“COLUMBIANA, the seat of justice, has about 450 inhabitants.  Shelbyville, where the courthouse first stood, is deserted.

Montevallo has about 650 inhabitants; Harpersville and Wilsonville about 250 each.

David Neal, Job Mason, Benj. C. Haslett, Ezekiel Henry, Henry Avery, James Franklin and Thomas Beecher, sr., were appointed in 1821 to select the site for the courthouse; and, a year later, David McLaughlin, Wm Gilbert, Isaac Hutcheson, Edmund King, Bennett Ware, Webb Kidd, and Abraham Smith were appointed for the same purpose.”

Reference Data:

Alabama. Her History, Resources, War Record and Public Men from 1540 to 1872, by Willis Brewer, 1872, page 519