Misplaced Pages

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97-422: The Alabama Stakes is named in honor of William Cottrell of Mobile, Alabama . "Alabama" was the name settled on because Cottrell was too modest to have a race named for him personally. The inaugural running took place on July 19, 1872 and was won by a chestnut filly named Woodbine owned by prominent New York financier August Belmont Sr . The race was not run from 1893 to 1896 and 1898 to 1900. The 1908 passage of

194-484: A jockey : Most wins by a trainer : + In 1968 Heartland finished first but was disqualified and placed second. + In 1966 Lady Pitt finished first but was disqualified and placed second. + In 1942 Bonnet Ann finished first but was disqualified and placed last. + In 1908 Stamina finished first but was disqualified and placed last. Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( / m oʊ ˈ b iː l / moh- BEEL , French: [mɔbil] )

291-560: A mayor-council form of government, with seven members elected from single-member districts . This was approved by voters. As white conservatives increasingly entered the Republican Party in the late 20th century, African-American residents of the city have elected members of the Democratic Party as their candidates of choice. Since the change to single-member districts, more women and African Americans were elected to

388-549: A teepee-like army tent which Sibley had adapted from the American Indian style. Both officers were later assigned to New Mexico , where in 1860 Canby coordinated a campaign against the Navajo , commanding Sibley in a futile attempt to capture and punish Navajo for "depredations" against the livestock of settlers. The campaign ended in frustration, with Canby and Sibley rarely sighting Navajo raiders. Usually they saw

485-629: A 20th-century adjutant general, Edward F. Witsell, described Canby's position as "similar to that of an Assistant to the Secretary of the Army." In May 1864, Canby was promoted to major general and relieved Nathaniel P. Banks of his command at Simmesport, Louisiana . He next was assigned to the Midwest , where he commanded the Military Division of Western Mississippi . He was wounded in

582-459: A 30-year period. Mobile averages 120 days per year with at least 0.01 inches (0.3 mm) of rain. Precipitation is heavy year-round. On average, July and August are the wettest months, with frequent and often-heavy shower and thunderstorm activity. October stands out as a slightly drier month than all others. Snow is rare in Mobile, with its last snowfall occurring on December 8, 2017; before this,

679-500: A 48-hour truce , the generals enjoyed an al fresco luncheon of food, drink, and lively music. Canby offered Taylor the same terms agreed upon between Lee and Grant at Appomattox . Taylor accepted the terms and surrendered his command on May 4 at Citronelle, Alabama . Considered one of the Gulf Coast 's cultural centers, Mobile has several art museums, a symphony orchestra, professional opera, professional ballet company, and

776-519: A city of commerce with a primary focus on the cotton and slave trades. Many slaves were transported by ship in the coastwise slave trade from the Upper South. There were many businesses in the city related to the slave trade – people to make clothes, food, and supplies for the slave traders and their wards. The city's booming businesses attracted merchants from the North; by 1850 10% of its population

873-569: A copious number of T2 tankers for the War Department. Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation , a subsidiary of Waterman Steamship Corporation , focused on building freighters , Fletcher -class destroyers , and minesweepers . The rapid increase of population in the city produced crowded conditions, increasing social tensions in the competition for housing and good jobs. In May 1943, a race riot broke out between whites and blacks. ADDSCO management had long maintained segregated conditions at

970-650: A destroyer but appeared to prefer the role of builder. If someone had a question about army regulations or Constitutional law affecting the military, Canby was the man to see. Grant came to appreciate this in peace time, once complaining vigorously when President Andrew Johnson proposed to assign Canby away from the capital where Grant considered him irreplaceable. In April 1869, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton appointed General Canby as military governor of Virginia. Soon after Canby arrived in Richmond, he confiscated each of

1067-774: A document written in Canby's hand in Spanish, in which he identifies himself as "Edwardo [ sic ] Ricardo S. Canby.") Canby served in Wyoming and Utah (then both part of the Utah Territory ) during the Utah War (1857–1858). During this period, he served on the panel of judges for the court martial of Captain Henry Hopkins Sibley . Sibley was acquitted. Subsequently, Canby wrote an endorsement for

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1164-576: A group is called a krewe .) The city gained its name from the Mobile tribe that the French colonists encountered living in the area of Mobile Bay . Although it is debated by Alabama historians, they may have been descendants of the Native American tribe whose small fortress town, Mabila , was used to conceal several thousand native warriors before an attack in 1540 on the expedition of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto . About seven years after

