On Jan. 30, 1841 the Congress of the Republic of Texas passed an act to establish and incorporate Trinity College at Alabama in Houston County; to be denominated the "Trinity College".

There were to be eleven trustees; C.W. Grant, Jacob Allbright, George Pruitt, Collin Aldrich, Elisha Clapp, John Wortham, Isaac Parker, Ralph Nelson, Elijah Gossett, William Clark and James Carr. The Act establishing the college contained seventeen section which relate to the government of the college and powers of trustees. These all indicate that the framers of this charter were educated men and had a clear conception of what an ideal college should be.

It is not known for certain that Trinity College was ever really organized as an institution of learning. It is reasonable to believe that some kind of educational institution existed at Alabama at the time this charter was enacted.

Collin Aldrich was the first chief justice of Houston County; Jacob Allbright the first county clerk; Elijah Gossett was another chief justice in early days; Elisha Clapp early distinguished pioneer and Indian fighter; John Wortham had a distinguished share in the development of Houston County having rendered service in the military; and Isaac Parker was a congressman during almost the entire period of the Republic and later a representative in the Legislature of the State of Texas.

The following appeared in the Crockett Printer newspaper in 1860: Alabama Schoolhouse: This academy is located near Alabama and will commence the fifth session the third Monday in March, 1860, and continue five months on the following terms, viz: Spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography and philosophy, $10.00 per scholar. No deduction made for absence of scholars except in case of serious and protracted sickness, or at the discretion of the teacher, S.M. Stovall.

JACOB ALLBRIGHT: settled on a bluff on the East bank of the Trinity River and established a town there known as Alabama. This town became the business center of a thriving population and a commercial business. He established and conducted a ferry and did a warehouse and commercial business there. Trinity College was located there and he was one of the trustees, composed of the most notable pioneers of that day. Jacob Allbright lived and died at Alabama and his grave is in sight of his old home.

OLD ALABAMA CEMETERY burials:
ALLBRIGHT, Jacob; no marker; First Houston County Clerk
CHANDLER, T. K. Sr.; b: 2-1-1813; d: 2-3-1875
CHANDLER, Betsy M. Dowling; b: 5-10-1812; d: 1-12-1863; w/o T. K.
CHANDLER, Siliman B.; b: 9-6-1843; d: 3-19-1852; s/o T. K. & Betty
CHANDLER, Susan B.; b: 9-15-1845; d: 4-30-1852; d/o T. K. & Betty
CHANDLER, Ann M. Spence; b: 9-24-184-; d: 11-21-1869
CHANDLER, Elizabeth Murphey; b: 5-2-1852; d: 1-28-1873; w/o John K.
CHANDLER, Henry, W. H. (or J?); b:
CHANDLER, (Henry) Mrs. W. H.; no dates; w/o Jim; d/o J. Allbright
CORNWELL, John; -; d: 1910; h/o Nancy Jennings Cornwell
JENNINGS, Twins son and daughter; b & d: 1908; ch/o Jasper Newton & Clara Jennings
REGENSPURGER, Infant; b & d: 1908; Infant/Robert & Arlie (Jennings) Regenspurger
McDONALD, William; b: 1898; d: -
Also possibly buried here are second wife of Jacob Allbright, Samantha Allbright
      & his sister Isabell and a child

Billie Nichols Bennett

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Alabama was a post office community and steamer stop on the Trinity River ten miles southwest of Crockett in western Houston County.

It was established in the 1830s. In 1841 the Texas Congress chartered Trinity College, which operated in the community before the Civil War.

 An Alabama post office opened in 1846 with A. T. Monroe as postmaster. The community prospered for many years as a shipping point for plantations in western Houston County but began to decline in the 1870s, when the railroad supplanted the Trinity steamboats. The post office was closed in 1878, and by the 1880s many of the businesses and residents had moved away. A school was still operating at Alabama in 1897, but by the mid-1930s only a few scattered houses remained.

Alabama appeared as a place name on maps as late as 1946.

Cyrus Tilloson

http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/AA/hva6.html

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BIBLIOGRAPHY: Armistead Albert Aldrich, The History of Houston County, Texas (San Antonio: Naylor, 1943). Viktor F. Bracht, Texas im Jahre 1848 (Iserlohn, Westphalia: J. Bädeker, 1849; trans. C. F. Schmidt, San Antonio: Naylor, 1931). Houston County Historical Commission, History of Houston County, Texas, 1687-1979 (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Heritage, 1979).