Fox Hill Living

Don and Katrina Bell are known throughout Wilcox County for the contributions they have made to the restoration of historic structures in the area. Please see below the homes they have restored which includes Fox Hill as well as additional information regarding the area.

Fox Hill Plantation

Fox Hill Plantation Fox Hill Plantation was constructed in the late 1830's or early 1840's by either Addison Scarbrough or Edmond Hobdy. Mr. Hodby built several homes in the area during this period. The style is "Plantation Plain" with shed rooms across the rear and a "prophet's chamber" room in the right front. Much of the original glass remains in the house. All rooms feature original wainscoting and most room shave faux graining on the doors with additional dependencies located on the grounds. According to the Alabama Historical Commission, Fox Hill can with confidence be said to be one of the most intact examples of an I-house with shed in the State of Alabama.

Fox Hill Plantation is located in historic Furman, Alabama in Wilcox County. This is a region of the state known as the "Black Belt" Region because of its rich fertile soil.

Furman

Furman In 1999, Furman was designated as a National Historic District in 1999. Furman has many antebellum homes and structures still standing. The town has a fascinating history beginning circa 1802 when the first settlers came to the area from South Carolina. Most of the Wilcox county towns were settled by Scotch, Irish, and English settlers and Furman also to some degree. However, many of the early settlers of Furman came from the South Carolina low country and were of French ancestry. The William Snow family settled on a high hill north of present day Furman, now the site of Old Snow Hill Cemetery around this date. Thus, the early community was known as Snow's Hill. It was renamed Furman in 1872 after the town of Furman, South Carolina, and a new community was founded a few miles to the west- and named Snow Hill. Furman Academy was a popular school in the late 1800's.

Some fascinating persons Camden from this small town, including Elkanah Burson, an attaché to General Robert E. Lee and John Purifoy, member of Company C. Mr. Purifoy later served Alabama in many important offices including Examiner of Public Accounts, Sate Auditor, State Treasurer, and Secretary of State.

Mr. Burson, an original member of the Wilcox True Blues company, delivered the confederacy surrender papers to General Ulysses Grant at Appomattox. He then returned home to Furman and later served the Alabama House of Representative.

Wakefield Plantation

This beautiful antebellum home is built in a one of a kind Steamboat Gothic Style. The nearly 6,000 square feet of living area consists of 12 rooms and 12 fireplaces. It has unique porches on every side. It was named "Wakefield" by the Gully family which owned the home from its construction in the 1840's until it was sold to Dr. E. G. Burson in 1943.

John Gully started construction around 1840 and depleted his financial resources by the time it was completed 7 years later. The construction cost was $12,000. John Gulley then sold the home to his brother, Henry Gulley, who bequeathed it to his daughter, Laura Gulley. She left it to her half sisters who sold to the Burson family.

The current owner is only the fourth family to own this home, which is featured in the historic book, "Silent in the Land." It has been restored to its original state by former owners, Don and Katrina Bell.

Furman Methodist Church

The original church building was constructed in 1857 on the present site of land donated by Mrs. Sarah McCondichie. The current building was finished in 1882, and has served the Furman community since that time. It ceased to be an active church in 1998, but continues to have an annual service each April with many of the descendants of the original founders in attendance.

Bethsaida Baptist Church

Bethsaida Baptist Church was founded in 1831 at a site very close to the present building. Elder Hawthorne was the first pastor, and some of the founding families were the Albrittons, Lees, Purifoys, McCondichies, and Fowlers. Mr. A . Scarborough sold the property to Edward Hobdy and Dr. William Gulley, who then donated the property to the church. It was on this site that the present building was erected between 1858 and 1860. There were many "bondsmen" who worshipped in the upstairs galleries, with separate entrances to the upper and lower chambers. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the membership approached 150 members. In 1920, Furman was a bustling community with 7 medical doctors and numerous businesses. The 1999 church roster consists of 21 members.

Beck-Bryant-Talbot Home

This home, known as "River Bluff House," was build around 1847 for William King Beck, a nephew of William Rufus King, Vice-President of the United States. He has migrated to Wilcox County around 1820 with his three brothers from North Carolina. Like many men of the Old South, Beck combined his law practice with cotton planting and achieved considerable local prominence. Mr. Beck was apparently married twice, with his second wife being Anne Eliza Smith, daughter of a neighboring planter, Duncan C. Smith. This was their principal residence until they moved to Camden.

River Bluff House is a large Greek Revival Cottage with a recessed porch supported by octagonal columns. The columns and the "eared" architraves framing the interior window and door openings strongly link this building to Alexander Bragg as the builder. According to local history, J. D. Bryant, who owned the home in the late 1800's altered the hipped roofline from the original form. This roof, extending over the veranda, was characteristic of a number of mid-19th century plantation houses that once existed across south central Alabama.

The home was restored by Don Bell in the early 1990's and then altered by Mr. & Mrs. Jim Bridges in the mid 1990's. The Douglas R. Talbot family of New Orleans, Louisiana are the current owners.

Wilcox County

One day older than the State of Alabama (Dec. 1, 1819), Wilcox County was created by an act of the Territorial Legislature from portions of Dallas and Monroe Counties.

Archaeological evidence indicates that this area was occupied by aboriginal inhabitants in both pre-historic and historic periods, and that the early Indian towns had substantial communications with the first Europeans that came to the area. However, by the end of the Creek Wars in 1814, white settlements had begun to replace the communities of the red men on the banks of the Alabama River.

The county was named for Lieutenant Joseph M. Wilcox. Wilcox was a graduate in 1812 of the United States Military Academy (West Point). He was commissioned First Lieutenant in the 3rd Infantry and immediately sent to the South.

In 1814 Colonel Russell marched his regiment and two companies of volunteers from Fort Claiborne in what is now Monroe County, to the Cahaba River to drive the Indians from that territory. He dispatched a barge laden with provisions up the Alabama River with orders to meet him on the Cahaba. Not finding the barge when he arrived there he sent Lt. Wilcox and five men in a canoe down the Cahaba River to hasten the coming of the barge. Wilcox reached the mouth of the Cahaba and proceeded down the Alabama River and on the evening of the second day after leaving, four of six soldiers were captured by the Indians. The Indians took the canoe and went down the river.

The barge passed the mouth of the Cahaba and knowing that Colonel Russell would not wait for it was on its return to Fort Claiborne when it came in sight of the Indian canoe. The Indians, fearing loss of their prisoners, scalped and killed them at the sand bar at the mouth of Pursley Creek in present day Wilcox County. Lt. Wilcox was buried with full military honors at Fort Claiborne on January 7, 1814.

During the early days when cotton was king there were over 50 boat landings along the river in this county. The old paddlewheel boats took on cotton and passengers. Now the principal cargo on the barges is timber products.

The first county seat was located in Canton Bend on the Alabama River, a few miles west of present Camden. Later the seat was moved to Barboursville. Barboursville's name later changed to Camden.

**Credit for the information above is due in part to: Wilcox County Chamber of Commerce web-site, Cindy McCoy-Waren website, Furman Civic Club Brochure.