Editing Abbeville, Alabama (section)

==History==
European Americans set up an active trading post in Abbeville in [[Alabama Territory]] early in 1819. The first settler gateway to the [[wiregrass region]] was at Franklin, located fourteen miles west of Abbeville.

Locals say that the name derives from the [[Muscogee]] name for Abbey Creek, ''Yatta Abba'', meaning "[[Cornus florida|dogwood tree]] grove".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bradberry |first1=Denise |title=Residents Get Ready for Yatta Abba Day in Abbeville |url=http://www.wtvy.com/home/headlines/Residents_Get_Ready_for_Yatta_Abba_Day_in_Abbeville_119426729.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727220433/http://www.wtvy.com/home/headlines/Residents_Get_Ready_for_Yatta_Abba_Day_in_Abbeville_119426729.html |archive-date=July 27, 2018 |url-status=live |access-date=July 27, 2018 |work=WTVY |date=April 7, 2011}}</ref>

Abbeville was designated as the Henry County seat in 1833; the seat had previously been [[Columbia, Alabama|Columbia]]. It was formally incorporated in 1853.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-2505|title=Abbeville - Encyclopedia of Alabama|website=Encyclopedia of Alabama}}</ref>

===20th century to present===
Abbeville suffered a catastrophic tragedy that wiped out most of the town when an arsonist almost burned the whole town to the ground on May 20, 1906. An entire block of Kirkland Street, the major portion of the business district, was destroyed. The nearby courthouse was almost lost but was saved through the efforts of the "bucket brigade" firefighters, who kept pouring water on the flat roof. During the week of June 28, 1906, a mechanic named Ward was arrested and charged with arson and starting the fire. His bond was set at $500.  After his bail was paid, Ward fled Abbeville and the county and was never heard from again. Brick buildings were erected to replace the wooden structures that had been lost in the fire.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

In February 1937, Wes Johnson, an 18-year-old African-American man, was accused of attacking a white woman and was arrested. He was abducted from the Henry County jail by a mob of 100 white men and [[Lynching in the United States|lynched]]: shot and hanged to death.<ref name="cbs">[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inside-the-memorial-to-victims-of-lynching-60-minutes-oprah-winfrey/ Oprah Winfrey, "Inside the memorial to victims of lynching"], ''[[60 Minutes]]'',  April 8, 2018; accessed April 11, 2018</ref> His body was found "bullet marked" and "swinging from a tree."<ref>{{Cite news|title = Suspect Lynched by Alabama Mob|date = February 3, 1937|newspaper = The Washington Post}}</ref> As was typical of lynchings, none of the members of the mob was charged with a crime.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = No Indictments on Alabama Lynchers; Impeachment?|date = February 12, 1937|journal = Atlanta Daily World}}</ref>  It has been suggested by local historians that Johnson and  the white woman were engaged in a consensual sexual relationship, and the accusation of assault was merely a manufactured pretext for the lynching. Howell (who?) was featured on ''[[60 Minutes]]'' on April 8, 2018, during an episode featuring [[Oprah Winfrey]] touring the new [[National Memorial for Peace and Justice]] in [[Montgomery, Alabama]]. Johnson is among the lynching victims memorialized there.<ref name="griffin">[http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/local/dothan-resident-featured-in-minutes-segment-with-oprah-set-to/article_de031ec8-39cd-11e8-9154-93c011ec50f0.html Lance Griffin, "Dothan resident featured in 60 Minutes segment with Oprah; set to air Sunday"], ''Dothan Eagle'', April 6, 2018; accessed April 11, 2018</ref> Henry County is noted as among the 805 counties where lynchings took place.<ref name="cbs" /> It had a total of 13 lynchings during the decades when this was frequent.<ref name="lynching">[https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf ''Lynching in America''/ ''Supplement: Lynchings by County, 3rd edition''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023063004/https://eji.org/sites/default/files/lynching-in-america-third-edition-summary.pdf |date=October 23, 2017 }}, Montgomery, Alabama: Equal Justice Initiative, 2015, p. 2</ref>  In 1937 the Alabama Attorney General filed an impeachment against the Henry County sheriff for his failure to protect Johnson. An appeal was heard by the Alabama Supreme Court, which overturned the impeachment in June 1937. The Alabama Attorney General openly declared that Johnson was innocent of the charges against him.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Alabama Sheriff Saved by Court|date = July 3, 1937|journal = The Pittsburgh Courier}}</ref>

In 1944, [[Recy Taylor]], an African-American woman, was gang-raped by seven white men. Although the men admitted the rape to authorities, two grand juries subsequently declined to indict them.<ref name="mcguire"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Book Discussion on ''At the Dark End of the Street''|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?295934-1/book-discussion-dark-end-street|website=www.c-span.org|publisher=[[C-SPAN]]|access-date=March 29, 2015|date=September 28, 2010}}</ref> From a historic point of view, "the Recy Taylor case brought the building blocks of the [[Montgomery bus boycott]] together a decade earlier" than that event.<ref name="mcguire">{{cite book|last=McGuire|first=Danielle L.|title=At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance|year=2010|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-307-26906-5|pages=xv-xvii}}, page 39</ref>

On November 5, 2002, Kirkland Street was hit by an F2 tornado.  The tornado destroyed several single-family homes, mobile homes and many other homes and businesses. The damage at the Abbeville High School was deemed too costly to repair and was rebuilt in a new location. Downed power lines and uprooted trees were numerous and widespread.  The Old Pioneer Cemetery was especially hard-hit.