Wakefield, Alabama

Wakefield is a ghost town in Washington County, Alabama, most famous as the place where former vice president Aaron Burr was arrested in 1807.[1]

History

A 1904 photo of the place Burr was captured

Wakefield was in a bend of the Tombigbee River near present-day McIntosh Bluff. The settlement was named by territorial judge Harry Toulmin after Oliver Goldsmith's novel The Vicar of Wakefield. Wakefield was the county seat of Washington County from 1805 to 1809.[2]

The arrest of Aaron Burr took place in February 1807. On his way to Spanish West Florida to evade an arrest order issued by President Thomas Jefferson, Burr was spotted by a federal land agent who reported the sighting to U.S. Army Lieutenant Edmund P. Gaines. Gaines arrested Burr on February 19 at Wakefield and detained him at Fort Stoddert. Gaines later testified at Burr's trial, which ended in acquittal.[3]

A marker placed by the Alabama Historical Commission commemorates the Burr capture.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Nancy Isenberg, Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr (New York, 2007), p. 320
  2. ↑ Virginia O. Foscue, Place Names in Alabama (Tuscaloosa, 1989), p. 144
  3. ↑ Stuart O. Stumpf, "The Arrest of Aaron Burr: A Documentary Record," Alabama Historical Quarterly (Fall & Winter 1980): pp. 113-23
  4. ↑ Laura Hood, et al, Alabama Historical Association Markers (Bloomington, Indiana, 2006), p.317.

Coordinates: 31°22′57″N 88°00′30″W / 31.38250°N 88.00833°W / 31.38250; -88.00833

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.