If there WAS BLACK SANDY SOIL on Sand Mountain, it was sure gone by the time I was born in 1933. Most of the good farms (those not taken by the TVA) were in the valley between Sand Mountain & Brindlee Mountain (where I grew up). Both mountains have pale yellow sandy soil. We always heard about the black dirt in the black belt in the southern third of the state and envied their bountiful crops. Mary >Gary, >I live in Clay County, AL not too far from Sand Mountain,AL. There was a >great migration to AL around 1830. The second largest gold rush was to >Alabama. This,and neighboring counties had many gold, sulphur,mica, >graphite,pyrite and a copper mine. My farm has two abandoned mica mines on >it. > > Sand Mountain is a part of this chain of mountains where all the minerals >were found. That could have been the reason so many people came this way. >Sand Mountain got its name from the beautiful black sandy soil that grows >almost anything. It's plateau is wide and long, and some of the most >beautiful farms are there. > >I hope this answers your question. Pam Shirey > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Gary Wilbanks <GaryWilbanks@compuserve.com> >To: SC-OLD-PENDLETON-DIST-L@rootsweb.com ><SC-OLD-PENDLETON-DIST-L@rootsweb.com> >Date: Sunday, July 02, 2000 4:33 PM >Subject: [SC-OPD] SC Migrations/re Pontotoc/Cass > > >>Message text written by INTERNET:SC-OLD-PENDLETON-DIST-L@rootsweb.com >> >>Message from Mrs. Tinkler >> >>>Here's another I want some illumination about: My ggf & ggm (Garrison & >>Maria Hardy Linn) as well as other members of the extended family moved >>about 1840 from OPD to Cass County, Georgia, where they died within 5-7 >>years. One of their sons (Julius Weston) went to the Medical College of >>Georgia, where he graduated in 1859. By 1860, he had moved to Marshall >>County, Alabama. His mother's relatives & his older brother were still in >>Cass County, Georgia. His first wife was born & raised in Alabama. What >>drew his parents to Cass? What drew him to Marshall County, Alabama? Is >>there any explanation more than the urge to move west? They were neither >>farmers nor gold miners.< >> >>**************************************** >> >>I have been meaning to research what generated the big migration of >>Anderson County, SC, folks to San Mountain, AL (Dekalb, Marshall and parts >>of a couple of other counties) in the late 1850's. I just haven't done it >>yet. Some of my Wilbanks and Mayfields were among those that migrated >>around 1856-1858. I've been told a couple of reasons. One person told me >>that Sand Mountain was the last bit of free or low cost land in Alabama >>that the Federal Government made available to the public in Alabama. Can >>anyone confirm? Was there some other reason? Usually by the late 1850's >>most people were heading further west so what made Sand Mountain so >>attractive to the upstate SC folks at that time? I also heard there was a >>severe recession in Anderson around the mid-1850's as a result of much of >>the land being played out. Probably from growing too much cotton & tobacco. >>Again, these are comments that people have told me. My reference books on >>SC do not mention the migration of upstate residents to Sand Mountain. I >>have roamed through several cemeteries in Dekalb County, AL, and Marshall >>County, AL, and I felt like I was still in Anderson County as I looked at >>the names on the gravestones. >> >>Gary >> >> >>==== SC-OLD-PENDLETON-DIST Mailing List ==== >>Want to search for a surname in RootsWeb archives >>http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl > > >==== SC-OLD-PENDLETON-DIST Mailing List ==== >Want to search for a surname in RootsWeb archives >http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl

Folks, Some of you are wandering too far off topic. Lets get back to information about SC-OPD. Thanks, donna list admin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mary Tinkler" <mrs.tinkler@mindspring.com> To: <SC-OLD-PENDLETON-DIST-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, July 03, 2000 9:39 AM Subject: Re: [SC-OPD] SC Migrations/re Pontotoc/Cass > If there WAS BLACK SANDY SOIL on Sand Mountain, it was sure gone by the > time I was born in 1933. Most of the good farms (those not taken by the > TVA) were in the valley between Sand Mountain & Brindlee Mountain (where I > grew up). Both mountains have pale yellow sandy soil. We always heard > about the black dirt in the black belt in the southern third of the state > and envied their bountiful crops. Mary > >