Today in History for Aug. 9, 2014

Andrew Jackson in 1824.

Aug. 9, 1814 - The Treaty of Fort Jackson was finalized after warring Creeks, under the leadership of William Weatherford, aka “Red Eagle,” surrendered to Gen. Andrew Jackson and ceded their lands to the federal government. This event opened up half of the present state of Alabama to white settlement.

Aug. 9, 1845 – Nicholas “Nick” Stallworth was born in Evergreen. On April 24, 1861 at Sparta, he joined the Conecuh Guards as a private at the age of 15, becoming the youngest member of the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment. He was wounded in left forearm and right thigh at Cold Harbor (Gaines Mill) and later became adjutant of 23rd Alabama Regiment. He became an attorney after the war, a state representative and solicitor of 11th Judicial Circuit.

Aug. 9, 1853 (54?) – Dr. John Watkins passed away at Burnt Corn.

Aug. 9, 1854 – “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau was first published.

Aug. 9, 1862 - Rebels scored a narrow victory at the Battle of Cedar Mountain as Confederate General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson narrowly defeated a Union force led by General John Pope at Cedar Mountain, Va.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, now that Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island, had surrendered and Fort Powell at Cedar Point had been abandoned, the Federal siege of Fort Morgan, Ala. began. Major General John Granger embarked for Navy Cove, four miles down the peninsula from Fort Morgan on the bay side of Mobile Bay. The commander of Fort Morgan, General Richard L. Paige, caused the gunboat Gaines to be burned, the hospital and other outbuildings. After landing, the Federals moved forward and by nightfall, Granger’s force was less than two miles from Fort Morgan.

Aug. 9, 1864 – During the Civil War, a skirmish occurred near Pond Springs in Northern Alabama.

Aug. 9, 1867 – Rev. Fielding Straughn of Belleville, one of Conecuh County’s earliest settlers, passed away at the age of 83.

Aug. 9, 1877 - Paleontologist Timothy Abbott Conrad passed away in Trenton, N.J. He studied the fossil beds at Claiborne for two years with Charles Tait and published the first geologic map of Alabama. During his time at Claiborne, Conrad shipped cases full of fossils back to Philadelphia for identification.

Aug. 9, 1897 – George Bradley was tried for the June 17 murder of Richard Rumbley at Rumbley’s store near Pleasant Ridge. Bradley was found guilty and hung on Sept. 17, the second hanging in Monroe County since the Civil War.

Aug. 9, 1899 – Everette Howard Brown was born in Conecuh County. During World War I, while serving with the 167th Regiment, 42nd U.S. Division (Rainbow), he would be killed in action on July 27, 1918 in France. He enlisted in the Alabama National Guard’s Co. G, 1st Ala. Infantry in Bay Minette on June 17, 1917. He is buried in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Fere-en-Tardenois, in France.

Aug. 9, 1910 – Alfred Robert “Son” Boulware Jr. was born. Many believe Boulware was the inspiration for Harper Lee’s Boo Radley. He died of tuberculosis on May 2, 1952 and is buried in Monroeville’s Pineville Cemetery.

Aug. 9, 1938 – Franklin D. Roosevelt passed through Evergreen about 10 p.m. on a train bound for Washington.

Aug. 9, 1956 - The first statewide, state-supported educational television network went on the air in Alabama.

Aug. 9, 1961 – Greening Masonic Lodge was dedicated on Edwina Street in Evergreen.

Aug. 9, 1975 - The New Orleans Superdome officially opened when the Saints played the Houston Oilers in exhibition football. The new Superdome cost $163 million to build.

Aug. 9, 1981 - Major league baseball teams resumed play at the conclusion of the first mid-season players’ strike.