Alabama Territory 1819...
The lands of Montgomery County were put up for auction at the Federal Land Office in Milledgeville, Georgia in 1816. Larger parcels were sold to developers who subdivided the land into lots for urban commercial and residential use, predetermining a major city on the banks of the Alabama River at Montgomery. A hardy and superior class of people penetrated the wilderness. Settlements and towns sprang into existence everywhere. The City of Montgomery, which became the county seat in 1822, was built on the side of the Indian town Ikanatchati (Econachatee), which means red ground, and Towasa on a high red bluff known to Alibamu Indians as Chunnaanaauga Chatty.

I have taken pictures of the historical markers found downtown about the former Indians who lived here along the Alabama River and near the train station, but keep in mind there was another train station in Ramer on the east side of Montgomery County where the First Little White House of the Confederacy was placed and Ramer was the home of many large plantations in this research.

Hundreds of families began their journey into the state with many settling in Montgomery County long before it became civilized and left a legacy for us all to be proud of.

John Hill, John Stephens, Benjamin Lewis, Howell and Richard Mason, Peter Bozeman, John Stacie, Abner McGehee, Abner Broadway, John Stephens, Elisha Anderson, William and Alfred Sellers, David Campbell, Matthew Stokes, John McQueen, George Gibson, William Chisholm, George Bush, Bunberry Flinn, James Moon, Deer, Norman, Hampton Hilliard, Henry Graves, etc.

Dozens of my ancestors served in the Civil War and many lost their crops or farms but they bounced back. Some even tried the new land in Texas after the Alamo but most returned to their native home in Montgomery.

Aunt Ethel's Home (128 KB)
This tiny home was built by Aunt Ethel and her husband Jace Gibson and my picture was taken when my sister Pam and I visited the area around 2005 after hearing the story from her daughter Peggy whom we lost not long afterward to kidney cancer. Peggy's story was that Ethel and Jason had several children at the time, all living in a tent on this farm, while they built their new home around 1930. It seemed to be one of the oldest homes still standing in 2005. Ethel and Jace are buried down the road at Hills Chapel Cemetery on the Long Road close to her father John Thomas Bozeman and his 4th wife Sara Ellen Bean. Sara raised these children after their mother died young and told them stories, like she was related to the hanging Judge Roy Bean. She was a wonderful stepmother who also gave them four more siblings before she passed away. Many of these descendants still remain in Dublin, Ramer, Grady, and Hickory Grove.

Pam's husband Larry Fuller passed away in 2008 (75 KB)
His mother was Hazel Richards, buried at his foot.