Misc. Records
Where to Emigrate and Why - Frederick B. Goddard, Peoples Publ. Co., 1869
ALABAMA.
THIS State lies between latitudes 31° and 35° north, with a portion of its southern border resting on the Gulf of Mexico. Its climate is similar to that of Georgia. Several ridges of the Alleghany Mountains enter the northeastern part of the State terminating in high hills, which gradually decline into an undulating country, succeeded by a vast plain with a southern slope stretching away to the Gulf. The northern and central parts of the State are more productive than the southern, the latter consisting of extensive prairies and pine barrens, the soil of which is sandy. The river bottoms, however, are rich and fertile, and the barrens, under an improved system of tillage, could doubtless be made to yield abundant crops.
"The soil, climate, and vegetation of Alabama vary with the position and elevation of its several parts. In the north, where mountain is the prevailing feature, the soil is but moderately fertile, but in the intervales there is much that can not be excelled. The climate is here moderate, and the vegetation hardy: it is the region of the cereals, and a fine grazing country. The central parts of this State, less elevated and undulating, are well watered, and in the river-bottoms the land is extremely rich and productive. The valley of the Alabama is one of the most fertile regions of the Union. In the south the climate is very warm, the soils rich, but with great exceptions, and the principal growths of a tropical character. The sugar-cane has been found to succeed well in the extreme southern strip between Florida and Mississippi, and indigo was formerly raised in considerable quantities; rice, also, grows well in the alluvial bottoms near the Gulf ; but cotton, which thrives throughout the State, is the great agricultural staple. The natural growths and animals are in no way different from those of the neighboring States on the Gulf of Mexico. The most common of animals is the deer, and the country abounds in turkeys, partridges, geese, ducks, and various other species of smaller game; and fish in abundance may be taken in the rivers and bays."
All the rivers of Alabama, except the Tennessee, flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Most of these are navigable nearly their entire length for light draught steamers, with occasional interruptions during the season of low water. The coastline of the State is limited to an extent of about sixty miles, but in this is embraced Mobile Bay, a broad and deep landlocked basin, some thirty miles in length, into which empty nearly all the navigable rivers of the State. This bay forms the best and most extensive harbor on the entire southern coast.
Before the war Alabama was increasing rapidly in population and wealth. In common with other Southern States, she has suffered severely from the ravages of war, but is slowly recovering her former thriftiness and prosperity. The derangement of labor, growing out of the new order of things, has sensibly diminished the annual production of corn and cotton, and prompted encouragement to immigration. Great inducements are now offered to those who wish to become permanent settlers.
Nearly 7,000,000 acres of public land yet remain unsold in Alabama, and besides, there are thousands of well improved plantations which can be bought or leased on favorable terms.
The climate of the more elevated portions of the State is more agreeable and salubrious than in. the lower, which frequently lack good water, and are more or less subject to congestive and bilious fevers, and fever and ague. But little snow falls, ice seldom forms in the southern portion, and fruit-trees blossom in February. Cotton, and corn are the principal productions of Alabama; Mobile, the largest city in the State, being second only to New Orleans in its shipments of cotton. Mobile had in 1860, a population of 30,000. It is situated on Mobile River, near its entrance to the bay of the same name. Its site is a sandy plain, which slopes gradually down to the river. It is well built, and contains many fine public and private buildings, and is not only the metropolis of Alabama, but the second commercial city of the Gulf. The Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, and the Mobile and Great Northern, and Mobile and Ohio railroads, connect it with the interior, and a daily line of steamers run to New Orleans, making the passage in about thirteen hours, through Lake Borgne.
Other important cities of Alabama are, Montgomery, the capital, and second city in size, Tuscaloosa, Wetumpka, Marion, Talladega, Florence, Athens, Jacksonville, &c.
The following is extracted from the last Report of the General Land Office:—
Alabama derives its name from the aboriginal language, signifying "here we rest." Its extreme length from north to south is 336, and the breadth ranges from 148 to 200 miles. Its area is 50,722 square miles, or 32,462,080 acres.