1261-655: A home in our country." When Canby said he did not have the authority to make such a promise, Captain Jack attacked the general. With Ellen's Man, one of his lieutenants, he shot Canby twice in the head and cut his throat. The Modoc also killed Reverend Eleazar Thomas , a peace commissioner, and wounded others in the party. Following Canby's death, national outrage was expressed against the Modoc. Eastern newspapers called for blood vengeance , except for one in Georgia, which headlined

1358-401: A key position on it. There were many lines of communication between the Modoc and whites. At one point, someone told the Modoc leader Captain Jack that the governor of Oregon intended to hang nine Modoc, apparently without trial, as soon as they surrendered. The Modoc broke off scheduled talks; Canby was angered by the rumors and their action, as he believed that his federal authority trumped

1455-491: A large concentration of historic architecture. Mobile is known for having the oldest organized Carnival or Mardi Gras celebrations in the United States. Alabama's French Creole population celebrated this festival from the first decade of the 18th century. Beginning in 1830, Mobile was host to the first formally organized Carnival mystic society to celebrate with a parade in the United States. (In New Orleans, such

1552-679: A majority for their candidates in the informally segregated city. In 1969, the Brookley Air Force Base was closed by the Department of Defense, dealing a severe blow to Mobile's economy. The closing resulted in a 10% unemployment rate in the city. This and other factors related to industrial restructuring ushered in a period of economic depression that lasted through the 1970s. The loss of jobs created numerous problems and resulted in loss of population as residents moved away for work. Mobile's city commission form of government

1649-697: A new facility. In June 1870 the Virginia legislature accepted ownership of the Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane, the first standalone facility in the United States. It remained located at the Howard's Grove site until 1885, when a new facility was constructed in Dinwiddie County some 40 miles south of Richmond and renamed Central State Hospital. Canby should be credited with creating the first racially segregated mental hospital in

1746-468: A path ending in Prichard. Initial damage estimates for insured and uninsured ranged from $ 140 to $ 150 million. Mobile's French and Spanish colonial history has given it a culture distinguished by French, Spanish, Creole , African and Catholic heritage, in addition to later British and American influences. It is distinguished from all other cities in the state of Alabama. The annual Carnival celebration

1843-664: A period of clerical duty, Canby was assigned as "commanding general of the city and harbor of New York City" on July 17, 1863. This assignment followed the New York Draft Riots , which caused about 120 deaths and extensive property damage. He served until November 9, reviving the draft, and overseeing a prisoner of war camp in New York Harbor . He then went to work in the office of the Secretary of War, unofficially describing himself in correspondence as an "Assistant Adjutant General." Looking back on Canby's record,

1940-577: A river, especially since New Mexico was in the middle of a long drought , Canby made the best use of his forces by defending against only two possible scenarios: an attack along the Rio Grande and an attack by way of the Pecos and Canadian rivers. He could easily shift the latter defensive force to protect Fort Union if the enemy attacked by way of the Rio Grande, which they did. Canby persuaded

2037-482: A separate asylum for the admission and treatment of blacks with lunacy. Canby accepted his recommendation and included it as the basis of his military order number 136, published in December 1869. Canby's order required continued utilization of a rented annex at Howard's Grove Hospital as the temporary psychiatric hospital for blacks until the state of Virginia could decide whether to maintain and expand it or construct

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2134-552: A spectrum of cultures. Mobile's official cultural ambassadors are the Azalea Trail Maids , meant to embody the ideals of Southern hospitality . Edward Canby Edward Richard Sprigg Canby (November 9, 1817 – April 11, 1873) was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War . He served as a military governor after the war. In 1861–1862, Canby commanded

2231-519: A stop in Havana . Though most of the " Pélican girls" recovered, numerous colonists and neighboring Native Americans contracted the disease in turn and many died. This early period was also the occasion of the importation of the first African slaves , transported aboard a French supply ship from the French colony of Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean , where they had first been held. The population of

2328-508: Is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama , United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 census . After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobile's population increased to 204,689 residents, making it the fourth-most populous city in Alabama, after Montgomery , Birmingham , and Huntsville . Mobile is the principal municipality of

2425-404: Is perhaps the best example of its differences. Mobile is the birthplace of the celebration of Mardi Gras in the United States and has the oldest celebration, dating to the early 18th century during the French colonial period. Carnival in Mobile evolved over the course of 300 years from a beginning as a sedate French Catholic tradition into the mainstream multi-week celebration that today bridges

