carden, 94, of Century, died Wednesday, July 3, 2019 at Century Health and Rehabilitation Center. Mrs. Carden was born in Clarke County, Ala. and had been a lifetime member of the Century community. She had worked as a nurse at Century Hospital and as a bookkeeper at C and C Sawmill. She was a member of Poplar Dell Baptist Church. The funeral was held at 2 p.m., Saturday, July 6, at Flomaton Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Bill Stuckey and Rev. Rusty Burnham officiating. Burial followed at Pollard Cemetery in Flomaton with Flomaton...
Douglas Anthony Hadley, 75, of Century, died Monday, July 1, 2019 in Milton, Fla. Mr. Hadley was born Dec. 16, 1943, to Louie Lee and Ola Mae Spence Hadley in Escambia County, Fla. and was a retired equipment operator with Swift Lumber Co. A Little League baseball coach for many years, he was an avid sports fan. A memorial service was held at 3 p.m., Friday. July 5, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home directing. Mr. Hadley is survived by his mother; two sons, Anthony “Tony” (Teresa) Hadley of Canoe, Ala. and...
James David Holley, 74, died Monday, July 1, 2019. Mr. Holley graduated from Auburn University in 1966 with a B.S. degree in forestry. Working in industry and private practice for 50 years, he served in the U.S. Army and retired as a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves. A former member of First Baptist Church in Monroeville, he was an active member of Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Homewood, Ala. The funeral was held at 2 p.m., Friday, July 5, at Dawson Memorial Baptist Church and Ridout's Valley Chapel in Homewood directing. Mr. Holley is...
Thelma Wiggins Holley, 90, died Friday, July 5, 2019, in Bratt, Fla. after a lengthy illness. Mrs. Holley was born March 9, 1929, to Robert and Addie Wiggins in Bratt. A graduate of Ernest Ward High School, she moved to Pensacola in 1954, where she lived for 43 years. Working as a teacher's aide for years, in the Head Start Program, then at McMillan and Brentwood Elementary Schools. A former member of First Free Will Baptist Church in Pensacola, she retired in 1997 and returned to Bratt, where she became a member of Shiloh Free Will Baptist...
Casey Lynn Orem, 46, died Sunday, June 30, 2019 in Mobile, Ala. Mrs. Orem was a native and former resident of Atmore who had resided in Dyas, Ala. for the past 7 years. She was of the Christian faith. The funeral was held at10 a.m., Saturday, July 6, at Petty-Eastside Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. Steven Breceda officiating and Petty-Eastside Funeral Home directing. Mrs. Orem is survived by her husband, Owen Casey Orem of Bay Minette, Ala.; her mother, Judieth Diane Hines of Atmore; one daughter, Skyla Braddock; one brother, Marshall Wayne...
Carl “Buster” McGhee, 102, of Poarch, Ala., died Tuesday, July 2, 2019. Mr. McGhee was born to Littles and Ellen Colbert McGhee in Huxford, Ala. Having served in the U.S. Marine Corps during WWII, he was the oldest living WWII veteran and Poarch Creek Tribal Member in the state of Alabama. The funeral was held at 11 a.m., Saturday, July 6, at Atmore Memorial Chapel Funeral Home with Bro. James Boyd and Bro. Rowdy Boyte officiating. Burial followed at Walnut Hill Baptist Church Cemetery with Johnson Quimby Funeral Home directing. Mr. McGhee is...
Hazel Smith Strawbridge, 74, of Atmore, died Wednesday, July 3, 2019. Mrs. Strawbridge was born April 13, 1945, to Grover Frisco and Myrtle Irene McKinley Smith in Huxford, Ala. Owner and operator of Hazel's Curl Country Beauty Salon for more than 50 years, she was a member of Robinsonville Baptist Church. The funeral was held at 3 p.m., Saturday, July 6, at Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Phil Johnson officiating. Burial followed at Oak Hill Cemetery with Johnson-Quimby Funeral Home directing. Mrs. Strawbridge is survived by two...
