February is Black History Month and is a great time to review the little told but very important role of blacks in the exploration and settlement of the Tombigbee River Valley. That impact began with the earliest European exploration and continued through colonial times into the earliest days of the town of Columbus.
When Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto’s expedition passed through this area in 1540-1541, seven or eight free blacks served with him. The French military forces operating along the Tombigbee out of Mobile in 1736 included a company of black soldiers. They were under the command of Simon, a free black French officer. In an ill-fated attack against the Chickasaw village of Ackia (at present day Tupelo), the French were soundly defeated. Though the fighting took place in May 1736, news did not reach London until September, when it was reported in The Gentleman’s Magazine as “Indians Beat the French.”
After the disastrous battle had ended there the story goes that several French officers questioned the bravery of Simon and his company of black soldiers. To show his bravery, Simon ran back through the concentrated fire of the Chickasaws to their village. There he threw a rope over the head of a Chickasaw horse and rode it back to the French lines through a shower of arrows. He was greeted with cheers and his bravery and that of his company were never again questioned.
During the American Revolution, free blacks served in American and Spanish forces fighting the British in the Mobile area. The first man wounded in the 1780 Spanish assault on the English Fort Charlotte in Mobile was a free black man. And Lorenzo Montero, another free black, commanded a cannon in a Spanish battery during the assault against the British. Unfortunately, the names of many of the blacks who played an important role in our earliest history have been lost.
After American independence, the role of blacks continued to expand. By 1791, William Cooper, a free black contractor, was working and trading over the entire region from Baton Rouge to Mobile and up the Tombigbee. In 1808, a free black woman by the name of Betsey Lewis and 4 members of her family were living in the lower Tombigbee area. George Gaines in March 1814, transported supplies by flatboat from John Pitchlynn’s at Plymouth Bluff to St. Stephens. He had a crew of five, including Dick, an black man. Earlier in Jan. 1814, Gaines had sent a Choctaw Factory (trading post) boat up river from St. Stephens to Pitchlynn’s. Two unnamed black men were hired to row the boat. Between 1806 and 1816, 22 different black people were employed at various times by the U.S. Choctaw factory (trading post) on the lower Tombigbee River.
An interesting figure from the time of Columbus’ founding was James Scott. During the mid-1820s, he sold lumber in Columbus and the 1822 through 1825 tax records indicate that no whites resided in his house thereby indicating that Scott was a free black man. Dr. B.C. Barry began construction of a frame house in Columbus on the southwest corner of what is now Market Street and College Street, probably in 1824. He purchased his lumber from James Scott.
In 1842, Horace King, though a slave, was an engineer and bridge builder. He built several bridges in Lowndes County including the first bridge over the Tombigbee. That bridge came off of the top of the bluff at Fourth Avenue South. The footing for the bridge is still visible as a flat earthen platform on the side of the bluff. It was a wooden covered bridge 420-feet long and 65-feet high. King was eventually given his freedom by his owner and then, as a free man, formed a partnership with his former owner.
Isaac and Thomas Williams appeared in Columbus not long after 1840. They were “free men of color” who were from South Carolina. Isaac was a carpenter/laborer and Thomas was a blacksmith. Their business prospered and, in about 1843, they built for their family the Williams-Glass House which is located across the corner from the present day Trotter Convention Center. From the city’s earliest days, black carpenters and contractors played a significant role in the building of Columbus. Their history and contributions show an important, if little recognized, part of local history.
One who recognized the important role of free Blacks in the early South was Andrew Jackson. At his celebrated victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans, Jackson’s army was as diverse as the American South. His troops included; U.S. regular Army, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Orleans militia, Free Men of Color, Jean Lafitte”s Baratarian pirates and Choctaw Indians. On December 18, 1815, Jackson reviewed his troops. He prepared addresses which were to be delivered to each unit including two battalions of Free Men of Color who were addressed by Jackson’s Aid-de-Camp:
“To The Men of Color”
“Soldiers — From the shores of Mobile I collected you to arms — I invited you to share in the perils and to divide the glory of your white countrymen. I expected much from you, for I was not uninformed of those qualities which must render you so formidable to an invading foe. I knew that you could endure hunger and thirst and all the hardships of war. I knew that you loved the land of your nativity, and that, like ourselves, you had to defend all that is most dear to man — But you surpass my hopes. I have found in you, united to these qualities, that noble enthusiasm which impels to great deeds.
“Soldiers — The President of the United States shall be informed of your conduct on the present occasion, and the voice of the Representatives of the American nation shall applaud your valor, as your General now praises your ardor. The enemy is near; his sails cover the lakes, but the brave are united; and if he finds us contending among ourselves, it will be for the prize of valor, and fame its noblest reward.”
These heroes should be celebrated and not just during February.
Rufus Ward is a local historian. Email your questions about local history to him at [email protected].
Rufus Ward is a Columbus native a local historian. E-mail your questions about local history to Rufus at [email protected].
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