2522-609: The Battle of Valverde , Canby eventually forced the Confederates to retreat to Texas after the Union 's strategic victory at the Battle of Glorieta Pass . Immediately following this battle, Canby was promoted to brigadier general on March 31, 1862. Recombining the forces he had earlier divided, Canby set off in pursuit of the retreating Confederate forces, but he soon gave up the chase and allowed them to reach Texas . Shortly after

2619-486: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 , eventually ending legal segregation and regaining effective suffrage for African Americans. But whites in the state had more than one way to reduce African Americans' voting power. Maintaining the city commission form of government with at-large voting resulted in all positions being elected by the white majority, as African Americans could not command

2716-721: The Department of New Mexico , defeating the Confederate General Henry Hopkins Sibley at the Battle of Glorieta Pass , forcing him to retreat to Texas. At the war's end, he took the surrender of Generals Richard Taylor and Edmund Kirby Smith . As commander of the Pacific Northwest in 1873, he was assassinated by Chief Kintpuash during peace talks with the Modoc , who were refusing to move from their California homelands. Canby

2813-755: The District of Columbia , and Alexandria and Fairfax counties in Virginia, from June 1866 until August 1867. He was assigned to the command of the Second Military District , comprising North and South Carolina . In August 1868, he briefly resumed command in Washington . He was assigned to the Fifth Military District in November, where he focused primarily on the reconstruction of Texas. He left Texas for Virginia ,

2910-543: The First Military District , in April 1869, serving there until July 1870. Each of these postings occurred during Reconstruction and put Canby at the center of conflicts between Republicans and Democrats , whites and blacks, state and federal governments. New state legislatures were writing constitutions, and the social climate was highly volatile, with insurgent attacks against freedmen and Republicans on

3007-509: The Gulf of Mexico provides a mild subtropical climate ( Köppen Cfa ), with hot, humid summers and mild, rainy winters. The record low temperature was −1 °F (−18 °C), set on February 13, 1899, and the record high was 105 °F (41 °C), set on August 29, 2000. A 2007 study by WeatherBill, Inc. determined that Mobile is the wettest city in the contiguous 48 states, with 66.3 inches (1,680 mm) of average annual rainfall over

Alabama Stakes - Misplaced Pages Continue

3104-594: The Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation by the New York Legislature under Republican Governor Charles Evans Hughes led to a state-wide shutdown of racing in 1911 and 1912. During World War II, from 1943 through 1945 the Alabama Stakes was run at Belmont Park . The race has been contested at various distances: Speed record at current distance: Most wins by an owner: Most wins by

3201-523: The Mobile metropolitan area , a region of 430,197 residents composed of Mobile and Washington counties; it is the third-largest metropolitan area in the state after Birmingham and Huntsville. Alabama's only saltwater port, Mobile is located on the Mobile River at the head of Mobile Bay on the north-central Gulf Coast . The Port of Mobile has always played a key role in the economic health of

3298-569: The Progressive Era to Mobile. The economic structure developed with new industries, generating new jobs and attracting a significant increase in population. The population increased from around 40,000 in 1900 to 60,000 by 1920. During this time the city received $ 3 million in federal grants for harbor improvements to deepen the shipping channels. During and after World War I, manufacturing became increasingly vital to Mobile's economic health, with shipbuilding and steel production being two of

3395-702: The Second Seminole War in Florida and saw combat during the Mexican–American War , where he received three brevet promotions, including to major for Contreras and Churubusco , and lieutenant colonel for Belén Gates . He also served at various posts, including Upstate New York and in the adjutant general's office in California from 1849 until 1851, covering the period of the territory's transition to statehood. Against his wishes, he

3492-627: The Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Seven Years' War , which Britain won, defeating France. By this treaty, France ceded its territories east of the Mississippi River to Britain. This area was made a part of the expanded British West Florida colony. The British changed the name of Fort Condé to Fort Charlotte , after Queen Charlotte . The British were eager not to lose any useful inhabitants and promised religious tolerance to

3589-578: The 1763 Treaty of Paris. Their actions were condoned by the revolting American colonies, partially evidenced by the presence of Oliver Pollack, representative of the American Continental Congress. Due to strong trade ties, many residents of Mobile and West Florida remained loyal to the British Crown . The Spanish renamed the fort as Fortaleza Carlota, and held Mobile as a part of Spanish West Florida until 1813, when it

3686-609: The Cater Act in 1949, allowing cities and counties to set up industrial development boards (IDB) to issue municipal bonds as incentives to attract new industry into their local areas. The city of Mobile did not establish a Cater Act board until 1962. George E. McNally , Mobile's first Republican mayor since Reconstruction, was the driving force behind the founding of the IDB. The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, believing its members were better qualified to attract new businesses and industry to

