Speculation: "Rodney Ferry" Route from Alabama to Louisiana

While scanning through some of the issues of the Jacksonville Republican newspaper printed in Jacksonville, Alabama in 1860, I came across the following clipping. It is from the 2 February 1860 issue, was originally placed on 15 December 1859, and was to run for two months.

NOTICE
TO
Emigrants moving to Louisiana and Texas. 

WE beg leave to state, that there is a NEW and SUBSTANTIAL Ferry Boat at Rodney, and that the route by this “Ferry” is the best of all seasons, and nearer by 180 miles. We have been requested by persons travelling this “route” to publish a “Way Bill” for the convenience of those who intend moving west — which we furnish over the card of Mr. S.W. Davitte.
THOS. M. REA & CO. 

WAY-BILL. 

Vanwert, Geo.
Jacksonville, Ala.
Greensport, Ala.
Ashville, Ala.
Elyton, Ala.
Gainesville, Ala.
Scooba, Ala.
DeKalb
Big Oak
Union
Brandon
Monterey
Dear’s Ferry on Pearl River
Ferry on N.O. And Jackson R.R.
Port Gibson
Rodney Ferry. 

Rodney Ferry, Nov. 12, 1859. 

I HAVE just travelled the route to this “Ferry,” and recommend it to all persons intending to move West. The roads are perfectly good, affording an abundance of all necessary supplies — accommodations at the Ferry are also very good. The boat is new and safe; and the proprietors attend to it themselves and are accommodating.
S.W. DAVITTE
December 15, 1859. 2m.

Click to enlarge

My 3rd great grandparents, David Averett (1837–1927) and Martha TIMMERMAN Averett (1847—1927) moved their family to Louisiana in 1877 (seventeen years later, admittedly) from the Reeltown/Tallassee, Alabama area. Stories my mother collected during her lifetime indicate that David and his family had intended to move to Texas. Instead, when they stopped to visit his sister in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana on the way to Texas, they decided to stay there. This is one possible route they may have taken.

John William Jackson (1856–1926), my 2nd great grandfather, and the son of John O. Jackson (1834–1861) who I have mentioned in other posts as having lived in Kirk’s Grove, Alabama in Cherokee County, also ended up in Louisiana, although it was later in the 19th century. John William’s son, William Joseph Jackson (1881–1956), married David Averett’s granddaughter, Monnie Ethel Watts (1885-1985), in Winnfield, Louisiana (Winn Parish) in 1908. William Joseph and Monnie Ethel WATTS Jackson were two of my great grandparents.

If David and Martha Averett followed this route, they probably would have joined it after leaving the Reeltown/Tallassee area somewhere west of Elyton, Alabama and east of Scooba, Mississippi — subject to the availability and condition of the roads, of course. The goal of this post is to show which of the way points I was able to locate on the advertised route.

• Van Wert, Georgia
• According to the Polk County Chamber of Commerce Historic Sites website, Van Wert, Georgia is located in what is now Rockmart, Georgia. It has been designated a historic township by the State. The geolocation is 33.986641N -85.040874E.
• Jacksonville, Alabama
• Jacksonville, Alabama still exists in Calhoun County. Jacksonville State University, the source of my Civil War-period Jacksonville Republican newspapers, is located there. According to Wikipedia the geolocation is 33.815833N -85.760556E.
• Greensport Alabama
• Greensport was a bit more difficult to find. According to a person named Rick Wallace responding to a query on Genealogy.com, "Greensport and Greensport Ferry were located on the Coosa River, South of Gadsden and about 5 miles northwest of Ohatchee. On a present day map find the Henry Neely Lake on the Coosa River, south of Gadsden. Greensport was on the north bank of the river in St Clair County. Greensport was about where the Henry Neely Dam is and pretty well sitting on top of the point where St Clair, Calhoun and Etowah Counties all join.” The following map shows where I believe it is (geolocation 33.848190N -86.079126E).

