Perote grew rapidly in the early days of Bullock County, Alabama

Excerpt from

REMINISCENCES OF PEROTE IN BULLOCK

By A Native

Catharine Elizabeth (Hixon) Rumphⁱ

(This transcribed excerpt was written before 1958)

Churches and School

As the population of Perote increased the citizens main interest was the church and school. Two churches were erected, Methodist and Baptist. The Presbyterian Church was five miles to the north of Perote in the Scotland settlement.

On a street that ran up the hill in front of the Baptist Church a carriage factory was built by a Mr. Parris. “The newly painted vehicles in the upper gallery made this part of the village look quite townish.” The same year this shop was finished, and at the close of the school exercises, there was a fine supper in a long room in the upper story of the building. Large crowds came from Enon, Glennville, Clayton, Salem, and other towns. The young ladies dressed elegantly in silks and costly laces, the gentlemen also, both from our own and neighboring towns, For the people were quite prosperous. At one time twelve couples came from Salem alone, stopping with relatives and friends about the place. “Dr. Thacker Walker married a young lady from Enon who visited in Perote.” (from Mrs. Rumph’s scrapbook).

Two young men, Wilson brothers from Salem built a store which stood in the corner of what is known as the park opposite the house owned by Mrs. Wilson. A Mr. Goss from Georgia bought them out. Dr. Padgett built a store joining them on the southern side. Drs. Walker and Zeigler sold groceries in an adjoining building, joining him on the comer.

After Civil War

After the Civil War six fires reduced the size of the town and as there was no railroad or industry except farming to keep the place up, it dwindled in size. Still it shows the imprint of better times and noble citizenship-such characters as George Rodgers and his gentle high-toned wife; Mr. John Tullis, father of Mrs. Frank Ellison of the Alabama Methodist Conference, Judge Abe Miles and his useful Christian wife; Mr. Dan A. Hixon, Mr. Hayes, Mr. J. W. Crossley, Capt. G. W. Dawson, Mrs. Ezra Baxter (Mrs. Samuel Hixon), and many others have left their imprint for good upon it.

On the west side of the highway was a small shop where Mr. Bill Miles repaired and made sturdy shoes. On the same side but behind the stores Mr. Walter Brooks had a blacksmith shop. A number of years after he moved away Mr. Elvis Rodgers used it. On the east side of the highway there was another blacksmith shop where Rafe Lampley, Sr., a colored man shod horses and mules. After his death Mr. McKenzie worked there. He lived in a log house back of the cemetery. It had two large rooms with an open hall between. The dining room and kitchen were a short distance from the house connected by a platform.

Perote must have been incorporated in its early days because it was re-instated in May 1926. Mr. Ben Smith was elected marshal. He had a guardhouse built and was the first person put in it. It was for getting drunk and disturbing the peace.

In 1909 Perote had telephones, all on a party line from Inverness to Linwood through Perote. It did not last long.

iCatherine Elizabeth (Hixon) Rumph was born in Bulkick County and has lived during her entire life time there. She is the daughter of a Confederate Veteran who was some time a prisoner at Ship Island off the coast of Mississippi and grew up in the environment of the small country village about which she writes and among interesting Confederate associates, Mrs. Rumph has collected Americana, folk lore and historical data and contributed in no small way to the life of this rural community.

SOURCE

The Alabama Historical Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 03, Fall Issue 1958

Discordance: The Cottinghams Inspired by true events and the Cottingham family that resided in 17th century Somerset, Maryland, and Delaware, colonial America comes alive with pirate attacks, religious discord, and governmental disagreements in the pre-Revolutionary War days of America.

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Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) (Paperback)

By (author): Causey, Donna R

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About Donna R Causey

Donna R. Causey, resident of Alabama, was a teacher in the public school system for twenty years. When she retired, Donna found time to focus on her lifetime passion for historical writing. She developed the websites www.alabamapioneers and www.daysgoneby.me All her books can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. She has authored numerous genealogy books. RIBBON OF LOVE: A Novel Of Colonial America (TAPESTRY OF LOVE) is her first novel in the Tapestry of Love about her family where she uses actual characters, facts, dates and places to create a story about life as it might have happened in colonial Virginia. Faith and Courage: Tapestry of Love (Volume 2) is the second book and the third FreeHearts: A Novel of Colonial America (Book 3 in the Tapestry of Love Series) Discordance: The Cottinghams (Volume 1) is the continuation of the story. . For a complete list of books, visit Donna R Causey