1898
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Photograph of soliders massing at the L & N Station on May 1, 1898 for deployment in the Spanish-American War; courtesy BPL Archives
1898 was the 27th year after the founding of the City of Birmingham.
Events
- February 22: Birmingham's 4th Mardi Gras celebration took place with the Rex Ball.
- February 22: The Alabama Colonial Dames of America was chartered.
- March 2: Democratic Party leader William Jennings Bryan delivered a speech at O'Brien's Opera House.
- March 7: James Luckie slipped on an apple peel and broke his leg.
- March 19: Six people were killed in an explosion at Slope No. 2 Mine
- August: Sylacauga purchased Marble City Cemetery.
- September 26: The Country Club of Birmingham was founded at North Birmingham Park.
- October 5: A boiler exploded at the Birmingham Ice Factory Company, leveling the boiler house and injuring two workers.
- December 16: President William McKinley visited Tuskegee Institute at the invitation of Booker T. Washington.
- The community of Brent in Bibb County was established.
- The Garden City post office in Cullman County was established.
- Efforts to bring neighboring communities and municipalities into Birmingham began in earnest.
- Jemison in Chilton County was incorporated.
- The Bibb County community of Eoline was established on the Mobile & Ohio Railroad.
- St Vincent's Hospital was founded by Father Patrick O'Reilly and four Sisters of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent’s DePaul.
- The Birmingham Chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women was organized by Jeanette Goldberg.
- A fire damaged the Mount Zion Baptist Church of Christ in Sylacauga.
Business
- February 23: The Birmingham Railway, Light & Power Company was incorporated, bringing together the Birmingham Railway & Electric Company, Consolidated Electric Light Company, and the Birmingham Gas Company as a single entity.
- Edward Barrett bought the Daily State Herald and changed the name back to The Birmingham Age-Herald.
- Berney's Drug Store was established in Ensley.
- Real estate firm Brown Brothers & Company was founded.
- Echols and Angwin Funeral Home was established in Ensley.
- The Ensley Hotel was purchased at auction by James C. Warner.
- The Ensley Land Company made its first official sales of lots.
- John Tillman became a partner in the law firm of Walker, Tillman & Campbell.
- The idle Mary Pratt Furnace was sold at public auction to the Alabama Consolidated Coal and Iron Company for $35,000.
- The Republic Steel & Iron Company purchased an option on the capital stock of the Pioneer Mining and Manufacturing Company.
- Clark Memorials was founded.
Education
- May 12: Ed Dison donated land for the Summit School and Summit Baptist Church in Bluff Park.
- September: North Alabama Conference College opened to students.
- John Abercrombie began serving as state superintendent of education.
- Charles Glenn was appointed principal of the Paul Hayne School.
- Miles Memorial College was founded.
- Francis Marion Peterson succeeded Henry Clay Reynolds as President of the University of Montevallo.
- Benjamin Wyman succeeded William Johnston as dean of Birmingham Medical College.
Government
- C. W. Austin succeeded Thomas McDonald as Chief of Birmingham Police Department.
- William Jelks was elected to the Alabama Senate from Barbour County.
Spanish-American War
- May 1: Several companies of volunteers left Birmingham for service in the Spanish-American War via the L & N Station to Mobile.
- May 9: The 1st Alabama Volunteer Infantry was organized at Mobile.
- September 17: The 1st Alabama Volunteer Infantry returned to Birmingham by L & N Railroad from Jacksonville, Florida.
- October 31: The 1st Alabama Volunteer Infantry was mustered out of service at East Lake.
Religion
- A.C. Davidson succeeded Phillip Hale as pastor of Southside Baptist Church.
- J. J. Grier succeeded John Barbour as pastor of South Highland Presbyterian Church.
- George Stoves succeeded James Carey as pastor of Trinity Methodist Church (Southside).
- Wylam Presbyterian Church was founded.
Sports
- The Alabama Crimson Tide football team only played a single game due to a ban on student athletes traveling.
Individuals
- John Carmichael was elected to the Chancery.
- Charles Hooper returned to Birmingham.
- Miller Reese Hutchison patented his hearing aid, the "Akoulophon".
- William Oliver began serving as a solicitor in the 6th Judicial Circuit of Alabama.
- Louis Pizitz moved to Birmingham.
- James Stiles became a probate judge.
- Henry Walthall enlisted in the United States Army's First Alabama Regiment.
Births
- March 31: Ruth Jackson, founder of Poro School of Beauty Culture
- April 12: Hosea Hudson, labor organizer and social activist
- August 31: Ernest Forbes, founder of Forbes Distributing Company
- September 23: Thad Holt, media executive
- September 24: Charles Zukoski, Mayor of Mountain Brook
- October 9: Joe Sewell, baseball player
- November 15: Frank W. Thomas, college football coach
- November 20: Joseph Gelders, civil rights activist
- November 25: P. H. Polk, photographer
- Afton Lee Sr, grocer and investor
Graduations
- Joens Fries from the Swedish Royal Polytechnic Institute with a degree in electrical and mechanical engineering.
- Robert I. Ingalls from Bellefontaine High School in Ohio.
- Lloyd Noland from Central High School in Washington, D. C.
- Wallace Rayfield from Pratt Polytechnic Institute, received certificate.
Marriages
- June 28: Physician Ulysses Mason to Alice Nelson of Greensboro.
- December 21: Educator A. H. Parker to Anna B. Gilbert.
- Industrialist Henry F. DeBardeleben to Katherine McCrossin.
- Superintendent John Phillips to Minnie Holman.
Awards
- Mardi Gras Royals: Rex Vulcan III M. A. "Bert" Porter, Queen of Mardi Gras Susie Martin
Deaths
- April 1: Poet and novelist Margaret O'Brien Davis
- August 18: John T. Milner, surveyor and engineer
- August 28: Phil Finch, Army sergeant
- October 25: Charles Whelan, physician
- Nellie Phillips, first wife of John Phillips
- Annie Wilda, second wife of Reinhard Wilda
Works
Buildings
- Berney's Drug Store (original location)
- J. H. Bingham residence
- Cobb Lane Carriage House
- Rose Owen Hall at North Alabama Conference College
- Country Club of Birmingham (North Birmingham)
- Davis School
- Echols and Angwin Funeral Home (original location)
- Elliott House
- Gay Bridge
- William Hassinger residence
- Nabers, Morrow & Sinnige building
Context
In 1898, the Spanish-American War was fought over four months. Pepsi was invented. Marie and Pierre Curie announced the discovery of radium.
Notable books published in 1898 included The Open Boat and Other Tales by Stephen Crane, Moonfleet by J. Meade Falkner, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James, and The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Notable music released included "Ciribiribin" by Carlo Tiochet & Alberto Pestalozza and "When You Were Sweet Sixteen" by James Thornton.
Notable births in 1898 included race car driver and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari, minister and author Norman Vincent Peale, artist M. C. Escher, author Stephen Vincent Benét, physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi, screenwriter Preston Sturges, composer George Gershwin, chemist Karl Ziegler, author C. S. Lewis, and jazz drummer Baby Dodds. Notable deaths included author Lewis Carroll, engineer Sir Henry Bessemer (namesake of Bessemer), illustrator Aubrey Beardsley, German statesman Otto von Bismarck, and civil engineer Sir John Fowler.
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