The Founding of Cullman and Cullman County
Address by Dr. Philip G. Hartung
I have been asked to tell some thing of the founding of Cullman and Cullman County by John G. Cullmann, who was my mother’s uncle, so I will try to give briefly some of the highlights.
Col. Cullmann came to the United States in 1866, which you will recall was in the beginning of our Reconstruction period following the Civil War. Because of a short period of revolution and unstable government in Germany, he had lost his fortune and was in opposition to his own government.
He became aware of many Germans in the same predicament as himself, and conceived the idea of a German colony in some favorable part of the country.
In trying to find such a location as he had in mind, he came to the region of Florence, and while there, he met Gov. R. M. Patton, a resident of this area, and shared with him this dream of his. Gov. Patton was enthusiastic and offered him such aid, as he might be able to give. However, the people of the region were so despondent about their own condition following the war that they showed little enthusiasm and could offer nothing of a constructive nature.
Col. Cullmann returned to Cincinnati and contacted officials of the railroad, then called North & South Railroad, now the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, and secured an option on 349,000 acres of land at $1.00 an acre, which he proposed to sell to the colonists at $2.00 an acre. This tract extended from Decatur to Montgomery, Alabama and was approximately 18 miles from east to west.
This land was undeveloped and abounded with all kinds of wild game: deer, wild turkeys and geese and ducks. The first group consisted of 5 families that got off of the train at what was called at that time, Wilhite, a site between Vinemont and Cullman and carried their belongings to the present site of Cullman. During the first year other families came, bringing the total to about 30 families, who bought an average of 40 acres and became permanent residents of the area for the rest of their lives.
For several years others joined the colony and in 1873 the town was incorporated and named after the founder, John G. Cullmann, but in naming the town, the last "n" was dropped from his name, making the town and county which followed simply "Cullman".
Col. Cullmann was a versatile man, a university graduate, and had many qualities of leadership, acting as judge, banker, doctor and minister.
The town of Cullman was laid out in city blocks and all streets were 100 feet wide, and many trees planted on all streets. The first mayor, a Mr. Betz, was elected in 1874.
There was a small-scattered settlement of Georgians in this vicinity, who had never made an attempt at organizing a city, but they had established a small Methodist Church. Col. Cullmann was a member of the Evangelical & Reformed Church, often mistakenly called a Lutheran Church, and this was the first officially established church in Cullman, in the year 1874, with a Catholic Church following shortly. Each denomination that wished to build a church was given one city block. All of the earlier residents were either of the Evangelical or Catholic.
Cullman County was created in 1877 by a legislative act out of parts of the several adjourning counties. Before the county was created, all official business besides that of the city had to be transacted at Blountsville. In 1900 the boundaries of Cullman County were extended to Mulberry River, and this act gave the Cullman County its only Negro community which is referred to as "The Colony" and lies southwest of Hanceville.
About 1880 there began an increased emigration of Georgia farmers who had heard of the cheap land available and the prosperous conditions of this area. The Georgians and Germans taught each other many methods, which combined made for a healthy and prosperous farming community. Our county is still considered one of the leading counties of the state and nation in diversity of farming practices.
Under the leadership of Col. Cullmann, the Colony organized different kinds of associations for the benefit of the people. There were building and loan associations for the primary purpose of building and improving homes, a mutual local fire insurance company to take care of those who might lose their property by fire and other calamities. There was also a sick benefit association which paid certain sums to members who were sick and lost time out from their daily labors.
For wholesome recreation and amusements, there were theaters where plays and concerts were given by local talent, with an occasional performance given by traveling artists and groups. There were large and equipped picnic grounds where the people could assemble and enjoy band concerts and speeches, and there was a dance hall for the people who had always been known for their enjoyment for various kinds of dances.
Several large stores were built, as well as factories where the German craftsmen could produce all kinds of needed articles for household and farming uses. There were several beer halls where the men liked to assemble, and discuss many topics of interest while they drank a glass of beer. There were three livery stables where horses or horse drawn vehicles were for hire to the public.
