His name was William Bauck Looney, but everyone called him Bill, or just Ol' Bill Looney. He was born in 1827 in Lawrence County, Alabama just along the northeast border with Winston County, near the intercepts of Morgan and Cullman counties. Bill was the 11th child of Moses and Mary Guest Looney, both born in Tennessee, married in Warren County, 1807. Moses and his brother, John came down to northern Alabama with Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812, and when the War was over they returned to Tennessee and brought their families back to Alabama, Moses settling in Lawrence County and John in St. Clair County.
The life of Bill Looney seems to have been more or less uneventful up until the time of the Civil War. He had left the Tennessee Valley for Winston County, and had married Senie Ellen Penn, daughter of John Penn and wife Elizabeth Day Penn. His just younger brother, Anderson Marion Looney(Sgt, Company I, 1st Alabama Cavalry, USA), married Senie's sister, Nancy Emily Penn, and Anderson and Nancy also settled in Winston County. Other siblings of Bill and Anderson Looney married into families that had prosperous farms in the fertile Tennessee Valley which would lead them in the direction of the Southern Cause, the protection of "property" and enlistment in the Rebel Army.
Henrietta Looney, daughter of Anderson and grandmother to Leola Looney Hessom was the teller of many Bill Looney stories about "Uncle Bill", telling these stories over and over. Leola explains that Henrietta's versions of the stories may "differ somethat from that of Professor Thompson (in Tories of the Hills; So the Tide Turns; and Free State of Winston), but they are substantially the same".
In 1854 Bill Looney received through the Huntsville Land Office, a plot of land in Winston County described as the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Sec 2 and the NE 1/4 of the NE 1/4 of Sec 10 in TS 10 S, R 7 W, on Clifty Fork about four miles north of the town of Houston, which at that time was the county seat of Winston. Wesley Thompson's research indicates that this was the location of Looney's Tavern.
Wes Thompson tells of the area-wide political meeting to discuss the secession speculation and related issues which was held at Looney's Tavern on July 4, 1861, and he points out the desirability of this location for such a meeting. It was near the intersection of the Burleson and Burnham roads. Burleson Road connected westward to the Marion County seat of Pikesville and the Burnham Road ran northward toward Moulton, connecting with Cheatham's Road. This meeting would be a festive social gathering occasion. However, there would have been no indecent behavior, as Bill Looney would not tolerate it on his property and he had a reputation for enforcing his standards with a shotgun. This meeting became famous for setting the stage for several of the north Alabama counties , centered by Winston, to take up a strongly pro-Union stance in the midst of a sea of emotional Confederate sympathies. This meeting was the origin of the legend of the "Free State of Winston" and later developed into possible consideration of creating the state of "Nicajack" (after one of the Cherokee Indian tribes) which was proposed to unite the pro-Union sympathy counties of north Alabama with similar philosophy segments of Eastern Tennessee. Of course neither of the fledgling proposals prevailed.
Bill Looney played an important role in the history of North Alabama during the Civil War. When it became evident that the people of Winston County and the surrounding areas were not going to be left out of the conflict, many men in the area decided that if they had to fight they would do so on the Union side. One of the problems was how to get past the Confederate lines into the Union Army encampments. Bill Looney was the answer to that problem for many of the hill country men.
The pro-Union sympathies were much more widespread than many today realize. And the makeup of men who served in the 1st Alabama Cavalry, organized specifically for these pro-Union men reflects the widespread Union sentiment among the many north Alabama counties. In a special Alabama State Convention of 1861, the residents of Winston county had voted 477 - nil for a Cooperationist Platform vs. a Sucessionist Platform; indeed 22 other north Alabama counties also voted for the Cooperationist position. Following were the voting tallys of some other north Alabama Cooperationist counties:
Marion 792 - 255, voting in favor of Cooperation Walker 796 - 143 " Franklin 1372- 348 " Fayette 1110-432 " Madison 1487- 404 " Morgan 627- 450 " Lauderdale 1197- 505 "Although small, being just five feet tall, Looney was a man of considerable strength and endurance. He was thin and wiry and reportedly could do a standing jump over his horse.
