USA > Alabama > Conecuh County > History of Conecuh County, Alabama. Embracing a detailed record of events from the earliest period to the present; biographical sketches of those who have been most conspicuous in the annals of the county; a complete list of the officials of Conecuh, besides much valuable information relative to the internal resources of the county > Part 9
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During the following year a brutal tragedy was enacted in Fork Sepulga. Mr. Allen Page, a promi- nent and highly respected citizen, had started a num- ber of wagons, loaded with cotton, from his gin house, on Tuesday morning, toward Claiborne. In company with Mr. John Wright, Sr., he followed the wagons the next day, in a buggy, and reached Claiborne at night. Having cautiously concealed a gun beneath the cotton in one of the wagons, Irvin Ward accom- panied the party until within a short distance of Claiborne, when he separated himself from them, and turned into a road leading to a landing above Clai- borne, announcing his purpose to visit some relations living in Clarke county. Before sundering himself from the wagons, however, he informed himself, with the utmost minuteness, with respect to the intention of Messrs. Page and Wright to sell their cotton on Thursday, and to return home on Friday. Having passed beyond the view of the wagons, Ward retraced his steps, hurried back toward his home, and engaged with his brother, Stephen, in the formation of a plot to murder and rob Messrs. Page and Wright upon their return. Accordingly, they placed a small log across the road, on the east side of Little Brewer
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creek, and within six miles of the home of Mr. Page, in order to check them when they should reach the spot. One of the brothers screened himself behind a pine log, which ran parallel with the road, and in order the more effectually to conceal himself, had stuck here and there, about him, quite a number of gall bushes. The other was secreted about twenty yards to the rear. Both were armed with double- barrel guns. Ere long, the rumbling of the wheels of the buggy was heard, and the murderers lay silently awaiting the favorable moment to fire. The horse reached the log; a short colloquy ensued as to the strange appearance of the log across the road; some doubt was expressed with regard to the inability of the buggy to roll over it, when Mr. Wright proposed to alight and remove it. Just as he had thrown it aside, a load of buckshot was discharged into the bosom of Allen Page, who was seated in the buggy. He instantly threw up his hands and exclaimed, "I am killed," and was in the act of falling from the buggy, when Mr. Wright bounded forward and caught him. Just at this moment another barrel was dis- charged at Wright, the contents of which did but little execution, as but few shot penetrated his skin. His clothes, however, were sadly perforated by the bullets. It was afterwards ascertained that the most of the load of the second barrel took effect in a root of the log behind which Ward was concealed. Snatch- ing up the lifeless body of Mr. Page, Mr. Wright applied the whip to the excited horse, and dashed up
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the road at full speed. He left the corpse at the home of Mrs. Bidgood, two miles from the scene of the horrible transaction. In a few hours the community was thoroughly aroused, and excited crowds gathered about the scene of the murder. A pack of negro dogs, belonging to Mr. Jones, was brought into requisition, but were unable to indicate the direction taken by the fugitive murderers. The most intense excitement, mingled with honest indignation, prevailed on all hands. The general reputation of Irvin Ward, coupled with his suspicious conduct on the day preceding the
tragedy, led to his arrest.
