There are a group of people in Geneva that appreciate our history and have compiled much research and placed this in several books in our library. My favorite book is "Geneva, Alabama - A History" by The Geneva Woman's Club in 1987. The following text is from the first page of the book. 

The town of Geneva is located in the southeast corner of Alabama. Several hundred years before the white man came here, the Lower Creak Indians were the inhabitants. The first disturbance of the Indian way of life that we know of was the arrival of Desoto in 1540. Desoto’s army passed some 70 – 80 miles to the east of Geneva. The harsh treatment that the officers and men of Desoto’s army gave the Indians was in direct contrast to the gentle treatment given the alien visitors. They were abused after welcoming Desoto. They provided food, shelter, labor, and shared their women. Yet the Spaniards treated the Indians like slaves and forced many of them to accompany them for protection from other hostile Indians who had heard of their treatment of the kindly Creeks. This early treatment by the white man very well may have been the reason for the Indian’s savage treatment of the white some 300 years later. We know, for instance, that the Indians were taught scalping by the Spanish. – Excerpt from “Geneva, Alabama – A History” by The Geneva Woman’s Club.

Several stories that can be documented of the happenings of the 1850 – 1860 period telling of the conditions, the people, and the businesses that they were involved in are hard for us to believe today. Travel is one of those things that is almost unbelievable! There is a case of a Christian lawyer sent to this area to look over the prospect of either purchasing large tracts of lumber or buying up vast quantities of growing trees. He had never traveled into primitive lands before so he had properly mapped out his journey before leaving his home. He planned to travel by the stagecoach line called, “The Alligator Line”. Stagecoaches traveled at the rate of approximately 10 miles per hour with about 16 passengers per coach. The fare was usually about 10 cents per mile. It is believed Mr. Baker, the lawyer, may have gotten aboard the stage line at Jacksonville, Florida. He probably came by boat to that point. His plans were to transfer from the stagecoach at Geneva and continue by riverboat to Pensacola. However, for some unknown reason, he missed the boat to Pensacola.

He wrote a letter to the Philadelphia headquarters to his church with a check enclosed asking them to immediately send missionaries to “the most God forsaken hell hole, the most awful place for man or beast to have to spend a weekend”. He stated that there was absolutely no observance of the Sabbath. The saloons were wide open and gambling was rampant. We can only assume he was a guest of the Pace Hotel. Listed in the 1850 Census was the Reverend James Lassiter of South Carolina, a Methodist Episcopal Minister. Apparently he was not conducting services that Sunday.

In the Fall of 1858, a group of 21 Presbyterians of the Euchee Valley Church were “dismissed” in order to form a Presbyterian Church at Geneva, Alabama. Apparently, they were the first organized group in Geneva. A sign in front of the present church says that they were organized in the Euchee Valley in the year 1843. – Excerpt from “Geneva, Alabama – A History”  by The Geneva Woman’s Club.