Aug. 30, 1813. Ft. Mims. A date and place never to be forgotten in the early history of this area. Of course, as every schoolchild knows (hopefully), this pertains to the infamous massacre of the inhabitants of Ft. Mims by the Indians during the Creek Indian War of 1813-1814.

More than 500 men, women and children were crowded inside the fort when the Indians suddenly attacked at high-noon. By the time the sun had set that day all were dead except for a few that were taken away by the Indians and 15 lucky souls who managed to escape and make their way to freedom. It was perhaps, the worst Indian massacre in American history.

John Hoven, one of the fortunate escapees, was the son of Benjamin Hoven and was born in South Carolina in 1794. Benjamin Hoven's entire family was in the fort at its downfall. All of the family perished except John and possibly a sister.

The following story was handed down from John Hoven to his son, William Hoven, and from William Hoven to his son, W. Henly Hoven, who was living near Jackson in the 1920s.

On the day of the battle, John Hoven and four other men who had been fighting for hours, seeing that further resistance meant sure death, found an axe and cut a hole in the back wall of the fort and made their escape. A young woman who according to Mr. Hoven's memory of the story, was a sister of John Hoven, made her escape through the opening, and when she reached the outside of the fort, she spied a horse with saddle and bridle on, which she proceeded to catch, mount and make her escape. She sat in the saddle while the horse swam the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers and eventually landed her safe and sound at Old St. Stephens.

John Hoven and the other four men made their escape late in the evening. Making their way to the river bank, they made ready to plunge in, when one of the men began to cry and bemoan his predicament, saying he could not swim, and begging them not to leave him. One of the men pulled out a big knife and told the man to shut his mouth and get into the water, else he would kill him. The man preferring drowning to cold steel, jumped in and was the first man to reach the west bank. When they got out on the bank they heard Indians talking, so they got back to the west bank again. They swam the river seven times before hiding in a dense canebrake for the night.

The next morning they started making their way toward Mobile where they arrived four days later. One of the men had all of his clothes torn off, leaving nothing but his shirt collar around his neck. One of the men happened to have two shirts on; he pulled one of them off and gave it to the man, who put it on and went into the city thus thinly clad.

Shortly after these harrowing events, John Hoven came to Clarke County and settled a few miles north of Jackson, and lived there, as an unpretentious farmer, until his death in 1850. He is buried in Hoven's Cemetery behind the VFW building on Club Wiley Road.

John was married twice. He had three children by his first wife and eight by his second wife. His second wife drew a quarterly pension until her death on account of his service in the War of 1812.

On Sunday, June 25, the descendants of John Hoven, many of whom still live in this area, gathered at the H.W. Pearce Memorial Park Assembly House in Jackson, to honor his memory with a family reunion.

John Hoven left a lasting legacy in Clarke County. Let us hope that it continues for many years to come.