His younger brother,
Stephen, was not suspected as being an accomplice, at the time. Irvin Ward was subjected to a rigid ex- amination before Justice K. R. Page. Upon his state- ment that he had been on a visit to relatives in Clarke county, a runner was sent thither, and it was ascer- tained that he had not at all visited Clarke. A com- mittee of gentlemen was formed, whose duty it was to ascertain the whereabouts of every man in the com- munity, for several days previous to the murder. The statements of the two brothers, Ward, were found to be false in many essential particulars, and they were seized and held in close custody, until further devel- opments could be made. Finally, after the accumula- tion of considerable circumstantial evidence against them, they openly confessed themselves to have been the perpetrators of the bloody deed. This confession was made at the home of the deceased, and in the presence of about one hundred auditors. Public notice
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was now given that they would be hanged the follow- ing day at 1 P. M. at the spot where the deed was per- . petrated, and just one week subsequent to the bloody transaction. Messengers were dispatched in all direc- tions giving due notice of the proposed execution. Strong guards were placed around the house, and on every approach thereto. A brother of the murderers hastened to Sparta that night, and endeavored to secure the interposition of the sheriff on behalf of the murderers. But he would not interfere. An excited and determined populace had resolved upon the speedy execution of the murderers, and had determined to shoot down any parties who should undertake their rescue. A rude gallows was erected over the spot where the deed was perpetrated, the murderers were marched out in front of about forty citizens and to the place of execution, six miles distant. When they had come near the homes of the Wards, they were met by their relatives-the old parents, brothers and sisters, and the wife of Stephen Ward, bearing in her arms an infant of six weeks. The place of execution was reached, and a statement was made by the mur- derers. They said that no malice had prompted the bloody deed, for Mr. Page was among their best friends. He had relieved their wants, and those of their families, when their father could not. They had murdered him for the purpose of robbing him of the proceeds of the cotton. After this, the ropes were adjusted by P. D. Page, Esq., and William Wright, and they swung just at 1 o'clock, on Friday, the 18th
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& of November, 1859. When they had ceased to breathe, their bodies were taken in charge by the father and brothers. The sons of Mr. Page, deceased, sent a number of negro men to dig their graves and to assist in a decent interment. At the approaching session of the Circuit Court, bills of indictment were found against about forty of those who were most active in the prosecution and execution of the Wards, and bonds were fixed at $1,000. Judge J. K. Henry, at the next term of the Circuit Court, caused a nol. pros. of all the cases, and thus the public mind became quiet upon a subject which had engrossed it for so long a period.
During the same year (1859), successful operations were commenced upon the Montgomery and Pensacola Railroad. From both directions the work began, but the road was not completed until about April, 1861. This is, to-day, one of the most important thorough- fares in all the South. It now constitutes a part of the great line operated under the auspices of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company. Entering Conecuh on its northern boundary, it penetrates it south ward twenty-four and a half miles.
The year 1860 marks an emphatic era in the politi- cal history of the country. Some of the questions which had their birth in the political struggles of former periods, now assumed serious proportions. Grave issues were involved in the coming struggle between the different political organizations of the Union. The acrimony of feeling between the North-
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· ern and Southern States, was aggravated by every recurring event. The long agitation had shattered in pieces the old political parties of the country. Split asunder in their Convention at Charleston, the Demo- crats proposed two candidates to the people-Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, and John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky. Disintegration had also invaded the old Whig Party. The Union wing of the Whig Party named John Bell, of Tennessee, for President. The Republican Party was increased by accessions from both the Whig and Democratic Parties, and announced the name of Abraham Lincoln as their chosen candi- date. The county of Conecuh shared in the intense excitement that prevailed throughout the whole country. It was convulsed by the canvass. Little else was done this year, than discuss politics. Vast crowds would daily assemble at the places of popular resort, to canvass the questions at issue. Stump speaking was a daily occurrence. Men were swayed more by passion than by calm judgment. The storms of war were gathering thick and fast. The period of conflict had been reached.
The following is a list of county officers who served during the period embraced in the foregoing chapter :
JUDGES OF PROBATE.
1856-A. D. Cary.
SHERIFFS. 1857-A. B. Kennedy. .
1860-Isaac D. Johnson.
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CIRCUIT CLERKS. 1856-Mark B. Travis. SENATORS. 1857-Daniel H. Horn.
REPRESENTATIVES. 1857-John D. Cary. 1859-John D. Cary.
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CHAPTER XX.
Chapter of Biography-E. W. Martin-Rev. George Lee-Hezekiah Donald-Churchill Jones, etc.
EDMUND W. MARTIN.