The population in 1820 was 122,901; in 1840, 590,756; in1850, 771,623; in 1860, 964,201. Even after the desolations of war the present population can not be less than 1,250,000.
The first white men that set foot upon the soil of this State were the adventurers under De Soto, in their famous march to the Mississippi. They found the aborigines a formidable obstacle, evincing a more intelligent manhood and higher social organization than their compatriots farther north.
The first settlement was made by the French, under Bienville, who built a fort on Mobile Bay in 1702. Nine years afterward the present site of Mobile was occupied.
The peace of 1763 transferred to the British crown all the territory north of the Gulf and east of the Mississippi. Its agricultural value soon attracted an Anglo-American immigration, in the mass of which the original French element was absorbed. Alabama, in point of population, now ranks as fourth among the Southern States.
The soil varies with the geographical locality and elevation. The mountain region of the north is well suited to grazing and stock-raising, and is interspersed with valleys of excellent soil. The undulating surface of the central portion is well watered, and, especially in the river bottoms, highly charged with fertilizing elements.
The valley of the Alabama is one of the richest on the continent.
The removal of the canebrakes of Marengo and Greene counties, has disclosed soil of surpassing quality. Toward the coast the vegetation becomes decidedly tropical. Cotton is the great staple, but sugar-cane is cultivated on the neck between Mississippi and Florida, and indigo has been produced in considerable quantities. Oaks in great variety, poplars, hickories, chestnuts, and mulberries, cover the northern and central parts, while in the south the pine, cypress, and loblolly are the prevailing species.
The climate varies with the latitude, approaching within seven degrees of the tropics. The southern coast is strongly assimilated to the torrid zone in its temperature. The nights, however, are alleviated, even in the hottest weather, by the Gulf breezes. During the coldest seasons the rivers, even in the north, are seldom frozen, and the general winter temperature of the State is very mild. The low lands near the rivers are malarious, but the State generally is remarkable for salubrity.
The agricultural statistics of 1860 disclose an advance, in ten years, of fifty per cent in the amount of land brought under cultivation, and of nearly two hundred per cent in the value of farms and farm implements.
Live stock presents some enlargement of aggregate numbers, and more than doubles in value. Animal products, such as butter, cheese, wool, honey, and slaughtered animals, have increased fifty per cent. Cereals, tobacco, cotton, potatoes, and hay show like increment. Market garden products nearly double in value, while orchard products increase nearly fifteen fold. Like the neighboring Gulf States, an injudicious cultivation of cotton, tobacco, and other heavy staples, has somewhat exhausted the fertility of portions of the land. Tillage and rotation of crops will remedy the mischief and restore the elements of productiveness. The agricultural development of Alabama awaits the final adjustment of the system of labor, the State possessing elements promising a bright future.
The mineral resources of Alabama are sufficiently known to indicate their abundance and variety. The central region is underlaid by vast beds of iron ore, alternating with thick coal measures of great extent. The juxtaposition of these minerals favors mining operations and the processes of preparing iron for market. Lead, manganese, others, and marbles, are found in different localities, and even gold is reported. Sulphur and chalybeate springs are of frequent occurrence.
The returns of 1860 show 1,459 manufacturing establishments, with capital of $9,098,181, producing articles valued at $10,588,571, at an outlay for labor and raw material of $7,622,903; the margin of profits was $2,965,668, or nearly 30 per cent on the capital manufacturing invested. A new era in manufacturing enterprise may be expected in the reorganization of labor now in progress in this and other States, in which this great industrial interest will find its true position and influence in the social system.
The natural advantages possessed by Alabama are very important. The magnificent Bay of Mobile and a river navigation of 1,500 miles form an outlet not only to her own productions, but also to those of the neighboring States. A very considerable foreign and domestic commerce has its seat at Mobile, with an increase with the development of the State. The natural advantages are being supplemented. Alabama an extensive system of railroads yet in its infancy. In 1860 Alabama had 743 miles completed and in full operation, with several hundred more in process of construction or projected. These will connect Mobile with the prominent railroad centers of the country and permeate the whole State with their beneficial influence.
