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Many

Belt" is so famous were educated at this institution. mothers who now send their daughters here claim this as their Alma Mater.

Under the present administration the school has doubled its number of boarders, increased its faculty, added another year to the course of study, and in many ways adjusted itself to the needs of female education of this later day.

The faculty at present is as follows:

J. W. Beeson, A. M., President, Latin, German and Higher Mathematics.

Miss Lizzie M. Alexander, Presiding Teacher (for 1892-3), Sciences, History and Literature.

Miss Ada Beeson, Assistant in Science, History and Literature. Miss Mollie Clarke, English and Mathematics.

Miss Winnie Smith, English and French.

Miss Maggie Foster, Assistant in English and French.

Music Department-Miss Lizzie C. Caldwell, Directress, Instrumental and Vocal; Theory and Harmony, Miss Maggie Alexander.

Art Department-Miss Annie G. Pront.

Calisthenics-Miss Winnie Smith.
Elocution-Miss Lizzie M. Alexander.

Home Department-Mrs. Alice Borden, Matron.

WILCOX COUNTY.

HIS county derived its name from Lieutenant Joseph M. Wilcox. It was created as early as 1819, and has steadily maintained a reputation as one of the leading agricultural counties of the State. It is highly favored, both with respect to the character of its lands and the abundant supplies of water. Most of its lands, and especially its most tillable soils, lie well for cultivation. Its favorable climate, its diverse soils,

its varied crops, make it a most desirable home for the man of limited means, as well as for the more extensive planter. Its area embraces 960 square miles.

Population in 1880, 31,828; population in 1890, 30,816. White, 6,794; colored, 24,022.

Area planted in cotton, 91,597 acres; in corn, 40,053 acres; in oats, 7,011 acres; in sugar-cane, 251 acres; in rice, 14 acres; in tobacco, 15 acres; in sweet potatoes, 1,597 acres.

Cotton Production--32,582 bales.

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The general surface of Wilcox is uneven though it has much level land. Most of the land of even surface, whether found in the prairie districts, along the streams, or upon the table lands amid the hills, has been brought into cultivation. In the palmy days of the past there could have been seen, in the most fertile sections of the county, especially upon its prairie and bottom lands, some of the most splendid and extensive plantations of the Far South. There is a variety of soil to be found in different parts of the county, and sometimes a variety in the same section. For instance, along the northern end of Wilcox, there are to be found all the varieties of black and red, with gray or white lands, with an occasional intervention of mulatto soil. All of this land is productive, however. This is a fair index of the diversity of soils prevalent throughout Wilcox. The gray and mulatto uplands are valuable for farming purposes, while the black prairie soils and the rich alluvial bottoms which lie along the large creeks and Alabama River, sometimes embracing leagues of land in the great curves of that stream, are remarkable for their productiveness. Upon these, grows to rank luxuriance, the cotton of Wilcox, the yield of which, under favorable circumstances, is immense.

In portions of the county, notably in the southern part, the lands become thinner, being overlaid with a surface of dark sands. But beneath this sandy surface, there is usually a deep red, or yellowish clay subsoil, which proves an invaluable adjunct to the upper soil in the production of crops. Cotton, corn, oats, sweet and Irish potatoes, millet, sorghum, sugar cane and rice are the principal products of the farm.

In some portions of Wilcox the breeds of stock, especially of mules and horses, are being vastly improved, and this is leading to the cultivation of useful grasses, which flourish with only partial attention.

The native grasses in summer, and the cane which abounds along the creeks and river at all seasons, furnish herbage for stock throughout the year. Enterprising parties are engaged in every portion of the county in stock raising. Horses and mules

The dairy in

are raised with ease and scarcely at no expense. terest is exciting attention and large numbers of improved strains of cattle have been introduced into the county.

Large quantities of apples, peaches, pears and plums are produced in great abundance every year. All the domestic berries, such as raspberries and strawberries, produce quite satisfactorily, and quantities are annually grown. All the wild fruits known to our southern latitude, grow in the waste places and through the forests of Wilcox.

The range of hills in southern Wilcox are admirably adapted to fruit raising. From the orchards fruit comes to perfection earlier than in any other section of the State. Grapes are easily and abundantly produced.

The timbers of the county are long and short-leaf pine, the different varieties of oak, hickory, ash, elm, poplar, cedar, mulberry, beech, magnolia, sycamore and walnut. Some of the most splendid specimens of timber found in Southern forests can be obtained in Wilcox. Perhaps no county surpasses it in the abundance of its cedar growth. There is also quite a quantity of excellent cypress timber. When this is removed and the land upon which it grows is thoroughly drained, it has been found to equal any other in its capacity of production.

The Alabama River, Pursley, Pine Barren, Cedar Gravel, Bear, Turkey and Chilatchee Creeks, are the chief streams flowing through the county, but like all large streams, they are fed by many smaller ones, which drain different parts of the county. These and others afford a sufficiency of water. The water of the springs and wells is either of the coolest freestone or purest limestone. Green sand marl has been found at different points in Wilcox. Between Coal Bluff, on the Alabama River, and the mouth of Pursley Creek, not a great distance above Gullett's Landing, there are several occurrences of green sand along the banks of the river. These extend to within a short distance of Yellow Bluff, at McNeill's Shoals. Evidences of Evidences of green sand pre

vail near Lower Peach Tree. The productiveness of the lands which are embraced in the great curves of the Alabama, is no doubt largely due to the prevalence of these marls. The presence of green sand is also reported from the neighborhood of Snow Hill. At Coal Bluff, on the Alabama River, are traces of coal.

The places of interest are Camden, a beautiful town of 1,400 people, and the county seat, Snow Hill, Allenton, Pine Apple, and Rehoboth. Most of these places have superior educational facilities. All of them have excellent church organizations. Camden has long been noted for the superiority of its social advantages. It is a center of controlling influence in that section of the State in which it is located. Besides an excellent male High School, Camden has a Female Institute, which has long been established. Both at Snow Hill and Pine Apple are schools of superior grade. An excellent school is also sustained at Oak Hill. Wilcox is not excelled, perhaps, by any other county in Alabama, in educational institutions of superior order.

Facilities for religious worship also abound throughout the county. There are many local industries, such as ginneries, grist and saw mills, and the number of these are annually increasing. For transportation, the people of the eastern end of the county rely mainly upon the Pensacola & Selma Railroad, which at present extends from Selma to Pine Apple. The Montgomery, Hayneville & Camden Railroad, which is now in course of construction and will soon be in operation, is another important thoroughfare.

The Mobile & Birmingham Railroad, which has just been completed, traverses the western portion of the county. This has awakened great interest, as it furnishes this fertile section with an outlet to New Orleans and other Gulf ports. It also brings

it into connection with the great railway systems at Selma, Montgomery and Birmingham. The Camden, Hayneville & Montgomery Railroad will soon be in operation.

The Alabama River is an important channel of commerce to a large section of Wilcox county. This is regarded as one of the finest waterways in the South, and in more prosperous days sup

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