The Journal-Record - Bicentennial Edition
Thursday, July 1, 1976
Section B, Page 9

TOWN OF GUIN COULD HAVE BEEN NAMED HALEYVILLE, ALLMAN, MEADORVILLE OR OTHERS

Guin could have easily been named Haleyville, Meadorville, or Allman,
according to Pettus ALLMAN of Route 1, Beaverton (just out of Guin), who
was a descendant of John ALLMAN.

According to the history related by Mr. ALLMAN, Green HALEY lived where
Guin is today until after the Civil War and sold to John MEADOR, who was
Judge John Dabney TERRELL's stepson. Judge TERRELL had considered buying it
for his grandson, John Mitchell ALLMAN, II. Later Dr. Jerry GUIN to
Tuscaloosa County purchased it from MEADOR.

John Mitchell ALLMAN, II was born in Pikeville, Alabama, December 28, 1859
and died February 26, 1939, in Guin, and was buried in the Terrell Cemetery
in Old Pikeville. At the time of his death, he was the oldest person born
of parents who were born in this county. His mother was Rosabella
Antionette TERRELL and his father John Mitchell ALLMAN, I. John M. ALLMAN,
II was married to Varina Lou Ella PEARCE, who was born January 29, 1867 and
died April 13, 1938. Her parents were Augustus A. PEARCE and Adeline West
PEARCE of Mantachee, Mississippi.

John M. ALLMAN, II collected for Clark WHITE in Hamilton, and later became
a partner in the J. Pearce and Company, one of the earlier Guin businesses.
In 1912, he bought the firm. Varina L. PEARCE came to Alabama to teach and
later was a clerk in the J. PEARCE and Company, where she met John ALLMAN.
They were married on December 22, 1895.

Pearce and Company became one of the largest firms in Northwest Alabama,
serving Northeast Mississippi and three counties in Alabama.

John ALLMAN was said to be the ramrod in the organization of the Bank of
Guin, in 1905, which later became the Marion County Banking Company after a
branch bank was established in Hamilton, also. He remained an official of
this bank until his death in 1939.

In 1911, when a high school could not be located in the County because
there was an Agricultural School in Hamilton, John ALLMAN persuaded his
close friend Lt. Governor Emmett O'NEAL to influence the legislature to
change the law, and a high school was located in Guin in 1912. to show his
appreciation for this favor, he stumped several counties in the O'NEAL race
for Governor.

John ALLMAN was a shrewd politician and usually his man was elected. He was
a staunch friend of the BANKHEADs for two generations, and it has been said
that he did more than anyone in electing William B. BANKHEAD to his first
term in this district.

John ALLMAN was considered the father of good roads in Marion County and
Northwest Alabama. He succeeded in locating the Bankhead and Jackson
Highways through Guin. This took unceasing effort, time and money,
according to members of his family.

He was also civic minded, and did much in getting the W. P. BROWN Lumber
Company located in guin in 1916. He was a steward in the Methodist Church
and an Alderman of the town at one time. He was also considered quite a
historian and scholar, especially gifted in the fields of Biblical and
Ancient History.

To John M. ALLMAN, II and Varina L. PEARCE ALLMAN were born four children:
Selma, a former English and Latin teacher, and later a farmer; Sales
PEARCE, cashier of the First State Bank in Phil CAMPBELL and a farmer;
Terrell PETTUS, real estate and farmer; and Erin, former teacher in
Honolulu, who later taught in Birmingham Schools.