3783-749: The French colonists; ultimately 112 French colonists remained in Mobile. The first permanent Jewish settlers came to Mobile in 1763 as a result of the new British rule and religious tolerance. Jews had not been allowed to officially reside in colonial French Louisiana due to the Code Noir , a decree passed by France's King Louis XIV in 1685 that forbade the exercise of any religion other than Roman Catholicism, and ordered all Jews out of France's colonies. Most of these colonial-era Jews in Mobile were merchants and traders from Sephardic Jewish communities in Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina ; they added to

3880-621: The Gulf Coast cities. A storm surge of 11.45 feet (3.49 m), topped by higher waves, damaged eastern sections of the city with extensive flooding in downtown, the Battleship Parkway , and the elevated Jubilee Parkway . In late December 2012, the city suffered two tornado hits. On December 25, 2012, at 4:54 pm, a large wedge tornado touched down in the city. The tornado rapidly intensified as it moved north-northeast at speeds of up to 50 mph (80 km/h). The path took

3977-671: The Midtown at the Loop neighborhood, Murphy High School , Trinity Episcopal Church , Springhill Avenue Temple , and Mobile Infirmary Hospital before moving into the neighboring city of Prichard. The tornado was classified as an EF2 tornado by the National Weather Service on December 26. The path taken through the city was just a short distance east of the path taken days earlier, on December 20, by an EF1 tornado which had touched down near Davidson High School and taken

Alabama Stakes - Misplaced Pages Continue

4074-504: The Mississippi River on May 26, 1865. Canby was generally regarded as a great administrator , but he was criticized as a soldier. Ulysses S. Grant thought him not aggressive enough. At one time, Grant sent Canby an order to "destroy [the enemy's] railroads , machine-shops , &c." Ten days later, Grant reprimanded him for requesting men and materials to build railroads. "I wrote... urging you to... destroy railroads, machine-shops, &c., not to build them", Grant said. Canby could be

4171-699: The Mobile County School Board for being denied admission to Murphy High School . This was nearly a decade after the United States Supreme Court had ruled in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) that segregation of public schools was unconstitutional. The federal district court ordered that the three students be admitted to Murphy for the 1964 school year, leading to the desegregation of Mobile County's school system. The civil rights movement gained congressional passage of

4268-500: The Modoc War (1914), the Modoc had plotted before the meeting to kill Canby and the other commissioners, as they believed peace was not possible. They were determined to "fight until we die." (He was the son of Winema and Frank Riddle.) Captain Jack had been reluctant to agree to the killings, believing it "coward's work", but was pressured by other warriors to agree. He insisted on being given another chance to ask Canby to "give us

4365-704: The Navajo at a distance and never got close to them. At the start of the Civil War , Canby commanded Fort Defiance , New Mexico Territory . He was promoted to colonel of the 19th U.S. Infantry on May 14, 1861, and the following month commanded the Department of New Mexico . His former assistant Sibley resigned to join the Confederate Army, becoming a Brigadier General. Although Sibley's Army of New Mexico defeated Canby and his troops in February 1862 at

4462-461: The South. One area in dispute was whether blacks would be allowed admission to the state's existing mental asylums at Williamsburg and Staunton. Racial integration of these two asylums had been debated in the legislature and the psychiatric community for over a decade. Dr. John Galt, superintendent of Eastern Lunatic Asylum at Williamsburg believed that free blacks and whites could be treated medically in

4559-648: The US Army went to fight against them to force them back and the Modoc War broke out. The Modoc, entrenched in Captain Jack's Stronghold south of Tule Lake , resisted army attacks and fought US forces to a stalemate . General Canby had received conflicting orders from Washington as to whether to make peace or war on the Modoc. As war was not working, the US government authorized a peace commission and assigned Canby

4656-523: The US for African Americans. The hospital remained segregated by race until passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After the war, Canby served as commander of various military departments during Reconstruction, as the government tried to manage dramatic social changes while securing peace. He commanded Louisiana from 1864 to May 1866. He was next assigned as commander of the Department of Washington, which consisted of Delaware , Maryland ,

4753-523: The United States in 1813, with the annexation by President James Madison of West Florida from Spain. During the American Civil War , the city surrendered to Federal forces on April 12, 1865, after Union victories at two forts protecting the city. This, along with the news of Johnston 's surrender negotiations with Sherman , led General Richard Taylor to seek a meeting with his Union counterpart, Maj. Gen. Edward R. S. Canby . The two generals met several miles north of Mobile on May 2. After agreeing to

