Autauga County. See text below. Do you want a map showing old and new county borders? Guidelines to Determine if Your Chilton County Property Used to be in Autauga, Bibb, Perry, or Shelby County Prior to 1868 By: Mike Jackson Did you know that some Alabama counties are older than the State of Alabama? Did you know that Chilton County is one of the newest counties in the state? Both are facts! Autauga, Bibb, and Shelby counties existed when Alabama was a territory and therefore pre-dated the existence of the State of Alabama in 1819. Chilton County was created in 1868, during the Reconstruction period following the War of the Rebellion (Civil War). Only 2 or 3 Alabama counties are newer. Chilton County was originally named Baker County. The name was changed to Chilton in 1870. Chilton County was created by combining portions of Autauga, Bibb, Perry, and Shelby counties. I have heard a number of reasons for the creation of Chilton County. First, travel was difficult, and many areas of present-day Chilton County were quite some distance by horse and buggy from county seats Kingston (in 1868 was the Autauga County seat of government), Columbiana (Shelby County), Centerville (Bibb County), and Marion (Perry County). Therefore, Baker County was created to reduce the travel difficulty for citizens living in "remote" areas. The other reason I have heard is that Alfred Baker, the man most responsible for the creation of Baker County and the man the county was originally named after, expected much civil unrest following the Civil War including much difficulty in local government administration of the new Freedman legislation intended to provide for the freed slaves. Baker lived in Autauga County at the time, which was dominated by the Planter Aristocracy that had developed in the plantation society along the Alabama River. Baker purportedly wanted a new county free of the planter mentality and with less turmoil adjusting from the "plantation society" following the war than would be the case if remaining a part of Autauga County. Regardless of the reasons for the creation of Chilton County, it is interesting to know where the old county borders used to be and which sections of Chilton County were once in the "old" counties of Autauga, Bibb, Perry, and Shelby. This article makes an attempt to draw the old county borders superimposed on a modern map of Chilton County. With this map you may find the general area of your property and see in which of the old counties your property used to be located. PUT MAP HERE The map above was developed by careful comparison and scaling of old and new maps of Alabama, using county borders, towns, and natural land features such as creeks for comparative reference points. For old maps I used 1850 and 1863 Alabama maps showing counties and their borders. For new maps I used the Alabama Atlas and Gazetteer, published by DeLorme Mapping. My findings were then superimposed on a modern-day detailed Chilton County map as can be obtained from the Alabama Department of Transportation or the County Engineer's Office. Here are some of interesting findings that can be seen in the above map: The old border of Autauga and Shelby counties was an east-west line running just south of Lomax. Thus, Clanton, Verbena, Coopers, etc. and all of the southeast section of the county were in Autauga County prior to 1868. The old border between Bibb County on the west and Shelby and Autauga County on the east was a north-south running line just barely west of Thorsby. Thus, Thorsby, Union Grove, Lomax, the old Jumbo Community, all of the northeast section of the county and all along the northern border of the county were in Shelby county. A small section of Chilton County comprised of what is today part of the Talladega National Forest was in Perry County. I have been told by a researcher that this was done to appease a large property owner who had a history of heated debates each year with the Perry County authorities over his $40 tax bill! Perry County apparently wanted to give this unruly citizen to somebody else to deal with! This section is very sparsely populated today. A large section of the county used to be in Bibb County. This section includes present-day Jemison, Maplesville, Pletcher, etc., and runs almost the full north-south extent of present-day Chilton County. By the way, the center of the State of Alabama in 1868, which today is in Chilton County, used to be in Bibb County! This location is the general area bounded roughly by the triangle formed by Pletcher Community, Mills Cemetery, and Vermont Church. The map above is of practical value, some would say, as well as general interest. If you are involved in genealogical research to explore your family history, you may need to visit the Autauga, Bibb, Perry, or Shelby County courthouse to get records you need dated prior to 1868! I would like to close by issuing a challenge. I challenge the Chilton County Engineer's Office to create and publish an "official" map showing the old county borders within Chilton County. The map I have developed is a rough approximation only and could depict the old borders misplaced somewhat. It would be nice to have an official, very accurate map as a reference. Mike Jackson, 13122 Dogwood Blossom Trail, Houston, TX 77065. Thanks, Mike Jackson, cell phone 415-609-9100, fax 419-818-8213, mailto:mljackso@bechtel.com > -----Original Message----- > From: dddennis@concentric.net [SMTP:dddennis@concentric.net] > Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2000 7:48 PM > To: ALCHILTO-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: Clanton > > Autauga Co., Chestnut Creek on the census. The area just south of Jemison > would have been in Shelby and Baker/Chilton. > See http://www.rootsweb.com/~alchilto/chilmap.htm > At 10:16 PM 10/8/00 EDT, you wrote: > >Could someone let me know what county the town of Clanton would have been > in, > >in 1856? > > > >Thanks, > > > >Leslie Hill > > > > > > > David Dennis, dddennis@concentric.net, UsGebWeb webpage for Lincoln Co., > Ga + Chilton Co., Al, and Rootsweb mailing list owner for them and the > SWORDS-L lists, among other things.