Uncover Waterloo Fascinating Past

It would be difficult to find a town site in North Alabama that is more ancient than Waterloo. Archaeological surveys of the Pickwick Basin were made in the late 1930s. These findings indicate that this place must have been as a metropolis for an advanced civilization called Copena Culture some 4,000 years ago.

The town of Waterloo was laid off in 1819. A stock company, with 51 original shareholders, was formed, and the trustees for this company were: Tyree Rodes, Maximilian H. Buchanan, German Lester, John McCracken, and Gabriel Bumpass. These men were from Giles County, Tennessee, and had been associated together in other land transactions in that state. According to the articles of agreement, the trustees were to receive the land in trust from Gabriel Bumpass in 'a conveyance by deed, of bargain and sale.' There were 100 shares of 2 acres each; 50 shares were to belong to Bumpass. Each original share was to be divided, making 400 shares. Bumpass employed one Bid Coperman as surveyor of the town. The total sales for 1819 came to $9,525.50. A law suit developed as a result the case of Bumpass vs Webb, another stockholder. The dispute concerned payment for shares. The record of the outcome is not available. 

On September 23, 1839, Bumpass was described by H. M. Buchanan, another stock- holder, as a 'Woodsman, locator, and a man of enterprise' since 1808. It was this same Doctor Gabriel Bumpass who had blazed a trail in 1808 through the Tennessee wilderness that would be known as the Bumpass Trail. Lawsuits were nothing new to him as he had been involved in one in Maury County, Tennessee, over land. Alexander McDonald, a stockholder in the Waterloo enterprise, had appeared as a witness for Bumpass in both the Tennessee case and the Alabama case, the latter on October 10, 1842.

Bumpass was the prime mover in founding the town of Waterloo, which was named, it is believed, for Napoleon's defeat in 1815. The first settlers did not arrive until 1824. Old tombstone records in the area have preserved the fact that a great number of this first group of settlers came from South Carolina. Among these first settlers were Dr. Gabriel Bumpass of South Carolina, who gave his name to Bumpass Creek, Major James H. Witherspoon, Thomas T. McCorkle, a druggist, Captain John Humphreys, E. T. Chandler, R. H. Rawlins, P. H. Cunningham, John Hinderman, and Bill Jettus.  

Waterloo is located about twenty-five miles down the river from Florence and the settlement was made on the northern bank at the confluence of Second Creek, opposite Riverton, that once was the northern terminus of a branch of the Southern Railway. Waterloo is only three miles northeast of the Mississippi state line. Eastport, Mississippi, grew up opposite Waterloo at the mouth of Bear Creek. Originally the river bottom land extended for two miles to the hills that were covered with virgin woods. Hickory trees also covered the bottom lands. Matthew T. Wilson, who took the Waterloo census in 1850, described the land at Waterloo and vicinity as good lands but subject to overflow.' He described the Panther Creek area as 'hilly country and the timber was pine, oak, poplar, chestnut.' Bumpass Creek was also hilly country, Wilson noted, with pine, oak, chestnut, and hickory. In the Bumpass Creek area Wilson noticed iron ore banks and made note of the many canebrakes.

There was a post office here early but by 1828 the post office had been moved to Barton, across the river in Franklin County. By August of the same year, the post office was reestablished at Waterloo. In 1827 Thomas Pate had been the postmaster, being paid $4.42 for his services. In 1828 Edmund F. Wills was paid $6.66. Wills was still postmaster in 1830. Again in 1831 Thomas Pate was postmaster, receiving $4.12, and by 1833 he made $7.50. In 1835 L. D. Collins, the postmaster, received $28.13 for his work and his pay had increased in 1837 to $49.06. J. D. McDonald, postmaster in 1839, was paid $56.12; I. W. McDonald was postmaster in 1840. James Humphreys, postmaster in 1841, was paid $40.86.162  

Waterloo, considered one of the oldest incorporated towns in Alabama, was incorporated on December 13, 1832. The government was to be in the hands of seven councilors for one year at a time, with two members to be elected each year. The first election the judge of probate and any two councilmen could elect. If the judge were absent, the voice of the majority present would prevail. The town charter was revised in 1903 under the general laws.

Major Witherspoon opened a mercantile business here soon after settlement was firmly established. Thomas T. McCorkle opened a store which sold drugs as well as other staples. Goods were brought in by boat. During the low water season the steamboats could not go up river beyond Waterloo and the goods had to be unloaded at this point and transported to Florence by keelboat. A Mr. Till operated such a keelboat line.

During the Indian Removal, the Indians were brought by flatboats from the east to Waterloo where they were transferred to steamboats and keelboats for the voyage to the new homeland. The steamboat Alpha was employed regularly in this work. A boatman of this period wrote:

“We left Rising Sun, Indiana, on Sunday the 13th of December 1835 on board the Steam Boat Alpha for Florence, Alabama. The river full of ice when we left. Saturday, the 19th, found us about 100 miles up the Tennessee River....December 20, 1835, we saw the wreck of the old Rising Sun Steam Boat converted into a house up from the mouth of the river.

