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By Billy Singleton | Contributing Writer

American author and historian David McCullough once wrote, “History is who we are and why we are the way we are.” This is especially true in the study of local history, a subject that can encompass a broad cross section of stories handed down through generations. To appreciate the question of who we are and why we are the way we are, it is not only important to consider Chilton County as the bond that exists between us, but also to understand the influence of the individual communities within the county.

In 1940, Irwin T. Sanders, Associate Professor of Sociology at Alabama College, present day University of Montevallo, completed “A Study of Chilton County” as part of the Alabama Rural Communities Program. According to Sanders, the purpose of the project was to “develop a method by which a business owner, newspaper editor, teacher or any other wide-awake person can get a clear understanding of what defines a community.”

Even though the study included some interesting facts about Chilton County, the project also revealed examples of community standards that seem quaint after the passage of more than eighty years. For example, a young woman from Jemison who taught in Auburn during the school term was spending the summer at home. During her stay, she organized an effort to build a community playground with the help of some young people and financial assistance from the Town Council. At first, everyone seemed pleased with the new facility. Soon, however, there was some consternation in the community when a group of young women began to play tennis in shorts. The opposition to such attire did not arise from the women of the community but from businessmen, an opinion consistent with their conservative philosophy that also applied to any female teacher who smoked or played cards.

Meanwhile, the Town of Maplesville was described by one resident as a “rocking community.” When asked to explain what he meant, the individual stated, “When visiting other folks, you first go in and shake hands with everyone and then sit on the front porch and rock with them. Then they bring you something to drink and you rock some more. After rocking for a while, you eat a big meal and then rock until bedtime.”

Residents of Verbena promoted their village as located on beautiful rolling hills that slope down to a shining clear Chestnut Creek. The area comfortably blended a traditional way of life with the demands of the present to create a charming atmosphere peculiar to itself alone. Proud of their past and viewing the future with little alarm, the four hundred residents were always ready to rally to the defense of Verbena’s good name, believing, “If once you’ve dipped your foot in Chestnut Creek, you never want to leave.”

Early landowners of Verbena were well educated and maintained their social connections in Montgomery. They founded the Verbena Academy and have remained proud of their Black Belt heritage. This pride was demonstrated when officials in the City of Clanton erected a sign along the Montgomery to Birmingham Highway that read “Drive Careful.” Recognizing that the wording on the sign was not grammatically correct, a resident of Verbena who, by letters to the editors of newspapers throughout the state, succeeded in having the sign replaced with one that included the proper verbiage, “Drive Carefully.”

According to the study, the people of Verbena felt apologetic for living in a county that often voted Republican, even though they were in the heart of the Deep South. They were quick to assure, however, that their beat remained strongly Democratic. Furthermore, the friction so apparent at election time in other communities of the county did not exist at Verbena. So complete was the mutual trust that the representatives of one party at the polls did not hesitate to leave the rival party in charge of the balloting in case they had to go to lunch or to visit a nearby store.

One community that shall remain anonymous credited bootlegging as the primary reason their residents felt such a close kinship with each other. The people were so organized that the local revenue officer could not enter the community without everyone being notified, either by word being passed from house to house or by the well-recognized signal of a shotgun blast into the air. One resident stated, “It is almost impossible to convict anyone in the community of making moonshine whiskey, but that’s the only harm I see in it, because people are only trying to make a living. That includes the deacons in our church, too.”

Even though “A Study of Chilton County” was written more than eight decades ago, it contains an important lesson within its pages. Communities, like people, are born, grow and mature, and in some cases quietly fade into history. However, every community has a unique and fascinating story to tell. The main characters in each story are the people who call these special places home. It is these stories, passed down through generations, which remind us of who we are and why we are the way we are, stories that our descendants will find quaint and interesting but, more important, will serve as a reminder of the way we were.