4850-405: The area, considered the new IDB as a serious rival. After several years of political squabbling, the Chamber of Commerce emerged victorious. While McNally's IDB prompted the Chamber of Commerce to become more proactive in attracting new industry, the chamber effectively shut Mobile city government out of economic development decisions. In 1963, three African-American students brought a case against

4947-511: The area. Mobile is located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is 168 miles (270 km) by highway southwest of Montgomery , the state capital; 58 miles (93 km) west of Pensacola, Florida ; and 144 miles (232 km) northeast of New Orleans . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 180.07 square miles (466.4 km ), with 139.48 square miles (361.3 km ) of it being land, and 40.59 square miles (105.1 km ), or 22.5% of

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5044-525: The city streetcars. It legislated what had been informal practice, enforced by convention. Mobile's African-American population responded to this with a two-month boycott, but the law was not repealed. After this, Mobile's de facto segregation was increasingly replaced with legislated segregation as whites imposed Jim Crow laws to maintain supremacy . In 1911 the city adopted a commission form of government, which had three members elected by at-large voting. Considered to be progressive, as it would reduce

5141-431: The city suffered great loss when some three hundred people died as a result of an explosion at a federal ammunition depot on Beauregard Street. The explosion left a 30-foot (9 m) deep hole at the depot's location, and sank ships docked on the Mobile River; the resulting fires destroyed the northern portion of the city. Federal Reconstruction in Mobile began after the Civil War and effectively ended in 1874 when

5238-408: The city, beginning with the settlement as an important trading center between the French colonists and Native Americans , down to its current role as the 12th-largest port in the United States . Mobile was founded in 1702 by the French as the first capital of Louisiana . During its first 100 years, Mobile was a colony of France, then Great Britain , and lastly Spain . Mobile became a part of

5335-418: The colony fluctuated over the next few years, growing to 279 persons by 1708, yet shrinking to 178 persons two years later due to disease. These additional outbreaks of disease and a series of floods resulted in Bienville ordering in 1711 that the settlement be relocated several miles downriver to its present location at the confluence of the Mobile River and Mobile Bay . A new earth-and-palisade Fort Louis

5432-410: The commercial development of Mobile. In 1766 the total population was estimated to be 860, though the town's borders were smaller than during the French colonial period. During the American Revolutionary War , West Florida and Mobile became a refuge for loyalists fleeing the other colonies. While the British were dealing with their rebellious colonists along the Atlantic coast, the Spanish entered

5529-451: The council than under the at-large system. Beginning in the late 1980s, newly elected mayor Mike Dow and the city council began an effort termed the "String of Pearls Initiative" to make Mobile into a competitive city. The city initiated construction of numerous new facilities and projects, and the restoration of hundreds of historic downtown buildings and homes. City and county leaders also made efforts to attract new business ventures to

5626-502: The failure of the Confederate invasion of northern New Mexico, Canby was relieved of his command by Gen. James H. Carleton and reassigned to the east. Canby's achievement in New Mexico had largely been in his planning an overall defensive strategy. He and his opponent, Sibley, both had limited resources. Though Canby was a little better supplied, he saw that defending the entire territory from every possible attack would stretch his forces too thinly. Realizing that Sibley had to attack along

5723-580: The founding of the French Mobile settlement, the Mobile tribe, along with the Tohomé, gained permission from the colonists to settle near the fort. The European settlement of Mobile began with French colonists, who in 1702 constructed Fort Louis de la Louisiane , at Twenty-seven Mile Bluff on the Mobile River , as the first capital of the French colony of La Louisiane . It was founded by French Canadian brothers Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville , to establish control over France's claims to La Louisiane . Bienville

5820-420: The general in command to be afraid to go where the peace commissioners would venture." The peace talks were held midway between the army encampment and Captain Jack's stronghold near Tule Lake. It was discovered later that two members of Canby's party brought concealed weapons and Modoc warriors were also armed. According to Jeff C. Riddle, the Modoc son of the US interpreter and the author of Indian History of

5917-447: The governor's and made the threat irrelevant. On April 11, 1873, after months of false starts and aborted meetings, Canby went to another parley, unarmed and with some hope of final resolution. Judge Elijah Steele of Yreka, California wrote later that when he warned Canby that the Modoc were volatile and he was at risk, Canby replied, "I believe you are right, Mr. Steele, and I shall regard your advice, but it would not be very well for