Montgomery, the capital, with a population of 10,000, on the left bank of the Alabama, 340 miles above Mobile, is admirably located for a domestic commercial depot. Its railroad communications are extensive and increasing, while the Alabama, which never freezes and is seldom affected by drought, is one of the best steamboat rivers in the country. The city is well built, with numerous literary institutions, and periodicals circulating extensively through the State. Its commercial transactions are on an important scale.
From a recent Report of the Department of Agriculture, we copy the following:―
PRESENT VALUE OF LAND AS COMPARED WITH 1860.—The county reports show an average decrease in the price of farm lands of about sixty per cent; no county reporting an increase. The decline is not uniform throughout the State, being affected in many cases by local causes, and varying according to the size of the tracts or farms offered for sale. Coosa County exhibits a decrease of at least fifty per cent in large plantations, while small and well-improved farms sell at about the same price as in 1860. The maximum decrease reported is in the counties of Conecuh and Montgomery, where it reaches ninety per cent. A decline of fifty per cent is observable in Macon County. Our correspondent writes as follows: "In 1860 the lands of Macon ranged in value from three to fifty dollars per acre. As the county is penetrated by two leading lines of railway, connecting on the east with Columbus, Georgia, and on the west with Montgomery, Alabama, access to market is ready and reliable. The county is in general remarkable for the salubrity of its atmosphere, and in many parts for the fertility of its soil. Toward the northern extremity the geological formation is metamorphic, presenting limestones of very considerable economic value. The southern portion of the country lies in the upper margin of that wide belt of the cretaceous formation which stretches entirely through the State, and which furnishes some of the richest lands in the cotton growing States." In Marengo County, near the western border of the State, the decrease is 66 per cent, though some of the best lands in the State, worth, in 1860, $20 to $75 per acre, are included within its limits. The reporter says: " In the section known as the Canebrakes, plantations rarely change hands during the lifetime of the owners. A gently undulating surface, a soil of great fertility, and a pure air, characterize this portion of the country. Cedars of large size originally covered most of the land, and constituted the fencing material. The soil, being largely impregnated with lime, is admirably adapted to the cereal crops, while cotton, in favorable seasons, yield large returns. Corn, cultivated on the same land for thirty years without manure, frequently yields 50 bushels per acre. These lands are intrinsically as valuable as any in the United States. In other parts of the country are large areas of improved fertile 'post oak' and river lands, that were worth, in 1860, $20 to $30 per acre. All these advantages must, in time, make the country exceedingly attractive to immigration. Cut up into small farms, and cultivated by an intelligent population, these lands will rapidly attain their former value, and probably exceed it." There is a class of canebrake lands in many counties of central Alabama, of a similar character.
PRESENT PRICE OF UNIMPROVED LANDS.—The .average price of unimproved lands may be stated at $1.75, the range being from 12 cents to $5, including a variety in quality and natural capabilities. In Macon, Conecuh, Butler, Chambers, Morgan, Tuscaloosa, and some other counties, the general character of such lands is poor; pine forests, with a thin soil, covering large areas. The timber constitutes the chief value of such lands, though, in some cases, when cleared, especially upon the banks of the small streams, they produce well. In some other sections of the State, the uncultivated lands are heavily timbered with pine, oak, hickory, poplar, walnut, mulberry, &c. They are generally attached to plantations, and. are used as summer ranges for cattle and hogs. With a proper system of culture, and an industrious, energetic population, a large portion of the now unimproved lands will be reclaimed, and prove of great value.
The inducements presented for the investment of capital, and the immigration of intelligent labor in the agricultural and mineral resources of the State must, at some future time, make it one of the most desirable portions of the country.
