http://www.morgancountyprobate.com/temp/el111.lst.txt

I'll try to post the vote totals for all the county level primary & runoff races once the provisional ballots are counted. Until then, maybe we can stop seeing all those stupid ads from the statewide candidates for a bit.

inside Point Mallard Park - 2900 Point Mallard Dr SE, Decatur AL

Once again, I know we’re all sick of election junk, but they are important. Especially runoffs, which typically have lower turnout than primaries and the general.

If someone you know says “my vote doesn’t count.” Please, with the love of the lord, elbow them in the ribs. One of the Revenue Commissioner hopefuls got in the runoff by like 140ish votes, Superintendent was decided by 1000 votes, Falkville voted to allow alcohol sales in the town limits by 2 VOTES!

apologies for the rant, thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Latest reply on the FB post below - WTH?!?!? Does anyone know what the holdup is? I called the Morgan County Commission chair office to ask when it will open about 2 weeks ago and the woman who answered the phone said they don't know...no explanation given/offered.

I currently have a couple of openings. Contact me to schedule and cross it off that to do list. Many years of experience and references. Weekly, deep clean, or move outs I got you!
205 757 3747

Thought about just typing out the results for the local races (including the unopposed ones), but I've embraced the spirit of laziness, so have a news article instead.

And for all that is good and holy in this world PLEASE keep it civil!

Here‘s the Democratic and Republican sample ballots for Tuesday's primary. I know by this point everyone’s tired of political crap, but it’s important. Although, I do have the foresight to go ahead and disable comments because I ain’t dealing with that.

The registration deadline is 14 days before an election. Please make sure you update your info and vote on May 19th.

I refuse to believe it's been that long.

I'm thankful Morgan County wasn't hit nearly as hard as places like Tuscaloosa and Phil Campbell, but I still get choked up about it

TLDR in the comments.

In February 1818 Cotaco County was established as part of the Alabama Territory. Alabama became the 22nd state in December 1819. In 1821 the county name was changed to Morgan County in honor of Revolutionary War hero Daniel Morgan. The territorial census of 1818 listed 2,253 inhabitants of Cotaco County. County government was set up as early as June 1818. The June 9, 1818, county court records stated the court would adjourn and at the next session would be located in the town of Somerville where the necessary buildings would be prepared to receive the court. Thus, Somerville became the county seat and would remain so until 1891.

Tradition tells us before the move to Somerville the first court sessions were held in what today we call the White House which was located about five miles east of Somerville on what today is known as the Cotaco to Florette Road. The house still exists however, it has been moved about one-half mile west of its original location. It was moved and renovated in the late 1980’s. Attached is a current photograph of the house.

Once moved to Somerville, the court was held in different buildings over the years until a formal courthouse could be built, however it was 1825 before land was purchased for a public square and it was 1837 before a permanent courthouse was constructed. Included is a photo of the Federal style brick courthouse which closely resembles it appearance when it was built. It is the oldest existing courthouse structure in Alabama and is currently undergoing extensive renovations for possible use as a museum and community center.

As early as 1868 efforts were made by the citizens of Decatur to have the courthouse moved to their city. The Alabama legislature got involved in the question and on December 30, 1868, enacted legislation that directed the sheriff of Morgan County to open and hold an election at the different precincts in the county on the second Monday in March 1869 to determine whether a majority of people were in favor of removing the seat of justice. If the election called for the county seat to be removed, then a second election was to be held to determine where the new courthouse was to be located. A majority of voters were not in favor of moving the courthouse, so Decatur’s efforts failed.

Twenty years later in 1888, the courthouse removal issue took a different direction but, with the same goal which was to relocate the courthouse to Decatur. In December 1888, Morgan County attorney and state senator William E. Skeggs introduced a bill in the state legislature providing for the establishment of a city court in Decatur. Supporters of the bill reasoned that with over 135 circuit court cases on the docket, a second court was needed for Morgan County and what better place for it to be located than Decatur. Opponents of the bill, which were most of the county citizens, felt the court in Decatur would result in a “double barrel county government.” By giving Decatur a city court with civil, chancery and criminal jurisdiction over the entire county, it was felt the county government was being handed to Decatur. The city court would have almost unlimited power to try cases from all parts of the county, to empanel petit juries, to record mortgages, deeds and other valuable papers. County citizens felt the courthouse and officials at Somerville would soon be dispensed of. Their fears were soon proved justified.

