Nearly everyone in Cleburne County who is interested in local history, and many others for that matter, are familiar with the county's prominent Civil War Captain Wilson Parks Howell.

His life was one of service to his county, his state, and to the Confederacy. He was also a Methodist pastor and fulfilled many political functions for Cleburne County and Alabama.

He was always having interesting experiences, and recently, while still researching the Howell family, I came across a delightful story told in an old newspaper and added to the files of the historical events collected by the eminent historian, Bessie Coleman. I think many of you will enjoy this story as much as I did, so here goes.

"The Reverend W. P. Howell, late of Chosea Springs, returned from the Civil War with a bullet wound in his leg.

He found his wife and family practically destitute at Oak Level. He decided to make the race for tax assessor for Benton County, and mounting an old mare which his wife had retained possession of in spite of Yankee raiders, Confederates, and camp followers, he set out to canvass the county and thus notify the people of his candidacy personally, for announcement through newspapers was then an unknown scheme.

Before he reached Oxford, his mare had grown so lame from tender feet that she could not travel. Reverend Julius Bridges, then pastor of the Oxford Methodist church, gave half the sum to a blacksmith to put shoes on the old nag's front feet.

Captain Howell felt pretty rich with fifth cents in his pocket to pay campaign expenses, and he continued his canvassing.

Near the Coosa River, he stopped at a man's cabin one day and asked for a bite to eat and food for the old mare.

The family had prepared to dine on possum, something Captain Howell was never known to eat, but that day, it was possum with cornbread, or nothing.

The Captain said he ate a little of the cornbread, paid the cabin man twenty cents, and resumed his journey, just in time to vote on election day. He won his race with twenty-five cents of the borrowed dollar still in his pocket, but, as he said, "Them days are gone forever

I can remember once when I was a child that some possum was brought to our kitchen and prepared for eating. To me, it was the most repulsive thing I had ever seen or heard of in a culinary sense. I wouldn't have touched it with a ten-foot pole, so I can understand the feelings about possum that Captain Howell felt.

He was the brother of my great-great-grandmother, Melinda Howell, and I am very proud of my Howell heritage, and it seems that I might have caught a little of the anti-possum strain from Captain Howell.

Captain Wilson Parks Howell was one of the most illustrious men who ever lived in Cleburne County and he was willing to sacrifice his life in the Civil War for what he believed was right. He was wounded several times but led his men valiantly and Cleburne County rewarded him over and over by electing him to serve the county as Senator, Enrolling Clerk of the Alabama Legislature, and County Representative. He also was a county surveyor and served in many other capacities. One cannot study the history of Cleburne County without encountering the life of this wonderful man.

He was also a great writer and wrote a history for the State Archives of the 25th Alabama Regiment in which he served in the Civil War. Anyone who would like to know more about him can contact me for more fascinating stories of one of Alabama's greatest heroes. We need more like him today.

Mildred Perry Miller 710 S. Lovell Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37412.