TIMBER.—Immense forests of the finest qualities, and most valuable kinds of timber cover large tracts of land in the counties of Marengo, Clark, St. Clair, Clay, Marshall, Randolph, Lee, Baine, Hale, Chambers, Montgomery, and many others; while in Tuscaloosa, Perry, Butler, Conecuh, Coosa, Calhoun, and Macon, pine, in seemingly inexhaustible quantities, awaits the introduction of steam saw-mills. As yet, but little lumber is sawed beyond the wants of the resident population, in part, owing to the want of cheap transportation.
MINERALS.—Minerals have been lavishly distributed. Coal, iron, gold, silver, copper, lime, granite, and serpentine, are found in many localities; and, in some instances, were successfully mined before the commencement of the war. In Randolph County, gold was discovered in 1836, and fortunes were made by mining. In Baine County, the indications of copper and lead in the mountains have been sufficient to induce efforts, on a small scale, to develop them. Lee County produces granite of an inferior quality; and also a coarse serpentine, which was worked, by the aborigines into water-vessels, and is now used for backing fireplaces, &c. &c.
CROPS.—Previous to 1860, cotton received by far the greatest share of attention, and constituted almost the only article of export. Other crops were raised for home consumption, and made subsidiary to it. For many years past the yield, per acre, of the great staple has been steadily diminishing under the careless system of culture it obtains, no return being made to the soil for the continued and exhaustive demands made upon it. An almost universal complaint is made of the unprofitableness of cotton culture at present prices and in the unsettled condition of labor, and a determination expressed to devote more attention to the cereals and root-crops, some of which are well suited to the soil and climate.
Red May, purple-straw, blue-stem, Orleans, white May, red Mediterranean, common white, and other varieties of wheat are sown. Winter wheat is almost exclusively grown, but the crop is a very uncertain one, and but little care taken in its culture; drilling is almost unknown, the "brush drag" being frequently used to cover the grain sown upon roughly-plowed land. Red May, Orleans May, blue-stem, and purple-straw, are especially mentioned as being earlier, more hardy, and less liable to rust, the great enemy of the wheat crop in that region. Seeding is done during October and November, and harvesting from May 20 to June 20.
No special attention has been given to the cultivation of grasses. Crabgrass is the most common of the indigenous kinds, springing up in oat-fields, and taking complete possession of the corn lands as soon as the cultivation of the crop ceases, thus furnishing good summer pasture. On worn-out lands broom sedge springs up, affording good early pasture, but becoming too dry and harsh by midsummer. In many places the Bermuda grass has taken firm foothold, and within a few years the Lespedeza has made its appearance, displacing all other varieties, and proving a very valuable acquisition to the pastures. In Marengo and Hale counties, red clover has been found to do well on the richer soils, but it is not generally cultivated. Some other varieties, such as flag grass, "nimble will," &c., have good local reputation.
FRUITS, in great variety, flourish. Apples, peaches, pears, plums, figs, apricots, pomegranates, grapes, melons, berries, &c., are grown, or grow spontaneously; but little attention, however, is paid to fruit culture, except for home consumption. The Scuppernong grape is reported by a correspondent in Marengo County to be entirely free from rot; and to yield certainly and largely. In Perry County 3,000 to 4,000 quarts of strawberries per acre, valued at 20 cents to 50 cents per quart, is not considered an unusual yield. A farmer in Macon County realized $87.50 from the melons grown upon one-eighth of an acre.
CORRESPONDENCE.
TALLADEGA, ALA., November 5, 1868.
Mr. F. B. GODDARD:—
DEAR SIR: * * * I will briefly notice, seriatim, the points to which you call attention in your letter.
1st. Talladega County has been long distinguished for the fertility of its soil, but after a constant cultivation for twenty-five years, and that, too, in the most unskillful manner, it is, of course, somewhat worn; but being composed of chocolate-colored clay, mixed with some sand and iron ore, it is susceptible of easy improvement. No system of manuring has ever been known here. The soil has yielded so freely that such a thing has rarely ever been thought of. Where it has been done, however, the productiveness has been increased from twenty-five to fifty per cent. Of its own native strength, abused as it has been, it now yields—of corn from ten to thirty-five bushels per acre, of wheat from ten to twenty bushels per acre, and other grain in proportion; of cotton, from eight hundred to two thousand pounds per acre; fruits and vegetables grow abundantly. The price ranges from six to fifteen dollars per acre.