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6014-400: The governors of both New Mexico and Colorado to raise volunteer units to supplement regular Federal troops; the Colorado troops proved helpful at both Valverde and Glorieta . In spite of occasional superior soldiering by Confederate troops and junior commanders, Sibley's sluggishness and vacillation in executing a plan with high risk led to an almost inevitable Confederate collapse. After

6111-430: The historian Robert Utley. There was growing public sentiment for full defeat of the American Indians. After memorial services were performed on the West Coast , Canby's body was returned to Indiana and buried in Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, Indiana on May 23, 1873. At least four Union generals attended his funeral there: William Tecumseh Sherman , Philip Sheridan , Lew Wallace , and Irvin McDowell , and

6208-605: The last snowfall had been nearly four years earlier, on January 27, 2014. Mobile is occasionally affected by major tropical storms and hurricanes. The city suffered a major natural disaster on the night of September 12, 1979, when category-3 Hurricane Frederic passed over the heart of the city. The storm caused tremendous damage to Mobile and the surrounding area. Mobile had moderate damage from Hurricane Opal on October 4, 1995, and Hurricane Ivan on September 16, 2004. Mobile suffered millions of dollars in damage from Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, which damaged much of

6305-442: The late 1940s, the transition to the postwar economy was hard for the city, as thousands of jobs were lost at the shipyards with the decline in the defense industry. Eventually the city's social structure began to become more liberal. Replacing shipbuilding as a primary economic force, the paper and chemical industries began to expand. No longer needed for defense, most of the old military bases were converted to civilian uses. Following

6402-452: The laws of war", convicted, and sentenced to death. President Grant commuted the sentences of Barncho and Sloluck to life imprisonment. The other condemned men were all executed on October 3, 1873. The surviving Modoc were sent to reservations. Barncho died in prison in 1875, and Sloluck was released from prison in 1878. The killing of Canby, and the Great Sioux War , undermined public confidence in President Grant's peace policy, according to

6499-399: The local Democrats gained control of the city government. The last quarter of the 19th century was a time of economic depression and municipal insolvency for Mobile. One example can be provided by the value of Mobile's exports during this period of depression. The value of exports leaving the city fell from $ 9 million in 1878 to $ 3 million in 1882. The turn of the 20th century brought

6596-449: The massive influx of workers coming to work in the shipyards and at the Brookley Army Air Field . Between 1940 and 1943, more than 89,000 people moved into Mobile to work for war effort industries. Mobile was one of eighteen United States cities producing Liberty ships . Its Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company (ADDSCO) supported the war effort by producing ships faster than the Axis powers could sink them. ADDSCO also churned out

6693-399: The medical facilities in the city and converted them for use by the Union Army. In the next several months, Canby was made aware of the critical medical and economic plight of thousands of formerly enslaved blacks in the state uprooted by the Civil War. Canby had to decide how to provide blacks access to health and mental health services without violating the racial pecking order that existed in

6790-399: The most important industries. During this time, social justice and race relations in Mobile worsened, however. The state passed a new constitution in 1901 that disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites ; and the white Democratic-dominated legislature passed other discriminatory legislation. In 1902, the city government passed Mobile's first racial segregation ordinance, segregating

6887-532: The power of ward bosses, this change resulted in the elite white majority strengthening its power, as only the majority could gain election of at-large candidates. In addition, poor whites and blacks had already been disenfranchised. Mobile was one of the last cities to retain this form of government, which prevented smaller groups from electing candidates of their choice. But Alabama's white yeomanry had historically favored single-member districts in order to elect candidates of their choice. The red imported fire ant

6984-426: The rise in numerous areas. Many of his districts had Ku Klux Klan chapters, which the US government was not able to suppress until the early 1870s. Canby sometimes alienated one side or the other and often both. Charles W. Ramsdell called Canby "vigorous and firm, but just." Even political opponents, such as Jonathan Worth , governor of North Carolina, admitted that Canby was sincere and honest. In August 1872, Canby

7081-490: The same facility as he had demonstrated. However, Dr. Francis Stribling, superintendent of Western Lunatic Asylum at Staunton refused to admit either free or enslaved blacks to his institution. Following the death of Galt, Stribling became chair of an asylum planning committee that advised Canby and the Freedman's Bureau on a permanent admission policy for the black population. Stribling proposed that Virginia should construct

7178-585: The shipyards, although the Roosevelt administration had ordered defense contractors to integrate facilities. That year ADDSCO promoted 12 blacks to positions as welders, previously reserved for whites; and whites objected to the change by rioting on May 24. The mayor appealed to the governor to call in the National Guard to restore order, but it was weeks before officials allowed African Americans to return to work, keeping them away for their safety. In