This distinguished son of Conecuh was born near the city of Montgomery, on December 15th, 1821. He received his mental training at West Point. Through the influence of Senator Dixon H. Lewis, an ardent friend and relative of Mr. Martin, a cadetship was secured for him at the National Military Academy. Returning to his home from West Point, Mr. Martin's gifts led him into the forum, rather than the field. Having taken a course in law, he was admitted to practice, and commenced his career, as a lawyer, at Hayneville, about the year 1843. When the conflict with Mexico began, in 1846, Mr. Martin raised a gallant company in the county of his adoption, known as the "Lowndes County Volunteers," was made their captain, and went immediately to Mobile to offer their services to the government. Here they were received and mustered into the service of the government, but lack of transportation prevented their being trans- ferred to the scene of action, and the war closed with- out their being able to participate. In 1849 Mr. Martin removed to Sparta, where he began a career which enabled him to make quite a reputation for
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himself as a practitioner of law. He was regarded by his brethren at the bar, as a close, calm reasoner, dig- nified, and keenly conscientious with regard to all questions of ethics. He was one of the readiest of speakers. A subject was quickly grasped by him, and even while the thought was warm, fresh from its new creation, he was giving it expression in elegant diction. During the war Mr. Martin raised a company of volunteers, of which he was made cap- tain. Subsequently he became the major of the regi- ment to which his company was attached. During the battle at Dalton, Georgia, on the 24th and 25th of February, 1864, Major Martin was wounded by the fragment of a shell. In his command he was admired for the wonderful combination of kindness with firm- ness, in the exercise of discipline. At one time one of the men under his command became somewhat refractory, and it became necessary for him to give him some peremptory orders, which, with relutance, the soldier proceeded to obey, but with a protest in a low, under tone of voice, but sufficiently loud for every one to hear him say, " Well, never mind, every dog has his day." To which Major Martin replied, "That may be, if there are not more dogs than days." In politics, Major Martin was a life-long Democrat. In 1872 he was elected to the State Senate, from the district composed of Butler and Conecuh counties, but upon a contest, his opponent, Miller, was seated, not because he had received a majority of the popular vote, but because the Republican Party was dominant in the
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Senate. In 1874, however, when the Democrats again attained the ascendency, Miller was legally ejected, and Senator Martin re-seated. The Montgomery Ad- vertiser, in referring to his restoration to his seat in the Senate Chamber, said of him : "He is an able and watchful Senator, and possesses to the fullest extent, the confidence and esteem of his associates." He was the leading candidate for Lieutenant Governor in the Convention of 1874, and came within a fraction of a two-thirds vote upon the nomination. Also, in 1878, he was conspicuous as a candidate for Congress, and came within one vote of the nomination. On the 22nd of October, 1878, he died at his home, at Ever- green.
REV. GEORGE LEE
was a Baptist minister of some local distinction, and a member of one of the best families that ever resided in Conecuh. He was the seventh son of Justice Joel Lee, and brother to Revs. Hanson Lee, whose sketch has already been given, and David Lee, now of Lowndes county. George Lassiter Lee was born near Burnt Corn, on November 9th, 1819. When he was a lad of fifteen or sixteen, he became a Christian, and was baptized by Elder Alexander Travis. From the date of his conversion he had a disposition to attempt to preach, but great constitutional diffidence restrained him from the assumption of the sacred office for ten or twelve years. Yielding at length to those inward impressions, he became quite an effective minister of 8
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the gospel. During his early years he had received a thorough English training. Besides being a preacher of marked ability, he was a terse, vigorous writer. During his ministerial career, he served the Bethlehem Association, on different occasions, in the capacity of Clerk and Moderator. He was the Moderator of the body the year before his death. About 1871 or 1872, he died in the same section in which he had been reared. Mr. Lee was honored for his piety by all who knew him.
HEZEKIAH DONALD
was a native of Conecuh. He was a man totally unpretentious, and yet one of the most useful of men during his career. Such was his extreme modesty, that no emphasis was ever given by himself to the liberal benefactions which came from his hand. He found special delight in contributing to a cause, the object of which was the increased happiness or use- fulness of his fellows. Diligent in the administration of his private affairs, he was prosperous. During the last few years of his life he was prominent as a suc- cessful planter. Mr. Donald died at his home, near Bellville, in 1861, much lamented by all who knew him.
CHURCHILL JONES.
