The Early Years of Henry County, Alabama

In the early years of the 1800’s with the Revolutionary War ending, President Thomas Jefferson sent Colonel Epharaim Kerby to scout the waterway of the Chattahoochee River to determine the opportunity to add another region to the United States. The report was obviously worthy for the President and his staff to start the confrontations that would be embedded in our history books forever. In order for this area to become part of the land of the free, the Indian Wars between the United States and the Creek Nations was not an option, but a given. Indians of every tribe in the “Mississippi Territory” would not relinquish their rights to the lands and live in peace with the new government to come.

Led by General Andrew Jackson, the Indian Wars began in 1813 and did not last but for a year. Soon the Chiefs of the Creek Nation would seek resolution in exchange for no more fighting on their behalf. A Treaty was drawn up with an agreement for payment of the land and a new reservation to be offered in the soon to be named, State of Alabama. This “Boundary” line for their expulsion into another portion of the State would not come without some tribes staying to make the acquisition more troublesome. So yet again, in 1816 – 1817 General Jackson led his army to run the majority of Creek, Seminole and Choctaw Indians to the area south into the Spanish Territory of Florida and west into the Mississippi Territory. Many whom were friendlier or had influence with the local white man were allowed to stay. With this expulsion came political movements to move them even further to an area in South Florida.

In early 1819, when the south eastern bank region was formed by the Alabama Territorial Legislature, influential patriots and settlers planning the move into the area proposed to call the newly developed area “Henry County”. This in honor of one of the forefather’s of the War of Independence, Patrick Henry. Later that year, on December 13, 1819, Henry County was created and was more than 4,000 square miles in size. This “Mother County” would birth eight other counties until 1885 when the final county was established. These areas are in the order that they were created: Covington, Pike, Dale, Barbour, Coffee, Crenshaw, Geneva and Houston.

Over the next 50 years, white settlers (some with slaves for help with plantations chores) would move into the area slowly and cautiously. The uncivilized areas were dangerous to travel due to very few roads being available for transporting their families and their belongings. The entire area was filled with dense woods and untamed wild animals along banks of the rivers that flowed south into the area we are covering on www.dothanalabamamall.com. Many of these settlers would eventually loose their lives to estranged Indian rebels or to disease or to the wars that came soon thereafter. They (meaning the ones who fought and died for their families right to live here) never knew what living in the land of the free was like, but left the rest of us the ability to enjoy the dreams to come over the next two centuries.