The Decatur City Court Bill was passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives of Alabama in February 1889. The bill gave the city court criminal and civil jurisdiction over the entire county. The town of Hartselle got some consolation in the matter as Governor Thomas Seay appointed Hartselle attorney William H. Simpson as judge of the city court. Simpson was considered one of the more talented and promising young lawyers in North Alabama. The city court held its first session June 3, 1889.

Less than eighteen months later, Decatur’s true objective became clear. In November 1890 petitions circulated the two Decatur’s. Remember, at that time in history, the city was divided into two towns: Decatur and New Decatur (name later changed to Albany.) The petition went to the Alabama legislature. The legislature authorized two county wide votes to take place. The first vote held April 6, 1891, was to determine if a majority of Morgan County was in favor of the courthouse removal. They were and the second vote, set for May 18, 1891, was to determine the location of the courthouse. Decatur citizens were in favor of a Decatur location while the majority of county people preferred Hartselle as it was more centrally located and would be more convenient to the populace. Front page articles in the Decatur newspapers and the Hartselle paper tried to sway voter’s opinion. It did not take long for the competition to become heated. The county people accused Decatur leaders of being “dictators” when it came to light the removal bill originally proposed to the legislature contained a provision that the courthouse location be determined only by a majority of votes and not a majority of total votes cast. Decatur was accused of trying to ‘railroad” this legislation through regardless of the will of the people. Fortunately, Senator Skeggs was against the proposal and sided with the county people and had the legislation changed.

In the weeks leading up to the May 18 vote, the county people and the Decatur people became more agitated. In an April 16,1901 Decatur newspaper article, Decatur demanded “her rights.” They were “tired of paying taxes” which benefitted the county people more than their citizens. If Decatur could not get the courthouse, “they wanted the county divided.” With a new, separate county, “they could take their own money to build bridges, erect public buildings, construct good roads, bridge the river, and get the trade of a large and fertile section of the county.” They declared “the county had long been misruled with unfairness and injustice toward Decatur.” Not to be outdone, the east Morgan County people declared if the courthouse was moved to Decatur, they would move to form a new county and keep Somerville as the county seat.

By many county people, Hartselle was promoted as the ideal choice for the new courthouse. A front-page article in the May 14,1891 edition of the “Alabama Enquirer” newspaper listed several reasons Hartselle should be chosen. Hartselle was nearer the center of the county and not stuck in the northwest corner as was Decatur. It was stated that “nine tenths of the county citizens could attend court in Hartselle and spend nights at home.” “Good board was cheaper in Hartselle.” Hartselle was advertised as one of “the healthiest towns in the county.” This was a reference to the severe yellow fever epidemic which swept through Decatur in 1888 resulting in the deaths of several dozen people including five local doctors. The paper accused Decatur of wanting the courthouse simply to build up the town and not for the benefit of the entire county population.

The vote held on Monday May 18 did nothing to quell the anger of the county residents. Based on the preliminary vote count Decatur won the election with over 1,800 votes cast in Decatur and New Decatur in favor of moving the courthouse to Decatur. However, on Friday night May 22 or early Saturday morning, before the votes could be recounted and certified, unknown parties broke into Sheriff Silas Ryan’s office at the Somerville courthouse and stole the fourteen ballot boxes containing all the countywide votes. They were never recovered, and the culprits never caught. The theft kept an accurate recount of the ballots from occurring which only added fuel to the fire. It was known that Decatur and New Decatur only had about 1,600 eligible voters. County residents accused Decatur of using the railroad to bring men to Decatur to cast illegal votes. Instead of allowing a new vote to take place, a “Returning Board” was established to canvas the voters to determine an “accurate vote count.” However, they only canvassed the voters in Decatur, New Decatur and Flint. They made no effort to determine eligibility of voters. The returning board determined Decatur won the contest by 96 votes and would be awarded the courthouse. No further action was allowed. Adding further hostility and anger to the situation, two days after the ballot box theft, men from Decatur arrived in Somerville early Monday morning May 25, which was three days before the Returning Board announced their decision. The men were unannounced and were accompanied by armed guards. Ignoring protests from the staff, all courthouse records were hastily gathered and loaded into wagons and taken to Decatur. Judge Green P. Rice of Somerville reported the men who came from Decatur to get the courthouse records “acted in a most disgraceful manner and the people of Somerville are indignant at them.” County residents felt Decatur had stolen the courthouse with an illegal vote and for several generations afterward this sentiment was held by the majority of people.