According to Wikipedia, "The Coosa River is the major tributary when it joins the Tallapoosa River near Wetumpka, Alabama to form the Alabama River.” These locations are important to the story of David Averett, which is why I include the detail here and I intend to return to the subject in more depth in the future. Wikipedia also provides a very nice map that was created by Wikipedia user “pfly":

• Ashville, Alabama
• Ashville, Alabama still exists in St. Clair County. Geolocation 33.843611N -86.266111E.    
• Elyton, Alabama
• Elyton or Ely’s Town, Alabama is now a part of Birmingham. The geolocation is 33.5014942N -86.8408239E.
• Gainesville, Alabama
• Gainesville, Alabama still exists in Sumter County, near the border of Mississippi. Geolocation is 32.817317N -88.158026E.
• Scooba, Alabama
• The advertisement in the 2 February 1860 newspaper says this is a town in Alabama but I believe it is a misprint. Scooba, Mississippi, on the other hand, is in Kemper County, near the border with Alabama. Geolocation 32.830382N -88.474783E.
• DeKalb, Mississippi
• DeKalb, Mississippi is also in Kemper County. Geolocation 32.769751N -88.650407E. 
• Big Oak, Mississippi
• I have not been able to find any information about Big Oak, Mississippi. The closest items that I have found are Big Oak Methodist Church (32.721977N -88.765469E) and Big Oak Church (32.684782N -88.843395E) in Mississippi. They are about five miles apart, but they appear to line up nicely on the route defined by the other geographic locations specified in the advertisement.

• Union, Mississippi
• Union, Mississippi still exists and is located in Neshoba and Newton counties. Geolocation 32.571320N -89.118118E.
• Brandon, Mississippi
• Brandon, Mississippi is the county seat of Rankin County. Geolocation 32.280330N -89.998470E.
• Monterey, Mississippi
• Monterey, Mississippi is a “populated place” in Rankin County. Geolocation 32.185N -90.081E.
• Dear’s Ferry on the Pearl River
• “Dear’s Ferry” or “Dears Ferry” is a historic site and is a crossing of the Pearl River in Hinds County. Geolocation 32.0918189N -90.2411994E. For future reference, the linked “iTouchMap” web site contains other useful geographic and historical information about Mississippi and other states: Various place types (arroyos, basins, crossings, etc.), including many river crossings.   

• Ferry on N.O. And Jackson R.R.
• I haven’t been able to find this. Searching on this in Wikipedia connects to the page on the “New Orleans, Jackson, and Great Northern railroad” which connected Chicago with New Orleans and was completed just before the start of the war. One site on the Internet indicates that it was considered one of the best Confederate Railroads. The Federal Army captured New Orleans in 1862 and spent the rest of the war trying to disrupt the railroad, which they apparently largely succeeded in doing.
• Port Gibson
• Port Gibson, Mississippi is a city in Claiborne County near the Mississippi River. Geolocation 31.956243N -90.983124E.
• Rodney Ferry
• According to Wikipedia, Rodney, Mississippi doesn’t exist as a town anymore because the Mississippi River changed course. Carolyn Jean Adams Switzer indicates that the town was incorporated in 1828, was a “thriving boomtown” in the 1830s, and had become a “struggling ghost town” in the 1840s. Some buildings are still there and Wikipedia relates an interesting story (unsourced, alas) from the Civil War about how several Union officers were taken prisoner while attending services at the Presbyterian Church in 1863. But the population is now apparently zero, although Switzer indicates that the Baptist Church is still in use. The geolocation is, according to Wikipedia, 31.861389N -91.199722E.

If one wanted to go to Texas, would the idea have been to reach the Mississippi River and then ride a boat down to New Orleans, and then another boat to Texas? But where in Texas? Galveston? What cities existed on the Texas Gulf Coast in 1859? Or would one have crossed Louisiana by road to arrive in Texas?

My 2nd great grandfather, John William Jackson ended up in Hico, Texas before doubling back to Louisiana. The following Wikipedia map of Hico, Texas is by Seth Anthony.

Unless one traveled up a river to reach Hico (I have no idea if this is possible), it might have been easier to simply cross Louisiana to get there.

It seems likely that there was more than one route commonly taken from Alabama to Louisiana but it will take a lot more research to determine just how many routes were taken and how many ferries across rivers, especially the mighty Mississippi river, were available and able to accommodate wagons carrying the personal effects of entire families. Families such as that of David and Martha Averett, my 3rd great grandparents and John William Jackson and his wife, Carrie Eliza Michael (1860–1910).

I might start by plotting the locations of all the historical river crossings in Alabama and then Mississippi using the data from the iTouchMap site. This might identify a few choke points through which all traffic had to be funneled. The topic is worth revisiting in the future.