Wakefield is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

in Washington County,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, United States, most famous as the place where former vice president

Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexand ...

was arrested in 1807.

History

Place where Aaron Burr was captured, near Wakefield, Alabama

Wakefield was in a bend of the

Tombigbee River The Tombigbee River is a tributary of the Mobile River, approximately 200 mi (325 km) long, in the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama. Together with the Alabama, it merges to form the short Mobile River before the latter empties int ...

near present-day

McIntosh Bluff McIntosh Bluff was one of the earliest white settlements in Alabama, United States. Although it is now in Mobile County, it was the first county seat of Baldwin County. It was the birthplace of early Georgia Governor George Troup. McIntosh Bluff ...

. The settlement was named by territorial judge Harry Toulmin after

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

's novel ''

The Vicar of Wakefield ''The Vicar of Wakefield'', subtitled ''A Tale, Supposed to be written by Himself'', is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774). It was written from 1761 to 1762 and published in 1766. It was one of the most popular and wid ...

''. Wakefield was the county seat of Washington County from 1805 to 1809. The arrest of Aaron Burr took place in February 1807. Fleeing from an arrest order issued by President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

after being found innocent four times, on his way to

Spanish West Florida Spanish West Florida (Spanish: ''Florida Occidental'') was a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 until 1821, when both it and East Florida were ceded to the United States. The region of West Florida initially had the same borders as the er ...

, Burr was spotted by a federal land agent who reported the sighting to U.S. Army Lieutenant

Edmund P. Gaines Edmund Pendleton Gaines (March 20, 1777 – June 6, 1849) was a career United States Army officer who served for nearly fifty years, and attained the rank of major general by brevet. He was one of the Army's senior commanders during its formati ...

. Gaines arrested Burr on February 19 near Wakefield, two miles below Colonel Henson's, and detained him at

Fort Stoddert Fort Stoddert, also known as Fort Stoddard, was a stockade fort in the U.S. Mississippi Territory, in what is today Alabama. It was located on a bluff of the Mobile River, near modern Mount Vernon, close to the confluence of the Tombigbee and Al ...

. Gaines later testified at Burr's trial, which ended in acquittal. A marker placed by the Alabama Historical Association commemorates the Burr capture.Laura Hood, et al, ''Alabama Historical Association Markers'' (Bloomington, Indiana, 2006), p.317.

References

{{Washington County, Alabama Ghost towns in Alabama Geography of Washington County, Alabama