The morning of the 22nd found us at Waterloo, a town without houses at the foot of Muscle Shoals, a sorry set of steam boat men. We had to reship freight in Keels to Florence, above, which delayed us some days.

While there Beatty and Ingersoll, Government Agents, came in with about 511 Creek Indians to be removed to the Indian territory up the Arkansas River to Fort Gibson. We bought two Keel boats and took the Indians aboard, a Keel boat on each side, and started on our trip. Was getting $2,200 for the trip and were to stop and lay up nights for the Indians to camp out and do their cooking…”

During the removal of the Cherokees under Lieutenant Joseph H. Harris in 1834, the doggeries and brothels at Waterloo led to much corruption among the Indians. The years of the removal saw many bands of Indians at Waterloo--some arriving by overland march to this spot, others coming by flatboats and keelboats. Many escaped to the woods during this time. So many escaped at one time that the Alabama militia had to be called in to help.  

0. B. Sullivan, a physician, came to Waterloo in 1844, having been born in the Burcham Valley area and educated at the University of Louisville.

Following the disastrous flood of 1847 which had been preceded by an unprecendented rainfall and the loss of many homes, the citizens of Waterloo moved their town to the hills about two miles north of the Tennessee River. Sullivan's office building, still standing, was the first building to be erected at the new town site. He also built a spacious home adjoining his office and to this home he brought his second wife, a Miss Latham, who had served as a governess to the King family of Leighton, Alabama. The new bride brought with her a large, square piano which is still in possession of descendants.

Major Witherspoon built several mills on Second Creek, using water power. built a cotton gin, a grist mill, and a sawmill. All built and maintained by slave labor. His store building and three-story manor house were of brick and built by his slaves. The bricks were made from clay found in the nearby hills. His magnificent home burned in 1930.

The Methodist congregation at Waterloo is considered one of the oldest in the state and was the only denomination here for many years. Witherspoon served as the pastor at times, using a small log church or preaching in his own home. According to legend, it is believed that Lorenzo Dow might have paused here long enough to deliver one of his fiery messages.

Before the Civil War a large distillery was located at a large free-flowing spring on the present Boatman property. The people brought their surplus grain and fruits to this place to be made into whiskey and brandy. The still was run on the usual toll basis as were most of the mills of the time. A bowling green was located in the rear of one of the store buildings. There was a Masonic lodge which met in a room over one of the stores.

According to tradition, General William T. Sherman made his headquarters at the home of Dr. Sullivan in October 1863 when he was on his way to Chattanooga. Mrs. Sullivan recalled in later years that she had to step over sleeping soldiers to get to her kitchen to prepare meals for her family. As her piano occupied too much room, the soldiers threw it into the yard in order to obtain more sleeping space. The doctor was permitted to continue administering to the sick of the town, although his horse was appropriated by one of the Federal officers. There was much looting and pillaging in Waterloo by Federal troops.

In July 1862, Waterloo citizen Lon Waters fired on Union gunboats passing the town. William L. McDonald has recorded that the Union response was to shell the town.

At the end of the Civil War all of the male slaves had left with the Federals, leaving their families to the care and protection of their former masters. It is said that there was only one Negro man left in Waterloo. Today there are only two or three families in the area, but tombs in the cemetery and old store ledgers indicate many returned here when they were free.

Gravelly Springs was a stage stop on the original Natchez Trace and the road from Waterloo to Florence. The David Houston plantation Wildwood was located near the springs. The springs also saw the formation of Wilson's large Union cavalry in late 1864 and early 1865 with the Cannon home serving as Wilson's headquarters.

Maj. Gen. James Harrison Wilson, U.S. Army, assembled the largest cavalry force ever amassed in the Western Hemisphere at Gravely Springs from mid-January to March 22, 1865. Wilson's headquarters was at the Houston Plantation about 200 yards south of here. Five divisions totaling 22,000 men were camped from Gravely Springs to Waterloo. After intensive training Wilson's Cavalry crossed the river on March 22, 1865, to invade South Alabama and Georgia. This operation included the burning of the University of Alabama and the capture of President Jefferson Davis at Irwinville, Georgia on May 10, 1865.

Before the Civil War merchants in Waterloo included James Humphrey and J. J. Chandler. James Jeams ran a grocery store here. John Inlow, Jr., Abed Cimmons, and Joseph Ott were shoemakers. John Inlow and George Mincer were tanners; A. C. Pickins was a saddler. Many men earned their living on the river, for this was primarily a river town, and boatmen here in 1850 included Isaac Henson, Stephen Ivins, Ben Henson, Edmund Lindsey, John Beasley, Lewis Tillar, and George Staley. Samuel Landers was a stage driver who lived in Waterloo. David Defore classified his occupation as that of hunter.

Etheldrin Madrin was a ferryman who lived in the Panther Creek area. Others who lived here were J. L. Waits, a blacksmith, Samuel Carson, a hunter, and Barthley Pernold, a teacher. Charles Cockburn was a blacksmith in the Bumpass Creek area. John Ray, David Adams, and Augustus Bailey were millers along the same creek.

