The focal point of town in the 1800s
I have at times wondered what enticed noble and prominent families to select Robinson Springs as their homesteads during the great migration after the Alabama territory was opened in 1817.
Robinson Springs acquired its name from an artesian spring that exists on the land acquired by the Tod Robinson family, one of the first pioneers to the area. Often referred to as the Robinson Springs Village by many locals, it was originally located in Autauga County but became part of Elmore County when it was established in 1866. What constitutes the village is difficult to identify because it has never had definite boundaries.
Currently located within the city limits of Millbrook, Robinson Springs was perhaps best described by Archibald Harris, a descendant of early pioneer Archibald McKeithen of Thornfield Plantation (1818) as “more a state of mind than a definite place, since it included a radius, dominated for years by the Church, of over 5 miles.”
This nucleus of Church, Academy, Masonic Lodge and a few residents became an extremely well known and attractive focal point in the middle years of the 19th century.
One could easily be impressed with the nobility and actions of the families who chose to settle in very close proximity to Robinson Springs. The first governor of the Autauga territory – and of Alabama after it became a state – William Wyatt Bibb, resided within 2 miles of Robinson Springs at present day Coosada and is buried there in the family cemetery.
His brother Peyton Dandridge Bibb, a Methodist minister, riverboat entrepreneur and planter, was the founding pastor of the historical Robinson Springs United Methodist Church located in the heart of Robinson Springs. Gen. John Archer Elmore, for whom Elmore County is named, chose a location on Mortar Creek just a few miles from Robinson Springs. Gen. Elmore served during the American Revolution and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He later served in the South Carolina legislature and also represented Autauga County in the Alabama legislature before his death in 1834.
Just down the road from Gen. Elmore lived his son-in-law, the Hon. Benjamin Fitzpatrick –governor of Alabama, United States senator and nominee for vice president of the United States on the democratic ticket with Stephen A. Douglas in 1860.
Col. Albert J. Pickett resided for a time at Robinson Springs when writing the first history of Alabama; and there, he married Sarah Smith Harris. Sidney Lanier, the famous poet and author, at one time resided at Robinson Springs across the street from Col. Pickett. The Hon. Bolling Hall – former legislator and U.S. congressman from Georgia – made his home within the focal point of Robinson Springs at a place called Edgewood before it became Millbrook.
As the pioneer families settled into the frontier, their numbers increased. Intermarriage was inevitable – not as much up or down but more laterally within social classes. Benjamin Fitzpatrick married John Archer Elmore’s daughter. There were others, such as the Goodwyn family, which chose property in Robinson Springs. That area is presently taken up primarily by state Route 14, which runs through the northern portion of Millbrook and is the primary business district of the city.
Albert Gallatin Goodwyn, a physician from Mount Meigs near Montgomery, married Harriet Bibb, daughter of Peyton Bibb, and they made their home at Robinson Springs. Their union produced a connection to the 10th President of the United States, John Tyler, when their son Albert Taylor Goodwyn married Priscilla Cooper Tyler. Priscilla’s father, Robert Tyler, the son of the president, resided in Montgomery during the war where he served as a confederate treasury official and editor of The Montgomery Advertiser.
Albert Taylor and Priscilla Goodwyn made their home on the Goodwyn family property at Robinson Springs. Col. Goodwyn served as a representative in the Alabama legislature and in the U.S. Senate. Their son, Tyler Goodwyn, for whom the famous Tyler Goodwyn Bridge is named, also served in the Alabama legislature and served as the circuit clerk for Elmore County. The Tyler Goodwyn Bridge over the Alabama River was the primary connection that provided access into the Capitol City of Montgomery from west Elmore County.
Priscilla Goodwyn was civic-minded and very much involved in the activities of the fledging communities of Robinson Springs, Coosada and Millbrook – once referred to as the tri-communities because they were so closely linked by proximity and family. The Priscilla Goodwyn Civic Club was established in her honor and gave the women of the area voices in community development long before Millbrook was incorporated as a city in 1976.
So, why did these wonderful and honorable people choose Robinson Springs? I have decided that they just thought it was a nice place to live.
It is a nice place to live, albeit a little more crowded than back in the day. I am proud and happy to be a citizen of Robinson Springs in the City of Millbrook on land that was once owned by the Rev. Peyton Dandridge Bibb. I stand in awe of these brave and prominent founding citizens of Elmore County, Alabama and the United States.
