Legends of Lamar County, Alabama

Bone Yard was the name given to the lot where virgin pines grew next to the Methodist Church in Vernon. In the years after the Civil War, people brought horses and mules to town to swap and trade. Most of these animals were sorry looking creatures so they called the lot the “Bone Yard”. 

And, well there was always something mighty peculiar about where I used to live. It just happened once in a while, but sometimes somebody would holler ‘Hello’. We couldn’t tell who it was. I don’t guess anybody would ever believe this, but folks said it was a ghost.”

Hell’s Creek

Hell’s Creek Community got it‘s name from a disgusted circuit riding parson. He held a revival under a brush arbor near the creek, but not many of the brethren came or were revived. As he was leaving one of the natives asked, “Parson - when are you coming back?” The Parson pointed toward the creek saying’ After hell has burned that creek dry.” .

Mr. E. A Powell recalled that a man on Hell’s Creek in Lamar County claimed to have killed 18 panthers as well as numerous wildcat and bear.

In April of 1888, Bob Lawrence reported that he owned a four-legged chicken with no wings.

In 1890, a huge flock estimated as 2,000 hawks passed over Lamar County and roosted in Luxapallila Swamp. 

The big black bear seen in Vernon in April of 1894 turned out to be a big black dog.

In December of 1895, a five-foot catamount was spotted on the farm of W. J. Johnson. 

In 1894, the Nathan Gold Mine was still being worked. Mr. Nathan, whose mine was near Bedford, shipped out several carloads of ore from the mine.

On September 3, 1893 a meteorite fell in south Lamar County. The noise was heard county wide and the incident brought back memories of the 1830’s when the stars fell on Alabama. 

Hattie Redus recalls “ I remember that my Grandpa Taylor hid $400 in the wheat in a side room. After Pa carried the wheat to the mill, Grandma thought of the money. Grandpa rode a horse and got to the mill before the wheat was ground into flour, and he found the money. 

Jesse Barnes, a settler of Fayette County, came from North Carolina. Barnes who never sent any of his 18 children to school, believed he owned the best rifle that had ever been made. He boasted that he had killed hundreds of deer and a large number of bears. 

Mr. E. A. Powell recalls a pioneer character named Military Bill Wilson. “Military Bill Wilson was so named because he was the William Wilson who lived on Military Road. A clock peddler who came to Lamar County was probably the first of his kind in the country, and when he learned that Military Bill was the richest man around, he is set to find him. “The peddler encountered a stranger on the road and asked the whereabouts of Military Bill Wilson, saying that he wished to sell the man a clock. The stranger told the peddler that he had never seen a clock. The stranger told the peddler that he had never seen a clock and asked what kind of thing it was. So the peddler set one of his clocks upon a stump and let it strike for the poor dumb fellow. Each time the clock struck, the country fellow danced around it with glee. Then the peddler continued on his way to the home of Military Bill Wilson, and discovered -- much to his dismay-- that the poor dumb country fellow who danced around his clock on the stump, was Military Bill Wilson himself. Military Bill took great pleasure in his little joke and made the clock peddler welcome in his home. 

Thomas Hankins recalls, “When I was about eight years old, a woman died shouting at Blooming Grove. That was the worst excited I’ve ever been. We were in a grove meeting, The ladies and the men were separated, you know, and some of the ladies came running over to where the men were and they said Old Aunt Louisa Barnes had died shouting. Some of them said she had just fainted, but there was a doctor there and pronounced her dead, It’d be my guess she was 60 or so!”

Hattie Redus recalls, “The first time I saw Charlie Redus he was leading a song, ‘The Unclouded Day,’ I thought he was the handsomest boy I ever saw, and we kept company that summer. Charlie and I married November 6, 1889, by my Grandfather Springfield. To get cloth for my wedding dress I rode horseback from three miles east of Vernon to Sulligent. From Pennington’s and Lampkin’s store , I bought ten yards of gray cashmere, a card of buttons, thread, print lining and wiggling, and three yards of braid trimming for $4.95.