“ Near Selma lived William Rufus King (1786-1853) , a Democratic representative in Congress from North Carolina in 1811-1816, a member of the United States Senate from Alabama in 1819-1844 and 1846-1853, minister to France in 1844-1846, and vice-president of the United States from the 4th of March 1853 until his death on the 18th of April; and Selma was the home of John Tyler Morgan (1824-1907) , a brigadier-general in the Confederate army in 1863-1865 and a prominent Democratic member of the United States Senate in 1877-1907 ”

“ The city has a large trade, principally in cotton (the chief crop of the surrounding country) , and in lumber from the great pineries. There are cotton compresses, cotton warehouses, &c.; in 1905 the value of the factory products was $1,138,817. The water supply is obtained from artesian wells. ”

“ It is served by the Louisville & Nashville, the Southern and the Western of Alabama railways. It has a Carnegie library, two parks and two Y.M.C.A. buildings. In the city are the Selma Military Institute (1907) , and the Alabama Baptist Colored University (opened in 1878) , which is one of the largest schools in the South owned and controlled by negroes, and has industrial, domestic, normal, collegiate and (especially) theological courses. ”