He is said to have had black hair and dark eyes. Bill was an expert tracker and knew the woods, caves, creeks and bluffs, all good hiding places, in north Alabama. And when those men who desired to join the Union Army needed someone to guide them through the maze of hills and hollows, Looney was the one. After the war, Col. George Spencer, CO of the 1st Alabama Cavalry and congressman Chris Sheats, both testified that the "Black Fox" had piloted more than 2500 (or 500 ?) Confederate deserters (or pro-Union sympathizers) to Union lines between 1862 and 1865.
Looney became a wanted man, with a price on his head. Large rewards were offered both in terms of money and even a permanent discharge from service for the one who could bring him in dead or alive. He was captured several times but in each instance either escaped or was rescued. He became known as "The Black Fox". This name was probably given him because of an association with a Cherokee Chief from the Guntersville area called Black Fox in the early 1800s (1801-1811), who also had the english name of "John Looney" and the Cherokee name of Enoli. Bill Looney would have been about six years old at the time of the Cherokee Removal from north Alabama when Chief John Looney, aka Enoli & Black Fox, was removed into western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. One of Bill's great uncles, was Capt. John Looney (Revolutionary War soldier) who was captured by the Cherokees in March 1782 on the southern branches of the Tennesse River, and may have left some progeny behind when he was set free after a few weeks of captivity.
Ol' Bill was captured several times by the Rebs but was never subdued. Upon his capture at one time, Looney was placed in the custody of two officers. Rather than place him in confinement they decided to keep him close to themselves to be sure he didn't escape again. They took a room on the second floor of a hotel. The room had two beds, one for each officer. Looney was placed on the floor, tied with ropes and the ropes tied to the beds. When the officers were asleep, Looney worked constantly on the ropes and finally succeeded in freeing himself. He tied blankets together and went out the window. Upon reaching the ground, he picked up a piece of charcoal and wrote on the wall of the building, "The Old Black Fox is gone again".
Looney's relationships with the officers of the 1st Alabama Cavalry were well developed. A dispatch of April 27, 1864 reports:
Decatur, Alabama
Brigadier - General Dodge
Commanding Left Wing, Sixteenth Army Corps, Athens Ala:
Scout Looney came in last night, bringing 14 deserters (Confederate ?) from
Winston County. He says that Roddy is at Sims Mill, on Moulton and Danville
road. Patterson on Decatur and Moulton road at Shoal Creek. Heard nothing
of Polk's forces and nothing of any rebel forces coming this way from west
Tennessee.
James C. Veatch
Brigadier-General
Bill Looney developed a survival instinct that included a "quick on the
trigger" reaction. One account by Sgt. John R. Phillips, was that he met
Looney one day in Decatur and they were to ride together down into the
hills. Just west of Day's Gap, the party met a man (Martin Stout) known by
Looney to have Confederate sympathies. Looney drew his pistol, shot and
killed the man without passing a word and left him where he lay. When asked
why he had shot the man, Looney replied, "He's one of them damned Rebs who
tried to hang me in Decatur and I said then that if I ever laid eyes on him
again, I'd kill him".
Further westward, Looney, Phillips and other members of the party stopped to rest by a branch. While at the branch, the party received an incoming volley of fire from hidden foes which killed party members Phillip Sutton and a Carter boy. Looney and other members of the party scattered, leaving Phillips and Bill Elkins to fend off the Rebs, which they were able to do. Looney had slipped away heading for a nearby friend's house where he would hole up for the night.
On another occasion, five of the Union sympathizers had been captured in a raid by the homeguard and been put in the jail at Jasper, Ala with the ultimatum that they had five days to make up their minds to join the CSA Army or be shot. Ol' Bill was named to ride to the Union camp at Decatur and plea for cavalry assistance to raid the Jasper jail and free the imprisoned men. So soon thereafter, Bill appeared at the headquarters of the Federal Army in Decatur, tired and exhaused. A picket escorted him to the office.
"What's your name, Mister ?" one of the colonels asked him. "My name is Bill Looney, if ye got any business wid my name," said Looney frank and to the point, and a bit gruff at the delay. "I want to see General Thomas, General Streight or General Mitchell right away. It's mighty important business too, I got !"