The Germans like to celebrate anniversaries, and about every 5 years the people met and made plans for celebrating on an elaborate scale the founding of the town and county. There were parades, band concerts, speeches and dancing. Whole families participated in all of these activities.
For a number of years, Col. Cullmann celebrated his birthday by inviting all of the citizens to his own home, which was a large 12 room house locate facing the L&N depot where the Kuhn’s Variety store is now located. His grounds comprised the whole block facing on 1st Avenue East to 2nd Avenue East and between 3rd and 4th Streets. He had a large pavilion in the rear of his residence where the guests assembled, ate, drank beer and other beverages and enjoyed the music of one of the local bands, while they visited with each and all.
Col. Cullmann had his block of grounds planted in experimental crops, such as various grains, fruits and vegetables to test their adaptability to the soil and climate of the area. He encouraged diversity and rotation in cash and food crops of the farmers. The colonists grew truck crops of Irish and sweet potatoes, a variety of vegetables, chickens and eggs, grapes and strawberries, were grown both for home usage as well as cash crops, in addition to the usual corn and cotton crops.
The farmers grew large vineyards of grapes, which were processed into wine by the local winepress for sale and home use until the state voted, dry in 1907. This large wine cellar was located in the vicinity of the present Deep South Creamery and was a leading industry for many years.
Cullman was like a transplanted German village for about the first 25 years of its existence. All persons who were able to do so attended a church service of their belief each Sunday morning and heard the entire service presented in the German language. On many Sunday afternoons, the weather permitting, various groups of friends and neighbors were in the habit of gathering on invitation at the homes of different families for informal visitation and quite often to the music of local talent, dancing and other folk plays were enjoyed.
After 1900 there was only intermittent immigration from Germany, as the government had become stabilized and the people were prosperous, so there no longer was any reason for migration.
During World War I, all citizens of German descent were completely loyal to their adopted country, and there was not a single incident of disloyalty.
John G. Cullmann’s family was a divided family after he left Germany, as his wife’s health was poor, and leaving for an unknown undeveloped country was a great risk, so she and the only daughter, Maria stayed on, hoping the time would come when they might join the husband and father. After a few years, his two sons, Theodore and Otto, came to America. They joined him in Cincinnati, where Theodore found employment and never actually joined his father to live in Cullman, but Otto was his father’s right hand man – helping in every way needed. In 1883, Otto contracted typhoid fever and died, leaving a grief-stricken father, as Theodore had already passed away in Cincinnati. Col. Cullmann passed away in 1895 at the age of 72 and both he and son Otto are buried in the heart of the Cullman Cemetery, which he himself had planned.
Cullman had some industries in the early days, among them a furniture factory, established by the Dreher family, located on the site of the present Parker Bank. There was a bucket factory that made various sizes of wooden buckets. The Hoelscher Wagon factory was located in West Cullman, which made both wagons and buggies. There were two lumber industries that are now operated by third generation members – C. Arnold & Son and Buettner Bros. There was a caninet shop, a machine shop, a harness shop, several cabinet shops, tailor shops and upholstery shops, as well as merchants who handled all of the various merchandise needed and used by the public.
The first schools of Cullman were parochial, operated by the Catholic and Evangelical churches, where the essentials of elementary education were taught, including both the English and German languages. After the state operated school was begun, the Evangelical school was discontinued, but during most of the time the Catholic school has been operated and now includes not only the elementary and high school but also a two year college for women at Sacred Heart but at last a four year college, which was begun at St. Bernard in 1892.
People have often asked why Cullman has never had Negro citizens, and the only explanation was that the Germans were a thrifty and hard-working people, accustomed to doing their own work and had no need for the labor of the Negro. The only legal Negro citizen of Cullman was a man named Charlie Bugg, who was reared by the Kinney family and always lived on the home place of some member of this family. This man was one of the few casualties of Cullman during World War I, and lies buried some place overseas.