2d. The labor consists mostly of freedmen, at ten dollars per month, or a portion of the crop—one-half or one-third, according to what is furnished by the parties for making the crop. What we need is intelligent laborers, with the latest and most approved labor-saving machinery, which we hope to see soon.
3d. We have but little very warm weather here. The thermometer rises sometimes to 98°, for a period of ten or twenty days, but we have, throughout the summer, a pleasant breeze from the Gulf. Sometimes we have one snow during the winter, and that only two or three inches deep, disappearing in a day or two. We have had two light frosts up to this time, and they occurred within the last week. I have spent most of my life in the North, and am prepared to appreciate the mildness and delightfulness of this climate, and especially—that which is above all—the healthfulness of the country.
4th. Timber abounds; oak (different species), hickory, ash, poplar, pine, &c., &c. There is a formation of marble thirty miles in length in this county. Iron ore abounds. Limestone everywhere, convertible into lime at a very small cost.
5th. The Selma, Rome & Dalton Railroad runs through this county, thus affording communication with any portion of the Union. It is about 100 miles to Selma, and the same to Rome, Georgia, either of which is a good market for every thing raised. The town of Talladega, which is immediately on this road, has about two thousand inhabitants, and is growing.
6th. Good school and religious advantages. There are three churches, Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist, and four or five schools.
7th. The great majority of the people are native Americans—the older citizens from different States.
I am very truly,
PAUL STEVENS.
MONTGOMERY, ALA., July 31 , 1868.
DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 29th inst., asking for information in regard to this State, has been received.
This part of the State is usually called the cotton belt—a tract of country varying in width from fifty to one hundred miles, and running across the State in a direction nearly east and west. It is a very fertile region. The soil is generally nearly black, containing a large per cent of lime. The growth, oak, hickory, white-oak, and post-oak. There are, however, within this scope of country, tracts of land, varying in extent, where the soil is sandy. The growth, long-leaf pine. This was the great planting region of the State. The lands are generally owned in large bodies, and devoted almost exclusively to the growth of corn and cotton. The large proportion of the black population is found here, and the tendency of those found in other parts of the State is to the cotton belt. Lying north of this cotton belt is a section of the State differing widely from it. The climate, soil, variety, value of the productions, and salubrious climate, all make it one of the most delightful parts of the United States. The Alleghany Mountains, as you know, enter the State on the northeast, and while they diminish in height, increase in width, forming a country of parallel ridges and intervening valleys more than one hundred miles across. While much of this country is unfit for farming, many of its valleys are exceedingly fertile, and the hills abound in mineral springs of the purest water are abundant—the streams afford a great variety of fish, and the finest of water-power.
As to the productions, cotton grows well; careful cultivation has been known to produce over 500 pounds of clean cotton to the acre, though with the processes usually employed not half that amount is produced. Corn grows well, better than in the Northern States, though not so abundant in its yield as in the West. Wheat is a valuable crop, as it comes into market before the Northern crop, and always commands the highest price. As fine fruit as the continent affords—apples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, figs, pomegranates, strawberries, in fact all the fruits of the United States (except the oranges of Florida), of the finest quality and the greatest quantity, may be produced. The hop-vine grows well, and I am confident the yield will exceed that of the North and West. Every variety of vegetables can be grown. The hilly portions furnish endless pastures for sheep and cattle, while the hickory, oak, and pine, in the fall and winter, afford abundant food for hogs.
