The Face In The Window

Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, once said, “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.” I plan to move this summer. Maybe not far, but move nonetheless. I don't know where my travels will take me this summer or what unplanned adventures will arise during these travels. I hope to learn more about the history of Alabama and the surrounding states and use these experiences with my students in the fall. And so I move...

My first trip took me to Carrollton, Alabama. Carrollton is located in Pickens County, a county that borders Tuscaloosa County. It takes about 45 minutes to take the 34 mile trip to Carrollton from Tuscaloosa. My main reason for going to Carrollton was to take a picture of it's famous Courthouse.

As you approach the Courthouse from the front it's architectural design is like many buildings of the post Civil War era. The original Courthouse was burned down in 1864 by Union soldiers under the command of General John T. Croxton. (This is the same Union General who's soldiers burned down The University of Alabama.) Like most towns around the South when the war ended it took time to rebuild. Lot's of hard work and hard to come by money were spent to rebuild the Courthouse. The town was proud of it's new Courthouse and was a symbol of the resilience of the people in the area. If the story ended here the history of the Civil War and the war monuments located in front of the Courthouse are reasons enough to take a detour to visit the small town's Courthouse. *If you enjoy history. But the story does not end here.

This is where history and legend sort of mix together the way Tobasco mixes with gumbo. In 1876 the Pickens County Courthouse was burned down again. A freed slave by the name of Henry Wells was accused and convicted of burning the Courthouse in 1878. Henry was placed in a holding room at the top of the Courthouse. Legend says that Henry Wells proclaimed his innocence and threatened to haunt them for the rest of their lives if his punishment was carried out. Protests from freed slaves were not held in high regard in the Reconstruction Era South. So his threats were not taken seriously.

As a lynch mob gathered below, and a thunderstorm formed above, Henry Wells was looking out of the Courthouse window at the angry mob. As the mob grew so did the storm. A bolt of lightening struck a nearby tree and shot across to the window where Henry Wells was watching the mob. Henry Wells died of gunshot wombs to the chest in his attempt to flee the Courthouse. The face of Henry Wells however was permanently seared into the Courthouse window by the lightening. The image of Henry Wells can still be seen to this day peering down from atop the Pickens County Courthouse.

If you are interested you can read more about the Pickens County Courthouse in Kathryn Tucker Windham's book, “13 Alabama Ghost and Jeffery”.