General Notes

[coosa1.ged]
BRIDGES, William, # 329 (Page #)  This is from the 1850 Washington
County, AL Census.  May be the Alvin's father or grandfather.
On 2 Aug 1870, the 1870 Federal Census of the Rockford Beat of Coosa Co.,
AL recorded that A. L. Bridges is residing in the home of W. A. and Nancy
Foster. The Census records him attending school that year, and that he is
23 years old & was born in AL.
On June 10, 1880, the 1880 Federal Census of the Rockford Beat of Coosa
Co., AL recorded on page 10 that Alvin L. Bridges and Mary V. Bridges
head of the household. The Census taker documented Alvin as a farmer, and
he and Mary as husband and wife. The Census records Alvin as 33 years old
and Mary as 21 years old, and that both were born in AL. There is a baby,
the son of Alvin and Mary, listed as James E. Bridges, 2 months old, and
born in AL.  In this said Census, it lists the birth place of Mary's
father as SC, and the birth place of her mother as AL. The census
recorded John Wm Bridges living in the household of Alvin L. and Mary V.
Bridges.  The Census documented John as a laborer, 18 years old, born in
AL and the brother of Alvin.  Also entered in the Census is the birth
place of Alvin's and John's father, which is AL, and the birth place of
their mother, which is GA.
1880 Federal Census, Coosa Co., AL
Name  Relation Marital Status Gender Race Age Birthplace Occupation
Father's Birthplace Mother's BP
Alvin L. BRIDGES   Self   M   Male   W   33   AL   Farmer   AL   GA
Mary V. BRIDGES   Wife   M   Female   W   21   AL   Keeping House   SC AL
James E. BRIDGES   Son   S   Male   W   2M   AL      AL   AL
John William BRIDGES   Brother   S   Male   W   18   AL   Laborer   AL GA
Alvin was probably given the middle name Lafayette by being named after
Marquis De Lafayette, a French general and statesman. Marquis served in
the American Revolution; major general in Continental army (1777); friend
and associate of Washington; went to France to aid the American
Revolution; and served at Yorktown and Virginia. Not only was Lafayette
famous to many Alabamians because of his status in the American
Revolution, he also made a visit to Alabama in 1825. "Alabamians were
isolated from the rest of the world, and communication was slow and
difficult. Therefore the arrival in 1825 of such a dignitary as Lafayette
had meaning beyond the responsibilities of hosting a French hero. His
visit put ordinary citizens into touch with society beyond the state's
borders and gave people an opportunity to identify with a broader world.
His tour threw Alabamians into a frenzy of preparations, and the various
entertainment's painted an interesting portrait of Alabama society." (1)
Lafayette first visited and traveled through the Creek Nation.  Coosa
County, Alabama was later carved out of this Indian nation.  The
ancestors of Bridges family were most likely in Alabama when Lafayette
visited, and if not, were aware of the impact Lafayette's visit had on
Alabama, when they settled in Alabama. The county seat of Chambers
County, which was part of the Creek Nation, was named after Lafayette. It
should be noted that Lafayette is pronounced two ways. One is the French
way: LA- FI- YET.  And the other is the way backwoods Alabamian folks
said it: LA-FAY-IT. (2) The name Lafayette continues to this day to be a
traditional name in the Bridges family.
(1) William Warren Rogers, Robert David Ward, Leah Rawls Atkins, and
Wayne Flynt, Alabama: The History of a Deep South State (Tuscaloosa:
University of Alabama Press, 1994), p. 81.
(2) Johanna Nicol Shields, "Introduction,"  Adventures of Captain Simon
Suggs by Johnson Jones Hooper (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press,
1993), p. xii.
THE CHRONICLE
"Alvin Bridges, one of our energetic and successful farmers and an old
time friend of the editors, was in Rockford early this week."(1)   The
editors were S. J. Darby and John W. Ba