Some local historians simply refuse to believe that there were Georgians, Tennesseans and South Carolinians who lived here for decades before migrating west. After all, the early German settlers referred to the Cullman City area as a ‘wilderness’ and ‘unsettled’.”George Spear, local historian
Photo Caption: Considered to be one of the first white men to cross the Cullman City area, John Coffee surveyed this part of Cullman County before many white men had a chance to explore it. He later moved to a place near Florence and died there in 1833.
CULLMAN – When most people around here talk about the history of Cullman County, they automatically break into big ole smiles as they look into the distance and speak of the town’s beloved founder, Col. John G. Cullmann. It is true that Cullmann worked like a dog promoting the area and populated the place by using his marketing skills, convincing many German families that our rich, fertile soil and mild weather was the best place to live and farm. Heck, the town was named after him, for goodness sakes!
But there is one small detail most people don’t seem to realize; those five “original” families, along with Cullmann, were not the first people to live on the land that would eventually become Cullman. No, in reality, there had been people living in these parts for decades prior to Cullmann’s arrival, and local historian George Spear has made a documentary that tells all about them.
The hour-long TV documentary “Cullman Before John Cullmann” chronicles the Georgia and Tennessee pioneers who had settled in the Cullman City area decades before the Europeans ever arrived. It tells the undeniable truth about the men and women who endured and survived here. It is a work based on research and not myth.
“I enjoy history and genealogy,” Spear said with a smile. “I’m always curious as to where things began, so to speak. That’s what got me started; I heard there was more of a story to the local settlements and original pioneers than what came here around 1873 when the Germans came in.
“While researching the pre-German history of the people living in Township 10 South, Range 3 West of the Huntsville Meridian, (AKA the Cullman City area), I discovered that there were a few current-day historians who preferred to accept common myths rather than the facts regarding early settlers,” he shook his head. “Some local historians simply refuse to believe that there were Georgians, Tennesseans and South Carolinians who lived here for decades before migrating west. After all, the early German settlers referred to the Cullman City area as a ‘wilderness’ and ‘unsettled.’
“The fact that dozens of early deed records are missing in the Cullman County Probate Office handicaps any effort to disprove these myths,” he continued. “No one living now is responsible for these missing early deed records. These early deeds simply weren’t transferred to Cullman County from Blount County when this area became a county in 1877,” he smiled. “I’ve counted approximately a dozen pioneers who resided in this area who sold out and moved away before the first German settlers arrived in 1873.”
Here’s something to think about: One out of every three men who served in the Civil War from this area was dead by the end of it and nearly half of those who survived moved out west before the Germans even arrived. Simply put, when the soil wore out, farmers moved, and the railroad, along with Mother Nature, reclaimed the land.
“Keep in mind, there are no deed records showing who purchased their property,” Spear explained. “Conversely, early plat maps, Bureau of Land Management records and federal population and agriculture census records show clearly where they lived. Moreover, Alabama State Census records also contain their names.
“When the first German immigrants arrived, they faced terrible hardships and some perished,” he added. “One immigrant observed critically that none of the early settlers had attempted to create a town or settlement. The truth is, that without a railroad or means of getting your product to market, it would have been impractical, not to mention impossible.
“Cullman Before John Cullmann” takes you on a trip down memory lane as far as Cullman’s rich history allows. You will meet our city’s very first inhabitants and see their way of life. They were courageous and dared to journey into the wilderness and become some of the first to plow the land. The documentary also pinpoints their land and farms and shows just what is located there today. If you are a history buff, you will be entertained while learning all about life before the Cullmann arrived.
“Cullman Before John Cullmann” is available on DVD and can be purchased at Mary Carter Store and Yates-Chance Christian Book Store. For more information, visit http://qrne.ws/cullmann.