7275-594: The story: "Captain Jack and Warriors Revenge the South By Murdering General Canby, One of Her Greatest Oppressors." E.C. Thomas, son of the murdered peace commissioner, recognized the inevitability of reprisals for the killings, but said: "To be sure, peace will come through war, but not by extermination." Eventually, Captain Jack ( Kintpuash ), Boston Charley , Schonchin John, Black Jim, Barncho, and Sloluck were tried for "murder in violation of

7372-549: The tornado into Midtown , causing damage or destruction to at least 100 structures. The heaviest damage to houses was along Carlen Street, Rickarby Place, Dauphin Street, Old Shell Road , Margaret Street, Silverwood Street, and Springhill Avenue. The tornado caused significant damage to the Carmelite Monastery, Little Flower Catholic Church, commercial real estate along Airport Boulevard and Government Street in

7469-603: The total, being covered by water. The elevation in Mobile ranges from 10 feet (3 m) on Water Street in downtown to 211 feet (64 m) at the Mobile Regional Airport. Mobile has a number of notable historic neighborhoods. These include Ashland Place , Campground , Church Street East , De Tonti Square , Leinkauf , Lower Dauphin Street , Midtown , Oakleigh Garden , Old Dauphin Way , Spring Hill , and Toulminville . Mobile's geographical location on

7566-537: The upland plantation areas, but many households had domestic slaves, and many other slaves worked on the waterfront and on riverboats. The last slaves to enter the United States from the African trade were brought to Mobile on the slave ship Clotilda . Among them was Cudjoe Lewis , who in the 1920s became the last survivor of the slave trade. By 1853, fifty Jewish families lived in Mobile, including Philip Phillips , an attorney from Charleston, South Carolina , who

7663-821: The upper thigh by a guerrilla while aboard the gunboat USS Cricket on the White River in Arkansas near Little Island on November 6, 1864. Canby commanded the Union forces assigned to conduct the campaign against Mobile, Alabama in the spring of 1865. This culminated in the Battle of Fort Blakeley , which led to the fall of Mobile on April 12, 1865. Canby accepted the surrender of the Confederate forces under General Richard Taylor in Citronelle , on May 4, 1865, and those under General Edmund Kirby Smith west of

7760-473: The vicinity of the Mobile River , and its main tributaries the Tombigbee and Alabama Rivers . A plantation economy using slave labor developed in the region and as a consequence Mobile's population quickly grew. It came to be settled by attorneys, cotton factors , doctors, merchants and other professionals seeking to capitalize on trade with the upriver areas. From the 1830s onward, Mobile expanded into

7857-404: The war in 1779 as an ally of France. They took the opportunity to order Bernardo de Galvez , Governor of Louisiana, on an expedition east to retake West Florida. He captured Mobile during the Battle of Fort Charlotte in 1780, as part of this campaign. The Spanish wished to eliminate any British threat to their Louisiana colony west of the Mississippi River, which they had received from France in

7954-591: The war, in which many African Americans had served, veterans and their supporters stepped up activism to gain enforcement of their constitutional rights and social justice, especially in the Jim Crow South. During the 1950s the City of Mobile integrated its police force and Spring Hill College accepted students of all races. Unlike in the rest of the state, by the early 1960s the city buses and lunch counters voluntarily desegregated. The Alabama legislature passed

8051-401: The whole of Mobile County, including the city, consisted of 29,754 citizens, of which 1,195 were free people of color . Additionally, 1,785 slave owners in the county held 11,376 people in bondage, about one-quarter of the total county population of 41,130 people. During the American Civil War , Mobile was a Confederate city. The H. L. Hunley , the first submarine to sink an enemy ship,

8148-428: Was appointed as royal governor of French Louisiana in 1701. Mobile's Roman Catholic parish was established on July 20, 1703, by Jean-Baptiste de la Croix de Chevrières de Saint-Vallier , Bishop of Quebec . The parish was the first French Catholic parish established on the Gulf Coast of the United States . In 1704, the ship Pélican delivered 23 Frenchwomen to the colony; passengers had contracted yellow fever at

8245-753: Was assigned to what was supposed to be the civilian post of custodian of the California Archives from March 1850 until he left California in April 1851. The Archives included records of Spanish and Mexican governments in California, as well as Mission records and land titles. Evidently, Canby had some knowledge of the Spanish language , which was extremely useful as the government was trying to unravel land titles. ( The Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky holds what appears to be

