”BRIERFIELD. Post office and mining town, on the Southern Railway in the eastern part of Bibb County. It is located on the Little Cahaba River, near the Chilton County line; is in the richest part of the coal and Iron ore deposits of Bibb County. It is also near valuable outcrops of marble and limestone. ….

…In 1851, Edward Mahan and Jonathan Ware sent an exhibit of iron, from their Bibb County forges to an exposition at Sydenham, England. This iron took first prize over all charcoal Iron “blooms,” from many quarters of the world.”

Reference Data:

History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography, Vol. 1, by Thomas McAdory Owen and Marie Bankhead Owen, 1921, page 169