Connie Jeanette Pate Tolbert, 66, died Monday, July 1, 2019 at Cartersville Medical Center. The funeral was held at 2 p.m., Sunday, July 7 at Cope Keahey Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. John Finklea officiating. Burial followed at Old Town Cemetery with Cope Keahey Funeral Home directing. Mrs. Tolbert is survived by two sons, Christopher Tolbert and Robert (Christy Wright) Tolbert; one daughter, Kimberly Tolbert (West) Harris; six brothers; two sisters; eight grandchildren; and numerous nephews, nieces and other family members. Mrs. Tolbert was...
You can tell politics are heating up for the 2020 elections with new cries for paying black Americans reparations for the many years some of their ancestors were enslaved in the United States. It seems we don't hear much about this issue until elections are on the horizon. I've seen some staggering figures into the trillions of dollars should such reparations come to fruition. But the bottom line is who should pay for those reparations. U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has come under...
Since Monday, we've been in contact with Escambia County (Ala.) Emergency Management Director David Adams about this possible storm that is brewing off the coast in the Gulf of Mexico. Adams made his first report to the county commission Monday morning. At that time, there were a lot of uncertainties about the low pressure system in Georgia that was making a turn toward the Gulf. Adams basically told the commission that it was too early to tell what the upcoming storm would do but that people needed to keep an eye on it. We talked to Adams...
Honors for the 2018 Flomaton High School championship football team continue this week when two members of the Class 3A champions will be playing in the Alabama High School Athletic Association's North-South All-Star game in Montgomery. Graduating seniors Devonta Bradley and Bailey Bass will play for the south team on Thursday, July 18, at Crampton Bowl. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Flomaton head football coach Doug Vickery said it's the first time in Flomaton history that players have been...
The Washington D.C. National Rural Electric Youth Tour, sponsored by local electric cooperatives, the Alabama Rural Electric Association and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, is part of a grassroots program to educate high school juniors on the electric cooperative program and the cooperative ideas for which it stands. In June, approximately 59 students from Alabama traveled to Washington D.C., joining more than 1,800 students from across the nation. The youth tour experience is filled with fun activities, but its overall...
The Escambia County (Ala.) Commission passed a resolution Monday authorizing the application for a $350,000 Community Development Block Grant that will be used by the city of Brewton to make upgrades to the Ridge Road Water System. Last month the commission held a public hearing on the proposed grant with no opposition being voiced. Brewton Utilities Superintendent Ray Madden told commissioners after the public hearing that the grant would require a $35,000 match, which will be paid by the...
A Century woman was arrested July 4 and faces drug charges after law enforcement woke her inside her vehicle and searched her car to find methamphetamine and ecstasy (MDMA). Katherine Susanne Lee, 34, 144 Hill Street, was passed out in a white Chevy Caprice at Tom Thumb, located at 392 South Highway 29 when law enforcement, advised by an anonymous citizen, approached the vehicle to awaken her, according to an Escambia County Sheriff's Office report. The report said Lee's car was parked next to...
Everyone is invited to come enjoy a timeless story next weekend when the Brewton Town and Gown Players present The Wizard of Oz at 7 p.m., on Thursday, July 18 through Saturday, July 20, and at 2 p.m., Sunday, July 21 at the Woodfin Patterson Auditorium located on the Brewton campus of Coastal Alabama Community College. Tickets are available in advance at Brewton City Hall and Herrington’s Florist. They are also available online at: rubyslippers.brownpapertickets.com. Advanced tickets are $12 and will also be available at the door one hour b...
The Century Area Chamber of Commerce board of directors voted to spend $50,000 of economic development money from the county commission with William Reynolds' website northescambia.com to have him promote 50 businesses in the Century, McDavid and Molino area on his website. Under the plan Reynolds has agreed to run profiles and ads on 50 properly licensed businesses selected by a committee to be named later. The money is coming from discretionary funds controlled by Commissioner Steven Barry....