The birth-place of Mr. Jones was Virginia. But little is known of his early career. He emigrated to Conecuh when a young man, and began teaching at Gravella. He soon found a charm in the agitated
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politics of the county, and ardently espoused the cause of the Whig Party. As the standard-bearer of that party he was sent to the Legislature for several con- secutive sessions. He was regarded as possessing uncommon shrewdness in business, and within a few years after he came to the county he was the possessor of no mean wealth. His name is inseparable from the litigations which characterized the history of the county during his residence within it. He is remem- bered, to-day, as a most uncompromising litigator. In manners, Mr. Jones was affable and communicative. Several years before his death he removed to Texas.
JOHN W. ETHRIDGE.
The subject of this sketch came to Conecuh with his father's family when he was quite a small boy. He was born in North Carolina in 1810, and eight years later was residing near Brooklyn. Mr. Ethridge has led a quiet, unostentatious life. At different times he has been summoned from the solitude of home life, and by the popular vote elevated to positions of trust.
In 1870, he was regarded the most available man in Conecuh to defeat the notorious William P. Miller for the Legislature. In this his supporters were not disappointed. His unquestioned integrity, and sober, conservative spirit, secured to the party of the Democ- racy a majority, and he became the Representative of the county in the lower house during the sessions of .1870 and 1872.
Other positions have been held by him with credit
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to himself and honor to his county. Though the frosts of three-score-and-ten winters have gathered upon his locks, he is, to-day, as elastic in his tread as a youth. Of him it may be almost as truly said as of the olden lawgiver : "His eye is not dim, nor is his natural force abated."
SHERMAN G. FORBES.
Many years ago there came to New England from Scotland two brothers whose names were Abisha and Squire Forbes. One of these settled in Salisbury, and the other in Canton, Connecticut. The latter of these, according to the history of that section, was the first smelter of iron in the United States. Abisha was the grandfather of Sherman G. and Dr. Solomon S. Forbes.
Sherman G. Forbes, familiarly known in all sections of the county as "Squire Forbes," was born in Canton, Connecticut, in the year 1813. His father was a native of the same section. Mr. Forbes removed to Alabama when he was quite a young man, and located at Sparta. Here he found employment as a clerk in the mercantile establishment of Robinson & Cary. He afterwards served Mr. Cary as clerk in the Land Office. Subsequent to this he was postmaster at Sparta, by appointment; and was also elected justice of the peace, which office he continued to hold for more than thirty years. He was, at length, elected to the position of tax assessor of the county, where he displayed such rare efficiency that he was re-elected for several succes-
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sive terms. About the year 1845-'46, he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court. In 1849, he engaged in a political contest with A. D. Cary for the Probate Judgeship. He was defeated by only thirty votes, and by a man of the most decided strength in the county. The close approximation to success in this election manifested the estimate which was placed upon his worth by the good people of Conecuh. Upon the resignation of Stephen C. Richardson as sheriff of Conecuh county, the office was tendered Mr. Forbes by the Governor of Alabama, but this offer he de- clined. At the close of the late war, he was appointed Revenue Assessor for the United States District, and none could have performed the duties pertaining to this office with greater efficiency. Mr. Forbes was a gentleman of even temperament, of much native dig- nity, and of superior qualifications for business. His memory was proverbially exact. The different sta- tions held by himself during his life, had led him largely into the investigation of the legal science, and within a given compass of law no opinion could ex- ceed his in exactness. He was freely resorted to for legal advice, which was gratuitously given. Politi- cally, Mr. Forbes was a Democrat. He was emphati- cally a Union Democrat, both before and after the war. In March, 1876, he suffered from a paralytic stroke, from which he never recovered. After a sick- ness of seventeen days his spirit passed from earth into the boundless Beyond. The verdict of Judge Cary upon the reception of the news of his death, was
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that of every one who knew him with any degree of intimacy : "Conecuh county has lost one of its best citizens. He was the most correct business man I ever knew !"