Biography of
John Gottfried Cullman
Merchant and colonizer promoter, born July 2nd, 1823, at Frankweiler, Canton Landau, Rheinpfals, Bavaria, and died December 5th, 1895 at Cullman: son of Gottfried and Juliane Schneider Cullman; grandson of Gottfried and Louise Backer Cullman, and of Jacob and Chritianna Laugel Schneider, all residents of Frankweiler. John G. Cullman received a good education in the city school of Frankweiler, of which his father was principal; and was graduated from the Polytechnic College at Zweibrucken, Bavaria. He at once entered upon a mercantile career, was proprietor of an establishment at Neustadt an der Haard, and became a large America exporter. Politically he held views not in harmony with that of his government at the time, and being fearless in their advocacy, he soon found himself in the midst of a short-lived revolution, in which he held for one day the command of a regiment of revolutionists, from which he acquired the title of colonel. The war with Denmark in 1864 causing his failure in business, he came to the U.S. in the same year. He finally settled in Cincinnati where he found employment in a bookstore, remaining there until 1871, when he visited Alabama, with a view to establishing a German colony. At Florence he met Gov. R. M. Patton, who became so interested in his enterprise that he furnished him with men and horses with which to explore the country, in the search for a suitable location. After a careful survey of the field in 1872 he contracted with the Louisville & Nashville (then called Northern & Southern) Railroad Company for 549,000 acres of land, the terms being that he should pay for the advertising and all other expenses incident to the bringing to America of the desired immigrants. In 1873 on the site of the town of Cullman, he located his first colony, consisting of five families at first, and these were followed shortly by several others. There were already several farm families in the vicinity of Cullman who had come from Georgia, and others followed as the town began to grow.
The town was laid out in half-acre lots, with streets and avenues one hundred feet wide. To every denomination he donated a full block of two acres on which to build a house of worship. He took the initiative in every public improvement of donated liberally to enterprises that looked to the material and educational progress of the colony. During 1878 Col. Cullman entered into additional contracts with the L&N railway company whereby he came into possession of an additional tract of 300,000 acres of land, lying along the railroad between Decatur and Montgomery, and to the sale and settlement of these lands he gave his special attention. In January 1886 he organized the North Alabama Land Company with a paid up capital of $150,000. In May of the same year he made a trip to Europe in the interest of immigration, and returned in the fall to find the North Alabama book at its height. Realizing his great opportunity in February 1888, he organized the North Alabama Land and Immigration Company with a capital of $2,000,000, the company at one time owning 160,000 acres of land, and 1,000 lots in Cullman. He founded Garden City in 1876. Immigrants were also located by him in settlements along the railroad, and at other places in the state. At different times he brought over and located in the state more than a hundred thousand persons, all under his immediate supervision. As an evidence of the regard in which he was held by persons of high official position in Alabama, during Gov. Houston’s administration he was invited by that gentleman to formulate a plan of immigration. He did so, and the plan though adopted by the senate was defeated in the house. At the succeeding session, the measure came up again and was adopted by the house but defeated by the senate. Col. Cullman was a Democrat, and was in fact thoroughly imbued with Democratic ideas before coming to America. He was often solicited by his friends to become a candidate for political office, but he never yielded to their wishes, although he was a hard worker in the party campaign. He was a Mason and a Lutheran. He was much beloved and the large concourse at his funeral showed well the high esteem in which he was held by the people of Cullman and Cullman County. Married: in 1847, at Landstuhl, to Josephine, a daughter of Theodor and Marie Loeb. She never came to America, but lived with her daughter, Maria, the wife of Ludwig Richard, at Frankford on the Main, where she died at the age of 75. Children: 1. Theodor, 2. Otto, 3. Maria, married to Ludwig Richard. The sons both associated in business with their father. Theodor died in Cincinnati and Otto died at the age of 26 of typhoid fever. Both Otto and his father are buried in the heart of Cullman Cemetery, which Col. Cullman had laid out.