An upcoming book lecture at the Chilton-Clanton Public Library will offer listeners a glimpse of life in Montgomery before the Civil War.

Author Jeffrey Benton will use his new book, “Through Others’ Eyes: Published Accounts of Antebellum Montgomery, Alabama” as the basis of topics for his lecture at the library on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 2 p.m.

The book is a collection of 27 published accounts of Montgomery covering 36 years from April 1825 and May 1861.

“I want to deal with the difficulties of travel,” Benton said. “It was incredibly difficult to travel along the federal road and along the Alabama River to get here. I want to talk about how much of a frontier this was.”

The accounts in Benton’s book were written by famous and obscure travelers, including American and European political and military personages, ministers, gentlemen scientists, authors and periodical correspondents, lecturers, entertainers and professional travelers.

The accounts contain comments on the horrible state of accommodations and food, trials of travel by stagecoach, steamboat and railway, slavery, natural history, agriculture, gambling and drinking, Montgomery’s hinterland and Alabamians, Benton said.

“It was the southwest frontier then, before the Civil War,” Benton said. “It was a raw area that many people came to reinvent themselves and especially to make money on cotton. It was called “Alabama Fever.” It was like a disease that people caught that they could reinvent themselves and get rich quick.”

“Through Others’ Eyes” is a companion book to Benton’s book titled “The Very Worst Road: Travellers’ Accounts of Crossing Alabama’s Old Creek Indian Territory, 1820-1847.”

“I just followed along with that idea and published the accounts that visitors gave of the city of Montgomery and the surrounding area,” Benton said. “The people that were in Montgomery before the Civil War are not going to be too different than the people in Chilton County before the Civil War. The travelers’ assessments provide a captivating insight into antebellum Montgomery.”

Benton is a retired Air Force colonel and has taught history and English at The Citadel, The Air War College, Auburn University Montgomery, Troy University Montgomery and The Montgomery Academy.

His research interests are currently focused on local history.

He has written extensively in Montgomery and its environs, including more than 250 newspaper articles.

Benton said the lecture Oct. 7 would be his first for “Through Others’ Eyes.”

Those who attend the lecture may purchase Benton’s book, or bring their own, for him to sign.

Benton said he welcomes questions at the lecture.

“It’s very informal, and if people want to ask questions while I’m talking, that’s great,” he said. “The point is to be interactive.”

Benton said some of the travelers’ accounts in the book might seem “exaggerated” depending on the authors’ vocations.

“Like with any travel literature, they’re going to point out things that are different,” Benton said. “To me, what’s important is that people expand their world. We’re part of something larger, so I want people to know that and live in a bigger world. I think history is one way to do that.”

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Benton’s lecture will be the first in a series of upcoming lectures planned at the Chilton-Clanton Public Library, according to director Kelly Easterling.

“We’ll see how this one does before we nail down the others,” Easterling said. “This should be interesting. I would love to see at least 20 [people]. That would be a good group.”

For more information, call the Chilton-Clanton Public Library at (205) 755-1768.