Few people seem to realize the very important role of African Americans in the exploration and settlement of the Tombigbee River Valley. I have told this story before, but it is a story that needs repeating.

The impact of African Americans in America began before there was an America. It began with the earliest European exploration and continued through colonial times through the earliest days of the town of Columbus and into the present.

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 May 1736, they camped for three days at Plymouth Bluff.

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 English Fort Charlotte in Mobile was a free Black man. And Lorenzo Montero, another free Black man, commanded a cannon in a Spanish battery during the battle. 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 named Betsey Lewis and four members of her family were living in the lower Tombigbee area.

George Gaines, in March 1814, transported government supplies by flatboat from John Pitchlynn’s at Plymouth Bluff to St. Stephens above Mobile. He had a crew of five, including Dick, a Black man. Earlier in January 1814, Gaines had sent a Choctaw Factory (trading post) boat upriver from St. Stephens to Pitchlynn’s. Two unnamed Black men were hired to row the boat. Between 1806 and 1816, at least 22 Black workers were employed at various times by the U.S. Choctaw factory (trading post) on the Tombigbee River.

Andrew Jackson’s army in the Battle of New Orleans was as diverse as the American South. At his celebrated victory over the British, his soldiers 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 Dec. 18, 1815, Jackson reviewed his troops. He prepared addresses, which were delivered to each unit by his aide de camp. To his two battalions of Free Men of Color he said:

“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.”

An interesting figure from the time of Columbus’ founding was James Scott. During the mid-1820s, he sold lumber in Columbus. From 1822 to 1825, tax records show that no whites resided in his house thereby indicating that Scott was a free Black man.

In 1842, Horace King, though enslaved, was an engineer and bridge builder. He built several bridges in Lowndes County, including the first bridge over the Tombigbee. That bridge came off the top of the bluff at Fourth Avenue South. It was a wooden covered bridge 420 feet long and 65 feet high.

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 the Haven, a residence located across the corner from the present day Trotter Convention Center.

From Columbus’ 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. As does the history of both enslaved and free Blacks in the steamboat trade along the Tombigbee.

The first keelboat for the Tombigbee River trade built at the site of Columbus was said to have been built by two Black men in 1817 or 1818. An enslaved Black crewman was a hero during the burning of the steamer Eliza Battle in 1858, knowingly giving up his life to save a mother and child. In 1887, the steamer W.H. Gardner caught fire on her way from Columbus to Mobile. Beebee McCaw, a Black crewman of the steamer Tally, which was nearby, dove in the river, swam to the Gardner and rescued five people. His heroic efforts made national news including in the Tombstone Epitaph, where it was said:

“There is still plenty of the stuff of which heroes are made among the American people, black as well as white, and it only needs the emergency to develop it. It is worthy of mention that at the burning of the steamer Gardner last week down in Alabama, a colored boy, Beebee McCaw, saved five lives by swimming ashore with those who precipitated themselves into the water from the burning vessel.”

We have a lot of forgotten heroes and pioneers whose stories need to be told whenever the history of Columbus is mentioned.

Yesterday was the reopening of the R.E. Hunt Museum and Cultural Center at 924 20th St. N. In 2019, a tornado tore through Columbus and severely damaged the museum. The museum and its exhibits have been restored, and the stories of many heroes who need to be remembered can be found there. The museum’s exhibits show the cultural, educational, social and economic history of African Americans in Columbus and Lowndes County.

The exhibits mostly focus on the last 125 years and range from household items, farming implements and photographs to education. There is also a display honoring Lt. Col. Alva Temple, a Tuskegee Airman who led the team that won the Air Force’s first Top Gun competition in 1949. It is a fascinating museum that tells an important story.

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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