23 comments

  1. Love a home with history. This one is beautiful, Joe.

  2. Uder the “late commers” the William Stearn was my 4th grand uncle (Mary Fisher Starnes, mother). They came from old Mecklenberg Co., NC and arrived about 1826. Earlier settler was Mary’s brother William Fisher in 1820. William Fisher owned a great deal of land at Canton’s Bend. I visited this area in April 2015. Enjoyed the photos of the old homes. The court house today looks the same at the photo.

  3. I have a lot of Hawthorne cousins that lived in Camden since the 1800’s. Over in Pineapple, the Hawthorne Plantation House belonged to my cousin Col. Joseph Richard Hawthorn.

  4. Great photograph presentation! Enjoyed it very much.

    1. Thanks, Glad you enjoyed it.

  5. Thomas Dunn was my great, great, grandfather.

  6. William Stearns/Sterns/Starnes was Mary Fisher Starnes son. However, William Fisher, my 4th great uncle was the one who went to Camden Co. first. See the 1820 census. He owned land. Grew cotton. My 4th great grandmother, Mary Fisher Starnes, went to Wilcox Co. in 1838 from Monroe, NC to be near William Fisher, her brother. He was her only family left. She also had a son, Rev. Paul Starnes was a Methodist minister there. The name was spelled Starnes in NC and corrupted to Sterns, Stearns, Sturns along the way to Alabama. I made a trip to Camden Co., AL in 2014. Thanks for posting this article.

  7. We went to a Methodist Church in Salem Alabama and there were two families with the last name of Dunn; one of which was a Thomas.

  8. My son and wife just recently purchased one of the older homes, they plan to move there permanently
    in a year or so, we went down to see the house with them recently and it is such a lovely old house. If only walls could talk. We would love to know the history of the house,
    They choose Camden to retire there because of its quietness, peacefulness, and the charming historical areas. The people of this area are so friendly and polite, something you do not see in larger cities today. Hope to visit them often and learn more about the area.

  9. Has anyone ever seen the date that Union troops entered Camden in 1865?

  10. and Camden is Governor Ivy’s hometown

    1. Ivey is the correct spelling

  11. Well, that’s just interesting! I descend from the Sheffield bunch up there in Wilcox County! (My mom’s maiden name is Sheffield and two of the early settlers (Frederick Sheffield and his wife, Perminda Lindsey Sheffield) are my 4th great-grandparents. Looks like it might be time for a road trip.

  12. During the Civil War, the courthouse was ransacked by Union forces in 1865, but an advance warning allowed county officials to remove county records to a safe place. (legend claims that they were buried in a coffin) The 2nd courthouse is now listed on the National Register.

  13. and Camden is Governor Ivey’s hometown

  14. That’s an impressive house. Is it still standing?

  15. Love this house!

  16. Mary Jane Dees Falkenberry, Cole Falkenberry

  17. Can anyone help me find more information on my ggg-grandparents, John and Maryann Jones Davis of Wilcox County? They farmed at Portland and when the Alabama River was dammed and its course changed, the house and land were left underwater, along with what I think are their graves. John died in 1840. Their son Moses Davis, my gg grandfather, was born in Portland 9 May, 1808. I’ve been to the courthouse in Camden and found some info — think I might have to make another trip there someday from Texas. Thank you for your help!!