After the Civil War, the demand for railroad ties brought a small boom to Waterloo and the area. The hills and hollows were covered with hardwoods and the river afforded easy transportation to market for the timber. Hoop-pole and tanbark industries also thrived during this period. Much of the tanbark was shipped to Cincinnati and Louisville.

Mail was brought into Waterloo by boat and from Florence by a mail rider, who went to Florence on one day and returning the next. Packet boats made regular runs to Waterloo. The Clyde and the Kentucky both serviced Waterloo. The Clyde on Tuesday and the Kentucky on Friday of each week. These boats carried both cargo and passengers.

By 1880 there were 250 people in Waterloo. In 1910 there were 435.

Sometime in the 1890's Donald J. Edwards from Peabody arrived in Waterloo to teach at the school. He not only proved to be an accomplished teacher, but a successful school builder. It was through his efforts that a four-room school was built. He taught for many years here and later was a real estate dealer in Florence. Homer L. Reeder, Florence cotton broker, also taught school here. 1900 a Mr. Rutledge became principal of the school and through his efforts he secured some of the best teachers in the area for his faculty. The school was called Waterloo High School and it served not only the local students but pupils from Mississippi and Tennessee. There were as many as 60 boarding students at one time living in the homes of the citizens of Waterloo.

Miss Monetta Stribling, sister of Tom Stribling, the novelist, taught music and expression at Waterloo for several years. She had been educated abroad. The school boasted a nine months term, which was rare for the times.

A new brick high school was built in 1937 and the old building converted into an elementary school. This building burned shortly thereafter but was soon rebuilt. In April 1942 a tornado struck Waterloo, killing several people and doing much damage to the school. The damage was soon repaired. In 1949 the library and modern plumbing were added. In 1953 a new gymnasium was built. Franklin Clemens and William B. Hagood, vocational agriculture teachers at the high school, have done much toward getting the people of the area to sow unfit land in permanent pastures.

Other religious denominations became established in Waterloo around the turn of the century. Luring the late nineties and early part of this century, three Fresbyterian churches were built in the area. Dr. Lee, a doctor-preacher, came to Waterloo to practice and served the Presbyterians. The three churches were one at Waterloo, one at Wright, and one about six miles up Second Creek, the last named known as Williams Chapel, still flourishing and the only one in the western part of the county.

The Waterloo Record, published from 1898 to 1899, was edited by Irvine Mather and considered quite modern for a small town newspaper. Later, another paper The Young Southerner was established and printed at Waterloo. Carey Potts was the printer's devil for this last publication.

The river terminal monopoly held so long by Waterloo was absorbed by Riverton on the south bank of the river. A railroad spur had been built to Riverton by the Southern Railway to junction with the main line running from Chattanooga to Memphis. Goods could be unloaded from the boats at Riverton and transported by rail to Florence and other points. Waterloo was connected with Riverton by a ferry which continued until Riverton was flooded by the waters of Pickwick Lake.  

In 1914 the Farmers and Merchants Bank was organized with Buck Sharp as the first president. A. D. Ray, Jr., has been president in recent years.

During World War I a narrow-gauge railroad was constructed to link Waterloo with Collinwood, Tennessee. Great quantities of dyewood was being cut at Collinwood and could thus be transported to Waterloo for transfer to the boats. Although this line did not carry passengers, it did serve in a limited fashion as passenger service.

Many new families moved to Waterloo following the erection of several large sawmills on the banks of Second Creek. By 1929 when all the lumber was cut, these newcomers moved on. Following World War I, through the people and the mill management, a ten-room wooden school building was erected at the cost of $30,000. The first graduation exercises were held in 1925. The first principal was Miss McMahan, followed by Roy Shelton, Otto Holloway, Franklin Bendall, and C. T. Wilson. This school has been admitted to the Southern Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges under the tenure of Wilson.

TVA did more to change the way of life about Waterloo than any other single event. The people of the area were enthusiastic about the development of the Muscle Shoals as proposed in 1933. Their enthusiasm was cooled somewhat when they learned that the waters of Pickwick Dam Reservoir would cover all the good, rich river bottomland. Landowners for the most part received just compensation for their lands, although there were a few disgruntled people. Local labor was used in clearing the land, removing cemeteries, and other necessary work.  

The Waterloo cemetery was moved to a high hill overlooking the river on land that had been used by the Richardson family as a family burial grounds. The family donated the site to Waterloo when waters threatened to cover the Waterloo cemetery.

When the waters of Pickwick Dam covered the area, Waterloo found itself once more on the Tennessee River. A natural harbor had been formed at the mouth of Second Creek. The Second Creek embayment has long been considered one of the best fishing spots in the county. Recreation has become a popular feature Fishermen of Waterloo. Many lodges and camps have been built in the area. People from all over Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi come to Waterloo to pursue their hobby. A game preserve has been stocked west of Waterloo.