Category Archives: Library Book Reviews

“Miss Mary E. Mason developed a comprehensive scrapbook that resulted in a significant historical data base for Athens and Limestone County. This scrapbook was developed in seven volumes roughly organized by subject. … Most of the material in these volumes are newspaper clippings … [they were] turning dark and [were] very fragile. The binders that contain these were literally falling apart. This fragile condition did not lend them to access to the public. … The original material had no index; only a limited topic list for each volume was included at the beginning of each volume. A detailed index was developed for four of the volumes … [then this 2010 publication includes] an index for those volumes not previously indexed …″

~ from Subject Table

Subjects listed are:
» Business
» Railroads
» Schools
» Legal
» Newspapers
» Postal Service
» Civil War
» Gov. Officials
» Health Care
» Athens College
» Activities/Events
» Churches
» Municipal
» Residents
» Early History
» General History
» Homes
» Deaths & Obituaries
——————————–
» And a list of contents included that are Outside Limestone County

Table of Contents:

Volume 1
Early History, Homes, General History, Families, Social and Community Activities, Municipal Activities.

Volume 2
Churches, doctors, Legal Profession, Newspapers

Volume 3
Historic Homes, Residents, Civil War Memories, Belle Mina, Mooresville, Decatur, Country Club, Railroad, County Fair, Local Society

Volume 4
Community Leaders, Deaths and Obituaries, Local DAR, Early History

Volume 5
Athens Progress, Athens College, Local Schools

Volume 6
Civil War Memories, Residents and Personalities, Events, Bibb Home, Decatur and Lawrence County

Volume 7
Drinking Fountain, The Springs, Rest Room, Bass Tablet, Masonic Corner Stone, Post Office, City Hall, Bakery, Fire Company, Bus Station, Hospital, L & N

NEAGS Reviewer Comments

Miss Mary Mason was a historic leader not just in Limestone County but in all of Alabama. The amount of material she compiled is amazing.

A hand-written note from her states regret that she did not start the scrapbook earlier because those who had affected the county & area had already passed.

Many pictures from newspapers are included as well as copies of other images that Miss Mason obtained or had in her personal collection.

Note: Which newspapers the clippings came from is not always rarely shown. Dates are not always available either. But that does not lessen the value of these seven volumes.

“One of her biggest credentials for writing her book is that she is either kin to all the native families or knows them. … The book is a record of the experiences of the people who have lived in this area.”

~ from Introduction

My husband¹ … was very critical of the stories as he said they skipped around too much but I have decided to write them just like they were told to me so there are several accounts of the 1906 hurricane and there are ‘repeat’ stories in several chapters. …

Most of the stories have the names of the people I talked to. I picked the oldest natives I could think of and they gave me a wealth of information. …

I have included some family recipes as well as old sayings or poems and places of events and historical significance.

I know a lot of this information is not in correct grammatical English but I put it down the way people in the south talk and I like the mannerisms and way of talking each one had. …

I have tried to put all the names in capital letters so they will stand out when you read the page. There are over 700 names mentioned

» An extensive list of the Names of Places and Events (not in alphabetical order).

» The book includes an Index of Names with associated page numbers. Names are in alphabetical order by surname but not in the traditional Lastname, Firstname format.

NEAGS Reviewer CommentsAs the author stated in her Introduction, the book is written just the way it was told to her and I believe in the order she obtained the information. This does make the book jump around in time & place, but that is part of the book’s charm. Even if your family is not part of the 700 names, if they lived in this area of Alabama reading Well, I’ve Never Met a Native will give you a great living picture of their life.

The entries, including some pictures, of the hurricanes of 1906 and 1947 are gripping. Remember that you will not find these together. They are scattered through the book.

Note: The author provides ‘source’ information at times but not consistently nor in a genealogical approved format.

p. 86 “… the COBURN school was built out of Deal (fir or pine lumber) wood, called Dunnage now. It was 4 x 4 inch piece of wood that was found on the beach. It was from ships passing in the area. It separated the cargo so the water could pass between the cargo if it got rough. It was used to stack and separate the cargo …”

p. 90 “… Mrs. EMMA said the schools back then were nothing like they are now. They had water in a bucket that they first had to pump and they had a dipper they all drank from.² …”

p. 144 has a great list of Teacher Rules such as “You may not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.” Or “You must wear at least two petticoats.”

p. 166 begins a list of Oyster Facts and p. 168 has facts on Crabs.

p. 187 “That was in the days of feed sack dresses.³ … We would get to pick the pieces we wanted and then [Mom] would work hard and usually make twin outfits for me and my little sister …”

p. 198 under a section called Mrs. Eva Walker Holk — One of the Earliest Settlers Mrs. Holk talks about leaving Florida area after homesteading. [The Homestead Act was in 1862; it is not clear whether this is time period or not.] The quote though is amazingly accurate for today.

You couldn’t sell anything for nothing

“They did not buy their land but homesteaded it. when they got ready to leave three years later, they almost gave the land away. That was when the Florida boom busted. ‘The bottom fell out. At first everyone wanted to buy land in Florida and not in Alabama. When the bottom fell out, you couldn’t sell anything for nothing,‘ she said.”