from the book FOOLS OF FORTUNE

GAMBLING IN MOBILE 

Before the war, the slave owner with wealth at his command, with his plantations overseered by trustworthy men, with his crops cultivated by his slaves, gradually became more and more indifferent to mercantile pursuits, and indeed, to any vocation involving actual work of either mind or body, his main anxiety being to solve the question, how should he spend his money and live. Especially was this true before the advent of the railroad, when Mobile was the principal city in the State, the most easy of access on account of its rivers, and the focus of at least two thirds of the entire wealth of Alabama. Gaming at that time in Mobile was almost universal, the sporting element being by far more gentlemanly, better educated and in every respect more polished than are the men of that ilk today.  Among the patrons of the race course were such men as William R. Johnson, Colonel Sprague, "Wagner" Campbell; while the gamblers numbered in their ranks Captain George Grant and Jack Delahaunty. As long as money poured into Mobile, that city was specially noted among the gambling fraternity for the high stakes wagered on horse racing, and the amount risked on the turn of a card. Even when the "late unpleasantness" came on, substantially the same state of affairs existed, what diminution there was in gaming among the residents, was more counterbalanced by the prevalence of gambling among the soldiers armies during the war .

At this time a well known figure on the streets of Mobile was Captain William H. Williamson. He was a Virginian by birth, of wealthy parents and educated as a gentleman. Early in life he settled in Alabama, exceedingly fond of horses and generally devoted to sporting and a frequenter of the races in Mobile, even up to a date within last few years. He was one of the California Forty-niners , one of the witnesses of the famous Broderick-Terry duel, the story of has recently been revived by the shooting of Judge Terry. Captain was elected Chief of Police for two terms, holding that office six years. It is fairness of play and unfailing courtesy rendered popular and he was one of the best types of the gamblers who before made Mobile their headquarters. During the antebellum days brace games were either exceptional desirable. In fact they may be said to have been comparatively in Mobile until after the occupancy of the city by the federal when an army estimated at 60,000 occupied the city and its vicinity With the advent of the camp followers came sharp and gambling revived in its most pernicious form From 1865 to 1872 this state of affairs continued In the year 1873 having like every other city in the Union undergone the ordeal financial panic which at that time swept over the country at large not a particularly favorable spot for the operations of gamblers The of the State enacted about that time moreover were decidedly to gambling However keno rooms and lotteries began to flourish expense of poker faro and roulette Each successive legislature more stringent laws against gaming than had its predecessor and gambling almost ceased to exist Simultaneously however with of each new administration some of the sporting fraternity venturesome than others attempted to run keno faro and poker Yet the popular demand for the enforcement of the laws was so and the sentences of the court so severe that at present gambling in is conducted with the utmost secrecy and every precaution is to avoid police interference During the decade between 1870 and 1880 lotteries flourished A case was made up against AJ Moses and its determination temporarily put a stop to them all At present lottery tickets are exposed for with great caution the grand jury presenting a true bill against the so far as the latter can be ascertained two or three times a year the fact that they usually turn their wheels in some place the city limits It was during the period between 1875 and 1880 that Bud who has since figured so prominently in sporting circles particularly