Minerals of great value are exceedingly abundant. The coal fields of the State, embracing an area of six thousand square miles, afford fuel equal to that of Pennsylvania. The Red Mountain, so called because of its beds of red iron ore, runs for more than one hundred miles across the State, with a strata of solid ore, varying from two to eight feet thick. Beds of brown iron ore of most marvelous extent and of the finest quality, are found in the counties of Bibb, Shelby, Jefferson, Talladega, St. Clair and Claiborne. Here are found also beds of the purest limestone; marble, white, gray and variegated; hydraulic limestone; lithographic stone, manganese, sulphate of Baryta, slate, fire-proof stone, flagstone, sandstone, equal to the brown stone of New York, porcelain clay, and red ochre. In short, all the minerals to be found anywhere in the Alleghany Mountain region, from New York southward, are here in Alabama.
This region is populated almost exclusively by white people. Before the war, when the wealth of the State was engaged in the culture of cotton, its vast and diversified mineral resources were in a great measure overlooked. It is one of the most beautiful regions on the globe. Freed from the rigor of Northern winters by its latitude, and also from the great heat of the Southern summers by its elevation, it is certainly one of the most delightful countries to be found.
As to its facilities for transportation, the Selma, Rome and Dalton Railroad runs along its southeastern border for its whole length; the South and North Alabama Railroad, now in process of construction, from Montgomery to Decator, on the Tennessee River, will cross it in a direction nearly north and south.
The Mobile and Chattanooga Railroad will run through it from northeast to southwest. The Opelika and Elyton Railroad will pass through it from southeast to northwest, so that it promises at no distant day abundant facilities for transportation.
The farming lands can be purchased for from five to ten dollars per acre.
What this country needs is population accustomed to improved modes of agriculture, to the raising of stock, to mining and manufacturing. It can furnish happy and thriving homes to hundreds and thousands of such. In every neighborhood will be found a school-house and a church, although the educational facilities are confined to the rudiments of learning, and worship to the simplest forms.
In conclusion, permit us to say that we think no State in the Union promises such an inviting field for labor, capital and enterprise as Alabama.
NEWMAN & HUGHES.
Mr. F. B. GODDARD, New York.
FLORENCE, LAUDERDALE COUNTY, ALA.,
July 30, 1868.
SIR ; Land can be bought here, in any sized body wished for, from $5 to $10 an acre, which will produce from 400 to 1,000 lbs. per acre of cotton, and from five to ten bushels of corn; wheat, from six to fifteen bushels. Our county is as healthy as any in the United States. The Tennessee River passes along the whole border; it is well watered with springs, creeks, &c. We desire emigrants above all things.
Respectfully,
Yours, &c.,
J. W. STEWART.
TUSCUMBIA, ALA., August 5, 1868.
F. B. GODDARD, Esq.:―
DEAR SIR: * * * Our soil may be considered old, having been in cultivation some forty years, but produces exceedingly well, especially if manured a little. It produces from five to eight barrels of corn per acre, with good seasons; and from 500 to 800 lbs. of seed-cotton. In other words, three acres will make a good-sized bale of picked cotton. It produces wheat, on an average, of from 12 to 20 bushels per acre; sweet, and Irish potatoes, and fruits of every kind, in abundance. Our country is rather scarce of water and wood; but coal is convenient in East Tennessee, and on the railroad running from Charleston, S. C., to Memphis, Tennessee, on the Mississippi River.
The landed estates are generally large, but the owners are now willing to cut them up into small tracts, to accommodate purchasers, at from $8 to $12 per acre. The negro, or black labor, is preferable, as they are better able to stand the hot sun; it is worth from $8 to $12 per month, and rations found. White laborers would be preferred if they could stand the sun, though a great many poor white people are leaving our mountains, and coming into the valley on the large plantations, and cultivating the soil on shares, or some are renting lands at $2.50 to $3 per acre. We have several Northern families near our town, from Michigan and other Northern States, who are much pleased with the climate and soil. The majority of our people are Americans from North Carolina and Virginia.
We are convenient to the Memphis market, 160 miles, and can dispose of every thing we can produce in twenty-four hours time. Our people are anxious for emigrants to settle here, and they will be kindly received and welcomed among us. Our mountain lands can be entered at 12½ cts. per acre, suitable for the culture of grapes and fruits. Yours, &c.,
GEO. W. CREAMER.
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.