"Verbena: A town born of Yellow fever", included here in its entirety from the INDEPENDENT ADVERTISER, SPECIAL EDITION, Friday, February 26, 1988 with permission of the author Mrs. Sue B. McKinney. Things have changed considerably since this article was written. This area now is not strongly Democratic.

Verbena, a town born of yellow fever

One of the most dreaded diseases during the late nineteenth century in Alabama was yellow fever. Alabama is located in the center of an area where approximately 50 epidemics struck between the years 1705 and 1905. The worst epidemic in Montgomery came in 1873. The high death rate and horrible effects of yellow fever made it one of the worst diseases known at the time and then there was no known cure.

People fled big cities for mountains and resorts. As a result of fleeing the fever and fear in Montgomery, a town was born -Verbena. In the late 1870's and 1880's, many prominent families from Montgomery built summer homes in Verbena to escape the heat and the possibility of catching the dread disease. Many who came for the summer decided to become permanent residents.

The town of Verbena was originally called Summerfield but was renamed when it was discovered that a small town near Selma already bore this name. Although there are conflicting stories concerning how the name Verbena was chosen, it is generally accepted that the name was suggested by Kate Norton, a relative of one of the first settlers. The wild flower, verbena, grew in abundance and another of the early settlers, Colonel P. T. Sayre, many times wore a sprig of this purple flower in his lapel. This is the only town in the country named Verbena.

 Verbena had many things to offer those seeking refuge from yellow fever. There was plenty of clean, fresh air and virgin forests. The altitude of 450 feet was relatively high, and beautiful. Chestnut Creek, provided power for wheat and corn mills.

There were some settlers in the area before the fear of yellow fever brought enough people to establish a town. In 1832, Peter Cooper obtained land from the United States government and settled in what is now Verbena. He owned more than a thousand acres of land that he farmed with slave labor. Through Verbena were driven mules by traders from Tennessee and Kentucky. Also, herds of hogs were driven to New Orleans and Mobile through the area. Apple farmers hauled their crops to southern markets, and many of these traveled to a plantation which stood near one of the main north-south travel routes.

Cooper owned saw mills, grist mills, and cotton gins which were located on Chestnut Creek. Two well established stage coach routes were near Verbena. About four miles out was the old Tuscaloosa-Montgomery route, and a route from Tennessee, the old Montevallo Road, came quite close.

The first settler to come up from Montgomery was an Alabama River steamboat man, Captain John Norton. Although it was not yellow fever, the Captain had come to Verbena for health reasons - tuberculosis as later did the famed poet, Sidney Lanier. On a path along Chestnut Creek is the site of Sidney Lanier's camp where he lived in a tent in a grove of pine trees for almost a year attempting to regain his health. It has been said that Lanier's "A Ballad of Trees" and "The Master" were inspired by his stay.

In 1870, the north-south railroad was built through the area making transportation easier for the people who later fled from Montgomery, and the following year the first post office was established making communication easier.

A hotel was built to accommodate those who came from Montgomery only for the summer. The first hotel burned but the need for accommodations for the guests was so great that a second hotel was built in 1882 named the Clifton House. It was a large two-story structure surrounded with lacy, wooden trimmed porches.

In the summers after the 1873 epidemic, more people came from Montgomery including the Baldwin family. Two brothers, William 0. and Benjamin J. both owned property and spent some time in Verbena. Their father, William I Baldwin, came to Alabama in 1816 from Georgia. He married Celia Fitzpatrick, sister of Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick who was Governor -of Alabama four years and a United States Senator when Alabama seceded from the Union.

The Baldwin house in Verbena stands on a high hill overlooking Chestnut Creek. The original house was built of logs in 1874. The structure was improved in 1900 and a room 24 feet X 63 feet, referred to as "The Link" was added. This quickly became the famed Baldwin ballroom, the only ballroom that Chilton County has ever had as for as is known.

Another of the summer homes which is still standing was built by Milo Barret, great-grandfather of Milo Howard, Jr. who was Director of the Alabama Archives and History until his untimely death at an early age. Milo Barret came to Montgomery in 1850 and married Eugenia Blue. He was co-owner of THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER from 1864-1865.

