1 of 8

U.S. District Judge Harold Albritton, center, talks with Phillip and Gail Jones at the courthouse. Mrs. Jones’ late father, Murland Smith, was a longtime circuit judge in Covington County.

Among the current and former court officials on hand to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Covington County Courthouse Tuesday were (from left) Jerry Stokes, former circuit judge; Fletcher Jones, former state representative; Julie Moody, current district judge; Lex Short, presiding circuit judge; Ab Powell, former circuit judge; Harold Albritton, U.S. district judge; Ben Bowden, current circuit judge; Eugenia Loggins, former district attorney; Roger Powell, former circuit clerk; Stacy Brooks, current probate judge; Tippy McGuire, former district judge; and Betty Baldwin, whose late husband, Bill Baldwin, was a circuit judge; and Amy Jones, current circuit clerk. Other court and former court officials and family members who were present but not photographed included Ashley McKathan, former circuit judge; Charlie Morris, former district judge; Gail Jones, daughter of the late Murland Smith, former circuit judge; Lee Enzor, former special probate judge; Wilbur Mitchell, former sheriff; Dennis Meeks, current sheriff; Foster Weed, former tax collector; Chuck Patterson, current revenue commissioner; and Amy Jones.

Left: Mrs. Betty Brogden Baldwin is shown with Circuit Judge Ben Bowden. Mrs. Baldwin’s late husband, Bill Baldwin, was a retired circuit judge. Mrs. Baldwin was a legal secretary when the couple married, and her family included a district attorney, probate judge, and circuit judge.

The Jones family also has a number of attorneys including Amy Jones, current circuit clerk; John Jones; and Fletcher Jones. Presiding Circuit Judge Lex Short, far right, is Fletcher Jones’ son-in-law.

City of Andalusia ambassadors on hand to assist with the celebration are shown from left, Jerri Stroud, director; Catherine Yanes, Callen Woodard, Whitman Jackson, Will Black, Annabell Bryant, Alden Wells, Millie Manring and Baylee Robertson.

Andalusia native and attorney Tom Albritton, current director of the Alabama Ethics Commission, joined his parents, Jane Albritton and U.S. District Judge Harold Albritton.

But for an unpopular vote by the county board of revenue and a failed lawsuit, the county’s courthouse would have been very different.

Click here for fast facts about the courthouse.

U.S. District Judge Harold Albritton, whose great-grandfather began practicing law in Andalusia in 1887, shared the history of the courthouse and his own family’s intertwining history, in a Tuesday program commemorating the 100th anniversary of the courthouse.

Albritton said his great-grandfather, Edgar T. Albritton, was a young lawyer practicing in Snow Hill, N.C., with a wife and two children when his life went downhill.

“His wife was crippled with typhoid fever, and died, leaving him alone with two small children. His daughter then died with diphtheria.”

In the depths of despair, Ed Albritton left his son with a maiden aunt in Washington, D.C., and took a train to Mobile to join a brother.

In Greenville, the train stopped to unload a circus. Albritton walked around, and ran into a new young lawyer in Greenville named Dempsey Powell.

“My great-grandfather told Mr. Powell he had changed his mind about going to Mobile,” he said. “He told him he really just wanted to go to the end of nowhere.

“Mr. Powell replied that if he wanted to go to the end of nowhere, he’d suggest Andalusia, adding ‘They need a lawyer there.’ ”

So Edgar T. Albritton got back on the train, but got off in Georgiana, where he bought a horse and buggy, continued to Andalusia, and hung up a sign that said “Edgar T. Albritton, lawyer.”

“The building in which his office was located was right here on this property where this building now stands,” Judge Albritton said Tuesday.

Edgar T. Albritton sent for his son, William Harold Albritton, who grew up in Andalusia and also practiced law. His three sons, Bob, Bill and Marvin, also practiced in the family firm. Judge Albritton practiced law in the family firm for 30 years.

Current Commission Chairman Greg White, citing minutes of the Board of Revenue of Covington County (now known as the county commission) shared data about the courthouse construction said records show that in February of 1913, the board was contemplating a new courthouse to replace the one that stood in the center of what is now the court square.

In October of 1914, he said, the board approved the purchase of two lots, which cost a total of $17,500.

In November of that year, they considered plans drawn by architect W.L. Stevens and were ready to proceed with construction.

But the process was slowed in December when E.R. Merrill filed a lawsuit to stop construction. Merrill eventually appealed all the way to the Alabama Supreme Court, where he lost, Albritton said.

In the meantime, White said, four of five commissioners lost their seats in the next election. The new commission worked with Montgomery architect Frank Lockwood and in December of 1915, contracted with a different builder, the Little Clecker Construction Co. Records show the total cost project, including the purchase of the two lots, was approximately $110,000, plus architect’s fees, White said.

“That was 100 years ago, and I think we got a pretty good bargain,” White said.

Judge Albritton cited stories of the construction and the controversy around it from The Andalusia Star (a forerunner to The Star-News) and The Florala News, as well as an early Opp newspaper.

One group, he said, called for a vote of the people before construction began.

“A final note was that the lawyer who filed the suit in the name of E.R. Merrill in an attempt to stop the building of the new courthouse, who was successful at this level, but ultimately lost the case in the Supreme Court, was my great-grandfather, Ed T. Albritton.

“I hate to lose any case, and for our firm to lose any case,” Albritton said. “But if he had won that case on appeal, we probably wouldn’t be standing here today.”

Mayor Earl Johnson presented Albritton with a proclamation, and declared Tuesday William Harold Albritton day in Andalusia. It happened also to be the judge’s birthday.

More News

Jacqueline Dorsey takes on battle; cancer-free for two months

Community Christmas registration set for 2024

Andalusia BOE sets path toward sidewalk project

Agriculture awards to be presented at Farm City Banquet