Extracted from The Tuscaloosa News (Tuscaloosa, AL)
Pratt homes reveal much of early Alabama life
By JEFF MANSELL
Special to The News
The roadway signs which greet motorists as they enter Bibb County
encourage travellers to enjoy the natural beauty of the surrounding
landscape. And indeed, the countryside of this West Alabama county
is something to behold, from the mountainous terrain embracing
fertile valleys to the vast stretches of timber towering above the
banks of the majestic Cahaba River. An early government surveyor
captured the essence of the Cahaba River valley region when in 1817
he called it ``a very inviting land, with the finest springs, and the
fairest prospect of health.''
It is not surprising that this great abundance of natural resources in
Bibb County was precisely what attracted some of the earliest settlers
to the area. In 1814, as they moved across Alabama in a series of
battles with the Indians, the troops of Andrew Jackson pushed through
the Cahaba River valley, making note of the rich fields and abundant
streams.
On their return from the Battle of New Orleans, heading back to the
Cumberland valley in Tennessee, some of these veterans of the
war of 1812 decided to settle in that inviting valley. One descendent of
these former soldiers noted ``When they reached the confluence of
three creeks ... which together make the Little Cahaba River, they found
an Indian camp well-stocked with swine, horses, cows, and corn; also
says rumor, there were a goodly number of comely Indian maidens.''
The remaining soldiers pushed onward, returning to their homes only
long enough to collect their families and belongings before heading back
to the lands which would eventually form Bibb County. Upon return to the
Indian camp, these settlers found no trace of the comrades they had left
behind. Perhaps those early soldiers did not notice that in addition to
the comely maidens, the camp population had also included a ``number of
bucks with highly developed fighting proclivities.''
Nevertheless, word spread about the fertile valley and in the second
decade of the 19th century, a steady stream of settlers began to trickle
into the area, establishing small farms along the banks of the Cahaba
River and its tributaries. According to historian Rhoda Ellison, these
early settlers usually came by one of two routes, the Federal Road linking
Richmond with New Orleans or the Kentucky Trace, spurs of which
connected Huntsville with Mudtown, an Indian camp just north of Bibb County.
Too, as Ellison notes, the typical migration pattern was for one or more
members of a family to precede the others by a year or two. Around 1818,
for example, Hopkins and Absalom Pratt followed their brothers Joab
and John to the region, choosing house sites at River Bend where the
Little Cahaba River joins the main stream. Soon therefore, the four
brothers were joined by their parents, Richard and Rebecca Pratt,
who had traveled from North Carolina through the wilderness of the
Alabama Territory.
Once they had settled on the high bluffs overlooking the river, Absalom
and Hopkins Pratt each began construction of a dwelling house. Today,
these structures, facing each other from opposite sides of the county
road, are two of the most significant historic resources remaining in
Bibb County.
Hopkins Pratt, the older brother, constructed a dwelling which may be one
of the best three or four of its type remaining in the entire state. The
two story residence is referred to as an I-house, a structure which
characteristically is two stories high and one room deep. The hall
and parlor floorplan is a descendent of similar plans commonly used in
medieval England and consists of a single, large all-purpose room or
``hall'' and a smaller, adjoining parlor. The plan is repeated upstairs
which makes for a total of four rooms.
According to architectural historian Robert Gamble, this type of house
was among the earliest dwellings built after the ``log cabin'' phase of Alabama
architecture. From this type evolved the more common, two-story central
hall plan house. ``I cannot over-emphasize the significance of this
structure,'' Gamble once wrote, ``not only to Bibb County but to the state
as a whole.'' The remaining houses of this type, similar to the Hopkins
Pratt house, are ``truly the last of the buffalo.''
In addition, the Hopkins Pratt house features hand-chiseled stone
chimneys and elaborate wooden trim and dentil work along the cornice
of the structure. On the interior, one finds equally detailed mantlepieces,
chairrails and staircase bannister. Again, according to Gamble,
``rarely does one find such craftmanship in an early 19th-century dwelling.''
From the crest of the ridge, the Hopkins Pratt family had a commanding
view of the river below and indeed, supplemented their farming income
by operating a ferry at the bend. In 1865, as she watched the Federal
forces mass on the opposite side of the river, Mary Dickerson Pratt,
Hopkins' widow, cut the cables to her ferry boat and set it adrift. While
the boat was later found in Mobile, it could not be brought back; Mary
Pratt had forfeited most of her income to protect her home from
foraging Yankee troups.
Perhaps not as imposing as his brother's dwelling, the house of
Absalom Pratt is equally significant. The one-story spraddle roofed
dwelling is reminiscent of scores of similar dwellings found along the
eastern seaboard, and therefore reflects the transformation of particular
house forms from the older, established communities to the Alabama
frontier.
The distinguishing feature of the spraddle-roofed house is the broken
pitch of the gable roof, allowing the rafters to flare out over full width
front and rear porches. Often, portions of the porches are enclosed,
creating cabinet or so-called ``preacher'' rooms, since these chambers
were often occupied by traveling clergymen.
Like his brother, Absalom Pratt crafted the foundation piers and the
chimneys at each end of his dwelling from limestone blocks, hand carved
and transported from the cliffs of the river. The central hall of the
structure was probably once open at either end, creating a dogtrot
house; sometime in the early 19th century, the dogtrot was enclosed to
create a central hall.
The house is plastered throughout, including the hall and the exterior
walls which are protected by porches, and the front and rear facade
porch walls are embellished with chairrails, a common decorative touch,
since in the South, porches are outdoor living areas, extensions of more
formal rooms of the residence. It is not difficult to imagine members of
the Pratt family sitting, dining and entertaining on these porches or in the
open breezeway of the home in summer.
Although both dwellings have been unoccupied for some time, the
two structures are both slated for restoration. Preliminary stabilization
has begun on the spraddle roofed dwelling of Absalom Pratt while
Hopkins Pratt's finely detailed I-house has recently been purchased
with plans for a complete restoration. Hopefully, the two dwellings
will remain in Bibb County, surrounded by the wealth of natural
resources one finds in the inviting valley of the Cahaba River basin.
Jeff Mansell, assistant director of the Cahaba Trace Commission,
is a frequent contributor to The News.
Sunday, January 31, 1993
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