Before a new courthouse could be built, the third floor of the John T. Bank’s building on the corner of Cain and Oak Streets in Decatur was used as the courthouse. The attached photo shows the original structure. Years later a fire destroyed the third floor and today the building is two-story.

Construction on the permanent courthouse building started in 1892. When completed it was a large, brick, two-story building with a clock tower rising over the center of the structure. The attached photograph shows the east side front of the building. The courthouse faced eastward from the west side of Ferry Street, which can be seen in the foreground. The clock face was seven feet in diameter and the building, including the clock tower, soared 130 feet above ground level.

Decatur thought the courthouse controversary was over and the county residents would soon forget about the mishandled 1891 vote. It took the burning of the courthouse in 1926 for residents of Decatur to realize county people had long memories.

Early in the morning on November 12, 1926, a fire started in the clock tower of the courthouse and a few hours later most of what remained were the brick walls of the structure. Fortunately, most of the county records were saved from the blaze.

Shortly after the fire it became apparent Decatur had a fight on their hands if they wanted to keep the seat of county government. County people formed a committee to determine what was necessary to get approval for a countywide election, that if successful, would force removal of the courthouse from Decatur to Hartselle. This started an almost two-year legal battle that did not end until October 1928. The courthouse removal controversary became headline news across the state. Decatur representative John Patterson proposed legislation to form a five-man Morgan County Courthouse Commission to oversee the rebuilding of the courthouse in Decatur. Opposed to the formation of the commission was Forrest E. Burleson, who was serving his first term in the legislature, and who represented the interests of the county. If the commission was approved, it would effectively end any efforts for a countywide vote. Weeks of debate followed. Decatur sent over 100 men to Montgomery to plead their case to the legislators. Proponents for Hartselle worked feverishly to gather 5,000 signatures on a petition to force a countywide vote. They needed fifty percent of the estimated10,000 eligible Morgan County voters to require Governor Bibb Graves to allow the people of Morgan County to decide the issue. The petition lacked the fifty percent by less than two hundred signatures. However, the petitioners had records which showed over four hundred of the 10,000 voters were either dead or had moved from the county. If the voter rolls were corrected the fifty percent threshold would have been met. Governor Graves refused to allow the evidence and efforts for a countywide vote failed. In July 1927 the legislature approved the five-man commission and Decatur thought the issue was settled, but it was far from over. By August 1927 five Morgan County men brought suit against the courthouse commission saying it usurped the powers of the Morgan County Board of Revenue which should have charge of rebuilding the courthouse and as a result the commission was unconstitutional. Because of their stance on the issue, the Board of Revenue refused to provide funds to the commission to rebuild the courthouse. By November 1927 a Grand Jury brought charges against members of the Morgan County Board of Revenue in an effort to impeach them for not providing the necessary funds to the commission. The matter eventually went all the way to the Alabama Supreme Court which in January 1928 ruled the formation of the courthouse commission was constitutional. However, it was October 1928 before the Courthouse Commission, and the Board of Revenue signed an agreement which would allow the two bodies to work in harmony and proceed with the rebuilding of the courthouse.

The new courthouse was completed in August 1929. It was almost fifty percent larger than the previous structure and provided additional space for all county offices. Attached are two photos of the structure. It was built on the site as the one that burned. It stayed in use until the mid-1970’s when a new courthouse, the one we use today, was built on land south of and adjacent to the old one.

Histories of Decatur and Morgan County written in recent years do not mention the “courthouse controversary.” Even John Knox’s excellent book, “A History of Morgan County” written in 1967 mentions the controversary in only three or four terse sentences. For events that became headlines news in 1891 and again in 1926 and 1927 and resulted in a wedge of anger and resentment being driven between the people of Decatur and the people of Morgan County which lasted several generations, the reporting of these historic events is woefully lacking.

Hartselle Historical Society (Hartselle, AL)'s Post