Editing Mobile County, Alabama (section)

==History==
This area was occupied for thousands of years by varying cultures of [[indigenous people]]s. At the time of Spanish expeditions in the early 16th century, it was part of the territory of the [[Mississippian culture]], which constructed major earthwork mounds. It was ruled by the paramount chief [[Tuskaloosa]].

The historic [[Choctaw]] emerged somewhat later, and are believed to be descendants of those earlier peoples. They occupied this area along what early [[France|French]] traders and colonists called the Mobile River. They also founded the settlement of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] on the river and bay in the early eighteenth century.

The British took over the territory in 1763 (along with other French territories east of the Mississippi River) after defeating the French in the [[Seven Years' War]]. During the [[American Revolutionary War]], it came under Spanish rule as part of [[Spanish Florida]]. Spain ceded the territory to the United States after the [[War of 1812]].

In the 1830s, the United States forced the [[Indian removal|removal]] of most of the Native American tribes in the area under President [[Andrew Jackson]]'s policy and an [[Indian Removal Act|act of Congress]] to relocate them to [[Indian Territory]] west of the Mississippi River. Many of those who remained continued their culture, and took refuge in the swamps in the border area between Mobile and Washington counties. Since the late 20th century, several tribes have reorganized and gained state recognition. Among those is the [[MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians]], which was recognized as a tribe in 1979 by the state. The people have long been based in this area of the former Choctaw homeland, along the northern border of Mobile County and the southern border of Washington County.

After more than a century of European settlement, beginning with French colonists, Mobile County was organized by the state legislature and the proclamation of Governor Holmes of the [[Mississippi Territory]] on December 18, 1812.<ref name="ArcAL">{{cite web
| url         = http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/mobile.html
| title       = Mobile County, Alabama history
| publisher   = Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH)
| date        = June 5, 2009
| access-date = June 14, 2009
| archive-date = February 3, 2013
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130203094148/http://www.archives.state.al.us/counties/mobile.html
| url-status  = dead
}}</ref>
When Mississippi was separated and admitted as a state on December 10, 1817, after adopting its constitution on August 15, 1817, Mobile County became part of what was called the [[Alabama Territory]]. Two years later, the county became part of the state of Alabama, granted [[U.S. state|statehood]] on December 14, 1819.<ref name="TN">{{cite web
| url       = http://www.tngenweb.org/tnland/intruders/claim-537.html
| title     = An 1820 Claim to Congress: Alabama Territory : 1817
| work      = The Intruders
| publisher = TNGenNet Inc.
| year      = 2001
}}</ref><ref name="S50">{{cite web
| url       = http://www.50states.com/statehood.htm
| title     = Statehood Dates
| publisher = 50states.com
| orig-year = 1998 | year=2009
}}</ref>

The city of Mobile, first settled by French colonists in the early 18th century as part of ''[[La Louisiane]],'' was designated as the county seat from the early days of the county.<ref name="ArcAL" /> Both the county and city derive their name from [[Fort Louis de la Mobile]], a French fortification established (near present-day [[Axis, Alabama]]) in 1702. The word "Mobile" is believed to stem from a [[Choctaw]] word for "paddlers".<ref name="ArcAL" /> The area was occupied by French colonists from 1702 to 1763, and their influence has been strong in the city. It was ruled by the British from 1763 to 1780, when more American colonists began to enter the territory; and controlled by the Spanish from 1780 to 1813.

At the end of the War of 1812, the United States took over the territory. At that time, new settlers were being attracted to the land, eager to develop short-staple cotton in the uplands area. Invention of the [[cotton gin]] made processing of this type of cotton profitable, stimulating wholesale development of new cotton plantations in the [[Black Belt (region of Alabama)|Black Belt]] during the antebellum years. Mobile developed as a major deepwater port; in the nineteenth century, cotton was its major export.

There were nine documented lynchings in Mobile from 1891 to 1981.  
* March 31, 1891 — Zachariah Graham<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lynching.csde.washington.edu/#/search/AL1891033101|title=CSDE Lynching Database|website=lynching.csde.washington.edu|language=en|access-date=September 24, 2017 }}</ref>
* October 2, 1906 — Roy Hoyle<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lynching.csde.washington.edu/#/search/AL1906100201|title=CSDE Lynching Database|website=lynching.csde.washington.edu|language=en|access-date=September 24, 2017 }}</ref>
* October 2, 1906 — Willie Thompson<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lynching.csde.washington.edu/#/search/AL1906100601|title=CSDE Lynching Database|website=lynching.csde.washington.edu|language=en|access-date=September 24, 2017 }}</ref>
* October 2, 1906 — Corneilius Robinson<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lynching.csde.washington.edu/#/search/AL1906100602|title=CSDE Lynching Database|website=lynching.csde.washington.edu|language=en|access-date=September 24, 2017 }}</ref>
* September 22, 1907 — Mose Dossett<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lynching.csde.washington.edu/#/search/AL1907092201|title=CSDE Lynching Database|website=lynching.csde.washington.edu|language=en|access-date=September 24, 2017 }}</ref>
* January 23, 1909 — Richard Robertson<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lynching.csde.washington.edu/#/search/AL1909012301|title=CSDE Lynching Database|website=lynching.csde.washington.edu|language=en|access-date=September 24, 2017 }}</ref>
* July 31, 1910 — Bill Walker<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lynching.csde.washington.edu/#/search/AL1910073101|title=CSDE Lynching Database|website=lynching.csde.washington.edu|language=en|access-date=September 24, 2017 }}</ref>
* June 6, 1919 — James E. Lewis<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://lynching.csde.washington.edu/#/search/AL1919060601|title=CSDE Lynching Database|website=lynching.csde.washington.edu|language=en|access-date=September 24, 2017 }}</ref>
* March 21, 1981 — [[Murder of Michael Donald|Michael Donald]]

Courthouse fires occurred in the years 1823, 1840, and 1872.<ref name="ArcAL" />