The Alabama Heritage team visits West Blocton, Alabama, originally named Suttleton for a local businessman.
A friend of mine visited Greer, South Carolina, recently and used a Snapchat filter for the town of Greer to post a photo of her stay there. What made this one post interesting is that Greer is also her last name. Others soon commented on her social media post about how they will have to visit the towns that carry their own last name, like Steele, or Benton, Alabama. Then I wondered how many towns were named for actual people and if there was a Minder or Todd out there.
Minder, being my married name, is the closest to having a reference in Virginia O. Foscue’s Place Names in Alabama. Minter (with a “t”) is located in Dallas County and was named for William Townsend Minter. Minter was a planter and also the president of the Selma and Gulf Railroad line. According to Thomas McAdory Owen’s History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Minter was also the sheriff of Dallas County and commanded companies in the Seminole War and the Battle of Selma. The post office in Minter was established in 1876, making the settlement official.
Now Todd, my maiden name, is nearby … in Todd County, Kentucky. But the state of Alabama alludes me. Scanning through Foscue’s Place Names, Toadvine, Alabama, stands out like a sore thumb. This community in Jefferson County was originally called Smithville, but later changed its name to honor a Confederate soldier. Toadvine is also one of the oldest communities in Jefferson County, according to a 1928 Birmingham News post by W.J. Boles. It was settled just before 1810, more than nine years before Alabama became a state.
Surnames have always fascinated me. What’s the origination of your name? What does it mean? Did it change when your family came to America? According to my family’s genealogy, we are mainly Scottish and our family name was Todhuntre (which means “hunter of the foxes”). When the family came to America, it changed to Todd (meaning “fox”). My husband’s family has a few varieties in its origins, and I’m still digging through the floppy disks (yes, 1980s floppy disks) of material that his father left behind to quell a few undisputed claims that the family is Prussian and the surname means “pillow maker.”
The Alabama Heritage team takes field trips across our great state throughout the year, and the photo here in this blogpost is from our visit to West Blocton. Originally, this Bibb County town was called Suttleton for a local businessman but was then changed to Blocton around 1901. According to Foscue, the name is from the mining industry, referencing a block of coal that weighed more than a ton removed from the Cahaba Coal mines.
What has your genealogy research found for your family name’s origin? Is there a town or community in the state of Alabama that bears your name? If so, are you related to the person for whom that town is named?
Now Todd, my maiden name, is nearby … in Todd County, Kentucky. But the state of Alabama alludes me. Scanning through Foscue’s Place Names, Toadvine, Alabama, stands out like a sore thumb. This community in Jefferson County was originally called Smithville, but later changed its name to honor a Confederate soldier. Toadvine is also one of the oldest communities in Jefferson County, according to a 1928 Birmingham News post by W.J. Boles. It was settled just before 1810, more than nine years before Alabama became a state.
Surnames have always fascinated me. What’s the origination of your name? What does it mean? Did it change when your family came to America? According to my family’s genealogy, we are mainly Scottish and our family name was Todhuntre (which means “hunter of the foxes”). When the family came to America, it changed to Todd (meaning “fox”). My husband’s family has a few varieties in its origins, and I’m still digging through the floppy disks (yes, 1980s floppy disks) of material that his father left behind to quell a few undisputed claims that the family is Prussian and the surname means “pillow maker.”
The Alabama Heritage team takes field trips across our great state throughout the year, and the photo here in this blogpost is from our visit to West Blocton. Originally, this Bibb County town was called Suttleton for a local businessman but was then changed to Blocton around 1901. According to Foscue, the name is from the mining industry, referencing a block of coal that weighed more than a ton removed from the Cahaba Coal mines.
What has your genealogy research found for your family name’s origin? Is there a town or community in the state of Alabama that bears your name? If so, are you related to the person for whom that town is named?
 | AuthorRebecca Todd Minder is the Digital Media Editor for Alabama Heritage magazine, and a resident of Tuscaloosa for more than 40 years. Tuscaloosa (with its variety of spellings) is Choctaw for tashka ("warrior") and lusa ("black"), as it stands on the banks of the Black Warrior River. |