Northern Alabama

Thoughts of Alabama invite images of Confederate jasmine and fertile cotton fields, sweet iced tea and Southern hospitality. But even in paradise, evil sometimes creeps in. Some of the stories captured within the pages of this book are well known to the good folks of North Alabama; others are less familiar. The scandals of Lincoln's brother-in-law, the reign of terror created by Huntsville's Southwest Molester, the Decatur man who buried his wife's dismembered body under the fish pond and the beautiful Black Widow of Hazel Green--all of these stories are well researched and masterfully written by Huntsville author Jacquelyn Procter Reeves. True-crime fans will appreciate this treasury of stories spanning nearly two hundred years of North Alabama history.

The tranquil waters of the Tennessee River hide a horrible tragedy that took place one steamy July day when co-workers took an excursion aboard the SCItanic. Lawrence County resident Jenny Brooks used the skull of one of her victims to wash her hands, but her forty-year quest for revenge cost more than she bargained for. Granville Garth jumped to his watery grave with a pocketful of secrets--did anyone collect the $10,000 reward for the return of the papers he took with him? Historian Jacquelyn Procter Reeves transports readers deep into the shadows of the past to learn about the secret of George Steele's will, the truth behind the night the "Stars Fell on Alabama" and the story of the Lawrence County boys who died in the Goliad Massacre. Learn these secrets--and many more--in Hidden History of North Alabama.

The Deep South reveals its dark past, as the author of the Tattooed Girl series investigates the hauntings of her home state. Nestled in the scenic foothills of southern Appalachia, in the center of the Tennessee Valley, north Alabama is known for its natural beauty. Peppered with antebellum mansions and historic homesteads, it is a region rich in history, brimming with a unique cultural heritage. Yet amidst the beauty of these rolling hills and historic features, something dark lurks below the surface. The haunted spirits of the past run as wild as the Tennessee River through the region. Join author and Huntsville resident Jessica Penot on a terrifying trip through the chilling destinations of north Alabama, teeming with ghostly activity. From Florence to Huntsville to Albertville and points in between, Haunted North Alabama offers a broad survey of the history of haunted destinations in the upper regions of Alabama. Packed with over twenty haunted locales, this book is required reading for anyone interested in learning about the history of the phantom spirits that call the heart of Dixie home. Includes photos! “Marvelous . . . Good, reliable information on a number of Huntsville’s hauntings plus information on locations that were not included in the few articles on the subject.” —Southern Spirit Guide

When General Ormsby Mitchel and his Third Division, Army of the Ohio, marched into North Alabama in April 1862, they initiated the first occupation of an inland region in the Deep South during the Civil War. As an occupying force, soldiers were expected to adhere to President Lincoln's policy of conciliation, a conservative strategy based on the belief that most southerners were loyal to the Union. Confederate civilians in North Alabama not only rejected their occupiers' conciliatory overtures, but they began sabotaging Union telegraph lines and trains, conducting guerrilla operations, and even verbally abusing troops. Confederates' dogged resistance compelled Mitchel and his men to jettison conciliation in favor of a "hard war" approach to restoring Federal authority in the region. This occupation turned out to be the first of a handful of instances where Union soldiers occupied North Alabama. In this first book-length account of the occupations of North Alabama, Joseph Danielson opens a new window on the strength of Confederate nationalism in the region, the Union's evolving policies toward defiant civilians, and African Americans' efforts to achieve lasting freedom. His study reveals that Federal troops' creation of punitive civil-military policies-arrests, compulsory loyalty oaths, censorship, confiscation of provisions, and the destruction of civilian property-started much earlier than previous accounts have suggested. Over the course of the various occupations, Danielson shows Union soldiers becoming increasingly hardened in their interactions with Confederates, even to the point of targeting Rebel women. During General William T. Sherman's time in North Alabama, he implemented his destructive policies on local Confederates a few months before beginning his "March to the Sea." As Union soldiers sought to pacify rebellious civilians, African Americans engaged in a host of actions to undermine the institution of slavery and the Confederacy. While Confederate civilians did their best to remain committed to the cause, Danielson argues that battlefield losses and seemingly unending punitive policies by their occupiers led to the collapse of the Confederate home front in North Alabama. In the immediate post-war period, however, ex-Confederates were largely able to define the limits of Reconstruction and restore the South's caste system. War's Desolating Scourge is the definitive account of this stressful chapter of the war and of the determination of Confederate civilians to remain ideologically committed to independence-a determination that reverberates to this day.

By: James E. Saunders, Pub. 1899, Reprinted 2015, 556 pages, Index, ISBN #0-89308-061-6. This excellent book on the history of northern Alabama and most especially of Lawrence County is a MUST. The volume is in two parts, part one being "Recollections of the Early Settlers of North Alabama ", written by Col. Saunders. This part contains a brief history of Lawrence County, AL. and the Tennessee River Valley, sketches of many early families and personalities of the area and their origins as well as Col. Saunders writings on the Civil War. Part two, "Notes and Genealogies", was compilied by Mrs. Elizabeth Saunders Blair Stubbs, a granddaughter of Col. Saunders. The genealogies cover not only families in Northern Alabama but in other areas of the state, and also other states as well, giving much detail and family origins in this country and abroud. Among the families covered are: Banks, Bankhead, Bibbs, Billups, Blair, Cantzon, Clark, Clay, Coleman, Cox, DuBose, Dudley, Dunn, Eliott, Flint, Foster, Fry, Gholson, Goode, Gray, Harris, Hill, Hopkins, Kennedy, Lanier, Ligon, Lowe, Maclin, Manning, Maury, McCarthy, McGehee, Moore, Oliver, O'Neal, Phelan, Poellnitz, Ray, Richardson, Saunders, Shelton, Sherrod, Shorter, Speed, Swoope, Tait, Taliaferro, Thompson, Tillman, Urquhart, Walthall, Waykins, Webb, Weeden, Wells, White, Withers, Yates, and Young

An Athlete. A Therapist. A Murder. A Medal.Siana Singh can run fast; she is just slow in discovering where she belongs, wedged between her traditional Punjabi family and her western beliefs. She clashes with her father on everything from ripped pants to life goals until the day he is murdered. Dr. Silverstone is a therapist whose primary purpose has been one of being an exemplary mother. Living her life guided by deep faith, she has lost her daughter to 9/11 and her living son to a crime. She understands loss well and is eager to help her patient Siana.Siana and the doctor feed off each other. For Siana, Dr. Silverstone's warmth occupies a parental figure; for the doctor, Siana embodies hope as if helping her could rescue her son.But everything changes when the doctor discovers the hideous truth that connects her to Siana.House of Milk and Cheese is the poignant yet heartwarming story of a young woman whose pursuit of overcoming her demons makes for a nail-biting drama as she realizes . . . To seek redemption is to pursue the impossible dream.