In 1891, the Barret home was sold to a physician, Dr. S. T. Williamson who had settled in Verbena shortly after the Civil War. Although their coming to Verbena was not associated with yellow fever, they remained and became one of the founding families of the town. His son, John, became a physician and as such served the people of Verbena for many years. One granddaughter, Louise Sheppard Carmichael still represents the Williamson family in Verbena. Another member of the family, Mrs. Joseph Sheppard, whose late husband was a grandson of the first Dr. Williamson, occupies the family home which is named Hill Crest. It is a beautiful two-story structure with a big porch and gazebo. Standing adjacent to the big house is a small room which was a billiard room in the days when it was enjoyed as a summer house.

Some of the other families that came to Verbena from Montgomery built year-round homes and formed the nucleus of a permanent town. Such was true of Major Joseph Carr Gibson. Major Gibson, who was a native of Virginia, had been on duty at Harper's Ferry at the same time of the famous John Brown raid was also there at the time of Brown's execution. He came to Alabama at the end of the war. While in Montgomery, he was owner/editor of the MONTGOMERY DAILY MAIL , a forerunner of THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER. In 1873, he married Mrs. Gertrude Lanier Shannon, a sister of Sidney Lanier, and later, Major and Mrs. Gibson moved to Verbena and built Oak Side, the family home.

Oak Side is still quite a lovely home. It stands on a beautifully wooded lot surrounded by a rock wall. Many of the original pieces of furniture are still in the house.

Other families coming to Verbena for health or summer vacations included Josiah Morris, Colonel P. T. Sayre (a prominent Montgomery attorney and cousin of Judge Sayre whose daughter Zelda, married F.Scott Fitzgerald), and William A. Gayle of the Marks and Gayle cotton business. The Judge John Kohn family also had a summer home in Verbena.

A growing town needed merchants and a business life. In 1869, the first store was built by J .T. Mullins. Then came the Gulledge family Williams, Strock,  Deramus, Clisby, and others. The only bank that Verbena ever had was organized in 1919. Owned and operated locally, it closed in 1929.

A church was a necessary part of any community. The congregation of the Methodist Church organized in 1875 and the building was completed by 1877. The original structure still stands atop a hill overlooking the town it served so well. It is a frame building with a beautiful interior of paneling and exposed beams. It was built by Sidney Gibson, son of Major Gibson. The communion rail was sent from Virginia through the efforts of Major Gibson. The original 25 pews are in the church today. The church currently has a membership of approximately 110.

The early landowners in Verbena were well educated, aristocratic people. One of their first concerns was education for their children. A small private school with about two-dozen pupils was started in 1872. A decade later the Verbena Academy was built by the local residents. In 1888, this school was called Verbena High School and was publishing a paper called "The Verbena High School "Alpha." The paper advertised Latin, Greek, mathematics, English, calisthenics, elocution, and music. The fees ranged from $1.50 per month for primary work to $4.00 per month for collegiate training. In 1920, it became the first consolidated school in Chilton County when Evergreen and Shady Grove schools joined. Four years later, a new building, still in use today, was built of natural rock from the near-by creek. The school has 12 grades for some 550 or so students and a faculty of 25.

At one time, Verbena had a mine which was one of the leading producers of gold in the state. The mine was named Repito and was worked from 1835 to 1849. Some sizable nuggets were found but the main source of gold was never located. William Lanier, an uncle of Sidney Lanier, dug and panned for gold in the area in 1866. He had been one of the original forty-niners in the famed California gold rush!

There have been four factors shaping the economic life of Verbena. The first was the coming of the railroad in 1870; the second, the building of Pratt Saw Mill which employed two hundred people. A third factor was the construction of Mitchell Dam on the Coosa River. A fourth was routing Highway 31 through Verbena.

In politics, the Verbena beat is always strongly Democratic. In the school paper in 1888, there was the following statement: "The Democratic Party should be organized in every state, county, and village in the Union and be ready to meet the enemy with organized ranks.

In 1900, the Yellow Fever Commission of the U.S. Army headed by Dr. Walter Reed discovered the cause of the dreaded fever and the epidemics ended. The town of
Verbena it seems had passed its peak of population and popularity but its permanent residents do not consider it a ghost town.

Verbena has its cherished memories and is still an active community. Today this quite peaceful little community ...born of yellow fever ...is, "a remnant of the Old South" and still very much alive.