"Good morning", General Mitchell said politely, smiling at Bill. "And what is it this time?"
"Howdy, General. I got to ax ye fer a favor. We got a bunch of young men in jail down at Jasper in Walker Co. Them damn Rebs air agonna shoot them day atter to-mar, if we don't get them saved. I want ye to give me a bunch uv them men what air in here from Winston and let em go back down thar and git them men outin' that jail fore them damned Rebs can shoot them."
"I'm afraid it'll take a few days to see about this", General Mitchell explained. " A few days, Hell !" Looney stepped close and glared into General Mitchell's face. "We got to have some men and have em quick. As many men as I have helped to git in this army - I bet I've brung in several hunerd of them - and ye never had to have no damn orders to take nairee one uv em !
Well the General relented, Looney got the detachment of 26 volunteers which he sought, led by Captain Anderson Ward of Winston County and in a lightning quick raid the five loyalists were set free. As the entire detachment had only 14 horses and mules, they had taken turns riding and walking down to Jasper. The jail was burned and the jailer Gilbert Sides was hit by a volley of about ten shots in the back as he ran away.
After the war, many people wanted to get revenge on Bill Looney. One day after the war a man came to Looney to tell him that a man named Bill Eady had been going around telling a story about Bill. The story was untrue, Bill said and the informant who was blaming Eady knew the charge was a lie. Looney then went looking for Bill Eady and when he found him he shot him. A few nights later, a contingent of white-robed, masked members of the Ku Klux Klan entered Looney's home and found him in bed. When they walked up to his bed Looney asked, "Where did you come from ?" One of them said, "We came straight from Hell." Looney drew his pistol from beneath his pillow and, pointing it at the nearest figure, inquired, "Did you see anything of old Bill Eady ? I sent him there a few days ago". The white robed figures silently withdrew and never bothered him again.
No one ever told Bill Looney that he had murdered an innocent man, for they knew that to do so would ensure the death of the informant who lied. [some of these stories have taken on legendary status and some variations of these stories circulate with different circumstances or completely different people, but with essentially the same outcome]
Bill Looney continued to live in the general area of Winston and Lawrence Counties. Sometime during the war, Rebels had staked out his Tavern and waited in hiding for several days. When he failed to show up, they burned the Tavern. He stayed in the area at least until 1870, probably living near his family in Inmanfield, in NE Winston County but after that all track of him is lost.
Although Bill Looney was never officially enlisted in the US Army, his role was one of a "spy", scout and recruiter, all performed without any pay. He applied for a pension but his application was ignored since he had never officially enlisted. In 1867, congressman Chris Sheats, led a petition drive which resulted in Bill Looney receiving a Congressional Citation and a small pension by action of the 40th US Congress, 3rd Session on February 8, 1869. This action was reported in the Congressional Globe on May 12, 1870, pp 3430-3431. This Citation/Pension effort was aided by the signatures of some 196 fellow fighters or sympathizers of the Union cause, including a large number of officers of the 1st Alabama Cavalry.
It is told by some relatives that he went to Memphis Tennessee where one of his sisters was living. He and wife Senie Ellen Penn Looney had a family of four children: Henry, Mary, Anderson and Sarah. After leaving Alabama, the family seems to disappear with no trace. One rumor is that Ol' Bill the Black Fox was finally outsmarted somewhere over in Mississippi, with some indication that a man from Winston or Marion County named Hyde had tracked him down and was instrumental in the hanging of Bill Looney for injustices done during the war. Perhaps this rumor is true but one almost has to believe that the hero/villian that The Old Black Fox had become, escaped with his family into self-imposed silence. The spirit of the courageous, resourceful, crafty, vengeful Old Black Fox lives-on today in the annual summer-long performances at the Looney's Tavern Theatre held just east of Double Springs Alabama, on a hill-top overlooking Looney's home - the "Free State of Winston" and the larger province of "Nicajack". To this day Old Black Fox can continue to be seen slipping silently through the "hills and hollars" of his native land, leading a good neighbor to freedom, to take up the valliant cause of the Union - forever.