DR. SOLOMON S. FORBES,
brother to Sherman G. Forbes, beheld the light, first, in 1827, in the town of Canton, Connecticut. He emigrated southward and reached Sparta in 1852, where he engaged in teaching a school. This he dis- continued, however, after six months, and addressed himself to the study of medicine, under the tutorship of Dr. John Anderson. In 1854 he attended medical lectures in Albany, New York, at the Union Medical College. Here he graduated three months before the expiration of his term of study, received his diploma, and started westward. He opened an office at Sauk Rapids, in the Minnesota Territory, eighty miles above St. Paul. He continued his practice in this region for eight months, until the arctic breath of winter brought with it a vivid reminder of the bland climate and fervid skies of the far South, and without delay he left the hyperborean region of Northern Minnesota and returned to Alabama. Coming again to Conecuh, he located at Bellville, in 1856, and con- tinued the practice of his chosen profession until 1872. During this interval he was President of the Board of Examination for the county, Vice-President of the County Medical Association, and 2nd Recording Sec- retary of the Medical Association of Alabama. During
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the year 1872 he removed to Milton, Florida, where he continues the practice of medicine. The citizens of Milton have honored him for three successive terms with the mayoralty, and upon his election the third time, it was his humorous boast that he had beaten General Grant for "the third term." Dr. Forbes is a gentleman of cultivated taste and of polished manners. A vein of genuine humor pervades his nature, which, coupled with his accomplishments, makes him quite companionable in the social circle.
MARK BUTLER TRAVIS.
Few men have left a more illustrious record to the future generations of Conecuh, than Mark Butler Travis. His life was one of chivalrous heroism and of devotion to his country. He was born in the neighborhood of Old Town, on May 18th, 1827. At quite an early age he evinced remarkable aptness in the acquisition of knowledge, while attending the schools of the neighborhood. Having pursued a course of medical study under the supervision of Dr. John Watkins, he left his home, when a stripling of only seventeen, to attend medical lectures in a distant State. But Mars was a more attractive personage to his chivalrous mind than Æsculapius, and while en route to college, he met the famous Palmetto Regi- ment, of South Carolina, on their way to join General Scott, in Mexico, and the blood of our young hero grew so warm within him, that he determined to enlist in the regiment and to go with them to Mexico. This
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he did, and shared with them the glories of Contreras and Cherubusco. In the latter named battle, he re- ceived a wound in the head, and was thereby pre- vented from being with his regiment when they entered the Mexican Capital. Recovering from his wound, he rejoined his comrades and served with patriotic efficiency throughout the remainder of the struggle. Returning to his home, he was honored by his fellow citizens with the office of Colonel of Militia, and was afterwards made General of Militia, over Col. Brock Henderson, of Butler. The people of Conecuh showed him deserved consideration by eleva- ting him to the office of Clerk of the Circuit Court, which he held for four consecutive terms. He was universally known as an ardent Democrat, and yet such was his personal popularity, that serious inroads were invariably made by him into the ranks of the opposite party, and hence his unbroken political suc- cess. When again the clash of conflict summoned the men of the South to arms, General Travis was among the first to respond. He enlisted in the Conecuh Guards-the first company that left the county. He was made the 2nd lieutenant of this company, and went with it to Virginia. The following anecdote is related of him, as connected with the battle of Bull Run. At the time of the fall of the gallant Colonel Jones, the Fourth Alabama Regiment, to which the Conecuh Guards belonged, seemed threatened with utter extermination by the peculiarity of its surround- ings. Becoming cognizant of this fearful fact, a panic
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seemed inevitable, and brave men began to turn their feet and faces toward the rear. Seeing the perilous situation, Lieutenant Travis endeavored to stay the flight of the regiment, and stood before the retreating columns with brandished sword, begging them not to fly. He was suddenly confronted by a burly Teuton, whose glaring eyes, open mouth and thin nostrils showed that he was the victim of a stupendous fright, and as he witnessed the efforts of Travis to check the flying columns, he blurted out: "O, mine friendt, my life is too schweet!" Lieutenant Travis, seeing that all efforts to arrest the flight were useless, himself joined in and sought a more secure position. He was sadly encumbered by a pair of heavy horse-skin boots, which provoked Dr. Taliaferro to say to him as he ran past : "Lieutenant, you had better look out, or Barnum will have those boots in his Museum before night!" The subject of this sketch died of pneumonia, at his home, in 1864. There were combined in his character many elements of true nobility.
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