8342-618: Was born in Piatt's Landing, Kentucky , to Israel T. and Elizabeth (Piatt) Canby. He attended Wabash College , but transferred to the United States Military Academy , from which he graduated in 1839. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 2nd U.S. Infantry and served as the regimental adjutant. Although he was often referred to as Edward Canby, a biographer has suggested that he was known as "Richard" during childhood and to some friends for most of his life. He

8439-427: Was built in Mobile. One of the most famous naval engagements of the war was the Battle of Mobile Bay , resulting in the Union taking control of Mobile Bay on August 5, 1864. On April 12, 1865, three days after Robert E. Lee 's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse , the city surrendered to the Union army to avoid destruction after Union victories at nearby Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley . On May 25, 1865,

8536-453: Was called "Sprigg" by fellow cadets at West Point, but during most of his career, he was generally referred to as E.R.S. Canby, sometimes signing his name "Ed. R.S. Canby." He married Louisa Hawkins Canby at Crawfordsville, Indiana , August 1, 1839. She came from a family of three sisters and a brother, with whom she remained close. The Canbys had one child, a daughter, who did not survive childhood. During his early career, Canby served in

8633-654: Was challenged and finally overturned in 1982 in City of Mobile v. Bolden , which was remanded by the United States Supreme Court to the district court. Finding that the city had adopted a commission form of government in 1911 and at-large positions with discriminatory intent, the court proposed that the three members of the city commission should be elected from single-member districts , likely ending their division of executive functions among them. Mobile's state legislative delegation in 1985 finally enacted

8730-472: Was constructed at the new site during this time. By 1712, when Antoine Crozat was appointed to take over administration of the colony, its population had reached 400 persons. The capital of La Louisiane was moved in 1720 to Biloxi , leaving Mobile to serve as a regional military and trading center. In 1723 the construction of a new brick fort with a stone foundation began and it was renamed Fort Condé in honor of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon . In 1763,

8827-530: Was developed with wharves, terminal facilities, and fireproof brick warehouses. The exports of cotton grew in proportion to the amounts being produced in the Black Belt ; by 1840 Mobile was second only to New Orleans in cotton exports in the nation. With the economy so focused on one crop, Mobile's fortunes were always tied to those of cotton, and the city weathered many financial crises. Mobile slaveholders owned relatively few slaves compared to planters in

8924-735: Was elected to the Alabama State Legislature and then to the United States Congress. Many early Jewish families were descendants of Sephardic Jews who had been among the earliest colonial settlers in Charleston and Savannah. By 1860 Mobile's population within the city limits had reached 29,258 people; it was the 27th-largest city in the United States and 4th-largest in what would soon be the Confederate States of America . The free population in

9021-506: Was first introduced into the United States via the Port of Mobile. Sometime in the late 1930s they came ashore off cargo ships arriving from South America. The ants were carried in the soil used as ballast on those ships. They have spread throughout the South and Southwest. During World War II , the defense buildup in Mobile shipyards resulted in a considerable increase in the city's white middle-class and working-class population, largely due to

9118-504: Was from New York City , which was deeply involved in the cotton industry. Mobile was the slave-trading center of the state until the 1850s, when it was surpassed by Montgomery . The prosperity stimulated a building boom that was underway by the mid-1830s, with the building of some of the most elaborate structures the city had seen up to that point. This was cut short in part by the Panic of 1837 and yellow fever epidemics. The waterfront

9215-656: Was posted to command the Pacific Northwest . He soon faced problems with the Modoc tribe, who had historically lived in Northern California . Forced to remove to a reservation in Oregon which they had to share with their historical enemies, the Klamath tribe, they had pled with the US government to return to California. When the US refused, the Modoc left the reservation and returned home. In 1872,

9312-593: Was seized by United States General James Wilkinson during the War of 1812 . By the time Mobile was included in the Mississippi Territory in 1813, the population had dwindled to roughly 300 people. The city was included in the Alabama Territory in 1817, after Mississippi gained statehood. Alabama was granted statehood in 1819; Mobile's population had increased to 809 by that time. Mobile

9409-559: Was well situated for trade, as its location tied it to a river system that served as the principal navigational access for most of Alabama and a large part of Mississippi. River transportation was aided by the introduction of steamboats in the early decades of the 19th century. By 1822, the city's population had risen to 2,800. The Industrial Revolution in Great Britain created shortages of cotton, driving up prices on world markets. Much land well suited to growing cotton lies in

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